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University buildings and grounds

Woollen Gymnasium

Woollen Gymnasium, designed by H. R. Weeks on South Road at UNC, was named in 1937 for Charles T. Woollen, the university's longtime registrar, business manager and comptroller. It opened with the Bowman Gray Memorial Pool in 1938 and was the home court of McGuire's undefeated 1956-57 national champions.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

People in its history

People named in events about this site, ordered by number of mentions. Each example links to an entry with a source citation.

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Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

Books, articles, records, and images about Woollen Gymnasium. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Charles T. Woolen Gymnasium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Gray & Thompson (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 1938 · Chapel Hill, N.C.: Gray & Thompson

Linen-finish postcard published by Gray and Thompson of Chapel Hill showing Woollen Gymnasium at the University of North Carolina, built in 1937 and 1938 and regarded then as a modern, high-quality basketball building. Black and white with a white border and divided back, issued after the gym opened. Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library Postcard Collection.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

The new gymnasium at the University of North Carolina

Fetzer, Robert A. (Robert Allison), 1887-1968; Cornwell, Oliver Kelly, 1896-1971 · 1938 · Ohio State University

Robert A. Fetzer and Oliver K. Cornwell describe the new gymnasium at the University of North Carolina, Woollen Gym. The paper was detached from the proceedings of the forty-second annual meeting of the College Physical Education Association and printed at Ohio State University in 1938. It concerns college buildings in Chapel Hill.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Charles T. Woollen Gymnasium, U. of N.C., Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Graycraft Card Co., Danville, Va

The Charles T. Woollen Gymnasium at Chapel Hill, published by the Graycraft Card Company of Danville, Virginia, and undated. Chapel Hill and Orange County are the place terms attached.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Children swimming in Woolen Gymnasium: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Children in the pool at Woollen Gymnasium on the University of North Carolina campus, undated. One photograph in the Chapel Hill Life: General binder of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

CH Historical Society

Woollen Gymnasium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.

North Carolina News Company, Durham, N.C

Woollen Gymnasium at the University of North Carolina, on a North Carolina News Company postcard. The caption says the building cost $650,000, was dedicated in 1938 and bears the name of Charles T. Woollen, the university's controller for many years. Undated.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Woollen Gymnasium alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina: 1795-1975

Little-Stokes, Margaret Ruth · 2006

Margaret Ruth Little-Stokes's survey of Chapel Hill's town and campus buildings from 1795 to 1975, published by the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill in 2006. Chapters run from the first campus buildings through David Swain's romantic campus to midcentury modernism, followed by area surveys of the campus, east and west Chapel Hill, downtown, Northside and the suburbs.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal UNC Duke NC State Durham Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress CH Historical Society

The town and gown architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975

Little, M. Ruth · 2004 · Preservation Society of Chapel Hill

M. Ruth Little's 2004 architectural history of Chapel Hill and the university campus from 1795 to 1975, written for the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill. A 99-page survey with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Chapel Hill historic sites survey : final report.

Gatza, M. B. · 1992 · Chapel Hill Planning Department

M. B. Gatza's final report of the 1992 Chapel Hill historic sites survey for the town Planning Department, with contributions by Beverly C. Kawalec and Catherine Bishir. It covers historic buildings and districts in Chapel Hill in 80 pages.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina.

1925

Sanborn Map Company fire insurance map of Chapel Hill, June 1925, on eleven sheets, with Carrboro also drawn. Sanborn maps recorded the outline, construction and use of each building for fire insurers, so the set shows both towns block by block in the mid 1920s.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Map of Chapel Hill & vicinity.

1933

Street and property map of Chapel Hill and the surrounding country, revised to 1 January 1933 and printed in the town. Topics include streets, real property and the historical geography of Chapel Hill along with maps of the University of North Carolina in its 1793 to 1962 period. A useful sheet for tracing lot lines and street names as they stood at the start of the 1930s.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

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    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Woollen Gymnasium, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 STO Chapel Hill: A Pictorial History Stolpen, Steven · 1978

      Steven Stolpen's pictorial history of Chapel Hill, one of the Donning Company's photographic town histories, published in Norfolk, Virginia in 1978. Photographs and portraits carry the story of the town and the university, including references to Thomas Wolfe's years as a student at Carolina. 156 pages with illustrations.

    • Foundational · 975.656 RYAN Orange County Trio: Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina, Histories and Tour Guides Ryan, Elizabeth Shreve · 2004

      Elizabeth Shreve Ryan's combined histories and tour guides for Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the three towns of Orange County, with the University of North Carolina treated alongside Chapel Hill. Each town gets a narrative history and a tour of its streets and buildings. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2004, 369 pages with illustrations and maps.

    Buildings and surveys

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

      Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Foundational · NC 917.56 HIS Historic Buildings and Landmarks of Chapel Hill, N.C Chapel Hill Historical Society · 1973

      A pocket-sized guide to the historic buildings and landmarks of Chapel Hill, prepared by the Chapel Hill Historical Society and printed by Creative Printers in 1973. Forty pages with illustrations and maps, 14 by 22 cm. Topics include architecture, historic buildings and historic districts in Chapel Hill, and the guide is useful for a walking tour of the older parts of town.

    In the chronology

    Storyline about this site, with a page of its own:

    1. The Bowman Gray Memorial Pool opens in the new Woollen Gymnasium The pool, named for the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company president Bowman Gray Sr., was presented with Woollen Gymnasium on March 25, 1938, but a watchman kept swimmers out until it was officially opened; the Chapel Hill Weekly expected students to begin using it about April 19. His widow and his sons Bowman Gray Jr. and Gordon Gray gave much of the university's share of the cost; a Public Works Administration grant paid the rest. People: Gordon Gray UNC, Names in Brick and Stone: Bowman Gray Memorial Pool · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 25, 1938, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 1, 1938, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 8, 1938, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 15, 1938, p. 1
    2. Chapel Hill children get their first turn in the new University pool The University set aside 10 to 11 o'clock every Saturday morning for Chapel Hill children in the new swimming pool, with a doctor-signed examination card and a parent's permission. In late May it announced that townspeople with no University tie could also use the pool that summer. People: Oliver K. Cornwell The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 6, 1938, p. 1
    3. The university names its new gymnasium for Charles T. Woollen The university trustees named the new gymnasium, opened in the spring of 1938, for Charles T. Woollen, its longtime registrar, business manager and comptroller, who had advocated for the building and helped oversee its construction. The Chapel Hill Weekly treated the trustees' choice as fresh news on June 3, 1938, and wrote later that the building was formally named at a gathering in his honor that June, the alumni luncheon of June 7. He died on September 21, 1938. The Carolina Story: Charles Thomas Woollen (1878-1938) and Woollen Gymnasium · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, June 3, 1938, p. 2; Chapel Hill Weekly, June 10, 1938, p. 4; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 23, 1938, p. 1
    4. The Naval ROTC moves out of Woollen Gym and Lenoir Hall into Swain Hall By university decision the Naval ROTC left its quarters in Woollen Gymnasium and the basement of Lenoir Hall during June 1 to 9, 1942, and moved into Swain Hall, which its commander thought below the Navy's minimum standard. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Naval Armory at UNC-Chapel Hill, National Register nomination (OR1541), p. 29
    5. The Navy and the university trustees approve a $932,729 building program for the Pre-Flight School The university announced a contract, approved by the Navy and the trustees, for $932,729 in new buildings and improvements for the Pre-Flight School. The Navy was to pay $768,523 and the university $164,106, the difference between temporary and permanent construction. The list included a $192,000 hospital, an outdoor swimming pool, an athletic field, an office building, a new wing on Woollen Gymnasium, a rifle range and work on Emerson Field and ten dormitories, with Navy rent expected to repay the university's share. Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), October 3, 1942, p. 1
    6. Bowman Gray Pool opens to Navy personnel, faculty and townspeople for the summer For the first term of summer school the university opened Bowman Gray Pool in Woollen Gymnasium to Navy personnel, faculty members and townspeople, with hours for children each weekday morning and for adults in the evenings and on weekends. Tickets cost $1 for children and $2 for adults at the cashier's office in South Building, and swimmers had to pass a physical examination. Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), June 12, 1943, p. 1 · Also: Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), June 26, 1943, p. 1
    7. Kessing Pool opens behind Woollen Gymnasium for Pre-Flight swimming training An outdoor pool behind Woollen Gymnasium opened in mid-August 1943 for the Navy Pre-Flight School's aquatic training and was named for Oliver Owen Kessing, the school's first commanding officer. Thousands of servicemen trained in it, among them Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush. Carolina Story: Bowman Gray and Kessing Pools and Koury Natatorium · Also: Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), August 21, 1943, p. 3; Chapel Hill Weekly, August 20, 1943, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, August 13, 1943, p. 1
    8. Chapel Hill High forms its first swimming team under UNC coach Willis Casey Chapel Hill High started a swimming team, its first, coached by university swimming coach Willis Casey and an assistant, with some twenty boys training daily in the Bowman Gray pool at Woollen Gymnasium. In its first meet, on May 9, it lost 35-31 to the university's B squad. Chapel Hill High School student newspaper, February 22, 1945, p. 1
    9. A storeroom fire and explosion wreck part of Woollen Gymnasium Crates of soap, wax and paper stored beside the indoor pool caught fire from boiler heat, and the blast shook the campus. It shattered the skylight and windows, twisted the pool railings and wrecked the framing on the building's east side. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 8, 1945, p. 1
    10. McGuire's undefeated Tar Heels play their home games at Woollen Gym McGuire's 1956-57 team won 32 straight games and the national championship, beating Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain in triple overtime as 12-point underdogs. Only eight of those wins came at home in Woollen Gym, where a hole was drilled in the wall for a television camera lens. 247Sports: The Story Behind The Miracle of '57
    11. The first televised ACC regular season game is played at Woollen Gym Television producer C. D. Chesley brought his cameras into Woollen Gym for Carolina's fourteenth meeting with Clemson, the first regular season ACC game ever televised. McGuire's team won 79-55. UNC Libraries, History on the Hill: January 2018
    12. Jim Tatum is buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery after a service led by Charles S. Hubbard More than 300 people attended the burial of football coach Jim Tatum in the old cemetery across from Woollen Gym. The Rev. Charles Hubbard of University Methodist Church conducted the service, and eighteen of Tatum's players were pallbearers. People: Jim Tatum The News of Orange County: Rest For Sunny Jim (July 30, 1959, p. 1)
    Show all 20 dated events
    1. UNC students stage a mock Democratic National Convention in Woollen Gym Students held a mock Democratic National Convention in Woollen Gym, with dormitories standing in for the state delegations, and Governor Luther Hodges spoke at the opening. The program announced beforehand had Rep. Ed Edmondson of Oklahoma giving the keynote in place of Sen. Hubert Humphrey; the News called it the University's first mock political convention. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 12, 1960, p. 23
    2. UNC ends public children's swimming in the Woollen Gym pools Chancellor William B. Aycock told Mayor O. K. Cornwell that from the next summer the two Woollen Gymnasium pools would be open only to University people and their families, to serve a growing student body and faculty. The public summer swimming program, begun in 1938 by Cornwell as head of physical education, had taught several thousand children to swim. People: William B. Aycock, Oliver K. Cornwell The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 16, 1960, p. 6
    3. Campus police order a visiting group of Black junior high students out of Woollen Gym, and the BSM charges racism During a University Day visit arranged by Dean Harold Wallace and the Black Student Movement for Black junior high students from Warren County, several campus policemen told the students and their leaders to leave Woollen Gym, saying non-students without permission were not covered by University insurance. The leaders refused, and physical education director Carl Blyth then gave permission; on April 24 BSM chairman Algenon Marbley called the incident racism and said it was the third or fourth such episode, while the police said they were following orders. The Daily Tar Heel, April 25, 1974, p. 1
    4. Chapel Hill aldermen amend the drought ordinance to let pools that use no new town water reopen The Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen voted 6-2 to change the drought water-use ordinance, which had made it unlawful to use any swimming pool, so that it barred only putting town water into a pool. The change answered a petition of more than 3,000 students that Chancellor Taylor had turned down under the old ordinance, and the University cleared Bowman Gray Pool in Woollen Gym to reopen with water trucked from Hillsborough to replace backwash losses. People: N. Ferebee Taylor, R. D. Smith The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1976, p. 1
    5. Teachers and students file sex-discrimination charges over the lockers in Woollen Gym Grievances signed by 23 students, faculty and staff charged that the physical education department broke Title IX by giving men 85 percent of the lockers in Woollen Gym, though women physical education students outnumbered men. Pamela Dean adds that earlier talk of a similar suit led the Morehead trustees to open their scholarships to women. Pamela Dean, Women on the Hill: A History of Women at the University of North Carolina (1987), scan p. 29 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, November 15, 1977, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, December 1, 1977, p. 1
    6. UNC turns the Woollen Gym men's faculty locker room over to women Physical education chairman Carl Blyth announced that the men's faculty locker room in Woollen Gym would become a women's locker room and part of the men's basket room a women's basket room, nearly doubling women's lockers and baskets for spring 1978. The changes answered three Title IX grievances filed Nov. 14 and were to be built over the Christmas break for about $8,500. The Daily Tar Heel, December 1, 1977, p. 1
    7. Fire burns through the roof of Woollen Gym Insulation under the roof of Woollen Gym caught fire about 4:20 p.m. while a contractor's crew was torching a new roof, and about 150 students were cleared from the basketball courts. Chapel Hill firefighters had the fire mostly out in 20 minutes; no one was hurt, and the fire marshal put the damage under $1,000. The Daily Tar Heel, January 9, 1987, p. 1
    8. UNC marks the 50th anniversary of Woollen Gymnasium The Department of Physical Education began a two-day celebration of Woollen Gym, opened April 10, 1938, with a ceremony, student-faculty games and a mass aerobics class on the main floor that drew about 300 people, the department giving $5 a participant toward new weights. Plans also called for rededicating the gym and dedicating a room in Fetzer Gym to Oliver Kelly Cornwell, the department's first chairman. The Daily Tar Heel, March 25, 1988, p. 1

    Open these in the chronology →

    Research sources

    Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Investigate a school or community institution.

    Background 5

    National Register files

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 20

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    Collections and databases

    Local help 5

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