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Storyline · 1879–1932

Student loan funds at the University, 1879–1932

When the state's budget cut threatened to drive students out of the University in January 1932, town and campus groups gave to a student loan fund whose beginnings went back to 1879. That year Charles F. Deems sent $300 to start a loan fund in memory of his son Theodore, killed at Gettysburg, and William H. Vanderbilt later added $10,000 through him. In 1906 Dr. Martin's will left more than $7,000 for loans to poor students. In 1932 Mayor Zeb Council named a citizens' committee, the sponsors of a concert by Amelita Galli-Curci gave their share of the receipts, and the campus Janitors' Association, facing a wage cut, gave five dollars. By early February about $7,000 had been raised.

1879–1932 Filed under UNC & Campus Life 5 dated events

On December 20, 1879 Charles F. Deems sent the University $300 to begin a fund lending both principal and interest to students on security, in memory of his son Theodore Disosway Deems, who was born in Chapel Hill and killed at Gettysburg. William H. Vanderbilt later added $10,000 through him. With the death of his widow in June 1906, the will of the late Dr. Martin of Raleigh left the University more than $7,000 as a fund whose income would be lent to poor students for board, clothing and similar costs. In January 1932, with the state's budget cut threatening to drive students out, Mayor Zeb Council named a citizens' committee, and town and campus groups gave to the University student loan fund. On January 27 the soprano Amelita Galli-Curci sang in Memorial Hall, and the sponsoring Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity gave its share of the receipts to the fund. Frank Porter Graham told the campus Janitors' Association that the Depression would cut their wages, and on Kennon Cheek's motion the association gave five dollars, which the Weekly of January 29 reported as one of the first responses to the drive. By early February about $7,000 had been raised, including $1,000 from John Sprunt Hill, and the trustees backed the drive.

Towns
Chapel Hill
People with pages
5

The events, date by date

Every statement above comes from these dated entries in the chronology. Each links to its source.

  1. Charles F. Deems starts the Deems Fund for student loans Deems sent the university $300 to begin a fund lending both principal and interest to students on security, in memory of his son Theodore Disosway Deems, who was born in Chapel Hill and killed at Gettysburg. William H. Vanderbilt later added $10,000 through him. People: Charles F. Deems Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Theodore Disosway Deems, William H. VanderbiltSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, Volume II
  2. Dr. Martin's bequest leaves the University more than $7,000 for student loans With the death of his widow in early June 1906, the will of the late Dr. Martin of Raleigh left the residue of his estate, more than $7,000, to the University trustees as a fund whose income would be lent to poor students for board, clothing and similar costs. The will also left $3,000 for a scholarship at St. Mary's School in Raleigh. Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: St. Mary's SchoolSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), June 14, 1906, p. 4
  3. Amelita Galli-Curci sings in Memorial Hall The soprano Amelita Galli-Curci gave a recital in Memorial Hall, one of only two stops in North Carolina on her tour, before a crowd that included many visitors. The Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity sponsored it for its scholarship fund and gave its share of the receipts to the student loan fund. Place: Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 29, 1932, p. 2
  4. Chapel Hill rallies behind a drive to enlarge the University student loan fund With the state's budget cut threatening to drive students out, Mayor Zeb Council named a citizens' committee and town and campus groups gave to the University student loan fund. By early February about $7,000 had been raised, including $1,000 from John Sprunt Hill, and the trustees backed the drive. People: John Sprunt Hill, Frank Porter Graham, Zeb P. Council Place: Chapel Hill and the UniversitySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 29, 1932, p. 1
  5. Kennon Cheek moves that the Janitors' Association give to the student loan fund Frank Porter Graham came to an association meeting to tell the janitors that the Depression would cut their wages but that everyone would come through together. Cheek then moved that the Janitors' Association give five dollars to the fund set up to keep students in school, the first campus organization to contribute to it. The Chapel Hill Weekly of January 29, 1932, reported the $5 as one of the first responses to the community drive for the students' loan fund. People: Kennon Cheek, Frank Porter Graham Place: UNC campus, Chapel HillSearch the index · UNC Names in Brick and Stone: Cheek Clark Building · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 29, 1932, p. 1

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Reading on the places and people in this storyline

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About Frank Porter Graham · named in 2 of this story’s entries

Frank Porter Graham and the 1950 Senate Race in North Carolina

Pleasants, Julian M.; Burns, Augustus M., III · 1990 · UNC Press

Julian M. Pleasants and Augustus M. Burns III on the 1950 Democratic Senate primary in North Carolina, in which Frank Porter Graham, the former president of the University of North Carolina, lost to Willis Smith after a campaign marked by race-baiting. Primaries, elections and race relations in the state are its subjects. Published by UNC Press in 1990, 356 pages with illustrations.

Reviewed in Choice Reviews Online (1991), The American Historical Review (1991), Journal of American History (1991), The Journal of Southern History (1992).

Dr. Frank: Life with Frank Porter Graham

Kuralt, Charles · 1993 · Franklin St. Books

Charles Kuralt's biography of Frank Porter Graham (1886-1972), president of the University of North Carolina and later a United States senator, published in 1993 by Franklin Street Books. It concerns college presidents, educators and statesmen of North Carolina, and the Senate. Kuralt, himself a North Carolina author, gives the book the subtitle life with Frank Porter Graham.

Frank Porter Graham: Service to North Carolina and the Nation

Clotfelter, James · 1993 · UNC-Greensboro

Conference papers on Frank Porter Graham (1886 to 1972), president of the University of North Carolina and later a United States senator, compiled by James Clotfelter and published by UNC-Greensboro in 1993.

Wider background: UNC & Campus Life · the most widely held histories of the theme this storyline is filed under; they may not discuss it

Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence

Lucas, Adam · 2010 · University of North Carolina Press

Adam Lucas marks one hundred years of basketball at the University of North Carolina in this illustrated history, published by UNC Press in 2010 in association with the athletics department. Chapters follow the program from the game's arrival on campus and the 'White Phantoms' of the Southern Conference through the founding of the ACC, the 1957 season, Dean Smith's changes to the game and the title seasons of 1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009, closing with a century of statistics. 289 pages.

The Blue Divide: Duke, North Carolina, and the Battle on Tobacco Road

Moore, Johnny; Chansky, Art · 2014 · Triumph Books

The Duke and North Carolina basketball rivalry written together by Johnny Moore and Art Chansky, the latter a sports reporter who has followed it since his student days at UNC. The book opens with the 2014 season and moves through recruiting battles old and new, 'Black and Blue Sunday', 'Blood and Roses', and chapters on the rivalry's heroes, leaders and teachers, with a foreword by Jay Bilas and a photo gallery. Published by Triumph Books in 2014, 289 pages.

Miss Mary's Money

Jones, H. G. · 2014 · McFarland & Co.

H. G. Jones follows the fortune of Mary Ruffin Smith (1814-1885), the unmarried heiress whose Orange and Chatham County lands passed at her death to the University of North Carolina and the Episcopal Church. Chapters profile her grandfather Francis Jones, then trace the bequest through a quarrel among Episcopalians over Price Creek, the Chapel of the Cross and the university's buildings. A December 1885 New York Times report called the gift money; Jones shows it was land. Published by McFarland in 2014, 231 pages.

The Chronicles of the Bicentennial Observance of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tepper, Steven J. · 1998

Steven J. Tepper's chronicle of how the University of North Carolina marked its bicentennial in 1993 and 1994. An appendix reprints the University Day speeches of October 12, 1993, given by Paul Hardin, James B. Hunt Jr., C.D. Spangler, William C. Friday, Charles Kuralt and President Bill Clinton, plus bicentennial addresses by Li Lu, Francis S. Collins and Richard J. Richardson. Published by the university in Chapel Hill, 1998; 284 pages.

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William Friday

Link, William A. · 1995

Biography of William C. Friday, president of the University of North Carolina system, by historian William A. Link, published by UNC Press in 1995 with the subtitle power, purpose, and American higher education. It covers Friday's career and the history of the university at Chapel Hill and statewide. Part of the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection.

Chapel Hill in Plain Sight

Athas, Daphne · 2010 · Eno Publishers

Twelve essays by novelist Daphne Athas (1923-2020) on the Chapel Hill she knew across the twentieth century. Subjects include Carrboro as 'the Paris of the Piedmont', philosopher Horace Williams, Betty Smith writing in Chapel Hill, Junius Scales, Ab Abernethy and the Intimate Bookshop, Richard Wright's visit, and a set of Chapel Hill murders. Published 2010, 243 pages with illustrations.

What it means to be a Tar Heel: Roy Williams and North Carolina's greatest players

Fowler, Scott · 2010 · Triumph Books

Scott Fowler gathers recollections from Carolina basketball players, decade by decade from the 1950s to the 2000s, organized around Roy Williams and the question in the title. Contributors include Lennie Rosenbluth, Larry Brown, Billy Cunningham, Charlie Scott, Phil Ford, James Worthy, Brad Daugherty, Eric Montross, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Raymond Felton and Sean May, each entry giving position and playing years. Published 2010 by Triumph Books of Chicago, 270 pages, here as an e-book.

The Campus of the First State University

Henderson, Archibald · 1949

Archibald Henderson's history of the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, its buildings and grounds from the founding in the 1790s onward. Henderson, a professor of mathematics and a prolific historian of the university, wrote it in the years around the university's sesquicentennial. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 412 pages with illustrations and bibliographical footnotes.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1949), South Atlantic Quarterly (1950).

The Woman Who Rang the Bell: The Story of Cornelia Spencer Phillips

Russell, Charles Phillips · 1949

Charles Phillips Russell's biography of Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908), the Chapel Hill writer remembered for ringing the bell of South Building when the university reopened in 1875 after its closure during Reconstruction. It doubles as a history of Chapel Hill and the university. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 293 pages with illustrations.

Reviewed in Journal of American History (1949).

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Friends of the Orange County Public Library. “Student loan funds at the University, 1879–1932.” Orange County Indexed, https://focplnc.org/orange-county-books/storylines/student-loan-funds-storyline-1879/. Accessed October 22, 2026.

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