Carolina Nursing through the decades: a historic timeline
An illustrated online timeline of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, issued by the school in 2025. One page with portraits.
Storyline
Fraternities come to the University despite the trustees’ ban, 1842–1859
How Greek-letter fraternities came to the University in the 1850s although the trustees had banned secret societies in 1842: Delta Kappa Epsilon and Phi Gamma Delta in 1851, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Psi, Phi Kappa Sigma, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Zeta Psi, and their lapse as war approached.
In briefIn 1842 the University trustees declared secret societies harmful to the literary societies and to good morals, ordered the faculty to suppress them and barred any student who would not pledge not to join one. Greek-letter fraternities began entering the University in 1851 without any trustee or faculty vote admitting them. Delta Kappa Epsilon and Phi Gamma Delta came that year, Beta Theta Pi in 1852, and Phi Kappa Sigma, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Zeta Psi followed by 1858; Battle also learned of a Delta Psi chapter no Chapel Hill record mentions. Many Phi Kappa Sigma members served as Confederate officers. Beta Theta Pi's chapter lapsed in 1859 as war approached, and the others had disbanded before the war ended.
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No works in the index are currently linked directly to this storyline. The works below provide background on UNC & Campus Life.
The full story
On December 12, 1842, on Charles L. Hinton's motion, the University trustees declared secret societies and clubs harmful to the literary societies and to good morals. They ordered the faculty to suppress them and barred admission to any student who would not pledge not to join one, and the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies agreed to fine members who broke the rule. Greek-letter fraternities began entering the University in 1851 without any trustee or faculty vote admitting them. Delta Kappa Epsilon organized that year, and the Epsilon chapter of Phi Gamma Delta followed in the fall. Beta Theta Pi chartered its Eta chapter in early 1852, the third fraternity at Chapel Hill. Battle learned that a Delta Psi chapter with a large membership was there from 1854 until some time during the Civil War, though no record at Chapel Hill mentions it. Phi Kappa Sigma's Lambda chapter was active from 1856 to 1862, and many of its members served as Confederate officers. Sigma Alpha Epsilon set up a chapter in 1857, and Zeta Psi organized in January 1858; Battle counted four colonels among its members who served the Confederacy, and nine members killed. The Eta chapter of Beta Theta Pi lapsed in 1859 as war approached, and the others had disbanded before the war ended.
In the chronology
Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 9 dated events in the chronology →
- Trustees outlaw secret societies at the university On Charles L. Hinton's motion the board declared secret societies and clubs harmful to the literary societies and to good morals, ordered the faculty to suppress them and barred admission to any student who would not pledge not to join one. The Dialectic and Philanthropic societies agreed to fine members who broke the rule. People: Charles Lewis HintonSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 476
- Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter opens as fraternities reach the university Greek-letter fraternities began entering the university in 1851 without any trustee or faculty vote admitting them. Delta Kappa Epsilon organized that year, Beta Theta Pi in 1852, Sigma Alpha Epsilon in 1857 and Zeta Psi in January 1858, and all had disbanded before the end of the Civil War.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 620
- Phi Gamma Delta's Epsilon chapter forms at the university Defying the trustees' ban on secret societies, the Epsilon chapter of Phi Gamma Delta organized in the fall of 1851, months after Delta Kappa Epsilon.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Beta Theta Pi Fraternity House, National Register nomination (OR1744), p. 12
- Beta Theta Pi charters its Eta chapter at the university The Eta chapter of Beta Theta Pi was chartered in early 1852, the third fraternity at Chapel Hill.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Beta Theta Pi Fraternity House, National Register nomination (OR1744), p. 10
- A Delta Psi fraternity chapter is active at the university Battle learned after his first volume was printed that the Delta Psi Fraternity, with a large membership, was at the university from 1854 until some time during the Civil War. No record at Chapel Hill mentions it.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. vi
- The Lambda chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma is active at the university Phi Kappa Sigma's Lambda chapter flourished at the university from 1856 to 1862, and many members served as Confederate officers. After the 1875 reopening it was the first fraternity to be reinstated.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 781
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon establishes a chapter at the university Sigma Alpha Epsilon set up a chapter at the university in 1857, one of several fraternities to arrive in the 1850s. It withdrew before the end of the Civil War.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 1 (1907), p. 621
- Zeta Psi organizes a chapter at the university The Zeta Psi chapter at the university was organized in January 1858. Battle counts four colonels among its members who served the Confederacy, and nine members killed.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 1 (1907), p. 621
- Beta Theta Pi's Eta chapter goes inactive After a strong start the Eta chapter lapsed in 1859 as the Civil War approached.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Beta Theta Pi Fraternity House, National Register nomination (OR1744), p. 10
Places in this history
Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 1 with a known location.
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.
- Beta Theta Pi Fraternity House Houses, farms, parks and cemeteries · Chapel Hill · 2 events here
- Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies University schools and programs · Chapel Hill · 1 event here
Background on UNC & Campus Life
Background reading on UNC & Campus Life. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss this storyline. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.
Widely held
North Carolina baseball: the blue thread and the rise of an ACC power
A 2025 history of University of North Carolina baseball from its nineteenth-century beginnings to the program's rise as an ACC power. Chapters cover the early years on campus, the building of Boshamer Stadium, and the Mike Fox era. Self-published by the author, 288 pages.
Tar Heel Bred
Scott Whisnant's memoir of a life measured out in North Carolina basketball seasons. A former sportswriter, Whisnant writes for readers raised in ACC country who learned the fight song early and treated the conference tournament in Greensboro as the high point of the year, recalling family, friends and the personal milestones that fell alongside Tar Heel games. Subjects include humor and anecdotes as well as the team's history. Published by Bearface Publishing in 2025, 318 pages with photographs.
Bright and tender dark: a novel
Joanna Pearson's novel of a cold case at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Karlie Richards was a nineteen-year-old student when she was murdered; decades later her onetime roommate, divorced and in middle age, finds herself drawn back to the crime as online conspiracy theories about it multiply. A psychological thriller with a Chapel Hill setting, published by Bloomsbury in 2024, 275 pages.
Chapel Hill Murder and Mayhem
Rick Jackson's true crime history of Chapel Hill, published by The History Press in 2023, in 28 short chapters. Cases include the Efland bank robbery, the execution of John Henry Breeze, the unsolved murder of Suellen Evans, the killing at the Internationalist Bookstore and the death of Eve Carson.
Lessons afield : adventures in nature with students and other living things
R. Haven Wiley's anecdotes of field work with students at Mason Farm, the university's biological reserve on the edge of Chapel Hill, and at other natural settings in North Carolina. It is natural history and nature anecdotes, personal pieces from a working naturalist. Published in Carrboro by Hickory Woods Press in 2023, 109 pages with illustrations.
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Putting Down Roots
William R. Burk's history of botany at the University of North Carolina, from its early natural scientists such as Denison Olmsted and Elisha Mitchell through later figures including George Francis Atkinson, Joseph Austin Holmes and Henry Van Peters Wilson, closing with a chapter on the Department of Botany itself. Published in Fort Worth in 2023.
Bloodmarked
Tracy Deonn's young adult fantasy novel set around the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bree, an African American teenager with newly awakened powers she cannot yet control, learns that the leaders of the secret Order mean to hide the coming demon war, and she and her friends flee so that she can find her own training. Subjects include magic, secret societies, imaginary wars and psychic trauma. Published by Simon & Schuster in 2022, 561 pages.
Reviewed in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books./Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (2022).
A Consequential Life: David Lowry Swain, Nineteenth-Century North Carolina, and Their University
Willis P. Whichard's biography of David Lowry Swain, governor of North Carolina from 1832 to 1835 and president of the University of North Carolina from 1835 until his death in 1868. The subtitle ties Swain, nineteenth-century North Carolina and the university together, and the book belongs with the lives of college presidents and governors. Published in 2022.
The dove in the belly
Jim Grimsley's coming-of-age novel about Ronny, who grew up in a trailer alongside his mother and a string of stepfathers, kept his head down, earned good grades and won a scholarship to UNC in Chapel Hill. On campus he finds his first love and begins to sort out who he is. Subjects include gay college students, first loves and mothers and sons. Published by Levine Querido in 2022, 322 pages.
Hooper finds the pitch
A picture book by Courtney Soling Smith about a Boston terrier named Hooper and a glee club at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Published in 2022 by the Orange County Historical Museum in Hillsborough, 35 unnumbered pages with illustrations, facsimiles and portraits.
Together: The Amazing Story of Carolina Basketball's 2021-2022 Season
Adam Lucas's account of the 2021-2022 Carolina men's basketball season, Hubert Davis's first as head coach. Davis, appointed in April 2021, was the first Black head coach in the program's history, and the season ended at the NCAA tournament in New Orleans. Published 2022 by the UNC Department of Athletics, 155 pages with color illustrations. Topics include the Tar Heels, Davis, and college basketball in Chapel Hill in the twenty-first century.
Research sources
Sources and research tools for this storyline. Research guide: Follow an event across several accounts.
Background
- Fraternities and SororitiesNCpedia Concise historical background
Records of the time
- Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 620Documenting the American South Primary-source texts on Southern history
Collections and databases
- NC LIVE: prepared search for Fraternities come to the University despite the trustees’ ban, 1842–1859 Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
Local help
- Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Local History Help Hours and request formOCPL Local History Liaison Meet with the Local History Liaison at the Main Library, usually Mondays from noon to 3 p.m., or send a question using the online request form
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