We’re pleased to present the Commencement Programs of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from 1843 through 2009, now on DigitalNC.
From 33 names printed in a two-page document, written in Latin, to 80 pages describing accolades, honored guests, and university traditions, these programs have grown as much as the commencement event.
The 1843 program includes several names for which we know more from NCpedia and East Carolina University:
- John Luther Bridgers of Tarboro. He was a colonel in the Civil War, a farmer, and a lawyer.
- Robert Pain Dick of Greensboro. State Senator and North Carolina Supreme Court judge.
- Philo Henderson of Mecklenburg County. Poet who “was rather wild,” wrote a contemporary of his, “but never guilty of anything dishonorable.”
- Joseph Caldwell Huske of Fayetteville. Long-time rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, NC.
- Walter Waightstill Lenoir of Caldwell County. Class valedictorian, lawyer, and planter.
We also have catalogs, yearbooks, and other campus publications like the Basketball Blue Book and Carolina Magazine from UNC-Chapel Hill.