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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
This collection was processed with support from Mary L. Hill.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 28.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 26,000 items) |
| Abstract | George Watts Hill Jr. (1926-2002), North Carolina businessman, state legislator, and advocate of higher education, was the son of George Watts Hill Sr. and the grandson of John Sprunt Hill, both prominent Durham, N.C., bankers and businessmen. Known as Watts, he graduated from the University of North Carolina; worked in banking, first in New York and then with his father as vice-president of the Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company in Durham; represented Durham in the North Carolina General Assembly, 1957-1961; was president, 1961-1967, and then chair of the board until 1973 of the Home Security Life Insurance Company; and served as chair of the North Carolina Board of Higher Education, 1965-1969. He supported the creation of the University of North Carolina System in 1972 and served on its board of governors, 1972-1973. He also was a consultant on educational and other issues with a number of firms including his own and ICF Consulting. The collection includes correspondence, speeches, reports, clippings, and other materials related to George Watts Hill Jr.'s interests in education, desegregation, his service in the North Carolina General Assembly, and other topics. Speeches, 1958-1974, include the typed versions of Hill's speeches, mainly about education. Political materials, 1952-1969, are subject files from Hill's years in the state legislature; his service on the Durham Interim Committee and the Durham Committee on Community Relations, both of which focused on desegregation; and a report on public housing in Durham. Higher education materials, chiefly 1962-1985, document the North Carolina Speaker Ban controversy and the integration-focused Consent Decree conflict with the United States Department of Housing, Education, and Welfare (HEW) and include reports from the North Carolina Board of Higher Education and ICF Consulting studies. University of North Carolina service materials, chiefly 1985-1999, relate to the Hill family's philanthropic contributions to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as to Watts Hill Jr.'s service to several of the universities in the University of North Carolina System. Consulting materials, 1973-1995, include reports and other items related to Hill's educational consulting career. Personal and family materials, 1943-1998, relate to the administration of John Sprunt Hill II's estate and include a few personal items of Watts Hill Jr., architectural plans for Hill's Chapel Hill residence, and other items. The Addition of November 2008 includes speeches, letters, pamphlets, clippings, and other materials related to Watts Hill Jr.'s position on the North Carolina State Board of Higher Education, 1968-1971, during which time the University of North Carolina considered merging state colleges into a single, consolidated University of North Carolina System. There are also letters, pamphlets, and other materials related to his tenure representing Durham in the North Carolina State General Assembly, 1957-1961, with related professional materials, circa 1950-1971. |
| Creator | Hill, George Watts, 1926-2002. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
George Watts Hill Jr. (usually referred to as Watts Hill Jr.) was born on 3 August 1926, in Baltimore, Md. Hill was the son of George Watts Hill Sr. and the grandson of John Sprunt Hill, both prominent Durham bankers and businessmen. Watts Hill Jr. grew up in Durham, N.C., but went north for prep school, attending the Millbrook School in Millbrook, N.Y. He enrolled in Princeton University from 1944 to 1946. Before and during the time he attended Princeton, he also participated in a Navy flight program. Hill married Mary Lamberton in 1946, and they later had two children, George Watts Hill III and Deborah Hill. In 1947, Hill received an A.B. degree in economics from the University of North Carolina. After graduation, the Hills lived in Geneva, Switzerland, where Watts Hill Jr. attended the Institute of Higher International Studies. In 1948, they returned to the United States to live in New York City.
Hill worked at the Bankers Trust Company until 1950, when he joined his father at the Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company in Durham, N.C. Watts Hill Jr. served as vice-president until 1958. During this time, he became interested in local politics, and successfully ran for a seat on the Durham City Council in 1955. Hill then campaigned to represent Durham as a legislator in the North Carolina General Assembly and won two two-year terms beginning in 1957. As a legislator, Hill was especially concerned with bolstering public education. He decided not to run for a third term in 1961, citing a need to attend to another family business, the Home Security Life Insurance Company. There Hill served as president from 1961 to 1967, and then as chair of the board until 1973.
Although Hill left public office, he continued to stay active in public affairs, especially those related to education. In the early to mid-1960s, Hill served on two committees related to the desegregation of Durham. The Durham Interim Committee was appointed by Mayor R. W. Grabarak and formed on 22 May 1963. During its two-month existence, the committee made recommendations to the city and business owners on how to handle the desegregation process. Hill served as chair of this integrated group. The Interim Committee disbanded on 12 July 1963. A more permanent group, the Durham Committee on Community Relations (also appointed by Mayor Grabarak), was formed on 6 April 1964, and had much the same mission as the Durham Interim Committee. In addition to its advisory role, the committee also appears to have investigated possible violations of civil rights and desegregation law. Watts Hill Jr. served as chair from the time of the group's formation until December 1966, although it appears the group was mostly dormant during 1966.
In 1965, Hill was appointed to the North Carolina State Board of Higher Education by Governor Dan Moore and served as chair until 1969. During this time, the state's universities were embroiled in a conflict with the state legislature over what was known as the Speaker Ban law that prohibited certain people, chiefly those with suspected communist tendencies, from speaking at state-funded colleges and universities. Hill worked to resolve the conflict over institutional authority. He later supported the 1972 consolidation of North Carolina state universities and colleges into the University of North Carolina System. Under this new system, all sixteen campuses were overseen by a single University of North Carolina Board of Governors. Hill served on this Board, 1972-1973.
In 1973, Hill left the family businesses and started his own consulting firm, Watts Hill Jr. and Associates. He also worked with ICF Consulting. Hill often consulted on issues regarding education, and again became involved in state university issues during the Consent Decree litigation of the 1970s and 1980s. The conflict between the University of North Carolina System and the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) stemmed from disagreements about how state institutions should desegregate their campuses. The debate continued for years, and, in 1980, Hill testified during administrative proceedings initiated by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to terminate federal funding of North Carolina universities. Hill testified that the State Board of Education had encouraged the federal government to require a plan for desegregation and criticized the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. His testimony created some controversy in North Carolina and was one of several issues on which Hill publicly disagreed with his more conservative father, who served on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors for years.
The controversy, however, did not diminish Hill's interest in public education, and he remained an advocate for the state universities until his death. He served on the board of visitors at both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina-Asheville. He also continued his family's tradition of philanthropy to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Watts Hill Jr. died on 15 March 2002 at his home in Chapel Hill.
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Scope and Content
The George Watts Hill Jr. collection includes correspondence, speeches, reports, clippings, and other materials related to George Watts Hill Jr.'s interests in education, desegregation, his service in the North Carolina General Assembly, and other topics. Speeches, 1958-1974, include the typed versions of Hill's speeches, mainly about education. Political materials, 1952-1969, are subject files from Hill's years in the state legislature; his service on the Durham Interim Committee and the Durham Committee on Community Relations, both of which focused on desegregation; and a report on public housing in Durham, N.C. Higher education materials, chiefly 1962-1985, document the North Carolina Speaker Ban controversy and the integration-focused Consent Decree conflict with the United States Department of Housing, Education, and Welfare (HEW) and include reports from the North Carolina Board of Higher Education and ICF Consulting studies. University of North Carolina service materials, chiefly 1985-1999, relate to the Hill family's philanthropic contributions to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as to Watts Hill Jr.'s service to several of the universities in the University of North Carolina System. Consulting materials, 1973-1995, include reports and other items related to Hill's educational consulting career. Personal and family materials, 1943-1998, relate to the administration of John Sprunt Hill II's estate and include a few personal items of Watts Hill Jr., architectural plans for Hill's Chapel Hill, N.C., residence, and other items.
The Addition of November 2008 includes speeches, letters, pamphlets, clippings, and other materials related to Watts Hill Jr.'s position on the North Carolina State Board of Higher Education, 1968-1971, during which time the University of North Carolina considered merging state colleges into a single, consolidated University of North Carolina System. There are also letters, pamphlets, and other materials related to his tenure representing Durham in the North Carolina State General Assembly, 1957-1961, with related professional materials, circa 1950-1971.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Speeches, 1958-1974.
Arrangement: chronological.
Typed versions of speeches by Watts Hill Jr., mainly on education, especially higher education, and several on business topics. Most of the speeches include the date, place, and occasion for the talk. A few of the speeches include multiple drafts or working copies.
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Series 2. Political Materials, 1952-1969.
Arrangement: chronological.
Legislative files, correspondence, minutes, memoranda, reports and other materials related to Watts Hill Jr.'s service as a state legislator and as a member of two Durham city committees. The legislative files were collected during Hill's two terms of service in the North Carolina state legislature and are arranged alphabetically by topic. The committee files are mainly about desegregation in Durham during the 1960s.
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Subseries 2.1. Legislative Files, 1957-1961.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Legislative files on topics relevant to Watts Hill Jr.'s career in the state legislature. The files are divided into those collected during his 1957-1959 term and those collected during his 1959-1961 term. Materials include correspondence with constituents, state employees, and other elected officials, legislative committee transcripts, clippings, reports, resolutions, and notes. Major topics include public education, higher education, Durham city and Durham county issues, budget and finance issues, segregation, and teacher testing and certification.
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Subseries 2.2. Durham Interim Committee, 1952-1963.
Correspondence, clippings, and reports related to the process of desegregation in Durham, N.C.
| Folder 197 |
Correspondence and printed materials, 1963: May-July #05162, Subseries: "2.2. Durham Interim Committee, 1952-1963." Folder 197 |
| Folder 198 |
Clippings and reports, 1952-1963 #05162, Subseries: "2.2. Durham Interim Committee, 1952-1963." Folder 198 |
Image P-5162/11-15
P-5162/11P-5162/12P-5162/13P-5162/14P-5162/15 |
Photographs of the Durham Interim Committee #05162, Subseries: "2.2. Durham Interim Committee, 1952-1963." P-5162/11-15 |
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Subseries 2.3. Durham Committee on Community Relations, 1964-1966.
Correspondence, minutes, and organization and structure notes about desegregation in Durham.
Folder 199-201
Folder 199Folder 200Folder 201 |
Correspondence, 1964 #05162, Subseries: "2.3. Durham Committee on Community Relations, 1964-1966." Folder 199-201 |
Folder 202-204
Folder 202Folder 203Folder 204 |
Correspondence, 1965-1966 #05162, Subseries: "2.3. Durham Committee on Community Relations, 1964-1966." Folder 202-204 |
| Folder 205a |
Minutes, April 1964-October 1965 #05162, Subseries: "2.3. Durham Committee on Community Relations, 1964-1966." Folder 205a |
| Folder 205b |
Membership and organization structure, 1964-1965 #05162, Subseries: "2.3. Durham Committee on Community Relations, 1964-1966." Folder 205b |
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Subseries 2.4. Public housing in Durham, N.C., 1968-1969.
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Series 3. Higher Education Materials, 1941-1985 (bulk 1962-1985).
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence, clippings, reports, legal materials, studies, and other materials related to higher education in North Carolina. The series is arranged into three main subseries: Speaker Ban, North Carolina Board of Higher Education, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and Consent Decree. Major topics include the debate over the legality and effects of the speaker ban at University of North Carolina schools; changing issues in higher education during the 1960s and 1970s; and the debate over North Carolina's compliance with federal desegregation law (known as Consent Decree).
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Subseries 3.1. Speaker Ban, 1941-1968 (bulk 1965-1966).
Correspondence, clippings, and other materials related to the debate over the North Carolina state law prohibiting certain people from speaking at University of North Carolina campuses.
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Subseries 3.2. North Carolina Board of Higher Education, 1967-1972.
Arrangement: chronological.
Five reports by the North Carolina Board of Higher Education, of which Watts Hill Jr. was chair. Also includes 10 audio reel-to-reel tapes.
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Subseries 3.3. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and Consent Decree, 1962-1985.
Legal documents, reports, studies, correspondence, notes, and other materials related to Watts Hill Jr.'s interest and involvement in North Carolina's struggle with the Department of Housing, Education, and Welfare (HEW) over the desegregation of institutions of higher education.
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Subseries 3.3.1. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Materials, 1973-1981.
Arrangement: chronological.
Legal documents, proposals, drafts, notes, correspondence, and other materials directly related to the state of North Carolina's debate with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare over desegregation plans.
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Subseries 3.3.2. ICF Studies, 1972-1976.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Studies, correspondence, notes and other materials related to studies contracted with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare by ICF Consulting. For non-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare related materials, see ICF items in Series 5. Consulting Materials.
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Subseries 3.3.3. Other Materials, 1962-1985.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Chiefly reports, clippings, and conference materials related to the desegregation of higher education. These items are not directly related to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare or North Carolina's struggle with consent decree, but were collected by Hill as supplementary information. A number of reports from a variety of sources are arranged in chronological order as Miscellaneous Reports at the end of the subseries.
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Series 4. University of North Carolina Service Materials, 1977-1999 (bulk 1985-1999).
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, reports, minutes, statistics, financial information, and other materials related to Hill's interest in and service to various University of North Carolina institutions, especially with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina System. He was also actively involved in the Hill family donations to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There are a few items about North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina-Asheville, and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
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Subseries 4.1. Hill Family Gifts, 1987-1997.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, reports, and financial information related to the Hill family's donations to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Most of the material is about the Carolina Inn and its financial health.
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Subseries 4.2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1975-1999 (bulk 1985-1999).
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, reports, minutes, memoranda, clippings, and other materials chiefly related to Hill's service on the Board of Visitors, the Marine Sciences Board of Visitors, and his personal interest in the University.
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Subseries 4.3. University of North Carolina System, 1986-1999.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, statistics, reports, and clippings about various issues related to the University of North Carolina System.
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Subseries 4.4. Other University of North Carolina Schools, 1989-1995.
Correspondence and printed materials relating to North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina-Asheville, and University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
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Series 5. Consulting Materials, 1973-1995.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
A small amount of material relating to the various organizations for which Hill acted as a consultant, including ICF Consulting. Topics include utilities, education, and finance. For ICF materials related to higher education, see Subseries 3.3.2. ICF Studies.
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Series 6. Personal and Family Materials, 1943-1998.
Chiefly materials related to Hill's administration of the estate of his late brother, John Sprunt Hill II, mainly from 1986 to 1992. The series also includes a few personal materials related to Watts Hill Jr. and other family members, including newspaper clippings, a publication from Hill's school days, correspondence, and his resume.
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Series 7. Maps and Architectural Plans, 1960-1973.
Maps of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Durham, N.C., and architectural plans for Hill's Chapel Hill residence.
| Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-5162/1 |
Proposed city limit for Durham, N.C. #05162, Series: "7. Maps and Architectural Plans, 1960-1973." XOPF-5162/1 |
Quail Ridge map #05162, Series: "7. Maps and Architectural Plans, 1960-1973." XOPF-5162/1 |
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Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-5162/2-4
XOPF-5162/2XOPF-5162/3XOPF-5162/4 |
Chapel Hill residence, 1960-1963 #05162, Series: "7. Maps and Architectural Plans, 1960-1973." XOPF-5162/2-4 |
| Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-5162/5 |
Maps of Durham and Chapel Hill, circa 1960-1973 #05162, Series: "7. Maps and Architectural Plans, 1960-1973." XOPF-5162/5 |
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Addition of November 2008 (Acc. 101025), 1950-1974.
Arrangement: Materials related to the political and business activities of George Watts Hill Jr. arranged chronologically, followed by materials documenting his activities as the chair of the State Board of Higher Education, arranged alphabetically by file name.
Speeches, letters, pamphlets, clippings, and other materials related to Watts Hill Jr.'s position on the North Carolina State Board of Higher Education, 1968-1971, during which time the University of North Carolina considered merging state colleges into a single, consolidated University of North Carolina System. There are also letters, pamphlets, and other materials related to his tenure representing Durham in the North Carolina State General Assembly, 1957-1961, with related professional materials, circa 1950-1971.
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Items Separated
Processed by: Valerie Gillispie, July 2005
Encoded by: Valerie Gillispie, July 2005
Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, March 2021
This collection was processed with support from Mary L. Hill.
The Addition of November 2008 processed by Martin Gengenbach, June 2011.
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