Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the School of Commerce of the University of North Carolina Records #40045, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Periodic transfer from the offices that create these records.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

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.

• Business education--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
• Carroll, Dudley Dewitt, 1885-1971.
• Education, Higher--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Kenan-Flagler Business School--History.
• Universities and colleges--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Curricula.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962). School of Commerce.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962). School of Commerce. Administrative Board.

• University Papers (#40005)

The university's Board of Trustees authorized the establishment of the School of Commerce during the summer of 1919. Developing instruction in commerce and industry had been a key interest of University President Edward Kidder Graham, who had died the previous winter. Graham had been conscious of the rapid transformation taking place in North Carolina's economic and industrial life. Essential to the state's economic advancement, according to Graham, was a more scientific direction in the way its industries governed themselves. The school was conceived to serve the business life of North Carolina by providing the foundation for the sound training of future business leaders in the science of industrial administration and management.

Combining a liberal arts education with practical training in business principles, the School of Commerce began operation in September 1919 with an enrollment of 125 students. In 1923 the school was admitted to membership in the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business, an organization dedicated to the promotion of high standards in professional education for business. As the school increased in prominence and popularity, so did enrollment. Originally housed in Alumni Hall, it moved to the second floor of Saunders Hall in 1922. Soon it overflowed into the first floor, and in 1929 it moved to its first new building, Bingham Hall. By 1953 the school had moved into a three-building court (Carroll, Hanes, Gardner). In 1997 it moved to its current home in the McColl Building.

In 1950 the name of the School of Commerce was changed to the School of Business Administration and, in 1988, to the UNC Business School at Chapel Hill. In 1991 the school was renamed the Kenan-Flagler Business School to honor the past generosity to the university of philanthropist Mary Lily Kenan Flagler and her husband, Henry Morrison Flagler, and in recognition of a generous gift to the school from Frank Hawkins Kenan.

Following is a list of those who have served as dean of the school.

Records include the minutes of the School of Commerce Administrative Board from its initial meeting in 1920 through 1929. Minutes mainly concern course requirements and student petitions. Also included is one letter, dated 2 May 1928, from the secretary of the Administrative Board to the of the Department of Psychology concerning the psychology requirement for commerce students.