Department of Athletics of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1919-1997, 2000 (Bulk 1919-1997)

Summary

Creator:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of Athletics.

Abstract:

Intercollegiate athletics at the University of North Carolina began in 1884 with a baseball game against Bingham Military School. The position of director of athletics was established in 1915 to provide oversight for intercollegiate sports. Beginning in 1937, the director of athletics was also the chair of the Department of Physical Education and Athletics. In 1938, the Educational Foundation was established to support the athletic program by raising funds for facilities and scholarships. During 1954-1955, the Department of Physical Education and Athletics was divided into the Department of Physical Education and the Department of Athletics, the latter assuming responsibility for intercollegiate sports. Also at that time, the director of athletics began reporting directly to the chancellor. There were no official intercollegiate women's teams at the university until the early 1970s. In 1974, the women's intercollegiate athletics program became part of the Department of Athletics.

Records include files of the director of athletics and other Department of Athletics administrators related to the overall administration of the department and to individual intercollegiate sports. The majority of the sports-related files pertain to non-revenue sports, especially women's sports. However, there are some files related to revenue sports (football and men's basketball). Other sports represented include baseball, women's basketball, cross country running, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. Materials include correspondence; annual reports; budgets and financial materials; policy statements and regulations; game schedules and statistics; and press releases and news clippings. There are also materials related to athletic facilities and equipment; fundraising; athletic scholarships; recruitment and eligibility of players; regional and national athletic organizations; and other issues and topics. Of particular interest are materials related to Title IX of the United States Education Amendments of 1972 and its impact on women's athletics. Administrators who figure prominently in the records include Robert A. Fetzer, director of athletics, 1926-1952; Ernie Williamson, executive secretary, and later executive vice president, of the Educational Foundation, 1957-1986; Frances B. Hogan, director of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics, 1974-1985; John Swofford, assistant director of athletics, 1976-1979, and director of athletics, 1980-1997; and Beth Miller, business manager, assistant director, and then, associate director of athletics, 1979-1995. The records also include Fetzer's files as track coach and Beth Miller's files as volleyball coach along with scrapbooks and photographs documenting the activities of the Women's Athletic Association, 1954-1977.

Extent:

88000 items (92.5 linear feet)

Language:

English.

Library Catalog Link:

View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

The University of North Carolina's first intercollegiate athletic contest was a baseball game against Bingham Military School in the spring of 1884. Its first intercollegiate football game was against Wake Forest College on 18 October 1888. Initially, intercollegiate games were arranged by the students, but within a few years, a faculty committee was established to provide oversight. The position of director of athletics was written into university policy in 1915, in order to provide needed reform and regulation. Thomas J. Campbell was appointed to the position in 1916. Among the duties of the director was to assure that instruction and facilities were adequate for the participation of all students in athletic activities. Campbell's tenure was interrupted by World War I, but in 1921, the university hired William K. Fetzer as director of athletics and football coach. Fetzer's brother Robert became assistant director and track coach. When William resigned in 1926, Robert A. Fetzer became director of athletics and served in that capacity for more than twenty years.

In 1935, the university established the Department of Physical Education with Oliver K. Cornwell as chair. In 1937, the Department of Physical Education and the athletics program directed by Robert Fetzer were combined to form the Department of Physical Education and Athletics. Cornwell, as professor of physical education, was considered chair of the physical education component of the new department, but Fetzer was chair of the combined department and director of athletics. There was some separation of funds between the two components of the department. The salaries of the physical education faculty came from state funds, while those of the coaches came from Athletic Association funds. The Athletic Association, organized by students in 1876, remained a student organization but was also a quasi-administrative office. Because it received student athletic fees and proceeds from ticket sales, it needed a professional business manager. The first person to provide managerial services to the Athletic Association was Charles T. Woollen, the university business manager. Later, the association's business manager was part of the office of the director of athletics. Another individual who worked closely with the office of the director of athletics was the director of sports publicity. This position was created about 1947; it was technically part of the university's News Bureau at first, but it was funded by the Athletic Association. Eventually, the Sports Information Office was established within the Department of Athletics.

In 1952, when Robert Fetzer retired, administration of the Department of Physical Education and Athletics was modified in an effort to strengthen faculty control over athletics. Oliver K. Cornwell became chair of the combined department while Charles P. Erickson, Fetzer's successor, was simply director of athletics. The combined department ended in 1954-1955, when the director of athletics began reporting directly to the chancellor. The intercollegiate athletics component of the old department became the Department of Athletics; but the names Department of Athletics and Athletic Association were sometimes used interchangeably.

The Educational Foundation was chartered in 1938 in order to provide financial aid to athletes and to support university athletics by building facilities and purchasing equipment. For a brief period in the 1960s, at the behest of football coach Jim Tatum, a parallel organization called The Rams, Inc., took primary control over fundraising efforts for athletic programs at the university. When the Rams' charter expired, the Educational Foundation resumed the role of fundraising. The name Rams Club was later given to a category of donors within the foundation.

Prior to 1971, there were limited opportunities for women students to participate in athletics. The main opportunities were the intramural and co-recreational sports sponsored by the Women's Athletic Association and the Department of Physical Education. There were no official intercollegiate athletic teams for women at the university, although women could compete as individuals in intercollegiate tournaments. In 1971, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was established with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a charter member. In 1972, the United States Congress enacted the Education Amendments of 1972, Title IX of which prohibited discrimination against women in athletics and other areas by educational institutions receiving federal funds. In May 1974, Frances Hogan, a member of the university's physical education faculty since 1946, was appointed director of intercollegiate athletics for women. At that time, the women's intercollegiate athletics program was part of the Department of Physical Education. In October 1974, it became part of the Department of Athletics. By 1979, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had the largest women's intercollegiate athletics program in the state and fielded women's teams in 13 sports. UNC-Chapel Hill remained a member of the Association for Interccollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) until 1982, when its women's teams were placed under the jurisdiction of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

For discussions of the early development of athletics at the University of North Carolina, see Kemp P. Battle's History of the University of North Carolina, 1795-1912 and Louis Round Wilson's History of the University of North Carolina, 1900-1930.

Scope and content:

The original accession includes annual reports of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Director of Athletics, 1950-1980.

The Addition of June 2012 includes files of the director of athletics and other Department of Athletics administrators related to the overall administration of the department and to individual intercollegiate sports, 1919-1997. The majority of the sports-related files pertain to non-revenue sports (renamed Olympic sports in 1994), especially women's sports. There are also some files related to revenue sports (football and men's basketball). Other sports represented include baseball, women's basketball, cross country running, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. Materials include correspondence; annual reports; budgets and financial materials; policy statements and regulations; game schedules and statistics; and press releases and news clippings. There are also materials related to athletic facilities and equipment; fundraising; athletic scholarships; recruitment and eligibility of players; regional and national athletic organizations and tournaments, including the Southern Intercollegiate Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women; and other issues and topics.

Of particular interest are materials related to Title IX of the United States Education Amendments of 1972 and its impact on women's athletics. Administrators who figure prominently in the records include Robert A. Fetzer, director of athletics, 1926-1952; Ernie Williamson, executive secretary, and later executive vice president, of the Educational Foundation, 1957-1986; Frances B. Hogan, director of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics, 1974-1985; John Swofford, assistant director of athletics, 1976-1979, and director of athletics, 1980-1997; and Beth Miller, business manager, assistant director, and then, associate director of athletics, 1979-1995. The records also include Fetzer's files as track coach and Beth Miller's files as volleyball coach along with scrapbooks and photographs documenting the activities of the Women's Athletic Association, 1954-1977. There are also a few files of Charles T. Woollen as graduate manager of the Athletic Association, including a file on the planning, construction, and dedication of Kenan Stadium, 1926-1927.

Original file folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.

Acquisition information:

Transferred from the Department of Athletics in 1979 and 2009 (Records transfer 20090226.2). Tranferred by Willis Brooks, June 2016 (Records transfer 20160629.1). Donated by Willis Brooks in May 2013 and transferred to the University Archives in September 2017 (RT 20170925.1).

Processing information:

Processed by: University Archives Staff, November 1992, January 2001, April 2007, June 2012; Jennifer Coggins and Nick Graham, June 2016

Encoded by: Lauren Rene, January 2001; Gergana Abernathy, July 2016.

Updated because of an addition of photographs by Patrick Cullom and Mary Oliva, March 2018.

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.

Related

Related material:

• Office of President (University of North Carolina System): Frank Porter Graham Records (#40007)
• Office of Chancellor: Robert Burton House Records (#40019)
• Office of Chancellor: William Brantley Aycock Records (#40020)
• Office of Chancellor: Paul Frederick Sharp Records (#40021)
• Office of Chancellor: Joseph Carlyle Sitterson Records (#40022)
• Office of Chancellor: Nelson Ferebee Taylor Records (#40023)
• Office of Chancellor: Christopher C. Fordham Records (#40024)
• Office of Chancellor: Paul Hardin Records (#40025)
• Office of Chancellor: Michael Hooker Records (#40026)
• Office of Chancellor: William O. McCoy Records (#40227)
• Office of Chancellor: James Moeser Records (#40228)
• Assistants to the Chancellor of the University of the North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Susan H. Ehringhaus Records (#40031)
• Women's Tennis Coach Records (#40094)
• Faculty Committee on Athletics Records (#40106)
• Faculty Ad Hoc Committee on Athletics and the University Records (#40106)
• Athletic Communications Office Records (#40307)
• Office of the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Business and Finance Records (#40335)
• Oral History Interview with Frances Hogan, Interview L-0044, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
• University Archives started archiving selected websites of the academic and business units of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina General Administration, and student groups and organizations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in January 2013. To see if websites for this department or related departments have been archived visit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Harvested Websites (#40417).

Separated material:

• Audiocassettes (C-40093/1-7)
• Oversize volume (SV-40093/1)
• Image box (IB-40093/1-20)

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Baseball--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Basketball--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
College sports--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
College sports for women--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Cross-country running--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Fencing--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Field hockey--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Football--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Golf--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Gymnastics--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Lacrosse--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Soccer--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Softball for women--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Swimming--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Tennis--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Track and field--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Universities and colleges--North Carolina.
Volleyball for women--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.
Wrestling--North Carolina--Chapel Hill.

Names:

United States. Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Baseball.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Basketball.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962). Educational Foundation.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Football.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--History.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Sports.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Tennis.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Track and field.
Women's Athletic Association. (University of North Carolina(1793-1962)).
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Wrestling.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962). Office of the Director of Athletics.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Baseball.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Basketball.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Department of Athletics.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Department of Athletics--Photographs.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Educational Foundation.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Football.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Golf.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--History--20th century.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Office of the Director of Athletics.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Sports.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Swimming.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Tennis.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Track and field.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Volleyball.
Women's Athletic Association. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Women's Intercollegiate Athletics.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Wrestling.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Sports--Photographs.
Fetzer, Robert A. (Robert Allison), 1887-1968.
Hogan, Frances B. (Frances Burns), 1922-2009.
Miller, Beth, 1946-
Swofford, John, 1948-
Williamson, Ernie, 1922-2002.

Restrictions to access:

Materials in Box 53 are CLOSED to researchers for 75 years from the date of their creation for reasons related to the confidentiality of personnel, student, medical, and other legally protected records.

This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.

Restrictions to use:

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Department of Athletics of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records #40093, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:

University Archives and Records Management Services

Louis Round Wilson Library

200 South Road

Chapel Hill, NC 27515

Contact:

(919) 962-3765

wilsonlibrary@unc.edu