Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No image in this collection may be reproduced without the permission and consent of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the William W. Prouty Photographic Collection #P0038, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

The materials were donated to the North Carolina Collection by William W. Prouty in 1989.

Additional Descriptive Resources

Index of captions available at Wilson Library.

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.

Processed by: North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, 1997

Encoded by: Patrick Cullom, August 2010; Elizabeth Hull, October 2010

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2020; Patrick Cullom, March 2021

Archivists have not removed racial terms "Negro" or "Colored" because we feel they provide important historical context about the materials and who created them and they facilitate the research process. We recognize that these terms also may cause harm and will periodically revisit our decision to include them. We recognize the complexity of this issue and welcome feedback on this decision at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

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.

Individuals Appearing in Images:
• Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971.
• Arthur, Billy, 1911-2006.
• Aycock, William B. (William Brantley), 1915-
• Boyd, Ty.
• Campbell, Orville.
• Cordon, Norman.
• Friday, Ida Howell.
• Friday, William C. (William Clyde)
• Graves, Louis, 1883-1965.
• Griffith, Andy, 1926-
• Hodges, Luther Hartwell, 1898-1974.
• House, R. B. (Robert Burton), 1892-1987.
• Hunt, William Lanier.
• Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963.
• McGuire, Frank, 1913-1994.
• Pegram, George, 1911-1974.
• Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962.
• Tatum, James M. (James Moore), 1913-1959.

Subjects and Locations Appearing in Images:
• Ackland Art Museum.
• African Americans--North Carolina--Chapel Hill--Photographs.
• African Americans--North Carolina--Photographs.
• American Legion. Auxiliary. North Carolina.
• Boy Scouts of America.
• Buildings--North Carolina--Chapel Hill--Photographs.
• Carrboro (N.C.)--Photographs.
• Chapel Hill (N.C.)--History.
• Chapel Hill (N.C.)--Photographs.
• Church buildings--North Carolina--Photographs.
• City and town life--North Carolina--Carrboro--Photographs.
• City and town life--North Carolina--Chapel Hill--Photographs.
• City and town life--North Carolina--Hillsborough--Photographs.
• Coaches (Athletics)--Photographs.
• College sports--North Carolina--Photographs.
• College sports--Photographs.
• College sports--Southern States--Photographs.
• Franklin Street (Chapel Hill, N.C.)--Photographs.
• Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
• Hillsborough (N.C.)--Photographs.
• Linville (N.C.)--Photographs.
• Little League baseball--North Carolina--Photographs.
• North Carolina Jaycees.
• North Carolina Tar Heels (Basketball team)--Photographs.
• North Carolina Tar Heels (Football team)--Photographs.
• School sports--North Carolina--Photographs.
• Schools--North Carolina--Orange County--Photographs.
• Universities and colleges--North Carolina--Photographs.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Basketball--Photographs.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Buildings--Photographs.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Football--Photographs.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--History--Photographs.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Photographs.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Sports--Photographs.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Student life--Photographs.
• Wrightsville Beach (N.C.)--Photographs.

General Subjects:
• Chapel Hill newspaper.
• Chapel Hill weekly.
• North Carolina--Photographs.
• Photographers--North Carolina.
• Photographs.
• Photojournalism.
• Photojournalists--North Carolina.
• Prouty, William W.

• Hugh Morton Collection of Photographs and Films (#P0081)
• Jock Lauterer Photographic Collection (#P0069)
• Roland Giduz Photographic Collection (#P0033)

William W. (Bill) Prouty was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala., circa 1913, and moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1919. He graduated from Chapel Hill High School, Oak Ridge Military Institute, and the University of North Carolina. He was a veteran of World War II. Prouty worked as a sportswriter, columnist, and photographer for The Chapel Hill Weekly and The Chapel Hill Newspaper. He died on 23 January 1996.

The collection consists of approximately 5,600 black-and-white 120 roll film negatives, 1,900 (mostly) 4x5 black-and-white sheet film negatives, and 53 photographic prints (mostly copies of original negatives discarded due to deterioration). The images document community organizations; events; businesses; churches; schools; sports teams; newsworthy people of local and national significance; and scenes and activities in and around the towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough in Orange County, N.C., between 1955 and 1961. The collection also contains some images of the University of North Carolina, including a set of 35mm color copy slides of the October 1961 University Day visit of President John F. Kennedy. A few North Carolina coastal and mountain locations are also depicted.

The collection is arranged into four series by format, then in order by negative number assigned by the photographer. Descriptions listed below are those provided by the photographer, except where noted in parentheses.

Duplicate negatives and interpositives have been created from some of the sheet film negatives in the Prouty collection (noted below).