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UNC at war topic of Wilson Library exhibit E-mail
Monday, November 05, 2007
The impact of the Civil and World Wars on UNC will be the topic of a free public exhibit opening and a talk on Nov. 13, just after Veteran’s Day, in Wilson Library’s Manuscripts Department.


The exhibit, “A Nursery of Patriotism: The University at War, 1861-1945” will use more than 150 letters, documents, photographs and publications to explore the university’s contributions to and involvement in the conflicts. The exhibit will be free to the public through Feb. 29 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

University Archivist Janis Holder, one of the exhibit curators, will speak at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 13 on “Words Can Do Little: Spike Saunders’ World War II Correspondence.”
The late J. Maryon “Spike” Saunders, executive secretary of the General Alumni Association of UNC during the war, worked to document the military activities of alumni and keep them and their families connected with Chapel Hill. A reception and exhibit viewing will begin at 5 p.m.

Holder said the exhibit aims to tell the university’s story in part by following individuals including Ruffin Thomson of Hinds County, Miss., who attended UNC from 1859 to 1861, then joined the 18th Mississippi Infantry Regiment. On exhibit will be a letter in which Thomson describes the campus at the start of the war; a detail of his regiment’s muster roll bearing his name; his 1864 military promotion letter to the Confederate Marine Corps; and an excerpt from the “University of North Carolina Record,” which conferred degrees on Thomson and other military alumni in 1911.

Other items will include a 1917 pamphlet by UNC faculty titled “Why We Are at War with Germany”; a 1943 Christmas card mailed to Spike Saunders from Guadalcanal; and photos and documents illustrating wartime life on campus. The exhibit also will present items showing dissenting opinions, such as opposition to the draft and to the large military presence on campus during World War II.

For more information about “A Nursery of Patriotism,” call (919) 962-1345; for information on the Nov. 13 program, call Liza Terll at (919) 962-4207.

Library contact: Judith Panitch, (919) 962-1301, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it