This collection contains the official records of Chancellor James Sharbrough Ferguson during his tenure as acting chancellor (1964-1965 and 1966-1967), and chancellor (1967-1979). To a lesser extent, his years as Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Chancellor are also documented. During Ferguson's term as Chancellor, the University responded to a redefinition of its role and function, converting the former Woman's College into a complex, multipurpose, coeducational university, offering doctoral degrees and having responsibilities and strong ties to the urban area of the central Piedmont. In addition, the University coped with the tide of social, economic and political change that shook the community and nation during the sixties and seventies.
National concerns that were reflected on this campus included drug use and abuse, Vietnam War protests, the growing concern over the environment and ecology, the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, the energy crisis and resulting conservation of resources, and streaking. Some of the state and local issues facing the University during Ferguson's years were the problems created by the growth of the University (land acquisition and traffic problems), the Speaker Ban Bill, the problems of Tate Street and "Hippie Hill," the food workers strike and the suit filed by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare against the UNC system regarding the integration of the system's various campuses.
Materials from this collection included for inclusion in this project pertain primarily to the school integration, its growing African American student population, and campus activism related to race relations and civil rights issues.
For more information about this collection, please consult the collection finding aid.