NEWS

Local angles: Atlanta, Charlotte

CHAPEL HILL -- The Charles Kuralt Learning Center in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication will open to the public from 3-5 p.m. Friday, March 31, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 1.

Kuralt’s widow, Suzanna, donated the contents of his Manhattan penthouse office to UNC-CH.

"We’ve recreated the office as much as possible as a tribute to Charles and to his excellence as a journalist," said Richard Cole, School dean. "Charles had a soft spot in his heart for our school, and we’re mighty grateful to Mrs. Kuralt and the family."

The center will open during a three-day dedication event for the school’s new campus home, Carroll Hall, March 30-April 1. A private opening of the Kuralt Center will be held earlier on March 31 for Kuralt family members, including his two daughters, Susan Bowers and Lisa White, and fund-raising drive leaders and donors.

The drive, which raised more than $300,000, was for the Charles Kuralt Memorial Project at UNC-CH. That project had two components: the Charles Kuralt Collection in the UNC-CH Library, and the Kuralt Learning Center in the school. The fund drive was led by Gene and Saralyn Oberdorfer of Atlanta and Jim and Mary Lou Babb of Charlotte.

"We and the other founders were privileged to participate in making the learning center and the library archives available to the public and hope that present and future students will use the center to enhance their lives," Gene Oberdorfer said.

For the Kuralt Center, funds were used to digitize much of Kuralt’s TV works, including the famous CBS "On the Road" episodes so center visitors may watch the programs using touch-screen technology. The programs may be viewed on touch-screen TV monitors in three places in Carroll Hall.

Funds were also used to disassemble and move the contents of Kuralt’s three-room office suite on West 57^th Street in midtown Manhattan to Chapel Hill, plus buying computers and audio and visual equipment to turn the office into a learning center.

In many ways, the suite symbolized Kuralt. It was solid, sturdy and elegant, with Oriental rugs, paneled walls and a brick fireplace. Thirteen Emmys and three Peabody awards caught the eyes of visitors. Books filled floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookshelves.

"Charles referred to it as a gentleman’s writing room," said Karen Beckers, Kuralt’s assistant and longtime colleague at CBS. "He wanted it to have some charm and elegance. He didn’t want a sterile working environment."

Besides being open to visitors, the center will be a place for students to study Kuralt’s works as well as special events. Docents will show visitors around during regular hours, which will be announced later.

"Visitors will be inspired not only by Charles’s stories but also by his ideals," Cole said. "In our school, we teach students to write a full, fair and accurate report on everything they do. And to report not just about the elite but about down-home folks. To care not only about our profession and good writing, but to care. In doing that, we honor Charles the most."

Kuralt, a Wilmington native, died July 4, 1997, at age 62. He attended UNC-CH from 1951-54 and was editor of The Daily Tar Heel. His first professional job was on The Charlotte News. Later he became the youngest correspondent ever hired by CBS News. That record stands today.

Even after he rose to fame with "On the Road" and "Sunday Morning" and became one of the world’s most respected journalists in the world, Kuralt was committed to supporting North Carolina and UNC-CH. He returned to Chapel Hill many times, often visiting Wallace Kuralt, his brother, who owned the Intimate Bookshops. Several times Kuralt brought camera and crew with him to Chapel Hill to tape news or feature programs.

He made key donations to UNC-CH, including a gift in his father’s honor for completion of the Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building that houses the School of Social Work. He served on several UNC-CH boards, including the journalism school’s Board of Visitors. He was an inaugural honoree in the N. C. Journalism Hall of Fame in 1981. The Kuralt fellowship in international broadcasting is given to a graduate of the journalism school each year for a year-long job on Voice of America in Washington, D.C.

Kuralt is buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery on the campus. Suzanna "Petie" Kuralt, Charles’s widow, died Oct. 27, 1999, and is buried next to him.

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Journalism school contact: Dean Richard Cole, (919) 962-1204

News Services contact: Mike McFarland