Carolina’s history comes to life on Instagram

One post shows what’s believed to be the oldest existing photo of UNC-Chapel Hill, a daguerreotype of sophomores from the 1850s. Another, posted on the first day of Carolina’s football season, depicts Kenan Stadium in the 1920s.

Some place a spotlight on historical firsts, like the University’s first three Black undergraduate students who enrolled in 1955, and others offer a slice of life from years past, like when canine Count Leapanrun became a four-legged campus celebrity.

Welcome to the UNC-Chapel Hill University Archives (@uncarchives) Instagram account, where Carolina history is delivered to your phone one photo and caption at a time.

This social media effort, primarily led by University archivist Nicholas Graham, is a fun way to repurpose existing research and historical materials and make them widely accessible to the Carolina community without needing to visit Wilson Library.

“Often I’ll run into people on campus, and they’ll tell me in person that they really enjoy it,” said Graham, who collaborates on this work with Lolita Rowe, assistant University archivist for outreach and engagement.

In November 2015, Graham created the account, which now has over 6,000 followers. Each post (there are nearly 900 now) serves multiple purposes.

“Some of it is, ‘Here’s this cool thing,’ but some of it is also, ‘Here’s this image representing an important moment in campus history, and here’s more about it,’” Graham said. “In our campus history work, the goal is to first educate and inform, but it’s especially exciting when we can encourage people to dig in and explore on their own.”

There’s no shortage of post ideas, and Graham and fellow University Libraries staff even come across surprises they’re eager to share.

Take for instance a 1921 telegram from University President Harry W. Chase to Dr. William de Berniere MacNider of the UNC School of Medicine. MacNider, who is credited with creating the pharmacology department, was considering leaving for a job at the University of Texas.

In response, Chase wrote, “Forget Texas, make up your mind to die a Tar Heel.” Chase’s plea worked. MacNider remained a Tar Heel and later had a hall named after him.

“I thought that was really interesting. I hadn’t seen it before,” Graham said. “A lot of times, you’re looking for something else, and you see something and go, ‘This is really fun.’”

The chance to receive feedback and commentary from viewers is an example of social media for good. When the account shared photos from the inaugural Carolina field hockey season in 1972, no other than current Tar Heel head coach, former player and five-time national champion Erin Matson commented, “This is amazing!!!”

Graham also appreciated one comment on his post about Tar Heel trailblazers Leroy Frasier, Ralph Frasier and John Lewis Brandon. “That’s my daddy and my uncle,” Rochelle Frasier wrote.

“That’s really meaningful,” Graham said, adding that some posts show “history is not as ancient as it might seem.”

Graham makes a photo of an invitation to Carolina’s 1889 Commencement exercises. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

What other types of posts do people like?

Graham said images of the Old Well and its different looks through the years perform well. Tar Heels of course love to revisit moments of athletics glory, and memorable campus events (large snowfalls, for example) take alumni down memory lane.

“I think a lot of our followers are passionate alums,” he said. “There are definitely things we’ve posted, and someone responds, ‘I was there.’”

The next time you look at the account, think about what other pieces of Carolina history you’re interested in learning about.

“We’re always interested in hearing about what people are interested in and what they’d like to learn more about,” Graham said. “The benefit of social media is that you can be reactive pretty quickly and flexible.”