The North Carolina Collection (NCC), located in historic Wilson Special Collections Library on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, traces its origins to the founding of the North Carolina Historical Society in 1844. Since then, the North Carolina Collection’s Research Library has grown to become the largest collection of printed materials related to a single state.
Research Library
The Research Library’s holdings are especially strong in printed materials relating to the history and culture of North Carolina, from the earliest accounts of explorers along the North American coast to present-day books and journals. There are extensive holdings of maps, newspapers, and photographs in the NCC and an unparalleled collection of North Carolina literary works. The Research Library also holds two valued collections of materials. The Thomas Wolfe Collection includes correspondence, manuscripts, legal documents, family memorabilia, printed material, photographs, clippings, and recorded materials by and about Asheville-born writer Thomas Wolfe. The Sir Walter Raleigh Collection includes books, pamphlets, brochures, manuscripts and audiovisual materials by and about Sir Walter Raleigh and English exploration during the Elizabethan era.
Lectures and invited papers
Gladys Hall Coates Lecture Series
In 2004, the North Carolina Collection hosted the inaugural lecture in the Gladys Hall Coates University History Lecture Series. Complete texts of the lectures, speaker bios, and information about Gladys Hall Coates can be found in the Coates Lecture Series collection.
Historic Political Campaigns in North Carolina Conference Archives
On September 14 and 15, 2012, the conference “To Gain Attention to Their Various Claims: Historic Political Campaigns in North Carolina” took place at Wilson Library, co-sponsored by the North Carolina Collection and the Southern Historical Collection. Archived lectures from that conference are available on the Historic Political Campaigns in North Carolina conference collection.
Other Papers
- Civil War America and the Man in the Street, 2 June 2012, by Richard Doty, Senior Curator of Numismatics for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection at the National Museum of American History.
- Mother Cotten and Crazy Daisy: North Carolina Women at the Turn of the 20th Century, 19 January 2006, by Anastatia Sims, Professor of History, Georgia Southern University.
- The History of the World, Part II, 7 September 2018, by Nicholas Popper, Professor of History, the College of William and Mary.
Visit the NCC blog
North Carolina Miscellany – Exploring the history, literature, and culture of the Tar Heel State
Gallery
The North Carolina Collection Gallery, a public service of the North Carolina Collection, presents a variety of exhibits that feature literature, photographs, and artifacts from the North Carolina Collection’s extensive holdings. Highlights include the furnishings in three historic rooms and exhibits on topics including early attempts at English settlement, the Croatoan Indians of coastal North Carolina, rare ornithological prints, the North Carolina gold rush and historic moneys, the original “Siamese twins” Chang and Eng Bunker, and much more. Gallery exhibitions are free and open to the public.
Gallery history
The Gallery is part of a long history at Carolina of using museum objects as educational tools. More than two centuries ago, in 1795, the University’s board of trustees appointed Charles Wilson Harris the school’s first “keeper of the museum.” Harris was a native of Cabarrus County, N.C., and a recent graduate of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton). As keeper, he began to assemble a collection of artifacts and natural history specimens, displaying them in his “cabinet of curios” for students and visitors to the small, new campus.
Today, the North Carolina Collection Gallery serves as a descendant to Charles Harris’s early museum and library work. The Gallery, which opened in December 1989, is responsible for overseeing more than 35,000 museum objects for the department, as well as presenting a variety of exhibits that feature literature, photographs, and artifacts from the North Carolina Collection’s extensive holdings.
Visiting the Gallery
Visitors may either browse on their own or arrange for guided tours with staff. The Gallery’s facilities are also available to the University community as a meeting area for smaller seminars, classes, and other special programs.
K-12 visitors
K-12 teachers interested in providing their classes with multi-disciplinary field trips should consider UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus. Situated within a short walking distance of one another are the Ackland Art Museum, Morehead Planetarium, and the North Carolina Collection Gallery. Thus, a “research triangle” of art, science, and social-history experiences and tours can be arranged among these three institutions.
University-affiliated visitors
Faculty members teaching classes of all sizes and disciplines are encouraged to contact Gallery staff to discuss assignments and visits related to the collections. The Gallery’s facilities are also available to the University community as a meeting area for smaller seminars, classes, and other special programs.
Directions, hours, and parking
The Gallery is located on the second floor of Wilson Library. Parking and hours information are available on the Wilson Library location page.
Photographic Archives
The North Carolina Collection began collecting photographs in 1929. Today, the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives contains more than 3,000,000 items, from daguerreotypes to digital photographs. The photographs are descriptive and documentary in nature. They provide a visual record of North Carolina’s people, places, and events. Images exist for all 100 of the state’s counties. The photographic archives is also a major repository for historical images documenting the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Collections with photographs of UNC-Chapel Hill
Bain, Elizabeth Tannahill (Collection P0064)
Barbour, Durwood Collection of North Carolina Postcards (Collection P0077)
Barnes, Billy E. (Collection P0034)
Boone, Samuel Moyle (Collection P0084)
Burch, Lillian Alexander (Collection P0026)
Cobb, Collier (Collection P0013)
Friday, William C. (Collection P0046)
Frohock, John Moran (Collection P0042)
Giduz, Roland (Collection P0033)
Hawkins, Colin M. (Collection P0021)
Jacocks, William Picard (Collection P0071)
Johnson, Elmer D. (Collection P0020)
Johnson, Francis Lavergne (Collection P0075)
Kyser, “Kay” (Collection P0062)
Killebrew, Charles S. (Collection P0091)
Lauterer, Jock (Collection P0069)
Liu, Stephen (Collection P0068)
Loeb, Manfred and Ann (Collection P0029)
Martin, Edwin (Collection P0061)
MacNeill, Ben Dixon (Collection P0078)
McCauley, Edward J. (Collection P0082)
Morton, Hugh (Collection P0081)
North Carolina Botanical Garden (Collection P0022)
North Carolina Collection Image Reference Cards (Collection P0085)
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, North Carolina Slide Collection (Collection P0066)
Peatross, C. Ford Collection on William Nichols (Collection P0063)
Portraits (Collection P0002)
Postcards (Collection P0052)
Prouty, William W. (Collection P0038)
Stereographs (Collection P0043)
Sturkey, Don (Collection P0070)
Tintypes (Collection P0009)
United States Navy Pre-Flight School (Chapel Hill, .) (Collection P0027)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Collection P0004)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill American Studies 60/Folklore 195 Photographic Projects (Collection P0053)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Bicentennial Photographic Collection (1993) (Collection P0010)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Dramatic Art Photographs and Related Materials (Collection P0035)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Pediatrics (Collection P0060)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library Photographic Services Photographs (Collection P0087)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library Photographic Services Copy Negatives (Collection P0086)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Photographic Laboratory (Collection P0031)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine (Collection P0058)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health (Collection P0059)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States Navy ROTC (Collection P0054)
Watson, Harry Legare (Collection P0023)
Webb, Bailey Daniel (Collection P0019)
Wilson, Louis Round (Collection P0040)
Winborne, John Wallace (Collection P0039)
Wolfe, Thomas Clayton (Collection P0048)
Wooten, Patrick S. Photographs of Memorial Hall (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (Collection P0014)
Wootten, Bayard Morgan (Collection P0011)
Other photographic collections
Other North Carolina-related photographic collections at UNC-Chapel Hill
- Southern Folklife Collection
- Southern Historical Collection
- University Archives and Records Management Services
Other North Carolina-related photographic collections in-state
- Duke University Library, Special Collections
- Forsyth County Public Library, North Carolina Collection
- Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County, Carolina Room
- Greensboro Historical Museum
- North Carolina State Archives
- North Carolina State University Libraries, Special Collections
- University of North Carolina at Ashville, Ramsey Library Special Collections, Photographs
National collections with North Carolina-related holdings
Visit the Photographic Archives’ blog
A View to Hugh – Processing the Hugh Morton photographs and films.
Support the North Carolina Collection
The North Carolina Collection is part of the University Libraries, but relies on endowments, grants, and private donations to carry out our mission. To learn more about supporting areas of greatest need or special interest, please contact the University Libraries Development Office.