Explore our digital Special Collections! These collections contain curated resources that span centuries, covering a wide array of subjects and disciplines. From rare manuscripts to historical photographs, these digital gems offer a unique window into the past and present.
It's important to note that not all of our library's holdings are available online. We're dedicated to preserving our physical archives as well. For more information on archival collections available at the Libraries, contact [email protected].
To see only special collections curated by the collecting units in Wilson Special Collections Library, visit Wilson Library Special Collections.
61 Collections were found.
19th-Century American Sheet Music Collection
The 19th-Century American Sheet Music Collection contains approximately 3,500 popular vocal and instrumental titles from the 1830s to the end of the century. It was acquired as 125 bound volumes which were individually gathered by the original owners of the music, often young women who wanted to collect their favorite pieces of sheet music into one volume.
Benson Reid Wilcox Collection
In 1984, Dr. Wilcox began presenting a rare book to the library each year in honor of his senior resident, a practice he continued until his retirement as Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UNC. The collection grew to over 1,400 books, journals, reprints, and other items, many of which are extremely rare. Realizing the magnitude of his collection, the requirements for maintaining and organizing the material, and ultimately, the value it might have for others as well, Dr. Wilcox generously gave his collection to the HSL, creating The Wilcox Collection.
Carolina Keepsakes
Carolina Keepsakes highlights the physical objects & artifacts that tell the story of UNC-Chapel Hill.
Charles Edmund Kistler Collection
Charles Edmund Kistler (1899-1936) was a 1921 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill.
The family of Charles E. Kistler has honored his memory through regular gifts to the Health Sciences Library. The original gift in 1937 allowed the library to acquire an up-to-date collection of medical books for the first time. The continued gifts through the years by his widow, Mary Kistler Stoney, and his daughter and son-in-law, Captain and Mrs. Lawrence E. Stahl, supported the purchase of many books for the collection.
Concert Programs from UNC Department of Music Concerts (1937–2017)
The UNC Music Library holds undigitized copies of UNC Department of Music concerts from 1937 to 2017. Some originals are kept in University Archives. Programs from more recent concerts may be included in the UNC Department of Music Concert Recordings from Fall 2016 to Present in the UNC Digital Collections Repository.
Corpus of Attic Vase Inscriptions
Henry Immerwahr's Corpus of Attic Vase Inscriptions is an attempt to catalog inscribed Grecian vases. It contains 8,173 entries and is the result of more than sixty years of research.
Daniel Alexander Okun Collection
During his career, Dr. Daniel Alexander Okun worked in 89 countries and consulted with municipal and legislative planning committees throughout the United States. While at UNC-Chapel Hill, his research interests included the development of dual water systems for the purpose of conserving scarce resources of high quality water by reclaiming waste waters and other poor quality waters for myriad non-potable purposes such as irrigation, toilet flushing, cooling towers, and industry. His post-retirement work included the campaign to build Cane Creek Dam and Reservoir in Chapel Hill to ensure the most pristine water source possible for Chapel Hill and the UNC campus.
Diane McKenzie Hospital Postcard Collection
The Diane McKenzie Hospital Postcard Collection consists of hundreds of hospital postcards from the United States and throughout the world. A small number of pharmacies are also represented.
Digital Collections Repository
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library’s Digital Collections Repository contains a portion of the Wilson Special Collection’s Library digital manuscript collections, university records, and publications. The Repository also contains select scholarly projects from university departments.
Digital North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives
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. The photographic archives is also a major repository for historical images documenting the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.