Inventory of the John L. Sanders Papers, 1915-2000

Collection Number 4858

Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.

Creator

Sanders, John L.

Title

John L. Sanders Papers, 1915-2000

Call Number

4858

Language of Materials

Materials in English

Extent

Items: About 14,500

Linear Feet: 27.0

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

This collection has restrictions to access. Please see details below or contact the Manuscripts Department for more information.

Usage Restrictions

Research Triangle Foundation and Research Triangle Park materials are RESTRICTED and may be used only with the donor's permission; no restrictions on the rest of the collection.

Acquisitions Information

Received from John L. Sanders of Chapel Hill, N.C., in December 1996 (Acc. 96200), May 1998 (Acc. 98130), January 1999 (Acc. 98285), September 1999 (Acc. 98449, 98457, 98459), January 2000 (Acc. 98536), March 2002 (Acc. 99734), and June 2002 (Acc. 99273), August 2006 (Acc. 100477).

Processing Information

Processed by: Manuscripts Department Staff, January 1998 with subsequent additions

Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, August 2002

Updated by Jaime L. Margalotti in June 2004 and Roslyn Holdzkom in August 2006

Boxes 14 and 15 (materials relating to the University Buildings and Grounds Committee of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1984-1991) have been transferred to the University Archives, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the John L. Sanders Papers #4858, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Apportionment (Election law)--North Carolina.

College teachers--Retirement--North Carolina.

College teachers--Tenure--North Carolina.

Community colleges--North Carolina--History.

Edenton (N.C.)--History.

Education, Higher--North Carolina--History--20th century.

Historical Society of North Carolina.

Kellenberger Historical Foundation.

Morehead Planetarium.

North Carolina--Politics and government--20th century.

North Carolina Bar Association.

Preservation North Carolina.

Research Triangle Foundation.

Research Triangle Park (N.C.)--History.

Sanders, John L.

Tryon Palace Commission.

Universities and colleges--North Carolina--History--20th century.

University of North Carolina (System)--History.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Centennial celebrations, etc.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Faculty--History--20th century.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--History--20th century.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Institute of Government.

Biographical/Historical Note

John L. Sanders was born in Four Oaks, N.C., on 30 June 1927. He attended North Carolina State College in 1944-1945 and again in 1947 after serving on active duty in the United States Naval Reserve in 1945-1946. He then transferred to The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where he was elected student body president and earned his A.B. in history in 1950. After pursuing a year of graduate study in history at The University of North Carolina, Sanders entered The University of North Carolina law school in 1951. He served as associate editor of the North Carolina Law Review. He received his J.D. in 1954. Sanders spent the next year as a law clerk to Chief Judge John J. Parker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and in 1955 he became an associate at Manning & Fulton, a Raleigh law firm.

In 1956, Sanders returned to The University of North Carolina as an instructor and assistant director of the Institute of Government, the largest university-based state and local government training and research organization in the United States. The Institute of Government was founded in 1931 to provide training, consulting, and research activities for North Carolina's state and local governments. Through his affiliation with the Institute, Sanders became heavily involved in research and advisory roles to government. From 1957 to 1960, he was in charge of research for the Reorganization of State Government Commission. In 1961-1962, Sanders was on leave from the Institute of Government in order to serve as full-time secretary to Governor Terry Sanford's Commission on Education Beyond the High School, whose recommendations led to the creation of a statewide system of community colleges and the development of schools which later became part of The University of North Carolina. He also assisted North Carolina Constitutional Commission and the North Carolina State Constitution Study Commission. In 1965-1966, Sanders was advisor to the General Assembly which reapportioned itself and redrew congressional districts.

Sanders help found the State Capitol Foundation, an organization devoted to restoring the North Carolina capitol building, and served as its president between 1976 and 1991. His love of architecture dated from his youth; Sanders had planned to study architecture while at North Carolina State.

As his involvement in state government deepened, Sanders's academic career also advanced. Sanders was named assistant professor of public law and government in 1957 and full professor in 1965. Sanders became the director of the Institute of Government in 1962 and he continued in that position until 1973, when he was appointed vice president for planning for The University of North Carolina. In that position, he helped to draft the University's first long-range plan. Sanders resumed the directorship of the Institute of Government in 1979 and held it until 1992. Among other activities during his university career, Sanders served as chairman of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Buildings and Grounds Committee (1984-1994), president of the Faculty Assembly, member of The University of North Carolina Bicentennial Observance Planning Committee, and member of The University of North Carolina Press Board of Governors. He retired from the faculty in 1994.

Collection Overview

Papers of John L. Sanders concern the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina politics, business, and history. Topics include the North Carolina State Constitution, the reapportionment of the North Carolina General Assembly and the redistricting of its congressional districts, the restructuring of the state's community college system, the revision of tenure standards and the retirement age for University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professors, and the Research Triangle Foundation and the development of Research Triangle Park, N.C. There are also materials relating to the North Carolina Bar Association; the Kellenberger Historical Foundation; the Tryon Palace Commission and other historic preservation work in Edenton, N.C.; the Historical Society of North Carolina; and the Historic Preservation Foundation (Preservation North Carolina). Also included are materials relating to Sanders's service at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the Bicentennial Observance Planning Committee, the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Historic Properties, the Morehead Planetarium Task Force, and the Committee on the University and Public Service.

Arrangement of Collection

1. North Carolina Community College and Technical Institute Planning Commission
2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Faculty Retirement Age
3. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tenure Study Committee
4. Legislative Representation
4.1. Federal
4.2. General
4.3. State Legislature
5. Research Triangle Foundation
Additions after December 1996

Detailed Description of the Collection