The General Alumni Association of the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill was founded May 31, 1843 as the Alumni
Association.  It met annually during commencement until 1860,
when it disbanded.  The Association reconvened in 1872 and has
met annually since 1878.  Until the turn of the century alumni
usually met at an evening banquet, but in the early 1900s the
Alumni Luncheon became the traditional annual meeting of the
Association.

     In 1909 President Venable, recognizing the need for a more
organized body, appointed a committee to find ways and means to
improve the Alumni Association.  The committee reported its
findings at the commencement meeting of the Association in 1910,
and its report was adopted by the membership in 1911.  The report
recommended an appointive alumni council and a secretary to act
as an administrative officer.  The Association was reorganized
again in 1922.  The structure of the present General Alumni
Association dates from that year.  The Association’s Central
Office is located on the campus and is headed by the Director
(formerly Secretary).

     Individuals who have held the position of Secretary/Director
of the Alumni Association have been:

     Walter Murphy            1911-1916

     E. R. Rankin             1916-1922

     Daniel L. Grant          1922-1927

     J. Maryon Saunders       1927-1970

     Clarence E. Whitefield   1970-1982

     Douglas S. Dibbert       1982-

     The major activity of the Central Office of the Alumni
Association, in addition to organizing reunions and sponsoring
other alumni social events, has been to maintain alumni records.
The first published alumni directory of the University was the
Alumni Catalogue, which was issued largely through the efforts of
Cornelia Phillips Spencer in 1889.  In 1924, under the editorship
of Daniel L. Grant, the Alumni History of the University of North
Carolina, 1795-1924 was published by the General Alumni
Association.  This was followed in 1953 with the Alumni
Directory, compiled and edited by the Alumni Office, with support
from the Cornelia Phillips Spencer Fund.  In 1975 an updated
Alumni Directory was issued by the Alumni Office of the
Association with financial support from Cornelia Spencer Love,
granddaughter of Cornelia Phillips Spencer.  Updated editions
were again issued in 1984 and 1990.

     Another activity of the Alumni Association is to provide
financial support to the University.  One of the stated reasons
for the reorganizations of 1911 and 1922 was to provide a channel
through which the University could appeal to alumni for funds.
The Alumni Loyalty Fund was established in 1916 under President
Edward Kidder Graham, but it lapsed during World War I, and was
not revived until the early 1920s.  It lapsed again during the
depression and was not reestablished until 1952, when it was
organized as Alumni Annual Giving.

     The Alumni Annual Giving Office was renamed Carolina Annual
Giving in 1978.  It is not administratively part of the General
Alumni Association and has a separate director and board of
directors who work cooperatively with the officers of the
Association.

     The third activity of the Alumni Association is the
publication of the Alumni Review.  The first publication of the
Alumni Association was the Alumni Quarterly, which appeared in
1894 and was discontinued after its second issue in January 1895.
In 1912, as a result of the 1911 reorganization, the Alumni
Review began publication and has been publishing continuously
ever since.

     Other activities of the Association’s Central Office include
marshaling alumni support for the University in its biennial
effort to secure state funds from the General Assembly of North
Carolina.  During the 1930s the Director of the Alumni Office was
also in charge of the Student Survey Office, which was organized
to inform high school students about the University and encourage
them to enroll.  That responsibility was later transferred to the
Admissions Office.

     The Alumni Affairs Records held by the University Archives
are divided into three series.  Series 1 contains records
relating to the office and activities of the General Alumni
Association.  Series 2 contains records about the Alumni Loyalty
Fund, and Series 3 contains various records pertaining to alumni.
Series 1 and 3 contain bound volumes, which are listed separately
in this inventory.


SERIES 1:  ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Box 1:
     University Appropriations Campaign, 1938-1939
          (mostly budget data and other materials compiled to
          support the case for increased legislative support for
          the University)
     VOLUMES:
          #1:  Minutes of Meetings, 1843-1860; 1872; 1878-1879
                    (includes membership roster, 1847-1880)
          #2:  Alumni Register, 1894-1895; undated
                    (registration book for alumni attending
                    Commencement; also includes list of students
                    attending Summer School, 1895)
          #3:  Alumni Fund Cash Book, 1898-1901; undated
          #4:  Record of Meeting of General Alumni
                    Association, 1923

SERIES 2:  ALUMNI LOYALTY FUND

     Charles L. Coon Memorial Loan Fund, 1934-1935
     Freeman Memorial Loan Fund, 1934-1936
     Graham, Frank P., Portrait, 1935
     Nykl, A.R., Lectures, 1936-1937
     Warren (Thomas L.) Plan, 1935

Box 2:

SERIES 3:  ALUMNI RECORDS

     Alumni, Lists of, 1798-1909
          (compiled in 1909?)
     Advanced and Honorary Degrees, 1799; 1810-1909
          (compiled in 1909?)
     Letter, 1908, with list of the Class of 1854
     Alumni Lists by County, 1877
     Alumni Information, 1878; 1883-1887; undated
     Alumni Questionnaires, A-W, 1881-1882
     List of Alumni at Camp Jackson, 1917?
     Gerald Ford Questionnaire and Letter, 1974
          (re his attendance at UNC School of Law in summer 1938)

Box 3:
     VOLUMES:
          #1:  (Oversized) Catalogue of University
               Graduates, Faculty, and Trustees, 1789-1849
                    (undated; compiled over a number of years;
                    also lists degrees granted and some honorary
                    degrees)
          #2:  Catalogue of University Graduates,
               Faculty, and Trustees, 1789-1847
                    (dated 1847; probably copied from Volume 1)
          #3:  Students Listed by Room on Campus, 1866-
               1867; also Alumni by County of Residence, 1880?
          #4:  Catalogue of Students, 1875-1886
                    (compiled by Cornelia P. Spencer)
          #5:  Addresses of Living Alumni, 1899-1901
          #6:  Alumni Listed by County, N-Z, undated
          #7:  Alumni Catalogue, 1889, A-Lea
                    (Volumes 7-8 probably were the manuscripts
                    for the first published alumni record, issued
                    in 1889; however, they have been heavily
                    annotated with information on later
                    graduates, some as late as the 1920s)
          #8:  Alumni Catalogue, 1889, Lea-Z