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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 67.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 54000 items) |
| Abstract | The Institute of Government was established in 1932 to provide training, consulting, and research services for state and local governments in North Carolina. It is one of the oldest university-based organizations of this sort in the United States and has gained distinction for the comprehensiveness of its programs. Although Albert Coates, who directed the Institute from 1932 to 1962, was on the faculty of the University's School of Law, the Institute was independent of the University until 1942, when it officially became an administrative unit. Currently the Director of the Institute reports to the Provost of the University. Records include correspondence and other files relating to the administration and programs of the Institute of Government, including a number of files, 1928-1932, documenting Albert Coates's plans for the Institute and his efforts to gain support for it. The records include a series of forty interviews conducted in 1972 with educators and state officials on the reorganization of higher education in North Carolina. |
| Creator | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Institute of Government. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: University Archives Staff
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated because of addition, January 2018
Updated by: Laura Hart, February 2021
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Historical Information
The Institute of Government was first conceived in the mind of its founder, Albert Coates, in the late 1920s. Coates, a professor since 1923 in the University of North Carolina School of Law, realized that the criminal law he taught was based solely on a few Supreme Court decisions and that he was, therefore, unable to prepare his students for the daily ins and outs of courtroom and criminal procedure. To learn the ins and outs himself, he began working with local law enforcement officials, only to find that they knew as little about textbook law and Supreme Court decisions as he did about apprehending felons and running prisons. Coates then saw that these officials desperately needed some instruction on how better to perform their duties--and decided that he was the man to provide it.
In December 1931, Coates organized a steering committee of prominent North Carolinians, who formally approved his plan for a series of training courses for law enforcement officials. He wanted, he said, to create an "Institute of Government," which he described as "a voluntary organization of public officials and private citizens coming together for the continuous study of the structure and workings of government, in books and in action, in the cities, the counties, and the state of North Carolina." The following May a group of two hundred state and local officials approved the plan. The Institute of Government had its official beginning in September 1932, when Coates held the first Statewide School of Governmental Officers for the Study of Governmental Institutions in the Cities, Counties, and State of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Three hundred officials from around the state attended.
The 6 July 1932, edition of the UNC Newsletter bore Albert Coates' byline, and set out for the citizens of the state his goals for the Institute. In particular, he outlined six categories of work which, to this day, constitute the bulk of the Institute's activities:
1. The preparation of governmental guidebooks which will bring to every government official a clear statement of the powers attendant to his job and the methods available to implement those powers.
2. The operation of county, district and state-wide schools for the government officers which will train and teach the officers in their responsibilities.
3. The publication of a governmental journal, Popular Government, which reports the results of government studies, updates the government guidebooks, documents the changes in government made by the legislature and keeps people continuously in touch with their government.
4. The promotion of government-related education in the high schools and universities of North Carolina.
5. The training of men with experience in North Carolina Government to constitute a staff responsive to the inquiries of North Carolina government officials.
6. The building of governmental laboratory offices which demonstrate the different methods and practices in use in similar offices around the state.
From its founding until 1942, the Institute was a private entity and, as such, received no state funding. Donations from Greensboro businessmen Ben and Caesar Cone got the Institute started and enabled Coates, in 1933, to hire his first staff member--one of his former students, Henry Brandis. Further private donations allowed the creation of a larger staff and an expansion of the Institute's services, but funding remained a problem throughout the Depression. Subscriptions to Popular Government covered only the cost of the magazine itself. The School of Law wanted nothing to do with the Institute and nearly forced Coates off the faculty for spending too much time on Institute activities. Coates finally agreed to a half-time leave at his own expense, while continuing to pay many of the Institute's expenses out of his own pocket.
In the mid-1930s, at the request of mayors and county commissioners, he set a flat rate of one half-cent per capita at which cities and counties could obtain the Institute's services. He then sent staff member Dillard Gardner on a statewide campaign for memberships. Coates was able to obtain a Public Works Administration grant to erect a building for the Institute, but it lapsed before he could obtain matching funds. By the end of the 1930s, he could not afford to pay his staff and helped them find more secure jobs elsewhere.
But Coates did not give up. Through a combination of private donations and loans in his own name, he finally secured the funding for the Institute's first building, which was completed in 1939 in Chapel Hill. The presence of the building, as he had hoped, convinced people that the Institute was still alive. In 1942, largely through the interest and support of President Graham and Controller Carmichael, the University of North Carolina agreed to take the Institute in its folds, placing it for the first time on a secure financial footing. After World War II, Coates was able to recruit a new, larger staff, and to expand dramatically the services of the Institute. In 1956, the Institute moved into the new million-dollar Joseph Palmer Knapp building, which remains its home today.
Directors of the Institute of Government and their tenures are as follows:
| 1932-1962 | Albert Coates |
| 1962-1973 | John Sanders |
| 1973-1979 | Henry Lewis |
| 1979-1992 | John Sanders |
| 1992- | Michael R. Smith (Dean of the School of Government as of 2001) |
In 2001, the Institute of Government's mission and programs became the core of the new School of Government. The School continued to provide training and other services to state and local government officials; and it continued to administer the Master of Public Administration Program, which had been part of the Institute since 1997. In addition, the School became involved in research and other activities aimed at specific audiences and purposes.
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Scope and Content
Records include correspondence and other files relating to the administration and programs of the Institute of Government, including a number of files, 1928-1932, documenting Albert Coates's plans for the Institute and his efforts to gain support for it. The records include a series of forty interviews conducted in 1972 with educators and state officials on the reorganization of higher education in North Carolina.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Administrative Files.
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Subseries 1.1. Founding and Development of the Institute to 1942.
This series contains records documenting the establishment and early organization of the Institute of Government along with some of the administrative records generated by it prior to its incorporation into the University of North Carolina in 1942. These early records are filed in a separate series primarily because they cover a time when the Institute was a private venture and less formally structured than in later years. Projects were attempted, revised in progress, and later scrapped or changed beyond recognition. Staff members could not afford the luxury of working within one or a few fields, but worked on projects as they were needed. Every successful project spawned ideas for several new endeavors. The early Institute was, moreover, entirely the domain of Albert Coates, and its organization reflected his personality far more than it did any bureaucratic design.
When the Institute was brought into the University in 1942, its organization changed. Internal procedures grew more regular, as existence within a larger institution demanded. For the first time the Institute's funding was guaranteed, not only by its new parent institution but by the end of the Depression. In addition, the late 1930s saw a complete turnover in staff. After World War II the Institute began to resemble more closely its current self. The records of this later era will be found in Subseries 2 of this Series and in Series 2 and 3.
It should be noted, finally, that the separation of the Institute's early records is not absolute. Although this series contains only records prior to 1942, not all such records are filed here. Many programs (such as police training schools) begun in the 1930s continued with only minor or gradual changes into later decades; the records of such programs will be found in Series 2. Only records that do not fit the Institute's later organization and those chronicling the creation of the Institute are filed here.
For more information about the creation and early development of the Institute of Government, the researcher is referred to Albert Coates' book The Story of the Institute of Government (1981).
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Subseries 1.2. General.
This subseries includes administrative files produced by the Institute of Government between 1942 and 1962. Similar material dated prior to 1942, particularly that relating to the Institute's finances, building, and library, will also be found here.
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Series 2. Programs.
Series 2 contains the records of the Institute's programs, publications, schools, etc. These records have been divided into two series. The first, which includes the bulk of the material, pertains to the Institute's work for and with various city, county, and state government bodies and officials. The second consists of files of the Institute relating to the 1972 reorganization of the University of North Carolina System. Additional information will be found at the beginning of each series.
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Subseries 2.1. Local and State Government.
The records in this series document the Institute's work for and with various city, county, and state government bodies and officials. They have been divided into five subseries as follows:
1. General: files on the Institute's programs as a whole; also includes records relating to Popular Government
2. Subject Files: the Institute's programs arranged by topic. Under some of the topical headings in this subseries, there are files on specific agencies and organizations. These files have been placed here rather than Series 3 (Outside Organizations) because of the nature of their relationships with the Institute. Those organizations for which the Institute did sustained work, particularly in a specific field, have been filed in here; those that had shorter or more casual relationships with the Institute are found in Series 3.
Some of the material in this subseries is similar to material in Subseries 3, 4, and 5. In general, material filed here pertains more to the work of the Institute in a particular field than in a particular locality; for later subseries the reverse is true. However, some topical material dated prior to 1954, will also be found in Subseries 4 (see note, below).
3. City and County Studies: Studies performed by the Institute for cities and counties in North Carolina, at their request. Filed by city or county. Studies filed here cover too broad a range of topics to fit in Subseries 2.
4. General Inquiry Files: Inquiries from local officials on matters of law, policy, or procedure, filed by city or county of origin. In general, material here is more indicative of the relationship of the Institute with particular localities than of its work in specific fields. The Institute, however, filed inquiries by city/county of origin from the 1930s through 1953, and by subject thereafter, and attempts to impose organization on these files have not entirely succeeded. There is, therefore, some overlap between Subseries 2 and 4.
5. Local Government Plans: Job classification plans, personnel ordinances, and pay plans drawn up for various localities at their request, filed by city or county.
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Subseries 2.1.1. General.
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Subseries 2.1.2. Subject Files.
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Subseries 2.1.3. City and County Studies.
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Subseries 2.1.4. General Inquiry Files.
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Subseries 2.1.5. Local Government Plans.
This subseries consists of position classifications, personnel ordinances, and pay plans covering North Carolina municipal and county employees. These plans were drafted by or were collected by the Institute of Government staff in an effort to systematize the regulations for employees of local governments throughout the state. This subseries is arranged in two parts: City Plans and County Plans. The arrangement within each group is alphabetical by city or county name. Dates of acceptance are given for each plan.
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Subseries 2.2. University of North Carolina System, 1972 Reorganization.
This series contains material, including newspaper clippings and a set of taped interviews, relating to the reoganization and merger, in 1972, of the fifteen public universities and the North Carolina School of the Arts into a single system controlled by a thirty-five member Board of Governors. The series reflects a period when the future of higher education in North Carolina was the dominant political question in the state. Documented here is a year of sharp, often bitter, debate among the Governor, the Consolidated University of North Carolina, the Board of Higher Education, and the regional universities.
The set of interviews was recorded during 1972 as part of a research project on the reorganization of higher education in North Carolina. Filed with the audiocassette tapes are summaries of the questions asked during each interview; the number preceding each question is the approximate point on the tape where the question occurs. These summaries are not completely reliable, however, because the interviewees shifted freely from subject to subject. These tapes have been shelved separately from the rest of the Institute's records; consult Archives staff for access. Listening copies (indicated by LC) have been made for some of the tapes.
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Series 3. Outside Organizations.
This series consists of correspondence with non-University organizations on matters not directly relating to long-term Institute programs. It has been divided into two subseries, in-state organizations and national or out-of-state organizations. Files on organizations for which the Institute did sustained work in a particular field will be found in Series 2.1.2., which contains program files arranged topically.
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Subseries 3.1. State Organizations.
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Subseries 3.2. National Organizations.