Current Exhibition

Staff of the Daily Tar Heel, 1963

Journalism at Carolina has grown from a humble beginning in 1909 to become one of the largest units on campus and a world leader in journalism-mass communication education. This exhibition chronicles that story, beginning with student work on the Tar Heel in 1893 through courses in the English Department, the Department of Journalism (1924), the School of Journalism (1950), and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (1990).

It’s a story of strong leaders who shaped the program through their vision and with the support of generous alumni and friends. It’s a story of how external forces, including newspaper editors, threatened to ask Duke University to start a journalism program if UNC did not improve its journalism department. The story has a cast of interesting characters, including a dean who was portrayed in a novel and a faculty member who was the inspiration for a newspaper comic strip. Another dean was mentioned in a newspaper adventure strip, and one faculty member was a contestant on a television quiz program.

Dean “Skipper” Coffin said he and his colleagues had been “consecrated to the common good,” meaning the school had been dedicated to filling the needs of the state and its newspapers. A similar commitment has enlightened and shaped journalism education at UNC-Chapel Hill for one hundred years as a succession of leaders and teachers have dedicated themselves to students, the university, state, nation, and world. The world and the media have changed, but the school’s enlightened response to change has been a constant factor in the service to the common good. The school and university have produced scores of distinguished journalists and communicators who continue to shape mass communication into the twenty-first century.

“Consecrated to the Common Good” opens September 9, 2009, and continues through January 31, 2010. The North Carolina Collection Gallery is located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Louis Round Wilson Library. The Gallery’s visitation hours are Mondays through Fridays, 9:00-5:00; Saturdays, 9:00-1:00; and Sundays, 1:00-5:00. Admission is free. For more information or guided tours call 919-962-1172.