Light on the Hill: A History of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

By William D. Snider

Book Overview

In 1795 the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill became the first state university in the United States to open its doors to students. As the celebrated institution prepared to observe its bicentennial, William Snider provided a rich chronicle of its history.

Snider describes the signal events of the university's first two hundred years: the chartering and siting of a charming campus and village; the trying years of the Civil War and Reconstruction, during which the University closed its doors; the period of remarkable renewal in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; the achievement of national and international stature in the 1920s and 1930s; the challenging 1960s; and the period of expansion and innovation in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Throughout, Snider provides fine portraits of individuals prominent in the life of the university, from William R. Davie and Joseph Caldwell to Harry Woodburn Chase, Frank Porter Graham, and William C. Friday. His book evokes for all who have been part of the Chapel Hill community memories of their own associations with the campus and a sense of the greater history of the institution of which they were a part.


In a bicentennial history of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, William D. Snider leads us from the chartering and siting of a charming campus and village in 1795 through the struggles, innovations, and expansions that have carried the school to national and international prominence. Throughout, Snider provides fine portraits of individuals significant in the life of the university, from William R. Davie and Joseph Caldwell to Harry Woodburn Chase, Frank Porter Graham, and William C. Friday. His book evokes for all who have been part of the Chapel Hill community memories of their own associations with the campus and a sense of the greater history of the institution of which they were a part.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807855715
• ISBN13: 9780807855713
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 215 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent read for any graduate of Carolina

Great book that provides excellent insight into the formation and evolution of the first, and best, public university in America. Would strongly recommend to any graduate of UNC.

Good narrative history of this important institution

College and university histories are notoriously weak, most serving as feel-good souvenirs for anxious, sports-crazed alumni. This one is an exception to that rule. The book is a well-written narrative history, not a glossy coffee table book full of NCAA highlights. The story begins in 1789, and progresses through chapters, ordered by chronology, right up to the 1980s. The original text was published in 1992, so there's no history of recent athletic exploits. The book's core is the story of the economic and political development of an essential academic institution, with athletic and social subplots. There are few photographs, the author preferring to allow the words to do the work. And the emphasis is on the words, for Snider is not a "facts and figures" historian. Generally, I recommend this book for readers curious about the founding and growth of our early state universities. Whereas private, sectarian colleges proliferated in New England, the secular state university has a particularly distinguished history in the South. The universities of North Carolina (1789), South Carolina (1801), Virginia (1819), Tennessee (1794), Georgia (1801) and Alabama (1831) were all early foundations modeled on the example set in Chapel Hill.

A comprehensive history of public higher education!

As the first public university in the United States, UNC truly served as a "light on the hill" in advocating for public higher education. Tar Heels will love learning about the history of their illustrious university and all its traditions and legacies. This book is historically accurate and intellectually provocative, while still compelling and interesting for leisure reading. This is a great gift for any Tar Heel!