by Charly Mann

Please note it was not until the 1940s that commercially viable color film was made for use in cameras (Kodak had developed color Kodachrome film in1935, but it was rarely used by consumers). Most of the color photographs in this article are very rare.

This is original well where the Old Well is now located in 1892.

First color photograph on UNC campus. Old Well 1908.

The most photographed spot in Chapel Hill and the iconic symbol for the University of the North Carolina is the Old Well. While there has been a well on this spot for over 215 years, the Old Well that we recognize was not built until 1897. It was conceived by the then president of the university, Edwin Anderson Alderman. He wanted the university to have a structure that would enhance the beauty and view of the campus. He believed that a Greco-Roman style temple was ideally suited for this purpose.
For the first hundred years of UNC there was a real well that stood where the Old Well is now. It was where all UNC students got their water. There were several other wells on campus and in the small village of Chapel Hill, but this one was the closest to the student dormitories. The well was then covered by wooden roof that protected students from the rain when collecting water in their buckets.

This is a rare color photograph of the Old Well in 1916

The design of the Old Well is based on Marie Antoinette's Temple of Love that sits in Trianon Park outside of Versailles. The Temple of Love was built in 1778 and is one of the most visited sites in France. The Old Well was built on a much smaller scale than this temple.

This is the Temple of Love near Versailles which the Old Well is modeled on

The Old Well that was built in 1897 was primarily a wooden structure designed to look like marble. The roof was originally painted black. In 1925 the structure was refurbished and a concrete circle was placed below it. Less than twenty five years later, in 1949, the Old Well was showing signs of decay.

Another rare color photograph of the Old Well from 1926

In 1953 UNC controller and vice-president of finance Billy Carmichael launched a fund raising campaign to buid a new Old Well that would be more durable. Carmichael decided to try raise the funds from his 1921 graduating class from UNC. He enlisted his friend and fellow classmate from that year J.C. Cowan to be in charge up collecting the $15,000 needed for the project.

The Old Well on the University of North Carolina Campus 1933

The original Old Well was torn down on August 4th 1954 and its remains were placed in a storage building behind Phillips Hall. The new Old Well is a replica of the building it replaced, but with a steel frame and a cooper roof for durability. The columns were given a marble base and the concrete floor was replaced with granite.
The next time you admire or take a photograph of the Old Well you may want to thank Edwin Alderman for his idea.

A beauty in front of the Old Well in 2009

by Charly Mann

As one enters the Coker Arboretum from the northwest entrance next to the Chapel of the Cross  there is a monument that has gone unnoticed and unused for almost fifty years. It is a horse watering trough that was built as a memorial to Susan Williams Graham, wife of former University President Edward Kidder Graham for whom the Graham Memorial Building is named.

Susan Williams Graham horse watering trough at northwest entrance of arboretum. It is often unnoticed and long neglected. We hope a sign will be erected explaining its history. 

Well into the third decade of the twentieth century horses were the primary means of transportation in Chapel Hill. Even as a handful of automobiles began appearing on the poorly maintained dirt streets of town around 1910, there would be still be hundreds of horses every day coming down Franklin Street pulling carts of goods and carriages with professors and merchants. In 1918, the automobile in Chapel Hill seemed more like a novelty, and the Susan Williams Graham large horse trough was erected in the center of the town's business district in front of the University Methodist Church. There, horses drank water while their owners conducted business.

There were several horse stables in Chapel Hill into the late 1920's. The two most popular were behind the downtown Post Office and across the street from where the sundial is located.

By 1956, horses had disappeared from downtown and the trough stood abandoned and daily scratched by parked cars whose fenders protruded over its edge. In November of that year the University Buildings and Grounds committee headed by botany professor H.R. Totten decided to move the trough to the rear entrance of the Episcopal Church where Mrs. Graham had been a devoted member.

The University Methodist Church at 150 East Franklin Street Chapel Hill, NC. From 1918 to the late 1940's as many as three hundred horses a day would drink water from the water trough in front of the church. 

The inscription on the trough reads: "The waters of truth run freely; drink when and where you may." Today only birds drink from the trough after it rains.

by Charly Mann

Chapel Hill was once a truly enchanted magical place where reality far exceeded any fantasy a young boy like myself might imagine. I could walk a half a mile through the dense forest near my home and be at Gimghoul Castle, an isolated stone castle which never showed any signs of habitation, and offered the most magnificent views of Durham and Raleigh I could imagine. Next to the castle was a blood stained rock where a love duel was fought more than a century earlier. On the campus in the Morehead Planetarium there was large room that housed John Motley Morehead's magnificent working model train layout. Less than a block away in the basement of Graham Memorial was the largest collection of dolls I have ever seen from around the world in more than a half a dozen floor to ceiling glass cabinets. There was also a huge haunted mansion that lay in the woods near where Manning Drive and the Dean Smith Center are today. The most spectacular thing in Chapel Hill for a young boy was The Circus Room which was a small snack bar at the back of the Monogram Club. That building is today called Jackson Hall and is where the Office of Undergraduate Admission is located.

This is one of six separate circus animal carvings that Carl Boettcher did for The Circus Room in 1948

What made the Circus Room incredible was that it was surrounded by carvings of a circus parade and large circus animals attached to the mirrored walls. The detail and craftsmanship exceed, or equaled, any carving you will ever see at a great museum. They also captured for all time in redwood the excitement of a young Chapel Hill boy in 1900 watching a circus parade come through town. This work of art was the product of two of Chapel Hill’s greatest artists William Meade Prince and Carl Boettcher in 1948. Prince, who grew up in Chapel Hill, made a sketch of the parade for his wood carving partner. The entire diorama is seven large pieces featuring a 25 foot long circus parade, which is the most detailed and intricate part of the carving.

This is the front third of the detailed Circus Parade carving that was displayed at The Circus Room from 1949 to 1968

Boettcher was born in Wolgast, Germany in 1887 and began a career as a wood carver at a very early age. He was an apprentice to several great German wood carvers and also attended Kunstgewerbe Art School in Flensburg, Germany. In Germany he specialized in carving alters, pews, and religious icons for Lutheran churches in the Westphalia area. He came to the United States in 1923 and moved to Chapel Hill in 1942. He did several other significant pieces for the University of North Carolina including a woodcarving of the University seal, a plaque at the Bowman Gray pool, several pieces in the Morehead Planetarium, and a gate for the Forest Theater which I would love to locate.

This is among the circus animals that were part of full Circus Parade piece. Not pictured in this article was a giraffe, which was the tallest of the carvings.

Carl Boettcher died in 1950 and is buried in the Chapel Hill cemetery just steps away from where the Circus Room was located. Today his spirit lives on in the works of Chapel Hill muralist Michael Brown whose mural Parade in the Porthole Alley was directly inspired by this great work of art.

This is the Circus Room in 1949 shortly after the Circus Parade carving based on a painting by William Meade Prince was installed

This is a circus Zebra done for the Circus Parade carving at UNC. The only other piece not shown here is a large standing elephant.

The Circus Room closed in 1968 and in 1970 the Circus Parade carvings were moved to the Carolina Inn where in spite of its magnificence it did not have the same impact as before. In 1992 the pieces were once again moved, this time to the Alumni Center where they now stand at the entrance of the Carolina Club. Where once the carvings hung on mirrored walls at eye level in small snack bar open to all, they now stand in a stairway high above direct eye level against a rather bland wall in a building that reeks of exclusivity.

This is an ad for the Circus Room at UNC in 1951. There were two other snacks bars on the UNC campus then. One at the YMCA next to South Building, and the most beloved of all, The Scuttlebutt,  at the corner of Cameron Avenue and South Columbia Street.

This Kangaroo Carving from the Circus Room diorama first hung at the Circus Room snack bar. It is now a t the UNC Alumni Center near Kenan Stadium.

by Charly Mann

In the late 1930's and early 40's UNC students spent many evenings at the castle-crowned height of Battle Seat near Gimghoul Castle that overlooked the coastal plain that stretches to the ocean. Giant oaks and large maple trees shaded the walks and lawns of the UNC campus. Students were a regular site on these paths trudging or pedaling to class, lounging on the benches or entry stairs of buildings, or loafing on the wide lawns. On many Saturdays in the Fall they would march to Kenan Stadium to enjoy a football game.

UNC Coeds in front of the Playmaker's Theater 1941

Every day everyone would pass the Confederate Soldier, who we now refer to as Silent Sam, who never fired a shot as a coed walked by.  Most of the buildings on campus were ivory covered, and the sight everyone most remembered was the moon rising over the Bell Tower.

G.B. Lamm (the photographer of all these photos) on left studying in Magnum Dormitory

Students in those days recall their dorm and fraternity rooms being strewn with papers, books, chairs, and bottles and that sleep was an elusive commodity. This was because of campus overcrowding which forced three students to a  room.

Attentive UNC students in Geography class 

Years after these students left Carolina their most vivid recollections were of "Spring on the Hill," during which time the grass was green and most inviting to be lolled upon. At the same time one would always hear the sound of marching feet as many of the men on campus were in a military training program preparing to go off and fight in World War II. These men would soon be risking their lives to ensure that the peace and beauty of Chapel Hill would not be threatened.

UNC Coeds under Dogwood Spring of 1942

UNC student catching up on sleep in 1941 in Wilson Library

During the war the Navy took over the UNC cafeteria for its students, and everyone else had to stand in long lines at downtown restaurants for meals. Students also could not travel home on weekends or enjoy your their usual evening treks to Durham and Raleigh because buses and trains to and from Chapel Hill were always overcrowded with servicemen.

UNC Coeds in pajamas at Spencer Dorm studying in 1942

One amazing tradition at this time was that male students not enrolled in the military would not date in order to give those in the armed forces a better chance of finding a girl to spend time with. 

UNC Male cheerleaders at Fetzer Field 1939 

UNC female cheerleaders putting on makeup 1941

All photographs by G.B. Lamm. Please see the following article for more information on this very talented former UNC student:
The Essence of UNC in Photographs

 by Charly Mann

1940/41 UNC Cheerleaders. Charlie Nelson at the top of the pyramnid. The girls are left, Jeannie Connel; right, Jane Rumsey. the guys are Frank Alspaugh Johyyn Feuchtenbueger. George Coxhead, Herschel Snuggs, and Tom Avera.

G. B. Lamm (Greyard Byrne) was a man who had the eye and talent for capturing the beauty and spirit that resided on the University of North Carolina campus between 1936 to 1940. He came from the small town of Maxton, NC not far from the South Carolina border at the height of the Depression with just enough money from his family to pay tuition. He paid for everything else, including room and board, as a photographer, selling photos to both the Charlotte Observer and Greensboro News-Record. He also contributed his pictures to the following UNC publications: The Daily Tar Heel, the Yackety-Yack, the fabulous humor magazine Tar 'an Feathers, and the short-lived and controversial parody magazine The Buccaneer.

UNC coeds prepare for biggest dance of 1939 with Glenn Miller Orchestra

As you can see from this sampling of his photographs Lamm's skill rivals that of many of most highly regarded 20th century's professional photographers and is certainly the best to come out of Chapel Hill in that era.

UNC men's track and field members jump over hurdles from 1941. This would be a difficult shot even for an experienced photographer today with the best equipment.

G.B. Lamm died at the age 89 on Jan. 3, 2008. He was a devoted Tarheel throughout his life, and proudly attended meeting of the alumni who had graduated from the University at least 50 years earlier.

He served as a photographer in the Army during World War II recording aerial bombing missions in the South Pacific, and the horrors of war in Europe.

G.B. Lamm's favorite UNC coed model "Frenchie" at Battle Seat in front of Gimghoul Castle 1939. This photo was taken on a very cold winter day.

Quintessential male UNC students in front of Graham Memorial 1939. It is hard to believe this was standard student attire at one time, and this was at the height of the Depression.

Lamm planned to become a professional photographer, but soon after returning from the war in 1945 he married his high-school sweetheart Virginia Todd, and he began a 37 year career as a principal. He was a principal in Lilesville, Peachland, Creedmore, Biscoe, and 24 years at the Ellerbe School.

Photography continued to be a hobby and passion for Lamm for the rest of life.

UNC coeds at Old West Dorm in 1941. I thought Spencer was the only female dorm at that time, but perhaps Old West went coed at the beginning of World War II.

UNC students in front of Mangum Dorm 1939. This is where G.B. Lamm stayed during most of his years at Carolina. 

All of these photos have been provided by Beth Lamm Richardson, G.B. Lamm's daughter.

To enjoy more of G.B. Lamm's incredible photographs of the University of North Carolina between 1937 and 1941 go to the following website maintained by Terry Richardson.

http://nicebigman.com/lamm.htm

In the next few months we plan to do at least two more pieces featuring the works of this very gifted photographer.
 

by Charly Mann

Many of us have life changing moments that we look back on with fondness because they set us on the path for the good things we subsequently achieved. In my case, the entire trajectory of my life was altered by one moment of clarity on a walk across the UNC campus in the summer of 1965 when I was 15. Up to that time I had little interest in school and was getting by with a C- average. As I made my way through the arboretum for some inexplicable reason I realized I passionately wanted to attend this University in three years.

UNC Arboretum trail where I started my walk across the campus

Since I was 14, I had essentially been living alone. My mother and two sisters had moved to California, and I had a room in attic of my father's house on Whitehead Circle. He was rarely around in those days, because he often away attending a conference or spending time with his girlfriends. He would leave me for a week or two with a well stocked refrigerator and $20. I always promptly spent the money on records at Kemp's Record Store and one large takeout pizza from the Zoom-Zoom, leaving me penniless until my Dad returned.

Inspring coed in the Coker Aboretum

I enjoyed my freedom and loved to hitch-hike each day to Durham where I attended the 8th , 9th, and 10th grade. I believed I was not academically gifted because I had always been at the bottom of my classes. As I passed by the Old Well and South Building that day I knew I would have to radically change if I wanted to be a student here. I then noticed a couple of coeds sprawled out on the grass on Polk Place and realized that by attending this great institution they had the world at their fingertips and I became determined to do the same.

By the time I passed Wilson Library I knew my life had totally changed and that I was unafraid of the difficult challenges that faced me in my quest. I had the courage and determination to do whatever it took to achieve my goal.

UNC coeds with the world at their fingertips

From that time on I maintained straight As throughout high school and was all honors classes my junior and senior years. When I graduated from high school my SAT scores, grades, and extra-curricular achievements afforded me the opportunity to attend almost any college, but there was only one choice for me.

Now as I sit back and reflect on that walk, I shake my head in wonderment about how great my life has been since that time.