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Indecency Wave Hits Chapel Hill
by Charly Mann
Throughout much of its history Chapel Hill has prided itself for its high moral standards, but in the mid 1930's the town was plagued by a flagrant violation of common decency by a large number of its citizens. People who visited Chapel Hill were often shocked to see children of both sexes and young men with no clothing on above the waist in the summers. By 1936, this public lewdness had spread to both men and women who were often seen wearing short pants on the streets of town.
We all know that children who start off young wearing short pants are likely to turn to a life of drugs and crime as adults
In 1937, Mrs. R. B. Lawson, wife of the man who ran the UNC gymnasium, began a crusade to end this indecent behavior with a proposal that the town ban the wearing of short pants in public. The town council questioned Mrs. Lawson about at what age the ban should be enforced, and she was adamant that it be applied to anyone of school age and older. The council worried about this provision because Chapel Hill courts then could only try cases for those 16 years and older and all minor aged lawbreakers had to go to Hillsboro to receive their punishment.
Girls with no shame use to go out in public and display their legs to everyone in town
Mrs. Lawson cajoled the town officials to not allow the streets of Chapel Hill to be used for walking sunbathing. The town finally agreed to have police officers warn all adults they saw wearing shorts that this was not considered proper attire.
Unfortunately, displays of indecent behavior like this are becoming more common in Chapel Hill
Comments:
B Lauren
1:24 PM Sat 8/29/2009
I think now Chapel Hill like most of America has an anything goes with attire for almost every occassion. The question though is this progress?
Patti Cannon
9:53 AM Sat 8/29/2009
This is hilarious and unbelievable at the same time.
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Chapel Hill is located on a hill whose only distinguishing feature in the 18th century was a small chapel on top called New Hope Chapel. This church was built in 1752 and is currently the location of The Carolina Inn. The town was founded in 1819, and chartered in 1851.
What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. or the crisp October nights. No, our love for this place is based upon the fact that it is as it was meant to be, The University of the People.
-- Charles Kuralt
Dark Side of the Hill -- Pink Floyd, the creators of the most popular album in history, Dark Side of the Moon, took the second half of their name from Floyd Council, a Chapel Hill native, and great blues singer and guitarist. He once belonged to a group called "The Chapel Hillbillies".
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There would probably be no Chapel Hill if the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees in 1793 had not chosen land across from New Hope Chapel for the location of the university. By 1800 there were about 100 people living in thirty houses surrounding the campus.
The University North Carolina's first student was Hinton James, who enrolled in February, 1795. There is now a dormitory on the campus named in his honor.
The University of North Carolina was closed from 1870 to 1875 because of lack of state funding.
William Ackland left his art collection and $1.25 million to Duke University in 1940 on the condition that he would be buried in the art museum that the University was to build with his bequest. Duke rejected this condition even though members of the Duke Family are buried in Duke Chapel. What followed was a long and acrimonious legal battle between Ackland relatives who now wanted the inheritance, Rollins College, and the University of North Carolina, each attempting to receive the funds. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and in 1949 UNC was awarded the money for the museum. Ackland is buried near the museum's entrance. When the museum first opened, in the early sixties, there were rumors that his remains were leaking out of the mausoleum.
The official name of the Arboretum on the University of North Carolina campus is the Coker Arboretum. It is named after Dr. William Cocker, the University's first botany professor. It occupies a little more than five acres. It was founded in 1903.
Chapel Hill's main street has always been called Franklin Street. It was named after Benjamin Franklin in the early 1790s.
Chapel Hill High School and Chapel Hill Junior High were on Franklin Street in the same location as University Square until the mid 1960s.
The Colonial Drug Store at 450 West Franklin Street was owned and operated by John Carswell. It was famous for a fresh-squeezed carbonated orange beverage called a "Big O". In the early 1970s, I managed the Record and Tape Center next door, and must have had over 100 of those drinks. The Colonial Drug Store closed in 1996.
Sutton's Drugstore, which opened in 1923, has one of the last soda fountains in the South. It is one of the few businesses remaining on Franklin Street that was in operation when I was growing up in the 1950s.
Future President Gerald Ford lived in Chapel Hill twice. First when he was 24, in 1938, he took a law couse in summer school at UNC. He lived in the Carr Building, which was a law school dormitory. At the same time, Richard Nixon, the man he served under as Vice President, was attending law school at Duke. In 1942, Ford returned to Chapel Hill to attend the U.S. Navy's Pre-Flight School training program. He lived in a rental house on Hidden Hills Drive.
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I agree that this little boy will probaby one day be a hardened criminal. It is a real shame that a parent could allow an innocent like this to be exposed to short pants.