University of North Carolina Wilmington Landmark Committee Records

Collection

Identifier: SC-MS-268

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains the records of the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Landmark Committee and Historical Events Committee, both of which were convened at the request of the University's Board of Trustees to complete work for a project associated with the University Commons site. The Landmark Committee was tasked with identifying an appropriate landmark to place in the University Commons outdoor space in companionship with its landscaping plan. Once the Landmark Committee's recommendations were approved, the Historical Events Committee was tasked with identifying important places and events to be included as part of the major landmark.

Included in this collection are meeting minutes, correspondence, plans and renderings, reports, and research materials which document the work of both committees between 1983 and 1987. These plans were ultimately never carried out due to lack of funding and shifting priorities.

Dates

Creation: 1982-1987

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Copyright Statement

Copyright retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Historical Note

The idea of a campus landmark was first proposed during a meeting of the University North Carolina Wilmington's Board of Trustees (BOT) on April 27, 1983. At that time, the University Center (now known as Fisher Student Union) had just been built and landscaping plans for the area between the Center and Randall Library called, University Commons, were being prepared. During the October 1983 meeting of the BOT, Chairman John J. Burney, Jr. announced the appointment of a committee to work on this area and named Samuel Bissette as chairman. This committee held their first meeting on September 12 and moved to officially name themselves the “Landmark Committee.”

Over the course of the next few months, the Landmark Committee met monthly to identify mandatory and desirable criteria for evaluating landmark suggestions, review and evaluate received suggestions, and prepare a report. This report was presented to the Board of Trustees during a special meeting called on March 14, 1984. The committee considered its final recommendation to be a landmark master plan in which it suggested development of one major landmark (an edicula) and four minor landmarks (a flagpole, statue, seahawk, and gazebo). Following the meeting, the BOT determined to proceed with planning for one major landmark and the flagpole. It also passed a motion to commission the firm of Leslie N. Boney, Architects, to design the landmarks and the firm of Jefferies and Farris, Architects and Planners, to complete designs of the University Commons. In totality, this work was projected to cost $1,425,600 and was required to be funded through donations.

In April 1984, Chairman Burney convened the Historical Events Committee and appointed Dr. Heyward Bellamy as chairman. He tasked this committee with identifying places to be engraved on the flat surface of the edicula and events (people, places, things) to be engraved on its monoliths. For nearly two years, members of this committee worked with historians, librarians, and local organizations to gather important historical facts pertaining to the southeast North Carolina region. They refined this information and worked with Charles Boney to layout the design of the map and monoliths. Dr. Bellamy submitted the committee's final report, which included a suggested statement of purpose, material recommended for the monoliths, places and events recommended for the map, and a history of the University, to the BOT on June 19, 1986.

The Landmark Committee reviewed the final report of the Historical Events Committee on March 20, 1987. By this time, the Landmark Committee existed only as an informal body to serve as a review and advisory panel of work completed for the landmark project. It was the consensus of this committee that the report inadvertently omitted events of minority groups and certain topical areas, as well as contained errors in dates. The Historical Events Committee did not accept this feedback and considered its work complete as submitted. In the meantime, fund-raising efforts for the landmark and landscaping project were meager and the focus of the BOT shifted towards numerous other construction projects on campus. Ultimately, the project never moved past the schematic design stage and was put on hold indefinitely in 1991.

Extent

3 Containers (Contains 1 document boxes and 2 oversize folders.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into two series:

Series 1: Landmark Committee Documents This series contains materials pertaining to the work of the Landmark Committee, which was tasked by the University's Board of Trustees (BOT) with identifying an appropriate landmark to place in the University Commons outdoor space. Included are meeting minutes, correspondence, and other items that document the Committee's work to identify evaluation criteria, solicit and review landmark ideas, select a design, and make a recommendation to the BOT. Following the Landmark Committee's recommendation, which included one major landmark (an edicula) and four minor landmarks (a flag pole, statue, seahawk, and gazebo), correspondence further document's the University's efforts to select an architect and render a design for the major landmark and for one minor landmark (flag pole). The Landmark Committee’s work primarily occurred between 1983-1984.

Series 2: Historical Events Committee Documents This series contains materials pertaining to the work of the Historical Events Committee, which was tasked by the University’s Board of Trustees (BOT) with identifying places to be engraved on the flat surface of the edicula and events (people, places, things) to be engraved on its monoliths. Included are meeting minutes, correspondence, and research materials that document the Committee’s work to solicit important historical information pertaining to counties across the southeast North Carolina region. Additional documents pertaining to the Committee’s final recommendations, which were presented to the BOT in June 1986, are present. The Historical Events Committee’s work primarily occurred between 1984-1986.

Acquisition Information

Method and date of acquisition unknown.

Related Materials

Additional records and references to the work of these committees can be found in University Archives collections including in the Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes digital collection.