How to Use this Site
This resource is for anyone in the NC State Community who would like to know more about the university’s past as it is expressed in the built environment of our campus.
We have not created comprehensive histories of each place highlighted; instead, we provide some details and historical context that may be of interest in our community and that will hopefully facilitate additional research. We take what historians call a “microhistory” approach, which means while the geographic focus of our study may be small—the Free Expression Tunnel, Katharine Stinson Drive, Holmes Hall—these spaces connect to broader historical themes that are national and/or international in scope.
This site contains historical materials that may not reflect our contemporary values, and some materials may be downright offensive. You may also find content that does reflect contemporary values. Our purpose in including the materials you encounter here is to help all of us consider the complexity of history as we engage in conversation about the contemporary legacy of this history.
At the end of each entry, you will find a list of sources used to prepare the information. These are divided into Original Source References (what historians call “primary sources,” or the things the people of the past have left to us and are now available in archives and museums) and Secondary Source References, which are scholarly sources written by historians who provide a broader analysis of the past.
Interested in learning more about campus history? The NC State University Libraries' Historical State Timelines are a great place to start.