Spartan Stories
Tales from the UNCG University Archives
student life
Bring Back the Double Beds! Alumni Response to the Formation of the Gay Student Union
by Stacey Krim The initial meeting of UNC Greensboro’s first LGBTQ+ student group, the Gay Student Union, occurred in September 25, 1979, but the first meeting as a university-recognized organization occurred one month later, on October 25th.(2) Immediately after the front page announcement for the Gay Student Union in The Carolinian was published, letters began […]
Counseling for the “Crush,” Key L. Barkley and Early Lesbian Students
by Stacey Krim Oral histories conducted with early UNC Greensboro campus faculty provide rare glimpses into the lives of LGBTQ students, if only illustrating the population’s need to remain hidden for survival. An interview with Professor Key L. Barkley(1) reveals that early students were having lesbian encounters. Barkley (1900- 2001) was a faculty member in […]
LGBTQ+ Topics in the Early College Curriculum
by Stacey Krim As any researcher of LGBTQ+ history is aware, tracking a hidden population through the historic record relies upon extracting a narrative from rare and frequently cryptic fragments of information. Even though UNC Greensboro began as a college for women with records dating to the school’s chartering in 1891, unearthing even a passing […]
Student Life at Ye Junior Shoppe
by Erin Lawrimore Today, UNCG students can find small shops selling snacks and other sundries in various places across campus. But in the earlier years of the university, the on-campus shopping options were significantly fewer – and often run by the students themselves. In 1913, the junior class decided to raise money to support their […]
The Crescendoes: UNC Greensboro’s Lost Folk Music Group
by Stacey Krim UNC Greensboro student music ensembles historically have been classically-based. Although Woman’s College can be proud of its very own all-female 1940s “big band,” the Darlinettes and Rhythmettes, it was not until much later in the school’s history that the music curriculum experimented with popular music. Consequently, what some might consider the state […]
When Politics and Sexuality Collide: UNCG PRIDE Week, 2004
by Stacey Krim The intersectionality of political identity versus sex and gender generates combative rhetoric, and UNC Greensboro witnessed such conflict in 2004. PRIDE Week traditionally takes place in March or April on UNC Greensboro’s campus.[1] PRIDE Week was sponsored by the UNC Greensboro student group, PRIDE[2], and included events such as a picnic by a […]
UNC Greensboro Coming Out: Queer Students in the 1990s
by Stacey Krim The 1990s saw considerable change for the campus climate for UNC Greensboro students.[1] For the first time in newspaper articles, LGBTQ+ students were identifying themselves by name. Literally a century after the doors of the school first opened (1892-1992), there is a published interview with a UNC Greensboro sophomore, Keith Hill, who identified […]
Chronicling the Founding of the UNCG LGBT Student Organization (1971-1975)
by Stacey Krim Carolinian, Oct. 4. 1971 (p. 7) Although our University enjoys the benefits of a culture promoting equality and inclusivity, UNCG’s reputation for embracing diversity as an educational foundation was constructed over decades by student and staff advocacy. Among the more hidden stories of Civil Rights struggles at UNCG is that of the […]
Off the Record: sharing the story of the LGBTQ+ history of UNCG
by Stacey Krim University Archives is beginning the celebration of UNC Greensboro’s PRIDE Month with the story of our LGBTQ+ history in the words of our current students, alumni, and faculty. In April of 2017, the University Libraries and the Office of Intercultural Engagement sponsored a panel of volunteers, who identify as LGBTQ+. The perspective of the […]
The Black Power Forum, Fifty Years Later
by Erin Lawrimore This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Black Power Forum that was held at UNCG from November 1-3, 1967. Throughout the 1960s, Greensboro served as a key site for the civil rights movement. After the Sit Ins and protests of the early 1960s, the middle of the decade saw the ideals […]
