At the turn of the 20th century — as Marie Curie honed our understanding of radioactivity, Charlie Chaplin graced the silver screen and F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “The Great Gatsby" — a game called rugby made its way from England to America.
Historic institutions in the Northeast, like Harvard and Yale universities, adopted the game and changed its rules over time; throwing the ball forward instead of back, shaving the number of players on the field and transforming the game into American football.
In a newspaper clipping from The Chapel Hill Weekly’s June 4, 1926 issue, an alumni committee calls on the Carolina community to help fund a new stadium. (Courtesy of DigitalNC and the North Carolina Collection at the UNC Wilson Special Collections Library)
It wasn’t long before the modified game made its way down the East Coast. In 1888, Carolina played its first intercollegiate football game against Wake Forest University at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. The grounds offered a neutral place that could accommodate large crowds; something Chapel Hill could not offer with its small campus and dirt roads.
As the sport grew in popularity, so did the need for a space to play the game. UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus Isaac Emerson stepped forward in 1914 to fund Emerson Field. The field was a step in the right direction, with bleachers for spectators lining the field, but was unable to keep up with a brewing rivalry and the crowds it drew.
Emerson Field sat where Davis Library and the Frank Porter Graham Student Union stand today. Though useful, the field couldn’t compete with the much larger stadiums popping up around the country, and in turn, affected who Carolina could play. (Courtesy of the North Carolina Collection at the UNC Wilson Special Collections Library)
Back when Duke University was still Trinity College, Carolina’s biggest rival was the University of Virginia. The annual Thanksgiving Day matchup brought students and alumni to Emerson Field to watch a 1925 showdown between the two teams who composed the “South’s Oldest Rivalry.”
“Roughly 15,000 people showed up for the UVA game at a facility that sat 2,400 people,” said Lee Pace ’79, Carolina football’s former radio broadcast sideline reporter and author of “Football in a Forest.” “So that’s when the University administrator said, ‘Well, we need a new stadium.’”
Alumni came together and formed a committee to get the project started. Former football captain Dr. Foy Roberson was named secretary, and he distributed telegrams to announce the news and seek support. The committee originally raised money by selling seat licenses and inscribed bronze tablets on stadium grounds. Shortly after fundraising began, alumnus William Rand Kenan Jr., stepped in and underwrote the rest of the construction entirely.
Alumni came together and formed a committee to get the project started... Shortly after fundraising began, alumnus William Rand Kenan Jr., stepped in and underwrote the rest of the construction entirely.
North Carolina-based architectural firm Atwood and Nash designed the stadium in addition to other campus mainstays like The Carolina Inn and Wilson Library. They chose to build the stadium on a ravine which provided natural slopes for seating. The new venue would seat 24,000 spectators; plenty to watch the Tar Heels take on the Cavaliers.
Building on a natural valley helped with construction cost since it provided a pre-existing foundation for sloped seating on either side of the field. The design also made for preferable views regardless of whether a spectator was up high in the stands or down low near the field. (Courtesy of the North Carolina Collection at the UNC Wilson Special Collections Library)
“UNC used the stadium to attract new students, enhance alumni relations and refute the popular belief that the South was culturally and economically inferior to the North,” wrote Benjamin J. Downs and Chad Seifried in “Kenan Memorial Stadium: Philanthropy from 1926 to 1962.”
The Tar Heels played their first game in the stadium on Nov. 12, 1927 against Davidson College, but the official dedication game was saved for the Thanksgiving Day matchup against Virginia on Nov. 24.
The facility has undergone several renovations to keep up with the needs of athletes, spectators and the press over the course of a century, such as installing permanent lights, replacing the original fieldhouse with the Loudermilk Center for Excellence and adding seats. It’s also hosted numerous spectacles outside of football alone, from musicians like Bruce Springsteen and James Taylor to Spring Commencement each year.
While the stadium continues to expand and new buildings spring up close by, its purpose to serve the Carolina community has withstood almost a century of surrounding change.
