showing some of the most modern weapons of our time. later, fort monroe would become the center of training and doctrine command for the united states army. the rest of our museum talks about not only the military history that occurred here, but the social aspects of point comfort here at fort monroe. it is here through the rest of our exhibits that you will learn how the social aspects of virginia merged with the military aspects of fort monroe. this is a living, breathing, viable community, and would stay that way all the way until its closure in 2011. announcer: you can watch this and other american artifacts programs by visiting our website, c-span.org/history. >> de c-span cities tour travels the country, exploring the american story. since 2011, we have been to more than 200 can unities across the nation. like many americans, our staff

is staying close to home due to the coronavirus. next, a look at one of our cities to her visits. >> this is a contested claim that we argue with the state of georgia about. both have a good claim to make. iny received their charter 1785. unc's charter came later but unc was the first to open an already graduated a couple classes before georgia. they were founded at the same time, so when this area was selected as the site of the , there was no town or village here. there war few neighboring farms. there was an anglican chapel but there was no town to speak of. so on the day that they laid the cornerstone for the first university building, they also had an auction of town lots. so that they understood that if

the university was going to succeed, there needed to be a town around it to support it to provide businesses, places for people to live. so the town of chapel hill university were born on the same day the university was chartered . the university was chartered in 1789. the ground broke in 1793 and a year and a half later in 1795 when the university opened. they held a opening ceremony and january 1795. they had, you know, events on campus here. no students showed up. it took another few weeks before the first student arrived. he came over 100 miles from near the coast of north carolina and he was the entire student body for about two weeks before more students gradually drifted on to campus. so for its first century, it was a school for white men only. it was only until the 1890's, women were first admitted and in university, and women and students of color were not admitted until the enslaved

1950's. people were involved in the construction of all the campus buildings. the earliest building the south building in the construction and subsequent renovations. we also know that slavery played a role in the financing of the university, and this was due to the fact that the state legislature did not originally allow funding for the university and they provided funds and this meant that any unclaimed property, so if somebody in north carolina died without a legal heir, that property would revert to become the ownership of the university. the university sell it and take the proceeds so it is usually to the form of land but there are a couple of cases where the university greatly inherited enslaved people and immediately ordered them to be sold to finance the university. so leading up to the civil war, slavery was an integral part of life in the town of chapel hill and at the university of north carolina.

and students and faculty were overwhelmingly on the side of the confederacy. inpus life kind of dwindled the years after the civil war. a lot of students left to enlist. the university state opened but barely. only at the end of the war did troops make it into the village of chapel hill, and the university administrators and other state leaders managed to negotiate to prevent the university from being destroyed. but there were, you know, soldiers from many united states regiments housed on campus and in nearby towns. so things really began to change for the university and the town in 1880's and 1890's. in 1880's a branch of the railroad came to town west of chapel hill. a couple of textile mills developed there. so finally, industry for the town and nearby communities begin to develop outside of the university. in the 1890's, the university really began like a drive toward

becoming a modern research university. so this meant expanding enrollment, developing you your your graduate school and making , and making a concerted effort to be involved in a positive way for the entire state of north carolina. so the university really began to grow in prestige and in national reputation. i would say in the 1920's and 1930's, and this was when it was embarking on ambitious before building and growth campaign. in some extents, inspired by state universities in the midwest and other parts of the country. but the university really begin to engage with not just the state of north carolina but also the region. and those kind of academic programs attracted students from all over the country and they also brought a lot of attention to university facility and begin to develop this reputation as a regional leader, certainly, but also a national leader in public higher education. the university today was

is dramatically different than how it was founded. some of the buildings is still here but it is hard to imagine the rustic isolated place from 200 years ago and the bustling university it is now. what u.n.c. is now is a modern global public university. it has deeply commited to the state of north carolina but also has ties to programs and research facilities all over the world. so it's still located in the heart of the state and it is at the center of public life in north carolina. i think that's something that's really important. watch this and other programs on the history of communities across the country at c-span.org, cities tour. this is american history tv only on c-span3. war,xt on the civil historian harold holzer and valerie paley of the new-york