Frank Porter Graham (1886 - 1972)
Born in
Fayetteville, Dr. Frank Porter Graham is considered by some to be
North Carolina's most visible liberal for promoting the
University of North Carolina (UNC), public education, and
expanded freedoms for laborers and the poor. Graham attended UNC
before joining the UNC history faculty in 1915, where he
discovered his mission in life — to encourage people to demand and respect political,
economic, and social freedom.
After serving in the U.S. Marines during World War I, Graham returned to Chapel Hill in 1919 to become UNC's first dean of students. He rejoined the history faculty a year later and embarked on the first of many campaigns to help education in North Carolina and UNC.
On June 9, 1930, Graham was elected the 11th UNC president. Early in his first administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called on Graham, who had won national recognition for his dedication to academic freedom and excellence. Roosevelt appointed him to the first Consumers Advisory Board, the Advisory Council on Economic Security, the National Advisory Committee on Education, the Advisory Committee on Economic Conditions in the South, and the National Defense Mediation Board.
After World War II, President Harry Truman followed his predecessor's lead by appointing Graham to several committees, including the United Nations Committee of Good Offices and the President's Committee on Civil Rights.
The greatest personal ordeal in Graham's long public life came during the state Democratic party primary campaigns of 1950, after he resigned as UNC president. The campaign represented one of the most bitter political contests in the state history. After Graham's defeat, President Truman appointed him to a post on the United Nations, a position that stretched into 19 years. Graham spent the last years of his life in Chapel Hill, becoming active again in the affairs of UNC and his native state until his death in 1972.
Adapted from an article by James Vickers for the UNC News Bureau for the centennial of Graham's birth.
