All the Charms of Nature: A History of Landscaping at UNC Chapel Hill

As part of the centennial celebration of the William C. Coker Arboretum, the North Carolina Collection Gallery presented this exhibition, which placed the arboretum in a historical context by providing an overview of this campus’ development from 1795 to the present. The exhibition featured selections of books, pamphlets, lithographs, maps, and photographs depicting the University’s landscape in various eras. In addition to recognizing some of the architects and other faculty members who have planned the beautification of campus, credit was given to the nameless and faceless laborers — both black and white, enslaved and free — who over the past two centuries have actually laid the stones and brick, moved tons of earth, and planted the trees and flowers that have decorated these grounds.