Although Dean Smith passed away nearly three years ago now, you can still hear the Hall of Fame coach in his own words through a new exhibit at UNC’s Wilson Library.
The public can now listen to audio pieces from Smith and peruse the approximately 12,000 documents that the Smith family donated to the university’s Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Special Collections Library, which is directed by Dr. Bryan Giemza.
“We’re thrilled,” Giemza said. “It’s been years in the making. But it’s a special person at the core.”
Geimza said that growing up in North Carolina gave him a special connection to Smith the basketball coach, but this exhibit goes well beyond Smith’s influence on the court.
Telegram from “Michael” congratulating Dean Smith as part of collection at UNC – Chapel Hill Wilson Library. Photo via Blake Hodge.
“The character of the man at the center of the collection comes through in these items, comes through in a lot of different ways,” Giemza said. “We have files, for example, that show his interest in civil rights. We get a sense of his character through school reports that he was writing when he was still a teenager.
“So it’s a really interesting portrait that emerges here.”
Documents on display as part of the new collection include both basketball and non-basketball materials – ranging from a congratulatory telegram following Smith’s record-breaking 877th win, which is signed as being from “Michael,” to a letter to Chancellor William Aycock, Hugh Morton and Wade Smith from January 1990 where Smith thanked the men for their counsel on whether the Carolina coach should mount a campaign to challenge incumbent North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms.
“It might surprise people to know that these papers were donated, full stop,” Giemza said. “And that’s the kind of generosity that makes our collections go around. And it’s also a big part of what we do. How do we pay that generosity forward?
“So, we’re excited about people coming to look at these and to get acquainted with new dimensions of Dean Smith’s life through these papers.”
Letter from Dean Smith thanking others for their counsel as part of the collection at UNC – Chapel Hill Wilson Library. Photo via Blake Hodge.
Giemza added that Smith’s parents kept detailed notes and scrapbooks chronicling the coach’s career and life that are part of the collection, which includes school projects dating back to Smith’s childhood in the 1940s.
There are approximately 20 million documents in more than 5,000 collections comprising the Southern Historical Collection at the library. But Geimza seemed certain this would be a popular exhibit and he added pieces will be archived online over time.
Geimza suggested making an appointment if you would like to survey the thousands of documents and maybe learn something new or simply find fond memories about Coach Smith.
