University of North Carolina Press
The University of North Carolina Press was founded in 1922, and it carried a distinction from the start. It was the first university press established in the Southern United States. That detail raises the questions this documentary will explore. What does a publisher owe to the region it comes from? What did its earliest books try to say about the South? And how does a nonprofit press connected to a university reach readers beyond its own campus? The press is often shortened to UNC Press, and it operates as a nonprofit associated with the University of North Carolina.
Southern Pioneers in Social Interpretation was the book that began the press's publishing history in 1925. Its editor was Howard W. Odum, a sociologist who was also one of the press's founders. The volume gathered essays about Southern figures, both Black and white. Booker T. Washington and Woodrow Wilson were among the people it examined. Its aim was to present the South as a region with real cultural and intellectual contributions to make. The book drew national attention. The magazine The New Republic described it as signaling a "quickening breeze from the South." That reception helped set the press's long-term mission, which was to highlight diverse voices and subjects tied to the Southern experience. Decades later, the press would extend its work beyond publishing its own books.
The press keeps its office in Chapel Hill. It is also a member of the Association of University Presses, which places it among a wider community of scholarly publishers. In 2006, UNC Press started a distribution company called Longleaf Services as an affiliate. That move meant the press was no longer only a publisher of its own titles. It also built a separate business devoted to getting books into the hands of readers.
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Common questions
When was the University of North Carolina Press founded?
The University of North Carolina Press was founded in 1922. It is a nonprofit university press associated with the University of North Carolina.
Was the University of North Carolina Press the first university press in the South?
Yes. The University of North Carolina Press was the first university press founded in the Southern United States.
What was the first book published by the University of North Carolina Press?
The first book was Southern Pioneers in Social Interpretation, published in 1925. It was edited by sociologist Howard W. Odum, one of the press's founders.
Where is the University of North Carolina Press located?
The University of North Carolina Press has its office in Chapel Hill. It is a member of the Association of University Presses.
What is Longleaf Services and how is it connected to the University of North Carolina Press?
Longleaf Services is a distribution company that the University of North Carolina Press started in 2006 as an affiliate.
What mission did the University of North Carolina Press establish with its early publishing?
The press's early publishing helped establish a long-term mission to highlight diverse voices and subjects related to the Southern experience. Its first book presented the South as a region with cultural and intellectual contributions.
All sources
11 references cited across the entry
- 1Magazine100 Years of the People's PressC.A. Carlson — March 25, 2022
- 2MagazineUNC Press Marks a Century of Publishing in the Tar Heel StateClaire Kirch — June 17, 2022
- 8MagazineUNC Press: A Literary HistoryC.A. Carlson — March 25, 2022
- 9ThesisBinding Lives: Southern Photobooks and the Great Depression in AmericaSharon Margaret Suchma — City University of New York — 2013
- 10Journal100 Years of Social ForcesArne L Kalleberg et al. — Oxford University Press — 2022
- 11BookLayered Lives: Rhetoric and Representation in the Southern Life History ProjectTaylor Arnold et al. — Stanford University Press — 2022