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Inventory of the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group records, 1970-1983

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Administrative Information

Contents of the Collection

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North Carolina college and university chapters, 1970-1982.

Contains the records of NCPIRG campus groups at colleges and universities in North Carolina. Types of materials include correspondence, constitutions, bylaws, notes, and clippings. Clippings and correspondence reflect the attitudes and values of students on college campuses during the 1970s-1980s.

Appalachian State University

General establishment and correspondence, 1973-1974

Box 1

Clippings, 1973-1974

Box 1

Bennett College

General establishment, ca. 1975

Box 1

Correspondence and notes, ca. 1978-1980

Box 1

Duke University

Establishment and administration materials

Constitution and bylaws, 1970

Box 1

History, 1971-1972

Box 1

Organizational materials, ca. 1977

Box 1

Correspondence and notes, 1971-1974, 1977-1978

Box 1

Meeting agendas, minutes, and notes, ca. 1973-1981

Box 1

General environmental concerns, ca. 1974

Box 1

Summer internships, 1978

Box 1

Campaigns

Utility rates and deposits, 1973-1976

Box 1

Beverage container recycling, 1974

Box 1

No Nukes/Kudzu Alliance, 1978

Box 1

Labor and Medical Center Employee Unions, 1979

Box 1

Truth in Testing, 1979

Box 1

Free University, 1979-1980

Box 1

Duke Draft Coalition, 1979-1981

Box 1

Nestle boycott, 1980

Box 1

Printed materials

Newsletter, ca. 1980

Box 1

Fliers, posters, and pamphlets, 1971-1977, 1978-1982

Box 1

Clippings, 1971-1973, 1974-1977

Box 1

West End Community Action Group

Grant proposals and correspondence, 1979-1980

Box 1

General meetings notes and fliers, ca. 1978-1981

Includes Phoenix festivals, Vista activities, and clippings

Box 1

Newsletter, The West End Times, 1978-1981

Box 1

Elon College

Establishment, 1976

Box 1

Correspondence, 1975-1980

Box 1

General activities, 1975-1981

Box 1

Student papers, ca. 1976

Box 1

Guilford College

General materials, undated

Box 1

Meredith College

General materials, 1973

Box 1

North Carolina State University

Establishment, 1976

Box 1

Correspondence, ca. 1976-1977

Box 1

Clippings, 1976, undated

Box 1

St. Andrews College

Establishment, ca. 1975

Box 1

Correspondence and activities, 1975-1976

Box 1

Clippings, ca. 1972-1975

Box 1

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Establishment and history, 1974

Box 1

General materials, ca. 1974

Box 1

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Establishment, 1975

Box 1

Correspondence, 1975-1977

Box 1

General activities and notes, 1975-1976

Box 1

Clippings, 1975-1976

Box 1

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Constitution and bylaws, ca. 1973

Box 1

Correspondence and activities, 1973-1986, 1981

Box 1

Greensboro office space, 1982

Box 1

Clippings, 1975-1982

Box 1

Wake Forest University

Constitution and bylaws, 1973

Box 1

Correspondence, 1973-1978

Box 1

General activities and notes, 1973-1978

Box 1

Clippings, 1973-1978

Box 1

Western Carolina University

General materials, 1976

Box 1

NCPIRG statewide administration and activities, 1970-1982.

Contains establishment, administration, and activities materials of North Carolina PIRGs. Includes articles and correspondence regarding student fees and PIRG funding, petitions, meeting minutes, agendas, and reports, and clippings.

General administration

Constitution and bylaws, 1972

Also contains general establishment materials.

Box 1

General history, ca. 1983

Box 1

NCPIRG contracts with colleges and universities, 1974-1975

Box 1

Solicitation licenses, 1977-1982

Box 2

Annual reports, 1973, 1977

Box 2

Organizing a PIRG, ca. 1972-1974

Box 2

Funding a PIRG and collecting student dues, ca. 1972-1974

Box 2

Employment and Manpower trainees, 1975

Box 2

Campaigns, 1976-1979

Background materials, ca. 1979

Box 2

Student voter registration, correspondence and general materials, 1976

Box 2

Student voter registration, clippings, 1976

Box 2

Watauga County voter registration, 1976

Box 2

Anti-PIRG bill, 1977

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, and correspondence of NCPIRG

Correspondence and notes, 1972-1975

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, and reports, 1972-1973 Spring

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, and correspondence, 1973 Fall-1974 Spring

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, and correspondence, Summer 1974

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, 1974-1975

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, 1975

Box 2

Clippings and other materials, 1975-1976

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, 1976 January -1976 July

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, 1976 August-1977 March

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, 1977 March-1978 August

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, and correspondence, 1978 September-1979 April

Box 2

Policy notebook, correspondence, other notes, 1978-1979

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, 1979 August-1980 May

Box 2

Clippings, 1979-1980

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, 1980 June-1981 April

Box 2

Clippings and other materials, 1980-1981

Box 2

Minutes, agendas, reports, and correspondence, 1981 October-1982 June

Box 2

Clippings and other materials, 1981-1982

Box 2

Financial Materials

General financial materials, 1973-1974

Box 2

General financial materials, correspondence, 1974-1975

Box 2

Budgets 1974-1975

Box 3

General financial materials, correspondence, 1975-1976

Box 3

Monthly reports, 1975 September-1976 September

Box 3

General financial materials, correspondence, 1976 October-1978 February

Box 3

General financial materials, correspondence, 1978-1979

Box 3

General financial materials, correspondence, 1979-1981

Box 3

Audit summaries, 1973-1981

Box 3

Lobbying expenses, 1977-1981

Box 3

Budgets and notes, 1979-1982

Box 3

Printed materials, working papers, and reports

Davidson College, Urban Sociology course papers, 1976

Box 3

Fliers, 1978-1982

Box 3

Pamphlet layout, ca. 1980-1982

Box 3

Canvasser's handbook, 1971

Box 3

NCPIRG Advocate, 1973-1981

Box 3

Outreach, 1978

Box 3

PIRG Perspectives column and press releases

Box 3

Of the People, 1978-1979

Box 3

The Insider, 1979-1981

Box 3

Research reports, 1970-1975

Box 3

Research reports, 1976-1981

Box 3

Clippings in support of NCPIRG, 1979-1981

Box 3

National PIRG governance materials, 1973-1980.

Contains materials relating to the national governance and organization of state PIRGs. Materials include records of PIRG representative networking and solidarity in political action.

Governing council materials, 1979-1980

Box 3

Correspondence and reports, 1978-1980

Box 3

Oppositions to PIRGs, 1973-1977

[2 folders]

Box 3

Letters of endorsement, 1972-1980

Box 3

Governing council, 1979-1980

Box 3

National PIRG conference, Colorado, 1978

Box 3

National PIRG conference, Virginia, 1979

Box 3

Clippings, 1974-1980

Box 3

Historical Note

Since the 1960s, college students in North Carolina have worked on goals of justice, social equality, and wise use of natural resources. Despite their understanding and commitment to these ideals, students often found their efforts frustrated by unresponsiveness in government and by the constraints of their academic role. The two major limitations that students faced were the lack of expertise required to deal with increasingly complex social problems, and the difficulty of maintaining continuous involvement due to breaks in the academic year.

The North Carolina Public Interest Research Group (NCPIRG) was created to facilitate activism on North Carolina's campuses. NCPIRG was founded in fall of 1971 by a group of students at Duke University, after hearing a speech by consumer advocate Ralph Nader. Duke University acted as the first headquarters for NCPIRG. Organizing efforts at nearby University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of North Carolina at Greensboro were turned down by administrators and trustees. In spring of 1972, students from St. Andrews College successfully organized and joined NCPIRG. By 1976, Davidson College and Wake Forest University had also formed chapters.

NCPIRG was funded and controlled by member schools. Students contributed a portion of their student fees to support NCPIRG as a campus group. NCPIRGs used the fee collection system as a stable means of guaranteed support. But, since NCPIRG viewed mandatory fees by themselves as an unacceptable means of support, they chose to offer a refund period to students. The refund provides students with a choice and makes NCPIRG directly accountable to students. This refund system was at times exploited by anti-PIRG groups on campuses.

The State Board of Directors was the major decision-making body for NCPIRG. The State Board was responsible for hiring professional staff, allocating funds, and setting research and project priorities for the year. School delegates reported their activities and exchanged ideas with each other at State Board meetings. The State Board provided continuity in staffing and support from experienced professionals.

NCPIRGs focused on environmental, social and political concerns. Some of the campaign topics of early NCPIRGs were high utility rates, nuclear weapons and defense spending, the draft, pollution, fair renting policies, and recycling. Because all PIRG members were students, PIRGs also focused on student rights, such as voting while living on campus, earning a full refund for rent deposit, student financial aid, campus-area grocery prices, and banking interest rates. Some of the most notable projects of NCPIRGs were land use pattern investigations in the North Carolina mountains, lobbying for changes in a local expressway, and organizing citizen testimony before the North Carolina Utilities Commission. They also assisted in the formation of the Brown Lung Association and sponsored the Generic Drug Substitution Act in 1979.

The Duke University PIRG, the most active of the NCPIRG chapters during the 1970s and early 1980s, organized the following workshops and events: Labor and Medical Center Employee Unions (1979), Truth in Testing (1979), Free University (1979-1980), and supported the Duke Draft Coalition.

As of 2003, NCPIRG is active and headquartered in Chapel Hill, N.C. NCPIRG does not currently have student-body sponsored chapters at North Carolina colleges or universities.

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