Powell, William S., 1919-

William Stevens Powell, author, historian, and professor of history emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

William Stevens Powell, author, historian, and professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was born in Johnston County, N.C., on 28 April 1919. He grew up in Statesville, N.C. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1940, served four years in the Army during World War II, then returned to the University and received an M.A. in history and a B.S. in library science.

In 1947, Powell went to work in the rare book room in the library at Yale University, but quickly returned to North Carolina to work in the highway marker program in Raleigh. In 1951, he began working in the North Carolina Collection in the Library of the University of North Carolina. He became curator of the North Carolina Collection in 1958 and began teaching North Carolina history at the University in 1964. In 1973, he was made full professor of history.

Among Powell's publications include The North Carolina Gazetteer, UNC Press (1968, with five softcover editions to 1988); The First State University, A Pictorial History of the University of North Carolina, UNC Press (1972, 1979, 1992); North Carolina, A Bicentennial History, UNC Press (1988); Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, volumes I-VI, UNC Press, (1979-1996); North Carolina Through Four Centuries, UNC Press (1989, 1990); John Pory, 1572-1636, The Life and Letters of a Man of Many Parts, UNC Press (1977); Colonial North Carolina, A History, with Hugh Lefler, UNIPUB-Kraus International (1973); The Correspondence of William Tryon and Other Selected Papers, 2 v., North Carolina Division of Archives and History (1980); North Carolina, A Proud State in Our Nation, D. C. Heath and Company (1993); Encyclopedia of North Carolina, UNC Press (2006).

Powell received many honors for his teaching and his scholarship. Among them are the Guggenheim Fellowship; Cannon Cup; Crittenden Award; William R. Davie Award; North Caroliniana Society Award; Award of Merit, American Association for State and Local History; Mayflower Cup; honorary doctorate degrees from Campbell University and Davidson College; and the Distinguished Alumnus Award, School of Library and Information Science, UNC-Chapel Hill.

In 1952, Powell married Virginia Waldrop, who grew up in Raleigh and graduated from Meredith College in 1951. They had three children, John, Charles, and Ellen.