George Watts Hill Jr. (1926-2002), North Carolina businessman, state legislator, and advocate of higher education, was the son of George Watts Hill Sr. and the grandson of John Sprunt Hill, both prominent Durham, N.C., bankers and businessmen. Known as Watts, he graduated from the University of North Carolina; worked in banking, first in New York and then with his father as vice-president of the Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company in Durham; represented Durham in the North Carolina General Assembly, 1957-1961; was president, 1961-1967, and then chair of the board until 1973 of the Home Security Life Insurance Company; and served as chair of the North Carolina Board of Higher Education, 1965-1969. He supported the creation of the University of North Carolina System in 1972 and served on its board of governors, 1972-1973. He also was a consultant on educational and other issues with a number of firms including his own and ICF Consulting. The collection includes correspondence, speeches, reports, clippings, and other materials related to George Watts Hill Jr.'s interests in education, desegregation, his service in the North Carolina General Assembly, and other topics. Speeches, 1958-1974, include the typed versions of Hill's speeches, mainly about education. Political materials, 1952-1969, are subject files from Hill's years in the state legislature; his service on the Durham Interim Committee and the Durham Committee on Community Relations, both of which focused on desegregation; and a report on public housing in Durham. Higher education materials, chiefly 1962-1985, document the North Carolina Speaker Ban controversy and the integration-focused Consent Decree conflict with the United States Department of Housing, Education, and Welfare (HEW) and include reports from the North Carolina Board of Higher Education and ICF Consulting studies. University of North Carolina service materials, chiefly 1985-1999, relate to the Hill family's philanthropic contributions to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as to Watts Hill Jr.'s service to several of the universities in the University of North Carolina System. Consulting materials, 1973-1995, include reports and other items related to Hill's educational consulting career. Personal and family materials, 1943-1998, relate to the administration of John Sprunt Hill II's estate and include a few personal items of Watts Hill Jr., architectural plans for Hill's Chapel Hill residence, and other items. The Addition of November 2008 includes speeches, letters, pamphlets, clippings, and other materials related to Watts Hill Jr.'s position on the North Carolina State Board of Higher Education, 1968-1971, during which time the University of North Carolina considered merging state colleges into a single, consolidated University of North Carolina System. There are also letters, pamphlets, and other materials related to his tenure representing Durham in the North Carolina State General Assembly, 1957-1961, with related professional materials, circa 1950-1971.
