donbosco
Honored Member
- Messages
- 973
This New Yorker is among my Top Ten Tar Heel Anti-Fascists. Modern imaginings might cause one to take a look at his photo portrait and think Right-Winger but that would be a dead wrong reckoning. George Watts Hill was raised in money and key institutions in N.C. like The Carolina Inn, UNC Press, Watts Hospital, Hill Hall at UNC, and The George Watts Hill Alumni Center have associations with his family. Born in 1901 he graduated UNC IN 1921 and earned a law degree in 1924. Observing the rise of fascism around the world in the late 1930s into the ‘40s, Hill, worked to spur an isolationist USA to recognize the dire threat of Nazism and Mussolini’s Italy as well as homegrown rightists like the America First Committee in this country. Past combat age as the US entered WWII in 1941, Hill nevertheless served in intelligence gathering with the group that would develop into the OSS.
After his service fighting the rising tide of fascism in Europe Hill opposed similar views at home with his strong opposition to the N.C. General Assembly’s Speaker Ban, a railroaded-in law meant to shutdown Free Speech on the campuses of UNC System schools and otherwise squelch anything but Patriotically Correct instruction, writing, and research at Carolina. An anti-fascist dedication to racial justice led to his early advocacy of desegregation in public accommodations. Hill also supported the creation and expansion of education for children with learning disabilities. (There are two links at the conclusion here where you can learn more)
#OTD in 1901 George Watts Hill was born in NYC to a prosperous family with deep North Carolina roots. A UNC Undergraduate and Law Graduate, he came early to the fight against fascism and was a key officer in The Office of Strategic Services. Later he stood vs the Speaker Ban and Segregation. The Alumni Center @UNC bears his name.
A Tar Heel in Cloak: George Watts Hill, Interventionism, and the Shadow War Against Hitler - North Carolina History. (And yes-I know the provenance of this site -I find irony in this)
Vote like George Watts Hill was your mentor.
After his service fighting the rising tide of fascism in Europe Hill opposed similar views at home with his strong opposition to the N.C. General Assembly’s Speaker Ban, a railroaded-in law meant to shutdown Free Speech on the campuses of UNC System schools and otherwise squelch anything but Patriotically Correct instruction, writing, and research at Carolina. An anti-fascist dedication to racial justice led to his early advocacy of desegregation in public accommodations. Hill also supported the creation and expansion of education for children with learning disabilities. (There are two links at the conclusion here where you can learn more)
#OTD in 1901 George Watts Hill was born in NYC to a prosperous family with deep North Carolina roots. A UNC Undergraduate and Law Graduate, he came early to the fight against fascism and was a key officer in The Office of Strategic Services. Later he stood vs the Speaker Ban and Segregation. The Alumni Center @UNC bears his name.
George Watts Hill, Tar Heel in Cloak
On October 27, 1901, George Watts Hill was born to a prosperous family in Durham. The newborn would inherit wealth, commanding a fortune earned in banking, and over time would demonstrate an abiding sense of devotion to his country.
www.ncdcr.gov
A Tar Heel in Cloak: George Watts Hill, Interventionism, and the Shadow War Against Hitler - North Carolina History. (And yes-I know the provenance of this site -I find irony in this)
Vote like George Watts Hill was your mentor.