To call someone a “rosin heel” or “tar heel” was to imply they that they worked in a lowly trade. During the Civil War, North Carolina soldiers flipped the meaning of the term, and turned an epithet into an accolade.

In 1929 it changed its name to The Daily Tar Heel and began to expand its reporting and analysis of national and international affairs. Since then The Daily Tar Heel has often made news itself by drawing both widespread praise and criticism for its handling of various controversial subjects.

“The Daily Tar Heel,” UNC Libraries, accessed January 3, 2025, https://www.museum.unc.edu/items/show/2423.

The Tar Heel 'Free-For-All'. Item Information. Title. The Tar Heel 'Free-For-All'. Source. News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Date '6 November 1898 . Format. Cartoon. Collection Name. The 1898 Election. Repository. North Carolina Collection, University …

“The White and Blue,” UNC Libraries, accessed December 3, 2024, https://www.museum.unc.edu/items/show/2420.