University of North Carolina Athletics
Morton on Carolina's Mind
January 6, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2006
By Adam Lucas
Thousands of Carolina fans know Hugh Morton even if they've never met him. One of the most influential North Carolinians of our time, Morton is best-known as the owner of Grandfather Mountain, the popular Western North Carolina attraction. But for Tar Heel fans, he carries added significance, as he's been taking pictures of Carolina athletic events for over half a century. Some of the best-known sports photos in Carolina history--Charlie Justice dashing around end; the famous shot of Dean Smith, Jimmy Black, and James Worthy after the 1982 championship game; Jordan soaring in Carmichael just before a one-hand slam dunk, a photo that would be eerily similar to one taken of Vince Carter a decade later--are Morton photographs. If there's been an important Tar Heel sports moment over the past 50 years, Morton has been there (Many of those photographs are available in the recently published Hugh Morton's North Carolina. Another book of Morton's photos is in the works.). He's been a fixture at Carmichael, the Smith Center, and Kenan Stadium.
And even when he can't be there, one of his contributions is very prominent in the Smith Center. After noticing that the American flag imported from Carmichael to the new facility was dwarfed in the spacious new building, he had a brand new enormous United States flag flown over Grandfather Mountain, Mount Mitchell, the Biltmore House, the State Capitol, the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, and the Wright Brothers National Monument. Satisfied that the flag now suitably represented the state of North Carolina, Morton donated it to UNC, and it now hangs proudly over center court in the Smith Center.
He's coming back to Chapel Hill on Jan. 8, but this time it won't be for something as trivial as games. The 84-year-old Morton will begin treatment on Monday for a tumor on his esophagus, and the radiation and chemotherapy treatment at UNC Hospitals will continue five days a week for six weeks.
If you've enjoyed Mr. Morton's work over the years, or ever stopped to see Mildred the Bear, or ever walked across the Mile High Swinging Bridge, please take a moment to send an email wishing him well as he begins one of his toughest challenges. We will print all the emails and personally deliver them to him in Chapel Hill next week.
For more on Hugh Morton, see the following story that originally appeared in Tar Heel Monthly in January 2004:
