Abstract:
Lotteries were once respectable among North Carolinians. In 1801,the General Assembly authorized the University of North Carolina to sponsor a lottery to raise money for the completion of South Building, then a dormitory and now UNC's administration building. Some of the state's leading citizens, such as U.S. District Court Judge Henry Potter, State Treasurer John Haywood, and State Senator Henry Seawell, helped sell the tickets in an effort to aid the struggling young university.