A class for Registers of Deeds at the Institute of Government

Even before World War I, history professor J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton and others conducted research for state and local government officials on topics such as taxation. Albert Coates continued and expanded this service. After graduating from UNC and the Harvard Law School, Coates returned to the university in 1923 as professor of law. In 1931, he created the Institute of Government, a training, consulting, and research organization. Serving North Carolina's approximately six hundred county and municipal governments, the institute's faculty offers training, research, publishing, and consulting programs for a wide array of elected and appointed local officials. In 2001, the university transferred the Master of Public Administration to the institute and renamed it the School of Government.