This group recognized the value of an umbrella organization that could help faculty and students studying the South to communicate, collaborate, and combine resources.

They presented their idea to the UNC Board of Governors, which established the CSAS in 1992 with Reed as acting director, until he was succeeded by Moltke-Hansen.

Malinda Maynor Lowery, professor of history at UNC, served as director from 2017 to 2021, before departing for Emory University.

The stated mission of the CSAS is to extend the historic role of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the world's premier institution for research, teaching, and public dialogue on the history, culture, and contemporary experience of the American South.

The Center is the University's primary vehicle to promote initiatives in this tradition of regional service and scholarship.