At Fall Convocation, on Saturday, November 2, 1991, Dean of Faculty Robert Williams announced to the Davidson College Community that a teaching award had been created to honor a Davidson faculty member that displays “an exemplary love of teaching.”
Oral history interview with Betty BJ Caldwell, conducted by Jan Blodgett on Thursday September 8, 2016 at the Torrence-Lytle Community Center in Huntersville, NC.
In this interview, Susie Lowery provides insights into the experience of a Black woman growing up and working several jobs in and around Huntersville, Davidson, and Mooresville. Born in Huntersville, Ms. Lowery’s family moved several times in the area to farm for different landowners, mentioning for instance, the farms of Dr. McConnell and Mr. Caldwell. After her marriage in 1931, Ms. Lowery moved to Davidson and worked for several White faculty families, such as the Cummings or the Wilsons. She also mentions cooking at a Davidson College fraternity house until her retirement.
Ms. Lowery talks about raising her own children, grandchildren and even greatgrandchildren, as well as many of the children from the families she worked for. After raising many children and see them leave, as well as dealing with her husband’s passing, she explains she had to move out from Griffith Street at a difficult time. Nonetheless, she discusses the Reeve’s Temple AME Zion and Gethsemane Baptist churches, and recalls fried fish picnics, baseball games, and other events that the church community would organize. Ms. Lowery expresses herself positively about Davidson and its people, characterizing it as quiet and kind place. She talks about businesses and entertainment in and around Davidson, and observes that at the time of the interview, many young people were leaving Davidson for a lack of jobs. Finally, she goes over some of her neighbors over time, mentioning Davidson residents such as Nancy Fairley, Brenda Tapia, Evelyn Carr, Hattie Thompson, Rosie Patterson, Dan Brown, and Mr. Graham.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century into the early twentieth century, sports grew as a popular form of out-door play and entertainment for students at Davidson College. Many new teams and activities arose with the growth of the student body from 120 students in 1888 to 650 students in 1940. College athletes entered the arena of intercollegiate play in 1898 after decades of intramural play. The first organized teams played baseball in the 1870s, followed by rugby in 1889. Even with the rise of varsity sports, intramurals remained an integral part of student life and leisure time. Stiff competition between classes gradually shifted to fraternity-based teams and club sports.
![Class Football from 1930s with text "Class Football Series Will Start Saturday. All Teams Are Working Hard For A [] Season."](https://digitalprojects.davidson.edu/omeka/files/medium/c5c3c317040c9dc94e7411aab0a0b6d662810966.jpg)