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Fire in Old Chambers – Photographs
Pictures of Old Chambers before and after the fire
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Mace
Also known as: the Sesquicentennial Mace.
The Davidson College mace made its début on January 29, 1988 in time for the college’s Sesquicentennial Celebration. Planning for this mace had begun eight years earlier under President Samuel Spencer, Jr., and the idea was commissioned by the Board of Trustees.
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Ney (Poem) – Martha Hampton
Acrostic poem written for Martha Hampton by Peter Stuart Ney. [1843]
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Ney (Poem)- Mary Young
Acrostic poem written for Mary Young by Peter Stuart Ney. [1833]
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Phi Beta Kappa
The Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established at Davidson College in 1923. The chapter was an outgrowth of the Mimir Society, a local society for the recognition of attainment in scholarship which had been organized May 24, 1915, under the direction of Dr. Joseph Moore McConnell, Professor of History. Soon after the founding of the Mimir Society the members, under the leadership of Dr. William Joseph Martin, the President of the College, and Dr. McConnell, began seeking the establishment of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter at Davidson.
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History Department
In the early years of Davidson’s history, history courses were taught by professors of the Latin and Greek departments.
Most of the early history classes were mainly recitations of Latin and Greek passages (what we would think of as Classics).
However, the college soon recognized the need for more modern history courses and history eventually became its own department around 1910.
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Freshman Beanies and Pins
The Freshman Beanie was introduced in 1920. The original
style was a black cap with a red button on top and a green F attached to the
front of the cap. These later gave way to a red cap with the class year of
the freshman prominently displayed in black on the front of the beanie. The
caps had to be worn all year long unless the freshman were victorious in the
sophomore-freshmen day contest, usually consisting of a football game or other
athletic contests held in the Fall. By 1967, the move had been made to require red
and black with “Davidson” on the front instead of the class
year. This was done so the caps could be sold to the public. 1969 was the last year that the
freshmen caps were required.
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Extracurricular Activities – Political and Social Justice Groups
In the 1970s, a more liberal student body began to emerge out of the New Left movement, noticeable in the growing anti-Vietnam War sentiments that larger and larger groups of students began to embrace (Blodgett 199). Students, facilitated by public interest groups, which worked from a more non-partisan angle, began to speak out more frequently on environmental and consumer-based issues. At the turn of the 21st century, liberal student activism had become an even larger part of life on campus. With the rising conflict in the Middle East, students and faculty began to speak out against the war in Iraq. This belief was afforded by groups like Just Peace, providing a safe space for peaceful discussion. Although Davidson has not been a historically activist campus, it has been involved in political movements and has been a part of nationally evolving social trends.
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Extracurricular Activities – Independents
At Davidson College during the 1960’s, there was growing concern that social life was at the mercy of the fraternities. Independents (non-fraternity members) did have teams participating in inter-fraternity sports, but remained socially separate from fraternities (Three). In response to this, Davidson encouraged students to found various organizations to diversify social opportunities on campus. Among these were clubs and service fraternities such as Lingle Manor and Alpha Phi Omega. The integration of women as students and degree candidates in 1972 further challenged the men at Davidson to integrate their female peers into social life on campus. This brought on the establishment of co-ed eating houses, which would set a precedent for the strong presence of eating houses on Patterson Court in later years.
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Extracurricular Activities – Honorary Fraternities
The first Greek letter society in the United States was founded in 1776 at the University of William and Mary. Called Phi Beta Kappa, the secret organization was created with the purpose of fostering brotherhood among its members (Student Involvement). This fraternity, as with most original fraternities, focused on studying the classics, and created opportunities for its members to discuss topics such as philosophy, Greek literature, and history. By 1893, Phil Beta Kappa chapters were shifting from literary and social activities to celebrating academic achievements and thereby establishing a new tradition of honorary societies and fraternities.
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Extracurricular Activities – Activity Planning Boards
The first formal student organizations on Davidson’s campus were the Philanthropic and Eumenean Literary Societies founded within months of the college’s opening. Along with providing students opportunities to debeate and practice public speaking, the literary societies helped organize events around commencements and supported the first student publications. As the 19th century turned into the 20th, students began to organize additional clubs and societies around shared interests and desires for more social activities. With the increasing number of student groups came an interest and need to provide coordination and in some cases regulations for them.
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Encyclopedie; ou Dictionnaire raisonne des sciences des arts et des metiers
The Encyclopedie contains both text volumes and separate volumes of plates, all beautifully and intricately done. The representations of animals in the section on “Histoire naturelle” are particularly beautiful, as are the astronomical and mechanical representations.
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Wilson, Woodrow
Admiring Davidson as an institution devoted to Presbyterianism, moral character, and academic primacy, Joseph Ruggles Wilson deemed Davidson a perfect fit for his son Woodrow, stating, “surely if Davidson be not worthy of public favor, then no college is” (Rives). Woodrow Wilson came to Davidson as a freshman in 1873, but would stay for only one year before he became ill, took a year off from college, and afterwards enrolled at Princeton University. Despite his brief tenure, Wilson spoke affectionately of his alma mater while President, and to this day he remains Davidson’s most famous alum.
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Vail Commons
Built in 1980-81. Dedicated November 7, 1981
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Wells
In the 19th Century , there were numerous wells scattered across the Davidson College Campus and the Town of Davidson. By the beginning of the 21st century, the remains of only one well was still visible; it had became known as the “Well.” Located just north-east of the Philanthropic Hall, the Well’s original structure was a wooden lattice over a bucket and windlass.
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Ovens Union
Dates: Built 1916-1917 as Alumni Gymnasium. Remodeled as Ovens Student
Union in 1952 and expanded in 1963. Demolished in 1972 to make way for E.H.
Little Library.
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North Carolina Medical College
Included in the history of the sciences at Davidson College is the founding of the North Carolina Medical College. Incorporated in 1893, the North Carolina Medical College was the first chartered medical college in North Carolina and had its roots in Davidson’s pre-medical program. The “president” of the college was Dr. John Peter Munroe, a Davidson College physician and professor. In 1896, Dr. Munroe bought a lot from Davidson College and built on it a three-story brick building for his college.
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Lingle Manor
Built in the 1870s. Miss Lucy Jurney’s School for Boys and
Girls” in the early 1880s. Purchased by Leonidas Glasgow in 1886. Purchased by Lingle Family in 1939. Given to Davidson College in 1961. Student activity center from 1962 to 1967. Art Department and Black Student Coalition building in the 1970s. Remodeled as student housing in the 1980s. Demolished in 1999 to make way for a new dormitory.
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Williamson, Samuel
(b.1795 d. 1882) Reverend Samuel Williamson, D.D. came to Davidson in 1839, joining the faculty as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. Having been an outstanding scholar at the University of South Carolina and South Carolina College, Williamson became minister before accepting the Davidson professorship. Within two years of serving the college as faculty member, Williamson was elected president.
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Lingle, Walter Lee
(b. 1868 d. 1956) A graduate of Davidson College, class of 1892, Reverend Walter Lee Lingle, D.D., LL.D. also attended Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, graduating in 1896. He taught Hebrew and Greek at the Seminary for two years before accepting a call as a minister. Lingle served three churches before returning to the Seminary as professor. In 1902 he was elected to the Davidson College Board of Trustees. He served as president of the Board from 1906 to 1929. Lingle, also, served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1920 and as president of the Presbyterian General Assembly’s Training School in Richmond, Virginia, before accepting the presidency of Davidson College in 1929. His brother-in-law was past President Henry Louis Smith.
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Jackson, Thomas (Stonewall)
General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (b. 1824 d. 1863) was a Civil War general in the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee. He started his career as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA where he married Eleanor Junkin the daughter of Washington College (now Washington & Lee University) president Dr. George Junkin. After the death of his first wife he married Mary Anna Morrison, the daughter of Davidson’s first president Rev. Robert Hall Morrison in July 1857. In addition he was also the brother-in-law to Major D.H Hill, a Davidson professor and head of the Mathematics department at the time.
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Hill, Daniel Harvey
(b. 1821 d. 1889)General Daniel Harvey “D.H” Hill served as the Davidson College Department of Mathematics Chair from 1854-1859, where he published a textbook called Elements of Algebra in 1859.
Prior to that he was also a Mathematics Professor at Washington College (now Washington & Lee University) from 1849-1854. In 1848 General Hill married Isabella Morrison, the eldest daughter of Davidson’s first president Rev. Robert Hall Morrison.
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Hepburn, Andrew Dousa
(b. 1830 d. 1921) Reverend Andrew Dousa Hepburn,, D.D., LL.D., a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was Davidson’s first northern-born president. As a student, he attended the University of Virginia and Princeton Theological Seminary. He began teaching at the University of North Carolina in 1860 but resigned in 1867. Hepburn joined the faculty of the University of Miami, Ohio, in 1868 and returned to North Carolina in 1874 to teach at Davidson College. He was elected president of Davidson three years later.
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Edwards, Bill -Legend
William “Bill” Davidson Edwards, Class of 1953, was a fictional alumnus of Davidson College, created by Mike Myers, also Class of 1953. As the Alumni Secretary of the Class of 1953, Myers would gather news from fellow classmates to put in the “Class Notes” section of the Davidson College Bulletin. As a joke, Myers created a fictitious character, Bill Edwards. Periodically, he would update his fellow classmates on the dramatic adventures and stories of “good ole Bill” in the class notes.
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Davidson, Chalmers
Chalmers Gaston Davidson was born June 6. 1907 in Chester, South Carolina to Zeb Vance and Kate (Gaston) Davidson. He began his distinguished career in education at Davidson College, graduating summa cum laude in 1928. He continued his education at Harvard (M.A. in 1930 and Ph.D. in 1942) and the University of Chicago (M.A. in Library Science in 1936). Davidson began teaching in 1928 at various schools in the South, including The Citadel, but returned to his beloved Davidson College in 1936. Known as “Dr. D,” he taught history and served as Director of the Library from 1936-1976. In retirement, he was College Archivist and professor emeritus.