Benefactors & Trustees

On this page we may use the terms alumna, alumnae, and women graduates. Alumnae refers to a group of graduates who identify as women. Alumna is the singular form of alumnae. There are debates surrounding the use of alumnae and alumna as these are terms that can feel outdated. For some, the terms are an affirmation of their identity. We aim to use the terms individuals use for themselves when possible.

 

Even before the college opened to persons who identify as female, they were making significant contributions to the institution. The February 18, 1837, Southern Citizen praised the "many active and benevolent ladies" who "made provisions to supply parts of the rooms with bedding and other necessary furniture."

 

The February 18, 1837, Southern Citizen praised the "many active and benevolent ladies" who "have already made provisions to supply parts of the rooms with bedding and other necessary furniture."

Southern Citizen Newspaper Clip, "Active and Benevolent Ladies"

 

Labor and Service

 

After Davidson College opened in 1837, women supported key college functions by working as boarding house owners and cooks, as well as laundresses.

 

 

We cannot highlight the importance of this labor without also addressing the impact of enslavement on Davidson College's establishment. Though the college did not own enslaved people, according to early college bursar’s reports, the college did pay local enslavers for the labor of the people they enslaved. This labor included lighting fires in the fireplaces of student dormitories and the chapel, general building maintenance, and cleaning student rooms (Davidson College Faculty Minutes, August 10, 1855). 

 


One of the earliest records we have of enslaved women laboring at the benefit of Davidson College pertains to Miss Betty Tate Davis. A published family history, Footprints on the Rough Side of the Mountain, states:

 

“Betty Tate Davis was born on a slave ship coming from Africa. The year is unknown. Ms. Betty Davis told about the time she lived in the Davidson, North Carolina area; how she drove a team of mules that carried bricks to build Davidson College.”

 

Davis later moved to Belmont, North Carolina after gaining freedom. She resided in Belmont until she passed away at the age of 108. Her descendants still live in the area today (Hand et al, p. 4).


We do not know the name of the person who enslaved Miss Davis, however, we do know that Major John Caldwell fulfilled the trustees' public request for 250,000 bricks for the construction of Davidson College’s first buildings in 1835. The advertisement for these bricks is featured, below. Davis may have been related to this plantation or area. 


 

Countless other enslaved women performed forced labor in and around Davidson, North Carolina. We continue to search our records for these women, aiming to recognize them not only for their contributions to our institution but also as whole persons.

 

 

For more information about interactions between enslaved women and the families of Davidson College presidents, please consult the Mary Lacy Letters project led by Dr. Rose Stremlau. For additional information about enslaved and freed women in the town of Davidson, please consult the Archives-led project, Always Part of the Fabric.

 

 

An 1835 ad for the construction of bricks for the new Manual Labor School

Ad for Bricks, 1835

 

Although not employed by the college, the spouses of faculty and college presidents helped by hosting and feeding trustees, nursing students, and corresponding with parents.

 

Local women took an interest in the college, to the point that in 1855 a group of women expressed interest in beautifying the college landscape. One of the first mentions of intentional grounds planning at Davidson actually occurs in the first volume of "The Meetings of the Board of Trustees of Davidson College." The minutes for February 28, 1855 state: “A communication was read signed by a few ladies of Davidson College, earnestly requesting the Board to take into consideration the propriety of enclosing the college campus, and a general remodeling of college grounds.” This group also decided to improve the grounds by painting the interior of the chapel building--this building was central to college and community life at the time.

 

By 1901, President John Shearer financed the formal remodeling of the chapel. The newly renamed Lizzie Gessner Shearer Biblical Hall was dedicated in honor of his wife and became the first building on campus dedicated to a woman. 

 

In 1943, the Quadwranglers' Wives Club, later known as the Distaff Club and College Service Club, was founded with the intent "to aid the President and the Administration of the College in every possible way, and to promote the social life of the campus." Operating from 1943 to 1987, these women planned receptions, organized the flowers for commencement, and enriched the life of the college community.

 

Meetings of the Board of Trustees of Davidson College, Minutes, February 28, 1855
Lizzie Gessner Shearer Hall, wife of Davidson College President John Bunyon Shearer. Built in 1837–38. Remodeled and named Shearer Hall in 1901. Demolished in 1960.
Shearer Hall
Five articles of the constitution. In 1943, the Quadwranglers Wives Club, later known as the Distaff Club and College Service Club was founded with the intend to "to aid the President and the Administration of the College in every possible way, and to promote the social life of the campus." Operating from 1943 to 1987, these women planned receptions, organized the flowers for commencement, and worked to enrich the life of the college community.
Constitution of the Quadwranglers Wives

Following the legacy of Shearer Hall, in 2000 and 2004, two campus buildings were renamed to honor the extraordinary service of Nancy Blackwell (Nancy Blackwell Alumni House) and Lula Bell Houston (Lula Bell Houston Resource Center). Both women worked for the college for over 50 years each. 

 

Blackwell served in the alumni office for decades before retiring in 2007 and was a beloved figure for generations of Davidson students. Houston worked in the college laundry for most of her decades-long career, and many students recount fond memories of her and her love for singing. For more information about the life of Lula Bell Houston, consult our Laundry History page.

 

Another significant form of institutional support performed by women was serving on the Davidson College Board of Trustees.

 

The Board of Trustees welcomed their first female member in 1974 with the election of Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans. Semans was a prominent philanthropist with a special interest in the arts and close ties to the Carolinas.

 

By 2020, more than 45 women had served as trustees, including the first Black female trustee, Thelma Adair, who began her term in 1983. Adair, a North Carolina native, was a distinguished Presbyterian educator and leader in early childhood education programs. She also worked across the country as a human rights activist. 

 

 

Financial Support

 

Women also made financial contributions. One of the first was Jane Lide. Lide's bequest of $1,100 in 1838 was equivalent to a full professor's salary.

 

Irving Harding Johnson, born in Davidson, North Carolina in 1889, worked as a columnist for and later publisher of the Charlotte Observer for several years. Johnson was one of the individuals reportedly responsible for Davidson College's inclusion in the indenture that created The Duke Endowment.

 

The Duke Endowment was established on December 11, 1924 and had a "stabilizing influence" on the college's financial situation, according to then-President Martin on page 43 of the 1928 Duke Endowment Yearbook. The enduring importance of The Duke Endowment to Davidson College's educational mission cannot be understated, but most administrators at Davidson College were shocked at the institution's inclusion in the indenture. According to an obituary published in the May 21, 1985 Charlotte Observer honoring Irving Harding Johnson:

 

"It was as Mrs. McGeachy that [Irving Harding Johnson] played a key role in persuading James B. Duke to make Davidson College one of the recipients of the Duke Endowment. According to Marshall Pickens, the endowment's director emeritus, Mrs. McGeachy learned that Mr. Duke planned to create a charitable trust and wanted to include colleges in the Duke Power Co. service area among its beneficiaries. She called Mr. Duke, invited him to Davidson, introduced to him to her father [Dr. Richard Harding, a Davidson professor] and helped to acquaint him with Davidson's tradition as a private, church-related liberal arts college."

 

Johnson went on to cultivate relationships with several other important Davidson College benefactors, including Mrs. Melissa Newcomer Lee. Lee served as the Executive Secretary for the American Red Cross in New York and was married to Samuel McClung Lee, Jr., a relation of Irving Harding Johnson's husband. Johnson's tireless efforts and personal connections secured significant gifts in support of Davidson College. Her obituary is featured in the item carousel, below.

 

Following this foundational work, even though Davidson was an all-male school at the time, in 1962 President David Grier Martin remarked that it "would be a poor place without ladies." Marcia Bell Mitchell gave a new meaning to his words with her donation of $835,000 that year, which was the single largest bequest in the history of the college at that time.

 

Trustee letter
Lide Letter
Marcia Bell Mitchell doner to Davidson College
Marcia Bell Mitchell
"Mrs. Johnson: She Left a Lasting Imprint," Charlotte Observer, 1985-05-21

 

Impact of Women Graduates

 

As the number of alumnae grew, so did their contributions to the college and community.

 

In 1985, Carol Connor Willingham became the first president of the Alumni Association. In 1996, Deborah Carlton Wallace (Davidson College Class of 1981) received the Alumni Service Award and in 1998, both Patricia Cornwell (Davidson College Class of 1979) and Emily Follin Smith (Davidson College Class of 1981) received the Distinguished Alumni Award.

 

Newspaper article about Carol Connor Willingham, first woman president of the Alumni Association.

Newspaper article about Carol Connor Willingham, first woman president of the Alumni Association.

Connor eating house, introduced in 1991, was the first eating house named after a female alumna. Carol Connor Willingham (Davidson College Class of 1977), the house's namesake, was part of the first graduating group of women at Davidson College. In honor of Willingham, Connor emphasizes community engagement and service.

 

Shortly after, Turner eating house was established and named after Catherine Turner (Davidson College Class of 1993) in 1998. Turner served as Davidson College's community service coordinator for three years following graduation and continued her community-minded work as Assistant Director of the Ada Jenkins Center. According to the Fall 1998 edition of the Davidson Journal: 

 

"House president Mary Shell Broche said the 80 Turner House members chose the name because "Catherine's ideals are those we'd like to take on as a house. She's an outstanding person in the community and we wanted to reflect our ideals in a meaningful way."

 

Davidson's female-identifying graduates have demonstrated significant institutional leadership, as well. In 2019, Alison Hall Mauzé (Davidson College Class of 1984) was elected as the first woman to chair Davidson College's Board of Trustees after her leadership on the Game Changers campaign, described in the October 15, 2015 news article, below.

 

In 2023, Mauzé is joined by a number of other women graduates on the board, including Lillian "Beadsie" Woo (Davidson College Class of 1986), Olivia Ware (Davidson College Class of 1978), Janet Stovall (Davidson College Class of 1985), Anne Stanback (Davidson College Class of 1991), Cintra Pollack (Davidson College Class of 1999), Kristi Mitchem (Davidson College Class of 1992), Yvette Pita Frampton (Davidson College Class of 1995), Tiara Able Henderson (Davidson College Class of 1997), Jessica Davis (Davidson College Class of 2009), Lisa Green Case (Davidson College Class of 1999), and Maria Tardugno Aldrich (Davidson College Class of 2003). In this capacity, all of these women continue the leadership they demonstrated as students beyond graduation.

 

"$3 Million Gift from Michael ’85 and Alison Hall Mauzé ’84 Moves Academic Building Progress Forward," October 5, 2015, Davidson Game Changers.
Senior Photograph of Anissa Patton, Class of 1991
"Campus Chronicle," Davidson Journal, Fall 1998

 

Another way Davidson alumnae impact the lives of current students is through the establishment of and participation in college mentorship programs.

 

An example of this work is Davidson’s Msaada Mentoring Program, officially launched in 2021. Conceived by Anissa Patton (Davidson College Class of 1991),  Msaada means "to be of help" in Kiswahili--aptly capturing the intent of the program. According to a Davidson College News story from February 1, 2023, the Msaada Mentoring Program was "designed to pair alums who identify as Black women with students who identify as the same." This exemplary work fosters intergenerational connections between current and former students who attend a predominantly White institution by creating safe spaces to discuss career goals, personal challenges, larger socio-cultural struggles, successes, and academic advice. 

 

These selected leaders represent just a small fraction of the ways Davidson's women graduates continue to provide critical support for the institution long after graduation, allowing Davidson to thrive and chart a new path forward in the 21st century.

 

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