North Carolina Newspapers

Sesquicentennial Supplement 1793 1943 Mm - - 9 -w r fr . it -nmm- JhJr S 7 f n i - v ; .- ; : - esQ . VOLUME LII W " " -7 . WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1943 CHAPEL HILL, N. C, NUMBER 13-W Oldie odds Delivers Main Address At Ceremonies University Day Has Added Significance University Day, most impressive and venerable of all Carolina tradi tions, was doubly significant yester day when it marked the 150th anni versary of the Old East cornerstone laying ceremonies. Main speaker of the day, Dr. Har old W. Dodds, president of Princeton University, addressed a convocation of students civilian and uniformed faculty members and alumni from all parts of the state. Dr. Frank P. Gra ham, president of the University, speaking to the assemblage, combined regular student convocation ceremony with the University Day proceedings. Harris Lieutenant Governor R. L. Harris presided over the celebration from the platform. Dean of Administration Robert , Burton House injected a sol emn note in the celebration with a brief speech in honor of those former Carolina students who have given their lives on foreign battle-fronts. Actual proceedings began at 10:30 when the faculty, attired in academic regalia, assembled at South building, beginning the regular "University Day" faculty procession which was led by the University band. Dodd's speech was rebroadcast by station WPTF throughout the South Atlantic ready to man the fleet of the United region in the afternoon. states, on the sea and in the air. Today ; Stressing the longhand eventful his- : it houses a portion of the men who in tory of Carolina since it opened its a few months will be deck officers on doors in 1795, the speakers laid em- battleships, aircraft carriers, destroy phasis on the part the University ers Today the street it fronts is col must play in the future. "This insti- ored the white blue khaki Ma tution, which has survived four major green of the Army and Navy wars, has always stood as a beacon of , , .. ... ., . , . . j m, ... , , . 1 University by General Davie has been tioned. The part it must play m the . future is even more important than attributed to many thmgs among them the role which it has executed in theie ,water ,from. the .ld W,e11' Tar past. The University has now grown to maturity. Now it must fulfill, to the utmost, the ideal of those respon sible for its foundation." Trustees Present University Trustees were present at the celebration and Masonic Or ders throughout the state were invited. Covorol RPBmiireTifpiiTiJal pcA oTvr si . tions have been held during the past four years. In 1939 there was a cele bration of the chartering of the Uni versity in 1789.. This occasion took place in Fayetteville site of the granting of the charter by the State legislature. Yesterday's ceremonies marked the 150th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone by William R. Davie. n n IT IT cEooi Jtias ' Jniaci Caldwell Became First President Since that December day in 1789, when General William R. Davie pre sented the charter to the General As sembly, 11 presidents and three acting presidents have served Carolina. When the doors first opened in Jan uary of 1795, the Rev. Dr. David Ker, a Princeton graduate was acting presi dent. Following him, Charles W. Har ris, Joseph Caldwell and James S. Gil laspie were acting presidents. As a re sult of Caldwell's fine work, the trus tees elected him the first president in 1804. Caldwell Born in the first part of the eigh teenth century, Joseph Caldwell entered Princeton in 1787 and graduated in 1791, one of the best scholars in his class. For a while he served as a tutor at Princeton. He came to Carolina next and served only a short while as acting President, ill health forcing him to re sign. However, at the close of the cen tury, the Princeton graduate was re called and made a trustee of the Uni versity. Advising the University for 31 years, he did much to guide it through its years of early growth. He raised enough money to complete South build ing, saw Gerrard hall and Old West icate eteteate &z Above, Gen. Davie. "Father of the Uni the cornerstone of Below, Dr. Harold W. Dodds, President of Princeton Univer sity, who was the main speaker yester day isfx-x-.v: xxx xt::-: fr 'Sxw:w-':-' V. ;-fl-:-:-:-K-:-fe-K.:-x'ff::jf5f:-: E:v:-:-:-:-:-x-:-xv:-:-:-x-:-x.:.:.--;':-' -' - z 7 1 wmmmm. -mmmmz mmzxxmm 1 !' KSfeS-r-lsviB.SSKi .... f Present Campus Grew Up About Historic Old East , The annual pilgrimage to Old East has once more been observed. In 1943 there was more pomp and circumstance, for the dean of state university buildings was having its 150th birthday. Secure in its ivy, Old East has seen Carolina grow from a small institution with one student to a vast, present-day, split plant turning out civilians skilled in wartime trades and service men ui (.lie jJicsciib cite ui. wc ! ieei story nas it tnat a ionaness ior mint fixed the site. In all events, Davie and his fellow trustees met under the historic poplar later named for the Gen eral and in 1792 received from the local property owners offers of land totaling 1380 acres. This was sufficient ly persuasive to win out over other sec tions of the state and what was then Nfw hapel site of the University of North Caro lina. Constructed by the first James Patterson of Chatham county, Old East reflects the prevailing official building architecture of the times, has j true worth as an architect's "museum j piece." After the laying of the corner- I stone and the first University day, Old irir built during his administration. Another Princeton graduate, Robert Hill Chapman, succeeded Caldwell. Be cause of his inability to manage the undergraduates, his administration was one of freequent administration-student clash. A federalist in politics, he one of frequent administration-stu-federalist students. Relations between Chapman and the students deteriorated so sharply that he was forced to resign in favor of Elisha Mitchell, chairman of the faculty. A graduate of Yale, Mitchell was in charge of the Natural Science depart ment here, for 32 years, first taught mathematics. While President Caldwell was in Europe in 1824, Mitchell served as Carolina's head man. Mitchell's in terest in the outdoors led to his sudden death while mountain climbing. He was succeeded by David L. Swain, first Car olina alumnus to hold the post. Swain During Swain's administration the University was at its ante-bellum peak. Approximately 500 students attended classes, New East and New West were built and Carolina became one of the nation's high ranking educational in stitutions. The end of his administra tion, however, was destined to find the University at its lowest ebb since the founding. Damage dealt bythe Civil War was staggering. The financial con dition of the University was poor, the E sity utiver esqracentennial This Week "1 Above - Dr. Joseph Caldwell, first Presi dent of the Univer sity. Caldwell had served as acting head before' appointment. Below, Dr. Frank P. Graham, President Carolina,- who spoke at yesterday's celebration. 'V ::! :-;-x-x-:x:x-x:::x::-:::;:-:-:---5 East built rapidly and was ready for the formal opening of the University on January 15, 1795. Two weeks later, it got' its first occupants, when lone stu dent Hinton James of Wilmington joined the teaching staff of two profes sors. By term's end, the student body had mounted to 41. In its first years, Carolina's construc tion grandfather served as a building of all trades. Class rooms, dormi tories, library all were embodied in Old East. Then, the campus began to spread out and the clear view was cut off by brick and timber. It wasn't until the next century that Old East be came what it is today a dormitory only. Since then it has housed many hundreds of Carolina men, seen hun- VAX UJL YV X LCI UgllbOy 1 A CI IX V lss A JT parades, handshakes of countless cam pus politicians. Still in use today, Old East goes into its fourth half -century. Although the inside has changed greatly, the , shell is still a part of 1790 Carolina, j With the ceremonies over for another I year, it returns to the business of housing the V-12. iir of ley en Presidents During 150 Year Span if ' if ' ''i i if - A.- - - ; -A 4 E. K. Graham student body had dwindled to almost nothing. President Swain died in 1868 after leaving office. Solomon Pool fol lowed him, but the dark days of Re construction were too much and the University had to close its doors. In 1875, when Carolina reopened, Charles Phillips served as head of the school until a new president could be selected. Kemp P. Battle, the "father of the new university," assumed office in 1876 and served until 1891. He brought the University through the trying period P3 In Tee UNC's Rise Closely Growth of North Carolina A child of the American Revolution, the University of North Carolina "oldest state university" in the country was conceived during a post war period, grew up through an adolescence of three wars and today comes of age as the United States faces the gravest tests in its military history. The progress of the University through the culmination of its priceless tradition of 150 years of Davie Led Small Group At Dedication It was a brisk autumn day in Oc- tober, 1793. A group of men trudged up a hill in Orange county, North ' Carolina where New Hope Chapel was j located. . This hill formed a promon tory overlooking a basin, which geol ogists estimate was 10,000 feet deep a million years ago. Now it was filled in. Countless centuries of erosion had completed their work. The Hill was only 500 feet above sea level. $10,000 The men, led by William R. Davie, Grand Master of Masons, paused at the hilltop and refreshed themselves at a spring. They knew that preliminary work was over; a suitable site for a state university had been found. North South, East-West roads intersected here, it was the geographical center of the state, and there was an "excellent all-year climate." On October 12, 1793 a group of men including Reverend Samuel E. McCor kle, a graduate of Princeton, and James" Patterson, contractor, "sur rounded by a forest of Oaks and Hick ory, maples and poplars brilliant with the red and golden hues of Autumn, William R. Davie, Grand Master of the Masons, laid the cornerstone of Old East dormitory, the oldest state uni versity building in the United States." The dedicatory address was given by Reverend McCorkle on the spot which now bears his name. "Liberty and law," he said, "call for general knowledge in the people and extensive knowledge in matters of the State, and these in turn demand public places of educa tion." With these words he joined de mocracy and education "in the indis soluble bonds of matrimony." Yesterday that drama was reenacted. This time, exactly 150 years later, the Carolina Playmakers, University dra matic organization, did the parts as a special feature of the sesquicentennial anniversary. On the same spot, the Playmakers presented a pageant from a platform constructed at the corner of Old East. lip! r - ill K v. 4C -4 X; Chase after its reopening and rebuilt it to for mer stature. Battle was succeeded by George T. Winston. A student and a teacher, Winston was keenly interested in languages. During his administration, the wom en obtained recognition of their own when Woman's College opened in Greensboro. He resigned to become President of the University of Texas and was succeeded by Edwin A. Alder man in 1896. During Alderman's ad ministration the water works and the A I anon service to the state and nation is the tne crises it nas passed. University Closes There was the crisis of 1870 when, after managing to keep open during the Civil War, the University was forced to close for five years because of poverty and politics. There were the desperate crises of 19,17 and 1920 when, due to mounting enrollments, Carolina was faced with the fabulously overcrowded school rooms and dormitories. Reversing the policy of a generation, the state legis lature voted substantial sums for permanent improvements. 1932 Crisis And there was the depression crisis of 1932 when more than 500 students would have been forced to return home had not President Frank P. Graham and other University officials succeeded in raising $100,000 to supplement student loan funds. There were times when teachers and professors at the University voted to continue their work here without salaries rather than see the University close its doors. Charter Bill It all began back on November 12, 1789, when William R. Davie intro duced the University bill providing for a charter in the state legislature which was meeting in Fayetteville. On November 21, in the Constitutional Convention, he moved the ratification of the Constitution. The same group of men who supported the ratification of the Constitution supported the Uni versity bill in the legislature. Of the first 40 trustees of the University, 28 had served in the Constitutional convention, where 21 of them had voted for ratification. Site Selection Then followed the task of selecting a site for the University. General Davie was chairman of the committee which examined several locations before ar riving at New Hope Chapel in Orange county. Tradition has it that Davie and other members of the Trustees' Committee met here under the Davie Poplar in November, 1792, and received in Cham ber of Commerce fashion from landowners and farmers of the neighborhood offers of land totalling 1380 acres as inducements to locate the University here. Cornerstone It was here that on October 12; 1793, the cornerstone of the first state Uni versity in the nation, Old East, was laid. George Washington was president of the United States at the time. One of 13 North Carolina at the time was one of the 13 newly freed American states stretching along the Atlantic Seaboard. In North Carolina the population was 400,000, but 100,000 of these were slaves. Construction of the University proceeded rapidly. By January, 1795, the University was ready to open. Its doors were opened and for nearly a month there were no students. Then, from Wilmington, came Hinton James to en roll as the first student of the University of North Carolina. Among the founders of the University, graduates of Princeton stood out. General Davie was a Princeton graduate, as was Dr. McCorkle and Dr. Caldwell, the first president. The establishment of the University was North Carolina's first step in her program of state building. Davie prepared its plan of study, "designed," he said, "to form useful and respectable members of society." While not neg lecting the traditional classics and mathematics, Davie's plan was note worthy for what he pointed out was its "variation from that of other col leges." As in past wars, the University of today is making an all-out contribution toward the winning of the war and the peace. It inaugurated a defense program 20 months before Pearl Harbor, and since then it has been engaged in a speed-up program of war training. See HISTORY, page 8 electric light plants were added. The Carr building, at the time one of the most modern University buildings in the country, was built. Radical changes of the period were the admission of coeds, addition of a summer session. In 1900, he resigned, also to take over an other Presidency, that of Tulane Uni versity. Francis P. Venable, for whom the Chemistry building was named, was one of Robert E. Lee's aides de camp during the Civil War. He became Pro fessor of Chemistry in 1880, won rec ognition as one of the foremost chem ists in the nation. Interested in ath letics, he became a leading member of the athletic committee. Edward K. Graham, one of this in stitution's foremost executives, was in augurated in 1914. During the admin istration of this educator, Carolina took its place among the country's finest modern universities. Graham Memorial was dedicated to "one of the most pop ular UNC leaders n history." Presi dent Graham helped jpopiilarize popular education in the si ate and nation and was instrumental in the establishment of still-strong extension division. . Harry Woodburn Chase became the University's tenth president in 1921. During his administration the modern Carolina came into being. Twenty mil lion dollars was spent on buildings, im provements, additions. The Student Parallels story of the storms it has weathered, All Helped Mold Modern Carolina body swelled to a high of 3,000. To a University facing "Depression appropriations" fronithe State Legis lature came Frank Graham in 1931. "Vibrant, dynamic, brilliant Doctor Frank" brought Carolina safely through the time of extreme danger, still shapes the policy of Carolina. His knack for remembering names has as tounded freshman and senior alike. Many a Tar Heel has been startled by a personal greeting from Dr. Graham, as the President took one of his un heralded tours of inspection. In the time of national emergency, Dr. Graham went to Washington to serve on the War Labor Relations board. Double duty here and on Capitol Hill gives him little time for the "tours," friendly talks with the stu dents. But the Graham touch in South building policies is "still sure and evi dent." War has brought an added load to Carolina. For her President it has meant holding down two full-time jobs at once. The Seaboard's "best customer be tween Raleigh and Washington" con tinues to "prove he is one of the out standing college presidents of our generation."