President's House
President’s HouseConstruction on the President’s house began in 1836 and was completed by 1837 (Davidson 1969, 7). The bricks used were made by enslaved people in the area, and the house itself was likely built by enslaved people (DC Archives 2015). Its first occupants were Robert Hall Morrison (the first president of the college), his wife Mary Graham Morrison, and their children (Herran 1997, 2). The Morrisons arrived with at least two enslaved people, and kept at least three enslaved people on the grounds to serve the family; these individuals, named Mary, Sarah, and Bagwell (DC Archives 2015), are some of the few enslaved people at the college who are identified in college materials. Although it is unlikely they lived in the main house, they must have stayed nearby. For more about the Morrison family’s close ties to the Confederacy and influential roles at the college and in town, see <http://disorientingdavidson.com/>.Although the house has undergone numerous renovations and expansions (Davidson 1969, 9-10), it maintains sections of the original structure and foundation which have been painstakingly preserved (Sherbine, 8); despite this, it bears no visible acknowledgement of its history and remains a residential space occupied by the college president.
Campus Greenway (looking Northwest down Griffith Street)
Campus Greenway The section of property that runs along either side of Griffith Street between Beaty Street (to the Southwest) and Watson Street (to the East) is sometimes referred to as the “College Greenway” (pictured here).Before the 1980s, this area included a number of houses, most of which were owned by Black residents of Davidson. In the late 1970s, Davidson College alum (Class of 1966) Howard Covington began to voice his alleged concerns about the living standards of these residents, claiming he was worried for their health and safety; however, his later remarks claiming that the houses were “wild” and had “junk cars in the front” and racist comments comparing Black residents to dogs and claiming they were incapable of improving their standard of living demonstrate that his true interest lay in creating a White-washed “green” entryway to the college (Maczka 1984, 2-3).In 1981, a group of Davidson alumni led by Covington incorporated the properties. The college was not technically a part of the incorporation group, but personal investments by trustees and alumni donations to support this specific effort made it clear that the project was an institutional priority; Covington personally invested $75,000 of his own money (Ibid., 2). Throughout the process, Covington refused to answer questions or address community concerns (Ibid., 4), and multiple Black residents believed it to be a deliberate effort to relocate and silence them (Anonymous Interview 1990s).
Cunningham
CunninghamBlackface first arose in Europe as a practice of caricaturing Black people, and became popularized in the United States during the 1830s and 1840s (Clark 2019). It was commonly included in theatrical and musical productions that came to be called Blackface minstrelsy, performances that continued well into the 20th century (Morrison 2019). The use of Blackface in non-performance contexts was common at the college, and several notable cases (ranging from the 1840s to at least the 1860s) are mentioned by the Board of Trustees in their original meeting notes (Board of Trustees Volume I, 37; 140; 234-7). These cases seem to demonstrate a pattern of students donning Blackface in order to avoid accountability for various crimes (drunk and disorderly conduct, property destruction, etc.) and implicate Black men as the perpetrators.Professor E.J. Erwin, benefactor of the Erwin lodge and Davidson professor from 1920 to 1954, organized the first Blackface minstrelsy performance at the college in 1920 (Davidsonian writer 1920 “College Minstrel”). He continued to manage these performances with the financial and technical support of many others in the campus community (Davidsonian writer 1921). Students were the most common actors in the shows and engaged in parodies of jazz, clog dancing, and Black spiritual practices that we understand today as deeply disturbing mockeries of Black culture operating (much like Blackface performances) within the logic of reproducing White supremacy (Davidsonian writer 1920 “Initial Presentation”). These performances were a popular form of entertainment on campus and deeply embedded in campus culture, as demonstrated by each show being closed with the school song “O’ Davidson” (Ibid.). These cases show that the college not only hosted but also openly publicized and endorsed the continual treatment of Blackness as a caricature and costume that existed first and foremost for Whites’ entertainment. As the first widespread representation of African Americans in 19th century media, Blackface personas irrevocably impacted the social, economic, and political status of Black people throughout the United States (Morrison 2019) by establishing and reinforcing stereotypes of Black people as inherently lazy, unskilled, superstitious, and aggressive (Clark 2019).
Woodrow Wilson Sign
Woodrow Wilson SignWoodrow Wilson, United States president from 1913 to 1921, studied at Davidson College during the 1873-1874 academic year. His name is listed on the sign (shown here) that identifies Davidson College as a North Carolina landmark, alongside the Presbyterian Church and General William Lee Davidson, two other prominent figures in the college’s history (Yi and Mellin 2018). Although the college frequently claims Wilson as a successful student and mark of prestige, he should also be remembered for his segregation of federal offices and civil servants and his praise of the previously-discussed (in PART 2) film “Birth of a Nation” (Ibid.; Mintz 2019).
Phi and Eu Halls
Phi and EuThe whole area that was used by the original college beginning in 1835 (including old dormitory row, Phi and Eu halls, Chambers, and the site of current Cunningham) was cleared and maintained by enslaved people (DC Archives 2015). The college’s early sub-committee on building ordered 250,000 bricks from the plantation of John Caldwell, which indicates that these bricks would have been made by enslaved people (Shaw 1923, 15). Shaw (Ibid.) boasts that everyone in the community helped to assemble the early buildings, but her description of “wagons and teams for hauling brick” strongly suggests that enslaved people aided in construction and assembly. Phi and Eu were some of these earliest buildings, completed in 1849 and 1850 respectively as literary halls and student libraries (Yi and Mellin 2018).
