1914-2016
Student Newspaper
Spreadsheet with select article titles related to marginalized populations, here
1842-2011
1895-2011
Student Yearbook
Spreadsheet with select issues and pages from Quips and Cranks related to marginalized populations, here
For more digital collections, visit this guide!
In Special Collections, we have a diverse array of materials, including published books, serials, pamphlets, facsimile editions of rare materials, and maps.
Listed here are special collections materials related to slavery, the South, and race relations.
In Special Collections, we have a print copy of each material listed in this slideshow. However, when possible, we have linked to a digital version.
For more information about the copies in the library, please search the library's catalog.
Upon his death in 1855, Maxwell Chambers left a donation of approximately $250,000 to Davidson College, a donation that made Davidson "the richest college in the South" for a time. Chambers was a cotton trader and a significant portion of his wealth came from the labor of enslaved people. Chambers himself owned slaves. In our collection, we have a biographical file for Chambers, which includes a copy of his will.
Omar Ibn Sayyid was a Muslim African man who was enslaved and brought to America in the early 1800s. In the Rare Book Room collection, there is an Arabic Bible that belonged to Sayyid featuring unique marginalia. We also have an accompanying manuscript collection, DC0211s – Omar ibn Sayyid Collection.
To explore more about this Bible, please view this online exhibit.
Mary Lacy was the wife of Rev. Drury Lacy, President of Davidson College from 1855 until 1860. Archives and Special Collections holds a collection of Lacy Family Papers (DC0147s), which includes correspondence from Mary Lacy to her stepdaughter, Bess, that describe accounts with slaves.
In Spring 2017, these letters were digitized and transcribed by students from History 306: Women and Gender in U.S. History to 1870. Their work can be found here on this website.
Always Part of the Fabric is a short film created to show an overview of the ways African-Americans shaped Davidson College from its beginnings to the present day. The documentary is organized chronologically and divided into 4 main time periods:
To view the film, please click here. To view the accompanying textual supplement, please click here.
Pictured: Enoch Donaldson, who worked as a janitor at Davidson
Archival materials are the institutional records of Davidson College from its establishment in 1837 to the present day. Included within the collections are president's office records, academic department files, and student organization records. Listed below are materials related to 19th century life at Davidson College.
Nineteenth Century Davidson College Faculty Meeting Minutes
Nineteenth Century Davidson College Trustee Meeting Minutes
The typescripts of the nineteenth century faculty and trustee meeting minutes are available online and keyword searchable. The Board of Trustees originally comprised of representatives from the various local Presbyterian synods. These records include information about disciplinary actions, faculty proposals, the effects of the Civil War, and the treatment of college "servants."
Manuscript materials are largely unpublished documents such as diaries, letters, speeches and sermons. The collections may be about an individual, a family, or a group. The majority of our collections relate to students and alumni of Davidson College and to civic organizations in the town of Davidson, North Carolina.
Listed below are relevant collections that the 19th century experience at Davidson College and the surrounding areas. Collections are organized by manuscript number, along with a brief description of the collection's contents, and are hyperlinked to the collection's digital finding aid.
Robert Zenas Johnston Collection (DC022)
Description: This collection concerns Robert Zenas Johnston (1834-1908) and includes school notebooks from Davidson College and Columbia Theological Seminary, student essays, correspondence, his sermons (1859-1907) and speeches, as well as a small amount of financial and printed materials.
Particular items of note include:
Rufus Johnston estate file – includes a listing of enslaved people in his will, dated May 1863.
Mary Gibson file – includes a letter with reference to buying an enslaved person during the Civil War, dated January 1864.
Includes several sermons conducted during the Civil War.
Digitized? Yes; Digitized by DigitalNC
Chalmers Davidson Plantation Files (DC058)
Description: This collection contains the research materials collected by Dr. Davidson for his research in writing The Plantation World Around Davidson. These digitized files are original plantation records from families like the Davidsons of Rural Hill and the Brevard family.
Digitized? Yes; Some digitized by DigitalNC
Pinckney Chambers Letter (DC0111s)
Description: Pinckney Brown Chambers was a member of the Davidson College class of 1840. This collection consists of a December 9 1837 letter written by Chambers that describes his experiences at Davidson, including record of an incident in which students were expelled from the college for interacting with enslaved persons.
Digitized? Yes: Available on Archives, Special Collections & Community Website
Jethro Rumple Collection (DC0222s)
Description: The collection consists of correspondence concerning the Concord Presbytery, the manuscript of a biography of Rev. John Bunyan Shearer, and manuscript notes about Davidson College in the 1840s, including information about Esom, the president's "body servant."
Digitized? Yes; Digitized by DigitalNC
Davidson College Library Research Guides are licensed under
CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mailing Address: Davidson College - E.H. Little Library, 209 Ridge Road, Box 5000, Davidson, NC 28035
