In Special Collections, we have a diverse array of materials, including published books, serials, pamphlets, and maps.
Listed here are publications about legacies of slavery as related to early trustee and faculty families at Davidson College, as well as general local histories.
For more information about what you can find in the library, please search the library's catalog.
2005
Sarah Frew Davidson and Karen MacConnell
An intimate look at the lives of each of Davidson College president Dr. Robert Hall Morrison's six daughters: Isabella Sophia, Harriet Abigail, Mary Anna, Eugenia Erixene, Susan Washington, and Laura Panthea Morrison.
Major John Davidson of "Rural Hill," Mecklenburg County, N.C.
1943
The plantation world around Davidson; the story of North Mecklenburg "before the war."
The library also retains copies from 1973 and 1982.
History of the town of Davidson from its founding to the early 21st century.
2012
A history of the Davidson College Presbyterian Church
1987
David Played a Harp is an autobiography by Ralph W. Johnson, a bi-racial, self-educated, retired barber. His barber shop in Davidson, NC was the target of student picketing which challenged state law exempting personal service shops from the civil rights act.
Shared Stories: African Americans in North Mecklenburg
Ada Jenkins : the heart of the matter
The facility that we now know as the Ada Jenkins Center has a proud history. For thirty years it served, first as the Davidson Colored School and then as the Ada Jenkins Elementary School, as the only school for African Americans in Davidson.
Davidson College Presbyterian Church Minutes
In 1837, Davidson College Presbyterian Church (DCPC) was founded along with the College and served as the worship place for students, faculty, and local townspeople. Digitized here are the 19th century session minutes and register from DCPC. There is mention of African-American community members throughout the records. For permission to quote or publish, contact DCPC.
This collection contains a number of resources related to race relations in the Town of Davidson and surrounding communities. Materials include student research papers and interviews on these topics, including the Ada Jenkins Center (formerly Davidson Colored School and now a community center).
Davidson Monthly (1870 - 1871, 1886 - 1930)
Subtitled “A Magazine Devoted to Science, Literature and Art,” The Davidson Monthly reported on local events, published the important speeches of the Eumenean and Philanthropic literary societies, and ran editorials, but the focus of the magazine was poetry, prose, and essays written by Davidson students and alumni.
DC058: Chalmers Davidson Plantation Files
This collection contains select 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.
DC022: Robert Zenas Johnston Collection
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.
DC0218s: Community Relations Committee Records
Also referred to as the Community Relations Task Force, the collection consists of a copy of the founding ordinance, minutes, and related records for the period 1979 to 1988. There are printed minutes and handwritten notes, copies of resolutions, and newspaper clippings. During this time the committee worked with the Davidson Community Development Club to address issues related to housing, the community center, and plans for Griffith Street.
Common Ground formed in August 1995. The purpose of this grassroots organization was to promote communication and understanding and improve relations among people of all races in Davidson. A transcript for a public panel, "Ada Jenkins and Beyond," was digitized and is available online, here.
Common Ground oral history and interview collection, 1997- 2000
Common Ground was formed in August 1995. The purpose of this grass-roots organization is to promote communication and understanding and improve relations among people of all races in Davidson. The following interviews and meeting recordings chronicle the work of Common Ground and the challenges they worked to overcome.
Davidson Stories: Community-Based oral history and interview collection, 1976- 2017
The Davidson College Community-Based sub-group consists of oral histories and interviews that explore the history and culture of the Town of Davidson and other local communities. The collection contains interviews with long-time Davidson residents, select college faculty and staff, local alumni/ae, and representatives from community organizations.
Digital Davidson: Oral Histories & Interviews
Digital Davidson is the digital repository for Archives & Special Collections. A selection of digitized oral histories and interviews are available via this space, including the "Nuestras Historias: Archiving Latinx Identity at Davidson" project, the "History of Jewishness at Davidson College" project, the "History of Gender and Sexuality at Davidson College" project, and the "History of Asians and Asian Studies at Davidson College" project.
Oral Histories & Interviews (RG19)
The Oral Histories and Interviews Record Group (RG19) holds interviews that primarily cover the history of Davidson College, the Town of Davidson, and the Lake Norman area. The sub-groups within the larger record group overwhelmingly represent course projects produced by Davidson College students in collaboration with college faculty and staff. Visit Digital Davidson to access digitized oral histories.
Shared Stories: A collection of photographs, oral histories, scrapbooks, and school records documenting the lives and contributions of African-Americans in the greater Cornelius, Davidson, and Huntersville, NC area.
Community Organization Records: Digitized copies of meeting minutes, fliers, and public sessions of organizations like Common Ground and the Community Relations Task Force in Davidson, NC.
Local Newspapers: Digitized copies of Davidson-Cornelius newspapers, including the earliest editions of the Mecklenburg Gazette.
Lake Norman Student Projects: A collection of senior capstone projects centered on the social and environmental history of Lake Norman and the surrounding communities. Topics include pollution, housing, flooding, and demographic change.
Local Maps: An assortment of digitized maps of the Lake Norman area including Mecklenburg County, Iredell County, Davidson, NC and Davidson College.
Around the D: The official blog for the Davidson College Archives, Special Collections, and Community department. Here you'll find posts on subjects from race relations, gender, integration, holiday traditions, to rare books.
Davidsoniana Files, or "D-Files," primarily contain secondary source information and are housed in the Archives. These include newspaper articles, scanned memos, brochures and pamphlets, speeches, and booklets. For a complete listing of the files available for research, consult the linked document at the bottom of this box. The files listed here are not digitized because of copyright restrictions, but are available to be seen by the public by appointment.
D-Files related to local history include:
To make an appointment to view these files, please email us at archives@davidson.edu.
Includes full-text coverage of US newspapers listed below, with the earliest starting in the late 19th century and many continuing through the 20th century.
From a largely colonial and thus Western and Eurocentric perspective, the material included focuses on the varieties of slavery, the legacies of slavery, the social justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery in the twentieth century.
Note: This collection is owned in perpetuity by Davidson College.
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
RG10/1: Student Work
DC056: Common Ground Records