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Integration at Davidson

A guide containing archival and special collections material about integration and the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century in and around Davidson, NC. The majority of these sources are found in Davidson College Archives & Special Collections.

College Archives Materials

Record Group: Office of the President

The materials listed below are the official records of Davidson College. These collections vary widely in size and sometimes include restricted files because of laws like FERPA. In these collections you will find materials like student publications, president's office records, and college catalogs. The following list is a selection of these items. For more information, search the catalogs listed below.

If you would like to view any of the materials listed below, please email archives@davidson.edu to make an appointment.

President. Committees - Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Concerns (1984-1985) (RG 2-4-1)
The files contain the final report of the committee as well as minutes from the meetings. The files also contain information on site visits which were made to other colleges in order to help facilitate the development of the report. Copies of the survey handed to all students is also available.
Digital Version: Task Force on Racial/Ethnic Concerns
The Task Force on Racial/Ethnic Concerns was established by President John Kuykendall in 1984 to take a critical look at the environment which the college provided for black students (and students of other racial/ethnic groups) and the experience which that environment afforded them. The Task Force Report Review Subcommittee was appointed in 1988 to conduct a progress review of the strategies outlined in the 1984 Task Force Report on Racial/Ethnic Concerns.
President. Committees - Committee on Minorities, 1980 - Advisory Committee on Racial/Ethnic Affairs (RG 2-4-4)
The Committee on Minorities was established in 1980 by President Spencer to "remain alert to the concerns and needs of minorities at Davidson, especially members of the black minority, to monitor our progress in that area and to make recommendations." The committee was active from 1980 to 1985 and reestablished in 1988 by President Kuykendall. The file contains Minutes for 1980-1984 and 1990-1991, transcripts of interviews with African-American students, copies of a grant, admissions data and reports.
Planning and Institutional Research. Self Study Records, 1965 - (RG 2-5-3)
The Office of Planning and Institutional Research oversees the gathering and reporting of data for reports to government agencies, publications, and other organizations and coordinates applied research intended to inform institutional planning, policy formulation, and decision making. The Self Study files cover the period 1965 to 1997, with the majority of records being from the 1974 and 1985 Self Studies. The files include minutes of individual committees, reports of offices and departments, background documentation, the final reports to the Southern Association of College and Schools (SACS). These include reports on student life, Black Studies, and the African American experience at Davidson.

Record Group: Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Faculty

The materials listed below are the official records of Davidson College. These collections vary widely in size and sometimes include restricted files because of laws like FERPA. In these collections you will find materials like student publications, president's office records, and college catalogs. The following list is a selection of these items. For more information, search the catalogs listed below.

If you would like to view any of the materials listed below, please email archives@davidson.edu to make an appointment.

Commission on Curricular Reform, 1972 - 1973 (RG 3-1-2-016)
The Commission on Curricular Reform was established in 1972 to reform certain aspects of the academic program at Davidson, reforms which had their origin in the North Carolina Institute for Undergraduate Curricular Reform. Folder 4 contains information on Black student life at Davidson.
Commission on Extra-Campus Responsibilities, 1968-1969 (RG 3-1-2-018)
According to the final report of the Commission on Extra-Campus Responsibilities, they saw their responsibility to be "to delineate Davidson's role in confronting more directly the Southeast, a region which has been plagued for a century by problems of racial discrimination, economic deprivation, and cultural malnutrition." The Commission recommended Davidson's expanded involvement in three areas: (1) Education for the Disadvantaged, (2) Continuing Education and (3) more relevant and realistic relations with the local community.
Faculty Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid, 1959 - 2004 (RG 3-1-2-032)
The file folder marked "Records, 1968-1971" contains a proposal to add students to the Faculty Committee on Admissions so that students would have a say in who was accepted to the college; and information on ways to recruit African-American students.

Record Group: Vice President of Business and Finance

The materials listed below are the official records of Davidson College. These collections vary widely in size and sometimes include restricted files because of laws like FERPA. In these collections you will find materials like student publications, president's office records, and college catalogs. The following list is a selection of these items. For more information, search the catalogs listed below.

If you would like to view any of the materials listed below, please email archives@davidson.edu to make an appointment.

Treasurer's Correspondence, 1916 - (RG 4-2-3)
The files for the 1960s and 1970s include admission , athletics and athletic scholarships, a housing program for African-American staff, fraternities, the library and student store. The General correspondence folder has a copy of the 1971 questionnaire on financial status, and faculty rental housing.

Record Group: Vice President of College Relations (Institutional Advancement)

The materials listed below are the official records of Davidson College. These collections vary widely in size and sometimes include restricted files because of laws like FERPA. In these collections you will find materials like student publications, president's office records, and college catalogs. The following list is a selection of these items. For more information, search the catalogs listed below.

If you would like to view any of the materials listed below, please email archives@davidson.edu to make an appointment.

Alumni Relations, Programs and Publications (RG 5-4-3)
The Homecoming 2012-50+ Years of Integration file contains copies of the remarks made by Benoit Nzengu, Leslie Brown and Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja. The publication files contain representative samples of invitations, announcements, and flyers produced for Alumni Relations activities.

Record Group: Vice President for Student Life, Dean of Students

The materials listed below are the official records of Davidson College. These collections vary widely in size and sometimes include restricted files because of laws like FERPA. In these collections you will find materials like student publications, president's office records, and college catalogs. The following list is a selection of these items. For more information, search the catalogs listed below.

If you would like to view any of the materials listed below, please email archives@davidson.edu to make an appointment.

Student Government Association (SGA), Records, 1927 - (RG 12-4)
The file folder marked "Council on Minority Affairs" contains a copy of the SGA's Recommendations from the Black Issues Forum and information from the Ad-Hoc Minority Report Committee. The file folder marked "Minority Relations, 1988-89" contains information on a proposed Black Studies Program, a copy of an article entitled "Black Student at Davidson Frustrated" that appeared in the Charlotte Observer, and the statement of purpose of the committee to Monitor the Black Student Coalition's Goals for 1989-90.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Records, 1992 - (RG 12-26)
In 1990 a group of students began lobbying for a chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, a traditionally African-American fraternity, to be established at Davidson College. An historically black Greek organization, Alpha Phi Alpha was founded in 1906 at Cornell University. In 1992 the fraternity approved the petition, but withdrew its offer due to a lack of student interest. Renewed interest a decade later resulted in the Tau Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity being chartered at Davidson College on November 9, 2003.
Black Student Coalition (BSC), Records, 1972 - (RG 12-30)
The Black Student Coalition was founded in 1967 "to establish and maintain a spirit of solidarity among the black students of Davidson College." Included in the 1991-1992 folder is correspondence regarding to the Black Student Leadership Conference, reports having to do with the success and retention of African-American students at Davidson, materials related to the acquisition and defacement of artwork in the BSC House (KKK), and newspaper clippings about Benoit Nzengu and challenges of integration.
Digital Version: Black Student Coalition (BSC)
The Black Student Coalition was founded "to establish and maintain a spirit of solidarity among the black students of Davidson College." Records include meeting minutes, photographs, newsletters, correspondence, reports, and ephemera.

Record Group: Students

The materials listed below are the official records of Davidson College. These collections vary widely in size and sometimes include restricted files because of laws like FERPA. In these collections you will find materials like student publications, president's office records, and college catalogs. The following list is a selection of these items. For more information, search the catalogs listed below.

If you would like to view any of the materials listed below, please email archives@davidson.edu to make an appointment.

Student Work (RG 10-1)
The History 353 files are interview logs and final reports from oral history projects. The projects include a history of the Lakeside Terrace neighborhood, the Westside Stakeholders group, the Davidson Fire Department and the Ada Jenkins Center. The Education 340 (2015) files are the result of research into the history of the Ada Jenkins Center between the closing of the school and the establishment of community center in the 1990s. The research papers address a wide range of topics including Davidson town history, housing in the town of Davidson, and the black experience at 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