Robert Hall Morrison was the first president of
Davidson College
Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...
. Morrison, originally from
, enrolled at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
, eventually graduating second in the class, behind future President
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...
.
After graduating, Morrison entered the ministry before being appointed as president of Davidson. Morrison taught mathematics and science courses at the college. After a year as president, a
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...
epidemic swept through the area, taking two of his children.
Morrison would later become ill and resign from the position in 1840, eventually retiring in 1849.
Although he claimed to be a “Union man at heart,” Presbyterian pastor and Davidson College's first president “claimed ownership of multiple enslaved people who were forced to work on the college grounds, and would eventually become a staunch supporter of the Confederacy.”
["Beneath the bricks: reckoning with legacies of colonialism, slavery, and white supremacy at Davidson college." HD Mellin - EH Little Library at Davidson Collegehttps://davidson.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01DCOLL_INST/19u2smm/alma991024980949405716] The Morrison family arrived on campus with at least two enslaved people and kept at least three to work the grounds. “These individuals, named Mary, Sarah, and Bagwell, are some of the few enslaved people at the college who are identified in college materials.”
References
External links
Biography from the Davidson College Archives & Special CollectionsBiography from NCpedia
1798 births
1889 deaths
American Presbyterian ministers
Presidents of Davidson College
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
19th-century American clergy
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