Johnson C Smith University - Golden Bull Yearbook (Charlotte, NC)

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In 1891, the Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., elected Reverend Daniel J. Sanders, a Negro, to the Office of Pres- ident of the Institution. This step caused no little controversy in Church annals but the Board was adamant. One of the first significant projects of the new administration was to provide adequate library facilities for the Institution and through negotia- tion with Mr. Andrew Carnegie, a fund raising campaign was begun immediately to match the provisional gift of $12,500. A substantial dormitory for men was also a vital necessity. This was made possible by a gift from Mrs. Mary A. Carter of Geneva, New York. In 1896, The Freedmen ' s Board of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. estimated the total value of the Institution, thirteen buildings and grounds, to be $12.5,000. After sixteen years of cre- ative leadership. President Sanders died on March 6, 1907 and was succeeded by Reverend Henry L. McCrorey. i Dr. Daniel Jackson Sanders, 1891 - 1907 Dr. Sanders was born February 15. 1847 near Winnsboro, South Carolina on the plantation of Thomas Hall, a Methodist minister, to whom his mother was enslaved. When the master died, his estate including his slaves, was sold to Major Samuel Barkley, the owner of Dr. Sander ' s father. The family was thus brought together under one master, w here they re- mained until the Emancipation Proclamation was declared. The Sanders ' son was given the rudiments of education in the Barkley home for at the age of sixteen he had acquired considerable learning and was a skilled boot and shoemaker. After over-coming many difficulties, he was brought to Brainerd Institute, Chester, South Caro- lina, where his academic and leadership abilities soon became known. In 1870, he was licensed to preach by Fairfield Presbytery and in 1871 he enrolled in Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny, Pennsyl- vania, from which he graduated with prizes in He- brew and Sanscrit three years later. Immediately after graduating in 1874, he went to Wilmington, North Carolina and began a career of church and school work which Lincoln University rewarded with honorary degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Divinity. After sixteen years at the Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, he resigned to go abroad in the interest of the Board of Missions for Freedmen ' s Program of Education. In 1879, he began publishing The Africo-American Presby- terian and broujrht it with him to Charlotte when he was elected President of Biddle.

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The first Negro to become a member of the faculty of the Institu- tion was Dr. George E. Davis, who was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, March 24, 1863 and died in Greensboro, North Carolina, January 11, 1959. He graduated from the Institution in 1883 with the highest honors and was offered a position upon graduation. But the young man had set his heart on being a physician and entered the school of medicine at Howard University. After two years of study at Howard he heeded the urgent request of the Institution and returned as a teacher. In 1885 he became professor of mathematics. He was also secretary and dean of the college of liberal arts. The George E. Davis Science Hall on the campus is a monument to his memory. Dr. George E. Davis on the present site of Berry Hall Two significant steps were taken under the John- son administration. First, Mr. George E. Davis was appointed Professor of Natural Science and thus be- came the first Negro member of the faculty. Second, an Industrial Department was added to the curricu- lum which was later discontinued.

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Front row, left to right President D. J. Sanders; Back row, left to right - THE FACULTY — 1891-92 First Predominantly Negro Faculty W. F. W. M. Frierson; G. E. Davis; Brool s: J, C. Johnson; Hargrave; S. B. Pride; G. Carson; H. A. Hunt; A. P. Bissell; F. C. Mabry. (When Dr. Sanders was elected President all the white staff with the exception of Dr. Bissell resigned.) These men were hurriedly trained becau.se the need was urgent. Their training, however, was at the hands of well tutored, consecrated, and dedi- cated instructors. They captured the spirit of their tutors and in turn Kave their best in the same spirit to the eager men who came to the Hill-top, glad to learn and glad to teach.