University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Yackety Yack Yearbook (Chapel Hill, NC)

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KEMP PLUMMER BATTLE DECEMBER 19. 1831 FEBRUARY 4. 1919

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KEMP PLUMMER BATTLE EMP PLUMMER BATTLE was born in Franklin County, North Carolina, December 19, 1831. He entered the University when thirteen years of age, and was graduated, in 1849, at seventeen. With two others, he shared the first honors of his Class. After graduation, he became tutor in Latin, serving one year, and then tutor in Mathematics for four years. In 1854, he entered upon the prac- tice of law in Raleigh. He was a member of the Convention of 1861, which signed the ordinance of Secession, and at his death was the la.st remaining member. In 1866, he was elected State Treasurer, holding this office until 1868, when he was forced out by the military government. He had been a trustee of the University since 1862, with the exception of the Reconstruction Period. In 1875, he took the lead in the reorganization of the University, securing from the Legislature, of which he was a member, an allotment of the Land Grant Fund, amounting to S3venty-five hundred dollars annually, and conducting a strenuous campaign over the State in which was raised twenty thousand dollars to provide equipment. In 1876, he was elected president of the University, which position he held until 1891. He has been justly called the Second Founder of the University. Perhaps no one else could have performed the task, or would have taken the responsibility which fell upon his shoulders. The income of the insti- tution was less than ten thousand dollars. Few teachers could be em- ployed ; apparatus and equipment were lacking ; many of the Alumni had fallen in the war, and the rest were widely scattered ; friends were few, and for a while the students numbered scarcely a hundred. The State was greatly impoverished. Life conditions among its people were hard, and the arduous work of the upbuilding of the Commonwealth lay heavily upon them. In the midst of their poverty, strong antagonism arose against State support of higher education. For fifteen years, President Battle struggled bravely and successfully against these adverse conditions, with cheef and encouragement for those who labored with him and indomitable hope in his heart. He met indif- ference, bitter antagonism, misrepresentation, and abuse — met them, and triumphed. He visited all sections of the State, spoke at county fairs and other public meetings in behalf of that cause which lay so near his heart. He had a vision beyond his time, establishing the first summer