President's House

President’s House

Construction on the President’s house began in 1836 and was completed by 1837 (Davidson 1969, 7). The bricks used were made by enslaved people in the area, and the house itself was likely built by enslaved people (DC Archives 2015). Its first occupants were Robert Hall Morrison (the first president of the college), his wife Mary Graham Morrison, and their children (Herran 1997, 2). The Morrisons arrived with at least two enslaved people, and kept at least three enslaved people on the grounds to serve the family; these individuals, named Mary, Sarah, and Bagwell (DC Archives 2015), are some of the few enslaved people at the college who are identified in college materials. Although it is unlikely they lived in the main house, they must have stayed nearby. For more about the Morrison family’s close ties to the Confederacy and influential roles at the college and in town, see <http://disorientingdavidson.com/>.

Although the house has undergone numerous renovations and expansions (Davidson 1969, 9-10), it maintains sections of the original structure and foundation which have been painstakingly preserved (Sherbine, 8); despite this, it bears no visible acknowledgement of its history and remains a residential space occupied by the college president.