Up close with America 250 artifacts from the Davidson College archives

People flocked to see the pistols and a saber believed to have belonged to Revolutionary Gen. William Lee Davidson. (David Boraks photo)

Davidson Historical Society and Davidson College Archives & Special Collections helped mark the nation's 250th anniversary Thursday, June 18, by co-sponsoring a discussion and display of artifacts from the college collection. 

College archivists brought a variety of objects out of storage, including the twin pistols of Revolutionary War Gen. William Lee Davidson, souvenir posters promoting the Mecklenburg Declaration, and engraved maps from the Revolutionary era.

An old poster from the college collection commemorates the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775. (David Boraks photo)

Davidson College didn't have a modern archive until 1974, so many local artifacts ended up in collections elsewhere, said Jessica Cottle-Hart, Davidson's Archivist for Community Records and Collections Curation. 

"But we do have quite a few interesting pieces related to the Revolution. We've pulled many of them for you today, and that's thanks to the generosity of our local and college community who donated those materials to us," she told about 80 people in the Alvarez College Union 900 Room. 

Also joining the program were Sara Swanson, Assistant Director of Archives & Special Collections and Curator of Rare Books; and Meggie Lesher, Archives & Special Collections Librarian for Researcher Experience and Education. 

One of three satin copies of a poster commemorating the Mecklenburg Declaration. (David Boraks photo)

Among the objects we saw: 

• Two wood handled pistols and holsters as well as a saber that once belonged to Gen. William Lee Davidson. He was the leader of North Carolina's Continental forces who died in the 1781 Battle of Cowan's Ford. (For more, see the review of our May program "Re-enactor generals analyze the Revolutionary Battle of Cowan's Ford.") The pistols were a gift from an anonymous donor who claimed to have saved them after years of neglect.

• The archives also brought documents from the William Lee Davidson Manuscript Collection as well as contemporary accounts of the battle.  

• According to local legend, the Mecklenburg Declaration was a declaration of independence that pre-dated the national declaration (May 20, 1775, vs. the July 4th declaration at Philadelphia). The history is disputed and no actual document survives. But in the early 19th century, various posters and broadsides were printed with the supposed text. The college archives showed off a satin "souvenir" copy of the Meck Dec. Also shown was an undated poster titled "The Mecklenburg Declaration: First Declaration of American Independence." Interestingly, it uses the date May 31, 1775, which was when local patriots signed what were known as the Mecklenburg Resolves. The poster's text is from the Resolves, which did not mention independence.

• Other tables held newspapers and other periodicals, history books and other materials from the college collection, all pertaining to the Revolution. There was a biography of William Lee Davidson by the late Chalmers Davidson, a descendant of the general and the founding archivist and professor at the college.  A bound volume of the former weekly newspaper The Mecklenburg Gazette from 1976 showed how the town celebrated the bicentennial. And there were 1976 souvenirs related to the Meck Dec, including a license plate and commemorative medallions.  

• Two other tables had several noteworthy maps, including "A Compleat Map of North Carolina from an Actual Survey," a 1770 map by surveyor John Collet; and a 1775 map of North and South Carolina by Henry Mouzon. 

People studied 18th century maps of the Carolinas from the college archives. (David Boraks photo)

All the materials on display are in the college archives, currently housed in the Davidson College Library Annex. That's a series of buildings on Dunmurry Road north of campus built to house the library's collections during the current renovation and expansion of the college library.   

Cottle-Hart was quick to note that the college archives are incomplete, both because it only started in the 1970s and because of where gifts came from. 

"A large portion of these donations come from our early alumni and faculty, and Davidson, being a wealthy White institution, that means that this material really reflects that experience of the Revolutionary War," she said. "So, it's important that we acknowledge that the material (does not) represent everyone's experience of the Revolution."

FURTHER READING 

The college archivists offered these links with more information about the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

National Archives, "Road to Revolution," highlighting records from the National Archives with context about the Revolution and Declaration of Independence. 

America 250 NC, "Revolutionary NC," with information about Revolutionary War-era places to visit in the state, links to historical NC documents, and information on the 1775 Halifax Resolves, described as "the first official cry for independence from a colony." 

Contact Davidson Archives & Special Collections to inquire about or donate materials. 

Davidson College archivist Sara Swanson speaks during an America 250 program at Davidson College 900 Room. The archives brought artifacts related to the American Revolution, including books, papers and the pistols of Gen. William Lee Davidson. (David Boraks photo)