Garden Plaque dedicated to Thomas Meredith
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- Memorial Type
- Memorial Context
- Memorialized Subject
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- Physical Description
- Memorial Inscription
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- Location: Institution, City, State
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Memorial Object
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Plaque/Marker
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Meredith, Thomas
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Garden Plaque dedicated to Thomas Meredith
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In 1976, Sarah E. V. Watts, a 1934 Meredith College alumna, donated a plaque and a small garden, adjacent to Jones Auditorium, to honor Thomas Meredith. The plaque was inscribed with a quotation from Richard T. Vann, former Meredith College president from 1900 to 1915. The quotation originally appeared in a 1910 yearbook dedication to Thomas Meredith.
Born July 7, 1795, Thomas Meredith was a Baptist leader and a founding member of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. He also served as the editor of The Biblical Recorder, a denominational newspaper in Raleigh and often wrote openly about his support for and defense of slavery. Meredith also strongly believed that education was essential for Christian improvement and advocated for both men and women to receive a proper education. This advocacy led to the institution being renamed Meredith College in his honor in 1909.
Each year on Founder's Day, traditionally held on February 27, students participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the plaque. Records indicate the ceremony lasted until the early 2000s. In 2016, the plaque was removed from the garden and stored in the school's facility barn, making way for "Timeless," an armillary and time capsule honoring Thomas Meredith on the 125th anniversary of Meredith College. The plaque was later rediscovered and relocated to the remote stacks building in 2024, where it remains today.
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The Thomas Meredith plaque is rectangular, believed to be made of bronze, and is attached to an iron post. The post features an oak branch with detailed leaves and acorns likely in tribute to Raleigh's nickname as the "City of Oaks." The plaque measures 17.9 inches long by 9.9 inches tall, and including the post, measures 47.6 inches tall.
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Thomas Meredith
(1795-1850)
"While others slept below, he climbed the height. He stood alone, with vision strained afar. And, peering long into the lingering night, He saw the morning star." R. T. Vann
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Sarah Elizabeth Vernon Watts and her family
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February 27, 1976
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2016
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2024
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Donated by Sarah Elizabeth Vernon Watts and her family
Position: 1037 (73 views)