Memorial Artwork

Sculptural Memorial

Emancipationist

Lost Cause

Potts, Hiram

Headstone for Hiram Potts

After working at Davidson College for several decades, Hiram Potts, a former enslaved and post-Civil War employee, died on January 29, 1917. His family and friends had a funeral and buried him in the segregated cemetery near the grave of his second wife on January 30, 1917. He was survived by two daughters.

Students eulogized the former campus employee in the student newspaper. The account noted the name of his former enslaver and the plantation where he grew up before arriving at the college during the Civil War. After working at the college for several decades, the college community raised money for an appropriate memorial as a "token of their true sorrow at the death of who gave the best part of his life in the service of the college, and one who held the affection and esteem of all the students." President William J. Martin obtained the headstone from Charlotte. During the summer of 1917, Davidson College erected the memorial on his gravesite in the Christian Aid Society Cemetery on the college campus.

While his birth year was noted as about 1835 in several federal censuses, the inscription has 1842 for his birth year which reflects the 1910 census. The inscription also mentioned his tenure as a college employee as a "faithful servant" and the name of his second wife. Since the college community placed the headstone, it functions as a Lost Cause memorial of the African American employee. It is unclear whether the family had any input in the inscription.

The stone was originally a light gray marble and stood eighteen inches high upon a base twelve by eighteen inches. Currently, it is darkened with age and dirt. It is difficult to read the inscription. Some cleaning and preservation work is needed.

Hiram Potts
1842-1917
Long a faithful servant of Davidson College
Erected by the Faculty and Students.
Beneath this inscription on the base is the following:
“His wife, Clara,
Died 1915.”

Davidson College; Davidson, North Carolina

Potts, Hiram

1917

1890-1945: Era of the Lost Cause, Jim Crow legal segregation and discrimination, and organized anti-Black racism

Davidson College; Davidson, North Carolina

Christian Aid Society Cemetery

Davidson College; Davidson, North Carolina

“Uncle Hiram,” The Davidsonian, January 31, 1917, 4.

“Uncle Hiram’s Grave Soon to Be Marked,” The Davidsonian, March 17, 1917, 2.

“Uncle Hiram’s Tombstone Erected During Summer,” The Davidsonian, October 10, 1917, 3.