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William Harper and the Paradox of White Progressivism
About William Harper
William A. Harper graduated from Elon in 1899 and, after earning a Master’s Degree from Yale, came back to join the faculty in 1905 (Latin and Religion). He was named Dean in 1908 and Elon’s fourth President in 1911, a position he held for 20 years. As president, Harper helped Elon rally from a devastating fire in 1923, advocated for education, and wrote prolifically on Christian ethics. He also served as onetime chairman of the “Board of Control” for Elon’s sister school, all-Black Franklinton College and led a posse that arrested John Jeffress on suspicion of rape in 1920, facilitating Jeffress’ unlawful lynching hours later. In 2020, an alumna started an online petition to change the name of Harper Hall, which reached fruition in July of that year. Harpers’ complex career invites readers to grapple with the meaning of early-twentieth-century white progressivism, which coexisted with white terror and segregation.
Timeline
- 1889Incorporation of Elon CollegeThe North Carolina Legislature issues a charter for Elon College, a four-year coeducational institution, located at Mill Point and founded by the Christian Church.
- 1898Disfranchisement of Black VotersWhites stage a coup d’etat in Wilmington, North Carolina, massacring Black politicians, destroying Black-owned property, and clearing the way for formal disfranchisement of Black voters in the state.
- 1899Harper GraduatesWilliam A. Harper graduates from Elon College.
- 1901Charles Brantley AycockCharles Brantley Aycock elected as the progressive “Education Governor” of NC.
- 1910"The Great White Hope"Jack Johnson, Black Heavyweight Champion of the World, defeats James Jeffries, “The Great White Hope” in a highly publicized fight in Nevada.
- 1911Harper Becomes PresidentHarper named Fourth President of Elon College.
- 1920John JeffressHarper leads posse to arrest John Jeffress, suspected of sexual assault. A second mob abducts Jeffress and murders him without a trial later that same day.
- 1923Campus FireElon burns, and Harper rallies funds to rebuild on a larger scale.
- 2011Harper Hall OpensA new student residence hall is named William A. Harper Hall, in honor of Elon’s fourth president. Harper Center, a residential neighborhood on campus that opened in 1968 and was named for Harper, was demolished in 2012.
- 2020RemovalAlumna Katy Laser started a viral Change.Org petition to remove William Harper’s name from a university building. On July 8, President Connie Ledoux Book announced that Harper’s name would be removed.
Sources
Primary Sources
- William A. Harper, “White Supremacy Endangered,” Christian Sun (July 13, 1910). – Harper uses Jack Johnson’s recent boxing victory to discuss threats to white supremacy–and proposes an Elon education as the answer.
- “Judge Allen Pleads for Sanctity of Law,” Raleigh News and Observer (August 26, 1920). – There are many newspaper articles covering the arrest and murder of John Jeffress, several of which are available on the website for the Committee on Elon History and Memory. This one most clearly document’s Harper’s involvement.
- William A. Harper, Excerpts from The Church in the Present Crisis (New York: Revell, 1921). – Harper offers faith and Christian forbearance as a solution for the “race problem.”
- Dean E. D. Soper, “Student Volunteer Convention, Elon College,” Christian Education, 10, n. 8 (May 1927): 495. – Soper describes an interracial meeting held at Elon, a first of its kind for North Carolina.
- William A. Harper, Excerpts from Character Building in College (New York: Abingdon Press, 1928). – Harper discusses in glowing terms the interracial fellowship of the event described by Soper, above, and lifts it up as an example of race relations.
- Excerpts from Annual Catalogue, Franklinton Christian College (1927-28). – Harper was deeply invested in segregated educational opportunities for Black Southerners and served on the Board of Control for Elon’s segregated sister school.
Secondary Sources
- Gregory P. Downs, “University Men, Social Science, and White Supremacy in North Carolina,” Journal of Southern History, 75, n. 2 (May 2009): 267-304. – The most influential thought leaders in North Carolina during Harper’s formative years,, Downs shows, were deeply committed to pushing the state and nation “toward progress and away from degeneration,” in large part by prompting white supremacy.
- Michael Dennis, “The Skillful Use of Higher Education to Protect White Supremacy,” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education n. 32 (Summer 2001): 115-123. – Dennis explains how white support for a Black educational institution was not necessarily support for racial equality or uplift and, in fact, often represented the opposite.
- Claude Clegg, “Old Demons of the New South,” in Troubled Ground: A Tale of Murder, Lynching, and Reckoning in the New South (Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press). – Clegg discusses the horrific phenomenon of lynching in a North Carolina context, tying his discussion to “progressive” educators like Charles Aycock and to the disfranchisement campaign centered around the 1898 Wilmington Race Massacre.
- Derek H. Alderman, Joshua Inwood, and James A. Tyner, “Jack Johnson versus Jim Crow,” Southeastern Geographer, 58, n. 3 (Fall 2019): 227-249. – The authors explain what Jack Johnson’s success meant to white Southerners and helps explain the fear that Harper cited in his 1910 essay.
In-Class Work
Any of the primary sources individually merits a close reading, though special care should be taken with the News and Observer reading and students should be warned that it contains references to sexual and anti-Black violence. It will also be necessary in discussions about Harper to anticipate that conversations may run to the question of the degree of his complicity in the Jeffress murder. We do not have adequate documentation with which to answer this question, and it may be useful to anticipate this discussion and prevent it from consuming the class. In the most generous construction of events, it appears that Harper helped apprehend someone accused of a crime and then tried to arrange for a same-day trial and execution.