Mary Bryan "Billie" Holt has had May 21, 2011, circled on her calendar for quite some time, but not because she has a child, a grandchild or even a great-grandchild graduating from Elon. Rather, Holt will attend Saturday's Commencement Exercises to honor her mother, Affie Camelia Griffin, who graduated from Elon College a century ago and delivered a commencement address to fellow members of the Class of 1911.
“I’ll probably cry, it’s going to be very nostalgic for me,” Holt says about the prospect of sitting in front of West Hall, where Griffin lived during her years as a student. Joining Holt Under the Oaks on Saturday will be her daughter, Bryan Holt Grayson, a 1979 Elon graduate, and her niece, Elizabeth O. Taylor, who recently donated a copy of the 1911 Commencement program to Elon’s archives. Click here to view a PDF of the program.
“Bryan also lived in West,” Holt adds. “She loved Elon and my mother did, too. I thought – it’s been 100 years (since Griffin graduated), and I’d like to go back.”
Griffin grew up in Pittsboro, N.C., as one of six children in a household that strongly valued education. Though her parents died before she reached college age, they set aside some money to ensure Griffin would continue her schooling. She chose to use those funds to attend Elon.
Holt recalls seeing several photos her mother once had from her college years. One pictured Griffin playing tennis in a full-length skirt, which was common women’s athletics attire at the time. Another photo showed Griffin standing in front of the Senior Oak. Another featured Griffin and some friends outside a drugstore in downtown Burlington.
“When she wanted to go for an outing or go shopping, she’d take a train or a horse and buggy to Burlington – and it took a while to get there,” Holt recalls.
According to the 1911 Commencement program, Griffin graduated with a bachelor of philosophy degree “with high honor” alongside her good friend Lila Newman, who went on to become one of Elon’s longest tenured and most beloved professors. Griffin delivered the valedictory address, which she titled “The Personal Appeal of Culture.”
After leaving Elon, Griffin taught for a year, then married Daniel B. Bryan and relocated to Wake Forest, N.C., where Bryan later became the long-serving dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Wake Forest University. Holt remembers her mother was involved in myriad community pursuits, including involvement in the family’s Baptist church, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the PTAs at the schools her five children attended. She died in 1969.
“She didn’t mind being called upon and put into positions of responsibility, but she was never trying to dominate and never was bossy in any shape or form. She was just a lovely, true Southern lady,” Holt recalls. “Elon put forth a great gal. We’ve got a great love for Elon.”