Dr. Edward Kidder Graham
From The Tar
Heel, the official organ of the athletic association
of the University of North Carolina, Oct. 30, 1918
Dr.
Edward Kidder Graham
Dr. Edward K. Graham,
president of the University, died at his home here Saturday, October 26,
following an illness of five days from influenza and complications. Dr. Graham
had been ill a few days when pneumonia set in, and, although the student body
was aware of the serious nature of his illness, every hope was entertained for
his recovery. The unexpected news of his death has overwhelmed the student body
with a keen, personal grief and has brought sorrow to the hearts of those who
knew him.
The University has lost,
by the death of President Graham, a great leader—a virile young leader of the
new era who brought the University he loved into a more intimate relationship
with people all over the state and at the same time placed it in the forefront
as one of the Universities of the nation alive to educational requirements of
today. In his inaugural address, delivered April 22, 1915, he characterized the
State University as a “living unity, an organism at the heart of the living
democratic state, interpreting its life, not by parts, nor a summary of parts,
but wholly fusing them all into a new culture center, giving birth to a new
humanism.” Such was is idea and to this end he lived and wrought. On that day,
the day of his inauguration, the governor of North Carolina said, “That man and
hour have met. We are beginning a new chapter in the history and culture of
North Carolina.”
A true prophecy. The man,--a
product of the institution he was to lead so well, endowed with every requisite
for that leadership, a great thinking, clean minded young leader—and the Hour—the
turning point in the University’s life.
It was but characteristic
of the man to offer his services to his country when this nation entered the
war and these services were constantly sought. When the Students’ Army Training
Corps was recently organized he was at once selected as regional director of
the corps for the South Atlantic States, States, with the University as
regional headquarters. This work was his chief care at the time of his death,
but he also found time to act as trustee of the American University Union in
Europe, as a member of the internation committee of the Y.M.C.A. and as a
member of the educational committee of the council of national defense.
The relationship between
Dr. Graham and the student body was close, affectionate. His personality was of
that rare type which is aptly said to be in “the spirit of things”—the type of
personality that stimulated among the students the love of the right—the defense
of cherished ideals—the birth of new, clean thought. Under his leadership men
not only became his devoted admirers,--they were his disciples also.
We read with pride the
glowing praise he received from great men of the state and nation, but we who
knew him, who loved him, grieve to know that once more, but for the last time,
the Man and the Hour have met.
Washington, Oct. 26—Josephus
Daniels, secretary of the navy, made the following comment tonight on the death
of President Gram of the State University.
“I have just learned of
the death of President Graham. I loved him like a brother. I think he was the
most useful man in North Carolina, and we could possibly spare any man in the
state rather than him. We have nobody to fill his place. He was a man of clear
vision, had the confidence of the entire state and was truly representative of
the best spirit of North Carolina. I have known all presidents of the State
University since 1875. He was the youngest man elected to the presidency of
that great institution and bore not only a state but a national reputation as
an educator, counselor and great citizen. I deeply deplore his death, which
means an irreparable loss to the educational system of my state, and to the
country as a whole.”
“Washington, Oct. 26—The tribute
of Newton D. Baker, secretary of war, to President Graham, was as follows:
“Word which comes to me
through the Washington bureau of the Greensboro Daily News of the death of
President Graham distresses me beyond words. President Graham was a man of
great distinction and talent. He was one of the south’s most foremost
educators. I have known him intimately for a long time and highly valued his
personal friendship. One of the greatest of the young educators produced by
Dixie has passed and I am sincerely grieved. His death is a lamentable loss not
only to the University and the state which he served but to the entire country’s
educational system.”
Governor T.W. Bickett
made the following statement to representatives of the Tar Heel:
“After giving the matter
the most serious thought, there was no man in the state that we could so ill
afford to lose as Dr. Graham. There is no man in the state whose place it would
be so hard to fill. The whole state feels that it has suffered an irreparable
loss.”
Dr. Graham was born in
Charlotte, October 11, 1876. He was the son of Archibald and Eliza Owen Barry
Graham, who for many years resided in that city. In 1898 he received a Ph.B.
degree from the University of North Carolina and in 1902 he was awarded an A.M.
degree from Columbia University, New York City, which institution he attended
in 1903-04 as a graduate student.
His connection with the
University of North Carolina began in 1899, when he became librarian, leaving
the University a year later to take up graduate work. In 1905 he resumed this
connection as an associate professor of English, and served the institution
constantly from that time to the present. In 1908, the year of his marriage to
Miss Susan Williams Moses of Raleigh, he became professor of English and dean
of the school of liberal arts. During the absence of Dr. Francis Preston
Venable, he became acting president of the University, and on April 21, 1915,
he was formally inaugurated president. The year previously, he received the
degree doctor of civic laws form the University of North Carolina, and in 1902
he was awarded an A.M. degree by Erskine, Wake Forest and Lafayette colleges.
During recent years he
was recipient of the following honors: member of the National Education
Association, member of the North Carolina Teachers’ Association, member of the
North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, member of the Sigma Alpha
Epsilon fraternity and Gordon’s Head, member of the educational committee of
the Council of National Defense, director of American universities’ union in
Europe, director of the Students’ Army Training Corps, collegiate branch, for the
southern states, and a member of the International Committee of the Young Men’s
Christian Association.
Dr. Graham had planned to
move to Raleigh this week to take up more fully his duties with the Students’
Army Training Corps during the period of the war although he would not have
discontinued his work as president of the University.
His life was saddened on
December 22, 1917, by the loss of his wife. He is survived by a son, Edward
Kidder Graham Jr., seven years of age; a sister, Miss Mary Owen Graham,
president of Peace Institute, Raleigh; his father, Archibald Graham of
Charlotte; and a brother, Archibald Graham Jr., also of Charlotte.
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