Daniels Hall
Title
Description
The building formerly known as Daniels Hall stands on North Campus at North Carolina State University at the corner of Lampe and Stinson drives. This building is home to some of the prominent science fields at North Carolina State University, such as the Physics Department and the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Built in 1926, the building originally housed both the physics and electrical engineering departments
In 1938 Chancellor John Harrelson dedicated the building in honor of Josephus Daniels. Daniels’ professional endeavors spanned many careers. He was the editor and publisher of the Raleigh based newspaper News and Observer from 1894 until his death in 1948, Secretary of the Navy during World War I, and even Ambassador to Mexico from 1933 to 1941. Daniels played a key role as a perpetrator of the Wilmington Coup of 1898, a political event in Wilmington, North Carolina where the Democratic party overthrew the Fusionist elected government. Daniels was also a founding member of North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now North Carolina State University) as a founding member of the Watauga Club; a group made up of young professionals eager to better the economic and social aspects of the state of North Carolina, their interest in the state’s betterment led to the founding of NC State University.
In Washington, North Carolina in 1862, Mary Cleaves Seebrook Daniels gave birth to Josephus Daniels. His father, also named Josephus Daniels, was a ship builder in North Carolina, but before Josephus the younger turned three, his father was killed by a Confederate soldier, likely because of his Unionist sympathies and ideals. Mary Daniels and her young children moved to Wilson, North Carolina where Josephus Daniels the younger left home to further his education at the Wilson Collegiate Institute, then Duke University and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where he studied law.
In 1894, Josephus Daniels gained control of the News and Observer, a popular newspaper in Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior to 1894, Daniels had owned multiple smaller newspapers located in some of the small towns in eastern North Carolina. At the time of Daniels’ purchase, the newspaper was a strong advocate for the conservative Democratic party and it served as a vehicle for white supremacist ideas in North Carolina. By the 1890s, many white supremacy political campaigns were popping up, especially in North Carolina where these campaigns culminated in the election of racist political figures. The News and Observer acted as a machine of propaganda for white supremacists during this heavily politicized time in North Carolina’s history. Political cartoons were printed by the News and Observer and spread around the state including to Wilmington, North Carolina. The cartoons that Daniels had commissioned for the newspaper consisted of racist propaganda that stoked white fear of Black people gaining political power over white people in the state.
Prior to election day in 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina, a number of so-called “Red Shirts” made their way to the city to try and stop black people and Republicans from voting by using violence and firearms. “Red Shirts” were young men who were members and supporters of the Democratic property who believed in segregation and mostly espoused racist ideals. The election was between the Democratic party and the Fusionist party, a biracial coalition of Republicans, populists, and black people. Despite the display of violence by the “Red Shirts” and other members of the Democratic party, the Fusionist party won the 1898 election in Wilmington. This outcome led to a coup d’etat against the Fusionist party, led by the “Red Shirts” and the Democrats. A white mob burned down the only black-owned newspaper in Wilmington, the Wilmington Daily Record, and the group killed hundreds of African Americans in the city; the event ended with the “Red Shirts” and the Democrats successfully overthrowing the Fusionist government. This event is popularly known as The Wilmington Massacre of 1898 or the Wilmington Riot of 1898. It was not until 2006 when the News and Observer officially apologized for its role in inspiring the coup d’etat of 1898.
In the late 1940s, Clarence Poe, along with the General Assembly of North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (NC State), suggested that a memorial be built on campus to honor the memory of the recently deceased Josephus Daniels. While Daniels had no direct connection to the college, Clarence Poe envisioned a memorial arboretum to memorialize Daniels and his life. The plans for the arboretum eventually fell through and no landscaped memorial was created to honor Daniels; instead the building that housed the physics and electrical engineering departments bore his name. In 1938, C.A. Upchurch Jr., writer for The Raleigh Times, wrote an article explaining the naming of Daniels Hall by quoting physics professor Charles Heck. Heck stated in a letter to Daniels, "I believe that you are the most devoted to State college of all its supporters...and I believe that you have the good of the State of North Carolina in your heart." In his article, Upchurch stated that Daniels was worthy of this honorific naming because of his role as a member of the Watauga Club and founding member of the university. In 2020, the university announced it would no longer use the name on the building because it did not wish to honor Daniels' racism.
As a primarily academic building, the former Daniels Hall has held courses for many departments but mainly for the electrical engineering, physics and industrial engineering departments. The original building had a rooftop laboratory used as an astronomy observatory that later converted into a laboratory for the physics department to take electrical samples of the air; in May 1993, a chemical fire broke out in this space around the time of final exams. Another laboratory was added to the ground floor when it was built; however, in the early 1980s, the university redesigned it to give space for semiconductor research and to add a fabrication laboratory.
References
Original Source References
Charles McGee Heck Papers 1922-1943, MC00030, Half Box 1. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mc00030.
Josephus Daniels Letter and Address 1939, 1943, MSS 00027, Legal Box MSS 2. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mss00027.
North Carolina State University, Office of the Chancellor, John William Harrelson Records 1933-1953, UA002.001.002, Box 35, Box 41. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua002_001_002.
North Carolina State University, University Archives Reference Collection, University Buildings, Sites, Landmarks Files, UA050.004, Box 4. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua050_004.
Raleigh Fire Department History - 1990 to 1999. Accessed November 3, 2019. https://www.legeros.com/ralwake/raleigh/history/timelines/1990-1999.shtml.
Snider, William D. “Watauga Club.” NCpedia, April 13, 2009. https://www.ncpedia.org/watauga-club.
Secondary Source References
Campbell, W. Joseph. “One of the Fine Figures of American Journalism: A Closer Look at Josephus Daniels of the Raleigh News and Observer.” American Journalism 16:4, 1999: 37-55.
Ceceleski, David S., and Timothy B. Tyson. Democracy Betrayed: the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and its Legacy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Craig, Lee A. Josephus Daniels: His Life and Times. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013.
Prather Sr., H. Leon. We Have Taken a City: Wilmington Racial Massacre and Coup of 1898. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984.
Umfleet, LeRae S. A Day of Blood: the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot. Raleigh: North Carolina Office of Archives and History, 2009.