D.H. Hill, Jr. Library

The main library located on North Carolina State University’s North Campus celebrated with an opening ceremony in March of 1955, when Chancellor Bostian and the administration of the university dedicated the building to Daniel Harvey Hill, Jr.

Daniel Harvey Hill Junior came from a long line of military leaders. He was born in January 1859 to Daniel Harvey Hill Senior and Isabella Morrison in Davidson, North Carolina. Hill’s father was the son of Revolutionary war Colonel William Hill. Hill Senior was also the chair of the mathematics department at Davidson College, the superintendent of the North Carolina Military Institute and a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Daniel Harvey Hill Junior often went by the abbreviated version of his name, D.H. Hill, and he tended to drop the “Junior” part altogether.

In 1880, D.H. Hill, Jr. graduated from Davidson College with a bachelor of arts degree and in 1885 he graduated from Davidson again with a master of arts degree. Hill worked at the Georgia Military and Agricultural College from 1880 to 1889 as an English professor prior to being hired at North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now North Carolina State University) as a founding faculty member and as the school’s first English professor. From 1889 to 1899, Hill served as the supervisor and first librarian of the university library, which was located on the first floor of Holladay Hall. While at North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Hill served as an English professor, librarian, vice president of the college and eventually president of the university.

Hill served as the president of the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts from 1908 to 1916. During Hill’s tenure, the number of students and faculty at the college grew significantly. Hill’s scholarly reputation grew from research on North Carolina’s role in the American Civil War. The North Carolina Historical Commission offered Hill the opportunity to work on the history of North Carolina soldiers during the American Civil War. D.H. Hill Junior announced his resignation to the Board of Trustees and the students in 1916.

Hill was a proponent of the Lost Cause, an interpretation of the Civil War that many modern historians view as providing the ideological underpinnings of segregation and white supremacy in this period. Hill’s draft of his book Bethel to Sharpsburg: North Carolina in the War Between the States stated that North Carolinians should be proud of their war efforts during the American Civil War and for seceding from the union in the first place. Published in 1926, Hill’s two volume book was extremely war-centric and it read as a military history that focused on the strategies of North Carolina soldiers and their accomplishments during the American Civil War.

At the formal opening ceremony of D.H. Hill Jr. Library, Chancellor Carey H. Bostian delivered the dedication, and former Chancellor Harrelson spoke about Hill’s life. Minister of the West Raleigh Presbyterian Church, Reverend Edward Agsten orated the invocation and Director of the Library, Harlan C. Brown delivered the welcoming speech. Brown’s speech claimed the library served all North Carolinians since the General Assembly representatives of 1949 gave $1,500,000 for the library’s construction and materials. His speech also honored those who built the library. Northrop and O’Brien were the architects, Clyde H. Whitely did plumbing and heating, Thompson Electrical Co. were in charge of electrical work, Ira Cutshall and James Ligon were the supervisors and inspectors, and furniture was supplied by Globe Wernicke Co, Myrtle Desk Co., and High Point Bending & Chair Co. The library received major construction again in 1965 with expansion west, and in 1972 with the eleven floor tower addition. The tower opened in October of 1972 and was accompanied with another dedication by Chancellor John T. Caldwell. Finally, in 1990 the South Tower was built.

The library had many steadfast and successful librarians. Mary Elizabeth Poole joined the staff of D.H. Hill Jr. Library in 1945 as the documents librarian. During her 35 year tenure with the university, Poole received the James B. Childs Award from the American Library Association. Offered only to the most superior documents librarians, the James B Childs Award honored Poole and her significant contributions to the library. Issac T. Littleton, another significant librarian of D.H. Hill Jr. Library, served the university from 1959 to 1987. He began as an assistant director of the library and took over as director after Brown retired in 1971. Littleton saw and contributed to the library’s growth. Thanks to him and many others, the library’s book, periodicals, and binding budget increased from $114,000 in 1958 to $3.1 million in 1981. Also, Full-time staff tripled during his time at NC State. Littleton was also interested in the role technology played in the library. He wrote an article called “Electronic Libraries” and was part of developing technology for libraries. Lillie Caster worked at the library from 1973 to 1981 as the Head of Monograph Cataloging. She helped the cataloguing department go from manual to electronic cataloguing, which was not a small task with about one million volumes.

D.H. Hill Jr. Library staff have described the library as a “Frankenstein” building because of the library’s multiple architectural designs. These various styles were not due to a single construction period, but one spanning about forty years. The library’s construction began on November 5, 1951 and the library opened on March 12, 1955. Conversation, however, for a new library began in 1944 between Chancellor Col. J. W. Harrelson and the Library Committee. The 1944 committee was made up of professors, librarians, and Dean L. L. Vaughan. The group wanted a library that was accessible from dorms and department buildings. They were also concerned about the low number of books the library possessed in relation to other research universities. This was a worry of the committee until around 1979, along with the concern about the library’s organization and staffing.

The library today goes well beyond the expectations of its founders, with its music studios, digital labs, 3-D printers, and digitized archives. Along with these special spaces, students can purchase a coffee or a snack from Hill of Beans, the library coffee shop, which opened in 2002. Or the Creamery, one of the spots on campus where students can purchase Howling Cow ice cream. More than twenty years after the last addition, the library's Brickyard side entrance is being remodeled to bring it further into the twenty-first century. 

References

Original Source References

Collected Newspaper Articles and Addresses: “The Distinguished Dr. D.H. Hill, Daniel Harvey Hill” (1859 - 1924) Papers, MC 00022, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC.

Hill Jr., Daniel Harvey. Bethel to Sharpsburg: North Carolina in the War Between the States.

Littleton, I.T. The D.H. Hill Library: An Informal History, 1887-1987. Raleigh: North Carolina State University, Friends of the Library, 1993.

Mary Elizabeth Poole Papers, MC 00253, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC.

North Carolina State University Libraries, History of D. H. Hill Library Records 1889-1991, 1993. UA012.005. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC.

Wolf, Ben and Derek Edgren. “Book Sale Raises Funds for NCSU Libraries.” Technician. April 16, 2019. Accessed May 9, 2019. http://www.technicianonline.com/arts_entertainment/article_d11f2bfe-60a3-11e9-9412-270bfc2f83ee.html.

Secondary Source References

Conner, Matthew. The New University Library: Four Case Studies. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2014.

Gallagher, Gary W., and Alan T. Nolan. The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.

Hayatt, James A. and Aurora A. Santiago. University Libraries in Transition. Washington D.C.: NACUBO, 1987.

Osterweis, Rollin G. The Myth of the Lost Cause; 1865-1900. Hamden: Archon Books, 1973.

Regan, Alice E. North Carolina State University: A Narrative History. Raleigh: North Carolina State University Foundation and North Carolina State University Alumni Association, 1987.

Multimedia

NCSU Timelines

“Poole, Mary Elizabeth.” NC State University Libraries. Accessed May 9, 2019. https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/names/2377-poole-mary-elizabeth-1914.