WHICHARD PAINTS PORTRAIT OF IREDELLL

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He had a risqué sense of humor and he loved to dance. The theatre was one of his fa-vorite pastimes and he was known to attend an occasional cockfight. Willis Whichard, dean of Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, presented an intimate portrait of North Carolinian James Iredell, the justice who served on the first United States Supreme Court. Whichard, who is the author of the only definitive biog-raphy of Iredell, spoke at Campbell’s annual Friends of the Library dinner Friday, Sep-tember 24.

The grandson of an unremarkable clergyman and son of a failed merchant, James Iredell is one of the earliest examples of someone who managed to achieve the Ameri-can dream. The rigid class structure of his native England made it highly unlikely that Iredell could have ever attained the status there that he did in America, yet the young lawyer who settled in North Carolina became the contemporary of founding fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexan-der Hamilton and James Madison. Washington appointed Iredell to the first United States Supreme Court, and he was the leading essayist in the Southeast in support of American independence. Following the Revolution, Iredell was the foremost advocate in North Carolina for adoption of the federal Constitution. When the Feder-alist cause finally triumphed in North Carolina, Iredell was widely recognized as a principle architect of the victory. Iredell died at the age of 48.

“The story of the impoverished, insecure emigrant of 17 to the eminent, accomplished statesman-jurist of 48 reads like an epic poem,” said Whichard. “When the cold pen of history records the ablest of the American founders, it spares ink unwisely if James Iredell is not among them. He was unparalleled within his state and among a select group nationally.”

Whichard is a graduate of the UNC School of Law. He was elected to the state Supreme Court in 1986 where he served until 1998. He is the only North Carolinian in the history of the state to serve in both houses of the Legislature and on both of the state’s appellate courts. Whichard was a member of the House of Representa-tives from 1970-1974 and served as a NC senator from 1974-1980. He also served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and was a practicing attorney with the Durham law firm of Powe, Porter, Alphin, and Whichard.

Whichard earned both a Master of Laws (LL.M) and a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) from the University of Virginia. In 2004, he received the Distinguished Service Medal from the Uni-versity of North Carolina and was elected to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. Office of Public Information, 9/27/04

NEW FOL OFFICERS ELECTED

Some 65 persons gathered at the annual Friends of the Library (FOL) meeting on September 14 and elected new officers to head the organization for the coming year. The membership unanimously elected new officers. The new president is the Honorable Edward McCormick, retiring 11th District Court Judge, and the new vice-president is Dr. Carl Broadhurst, chairman of the Department of Business Administration and Economics of the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business. Dr. Ronnie W. Faulkner continues in his capacity as secretary-treasurer of the Friends of the Library.

L to R: Judge Ed McCormick & Dr. Carl Broadhurst, New FOL Officers

Vol . 12 , No . 3 , November 2004 Campbe l l Un iver s i t y Fr i ends o f t he L ibrary

Dean Willis Whichard

DOROTHY “DOT” JACKSON’S TIME AT CAMPBELL Dot Jackson commenced her employment at the Carrie Rich Memorial Library in the Fall of 1995. She moved from the Lumberton area because her daughter was enrolled at Campbell University as an undergraduate. Once here, she applied for a circulation job in the Library and was hired. She has been working in circulation ever since and now works primarily afternoon and evening shifts.

Her father, the late Rev. Samuel N. Lamb, attended Campbell when Dr. J.A. Campbell was president. Dr. Campbell presented him a Bible while he was a

student here and Dot still owns that particular Bible. At one point when the young Sam Lamb was working outdoors in the cold, Dr. Campbell asked to see his shoes and noted there were holes in them. The president took off his shoes and gave them to the boy, saying, “Here, I think you need these worse than I do.”

Dot’s father wanted her to attend Campbell, but she got married instead. It was not until her daughter heard Dr. Jerry Wallace, at the time provost of the University, speak at their church in Lumberton that Dot’s youngest daughter decided to come to Campbell. Dot soon followed.

Dot has really enjoyed her work at Campbell and especially her interaction with students during the evening shift. “The kids keep me active,” she said. “Not that long ago a student came in and told me, ‘Another day, another miracle.’ I think that’s how we all ought to try to look at things. I hope that I have helped the students as much as they’ve helped me!”

NEW LIFE MEMBERS INDUCTED AT ANNUAL DINNER

Four new Life Members were inducted into the Friends of the Library at the annual dinner meeting on September 24. The new inductees were Dr. Dwaine and Mrs. Carolyn Greene and Professor F. Leary and Joy Davis. Dr. Greene is vice president for Academic Affairs and provost of Campbell University. Mr. Davis was the founding dean of the Norman A. Wiggins School of Law and currently is a professor in that school.

The Greene and Davis families have been longtime Library supporters. FOL Records show that Prof. Davis has been contributing to the Friends of the Library at least since 1977. The inductees were presented framed certificates of membership by Dr. Anthony Harrington, outgoing president of Friends of the Library.

FRIENDS ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

At the Friends of the Library meeting Dr. Ronnie Faulkner noted that two persons associated with Campbell University Friends had passed in recent days.

Dr. Kyle Jones, a former reference librarian at Campbell and director of Libraries at William Carey College in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, died in August 2004. He had an extended fight with cancer, though the immediate cause of his death was a fall in the bathroom that put him into a coma. Kyle worked at Campbell from November 1988 until September of 1997. He was a soft-spoken and agreeable Christian man who was very much liked by everyone. He is survived by his wife Emma and a son, Jason Kyle.

Mrs. Massie C. Freeman, the mother of Dr. William H. Freeman of the Department of Exercise Science and wife of the late Rev. Tom M. Freeman, passed away in July of 2004. She was 84 years old. A longtime member of Friends of the Library, as was her late husband, she was a graduate of East Carolina University.

Vol. 12, No. 3, November 2004

CU 1995

L to R: Dr. Anthony Harrington Presents Certificate to Dr. Dwaine Greene

THE LIBRARIAN’S BOOK CORNER

Dr. Ronnie W. Faulkner’s Reading—I have read a number of books worthy of note in the past few months. I have continued with Edgar Rice Burroughs, reading The Warlord of Mars and Thuvia, Maid of Mars, both written in the early twentieth century. In the first book, John Carter battles his way to military leadership on Barsoom (Mars) and in the second his son Carthoris goes on a quest to rescue his true love Thuvia of Ptarth. Battles and narrow escapes galore are the rule on the dying planet of Barsoom! In the area of history, I just completed American Racist: The Life and Films of Thomas Dixon (2004) by Anthony Slide. Today known for authorship of The Clansman (1905) and the silent movie Birth of a Nation (1915), Dixon played a pivotal role in early film history. This is the first book to fully treat his film career and gives one a clearer under-standing of the man and his times. The volume is well worth reading especially for those interested in film, race relations, and Southern history. In the political and cultural arena, I have read Michael Barone’s Hard America, Soft America (2004), wherein the well-know commentator argues that there is an ongoing conflict between competition and coddling in American society. The au-thor makes some good points, but his argument needs more development than is pro-vided in this short survey (188 pages). In the religion category, I just completed John A. Williams’ The Cost of Deception (2001), wherein the author debunks many Chris-tian urban legends, including the fictitious Madalyn Murray O’Hair campaign against Christian broadcasting, the tale that Russian scientists drilled their way into Hell in Si-beria, and the recurrent attempts by some to date the Second Coming of Christ. Wil-liams argues that falling for such nonsense damages the true mission of Christianity. He quotes appropriate Scriptural references about false prophets to bolster his point. I also read God, Time & Stephen Hawking (2001) by David Wilkinson, a liberal English clergyman, who argues that Hawking’s ideas about the universe are not antithetical to religion, but provide support for a new Christian cosmology. This is a fascinating but not altogether successful attempt by the author to integrate scientific and theological perspectives into a single uniform system. All the books herein mentioned are available in the Carrie Rich Memorial Library with the exception of the Williams book on Christian urban legends.

Mrs. Marie Berry’s Reading—I love mysteries and have read some notable ones recently. Nevada Barr’s Flashback (2003) is a tale of the Dry Tortugas National Park where the Lincoln assassination conspirators were held after the Civil War. A present day murder plot is interwoven with events from post Civil War period. Kathy Reichs’ Bare Bones (2003) is a mystery set in the Charlotte area of North Carolina where a forensic anthropologist tries to unravel a mystery presented by human remains. Tim Green’s First 48 (2004) is a case of political intrigue as missing reporter Jane Redmon must be found within 48 hours. The title derives from the idea that a person not found within the first 48 hours usually turns up dead.

WHAT’S NEW AT THE LIBRARY?

New Automated System Report—The Final Report of the Integrated Library System Committee, chaired by Siuki Wong, was submitted on December 3. This report noted the outdated nature and declining support for our current system, Geac ADVANCE. An RFP was forwarded to ten vendors and five vendors responded. Four vendors were invited to campus to give demonstrations in October-November 2004. This was followed up by site visits to libraries that utilized the various systems. The Committee has recommended that a profes-sional consultant be hired to negotiate the contract with the vendor. Other librarians have reported that a pro-fessional consultant is well worth the expenditure in terms of resultant savings. Negotiations of the contract will soon start with projected installation of the new automated system by the Fall of 2005.

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Dr. Ronnie Faulkner attended the State Baptist Convention, Nov. 15-17, in Winston-Salem. More than 3,500 messengers were in attendance over the three day period. Rev. David Horton and the other primary offi-cers of the convention were re-elected without opposition. Evangelist Ted Stone of Durham made a motion to eliminate all giving plans but plan A. The motion failed. There was some opposition expressed about the Co-operative Baptist Fellowship (CBF). The messengers also passed a resolution calling for both a state and fed-eral constitutional amendment to protect marriage. The resolution as passed would also prohibit civil unions.

The Irrepressible Ann Coutler in How to Talk to a Liberal... (2004): “The Majority of military bases in the continental United States are named for Confederate officers… Southerners are truly America’s warrior class… It is outrageous for Northern liberals and race demagogues to try to turn the Confederate battle flag into a badge of shame, in the process spitting on America’s gallant warrior class.”

Ronnie the Rebel, C.S.A.

The story of Ronnie the Rebel started when he was born In the land of Dixie on a frosty Autumn morn. He was always a Rebel, one of those Tar Heel types, Who wear upon their shoulders Stars and Bars instead of stripes. His family they were fighters, or that is what they say, And it’s reported that his great grandpa* lost an arm one Fateful day Charging a Yankee regiment in butternut and gray. The rebel yells are but memory, as is the distant clash of Southern arms, But always for the Rebel, Southern history holds its charms. . R.W.F. *Wiley Carroll (1840-1925), Co. D., 26th NC Regiment, C.S.A.

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Friends of the Library P.O. Box 98 Campbell University Buies Creek, NC 27506

The Stars and Bars is not the Battle Flag