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©2003 Davidson College Archives | Davidson , NC 28035
| Phone: 704.894.2632 |
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John Rennie Blake
(b. 1825 d. 1900) From 1871-1877, Davidson College had no official president, but was administered by a faculty chairman, Professor John Rennie Blake. The position of Chairman of the faculty replaced the college presidency for those years. Blake was born in Greenwood, South Carolina and attended the University of Georgia and Harvard's Lawrence Scientific School. Before coming to Davidson College, he taught at the Presbyterian Female School in Greensboro, Georgia, and LaGrange Synodical College in Tennessee. Blake was elected professor of Natural Philosophy at Davidson in 1861.
The years of Blake's administration were hard times but the college produced two outstanding alumni: Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1873-74), and Robert Brodnax Glenn, class of 1875, first alumnus to become governor of the state of North Carolina. In 1877, the Board of Trustees decided to restore the office of president. Since Blake was not an ordained minister and the constitution of the college then required that all presidents be ordained, Blake was not eligible for the presidency. He remained on faculty, however, serving as vice-president and teaching courses in Natural Philosophy and Astronomy until 1885.
Author: Molly P. Gillespie
Date: 1998
Cite as: Gillespie, Molly P. "John Rennie Blake" Davidson Encyclopedia 1998 <http://library.davidson.edu/archives/ency/blakejr.asp>
Related Entries: President's House, Presidents of Davidson College
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©2003 Davidson College Archives | Davidson , NC 28035
| Phone: 704.894.2632 |
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