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Local figure

Robert Donaldson Jr.

Robert Donaldson Jr. (1800–1872), a Fayetteville native, graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1818 and moved to New York, where he became a banker and a patron of the arts. When the trustees asked President David L. Swain in 1843 to seek his advice on new society halls and the grounds, Donaldson recommended his friend Alexander Jackson Davis and arranged his 1844 visit, which began Davis's work at Chapel Hill.

Source: NCpedia: Donaldson, Robert, Jr.

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StorylineEnlarging the antebellum campus, 1840–18611840–1861 · 21 events · In 1840 President David L. Swain began the stucco finish on the brick college buildings, and by August 1841, with the session crowded beyond its rooms, the university had contracted for two new dormitory buildings. Swain then brought in the architect Alexander Jackson Davis, who first came to Chapel Hill in 1844. Davis's three-story additions to Old East and Old West, on which the masonry subcontractor Dabney Cosby put enslaved workmen, among them Osborne and his brother Albert, were finished in 1848 with halls for the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies, furnished by the free Black cabinetmaker Thomas Day. Smith Hall followed, named in 1852, and New East and New West, begun in 1858, were ready on July 31, 1861.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 3 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Robert Donaldson has A. J. Davis design a campus hall for the Philanthropic Society that is never built In the 1830s alumnus Robert Donaldson, by then living in New York, hired Alexander Jackson Davis to design a hall for the Philanthropic Society on the campus. It was not built, but Donaldson kept up a correspondence with President Swain about gardens, architects and furnishings that led to Davis's later work at Chapel Hill. People: Alexander Jackson Davis, Robert Donaldson Jr. Place: UNC campus (unbuilt) · Also named: Robert Donaldson · Also mentions: Philanthropic SocietySearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 21
  2. Trustees tell Swain to ask Robert Donaldson about plans for society halls and a landscape gardener In October 1843 the board directed President Swain to write to Robert Donaldson in New York about how best to get plans for new literary society halls and to find someone skilled in laying out the grounds, and at what price. People: David L. Swain, Robert Donaldson Jr. Place: UNC campus · Also named: Robert DonaldsonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 20
  3. Swain authorizes Donaldson to bring architect A. J. Davis to the university In a letter from Raleigh dated November 28, 1843, Swain told Donaldson he might invite Alexander Jackson Davis to Chapel Hill to make working drawings and specifications, with $100 for travel. The letter opened Davis's service as the university's architect and planner of its grounds. People: David L. Swain, Alexander Jackson Davis, Robert Donaldson Jr. Place: UNC campus · Also named: Robert DonaldsonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 21

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