Hinton James

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →

1. January 15, 1795 UNC opens to students The University formally opened at Chapel Hill on a cold, rainy January 15, 1795, with Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight and trustees present, but no students had yet arrived. Hinton James came on February 12, and by March two professors taught 41 students; UNC was the only public university to graduate students in the eighteenth century. People: Hinton James, David Ker, Richard Dobbs SpaightUNC Libraries, NC Miscellany: January 1795: The University of North Carolina (Nicholas Graham, January 1, 2004)
2. February 12, 1795 Hinton James arrives as UNC’s first student Hinton James became UNC’s first student on February 12, 1795. People: Hinton JamesNC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
3. June 3, 1795–August 29, 1796 UNC’s Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies take shape UNC students held the first recorded meeting of a Debating Society on June 3, 1795, and voted on July 2 to split in two, the new body being the Concord Society. They took the names Dialectic and Philanthropic in late August 1796 and for over a century served as debating clubs, student government and keepers of large libraries. People: Hinton James, Charles Wilson HarrisUNC Libraries, University Archives: Dialectic Society of the University of North Carolina Records, 1795-1964 (historical note)
4. 1798 UNC holds its first commencement UNC’s first graduating class included Hinton James and six other students. People: Hinton JamesNCDNCR — Hinton James, First Student at Chapel Hill
5. February 12, 1945 UNC begins marking Hinton James Day each February 12 The university started Hinton James Day in 1945, during the sesquicentennial of its first student's arrival. It falls on February 12 and now also honors other Carolina firsts, including Sallie Walker Stockard and Henry Owl. People: Henry Owl, Sallie Walker StockardSearch the index · UNC-Chapel Hill: 230 years ago, he became the first Tar Heel · Also: Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 22
6. 1967 UNC names a new south campus residence hall for Hinton James The university built a ten-story residence hall on south campus in 1967 and named it for Hinton James, the first student to reach Chapel Hill in 1795. The hall houses 964 students in eight-person suites.Search the index · UNC Carolina Housing: Hinton James Residence Hall
7. 2008 Three alumni recreate the walk attributed to Hinton James and finish at the Old Well Nick Becketti, Bryan Jones and Whitney Reeds set out from the coast near Wilmington in the summer of 2008 to repeat the roughly 170-mile walk attributed to Hinton James. The university says the two-week trip ended at the Old Well in Chapel Hill.Search the index · UNC-Chapel Hill: 225 years of Tar Heels, Hinton James