Friday morning, UNC held a dedication ceremony for the Hortense McClinton residence hall and the Henry Owl Building. The university installed these Carolina trailblazers’ names on two buildings whose prior names were tied to white supremacy.
In December, Hortense McClinton’s name was installed onto the former Aycock Residence Hall and Henry Owl’s name was etched into the student affairs building – formerly Carr Hall.
Signage for the Hortense McClinton Residence Hall and the Henry Owl Building. Both buildings were dedicated Friday. (Photo via Jon Gardiner / UNC)
McClinton was the first Black professor hired at UNC. Owl was the first American Indian student and first person of color enrolled in the university as a history graduate student in 1928.
The building renaming stems from a UNC Board of Trustees decision in July 2020 to lift a 16-year moratorium on removing names from campus buildings. In addition to the removal of Charles Brantley Aycock and Julian Shakespeare Carr, the trustees voted to remove Josephus Daniels and Thomas Ruffin Sr.
The ceremony began with the dedication of the Henry Owl Building. Owl received a masters of arts degree in history and penned his thesis on “The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Before and After the Removal.”
The university gifted a bound copy of that thesis to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Henry Owl’s daughter, Gladys Cardiff. Additional copies will also have a permanent home within the offices of the chancellor and provost as well as the American Indian Center.
Cardiff said her family was grateful to receive the honor and for the words of countless people who expressed their support for naming a building after her father.
“It is a high and conspicuous honor to have a building carrying your name,” Cardiff said. “The significance of today goes far beyond any one name, the aim to create and support a more diverse and inclusive campus as a strategic initiative. The potential for collaboration and mutual reciprocity, a celebration of our differences and our shared humanity. These are the high aims.”
Gladys Cardiff, daughter of Henry Owl, poses for a portrait in front of the Henry Owl Building following a dedication ceremony held at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Hortense McClinton shared similar sentiments about her building dedication.
“I just never expected this ever,” McClinton said. “I appreciate it. I appreciate the committee. I appreciate all people up here. I appreciate everybody.”
McClinton, now 103 years old, worked in the UNC School of Social Work beginning in 1966 until her retirement in 1984. She taught classes on casework, human development, family therapy and institutional racism.
“I think I learned a lot as a teacher here,” McClinton said. “I was on 11 committees. The first couple of years I was here because I was the only black face on campus. And I got called to be on every committee, every search committee ever and I learned a lot.”
Hortense McClinton, poses for a portrait outside the residence hall that now bears her name following a Building Dedication Ceremony held at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
UNC School of Social Work Dean Ramona Denby-Brinson said a scholarship fund has also been created in honor of McClinton which will be awarded to social work students who are the first in their families to pursue graduate education. Denby-Brinson said Friday’s dedication led to a newfound appreciation of the slogan “I stand on the shoulders of giants.”
“Because of Mrs. McClinton, I’m here,” Denby-Brinson said. “May all of us who walk by the building, remember that a social worker blazed a trail for the rest of us and she has created a more equitable world.”
The History, Race and A Way Forward Commission is still recommending ten additional namesakes be removed on campus – the UNC Board of Trustees’ will have final say on whether that occurs.
But UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said at Friday’s dedication he’s thankful for the changes seen on the campus thus far.
“I first want to thank the UNC History, Race and a Way Forward commission for their hard work and helping us to get to this day,” Guskiewicz said. “I’m also grateful to the UNC Board of Trustees for lifting the moratorium on name removal and for voting to honor these two incredible Tar Heels today.”
Featured Photo via Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill
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