From March 8, 1987 through January 29, 1988, the people of Davidson College, of the town of Davidson , and of the Davidson College Presbyterian Church celebrated the 150th anniversary of their founding. On March 25, 1985, President John W. Kuykendall called the first meeting of faculty members who had been elected by the faculty to plan the Sesquicentennial. The Committee consisted of R.T. Barber, Jr., J.G. Holland, L.R. King, M. Lester, M.O. Partin and J.B. Stroud. In the summer of 1985, Dr. Kuykendall appointed Dr. Rupert T. Barber, Jr., chairman of the Theatre and Speech Department, to be Coordinator of the Sesquicentennial and together they formed the Sesquicentennial Celebration Planning/Coordinating Committee. On December 15, 1985, the committee approved an overall plan for the Sesquicentennial that included eight major events between March 12, 1987, and early 1988. Four of the events were regularly scheduled events -- Awards Convocation, Alumni Weekend, Town Day, and Commencement. Fourevents were new -- Opening Convocation, Alumni Family Camp, Fall Convocation and the Closing Convocation. Renovations were done to the Copeland House in Davidson and the home was turned into the Sesquicentennial Visitors Center and the Sesquicentennial Office. The work of the Sesquicentennial Office staff was quite varied and wide-ranging. Mention of some of the activities include: production of the Sesquicentennial logo, the Davidson College mace, the Sesquicentennial Slide Show, all invitations/reply cards/programs for special events, all Sesquicentennial brochures; Management of the Visitors Center; development of the Sesquicentennial Steering Committee; development and execution of displays and exhibits; and the planning and execution of all details of all convocation and other special events. The Sesquicentennial Office was also responsible for involving the Town of Davidson and Davidson College Presbyterian Church in the celebratory events, organizing Alumni Activities related specifically to the Sesquicentennial Celebration and designing memorabilia of the Sesquicentennial. In addition to the eight major events already mentioned, the Celebration also included international observances of the Sesquicentennial in London, France and Germany. The Davidson College Alumni Association also sponsored Governor's Sesquicentennial Receptions for all alumni living in North Carolina. Other events related to the Sesquicentennial included: Davidson Goes Uptown, Davidson vs. Princeton football game, Sesquicentennial Homecoming, a Luncheon honoring Jack Ramseur, the Sesquicentennial Reynolds Lecture, the Campus-wide Sesquicentennial Gift and the Presidential Gift. Arrangement of the folders begins with correspondence of the various committees that were designed to help carry out the events of the Sesquicentennial. Information on the planning and execution of each major event can be found in these papers. The Coordinating Committe minutes contains detailed descriptions of the goals of the Sesquicentennial and are helpful in understanding the overall organization of the Sesquicentennial. The infomation contained in folders labeled Final Report" are extremely useful for descriptions of the various Sesquicentennial events. The Final Report was written and designed by the Sesquicentennial Office and contain general desciptions about the entire Celebration. Information from the Visitors Center Guest Book is also contained in the collection of materials. Signatures of all visitors to the campus are contained in the folders as well as signatures of individuals whose families have lived in Davidson for more than fifty years. Copies of all materials designed and published by and for the Sesquicentennial Office are also located in the collection. Every publication from the Campus Walking Tour to 150 Years of Economics at Davidson are included. The Publications files also contain all printed invitations to the convocations and commencement. Information on the Sesquicentennial Scholarship is found here. The files also contain copies of speeches made at Davidson College during the Sesquicentennial celebration. Speeches are located under the last name of the speaker. More prominent speakers included Cyrus Vance and Wyche Fowler. Box 4 contains information of particular subjects including the Indian Woodcarving done by Thambidurai for the Sesquicentennial Celebration. Information is also available on the College Mace (see Final Report files as well), all newspaper articles written on the Celebration, the Sesquicentennial poster and the Slide Show. Box 5 contains samples of Sesquicentennial Memoriabilia. These include a sweatshirt, the Sesquicentennial mail meter, alumni nametags, cups and glassware, rosette worn at Closing Convocation, the Sesquicentennial Christmas Ornament, a glass paperwieght, the Sesquicentennial Stamp and notebook."