N.C. A&T Alumni Times

Aggies have been spreading holiday cheer longer than most realize. As a campus community, there have been several plays, choral concerts and charitable causes put on for many years. In fact, there is evidence that North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University foundation of charity, sharing, giving and creativity during the holiday season have had a lasting impact on the local community and even the world.

The earliest known Christmas celebrations on campus were dramatic plays arranged by Mrs. Susan B. Dudley (1865-1933), the wife of President James B. Dudley. She was the dramatic “angel” of the Chautauqua Triangle Club, a literary, social and dramatic group. Her Christmas plays were held in the early 1910s and were followed by a “sumptuous repass.” In 1911, the group presented “If I Were A King” and the Ladies Art Club performed a pantomime in the college chapel. In 1913, the Chautauqua club presented “The Nativity – Christus,” fragments of a play called, “Wise Men” remain in the Susan (Susie) B. Dudley Collection in Archives. These plays were the foundation of the future spectacular performances of the Richard B. Harrison players like “Christmas is Coming Uptown” by Philip Rose (1983) and “Black Nativity” by Langston Hughes (1986 – 2016).

Mrs. Dudley was not alone in the Christmas Spirit. Her husband, President Dudley was known to have given presents to students who could not go home for the holidays. An annual Christmas Day dinner was given to students in the old cafeteria, formerly Murphy Hall. Captain D. K. Cherry, professor of mathematics, gave special readings to students on Christmas Day in 1924. The North Carolina A&T Sunday School gave their Christmas tree to the students in 1911; and there are many other stories of trees being given to students who could not go home.

Christmas cantatas, recitals, and concerts are almost as old as the college itself. O. Anderson Fuller, the music director from 1924-1929, gave a Y.M.C.A. Christmas recital in 1927. The Men’s Glee Club attracted national attention for their popular 1936 Christmas concert. Annual performances by many campus singing groups are still anticipated each holiday season. Many more listening ears around the world have known the beautiful holiday sounds of A&T on radio and TV for decades. The A-Cappella choir was heard on CBS radio in December 1942, and the A&T Gospel Choir appeared in their own UNC-TV special in 2015.

Aggies are always charitable, and many examples can be seen in the Ayantee yearbooks and the A&T Register newspapers of student groups repairing toys, giving away Christmas trees, and raising money at Christmas time. In 1934, the Home Economics Club decorated a Christmas tree for charity. An event known as “Operation Santa Claus,” was started in the mid-1970s by Professor Hattye H. Liston as an annual activity of the Psychology Club.

While countless Christmas trees have stood on campus, in the 1950s and 60s the horticulture department supplied the campus with hundreds of poinsettia plants. These beautiful plants were known as “Christmas Crowns.”

Nearly all of A&T’s holiday celebrations have ended a week or so before Christmas day, but many memorable moments happened over the winter break. In January 1928, Professor J. A. Grimes surprised all of Aggieland when he returned with a bride, the former Willie Moreland. A&T’s most heartbreaking Christmas came on the morning of Wednesday, December 21, 1955, when President F. D. Bluford died at the age of 73 at the L. Richardson Memorial Hospital. Many students were home for the holidays when they heard the news on the radio. His funeral was held in the A&T College Chapel on Friday, December 23.

For the earliest generations of Aggies, New Year’s Day had a much more significant meaning. It was also known as “Emancipation Day” and time for the “Klod Hopper.” While Emancipation Day is officially recognized as April 16, there was an Emancipation Celebration on New Year’s Day in Greensboro of which students and faculty of A&T were very active. The A&T Band was known to perform in parades and there were events at the Guilford County courthouse and on campus to celebrate freedom from slavery. The “Klod Hopper” was a gala affair held annually close to January 1, from about 1895 to as late as the early 1930s. It was called Aggieland’s “oldest social feature” and was decorated with evergreens and Christmas trees.

Today, the A&T community continues to participate in many campus and local events during the holidays. Thousands of people come for the annual “Festival of Lights” celebration held annually every December in downtown Greensboro. For the last 10 years this event has kicked off with musical selections by the A&T Fellowship Gospel Choir. In 2004, A&T hosted its own “Aggie Land Festival of Lights,” with over one million lights donated by the General Electric Company. The A&T Marching Band has been a part of the Greensboro Holiday parade for over 60 years. There are still many parties and celebrations on the campus before students say goodbye for the season. The faculty and staff have a big celebration with the annual Chancellor’s Ball and dress their best for themes like “Aggie Heart of Gold,” “The Polar Express,” and this year’s theme “Holidays in Wakanda.” In more recent years, Aggies partnered with Guilford County Department of Social Services and collected donations from various departments across the university for the “Winter Wishes” campaign. Through the 2018 campaign, the entire Aggie family was able to grant three gift wishes for 150 local children living in foster care.

If you would like more information about A&T History or have special holiday memories of Aggieland, please contact the F. D. Bluford Library at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.