We’re very grateful to Richard Day (WFC ’56). He was one of the last students to attend the Old Campus and he’s never forgotten us. Now he’s made a wonderful donation, a pier mirror that makes an elegant addition to the historic Calvin Jones House. Together with the piano, it anchors the parlor with a nice symmetry and helps create a very genteel atmosphere.
But this is more than a beautiful old mirror. It’s also a historically significant mirror.
The mirror once belonged to North Carolina Governor W.W. Holden, only the second governor in the United States to be impeached and the first thrown out of office. The state legislature kicked him out in 1870 for declaring martial law in two counties to stem the tide of Ku Klux Klan violence sweeping the state. In 2011, the North Carolina Senate granted Holden a posthumous pardon… unanimously.
So more than a generous donation, it’s a special one. And it also marks a major milestone in our efforts to fully restore the Calvin Jones House. The interior refurbishment is almost complete. Once we finish the parlor with period accurate window treatments and fabric to reupholster the furniture, we’ll be on our way to establishing the Calvin Jones House as a historic gem of Wake Forest, Wake County, and the state of North Carolina.
(If you would like to help support the interior restoration of the Calvin Jones House with a financial donation, please contact Wake Forest Historical Museum Executive Director Ed Morris at 919-556-2911 or morrisce@wfu.edu.)