WOODCREST HISTORY

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Paul James "PJ" Woods, adventurer and independent scholar, arrived and settled at the site which would become the town of Woodcrest, during the Reconstruction years.  By 1876, he had been joined by prominent families from Raleigh and Durham who had been vocal supporters of Governor William Woods Holden, in his fight to defend the rights of former slaves and in North Carolina's ratification of the US's 15th amendment, guaranteeing citizens of color the right to vote.  These families had retreated from the ugly politics at the state's center, to join PJ in establishing a town that would be welcoming and inclusive of all peoples.  Seeing education as a means to build bridges to foster understanding and harmony, these families financed the establishment of a college.  Both the town of Woodcrest, and Woodcrest College were officially incorporated in October of 1879.  Among its first graduating class in 1884 of 13 students, were two former slaves, Harriet and Jedidiah Jenkins.

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With the influence of Woodcrest's founding families in the state senate, a large grant came to the fledgling college with the 2nd Morrill Act, granting Federal funding for higher education that was inclusive of non-white students.  With ample resources to expand and attract a talented faculty, Woodcrest College refashioned itself as a comprehensive research institution and was renamed Woodcrest University in the Fall of 1891.  It is one of the few land grant colleges to be a private institution, and the first non-segregated university in North Carolina.