Franklin Galleries

‘First Day of Class’ by North Carolina artist Russell Smith is the first piece to capture the most revered of all Carolina traditions. Campus legend asserts that a drink from the Old Well on the first day of classes will ensure a student straight A’s for the semester.

A stunning depiction of this annual right of passage, Smith’s use of composition, color and light dazzle the canvas. The warm light of a late summer morning sun peers just over Old East, and pours through the pillars onto the ‘baptized’ student. Set beneath the Carolina Blue sky against the majestic backdrop of the South Building, this 1950’s depiction will be prized by any UNC Alumnus.

	Russell Smith is a master at using light to capture the moment. Notice the beam of early morning light pouring in from just above Old East, through the pillars, illuminating the student as he takes his momentous drink.
	This work is the first to display the majesty of the South Building. The second building on campus, it’s beauty is often overlooked due to the nearby and iconic Old Well. Notice the ivy growing on the building. Ivy was a feature of the South Building in the 1950’s.
	Russell Smith sets the work in the 1950’s, and is apparent from the dress of the students. Notice the slender oak tree that grows due north of the Old Well.  Once a complement to the Well, this tree today nearly swallows the historic monument.
	Carolina girls have always stolen the eye of the Tarheel men. Russell Smith captures a first day of class tradition as old as the University.  Notice the windows on the South Building opened or cracked in an era prior to air conditioning.

It is not known for sure when the ‘First Day of Class’ tradition began, but it is thought to have originated in the late nineteenth century when the original Old Well was the sole source of water for the entire University. This fact gave rise to the student joke that the only place in Chapel Hill where one could get a bath was at the jail.

Located between Old West, Old East and the South building, the Well represented the physical and social centers of campus. This well was originally situated slightly east of where the Old Well stands today. It was not until 1897 that its physical form took the shape that we know today…

In the 1890’s the South was in the midst of reconstruction as a result of defeat in the Civil War. A broken mindset prevailed across North Carolina as well as the rest of the South. University President Edwin Alderman (1896-1900) inherited a dejected and financially strapped university in the midst of this reconstruction era

Alderman felt it was his obligation to uplift the social consciousness of the people. Higher education would falter without the underpinnings of an enthused educational foundation. It would be Alderman’s mission to elevate the intellectual spirit of the people. He felt it more important to train “leaders and missionaries in the democratic crusade of arousing the intellect of the whole people” rather than preach theory to a chosen few.

He would lead an inspired reconstruction effort of his own in education at the University. It would be improvements to the institution that would inspire education. He first renovated a depleted library as he saw it not as a “storehouse of thought, but a laboratory, a workshop, a mine, and inspiration for both professors and students”. A new water system would boost morale.

Campus beauty would also inspire. The view from Alderman’s South building office was of the Old Well, an admittedly “ramshackled structure”. Alderman asked Professor J.W. Gore to help improve its appearance. They ordered a modest reproduction of the Temple of Love at Versailles to replace the wooden canopy that covered the well. The cost would be $200. Temple of Love at Versailles

Years later, Alderman said that he was “possessed with a great desire to add a little beauty (which after all is the most practical influence in the world) to the grim, austere dignity of the Old Campus.” Some of his colleagues thought he was wasting money on “luxurious gewgaws” when other needs were more vital.

As it turned out, the “gewgaws” would become the icon of the University and inspiration of education for over a century. Alderman’s four-year presidency saw him become a popular philosopher and evangelist of education than an “architect of institutions”. He did less in prescribing forms than instilling sprit. The Old Well and its surrounding area was given its present form in 1954 when brick walks, plantings, and benches were added as part of a campus wide beautification project.

“It always fascinated me to look out the third floor window of my Old East dormitory to see students, almost instinctively and without provocation, converge at the Old Well for a mythical drink that is said to ensure the student good grades for the semester. Despite its documented failure to ensure good grades (in my case at least), it is something greater that causes this age-old tradition to persevere. It is a special connection to the University that makes us continue this tradition. Where the Old Well was once the sole water supply for the University, a drink connects us with our predecessors who drank from the well for their livelihood. It also connects alumni with alumni to come that one day will partake in the tradition. It is this drink from the Old Well that connects all Carolina alumni, from Hinton James to you and I.