‘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.

On a perfect May morning, an electric feeling envelops Chapel Hill. The much anticipated day has finally arrived. Years of anticipation would be condensed into moments. Lifelong dreams would soon be fulfilled. As the moment nears, the excitement heightens. And then suddenly, without provocation, the blue mass erupts into a thunderous roar of celebration which reverberates through an entire town. A mass of mortarboards are launched into the awaiting sky.

“Celebration” by North Carolina artist Russell Smith captures the excitement and jubilation of this awesome moment in this second edition of Franklin Galleries Traditions Collection®. The hats fly against the backdrop of an ‘angelic’ sky while the graduates celebrate their remarkable accomplishment in the shadow of the Bell Tower. Smith’s brilliant use of light, color and contrast create a visually stunning piece that you will be proud to display in your home or office.

	Tossing the hats in the air has long been a Carolina graduation tradition. Smith immaculately captures this unforgettable moment.
	Russell Smith is a master at using light to illuminate the moment. He frames the tossed before the Morehead Patterson Bell Tower of in the distance
	Our memories of Carolina will always include the friends we made. Graduation Day is a day of celebration for students, friends and family.

With commencement addresses from Noble Prize winners, to famous actors and Presidents, Carolina has had its share of memorial graduation ceremonies. The following facts are among the most notable…

One particularly memorable one happened in 1799, the second year of the ceremony. That year a serious rift on campus occurred when several university employed tutors were attacked by students who charged that the faculty members were being “aristocratic.” Similar countercharges were directed toward the students, by those same members accusing the students of being “immoral” and “resistant to discipline.” (Does this sound familiar?) The students were sought by the school disciplinarians. The “apprehending officers” of the accused “rule breakers” located, tried, and charged each of the rule breakers with an expulsion notice… In the group were a large number of “advanced students;” therefore, the graduation ceremony had only three graduates that spring.

The exact year of the inception of the Carolina Blue graduation gown is unknown, but the blue and white colors became the standard attire for commencement and other glorious events, like socials and balls. The Carolina Blue and White are a significant part of the Carolina history, dating all the way back to the students from the original two prominent literary societies found on campus. The rivalry between the members of the Dialectic Literary Society (affectionately called the Di’s), who wore light blue attire as a distinguishing identification, and the Philanthropic Literary Society (the Phi’s), who wore white. It wasn’t until 1888, when intercollegiate athletics became organized, did the university officials decide to combine the colors of the two societies to symbolize one university, not two rival societies.

Ironically, it was the 1847 commencement address that former United States President James Knox Polk, class of 1818, credited his training in UNC’s Dialectic Society as a major factor in his political success. Polk participated in the most popular campus activity of the time, debating, as a member of the Di’s Society. In fact, Polk shared with that commencement audience that “the campus debates prepared and trained him to preside over the US government.” When Polk attended Carolina debating was far larger than football! He added, “To the university’s credit, the diploma presented to each graduate did not signify scholarship as much as each student’s ability to manage other men; however, everyone could translate Latin inscriptions on that diploma.”

Carolina legend has it that if you kiss your date beneath the legendary Davie Poplar, then you will marry the one you kiss. Franklin Galleries third of the Traditions Collection, ‘Legend of Davie Poplar’ by North Carolina artist Russell Smith is the first picture to capture the sacred tradition of the ‘kiss’ while capturing the splendor of North Campus.

Smith depicts a glorious fall day with the sun illuminating Old East – the first building built on campus – as students pass on the walkways behind the historic tree. Set in front of a backdrop of the South Building and the Old Well, this work is visually stunning and truly captures the essence of a fall Carolina day.

Legend has it that on a hot summer day during his exhaustive search for a location for the nations first public University, General William Davie and his associates took a much needed rest beneath a tree near New Hope Chapel. After ‘exhilirating beverages’ a picnic lunch and a ‘refreshing nap’, the trustees unaniamously decided with Davie’s urging, that they proceed no further. So they settled on that very spot.

Another legend associated with the tree is that as long as Davie Poplar remains standing, the University will thrive. If it falls, the University will crumble. As such, many steps have been taken to preserve the tree. In 1918, it was struck by lightning, and fear that the tree was dying led the University to make a plant grafting, called Davie Poplar Jr. Later, another tree called Davie Poplar III was planted nearby from a seed of the original tree. As part of the university’s bicentennial celebration in 1993, 100 seedlings from the tree were given to 100 children representing North Carolina’s 100 counties. The seedlings were to be planted in the 100 counties across the state. Where these seedlings were actually planted is not known. In 1996, Davie Poplar was badly damaged by Hurricane Fran, after which the trunk was filled with cement and strung with cables to keep it up.