James Dallas Howell – Education

Follow-up regarding James Dallas Howell

James Dallas Howell From The Howler, 1905 Wake Forest College Courtesy: DigitalNC

After my posting of the Bio regarding James Dallas Howell, I was speaking with my mother-in-law who knew James. She mentioned that James attended Wake Forest. A quick Google search found that Digital NC had many yearbooks from Wake Forest starting with the 1903 volume. I knew that James Dallas had a congregation in 1909 so he had to have attended college before that. I also knew that he was born in 1879, so figuring he may have graduated when he was about 22; I thought he might have graduated about 1902. Oh no – hopefully he didn’t graduate the year before the available yearbooks. A search of the 1903 yearbook (The Howler) found him on page 30 in the sophomore class roll.

The 1904 volume of The Howler found him again, as expected, in the Junior Class.

Then, as I expected, the 1905 volume of The Howler was a treasure trove of information. The 1905 volume was the first volume that included individual photos of he seniors. There was a photo of James Dallas as a senior graduation with a BA. It also indicated that he had “a way of tossing [his] head as a horse reined too high, and twisting [his] body in a peculiar fashion.” Further searching found that he was a member of the “Night Hawks” He was also a member of the “Non Compos Mentis Club” Finally it indicated that he was the manager of “The Claw-Hammer Boarding Club” whose motto was, “It’s a strong stomach that has no turning.”

DigitalNC has many digitized items; major categories include Yearbooks, Newspapers, Images, Memorabilia, and City Directories. If it is not part of your North Carolina research, it should be. Check them out at https://www.digitalnc.org.