SALISBURY — Livingstone College hosted its 146th Founder’s Day celebration on Thursday, Feb. 6, honoring the legacy of the college’s founder Dr. Joseph Charles Price, one of the nation’s most prominent Black voices in the late 19th century.

The event, which began in the Varick Auditorium and ended with a procession to the Price Mausoleum on campus, included a keynote address by guest speaker Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes III, a nationally recognized pastor from Dallas, Texas. Every year, the college hosts a celebration of Price’s life and legacy.

“In an article entitled ‘Joseph Charles Price and his peculiar work,’ Paul Yandoh wrote, ‘In 1890, Price’s name was almost as recognizable as Frederick Douglas’ and probably better known than Booker T. Washington’s. In building what is now Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, Price became not only an educational leader in this region, but also a nationally known spokesperson for his race.’ Dr. Price served the college until his untimely death in 1893 at the age of 39, refusing positions of great prestige and attractive salaries in order to devote his life and energy to Livingstone,” said Bishop Darryl B. Starnes, member of the college’s board of trustees.

Haynes built upon Price’s legacy during his speech, talking about how, in a post-Reconstruction era that was not friendly to Black Americans who attempted to organize and promote their own institutions, Price still persevered and worked to provide opportunities for Black Americans in Salisbury.

“We have gathered here for Founder’s Day and we shout about Joseph Charles Price, who in a season when Reconstruction had come to an end and (become) the post-Reconstruction or a Reconstruction backlash of hell had broken out in this country, only a few years from the Supreme Court releasing a decision in Plessey v. Ferguson that will legalize second-class citizenship. It’s a hell of a time, and yet in the midst of that hell, Joseph Charles Price had the faith and the courage to believe in the best in the midst of what was the worst. And, that’s why we come here,” said Haynes.

Price raised the money to found Livingstone College both while in London for a conference and from Americans he met during a fundraising tour in California, including Bishop Alexander Walters, Senator Leland Stanford and Representative Stephen White. Using the $10,000 he raised, Price founded Livingstone and became its first president and professor of oratory, mental and moral science, and theology.

Price would remain with the college until his death in 1893 from Bright’s disease.

Haynes also spoke about the necessity for people, especially members of the Black community, to learn their history in order to understand the actions that made their current possibilities a reality, calling it the “momentum of memory.”

“Professor Greg Carr of Howard University talks about the momentum of memory. Our African brothers and sisters in Ghana practice what is called Sankofa. From the Akan people, the symbol of a bird that is moving forward by looking backward and has an egg in its beak, symbolizing the future and possibilities. You can’t move forward unless you have a sense of what happened behind you (and) you have the momentum of memory,” said Haynes.

Haynes also stated during his speech that he would be donating $5,000, joking that when he was a student himself at Bishop College in Texas he enjoyed a presentation much more when money was involved.

The program ended with a procession to the Price Mausoleum on campus, where there was a brief memorial service and the laying of a new wreath, which is an annual tradition on Founder’s Day. 

Price’s descendants typically speak at the event, but Livingstone President Anthony Davis said that they were unable to make it to the event after being involved in an accident.