William Louis Poteat Papers
William Louis Poteat was a Wake Forest alumnus (1877), biology professor, and President of Wake Forest College (1905-1927). This collection documents Poteat's professional life as a professor and College president. Materials include biographical information and materials, article and news clippings, correspondence dated 1878-1947, diaries, glass laboratory slide images featuring biological samples, honorary degrees, photographs and negatives, scrapbooks, subject files, writings and speeches dated 1876-1937, and a 1928 memoir.
Biographical and Historical Note
William Louis Poteat was a College biology professor (1880-1905) and seventh president of Wake Forest College (1905-1927). He was born October 20, 1856, to Baptists James and Julia Poteat, a family in Yanceyville, N.C., who held enslaved people. His siblings Edwin McNeill Poteat and Ida Isabella Poteat both became instructors, at Furman University and Meredith College, respectively. In 1877, Poteat graduated from Wake Forest College. In 1883 he was made professor of biology at the College; in 1889, he earned a masters degree in education, also from Wake Forest. In addition to his studies at the College, Poteat went to the University of Berlin in 1888 and attended a course at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1893.
As a College professor, Poteat was a strong advocate for evolution, arguing the theory was in line with Baptist canon. He was an active leader in Southern Progressivism and was fundamental in preventing legislation that would have not allowed evolution-based curriculum in North Carolina. He received public backlash, particularly from fellow Baptists, on this stance beginning in 1920 and had to defend his position at Wake Forest College. He was successful in his defense in 1925.
Poteat was active in a litany of other social, political, and religious groups, in many of which he held leadership roles. He was president of the North Carolina Conference for Social Service, Southern Baptist Education Association, North Carolina Anti-Saloon League, Council of Church Schools of the South, and the North Carolina Academy of Sciences, and was a member of the North Carolina Reconstruction Commission.
Later in his life, Poteat focused his evolutionary studies on the subject of eugenics. He publically lectured in favor of eugenics. Most notably, his 1921 speech "The Standard Man" stated the "African race" was inferior to both the Europeans and Athenians and called for "the feebleminded, the insane, the epileptic, the inebriate, the congenital defective of any type, and the victim of chronic contagious diseases [to be] denied the opportunity of perpetuating their kind to the inevitable deterioration of the race." This speech was repeated throughout the South, including by Poteat himself, and these views reached thousands of people. He believed that the State ought play an operative role in maintaining purity in society, and although he didn't introduce its legislation, Poteat was influential in the Eugenics Board of North Carolina's establishment in 1933.
Poteat married Emma James Purefoy in 1881, with whom he had three children: Hubert McNeill, William Morgan, and Helen Purefoy (Stallings). After suffering paralysis soon after he turned 81, Poteat passed away in his sleep on March 12, 1938, in Wake Forest, N.C.
Sources:
- Railey, John. "Advocate: Wake Forest president embraced eugenics movement," Winston-Salem Journal, 2002 December 9. Accessed 2019 November 15. Accessed at https://www.journalnow.com/news/local/advocate-wake-forest-president-embraced-eugenics-movement/article_7f82bba2-8fea-11e2-aa34-0019bb30f31a.html
- Woodard, John. "Poteat, William Lewis." NCpedia. Accessed at https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/poteat-william-louis
Collection Overview
This collection documents Poteat's professional life as a professor and College president, as well as some of his personal life, including correspondence with a number of family members, a 1928 memoir, and Baptist materials.
Materials include biographical information and materials, article and news clippings, correspondence dated 1878-1947, diaries, glass laboratory slide images featuring biological samples, honorary degrees, photographs and negatives, scrapbooks, subject files, writings and speeches dated 1876-1937, and several book volumes from his library.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Names
Occupations
College presidents
Personal Names
Subjects
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by: John Woodard; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex, 2004
- Revision Description
- Revised by Immanuel Eggers and Stephanie Bennett, Stephanie Bennett, 2019, 2020
- Revision Description
- Revised by Stephanie Bennett; added 2015 accession to finding aid., 2023 May
- Access Restrictions
- This collection is open for use. Some materials are availble in Z. Smith Reynolds Library's Digital Collections.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- William Louis Poteat Papers (MS91), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.