Avery Residence Hall

William Waightstill Avery was born at Swan Ponds Plantation in Morgaton, NC in 1816 to Issac Thomas Avery and Harriet Eloise Erwin. Avery grew up there until he began studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Avery graduated as class Valedictorian of 9 students in 1837, with highest honors. At the time he attended, the University was comprised of only 5 buildings and 9 faculty members. 

Following his graduation, he studied law under Judge William Gaston. Avery spent years working as an attorney and representing Burke County in the North Carolina House of Commons. Avery, who was born into a family of slaveowners, was a defender of slavery and an advocate of southern state’s rights. In 1850, Avery was appointed to the UNC Board of Trustees, where he served until his death. That same year he gave the commencement address titled “Advantages of State Pride.”

The following year, 1851, Avery was involved in a well known altercation with fellow attorney, Samuel Fleming. While serving as opposing counsel in a courtroom in Marion, NC, words were exchanged between the two attorneys that Fleming took offense at. Following adjournment, Avery was confronted by Fleming, who demanded Avery repeat the same remarks he made in court. Upon refusing, Fleming challenged Avery to a fist fight, which was also refused. As Avery began to walk away, Fleming retrieved a cowhide whip and whipped Avery repeatedly with it. Weeks later, the two met once again in a Morganton, NC courtroom. Avery was carrying on as usual, but as Fleming was talking with another attorney, Avery shot Fleming with a pistol in front of the judge. However, Avery was ultimately found not guilty by reasons of temporary insanity.

The incident had little effect on Avery’s career. In 1856, he was elected to the State Senate where he was picked to be speaker. He was also selected to be chairman of the North Carolin delegation to the Democratic National Convention in 1860, but ultimately lost to Zebulon Baird Vance. However, he was re-elected to the State Senate that same year. 

One of Avery’s most notable roles in historic contexts was that at the Democratic Convention of 1860, where he served as Chairman of the resolutions and platforms committee. As chairman, Avery defended that slaveowners were allowed to maintain ownership, even if they moved into a new territory and took their slaves with them. Although this was the shared southern viewpoint at the time, North Carolina ultimately withdrew from the convention and joined the nearby “dissenters” convention. As the democrats struggled to agree, Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860. As a result, Avery became an avid secessionist. 

After North Carolina seceded, Avery was selected to join the Confederate Provisional Congress, where he was the chairman of the military affairs committee. In 1864, Jefferson Davis asked Avery to raise a regiment in North Carolina, serving as its commanding officer. Although family obligations kept Avery from doing so, the Civil War would still prove fatal. That July, a group of Tennessee Unionists raided Western North Carolina, attempting to destroy the railroad, and capturing Confederate Junior Reserves in the process. This resulted in Avery leading a militia of men from Burke County in pursuit of getting the reserves back. Avery, who was at the front of the line, sustained serious injuries and was taken back to Morganton, where he passed away. Avery was 48 years old at the time of his death.

Just 6 years short of the centennial of William Avery’s death, and only 3 years after the Supreme Court ordered the University to begin admitting Black students, Avery Residence Hall was constructed in 1958. This residence hall was opened in conjunction with both Parker and Teague Residence Halls. The Board of Trustees voted William Avery to be the namesake of such during the same year, but provided no clear reason as to why he was selected at the time. The residence hall began housing students in the fall of that year.

Avery Residence Hall is located on the end of Stadium Drive in the Parker Community. Although located on what is now mid-campus, the building was the first to expand student housing into South Campus. The building population is 226 and was renovated in 2013. Many of the students living there are sophomores and/or student athletes. 

“Avery.” Carolina Housing. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://housing.unc.edu/live/explore-the-halls/residence-halls/avery/. 

“First Black Undergraduate Students.” The Carolina Story: A Virtual Museum of University History. University of North Carolina Library. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://museum.unc.edu/exhibits/show/integration/leroy-frasier--john-lewis-bran. 

Graham, Nicholas, and Cecelia D Moore. “Avery Residence Hall.” UNC A to Z. UNC Press . Accessed May 12, 2021. https://uncatoz.com/entry/avery-residence-hall/. 

“List of People/Families Enslaved by the Avery Family of Morganton, NC.” Web blog. Tangled Histories (blog), November 30, 2016. https://tangledhistories.org/slavery/list-of-enslaved-people-and-families-owned-by-avery-family-of-morganton-nc/. 

Phifer, Edward W. “Saga of a Burke County Family.” The North Carolina Historical Review 61, no. 2 (April 1984): 305–39. 

Watson, Elgiva D. “Avery, William Waightstill.” NCpedia. State Library of North Carolina, 1979. https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/avery-william-waightstill. 

“William Waightstill Avery (1816-1864) and Avery Residence Hall.” Carolina Story: Virtual Museum of University History. University of North Carolina Library. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://museum.unc.edu/exhibits/show/names/avery-residence-hall.