{"id":9295,"date":"2014-11-10T12:51:41","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T17:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=9295"},"modified":"2024-07-02T14:44:30","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T14:44:30","slug":"the-henry-owl-scholarship-and-a-class-in-gumption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=9295","title":{"rendered":"The Henry Owl Scholarship and a class in \u2018Gumption\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Owl_Henry1WEB\"
Henry Owl and his bride, Mildred, on their way to a boarding school near Cheyenne, Wyo. (photo courtesy of Gladys Cardiff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Critical thinking is the magic of the classroom: Facts go in, contemplation ensues and voila<\/em>: perspective emerges. Undergraduate history major Andrew Vail \u201999 listened as professor Theda Perdue lectured on the marginalization of Native Americans in the southeastern United States. Education became the impetus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recall being in Dr. Perdue\u2019s class and learning about these grave social injustices in our history,\u201d Vail said. \u201cIt crystallized for me that I wanted to make a commitment to social justice. My Carolina education made that commitment concrete and propelled me to carry through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now a practicing lawyer at Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, Vail carried through by establishing the Henry Owl Scholarship Fund for Undergraduate Students, honoring the mettle of Henry Owl \u201929, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the first person of color to be admitted to \u2013\u2013 and graduate from \u2013\u2013 the University. An endowed scholarship, it will provide need-based funds to one or more undergraduate majors in the department of American studies<\/a>, with preference to students in American Indian and indigenous studies<\/a>. Vail learned about Henry Owl after graduation through correspondence with now-professor emerita Perdue and her husband, late professor emeritus of American studies, Michael D. Green. What Vail learned inspired him.<\/p>\n

\"Owl_Henry3WEB2\"<\/a>
Owl (far right) as coach of a boys\u2019 basketball team, 1930-31. (photo courtesy of Gladys Cardiff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy major concentration was in Native American history, so I felt an immediate connection to Owl\u2019s background,\u201d he said. \u201cThe distinction of being the first person of color to get a degree from Carolina is extremely significant and something that should be recognized. Also, Owl\u2019s lifelong dedication to education \u2013\u2013 to building a better life for himself, his family and community and those around him \u2013\u2013 it all struck a chord in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Swain County, N.C., at the foothills of the Appalachians, Henry Owl grew up in the Qualla Boundary. He followed his father, Lloyd, to the reservation\u2019s boarding school, then to Hampton Institute in Virginia \u2013\u2013 now Hampton University \u2013\u2013 a historically black school that until 1923 offered an industrial training program for Native Americans. One of the classes taught at Hampton was \u201cGumption.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point of the class was character-building \u2013\u2013 to instill a sense of getting up and going after life instead of waiting for life to happen,\u201d said Gladys Cardiff, Owl\u2019s daughter. \u201cIt clearly worked. [My grandfather and father] all aspired to a broader education and a broader vision of what the world had to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attaining such an education wasn\u2019t easy. After Hampton, Owl worked several jobs to earn tuition to Lenoir-Rhyne College (now University). He graduated with a history degree, then worked his way through Carolina, earning his M.A. in history with the thesis, \u201cThe Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Before and After the Removal.\u201d Every degree is important, but Owl\u2019s thesis, more so.<\/p>\n

\"Owl_Henry2WEB\"<\/a>
Owl circa 1918. (photo courtesy of Gladys Cardiff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Denied the right to vote on grounds that Indians were illiterate, Owl presented his UNC-Chapel Hill master\u2019s thesis to the county voting registrar. Denied a second time on grounds that Cherokees were wards of the government and not U.S. citizens \u2013\u2013 in opposition to a 1924 law \u2013\u2013 Owl testified before Congress, which responded with a law guaranteeing the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians citizenship and the right to vote.<\/p>\n

Largesse of intellect, beneficence of achievement: Henry Owl inspired Andrew Vail, who will, in turn, inspire others.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarolina\u2019s American Indian and indigenous studies community celebrates the Henry Owl Scholarship Fund for Undergraduate Students,\u201d said associate professor Daniel M. Cobb,\u00a0coordinator of the American Indian studies major and minor. \u201cMr. Vail\u2019s generosity complements our long-standing strengths and bolsters our ongoing efforts to deepen our relationships with American Indian communities in North Carolina. We are very grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

[ By Chrys Bullard ’76 ]\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Critical thinking is the magic of the classroom: Facts go in, contemplation ensues and voila: perspective emerges. Undergraduate history major Andrew Vail \u201999 listened as professor Theda Perdue lectured on the marginalization of Native Americans in the southeastern United States. Education became the impetus. \u201cI recall being in Dr. Perdue\u2019s class and learning about these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foundation","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9295"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47026,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9295\/revisions\/47026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}