Aggieland’s Bluest Christmas

A “Blue Christmas” is a holiday season met with loneliness, grief, and sorrow. In the history of North Carolina A&T State University, no Christmastime matches that phrase more than the season of 1955. That was when President Ferdinand Douglas Bluford passed away on Wednesday, December 21, 1955. He was 73 years old and had served A&T for 43 years, 30 of them as our longest-serving leader. Looking back on this season brings up some of the hardest moments in A&T’s history but also highlights how our university has persevered through hardship.

Officially, Dr. Bluford’s death could be attributed to illness; however, there was no question among Aggies that the events of Friday, November 4, 1955, had hastened his demise. This was the infamous “A&T Affair,” also known as “The Snickering Incident” or “The Great Faux Pas,” in which North Carolina Governor Luther Hodges was the guest speaker for the Founder’s Day assembly and the dedication of new campus buildings. There was already animosity surrounding his visit, coming just a year after the Supreme Court passed Brown v. Board of Education and in response to his advocacy for “voluntary segregation” policies. While his initial remarks focused on the greatness of A&T, Hodges began leaning into his policies. Significantly increasing the tension were moments during his speech when the governor mispronounced the word “Negro” more than once and was met with booing, stomping, and hissing from the student and community audience.

After the event, Dr. Bluford asked faculty and the Student Council to write a formal apology to the governor. This was followed by strain at the university and reproach within some Black communities. His health continued to decline, and many did not expect him to succumb within two months. What should have been the pinnacle of his career—with 30 years in the presidency, a major appropriation for the college, eight newly dedicated buildings, and membership in the American Association of Land-Grant Colleges on the horizon—turned instead into a period of sadness and sorrow.

News of Dr. Bluford’s death was front-page news every day through Christmas. Many Aggies had already gone home for winter break and learned of the news through radio broadcasts. His memorial service was held Friday, December 23, in the Richard B. Harrison Auditorium, just one of more than a dozen new structures built during his tenure. His body also lay in state in the F. D. Bluford Library (now the F. D. Bluford IRC), which had been named for him just a month earlier. He was eulogized by his longtime friend and pastor, Rev. J. W. Tynes of Providence Baptist Church. Many A&T faculty, staff, and students served as honorary pallbearers.

Even after 70 years, the 1955 Founder’s Day program remains one of the most discussed events in our university’s history and is impossible to summarize in a single article. These events lingered even after Dr. Bluford’s death but could not diminish his legacy. Among Aggies and the Black press, he was praised for his tremendous leadership and the exponential growth of A&T College. Many also felt that Dr. Bluford’s counsel and wisdom would be sorely missed and deeply needed in the days ahead.

Ayantee, 1956

While Dr. Bluford was hospitalized, Dean Warmoth T. Gibbs (1892–1993) served as acting president of the college. Dr. Gibbs joined the faculty in 1926 and was dean of the School of Education and Science for more than 25 years. He was, and remains, a revered scholar and historian. The Board of Trustees appointed him acting president following Dr. Bluford’s death. Speculation arose over who would ultimately succeed Dr. Bluford until the Board officially named Gibbs as A&T’s fourth president on February 22, 1956.

When planning this history, the author did not initially realize the full significance of the title “Aggieland’s Bluest Christmas.” Dr. Bluford passed away on “Blue Christmas,” a real observance held on December 21—the longest night of the year—in some Western Christian calendars near the conclusion of Advent. It is a day set aside to reflect on grief and sorrow just before the hope and light of Christmas.

Much like this calendar observance, for Aggies mourning the loss of Dr. Bluford, there was still light ahead in the coming days under Dr. Gibbs’s leadership. As written by the staff of the 1956 Ayantee, “we were handicapped and our way looked dark when [Dr. Bluford] deceased… However, this handicap was removed, and light was once again bestowed upon us when the trustee board met [to elect Gibbs].” As modern Aggies might say, their “Blues” became “Gold.”

Ayantee, 1956

“The A&T Affair” is now seen as a significant precursor to many national headlines of the Civil Rights Movement, particularly in Greensboro. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on December 1, 1955, launching the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The “Gillespie Park Six” began breaking barriers in public spaces on December 7. New leaders were rising in Greensboro, including Dr. Willa B. Player at Bennett College, alongside Dr. Gibbs. This season foreshadowed the rise of a younger generation of Aggies who would come to and graduate from the university and do far more than boo and hiss at the sounds of Jim Crow.

Information for this story comes from the recollections of Dr. Albert Spruill, Dr. Warmoth T. Gibbs, and multiple accounts from the historic Black press. For Dr. Spruill’s account, please see “The Great Faux Pas” in Great Recollections of Aggieland (1964), p. 36. University Archives and Special Collections is proud to house the F. D. Bluford Collection, the Warmoth T. Gibbs Collection, and numerous histories documenting A&T’s legacy.

Many documents, including December 1955 editions of the A&T Register and campus event programs, are missing from Special Collections, leaving an incomplete picture of our “Bluest Christmas.” Please check your scrapbooks. For more information about this story, or if you have recollections of Dr. Bluford or Dr. Gibbs, please contact us at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.

Written by: James R. Stewart Jr. ’08