History of Wake Forest College, Volume I, 1834-1865 - (:unkn) unknown (Edwards and Broughton Company, Raleigh, N.C., 2011)
The Paschal histories are encyclopedic, listing every faculty member, trustee, staff, and most students known to have been associated with the institution. In the preface to volume one, Paschal indicated that he had followed the advice of prolific North Carolina historian R. D. W. Connor, Chief Archivist of the National Archives, to "Put in everything; no one will ever work over again the documents from which you draw your account, and what you omit will be permanently lost to the history of the College and the State." One reviewer observed that the Paschal volumes "contain more details of people and events, activities of students and of relationships of denominational and private colleges to the state institutions than any other college histories." (Wake Forest College Alumni News, May 1945, 5-6) The same review continues: "The volumes will constitute an excellent reference set. They contain names of every professor who has ever taught in the college, names of numerous students, lists of gifts, detailed data about organizations and activities, etc. In fact there is nothing about the college, good or bad, controversial or otherwise, that Dr. Paschal has not handled." The books are great sources of information, but not necessarily the type of history that one is likely sit down to read. Earlier attitudes and perceptions produced long sections which may not be of interest to today's readers. Even so, the detail in recounting the history of Wake Forest University in these books make them valuable for research and insight about the early years of the history of the institution. (J. Edwin Hendricks)
Biographical information about the author is available in Henry S. Stroupe, "George Washington Paschal," Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, volume 5 edited by William S. Powell. Copyright 1994 by the University of North Carolina Press.
Keywords: Wake Forest College--History; Wake Forest College--Presidents; The History of Wake Forest