Newsom, D. W. (Dallas Walton), 1873-1949

D.W. (Dallas Walton) Newsom was an educational administrator, county manager, scholar, and poet. Newsom entered Trinity College (now Duke University) as a student in the fall of 1895, beginning a twenty-seven year association with the institution.

Duke University alumnus (1899), as well as Trinity College Registrar (1901-1907) and Treasurer (1907-1923). Also, real estate and insurance agent (1923-1949), Durham County Commissioner (1924-1930), as well as the first Durham County Manager (1930-1943).

condensed from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, ed. by William S. Powell Volume 4, L-O, 1991, pp. 366-367.

D.W. (Dallas Walton) Newsom was an educational administrator, county manager, scholar, and poet. He was born in Littleton, North Carolina to Marion Eaton and Annie Soule Heptinstall Newsom in 1873. Newsom entered Trinity College (now Duke University) in the fall of 1895 beginning a twenty-seven year association with the institution.

During his student days at Trinity, Newsom was a member of various scholastic and social clubs including Phi Beta Kappa, the 9019, Sigma Upsilon, and the Alpha Phi chapter of Kappa Alpha. He was also a campus leader serving as senior class president, editor of The Trinity Archive, as well as holding various officer positions in the Hesperian Literary Society. His involvement in the Hesperian Literary Society culminated in his winning its orator's medal in 1898. At the end of his first year, Newsom became the private secretary to President John C. Kilgo prompting a life-long friendship between the two men.

When Newsom graduated from Trinity in 1899 he received a post in Havana, Cuba, on recommendation from President Kilgo, where he served as a private secretary to the comptroller of customs in the U.S. Customs House. In 1901, Newsom returned to Trinity becoming the college registrar and six years later college treasurer a post he held until 1923. During this time, Newsom was also the recording secretary to the Board of Trustees and a member of the officers' finance committee.

In 1923, Newsom left academic administration to enter private enterprise opening a real estate and insurance sales and service office in Durham. He was active in private business for seven years. Concurrently, he also served as secretary-treasurer and then president (1928) of the Durham Real Estate Board and as director of the State Board of Realtors.

Newsom also held several public offices. In 1924 he was appointed to the Durham County Board of Commissioners. He served for four terms. Governor Angus W. McLean named him to the Governor's Commission for a Survey and Study of County Government designed to "project the modernization of county governments" in 1925. This appointment led to Newsom's appointment to the Governor's County Government Advisory Commission (1927-1931). In 1930 Newsom became Durham County's first county manager, and one of the few county managers in the nation.

Newsom's published works include two books of poetry: Song and Dream (1922) and A long the Silent Ways (1973). The later was published posthumously by his daughters in celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of his birth. He also penned a History of Duke Memorial Methodist Church from 1886 to 1932 (1933) and Chapel Talks (1922) by President John Carlisle Kilgo, transcribed from notes taken by Newsom. Newsom passed away in 1949.