Graham, Edward Kidder, 1876-1918

Edward Kidder Graham was an author, professor, and president of the University of North Carolina, 1914-1918. He died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. His son, Edward Kidder Graham, Jr., served as an administrator at Washington University, the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), Boston University, and Denver University before his death in 1976.

Edward Kidder Graham was born in Charlotte, N.C, in October 1876. He entered the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1894, graduating second in his class four years later. After briefly teaching school in Charlotte, Graham was hired as librarian by the University of North Carolina. Graham became an instructor in English in 1902, rising to the level of full professor in 1907 after years of intermittent graduate study at Columbia University. In 1909, he was appointed chair of the Department of English and dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He served as acting president of the University in 1913 and was elected to succeed Francis P. Venable as president in 1914.

On 25 June 1908, Edward Kidder Graham married Susan Williams Moses. Their son, Edward Kidder Graham Jr. was born on 31 January 1911. Susan Moses Graham died in 1916. Edward Kidder Graham died two years later from influenza and pneumonia during the epidemic of 1918.

After the death of his father, Edward Kidder Graham Jr. was raised by his uncle, Louis Graves. In 1938, Edward Kidder Graham Jr. received a Ph.D. from Cornell University and pursued a career in higher education. He served as an administrator at several institutions, including Washington University, the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), Boston University, and Denver University. He married Elizabeth Ann McFadyen in 1935, and the couple had three children. He died in Elsmere, N.Y., on 13 March 1976.