Donaldson, Sr., James Henry "HuJohn"
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Donaldson, Sr., James Henry "HuJohn"
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James Henry “HuJohn” Donaldson Sr. worked at Davidson College as a campus janitor for over six decades.
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Born November 25, 1899 to Mary Stinson Wilson and Enoch Donaldson in Davidson, NC. James Henry “HuJohn” Donaldson Sr. (also known as John) came from a large family. He was one of Enoch Donaldson’s eleven children. His mother had three sons from previous marriage. James Donaldson and family lived less than two miles from Davidson College. He married Eugenia Abernathy Donaldson. Together, they had eleven children and also raised the other children as their own. Donaldson obtained an sixth grade education at the Davidson Colored School. He registered for the U.S. draft in 1942.
Donaldson began working as a custodian, painter, and carpenter at Davidson College at eleven years old alongside his father Enoch Donaldson. One could always find Donaldson reading the newspaper, telling jokes, or attending Davidson’s football homecoming game. Donaldson’s positive attitude, persistence, and warm presence made him one of the most beloved, permanent figures at Davidson College. He worked at Davidson for over sixty years (sixty-six years, as his family contends) and often laboring sixty-hour work weeks as a Janitor. Outside of his campus employment, Donaldson was an active member of the Reeves Temple AME Zion Church. Donaldson never retired and worked until the last year of his life. Donaldson died May 2, 1981, in Davidson, NC.
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25 November 1899
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2 May 1981
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"Honored For Long Service at College," The Gazette, August 27, 1953.
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Marjean Torrence, “Two Generations Serving Davidson College,” The Gazette, April 22, 1987, clipping, Davidson College Archives and Special Collections.
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"James Donaldson," in U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
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