The Governor Morehead Forum is an educational initiative of Preservation Greensboro that has its own board of directors and acts as an advisory board to Preservation Greensboro on matters of Blandwood property, and PGI operations.
In 1959, the John Motley Morehead Memorial Commission was established by Act of the General Assembly during the administration of Governor Luther Hodges for the purpose of acquiring title to or interests in property, both real and personal and to solicit, collect and expend funds for the acquisition, restoration, maintenance and operation of a memorial to John Motley Morehead in the City of Greensboro.
The Commission held title to Blandwood from 1967 till 2011. When the Commission turned title of Blandwood to Preservation Greensboro Incorporated, the Morehead Commission was dissolved.
The former Commission had 19 members and over half were appointed by the Governor.
The Forum was reconstituted in 2013 leading into the 50th anniversary of the saving of Governor Morehead’s beloved Blandwood Mansion.
In 1842 Gov. Morehead outlined a complete system of state transportation. In 1850 he was selected to be the first president of the NC Railroad.
Gov. Morehead was 1st NC Governor to push for public education, the education of women and the education of slaves. In 1849 he was chosen as the first president of the UNC Alumni Association.
In 1839, Gov. Morehead established water-powered mills along the Spray Power Canal to produce cotton cloth, yarn, and and wool. The vast complex included a saw mill, oil mill, cotton gin, blacksmith shop, and a grist mill.
Gov. Morehead commissioned A.J. Davis to create modern day Blandwood. Davis presided over the first meeting of the American Institution of Architects in New York City in 1836.
We are pleased to announce that Luther Hodges, Jr. will be the Chair of the Governor Morehead Forum. The Forum Board will meet four times a year at Governor Morehead’s Blandwood beginning late fall of this year and it will serve to undergird the work of Preservation Greensboro in supporting Blandwood as well as serve as a steering committee on large events.
Board membership consists of 15 high profile individuals from across the state who have a keen interest in seeing North Carolina advance the four legacies of Governor John Motley Morehead. Current board members hail from as far west as Blowing Rock and as far east as Wilmington. Governor Beverly Perdue of New Bern is the former Governor on the board, Murray Greason, Jr of Winston-Salem is the North Carolina Railroad board member link to the organization, Dr. Dan Myers of Kinston is the current Chair of the UNC Alumni Association, and N.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Edmunds is a descendant of Governor Morehead. Greensboro City Council member and business leader Nancy Hoffmann is the liaison to the Preservation Greensboro Board. These individuals have a keen interest in seeing North Carolina advance the four legacies of John Motley Morehead:
The Forum orchestrates events each year whereby speakers present topics relevent to one or more of the four legacy areas of Governor Morehead. This series connects decision makers throughout the State to others through related disciplines.
The Board will have Five board seats set aside for:
Governor John Motley Morehead’s home Blandwood is the oldest Italianate structure in the United States and is recognized as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. In addition to its noteable architectural history, Blandwood was the site of the political surrender of North Carolina at the end of the Civil War, and it is where Governor Morehead met with and was advised by Dorothea Dix about building a state psychiatric hospital. This occurred more than 70 years before women were given the right to vote.
The original architectural plans for Blandwood reside in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and the mansion is the only National Historic Landmark structure in the sixth congressional district. Governor Morehead founded and was the first President of the University of North Carolina Alumni Association and he founded and was the first President of the North Carolina Railroad.
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