Lasting Legacies

The first new buildings to be built in Glen Lennox in several decades will be named for two influential women who had an outsized and lasting impact on society in the middle of the 20th century.

The Gwendolyn will be a 106,000-square-foot office environment named for Gwendolyn Harrison, the first African-American woman to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Already a college professor at 25, Harris was admitted into the Ph.D. program at UNC in 1951. Upon arriving on campus, her invitation was withdrawn when the administration learned she was African-American. In the weeks that followed, she determinedly fought for her right to an education, making the case that her admission would be emblematic of the democratic ideals of fairness and equality. After some debate, the university trustees agreed and her admission was reinstated, marking a watershed moment in the history of the university and the South.

Link Apartments® Linden is the first of a series of new apartments coming to Glen Lennox. Its name, Linden, is borrowed from a classic textile pattern created by English designer Lucienne Day in the years after World War II. The prolific Day designed a series of non-traditional textile patterns featuring stylized elements from nature, unique textures and unusual color combinations, often with nods to modern and abstract works from artists like Kandinsky, Miro and Paul Klee. Day’s work was a refreshing, optimistic revelation to a British population still rebuilding after the war years—Day deliberately kept her early textiles affordable and accessible—and it eventually gained worldwide acclaim.

Throughout its ongoing renewal, Glen Lennox will feature nods to many other influential individuals who have made a positive, lasting impact on our society and culture in the decades since the community was founded.