Joseph Caldwell, first president of the university, and wife Helen are buried at the base of this marble obelisk located a few feet north of the Davie Poplar. Caldwell presided over the university from 1804 to 1812 and again from 1816 to his death in 1835.

Caldwell traveled by sulky across North Carolina, soliciting donations that helped fund the completion of South Building in 1814. After purchasing a telescope for the university, he directed the building of the first observatory connected with an American university.