Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908) was a North Carolina, United States, poet, social historian, and journalist who was instrumental in reopening the University of North Carolina after a five-year shutdown during Reconstruction. She published regular columns in The North Carolina Presbyterian and the Raleigh Sentinel. She urged the North Carolina legislature to close the university in 1870 to protect the school from Reconstruction politics, later revealed to be her own disagreement with the politics of university leaders at the time. After Reconstruction, she similarly urged on the school's reopening and, in 1875, Spencer climbed to the roof of the South Building and rung its bell to celebrate. She contributed to the university by writing hymns for special occasions, organizing community events, and keeping the alumni records. In 1895, she became the first woman to receive an honorary degree from the University.