|
Historical State (University History)
Ask the Archivists
Find Archival Materials
University Records
University Archives Home
Digital Collections
Special Collections Home
|
Historical Sketch of North Carolina State University
Information in this sketch was originally compiled from the 1970s to the 1990s by Murray Scott Downs, Professor of History, Dean for the Division of Undergraduate
Studies, and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programs. It appeared in the NCSU Faculty Handbook through the 1995
edition. As of 2005, the Faculty Handbook had been subsumed into NCSU's "Policies Regulations, and Rules" (PRRs) and no
longer contained this historical information.
Background
A pioneering era in American public higher
education commenced with the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Act in
1862. A radical departure from previous
traditions, this legislation opened the doors of higher education to children
of the working classes, added applied science and practical technology to
curricula previously dominated by classical and theoretical studies, and made
use of federal resources to support public higher education in the various
states.
Under the terms of the Morrill Act, the federal
government provided a grant to each state of 30,000 acres of public land for
each of that state's senators and congressmen. The states would sell the land and
invest the proceeds. The income derived from these investments
would be used, according to the law, to establish and endow "at least one
college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific
and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches
of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts in such manner
as the Legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to
promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the
several pursuits and professions in life."
For approximately two decades the University at
Chapel Hill received the interest, amounting to about $7,500 annually, from
North Carolina's Land-Scrip Fund created according to the provisions of the
Morrill Act.
Establishment
In the mid-1880's two groups challenged the
adequacy of the programs at the University in Chapel Hill for meeting the needs
of the people of North Carolina. Walter Hines Page, youthful editor of a
short-lived, militantly progressive Raleigh paper, The State Chronicle,
helped to organize the Watauga Club. This association of impatient young men sought to promote the progress
of their area through the establishment of an industrial school in
Raleigh. In 1885 they obtained
authorization but no money from the General Assembly, and in 1886 they
successfully pressed the City of Raleigh for money and land to provide such a
school.
About this same time a statewide farmers'
movement, organized and led by Leonidas LaFayette Polk, the state's first
Commissioner of Agriculture from 1877 to 1880, called for the establishment of a
land-grant college separate from the University at Chapel Hill. In his journal, The Progressive Farmer,
Polk argued hat the State had not met
its obligations under the terms of the Morrill Act and that the interest from
the Land-Scrip Fund should be transferred to a new land-grant college for
agriculture and the mechanic arts.
On March 7, 1887, the General Assembly, under
considerable pressure and not without
controversy, passed the act which authorized the establishment of the North
Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, according to the purposes
and provisions of the Morrill Act. The
Board of Trustees of the new institution was apportioned under the law evenly
between the two political parties, and provision was made for 120 students to
be admitted free, each county entitled to a scholarship for each member it sent
to the General Assembly. The
cornerstone of A. and M. College, as it came to be called, was laid
in August, 1888, and its doors were officially opened on October 3, 1889.
Adminstrations of the Chief Executives Before Consolidation
President Alexander Q. Holladay, 1889-1899
The first president of A. and M. College,
Colonel Alexander Quarles Holladay, was a lawyer, a soldier, and an alumnus of
the University of Virginia and of the University of Berlin where he had studied
languages, moral philosophy, and the law. The first faculty of five
professors offered courses in agriculture,
horticulture, pure and agricultural chemistry, English and bookkeeping, and
mathematics and practical mechanics. President Holladay served as professor of history. Courses in military science and physics were added later.
The original Main Building (now Holladay Hall)
housed all of the college's activities during its first year: kitchen,
dining-hall, shop, and gym in the basement; offices, classrooms, and library on
the first floor; and dormitory facilities on the second and third floors. Additional buildings erected during the
institution's first decade included: a Mechanical Building (on the present site
of Peele Hall); Watauga Hall into which the kitchen and dining-hall were moved;
Primrose Hall for instruction in horticulture (named for
W. S. Primrose, member of the Watauga Club and first chairman of the
Board of Trustees); four small dormitories First, Second, Third, and Fourth
(all roughly on the present site of Brooks Hall); an infirmary (on the present
site of the Alumni Building); and several farm and dairy buildings.
The first freshman class eventually numbered 72
students, though only 19 of these were in the first graduating class of
1893. By the end of President
Holladay's administration, however, the resident enrollment had reached 300.
President George T. Winston, 1899-1908
George Tayloe Winston, a professor of Latin, was
an alumnus of the University of North Carolina, the United States Naval
Academy, and Cornell University. Prior
to his election as second president of A. and M. College, he had
served terms as president of the University of North Carolina and as first
president of the University of Texas.
During the Winston administration the
development of a new curriculum in textiles led to the construction of the
Textile Building (renamed Tompkins Hall for D. A. Tompkins, a designer of
industrial plants and trustee of the college). Pullen Hall (for R. Stanhope Pullen, Raleigh philanthropist who
gave the original sixty-two acre site for the College; destroyed by fire in
1965) was built to provide larger library and dining facilities and an
auditorium to seat eight hundred. The
last major building erected during these years was Agricultural Hall (renamed Patterson
Hall for S. L. Patterson, State Commissioner of Agriculture in the
1890's). New academic programs included
normal courses and summer sessions for public school teachers, both men and women.
President Daniel H. Hill, Jr., 1908-1916
Son of a Confederate general, an alumnus of
Davidson College, and professor of English in the original faculty of
A. and M. College, Daniel Harvey Hill, Jr., became the institution's
third president. During his
administration the resident student enrollment grew from 446 to 723, and one of
the important new programs was the Agricultural Extension Service.
New buildings added to the campus during this
period were: the Nineteen-Eleven Dormitory (in honor of the class of 1911 which
resolved to abolish hazing); the Engineering Building (renamed Winston Hall for
the former president); the Dining Hall (renamed Leazer Hall for Augustus Leazar, the
legislator who introduced the founding legislation in 1887); the
Y.M.C.A. Building (renamed King Religious Center after E. S. King,
for many years general secretary of the campus Y.M.C.A.; center demolished in
1975); and South Dormitory (renamed Syme Hall for G. F. Syme, a 1898 alumnus and
distinguished engineer).
President Wallace C. Riddick, 1916-1923
Wallace Carl Riddick, a native of Wake County
and an alumnus of the University of North Carolina and Lehigh University, had
been a practicing civil engineer and a professor of mathematics and mechanics
at A. and M. College for almost twenty years before his selection as
the fourth president of the college. In
1917 the institution's name was changed to North Carolina State College of
Agriculture and Engineering. The substitution of the word "engineering" for "mechanic arts"
was intended to reflect the increasing emphasis since 1889 on the professional
and theoretical aspects of technical education.
During World War I the campus was geared to
intensive military instruction. The
Reserve Officers' Training Corps was established on the campus, and for a brief
period there existed a Student Army Training Corps. In the epidemic of Spanish influenza which struck in the fall of
1918 thirteen students and two nurses died. Under the leadership of the Alumni Association plans were initiated
after the war to commemorate the 1400 State College men who had served their
country and, especially, the 33 alumni who were killed in action or otherwise
died in service. Construction of the Memorial
Tower was begun in 1921, but its completion was delayed until 1937. The clock, carillon, and memorial plaque
were subsequently added, and the tower dedicated in 1949.
Several new buildings were erected during the
Riddick administration. These included the Extension Building (renamed Ricks Hall
for R. H. Ricks, businessman, member of the State Legislature, and trustee of the college); the
Mechanical Engineering Building (renamed Page Hall for Walter Hines Page); and
both Fifth and Sixth Dorms (renamed, respectively, Gold Hall for
C. W. Gold, a 1895 alumnus, president of Pilot Life, and Director of
the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, and Welch Hall for C. D. Welch,
an 1902 alumnus and textile executive). The first concrete bleachers were built for Riddick Field during this
period.
In 1923 a major reorganization of the administration of the College was begun, and President Riddick resigned
to become the first dean of the new School of Engineering.
President Eugene C. Brooks, 1923-1934
Prior to becoming the fifth president of State
College, Eugene Clyde Brooks, an alumnus of Trinity College (now Duke
University), had served as superintendent of the Goldsboro public schools,
professor of education at Trinity College, and State Superintendent of Public
Instruction. As president, he continued
to implement the administrative reorganization of the college with the creation
of the School of Agriculture (later renamed the School of Agriculture and
Forestry), the School of Science and Business, the Textile School, the School
of Education, and the Graduate School.
The growth of the College during the first half
of the Brooks administration made necessary many new buildings. These included: Polk Hall for
animal husbandry, horticulture, and landscape architecture (named for Leonidas
L. Polk); the original D. H. Hill Library (now Brooks Hall); the
Electrical Engineering and Physics Building (renamed Daniels Hall for Josephus
Daniels, charter member of the Watauga Club, early editor of the News and
Observer, and Secretary of the Navy in Woodrow Wilson's War Cabinet); Peele Hall to
house both the School of Science and Business and the Graduate School (named for W. J. Peele, lawyer and historian, founder of the Watauga Club
and of the North Carolina Historical Commission); the Frank Thompson Gymnasium
(now Theatre, named in honor of a campus leader, athlete, 1910 alumnus, and
coach, who gave his life in World War I); and Seventh Dorm (renamed Bagwell
Hall for E. C. Bagwell, an 1904 alumnus and general manager of the
Seaboard Airline Railroad).
Resident enrollment rose from less than 1000 in
1920 to nearly 2000 in 1929 before the Depression caused a drop to
approximately 1500 by 1933. The first
women graduates of State College received their degrees in 1927.
Consolidation, 1931
In the midst of the Depression the General Assembly
of 1931 attempted to promote economy and to prevent unnecessary duplication
among the three leading state institutions of higher education by establishing
a single consolidated administration for the University of North Carolina,
North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering, and North Carolina
College for Women. Dr. Frank
Porter Graham, president of the University of North Carolina, was elected
president of the consolidated University, and Dr. Brooks with the title of
Vice President continued as chief administrative officer at State College.
Among the consequences of consolidation were the
phasing out of the School of Engineering at Chapel Hill and the School of
Science and Business at Raleigh. In
place of the latter a general college (later designated the Basic Division) was
established to provide two years of basic courses in the arts and sciences as a
foundation for students in the various degree-granting technical and
professional schools.
Administrations of the Chief Executives after Consolidation
Chancellor John W. Harrelson, 1934-1953
Colonel John William Harrelson, class of 1909,
was the first alumnus to become the chief administrator of State College. Prior to his appointment Harrelson had been
head of the Mathematics Department. Under the consolidated organization his title was "dean of administration," later changed to "chancellor."
During World War II the enrollment dropped to
less than 1,000, but the postwar period was one of extraordinary growth in
enrollment and physical facilities and a new emphasis on scientific and
technological research. In addition, the School of Design was established, the
School of Forestry became a separate school, and the School of Education was
reestablished after a period of departmental status in the consolidated university.
New activities and rapidly expanding enrollments
necessitated the construction of many new buildings: Mangum Hall for
agricultural engineering (named for P. H. Mangum, pioneer of scientific
erosion and water control terrace system; renamed David Clark Laboratories in
1963 for David Clark, a 1895 alumnus and first president of the North Carolina
Textile Association); the Chemistry Building (now Withers Hall for
W. A. Withers, professor of chemistry on the original faculty of
1889); the new Textiles Building (now Nelson Hall for Thomas
Nelson, first dean of the School of Textiles); Riddick Engineering Laboratories
(for the former President); and Williams Hall for soils and field crops (for
C. B. Williams, a 1893 alumnus and Dean of Agriculture, 1917-24).
Seven new dormitories were built during this
period: Eighth (now Becton Hall for J. L. Becton, an 1908 alumnus and
trustee who designed liberty ships during World War I); Ninth (now Berry Hall
for L. G. Berry, an 1900 alumnus and a pioneer in reinforced concrete
design); Tenth (now Clark Hall for Walter Clark, Jr., an 1903 alumnus,
Charlotte lawyer, and state senator); A Dormitory (now Alexander Hall for
S. B. Alexander, Jr., a 1898 alumnus, Charlotte business executive, and
first State College alumnus on the executive committee of the consolidated
Board of Trustees); C Dormitory (now Turlington Hall for
J. E. Turlington, an 1907 alumnus and former head of the department of
agricultural economics at the University of Florida); Owen Hall (for
E. B. Owen, a 1898 alumnus who served the college as librarian,
professor of English, registrar, and alumni secretary; First Dorm was renamed
Owen Hall for a period before it was demolished for the expansion of Brooks
Hall); and Tucker Hall (for I. B. Tucker, a 1899 alumnus, mayor of
Whiteville, U. S. attorney, and member of the consolidated Board of
Trustees).
The William Neal Reynolds Coliseum was begun in
1941. However, with the steel frame in
place, construction ceased for six years because of World War II. Work was resumed in 1947, and the coliseum
was completed in 1949. (Reynolds was
one of five brothers who developed the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
and was a major benefactor of the institution.)
Chancellor Carey H. Bostian, 1953-1959
Carey Hoyt Bostian, an alumnus of Catawba
College and the University of Pittsburgh, a professor of genetics, and former
director of instruction for the School of Agriculture, was elected the seventh
administrative head of State College. During his administration a multi-million
dollar expansion program was completed, and the program of student activities
was greatly enlarged, as the enrollment passed 5,000.
The new buildings completed in this period
include: the east wing of the present D.H. Hill Library (the old library
became the center for the School of Design and was renamed Brooks Hall); Gardner
Hall to serve the biological sciences (for O. Max Gardner, an 1903 alumnus
and governor, 1929-1933); Broughton Hall to serve mechanical engineering (for
J. Melville Broughton, governor, 194l-1945); Kilgore Hall to serve
horticulture and forestry (for B. W. Kilgore, first dean of the
School of Agriculture and founder of the Pine State Creamery); Scott Hall to
serve poultry sciences (for Robert W. Scott, Alamance dairy farmer and
state senator, whose six sons, including Governor Kerr Scott, and grandson,
Governor Robert W. Scott, attended State College); Weaver Laboratories to
serve biological and agricultural engineering (for David S. Weaver,
pioneer in rural electrification and former head of the Department of
Agricultural Engineering); and Grinnells Animal Health Laboratories (for C.
D. Grinnells, member of the Animal Science Department for 33 years). The Burlington Engineering Laboratories,
built with a gift from Burlington Industries, contained the first reactor
devoted exclusively to the peacetime study of atomic activity.
The center for student activities was in the new
College Union (renamed the Erdahl-Cloyd Union, now the Erdahl-Cloyd Wing of the
D. H. Hill Library, for Gerald O. T. Erdahl, first director
of the Union and founder of the Friends of the College concert series, and for
E. L. Cloyd, dean of students from 1921 to 1957). The Alumni Memorial Building was the
result of a major expansion and remodeling of the original infirmary.
Chancellor John T. Caldwell, 1959-1975
John Tyler Caldwell became the eighth
administrative head of State College in 1959. An alumnus of Mississippi State College and of Duke, Columbia, and
Princeton Universities, Chancellor Caldwell had served previously as a
professor of political science and as president of the University of
Arkansas. During his administration a
new school was created and another school was renamed and assigned a major new
role: the School of Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics (now Physical and
Mathematical Sciences) and the School of Liberal Arts (formerly the School of
General Studies, the successor to the Basic Division). The name Liberal Arts was adopted when the
School was authorized to offer a full range of bachelor's and master's degree
programs in the humanities and social sciences. The name of the institution itself was changed in 1965 to North Carolina
State University, signifying its new role as a comprehensive university.
Many new buildings were erected to provide for a
multitude of expanding and new programs and for a faculty and student
population which more than doubled since 1959: Harrelson Hall to serve liberal
arts and mathematics (named for Chancellor Harrelson); Cox Hall to serve
physics and statistics (for Gertrude Cox, first head of the Department of
Statistics); Dabney Hall to serve chemistry and computer science (for
C. W. Dabney, State Chemist and one of the founders in 1887); Mann
Hall for civil engineering (for C. L. Mann, a 1899 alumnus and
long-time head of the Department of Civil Engineering); Poe Hall for the School
of Education (for Clarence H. Poe, editor of the Progressive Farmer for 57
years and chairman of the Executive Committee of the State College Board of
Trustees from 1920 to 1931); Biltmore Hall to serve the School of Forestry
(named in recognition of Biltmore Forestry School, the first such school in
America from 1898 to 1913); Schaub Food Science Building (for Ira O. Schaub, an
1900 alumnus, long-time Director of the Agricultural Extension Service, and Dean
of the School of Agriculture from 1925 to 1945); Hodges Wood Products
Laboratory (for Brandon P. Hodges, State Treasurer from 1948 to 1953 and
later legal adviser to the Champion Paper and Fibre Company); Southeastern
Plant Environment Laboratories (Phytotron); and the Library
Tower.
The huge increase in resident enrollment
resulted in the construction of six new dormitories: Bragaw Hall (for
H. C. Bragaw, a 1938 alumnus, developer of Orton Plantation, and
decorated hero of the Italian campaign in World War II); Lee Hall (for Major
General W. C. Lee, a 1920 alumnus, developer of mass parachuting and
training techniques, and former commander of the 101st Airborne Infantry
Division); Sullivan Hall (for W. H. Sullivan, Sr., a 1910 alumnus,
founder of an engineering firm, mayor of Greensboro, and member of the Board of
Trustees); Bowen Hall (for A. F. Bowen, business officer of State
College from 1899 to 1942); Carroll Hall (for Mrs. Susan C. Carroll, first
matron and professional nurse at State College); and Metcalf Hall (for Z.
P. Metcalf, professor of entomology and associate dean of the Graduate
School). In addition King Village was
built to meet the growing need for married students' housing (originally named
McKimmon Village but renamed after the demolition of the King Religious Center
and the building of the new McKimmon Extension and Continuing Education Center).
The growing dimensions of student
extracurricular activities during the Caldwell administration led to the
construction of many new facilities: Carmichael Gymnasium (for William
D. Carmichael, Jr., an officer of the Consolidated Administration from
1940 to 1961, including Acting President, 1949-50); Carter-Finley Stadium (for
W. J. Carter, class of 1924 and H. C. Carter, class of 1932,
founders of the Carter Fabrics Corporation; the Finley name was added in 1979
for A.E. Finley, Raleigh philanthropist and civic leader); Harris Hall
(originally Harris Cafeteria for L. H. Harris, manager for the State
College cafeteria, 1914-44); Everett Case Athletics Center (for head basketball
coach from 1946 to 1965 who made collegiate basketball a major sport in North
Carolina); the Price Music Center (for Percy W. Price, beginning in 1917
the first director of music at State); and the University Student Center.
In the fall of 1975, Jackson A. Rigney,
former head of the Department of Experimental Statistics and subsequently Dean
for International Programs, served as Acting Chancellor.
Chancellor Joab L. Thomas, 1976-1981
In the spring of 1976, Joab Langston Thomas
became the ninth chancellor of North Carolina State University. Chancellor Thomas, who earned all of his
degrees from Harvard University, served as a professor of botany and an
administrator of student affairs at the University of Alabama before coming to
NCSU.
During the Thomas administration enrollment
passed 19,000, a School of Veterinary Medicine was established, the name of the
School of Liberal Arts was changed to School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
and North Carolina State University was recognized as one of two major research
universities within the University of North Carolina system.
The Jane S. McKimmon Extension and Continuing Education Center (for one of the first three women to receive a
degree from State College in 1927; she organized and directed the Home Demonstration Program in
North Carolina from 1911 to 1946) opened in 1976 to
serve more than 100,000 persons annually for conferences, short courses,
workshops, and seminars. Two classroom
buildings were added: Bostian Hall (for former Chancellor Cary H. Bostian)
to house the Biological Sciences Program and Caldwell Hall (for former
Chancellor John T. Caldwell) to link Winston Hall and Tompkins Hall and
provide additional space for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences; and Kamphoefner Hall
(for Dean Henry L. Kamphoefner, first dean of the School of Design from 1948 to 1973).
Former privately owned buildings north of
Hillsborough Street were incorporated into the campus as the Hillsborough
Building (previously the State Capital Life Insurance Building) for the
Department of Economics and Business and the Computing Center and North
Residence Hall (previously the John Yancey Motel).
During the academic year 1981-82, Provost and
Vice Chancellor Nash N. Winstead also served as Acting Chancellor.
Chancellor Bruce R. Poulton, 1982-1989
The tenth administrative head of North Carolina
State University, Bruce Robert Poulton, earned his degrees in animal science at
Rutgers University and served on the faculty of Rutgers and the University of
Maine before entering academic administration. Prior to becoming chancellor at NCSU, Poulton was chancellor of the
newly consolidated University System of New Hampshire.
A major expansion of the University's research
budget, the establishment of a substantial endowment to provide enlarged
resources for research equipment and endowed professorships, and a doubling of
the acreage of the Raleigh campus all occurred during the first five years of
the Poulton administration. Some 900
acres of undeveloped state land adjacent to the campus were transferred to the
University. Known as the Centennial
Campus, this property has become the site of a carefully planned
"academic city" that has greatly expand the University's capacity
for research and service. The School of
Textiles was the first unit to be located on the new campus. During the Poulton
administration, the designation of the degree-granting units, with the exception of the
School of Design, was changed from "school" to "college."
Enrollment exceeded 24,000 in the 1986 fall semester, including 9,300 female
students, 2,300 black students, and 1,800 other minority students. The College
of Veterinary Medicine, Woods Residence Hall
(for George M. Wood, a 1950 alumnus, agribusiness man from Camden
County, member of the State House and Senate, and candidate for governor in 1976),
the Administrative Services
Building, and a new Fountain Dining Hall (for Dr. Alvin
M. Fountain, a 1925 alumnus, editor of
The Technician, co-author of the Alma Mater, long-time teacher of technical
writing for engineering students, and unofficial historian of the University)
were opened. Jordan Hall (for the Jordan family,
including Robert B. Jordan, III, a 1954 alumnus who served as the State's lieutenant
governor and as Democratic candidate for governor in 1988; Jack Jordan, a 1963
alumnus who chaired NCSU's Board of Trustees and Genie Jordan Ussery, a 1975
alumna who was captain of NCSU's first varsity women's basketball team) was built
to house the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences. The name Pullen
Hall (for philanthropist R. Stanhope Pullen, one of the institution's
founders) was resurrected (the original Pullen Hall was burned by a student
arsonist in 1965) as the name of a new Student Affairs service building.
During the academic year 1989-90, Dean of Engineering Larry K. Montieth served as interim chancellor.
Chancellor Larry K. Montieth, 1990-1998
In 1990 Larry King Montieth, a graduate of the University and former dean
of the College of Engineering, became chancellor and the eleventh chief executive.
Among his early initiatives were the creation of the Division of Undergraduate
Studies and the First-Year Experience Program. In 1992, the College of Management
was established, and in 1995, the First Year College was initiated.
A Division of University Advancement (formerly Institutional Advancement) was organized to include alumni relations, public affairs, development, and
advancement services. A board of Visitors was created, comprised of nationally prominent scholars and business leaders,
to advise the chancellor and Board of Trustees.
The College of Textiles moved to the Centennial Campus and into a new complex in 1991; it was joined
by ABB (Asea Brown Boveri), NCSU's first corporate partner, in an adjacent building designated as ABB Transmission and
Technology Center. Since then, the Centennial Campus celebrated its 10th anniversary and surpassed the $100 million
mark in construction. The Engineering Graduate Research Center (renamed the Larry K. Montieth Engineering Research Center)
was completed in 1996.
On the original campus the second Bookstack Tower on the D. H. Hill was completed and important new additions were the
Witherspoon Student Center (for Dr. Augustus M. Witherspoon, 1971 doctoral alumnus, professor of botany,
associate dean of the Graduate School, and associate provost and coordinator of African-American affairs) and the Visual
Arts Center including its two art galleries.
In 1995, the Zeta Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society was established.
Additional information on the NCSU chancellors, including those who held office subsequent to Larry K.
Montieth, can be found in the online exhibit Leadership Through the Years: Chancellors and Presidents
at NC State.
|
