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1890s1890 The Second Morrill Act became law. It required states to provide technical education for African Americans, and it said that no federal monies would be disbursed to any college that made distinctions between students on the basis of race. States could comply, however, by providing separate colleges for blacks and whites. (The original Morrill Act of 1862 provided for the creation and funding of land-grant universities throughout the United States.) 1891 In order to comply with the Second Morrill Act and yet prevent admission of African Americans to North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later NCSU), the North Carolina state government created North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College (later NC A&T) in Greensboro.
1910s1911 North Carolina hired Neil Alexander Bailey as its first African American agricultural extension agent. 1914 G. W. Herring organized the first African American youth club in Sampson County. Youth clubs were the beginnings of 4-H. 1915 The Agricultural Extension Service appointed John Wray as the first statewide Negro youth club agent. 1917 Home Demonstration work for African American women began. Home Demonstration was a home economics program for rural women. It eventually became Family and Consumer Sciences. 1919 Home Demonstration hired its first African American agents, although on a temporary basis.
1920s1922 The first permanent African American home demonstration agents were appointed in 1922 to work exclusively with African American farm women.
1930s1930s The first African Americans apply to professional schools at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, but they are refused admittance. From this point on, African Americans increasingly demand to be admitted to schools within the Consolidated University of North Carolina (the precursor to the UNC-System and including NCSU). 1935 The Agricultural Extension Service hired Wilhelmina R. Laws as the first state African American Home Demonstration specialist in the South. 1936 R. E. Jones, the first full-time African American 4-H leader, was hired.
1950s1950 The U.S. Supreme Court issued several rulings regarding African Americans in higher education. One said that African Americans must be given access to programs of study not available in historically black colleges. Another ruling mandated that black students must be accorded equal protection and treatment under the law in state-supported schools. These decisions opened the door to integration in higher education in North Carolina and other states. 1951 The Consolidated University of North Carolina decided that African American students were eligible for admission into graduate programs. During the early 1950s black extension agents attending workshops at North Carolina State College (later NCSU) were not housed on campus. Instead, they were usually given lodging at Shaw University in Raleigh. 1953 North Carolina State College admitted two African American graduate students into the School of Engineering: Robert Clemons and Hardy Liston. Clemons became the college's first black graduate. (see 1957). Liston later withdrew and didn't complete his degree. 1954 Policies began to deal with the issue of race on campus. Visiting basketball teams with black members stayed together in Watauga dormitory and ate in the cafeteria, but in separate rooms with no other diners present. It was also mandated that Clemons, the only black student on campus at the time, must be served in snack bars around campus and could attend all functions with his wife. The U.S. Supreme Court decided the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. The doctrine of separate but equal in public education was dead. 1955 In Frazier v. the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina, the courts determined that undergraduate colleges and universities should be open to African Americans. Black freshmen enrolled at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. 1956 The first four black undergraduates enrolled at North Carolina State College: Ed Carson, Manuel Crockett, Irwin Holmes, and Walter Holmes. Carson and Crockett had started in summer school. Irwin Holmes joined the tennis team, making it the first integreted team at NCSU. Walter Holmes joined the marching band. Extension conferences at North Carolina State College were allowed to have integrated dining. 1957 Robert Clemons received a professional degree in electrical engineering (PREE), making him the first African American to graduate from NCSU. Manuel Crockett and Irwin Holmes joined the track team, and Walter Holmes joined the soccer team.
1960s1960 Irwin Holmes became co-captain of the tennis team, making him the first African American team captain at NCSU. In April the student government passed a resolution calling for racial integration of public facilities in Raleigh. This was followed by a similar resolution from the Faculty Senate. Student government formed the Human Relations Committee to write letters to area merchants. In May Irwin Holmes earned a B.S. in electrical engineering, making him the first black undergraduate to receive a degree at NCSU. Also in May Hazel Virginia Clark received a master's degree in occupational information and guidance, making her the first African American woman to receive a master's degree from NCSU. 1962 Vivian Henderson became the first African American faculty member when he became a visiting professor in the Department of Economics. He was a friend of Martin Luther King, Jr., and he later became president of the historically black Clark College in Atlanta. In 1962 or shortly thereafter, Dean of Students Harry C. Kelly hired a black woman as a secretary, becoming the first major administrator at NCSU to do so. 1963 Baxley's on Hillsborough Street became the first restaurant on the main drag adjacent to NCSU to serve blacks. Chancellor John T. Caldwell received a report concerning a segregated toilet facility in the campus infirmary. It was immediately integrated. 1965 Dorothy Williams became the first African American instructor with faculty ranking. She taught briefly in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Extension programs, including 4-H and Home Economics, in North Carolina began to integrate. 1966 Norma Wright Garcia became the first African American woman to receive an undergraduate degree, in history. Two years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the university housing office excluded from its list of possible accommodations any area landlords renting to students who refused to offer housing to blacks. Black graduate students formed Direct Action for Racial Equality (DARE) to pressure reluctant landlords to rent to African Americans. The Faculty Senate formed the Good Neighbor Council to press for open housing of black students with area landlords. 1967 Stephen Benton Latimer received a Ph.D. in Animal Science, making him the first African American at NCSU to earn a doctoral degree. Alfred "Al" Heartley and William Cooper became the first African American members of the freshman basketball team. Heartley went on to play on the varsity team (see 1969). 1968 Black and white students assembled on campus to denounce the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. A citywide curfew prevented them from marching to the State Capitol. Marcus Martin became the first African American member of the football team. Al Heartley became the first black to be awarded a basketball scholarship. He was later the first African American captain of the team (1970-1971) and the first African American to win the Alumni Athletics trophy (1971). Ed Leftwich was the first African American recruited to the basketball team and the first given a freshman scholarship. 1969 Eric Moore became the first African American Student Senate president. The Society of Afro-American Culture and other student groups protested treatment and working conditions of black employees of the university. In particular, they criticized the plight of black women employed as maids in the men's residence halls. Demand rose for black-studies classes, but NCSU students had to go to Shaw University and St. Augustine's College in Raleigh for such courses.
1970s1970 Mary Evelyn Porterfield became the first African American homecoming queen. Clyde Chesney was the first African American given a varsity football scholarship. Willie Burden and Charley Young were the first African Americans recruited to the football team with freshman scholarships. Students formed NCSU's first African American cultural center, which was located in the YMCA building slated for demolition (see also 1991). The U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) declared that North Carolina's Consolidated University (the precursor to the UNC System and including NCSU) had failed to comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 1971 Augustus M. Witherspoon was the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from NCSU and the first African American to receiva a doctoral degree and go on to join the faculty (see 1979). Seven students founded a local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, making it NCSU's first black fraternity. The Division of Student Affairs hired a black counselor, made financial aid available to black students, and encouraged black cultural programs. 1972 David Thompson was named NCSU's first African American All-America winner in basketball. William Maxwell became an assistant dean, making him NCSU's first African American academic administrator. NCSU issued In a Black Perspective. This pamphlet tallied the university's black community at nine professors and 222 students out of a total 13,809. It also listed courses focusing on black history and culture: two in political science and one on race relations in sociology. Black extension agents brought a class action suit against the Agricultural Extension Service over salary differences for the time period before 1965. 1974 Nanette Smith Henderson became the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. at NCSU. Her field was plant pathology. NCSU had 17 black faculty members but aimed to have 44 by July 1976. (There were only 18 full-time black faculty members by August 1976). The university's affirmative action plan was informally accepted by HEW. Lawrence Clark became NCSU's affirmative action officer. 1975 The local Delta Sigma Theta chapter was chartered, making it the first black sorority at NCSU. Students had begun to organize it in 1972. The first race relations workshop at NCSU facilitated by C.T. Vivian was held on February 27-28. 1977 At the completion of the first affirmative action plan of the UNC System, the system and HEW battled over a subsequent plan (see 1981). 1978 Chancellor Joab Thomas held the first Brotherhood Dinner, honoring Samual Nesbritt. The Brotherhood Dinner was not institutionalized until later, however (see 1982). Ted Brown became NCSU's first African American named All-American in football. 1979 Augustus Witherspoon became the assistant dean for minority affairs in the Graduate School.
1980s1980 The university commenced a mentoring program for black students. 1981 The UNC System signed a consent decree with the federal government, thus ending the battle with HEW over affirmative action. 1982 The University-Community Brotherhood Dinner became an annual event. 1984 The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the UNC-System consent decree. 1986 The UNC Mathematics and Science Education Network (MSEN) was developed by Lawrence Clark in response to findings of serious under-representation of minorities and women in academic or college preparatory math and science courses. The Black Repertory Theatre was founded. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that black extension agents were entitled to equal treatment no matter when they were employed. 1987 Kevin Howell (1988) became the first black student body president. Subsequent black presidents have included:
1989 The Board of Trustees adopted a racial harassment policy. The university created the associate provost position of facilitator of African-American affairs.
1990s1991 The African American Cultural Center opened. 1992 James Anderson became the dean of undergraduate studies, making him NCSU's first African American dean. The Nubian Message began publication. 1994 The Augustus McIver Witherspoon Student Center was named. It became the first building on campus named after an African American.
2000s2000 University administration created the position of vice provost for diversity and African American affairs. One stated goal of the position was to improve the experience of black students and other minorities. 2002 The African American Student Advisory Council began issuing report cards grading the university on enrollment, retention, and graduation of African American students. The report card gave NCSU an F for recruiting black students. 2005 During the fall semester, 9.1 percent of the total of 31,000 students at NCSU were African American. Approximately 4 percent (or 71 out of 1633) of the university's full-time instructional faculty were black. 2006 A survey of alumni who graduated between summer 2000 and spring 2003 revealed:
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