The story of NC State

Contributed by Kelly Murray

The North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts Class of 1898 with President Alexander Q. Holladay.
The North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts Class of 1898, with President Alexander Q. Holladay.  In the back row left is Teisaku Sugishita, the first international student to graduate from the college.

 
This year is the 125th anniversary of the founding of North Carolina State University, which means parties, parties, and more parties! But this very special event also provides students, faculty, staff, and alumni with a chance to reflect on how the university became what it is today, and what the future could hold for NC State. An upcoming exhibit hosted by D. H. Hill Jr. Library provides one such chance for reflection. Opening in August, the exhibition will tell the story of NC State over the last 125 years.

Planning an exhibit that covers such a long and exciting period takes several months of work. Everything from which items to display to what colors to use must be decided upon. These last few weeks have been devoted to one of the most important parts of exhibit production: research.

This week, research centered on the early years of the university’s founding period from 1889-1945. One interesting story is that of Japanese student Teisaku Sugishita. The first International student to graduate from NC State, as well as one of the university’s earliest football quarterbacks, Sugishita graduated in 1898 with a degree in Civil Engineering. When he returned to Tokyo, he worked for the Imperial Railway of Japan and, later, was the president of the Silk Yarn Company of Gifu Prefecture. Sugishita’s American education came at a time when Japan was sending students and envoys overseas in the hopes of bringing Western technology back to the nation. As a prominent engineering school, NC State was considered the perfect place for a student like Sugishita.

Another personality from these early years is Elizabeth Lawrence. Lawrence was the first woman to receive a degree in Landscape Architecture from NC State in 1932. Passionate about horticulture, she went on to author several books about gardening, as well as write the Charlotte Observer’s Sunday gardening column from 1957 until 1971. Her garden in Charlotte is now open to the public as part of the Wing Haven Foundation, a garden and bird sanctuary.

Would you like to find out more about Teisaku, Elizabeth, and other former NC State students and faculty members? Be sure to stop by the exhibit in the fall, and keep following Historically Stated for updates.