Wonderful 100: College of Textiles Established

This blog post was contributed by Megan Rink, Undergraduate Desk Assistant, and edited by Todd Kosmerick. 

While there have been textile courses taught at NC State University since 1899, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Wilson College of Textiles. On June 8, 1925, what had been known as the Department of Textiles was formally removed from the School of Engineering so that it could become the School of Textiles, according to T.R. Hart in The School of Textiles, N. C. State College; Its Past and Present (1955).  

Alice Reagan states, in North Carolina State University: A Narrative History, that “As the state’s textile industry continued its expansion during the early decades of the twentieth century, many friends of industry expressed an interest in expanding the curriculum at State College.” The Zook Report of 1923 had placed the textile faculty in the School of Engineering. [College President E.C. Brooks], however, recognized the need for a larger program in textiles, and recommended in 1924 that the department become a school. This was done in June 1925, with Thomas Nelson as dean; the Board of Trustees also provided for new equipment and an addition to the textile building” (pp.76-77).

The first undergraduate degrees conferred by the School of Textiles were awarded in June of 1926. Among those new graduates was Yan Chin Ching from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi who was of Chinese descent. Throughout his time at State College, “Y.C.” was a member of the Tompkins Textile Society and was remembered by his classmates as “”a hard worker and one of the leaders in his class…”

While white women had been taking courses in textiles at NC State since the department’s early days, the first white woman to graduate with a degree from the School of Textiles was Lillian Tyler Jones, who received her graduate degree in 1932. Four years later, undergraduate textile degrees were awarded to the first white women: Eleanor Mae Greene and Virginia Lee Reinheimer. Both women graduated with degrees in Textile Weaving and Designing and participated in the Tompkins Textile Society and the Woman’s Student Government.

The first African American student in the College of Textiles, James "Jim" Rucker, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in textile chemistry in 1971. Rucker received a Master of Science in textile chemistry in 1980, and later joined the college as an instructor. 

The School of Textiles, along with seven other academic schools, was designated as a college in 1987, and its name changed to the College of Textiles. In 2018, the Wilson family made a generous donation to the College, and the College was renamed the Wilson College of Textiles. Fred Wilson and his daughter Cres Wilson Calabrese are both alumni of the College of Textiles and made the $28 million donation as a way “to provide what [the college] provided for [them]” (see “Wilson College of Textiles named for $28 million donation” in the Technician, Nov. 4, 2018). 

The first home for the Department of Textiles was in the basement of Holladay Hall, the oldest building on campus. Tompkins Hall, originally simply called “the Textiles Building,” housed Textiles from 1902 until 1940 when the School of Textiles moved to the newly-built Nelson Hall. The building’s namesake, Thomas Nelson, was initially hired as a lecturer in weaving and design. Nelson later became head of the Textile Industry Department, and he was named Dean of the School of Textiles in 1925, serving in that role until his retirement in 1943. The College was also the first to move to Centennial Campus following its 1988 groundbreaking. The current Textiles Complex completed construction and was dedicated in 1991. 

Since its founding, the Wilson College of Textiles has been on the forefront of textile innovation. Today, the College connects its students with industry partners through hands-on learning experiences. As the only remaining textile college in the United States, the College aims to prepare a diverse student body to work in a globalized textile industry. (See Shona Simpson, Becoming the Wilson College of Textiles : 125 Years of Transforming Lives and Innovating the Future, 2024, p. 257.) 

To learn more, check out the Wilson College of Textiles timeline or the College of Textiles, Office of the Dean Records. You can also explore the College of Textiles Photographs and other related digitized content on our digital collections site.

The D. H. Hill Jr. Library is closed during the summer of 2025 for planned electrical work. The Special Collections Research Center is located in Hill Library, and will be closed for all appointments during this period. Special Collections can only make appointment requests after August 3, 2025. During the closure, Special Collections staff will be available to answer questions about our collections, if they are accessible, and to support researchers using digital materials for their research. Some materials will not be available for reproduction requests. Please contact us!