Surrounded by buildings bearing the names of successful and prominent men from the school’s history, such as Peele, Leazar and Holladay, Yarbrough Court stands as a beautifully manicured landscape on North Carolina State University’s North Campus. The person for whom this court is named for holds an equally important spot in the school’s history. In 1927, Mary Elizabeth Yarbrough was the first woman to receive a Master’s degree at North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering. Born in 1904 to Louis T. Yarbrough and Lula Ellis Yarbrough, Mary Elizabeth Yarbrough grew up with a connection to North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering. Louis Yarbrough, her father, was a member of the first graduating class of the school in 1893. His daughter would make history on the school’s campus thirty four years later. The Yarbrough-Ellis family lived just down the road from the college on Hillsborough street, while Louis Yarbrough worked as a United States Postal Inspector, and before that an engineer. Mary Yarbrough grew up walking the campus with her family and meeting university administrators and seeing students; she even attended some of the courses and lectures provided at the school during the summer time as a young girl. She attended Saint Mary’s School, a private Episcopalian school for girls close to downtown Raleigh for high school but when it came time for her to go to college, Mary Yarbrough could not attend the college she had grown up so close to because of the university policy against admitting female students. During the summer of 1899, the Board of Trustees at North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering made the decision to admit women to the school but the ruling was met with protests and controversy so Trustees reversed the decision at their next meeting. Mary Yarbrough ended up attending Meredith College, just down the road from North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering, where she received Bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and mathematics in 1926. While attending Meredith, Yarbrough was allowed to take some courses at State College as a “Special Student,” meaning she was not fully enrolled as a student there but she was allowed to take a few classes alongside the male students at the school. After graduating from Meredith College in 1926, Mary Yarbrough applied to State College to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry. Shortly after her application was sent the Faculty Council at the school made the decision to allow women into specific programs on campus. By June 1927, a decision had finally been reached by the Faculty and the Board of Trustees to allow women to receive degrees that year. In early June 1927, Mary Yarbrough, Jane McKimmon and Charlotte Nelson became the first female students to receive degrees from North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering, with Yarbrough being the first to earn a Master's degree. Between 1927 and 1931, more women gained degrees with the establishment of the North Carolina system but women were told they could not attend State College as freshmen and sophomores due to a ruling made in 1935. At the time Yarbrough was obtaining her Masters degree, on-campus housing for female students did not exist. It was not until the 1960s that the number of degrees earned by women at the school increased drastically. In September of 1964 the first on-campus residence hall for women was opened at Watauga Hall and all undergraduate single women were required to live there. Mary Yarbrough furthered her education at Duke University where she received a PhD in 1941. Yarbrough returned to Meredith College after receiving her PhD and she remained there as a professor and as the head for the school’s Department of Chemistry and Physics until 1972. In 1930, Mary Yarbrough became the first woman to be an officer of the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering Alumni Association, an organization that is still around today. Mary Yarbrough passed away in 1984 and the university thought that the best way to memorialize her and her impact on the university was to name a piece of campus after her. As a part of their centennial celebration in April 1987, North Carolina State University dedicated the courtyard on the university’s North Campus to Yarbrough. Chancellor Bruce Poulton resided over the dedication ceremony along with Doris King, a professor from the school’s history department. This space became the second spot on campus to be named after Yarbrough’s family. Yarbrough Drive was named after Mary Yarbrough’s father and his legacy of being one of the school’s first graduates. To commemorate the family’s legacy, the university also curated an exhibit containing memorabilia and photographs collected by the Yarbrough-Ellis family to be put on display as part of the centennial celebration for the university throughout the month of April. To commemorate her legacy at Meredith College, a chemistry research laboratory was named in her honor. Yarbrough Court stands today as a beautiful piece of land on North Campus that bears the name and honors the memory of an outstanding scholar in North Carolina State University’s history. References Original Source References Celebrating One Hundred Years of Women at NC State University - 1920s. Accessed November 22, 2019. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/archivedexhibits/women/1920.htm. North Carolina State University, Office of Public Affairs, News Services Records, UA 014.011, Carton 6. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua014_011. North Carolina State University, University Archives Reference Collection, University Buildings, Sites, Landmarks Files, UA 050.004, Box 9. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua050_004. North Carolina State University, Office of Finance and Administration, Office of the University Architect Records, UA 003.026, Flat box 10. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua003_026. Ibid, Flat Box 12. Mary Yarbrough Papers, MC 00552, Carton 2. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mc00552. Ibid, Carton 9. Ibid, Carton 13. “Women.” NCSU Timelines. Accessed December 4, 2019. https://historicalstate.lib.ncsu.edu/timelines/women. “Yarbrough, Mary Elizabeth, 1904.” NC State University Libraries' Rare and Unique Digital Collections | NC State University Libraries' Rare and Unique Digital Collections, https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/names/2708-yarbrough-mary-elizabeth-1904. Secondary Source References Bystydzienski, Jill M. and Sharon R. Bird, eds. Removing Barriers: Women in Academic Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. Feldman, Saul D. Escape from the Doll’s House: Women in Graduate and Professional School Education. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973. Reagan, Alice E. North Carolina State University, A Narrative History. Raleigh: North Carolina State University Foundation and North Carolina State University Alumni Association, 1987. Solomon, Barbara Miller. In the Company of Educated Women: a History of Women and Higher Education in America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.
The Student Center Annex (SCA), now the Witherspoon Student Center, was completed in the fall of 1990 and opened in January 1991. Raleigh contractor Clancy and Theys Construction Company built the SCA and Michael Rickenbaker served as the consulting architect. The SCA was built to adjust to the increase of students and their need for space. Additional space also meant the shuffling of student organization headquarters. Some of the organizations that moved from the Talley Student Center to the SCA were WKNC, NC State's radio station; the Agromeck, NC State's yearbook; the Technician, one of the university's newspaper; and Windhover, the school's literary and arts magazine. On April 1, 1995, the SCA was renamed the Witherspoon Student Center after Dr. Augustus Witherspoon who taught botany at NC State from 1969 to 1994. He began as an instructor and rose to full professor in 1982. Witherspoon was the second African American to earn a doctorate degree from NCSU and authored or co-authored fifteen publications. He served as principal investigator for ten-federally funded environmental studies. Witherspoon was influential in North Carolina’s and the university’s communities. Dr. Witherspoon was a pastor of St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church from 1981 until his death in 1994, and a member of St. Paul AME Church. He served on the Executive Board of City Vista Volunteers, was a part of North Carolina Alcohol Research Authority, and Neighborhood Arts Council. He helped organize the African American Parents Educational Advocacy Association. Witherspoon also had a major role in African American student retention and enrollment at NC State. The day after the Witherspoon Student Center naming ceremony, the university held a gathering for the Raleigh African American community and NC State African American faculty and staff at the Martin Street Baptist Church to discuss the relationship between the university and the African American community. Chancellor Larry Monteith spoke, and remarked on the university’s improved relations with the African American community since the late 1970s, but also stated there was still more the university could do. Monteith noted that one of the reasons for NC State’s negative reputation in the African American community was due to NC State not extending their outreach programs to the African American community. At his speech Monteith stated that another reason for NC State’s unfavorable reputation was the exclusion African American students felt on campus. In 1974, the YMCA near campus was demolished for a School of Design building. African American students were outraged by the YMCA’s destruction because the YMCA was where the students met and felt a sense of community. Banks Talley Jr., Administrator of Student Affairs, believed there was no need for two student unions. After talking with Witherspoon who was aware of the African American students' sentiments, Talley suggested a "Black Union." But Witherspoon objected, reasoning that there was no need for a separate union and a "Black Union" was not the same as a cultural center. After a forum with the NC State community, in 1975, the African American Cultural Center (AACC) was created and located in the old print shop, or currently, the West Dunn Building. Students found the facilities dissatisfying with the shop’s poor ventilation and limited space. Students wanted a library and more space for black organizations. A decade and a half later, after debating and planning amongst student, faculty, and staff, the AACC was added to the construction plans of the SCA. Witherspoon helped the AACC to grow, but he was not alive to accept the honor of having the SCA renamed after him. Efforts had been made to have the building renamed while Witherspoon was still on campus. Around 1986 and 1987, student body president, Gary V. Mauney and instructor and coordinator of African American Student Affairs, Jerry L. Bettis Sr. recommended Witherspoon’s name to replace “Student Center Annex.” In 1993, the Association of Students for African American Culture pushed for Witherspoon’s name to replace AACC. Two years later SCA changed to Witherspoon Student Center. The renaming ceremony consisted of a speech by Chancellor Larry Monteith, NC State faculty, staff, student; Cookie Witherspoon, Witherspoon's wife, and one of NC State's first African American undergraduate student, Irwin Holmes. The Chancellor’s speech highlighted Witherspoon’s efforts in increasing the African American student enrollment and retention, and the significance of Witherspoon being the first African American to be memorialized on campus. The Witherspoon Student Center was and is lively. Today, the center is a place to catch a blockbuster movie, the headquarters of WKNC, and a hub for student organizations and government and publications. At the AACC’s art gallery, four to six exhibits are displayed every academic year. Topics range from Sherrod Gresham’s collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century stamps featuring black notables in 2005, to a compilation of artwork under the exhibit title, “The Politicization and Sexualization of Black Bodies” in 2019. On the whole, the AACC has hosted events such as, Heritage Day, Kwanza, Blacks in Wax Live Museum, Clark Lecture, and Pan-African Week. Lastly, speeches from Kwame Toure (Stokely Carmichael), Shaun King, Dr. Thadeline Cartwright, Tony Brown, Charles Moose, and Symone Sanders have been held at the AACC. References Original Source References NC State University Special Collections Research Center: Agromeck Larry Monteith Papers, 1933-1999, 2009, 2014. MC00262. North Carolina State University, Office of the Provost, Office of Diversity and African American Affairs Records, 1956-2011. UA 005.14. North Carolina State University, University Archives Reference Collection, Biographical Files, 1889-2019. UA050.003 Box 6. The Nubian Message Technician Secondary Source References "Historical State Timelines: African Americans". North Carolina State University Libraries. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://historicalstate.lib.ncsu.edu/timelines/african-americans Allison, Donnetrice C. “Free to Be Me?: Black Professors, White Institutions”. Journal of Black Studies Vol 38, Issue 4 (March 19, 2007). Pp 641-662. Davis, Junius A. and Anne Borders-Patterson. Black Students in Predominately White North Carolina Colleges and Universities, 1986: Replication of a 1970 Study. New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 1986. Rogers, Ibram H. The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education 1965-1972. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012. The Evolving Challenges of Black College Students: New Insights for Policy, Practice, and Research. Edited by Terrell L. Strayhorn and Melvin C. Terrell. Sterling: Stylus, 2010.
William Neal Reynolds, Jr. Coliseum is located next to Talley Student Union on Central Campus. According to the dedication program for Reynolds Coliseum, the idea for the building came from David Clark, an alumnus of NC State, during the 1940 Farmer’s Week Meetings. They were scheduled to be held at the outdoor Riddick Stadium, but were rained out for two days. Clark was struck by the idea that NC State needed a coliseum to hold indoor events. According to a Technician article from 1974, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Coliseum’s opening, construction originally began in 1942, but was halted in 1943, due to World War II. Construction began again in 1948. The first event held at the Coliseum was a 1949 basketball game between NC State and Washington and Lee University. Reynolds Coliseum was also outfitted with special pipes which allowed them to turn it into an ice rink. It was at the April 22, 1950 intermission of “Ice Cycles of 1950” that the building was officially dedicated. The Coliseum was named after William Neal Reynolds, Jr., former chairman of the Board of directors of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolds was an alumni of Duke, but many sources list him as being a generous benefactor of NC State through the years. An April 1950 News & Observer article quotes Chancellor Harrelson as saying the Coliseum was named for Reynolds as “an act in appreciation of the industrial and humanitarian leadership of Mr. Reynolds.” It was Reynold’s niece, Mary Katherine Reynolds Babcock, who suggested naming the building after her uncle, and who made the original financial contributions for erecting the coliseum, as well as additional funds later in order to construct the ice rink. Reynolds Coliseum held many events through the years including basketball games, ice shows, and musical concerts. Famous musical acts such as the Rolling Stones and Elton John have played the venue. Reynolds hosted speakers like campaigning, sitting, and former presidents, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Others include famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright who gave a lecture on architecture in 1950. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech in Reynolds Coliseum. The Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity article, “The History of MLK at NC State,” reports that on July 31, 1966, King delivered a speech to an integrated audience at Reynolds Coliseum. On his way to the Coliseum King had to pass two chapters of the North Carolina Klu Klux Klan who were marching through downtown Raleigh. The men’s basketball team played in Reynolds Coliseum from 1940 to 2000, when they moved to PNC Arena. The Coliseum held many famous events such as hosting the Southern Conference, N.C.A.A tournaments and the Dixie Classic. Reynolds Coliseum is often referred to as “The Place that Case Built,” after former basketball coach Evert Case. Case had great success as a basketball coach at NC State, and according to his Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame biography, as well as Bethany Bradsher, author of “The Classic: How Evert Case and His Tournament Brought Big-Time Basketball to the South,” Case is credited with making basketball popular in North Carolina and across the Atlantic division during his tenure from 1946 to 1964. The coliseum currently serves as the permanent home for women’s basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling and rifle and went through a massive renovation in 2016. This was high on the list of athletic director Debbie Yow, sister of Kay Yow, celebrated former NC State women’s basketball coach from 1975 to 2009, winning over 700 games. According to the NC State News article, “Reynolds Reopens in Grand Style,” Debbie Yow wanted to preserve the history of Reynolds Coliseum, while updating it to better serve the women’s teams and be a space which could be used for major events. In 2012, the court was named after Kay Yow, while in 2018, the arena was named after James T. Valvano, former NC State men’s basketball coach who led the 1983 team to win the national title. Reynolds Coliseum has also been the permanent home of the campus Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) since its opening in 1949. According to Alice Regan’s North Carolina State University: A Narrative History, NC State’s ROTC program was established in 1916, shortly after the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916 was passed, establishing the program. This program replaced the former military-training requirement for land-grant colleges, which was created by the Morrill Act. This act established land-grant colleges across the country, also required the schools to include military training. Richard M. Abrams explains in the article “The U. S. Military and Higher Education: A Brief History,” that while the Morill act made military training a requirement, it was not regulated by the federal government, rather it was left to the state governments. This led to differing levels of commitment across the land-grant colleges. ROTC was more organized and it also provided financial support to upperclassmen who signed military service contracts. NC State made ROTC mandatory for the first two years of all students . This remained in place until 1964. Women students however, never faced compulsory ROTC duty, however, as women were not allowed to participate in ROTC until 1970. One important part of the renovation included adding air conditioning to the building. This was a large improvement for the space. A 2008 Raleigh News & Observer article recalled how two years previously, nine people attending high school graduation ceremonies had to be treated for heat related concerns. Other aspects of the renovation included creating a Walk of Fame & History through the bottom floor. Here, visitors can learn about the achievements of NC State’s sports teams, former coaches, and the history of Reynolds Coliseum itself. Interested persons can also take a virtual tour of Reynolds Coliseum, which includes the option to view the space in virtual reality. Primary Source References North Carolina State University, Committees, University Coliseum Committee Records, UA 022.014, NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center North Carolina State University, Office of Public Affairs, News Services Records, UA 014.011, NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center North Carolina State University, Division of Student Affairs, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Records, UA 016.001, NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center North Carolina State University, Office of Public Affairs Records, UA 014.001, NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center North Carolina State University, University Archives Reference Collection, University Buildings, Sites, Landmarks Files, UA 050.004, NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center Technician (Raleigh, N.C.) (LH1.N6 T4), Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries Secondary Source References Abrams, Richard M. "The U. S. Military and Higher Education: A Brief History." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 502 (1989): 15-28. Accessed May 19, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1046973. Basketball Hall of Fame. “Everett N. Case.” Accessed May 14, 2021. https://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/everett-case/. Bradsher, Bethany. The Classic: How Everett Case and His Tournament Brought Big-Time Basketball to the South. Houston: Whitecaps Media, 2011. Bradsher, Bethany. “The Greatest Three Days.” North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. May, 09, 2013. https://www.ncshof.org/news_article/show/767513--the-greatest-three-days- . Dorin-Black, Cathy. “Fabulous 50: First Pan-Afrikan Festival.” NC State University Libraries. March 29, 2021. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/news/special-collections/fabulous-50-first-pan-afrikan-festival. GoPack. “Who is William Neal Reynolds?” Men’s Basketball. Dec. 2, 2010. https://gopack.com/news/2010/12/2/Who_is_William_Neal_Reynolds_ . Howes, Pauline. “Reynolds, William Neal.” NCPedia. 1994. https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/reynolds-william-neal. Miller, JasonW. “When MLK and the KKK met in Raleigh.” Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity: African American Cultural Center. https://diversity.ncsu.edu/aacc/when-mlk-and-the-kkk-met-in-raleigh/. NC State University. “Arena at Reynolds Coliseum to Be Named for Legendary NC State Men’s Basketball Coach Jim Valvano.” November 14, 2018. https://news.campaign.ncsu.edu/2018/11/valvano-arena/. Peeler, Tim. “A Look Inside Reynolds Renovations.” NC State University News. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://news.ncsu.edu/2015/06/a-look-inside-reynolds-renovations/ . Visit NC State. “Reynolds Coliseum.” NC State Virtual Tour. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://visit.ncsu.edu/main-campus/reynolds-coliseum/.
Watauga Hall has the honor of being the oldest residence hall on North Carolina State University’s campus; it was the designated residence hall for NC State’s first Black students and first women students. The University built Watauga Hall in 1896 and named the building after the Watauga Club, a group of prominent, young, white men in Raleigh whose efforts were integral in creating North Carolina State University, then, the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. While the Watauga Club was meant to be a Progressive club, the members did not want to call it “Progressive Club,” which would have stirred up controversy amongst politicians. In his book, Universal Education in the South, founding member Charles W. Dabney explains the members chose the name Watauga because, “this would suggest nothing in particular to the public.” In many publications Watauga is credited as being an “Indian word” but does not specify the national or linguistic origins. Many competing translations have been given such as “sparkling water,” “the land beyond,” or “the river of many islands.” For the men, the name Watauga also connoted the Watauga Association, an early group of white settlers in Western Appalachia, as well as North Carolina’s Watauga County. The Club began as a forum for members to discuss economic issues facing North Carolina after the U.S. Civil War. Members set themselves in opposition to the old-guard legislators whom they referred to as “fossils” and “mummies” and who Club members saw as inhibiting modern education based in scientific methods and principles. Of the members, none were older than their thirties. Early members of the Watauga Club included several well-known men of the era, many of whom are the namesake of other buildings at NC State. William J. Peele, for whom the University named Peele Hall, served as the group’s first President. Peele was a lawyer and also helped to create the State Literary and Historical Association. A prominent member and the namesake of Page Hall was Walter Hines Page. He was a publisher and later ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Woodrow Wilson. He helped create Doubleday, Page & Company, which later became Doubleday press. Page published famous works by Booker T. Washington as well as publishing two works by noted racist Thomas Dixon Jr, who was also an early member of the Watauga Club. The racist film Birth of a Nation was based on Dixon’s 1905 book The Clansman. Dabney Hall is named after Charles W. Dabney, quoted above, who staunchly advocated for public education and industrial education in the United States, following the German model. William Stuart Primrose, who worked in insurance, was the first member of the Watauga Club to have a building named after him in 1896. Another member of the Watauga Club was Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy during World War I and a prominent white supremacist, whose name was removed from Daniels Hall in June 2020. The young men believed North Carolina needed to industrialize and especially that the state needed an industrial college. A News & Observer article quotes Watauga member G. E. Leach explaining, “The school would unfold a great future, it opens a new era for the poor man.” While the club was able to get an initial bill passed in 1885, it came with no funds to build the school. The Watauga Club kept working towards establishing an industrial school but it was not until they joined forces with Leonidas Polk, editor of the Progressive Farmer, and a powerful leader in a movement for an agricultural school in North Carolina, they were able to secure funding. Finally, a bill was passed on March 5, 1887, establishing the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. While the club was inactive for a time between 1902 and 1924, it continues today. Watauga housed a dining hall on the first floor and dormitories on the second floor. In 1901 the original building burned down and was rebuilt in 1902. The student residents helped to put the fire out; they were praised by the Board of Trustees for their “courage and devotion to their college.” A News & Observer article from 1947 explains what life was like in the Watauga during the early days. Students were known for pulling pranks involving live animals and reassembling a cannon on the roof of the dormitory. Raleigh Times reported there were even unconfirmed rumors of a liquor still and a bar in the basement of Watauga, which served “Moonshine a la Watauga.” From 1924 to 1943 the building served as the dormitory for seniors and was known as “Seniors’ Paradise.” In 1956, NC State assigned a few rooms in Watauga hall to house the first Black undergraduate students living on campus. Black students were specifically assigned to room together. As Irwin Holmes, one of the first Black undergraduates to attend NC State, remembered in an oral history for NC State Institutional Histories, “I think when I was there we never had more than two rooms, but we had as many as six in those two rooms, even though there were supposed to be only two...” per room. In 1964 the building went through a major transformation when it became the first women’s dormitory. Like women college students across the nation, women living in Watauga had to adhere to a curfew and were required to check in and out. The dorm became a target for “panty raids” such as the one reported by Technician on the night of November 16, 1964, when an estimated 900-1,000 male students gathered around Watauga shouting for “lace” and “panties.” This phenomenon occurred throughout college and universities in the mid-20th century. The upper floors were condemned after 1968 and in the years between 1969 and 1984 the first floor of Watauga was used for Information Services. After renovations, it reopened as graduate housing in 1984. In 1988, the Triangle J Council of Government and “The Leader” news magazine awarded the renovations the Triangle Development Award. Today, Watauga once again serves as a dormitory for undergraduate students. References Original Source References Dabney, Charles William. Universal Education in the South. United States: University of North Carolina Press, 1936. Interview with Irwin Holmes, mc00449-oh-holmes-20141020, NC State University Libraries Rare and Unique Digital Collections, NC State University Libraries Rare and Unique Digital Collections. Accessed August 14, 2020. https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/catalog/mc00449-oh-holmes-20141020. Milton Cooper Jr., John. Walter Hines Page: The Southerner As American, 1855-1918. United States: University of North Carolina Press, 2018. North Carolina State University, Office of Public Affairs, News Services Records, UA 014.011 Carton 6, Carton 94, Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua014_011. Technician (Raleigh, N.C.) (LH1.N6 T4), Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries. University Buildings, UA 50.4.8 Box 8, Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua050_004. Watauga Club Records, 1884 - 2011, MC00229, Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mc00229. William Joseph Peele Papers, 1888 - 1923, MC00012, Special Collections Research Secondary Source References Allen, Ben, and Dennis T. Lawson. "The Wataugans and the "Dangerous Example"." Tennessee Historical Quarterly 26, no. 2 (1967): 137-47. Accessed August 30, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42622934. Berry, Hardy D. Place Names on the Campus of North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University, 1995. Beckel, Deborah. Radical Reform: Interracial Politics in Post-Emancipation North Carolina. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011. Cockrel, David L. “Watauga Settlement” NCpedia, 2006. https://www.ncpedia.org/watauga-settlement. Knight, Edgar W. "Charles W. Dabney: Pioneer in Industrial Education." The High School Journal 24, no. 1 (1941): 28-31. Accessed August 30, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40367556. Lockmiller, David A. History of the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering of the University of North Carolina, 1889-1939. Raleigh: [Printed by Edwards & Broughton], 1939. Lockmiller, David Alexander. "The Establishment of the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.” The North Carolina Historical Review 16, no. 3 (1939): 273-95. Accessed August 30, 2020 http://www.jstor.org/stable/23516079. Murphy, Kate. “NC State University removes name of white supremacist Josephus Daniels from building,” News & Observer, June 22, 2020. Accessed August 15, 2020 https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article243709067.html. Powel, William S. “Primrose, William Stuart.” NCpedia, 1994. https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/primrose-william-stuart. The Editors of the Encyclopedia. “Walter Hines Page,” Encyclopædia Britannica, August 11, 2020. Accessed August 29, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Hines-Page. Snider, William D. “Watauga Club.” NCpedia, April 13, 2009. https://www.ncpedia.org/watauga-club.
Evidence of the principle called Universal Design is all around the NC State campus. It is in the form of, for example, levered door handles, curb cuts, automated doors, drinking fountains at different heights, and even in university mailrooms that have scissors usable by both left-handed and right-handed people. One of the most important theories of 20th century design, it continues to influence architecture, landscapes, and the products we use everyday. Universal Design at NC State, however, has an even deeper history: the concept was born at NC State University. In 1966, Ronald L. Mace earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the School of Design. He used his training, creative abilities, and experiences as a wheelchair user to produce not only innovative designs but a new philosophy of accessibility. His education came at a time when disability rights activists—led by veterans and workers—were beginning to make significant gains in dismantling the stigmas and discriminations imposed upon people with disabilities. Like many civil rights activists, disability rights advocates used the law. In the 1960s and 70s and led by activists, local and state organizations started to alter codes and regulations that eliminated physical barriers in housing, public buildings, and transportation. The Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibited discrimination based on ability, became federal law in 1991. Activists dealt with the backlash from those who thought accessibility was too costly and ugly, especially when it altered historic buildings considered stately. Mace and his colleagues at NC State shifted the public dialogue considerably. In the book Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design, design historian Bess Williamson explains that Mace coined the term “universal design” in 1985 that “gave a name to the idea that many designers, engineers, medical specialists, and individual with disabilities had articulated for years--namely, that designing for people with disabilities was not different from designing for everyone else.(148)” She notes that Mace’s work, with its focus on empowering local agencies to find elegant, functional, and aesthetically pleasing solutions for maximum access played a significant role in the creation and maintenance of healthy communities. She cites his 1974 Illustrated Handbook of the Handicapped Section of the North Carolina State Building Code as a model for teaching decision-makers about universal design and facilitating the implementation of its principles. Using the very language of design—drawing—to explain the building codes, Mace turned the dense prose into easily usable instructions. Its brilliance was in using universal design principles to explain universal design. In 1974, Mace founded Barrier Free Environments, Inc., a firm that focused on accessibility assessment, design, consulting, education,and advocacy. Based in Raleigh, the company gained an international reputation for design excellence. By 1989 he formalized his collaborations with professors in the School of Design at NC State. He worked with the School to create the Center for Accessible Housing, which later became the Center for Universal Design. After the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1991, his reputation had grown enough that he even endorsed products. In a 1992 ad for Dupont Carpet, Mace explained the concept of Universal Design: As designers, we were taught almost nothing about design for children or older people or women--let alone people with disabilities. Our focus was able-bodied six-foot adult males. Universal design expands that vision to include all people. It goes beyond the codes to make things universally accessible, usable by everyone, all the time, everywhere. The ad featured a stylized image of Mace in his chair going up the side of a building with a cityscape in the background. President George H.W. Bush awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the President of the United States to Mace in 1992. In 1997, NC State honored Mace with its Distinguished Alumni Award. Design historian Bess Williamson has noted that the concept of Universal Design provided some with an easy way to de-emphasize the civil rights work of disability activists by shifting the emphasis to universality from discrimination, but Mace never wavered in his advocacy and activism for the rights of people with disabilities for robust participation in society. Ron Mace died in Raleigh in 1998 from polio-related heart arrhythmia. From its office in Leazar Hall, the School of Design’s Center for Universal Design served as a clearinghouse for information on universal design principles until it closed due to state budget cuts in 2008. Mace’s legacy, however, lives in spaces all around the globe—including NC State—where people find environments and products easier to use. People using wheelchairs, people pushing strollers, left-handed people looking for scissors, children needing a drink from a drinking fountain, students getting to class on skateboards and scooters—everyone—benefits from his thoughtful, creative, and powerful theory of design grounded in the civil rights of people with disabilities. Original Sources Center for Universal Design. Archived web site. https://projects.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/. 2008. Ronald L. Mace Papers, MC 00260, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mc00260/ Mace, Ronald L, and North Carolina. Governor's Study Committee on Architectural Barriers. An Illustrated Handbook of the Handicapped Section of the North Carolina State Building Code : Including a Reprint of General Construction, Volume 1, Section 11x, Making Buildings & Facilities Accessible to & Usable by the Physically Handicapped and Dec. 1973 Amendments : For the Governor's Study Committee on Architectural Barriers and the North Carolina Department of Insurance. [Updated Ed.] ed. Raleigh?: Publisher Not Identified, 1976. For Further Reading Nielsen, Kim E. A Disability History of the United States. Boston: Beacon Press, 2012. Williamson, Bess. Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design. New York: New York University Press, 2019.
Tompkins Hall has been between Hillsborough Street and the Court of North Carolina on North Carolina State University’s North Campus since 1902, although students knew the mill-like structure as the “Textile Building” before 1918. Its namesake, Daniel Augustus Tompkins advanced textiles education at NC State but also promoted white supremacist views in the early 20th century. D.A. Tompkins was born on a South Carolina plantation on October 12, 1851, according to biographer George Winston. He moved north to study engineering and apprentice for the nation’s top steelmaker, Bethlehem Iron Works. After concluding that the South was poorer than the North because it imported food and produced only raw cotton, Tompkins “devoted his life to the promotion of cotton manufacturing industries and the diversification of Southern agriculture,” as Winston recounted. From Charlotte, North Carolina, Tompkins designed more than 300 textile mills, cotton seed oil refineries and electrical plants, according to scholar Gary Mock. Tompkins and others then lobbied for textile schools in both Carolinas like those in the North. He told the North Carolina House Committee on Education in 1899, “as we promote a knowledge of cotton milling, its cost is decreased.” North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (NC A&M) offered its first textile courses that year, but The Alumni News lamented that students “learned only by observation” at cotton mills.” So in 1900, the Board of Trustees (which included Tompkins) borrowed $10,000 from the NC General Assembly to “build and equip a Textile Department,” according to meeting minutes. In 1901, minutes show Tompkins designed the building. By 1902, Red and White articles reported, the building was almost complete enough for students to move $25,000 worth of real equipment—all donated by textile companies—into the space. Even though Thomas Nelson, Dean of the Textile Department, reported the building lacked electrical lights in 1906, his 1907 Annual Report described fifty students learning carding, spinning, weaving, and designing. In 1908, the department added night courses for millworkers; a decade later, the building housed classes like textile chemistry and dyeing and yarn manufacturing. Technician reported in 1926 that students found after-hour uses for the building too: sophomores “improvised ladders and scaffolds” to paint their class numbers onto the clocktower each year. In 1914, a fire of unknown origins burned down all but one section of the Textile Building, according to The News and Observer. NC A&M rebuilt the next year, and by 1919, the Textiles Department enrolled 162 students. It was the most students at any Textile school in the South and the most people nationwide studying cotton manufacturing together in one college. The increased enrollment prompted a 1926 renovation that included a laboratory for industry research, but Nelson complained in 1937 that “the current Textile Building is totally inadequate to take care of the equipment necessary to provide instruction.” The next year, the federal Public Works Administration, which paid unemployed workers to build community resources, funded a new Textile Building, according to Mock. Textiles left Tompkins. From 1939 to 1980, many departments came and left the building: Education, Mathematics, Liberal Arts, Politics, and Speech. Finally, the English Department moved into the building in 1981 following a $5 million renovation that linked Tompkins and Winston Halls via Caldwell Hall, according to University Architect records and Technician. Campus organizations also worked there, from Technician’s offices in the 1940s to the “Agricultural Education Club” in the 1960s to the “Society of Paganism and Magick,” “Amnesty International,” and “Bisexuals, Gays, Lesbians, and Allies” groups in the 1990s. It was also a site of advocacy: in 1998, The Technician reported that women on campus raised “their collective voice” to get “panic buttons” installed at Tompkins and other sites on campus. Eighty years earlier, an academic catalog called the building “Textile Building (Tompkins Hall)” for the first time, but the school did not explain its name change. However, the State Record recalled in 1919 that the Tompkins Textile Society honored D.A. Tompkins because “to him is due the inception of the department.” However, Tompkins spoke out against Black workers and integration in the workplace. “It would seem impossible to work a force of mixed white and black labor where white women and negro men would be…co-workers,” he wrote in the 1899 Cotton Mill, Commercial Features, a textbook “sacred” to mill owners for thirty years according to researcher Michael Sistrom. Tompkins added it was “doubtful whether [African Americans] can ever be successfully used as cotton mill operatives…except in the more menial occupations.” Historian Erin Clune argued Tompkins and other businessmen in the industrializing South normalized their segregationist and white supremacist views for global and Northern audiences by suggesting conditions resembled contemporary European colonialism in Asia and Africa. “There was never a greater mistake than the idea of putting a darkey in charge of cotton raising in a foreign country," Tompkins told a Pennsylvania manufacturer in 1903. After purchasing The Charlotte Observer in 1892, reported Sistrom, Tompkins used his influence to condemn African American politicians, just as News and Observer editor Josephus Daniels did in Raleigh. According to The Charlotte News, Tompkins repeated the sentiment in a 1901 Labor Day speech: “it is to the eternal glory of the white race of the South that they did…live through negro rule without ever surrendering to it.” In the same speech, he also commended those who would “keep the children…in the mills under selected superintendents and bosses.” Tompkins also tried to contain Black landowners. In a 1913 letter, Tompkins informed Progressive Farmer editor Clarence Poe that he agreed with Poe’s ideas about banning Black farmers from owning land in rural, predominantly white areas. Tompkins then ordered his Observer editors to republish Poe’s articles. Daniel Tompkins made major improvements to textiles education at NC State; he also clearly articulated his support for racial segregation. References Original Source References “A&M Textile Plant Burns.” The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), March 26, 1914. In Alvin Marcus Fountain Papers, MC 00007. Legal box 3, Folder “University History Research, Textile Plant Fire.” NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center. Daniel Augustus Tompkins Papers #724, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “For Training Cotton Mill Men.” The Farmer and Mechanic (Raleigh, NC), January 24, 1899. https://www.newspapers.com/image/57467140/ “Labor Day in Charlotte was Well Celebrated.” The Charlotte News (Charlotte, NC), September 2, 1901. http://www.newspapers.com/image/57880656/ North Carolina State University, Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes, UA 001.001. Volumes 1, 2, and 3. NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center. North Carolina State University, College of Textiles Annual Reports, UA 130.002. Box 4, Folders “College of Textiles-1906,” “College of Textiles-1908,” “College of Textiles-1919,” “College of Textiles-1937.” NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center North Carolina State University, College of Textiles, Office of the Dean Records, UA 130.001. Box 61, Folder “Brochures - The Textile School of North Carolina (Academic Year 1918-1919),” NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center. North Carolina State University, University Archives Reference Collection, Biographical Files, UA 050.003. Box 56, Folder “Tompkins, Daniel A.” NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center. North Carolina State University, University Archives Reference Collection, Institutional Histories, UA 050.002. Box 7, Folder “Textiles, College of;” Box 9, Folder “Textiles, College of.” NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center. North Carolina State University, University Archives Reference Collection, University Buildings, Sites, Landmarks Files, UA 050.004. Box, 8, Folder “Tompkins Hall.” NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center. Owens, E.B. “Random Sketches of College History.” The Alumni News (Raleigh, NC), May 1924. In North Carolina State University, Office of Alumni Relations Publications (UA010.200), Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries. https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/catalog/ua010_200-001-bx0012-v7-007 Red and White (Raleigh, N.C.) (LH1 .N6 R4), Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries. Technician (Raleigh, N.C.) (LH1 .N6 T4), Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries. Tompkins, Daniel Augustus. Cotton Mill, Commercial Features. A Text-Book for the Use of Textile Schools and Investors. Charlotte, N.C.: The author, 1899. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001045743 Secondary Source References Baker, Andrew C. "Race and Romantic Agrarianism: The Transnational Roots of Clarence Poe's Crusade for Rural Segregation in North Carolina." Agricultural History 87, no. 1 (2013): 93-114. Accessed January 28, 2021. doi:10.3098/ah.2013.87.1.93. Clune, Erin Elizabeth. "From Light Copper to the Blackest and Lowest Type: Daniel Tompkins and the Racial Order of the Global New South." The Journal of Southern History 76, no. 2 (2010): 275-314. Accessed January 27, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25700054. Hart, Thomas Roy. The School of Textiles, N.C. State College; Its Past and Present. [Raleigh]: [North Carolina State College Print Shop], 1951. Kramer, Paul A. "Imperial Openings: Civilization, Exemption, and the Geopolitics of Mobility in the History of Chinese Exclusion, 1868–1910." The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 14, no. 3 (2015): 317-47. doi:10.1017/S1537781415000067. Lockmiller, David A. History of the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering of the University of North Carolina, 1889-1939. Raleigh: [Printed by Edwards & Broughton], 1939. Mock, Gary N. A Century of Progress: The Textile Program, North Carolina State University, 1899-1999. Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Textile Foundation, 2001. Reagan, Alice Elizabeth. North Carolina State University, A Narrative History. Raleigh: North Carolina State University Foundation and North Carolina State University Alumni Association, 1987. Sistrom, Michael. “Summary of Cotton Mill, Commercial Features.” Documenting the American South. University of North Carolina. Accessed 27 January 2021. https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/tompkins/summary.html University Architect, Office of the. “022—Tompkins Hall.” Raleigh: North Carolina State University, 2020. Emailed to author, 19 January, 2021. University Architect, Office of the. “Tompkins Hall Building Summary.” Raleigh: North Carolina State University, 2020. Emailed to author, 20 January, 2021. Winston, George Tayloe. A Builder of the New South; Being the Story of the Life Work of Daniel Augustus Tompkins. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Co, 1920. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001313462
The real value of the Free Expression Tunnel is that it is an icon. It is the embodiment of free speech, a place where we can air our thoughts openly….And it’s a place where frustrations are aired even when those frustrations take on the most negative tones. But here’s the reality: the Free Expression Tunnel is us. What we say and do there says as much about us as the clothes we wear, the ethics we live by and the politics we practice. The question for all of us is are we going to practice the politics of hate and destruction, or are we going to be a force for respectful dialog even where there are differences of opinion? stated Chancellor Randy Woodson on November 2, 2010, two days after a sexually explicit depiction of Former President Barack Obama with racist comments was painted on the wall. Woodson then followed these sentences affirming that these expressions represent NC State. However, he also asked members of the university whether they are going to continue posting hateful messages or have respectful dialogue. As Woodson stated, the tunnel is indeed “an icon,” but the 2010 issue is nothing new. In 1926, the Pullen Literary Society, a student organization, debated whether university faculty should censor the Technician. Some argued that the freedom students had to publish what they liked led to articles that contradicted the college’s values. And at times the articles could lead to a student’s expulsion. Other students argued that censoring was a violation of the first amendment. They also argued that since students fund and run the newspaper, regulation would mean that the faculty did not trust the students. At the end of the debate, the Society judges unanimously decided not to censor the paper. About forty years later discussion on free speech moved from paper to paint. In October 1967 NC State’s student government passed a recommendation that allowed painting on the surfaces inside the tunnel. Landscape and Design Professor Randy Hester introduced the “Student Visual Expression” recommendation, and the School of Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics’ Senator, Sandra Sharpe co-sponsored the recommendation. The document was in response to the scarcity of school traditions and to contain student’s graffiti. Already, students were painting in the tunnels, and the bill allowed students to continue to paint, but only in one tunnel. A month after the bill passed, the Welfare Committee of Student Government hosted a paint-in for students to decorate the walls and ceiling. The committee was responsible for cleaning the tunnel and maintaining the rules of the tunnel. In December 1967, the three rules of the tunnel were publicized in the Technician. Painting was relegated to the inside of the tunnel. “Any use of obscenity or vulgarity will be considered as ‘ungentlemanly conduct’ and a Campus Code offense” “Untasteful remarks” will be removed. The painter or the Student Government will pay for the removal. In the 1960s, free speech was a major issue on campuses across the nation. Three years before the Free Expression Tunnel, University of California, Berkeley students protested the university for forbidding on-campus political activities. Thousands of students participated in demonstrations demanding free speech and academic freedom. The movement continued as discontent about the Vietnam War persisted. Although nothing to the magnitude of the Free Speech Movement at NC State, students voiced their opinions about the Vietnam War in all media, including the tunnel. For example, messages criticizing former presidents Lydon Johnson and Richard Nixon were written on the walls. As the tunnel became further entrenched in NC State’s culture and landscape, members of the community identified a conundrum about freedom of speech in a college setting. One year into the tunnel’s establishment, students were questioning the definition of free expression, censorship, and their role on campus because of paintings regarding the Vietnam War. More specifically, at the end of October 1968, writers of the student newspaper, Voices, advocated that the newspaper was a better medium of expression than the tunnel. Their reasoning was that print was more credible than paint, since they saw the tunnel as a medium for students to vent their opinions. The tunnel came under question again in 1981, after homophobic comments were written on top of Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender organization’s meeting information. Student, Henry L. Trevathan asked, “Certainly all students, racists and bigots, have the same right to express their opinions and remarks. However, does this right extend to the point of denying other students information and placing injurious remarks over messages?” Homophobic comments appeared in the tunnel again in 1995 on Coming Out Day, after members of Lesbian and Gay Student Union (LGSU) painted the whole tunnel in celebration. As LGSU member, Kevin Neaves stated, "We don't want to infringe upon anyone's right to free speech. We just want respect." Since 2011, NC State has hosted "Respect the Pack", which is an event during Wolfpack Welcome Week. At the event students learn about the diversity of the campus, the importance of embracing diversity, and write inclusive messages in the tunnel. The event is a step to promote open dialogue and a safe environment that would be carried to the classroom, the dorms, and in paint. References Original Source References North Carolina State Special Collections Resource Center: Technician North Carolina State University, Division of Student Affairs, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Records, 1889-2008. UA016.001 Box 72. North Carolina State University, Division of Student Affairs, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Records, 1926-2012. UA016.005. Box 25. North Carolina State University, Student and Other Organizations, Student Government Records 1905-2017. UA21.502 Box 4. Woodson, Randy. "Statement from the Chancellor". North Carolina State University. November 2, 2010. https://leadership.ncsu.edu/2010/11/02/november-2-2010-statement-from-the-chancellor/ NC State on Free Speech Secondary Source References Ben-Porath, Sigal R. Free Speech on Campus. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017. Chemerinsky, Erwin and Howard Gilman. Free Speech on Campus. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017. Golding, Martin P. Free Speech on Campus. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000. Packard, Emily. "A Matter of Respect". North Carolina State University News. August 23, 2016. Peeler, Tim. “Campus Tunnel Marks 50 Years of Free Speech”. North Carolina State University News. December 13, 2017 https://news.ncsu.edu/2017/12/campus-tunnel-marks-50-years-of-free-speech/ Rylas, Jimmy. "Students Vow to 'Respect the Pack'". North Carolina State University News. August 15, 2012.https://news.ncsu.edu/2012/08/respect-the-pack/ The Free Speech Movement: Reflections on Berkeley in the 1960s. Edited by Robert Cohen and Reginald E. Zelnik. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. “The Free Speech Movement”. University of California. 2005. https://calisphere.org/exhibitions/43/the-free-speech-movement/
The school colors of red and white at North Carolina State University make their appearances across the school’s 2,099-acre property, but nowhere is it more prominent than the Brickyard. The space known as the Brickyard lies in the heart of NC State’s North Campus and to this day the plaza serves as a popular site for socializing and exchange among students, staff and visitors. This popular campus landmark has seen its fair share of protests, memorials and even preaching since its conception in the mid-1960s. In 1966, officials at North Carolina State University made the decision to pave the muddy expanse of ground between the Erdahl-Cloyd Student Center and Harrelson Hall that had previously been covered with wooden planks. Construction of a walkway made of bricks started in 1966 when university officials hired landscape architect Richard C. Bell, a graduate of the North Carolina State University College of Design. Bell’s original design called for the area to be covered in granite stones; however, bricks proved to be cheaper as they were made in-state, more could be produced and on top of that they were free. The university worked with a state-granted budget of $160,000 to create the paved walkway and Bell covered the area with 588,060 red and white bricks that had been donated by the North Carolina Bricklayers Association. Bell arranged the bricks in a pattern that reminded him of the Piazza San Marco, a plaza in Venice that Bell had studied early in his professional career. After two years of construction, the bricks were laid and the design was completed in 1968. Chancellor John Caldwell officially dedicated the walkway as “University Plaza” in March 1968 on the university’s 81st Founders Day; however, students at North Carolina State University began calling it “The Brickyard” due to the vast number of red and white bricks covering the area. After the Brickyard’s creation, it quickly grew to be a place where students and staff met to socialize and discuss politics. One of the most politically charged events in the plaza was in the early 1970s when the Brickyard served as a starting point for a student-led protest of the Vietnam War. In May 1970, Cathy Sterling, the first female Student Body President, led a protest that started at the Brickyard and ended at the North Carolina Capitol building. Approximately 6,000 students from NC State and surrounding universities in the triangle attended to protest the Vietnam War and the murder of the students at the protest on Kent State University’s campus. Before the 1970 protest there had been other protests on campus but they mostly dealt with campus-wide issues, not national and international political crises. The May 1970 protest that began in the Brickyard at NC State is one in a series of nationwide campus protests of the Vietnam War that took place in this decade. To this day, the Brickyard remains a space where students can choose to celebrate or in some cases, mourn. In February 2015, North Carolina State University hosted a vigil in the Brickyard to commemorate the lives of Deah Shaddy Barakat (NCSU Alumnus), Yusor Mohammad (NCSU Alumna) and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha (NCSU Undergraduate Student). They were killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Tuesday February 10, 2015 in what many believed to have been a hate crime. The Muslim Student Association (MSA) on NC State’s campus hosted the vigil entitled “A Night of Dua’a for Our Winners” and thousands gathered in the Brickyard to commemorate the victims. The Brickyard has hosted a variety of events over the years. Every year Shack-A-Thon is hosted in the Brickyard. During this event, different university colleges and university organizations construct a shack for their group to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, an international non-profit organization that helps build affordable and safe homes for people in need. The members of each organization help build and staff their shack during the entire week, rain or shine. Another annual event that takes place on the Brickyard is Agriculture Awareness Week (AAW). NC State was originally founded as an agricultural and mechanical school in the later nineteenth century, and this week makes sure that the university stays close to its roots. AAW has livestock and informational text throughout the Brickyard all week, along with people to answer questions about the College of Agriculture and Life Science at NC State. In August 2017, the College of Sciences at NC State hosted a solar eclipse viewing party on the Brickyard. The college held games on the Brickyard and even taught students how to create their own safe eclipse-viewing materials. Thousands of students, staff and members of the public showed up at the event to view the solar eclipse, it is thought to have been the largest gathering in the history of the Brickyard. The red and white bricks that make up the Brickyard and other buildings on campus, serve as a symbol of North Carolina State University. Due to the vast number of bricks located in the Brickyard, approximately 600 bricks go missing every year due to students taking them. Many students take them as a souvenir of their time at NC State, mainly during their last year on campus. While the university does not condone the theft of the bricks, students may email gr-brick-crew@ncsu.edu to request a souvenir brick or they may collect a surplus brick that can be found in the Brickyard that is not a part of the paved walkway. The creation of the Brickyard was to function as a paved walkway between buildings, but over time the plaza grew into a space where students could meet to discuss varying topics from goings-on in an international context to their weekend plans. During its short lifespan on NC State’s campus, the Brickyard has seen many events take place. Ultimately, “University Plaza” is a physical place where the campus can unite to this day. References Original Sources References “About Habitat for Humanity of Wake County.” Habitat for Humanity Wake County. Accessed September 9, 2019. https://www.habitatwake.org/about. Bjerkness, Isaac. “Brickyard celebrates half a century of events and memories.” The Technician, March 20, 2018. http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_4532b940-2c91-11e8-ae18-c78121a171d9.html. Harrington, Jaylan. “Shack-A-Thon brings awareness to affordable housing accessibility in North Carolina.” The Technician, October 1, 2018. http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_2cba80da-c51d-11e8-891f-6765b43359dc.html. North Carolina State University, Office of Public Affairs, News Services Records 1896-2007, UA014.011. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua014_011/summary. North Carolina State University, University Archives Reference Collection, University Buildings, Sites, Landmarks Files 1888-2018, UA050.004, Box 8. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua050_004/summary. Pape, Carter. “The History of Campus Activism.” The Technician, March 28, 2017. http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_bb210f42-1420-11e7-88e6-e7ca771fd926.html. Schaefer, Kevin and Russell Ash. “Hundreds gather at vigil in Brickyard.” The Technician. February 13, 2015. http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_c90a28e8-b3a9-11e4-8c52-a3e257836984.html. Thomas, Alicia. “Farm animals in Brickyard attract students to learn more about CALS.” The Technician, March 20, 2018. http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_c2ac38ce-2c9b-11e8-9be9-6bee45b3824c.html. Unknown. “The Brickyard.” The Brickyard | NC State University. Accessed September 5, 2019. https://www.ncsu.edu/spaces/brickyard/. Unknown. “Protest.” NCSU Timelines. Accessed September 5, 2019. https://historicalstate.lib.ncsu.edu/timelines/search?q=protest. Unknown. “Protests 1960s.” NCSU Timelines. Accessed September 5, 2019. https://historicalstate.lib.ncsu.edu/timelines/search?rows=3&q=protest%201960s%20War. Secondary Source References Gilbert, Marc Jason. The Vietnam War on Campus: Other Voices, More Distant Drums. Westport: Praeger, 2001. Heineman, Keith J. Campus Wars: The Peace Movement at American State Universities in the Vietnam Era. Fredericksburg: New York University Press, 1994. Shalley-Jensen, Michael. Vietnam War (1956-1975). Ipswich: Salem Press, 2015.
Talley Student Union is the home of North Carolina State University’s Student Union. Today, dining venues, coffee shops, the university bookstore and multiple student organizations, such as the Student Body Government, the Women’s Center, the GLBT Center, and Multicultural Student Affairs do their work in the student union. Prospective and enrolled students alike walk its halls daily to either understand daily life on campus or live that life. Talley Student Union is at the heart of the university’s campus and its history dates to the 1950s with the inception of the college union idea at NC State. Talley Student Union is the second iteration of NC State’s College Union, the first being the Erdahl-Cloyd Union. The first version was named after Gerald Erdahl, the first director of the college union, and Dean Edward Cloyd, previous Director of Students. Cloyd hired Erdahl to help create a space for students, staff and faculty to interact with each other outside of the classroom setting. The Erdahl-Cloyd Union was completed in 1954 and after years of housing the college union, it was moved in 1972 to create the west wing of D.H. Hill Library and the new college union, the University Student Center, opened on Cates Avenue. The Talley Student Union is the namesake of Banks C. Talley Jr., the first Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. The center was named after Talley in 1998, in response to his many years of service to the university and the state of North Carolina. Talley started working at NC State in 1951, following his college graduation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received a BA in History in 1950, followed by an MA and PhD in Education in 1956 and 1966 respectively. Not long into Talley’s tenure at the university, President John F. Kennedy signed the executive order for Affirmative Action, legislation intended to increase opportunities for previously excluded, minority groups. In educational fields, Affirmative Action created access for minority, and other excluded students. Originally, the administrators of the UNC system did not follow the Affirmative Action order and eventually they ended up with a consent decree. The consent decree was filed by Judge F.T. Dupree, a United States District Judge, and it called for the UNC System to create quotas for minority student enrollment at the university and ultimately promote integration of the university; it also required the university to be listed as a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). As Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Talley’s role was to foster a diverse environment for students, no matter their background. While Talley was at the university, students and faculty were not always enthusiastic about his decisions. In May 1983, Chancellor Bruce Poulton told Talley that members of Poulton’s Afro-American Advisory Council viewed the Division of Student Affairs as anti-black. Talley responded to this by sending a memo to all the university Vice Chancellors. Talley mentioned the news he received from Chancellor Poulton and that he thought the Division of Student Affairs had successfully worked with black students to create a more diverse and welcoming environment. Chancellor Poulton and Dean Talley talked about creating a new student orientation just for first year black students on campus because Poulton believed that it would help the students create a better community. Dean Talley believed that an additional new student orientation would cost the university more money and that it was not necessary. Talley often had differing views than Dr. Augustus Witherspoon. Dr. Witherspoon was the second African American to earn a doctorate from NC State and the first to rise to full professorship in 1982. Dr. Witherspoon and Talley butted heads on the creation of the African-American Cultural Center as Talley believed that it was not necessary for the cultural center to be created. In a 1992 edition of the Nubian Message, NC State’s African American-run university newspaper, the newspaper portrayed Talley as an enraged white man not listening to minority students. Banks C. Talley Jr. was a complex, multi-faceted human, complete with his flaws and his strengths. From 2011 to 2015, Duda Paine Architects worked on completely remodeling and renovating Talley Student Union. The building today is based on an open design that is meant to connect the whole building. It is a modern building and it includes more dining facilities and office spaces for student organizations. The new design of the student union tries to draw students and staff in to the space to facilitate interactions and discussions outside of the classroom. The space attempts to engage students in campus events and conversations. It is thanks to the action of previous students that NC State successfully implemented the construction of the current student union to support student success. References Original Sources References Banks Talley Papers 1947-1983, MC00518, Carton 1. Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mc00518 Consent Decree: North Carolina v. Department of Education, No. 79-217-CIV-5 (E.D.N.C, filed April 24, 1979). F.T. Dupree, US District Court Judge, “Consent Decree, July 17, 1981,” The State of History, accessed March 22, 2019, https://soh.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/items/show/280. Peeler, Tim. “In Memoriam: Banks C. Talley Jr.” NC State University News. October 25, 2017. https://news.ncsu.edu/2017/10/in-memoriam-banks-c-talley-jr/. Ryals, Jimmy. “Living History” NC State University News. August 18, 2011. https://news.ncsu.edu/2011/08/living-history/. Unknown. “Banks C. Talley Jr.” NC State University Libraries Student Leadership Initiative. https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/student-leaders/people/banks-c-talley-jr/. Secondary Source References Butts, Porter. The College Union Idea. Bloomington: Association of College Unions International, 1971. Kranz, Rachel. Affirmative Action. New York: Facts on File, 2002. Peeler, Tim. “In Memoriam: Banks C. Talley Jr.” NC State University News. October 25, 2017. Accessed on March 5, 2019. https://news.ncsu.edu/2017/10/in-memoriam-banks-c-talley-jr/. Reagan, Alice Elizabeth. North Carolina State University, A Narrative History. Raleigh: North Carolina State University Foundation and North Carolina State University Alumni Association, 1987. Unknown. North Carolina State Government Affirmative Action Plan. Raleigh: Office of State Personnel, Affirmative Action Decision, 1983.
Spring Hill house is the oldest structure on campus, built sometime between 1816 and 1820. The house is located on Centennial Campus on Barbour Dr. The house was built by the Hunters, a prominent family in Raleigh’s history and was later used by Dorthea Dix Hospital before being transferred to NC State. The Hunters enslaved African people to farm the land around the house for at least two generations. While there is a good deal of information about the Hunters and about Dorothea Dix Hospital, more research needs to be done to better understand the lives of the enslaved Africans who worked the land. In 1757, King George II of England granted 565 acres of this land to John Giles Thomas, a large landowner and enslaver. This land was passed to Colonel Theophilus Hunter, Sr., who served in the Revolutionary War and is considered one of the founding fathers of Raleigh. Hunter, Sr., with James Bloodworth, donated land for Raleigh’s first courthouse. Colonel Hunter served as the first justice for the first county court held in Wake county and was elected to the North Carolina Assembly. He was also a county surveyor and tax assessor. Colonel Hunter and his family moved to Spring Hill sometime between 1771 and 1798, after their previous residence in Raleigh, Hunter’s Lodge, burned. The 1790 census indicates he enslaved 45 people, making him the second largest enslaver in the county. Colonel Hunter died in 1798, and his grave is located near Spring Hill House. According to the Dix Park Legacy Report of 2018, his will names 56 enslaved people. Colonel Hunter left his property to his son, Theophilus Hunter, Jr., who oversaw the building of Spring Hill House, which was completed in 1820. The 1830 census indicates Hunter, Jr., enslaved 65 people and according to the Dix Park Legacy Report, his will names 67 enslaved people. According to Spring Hill’s National Historic Nomination form, at his death in 1840 Hunter Jr. left the property to his three daughters. In 1850, his daughter Maria Louisa Hunter Hall sold her portion of the Spring Hill property to the North Carolina State Commissioners for the State Hospital for the Insane. Spring Hill house was on the property of Emma Hunter, who retained the house until her death in 1864. The 1860 U.S. Federal Slave Schedule lists Emma Hunter as enslaving 16 people, most of them women and children. Upon her death the house was sold to William High, the sheriff of Wake County. High sold the house in 1872 to William Grimes, who was a landowner in the tenant farm system and a hotel owner. In 1907, the State of North Carolina purchased the property from William’s widow, Elizabeth. From 1907 to 2001, Dorthea Dix Hospital occupied the property. Hospital staff members lived communally in the house from 1907 until 1960, when it was renovated as single-family housing for a staff member. It remained this way until 1976, when the house was used by the Hospital Volunteer Services and the Dorothea Dix Volunteer Service Guild. In the 1980s the hospital and members of the public became more interested in the historic significance of Spring Hill, resulting in the nomination of Spring Hill to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. In January 2001, Spring Hill house along with the land attached was transferred to NC State to be a part of Centennial Campus. After renovations, the Japan Center moved into Spring Hill house in June of 2001. The Japan Center, founded in 1980 as an initiative led by Governor James Hunt, works to strengthen connections between Japan and North Carolina and acts as a resource for citizens, companies, and public and private institutions. The center supports the Japanese language program and works to provide scholarships for students to study abroad and attend the Japan-American Student Conference. The center also works with schools around North Carolina to promote teaching about East Asia and Japan. References Original Source References “A Raleigh Centennarian” The Charlotte Democrat (Charlotte, North Carolina). Nov 29, 1875. https://www.newspapers.com/image/168164226/?terms=john%2Bhunter. Ancestry.com. “Theophilus Hunter Senior.” 1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line].From First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 12 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Ancestry.com. “Theophilus Hunter 1798.” Wills and Estate Papers (Wake County), 1663-1978 [database on-line]. From North Carolina County, District, and Probate Records, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.From United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653, 1,438 rolls. Secondary Source References Amis, Moses Neal. Historical Raleigh: With Sketches of Wake County (from 1771) and Its Important Towns; Descriptive, Biographical, Educational, Industrial, Religious. United States: Commercial Printing Company, 1913. Battle, Kemp P. The Early History of Raleigh, the Capital City of North Carolina. A Centennial Address Delivered by Invitation of the Committee on the Centennial Celebration of the Foundation of the City, October 18, 1892. Raleigh: Edwards and Broughton, printers, 1893. Dix Park Communications Subcommittee of Dix Legacy Committee. “Final Legacy Report,” August 28, 2018. https://dixpark.org/sites/dixpark/files/2018-11/Dix%20Park_Full%20Legacy%20Report_2018.pdf. Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan. Adopted by Raleigh City Council. February 19, 2019. https://dixpark.org/park-planning. Dorothea Dix Hospital. “Spring Hill House.” Archived at Wayback Machine, July 11, 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20010711010136/http:/www.dhhs.state.nc.us/mhddsas/DIX. Eanes, Zachary. “$2 billion, HB2 reassurances and a site next to Dix Park couldn’t bring Amazon to NC.” The News & Observer, (Raleigh, NC), November 30, 2018. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article221641250.html. Grimes Family Papers, 1713-1947, 03357. Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/03357/. Karpel, Richard. “Newspaper Notice Helps Save County’s Oldest Grave.” Public Notice Resource Center, November 6, 2018. https://www.pnrc.net/2018/11/06/newspaper-notice-helps-save-countys-oldest-grave/. Long, Belle. “Grave Listing of the Theophilus Hunter Cemetery.” The Jacob Hunter Trust. Accessed September 29, 2020. https://jacobhuntertrust.org/cemeteries/grave-listing-of-the-theophilus-hunter-cemetery/. Norris, Elizabeth E. “Hill, Theophilus Hunter”NCpedia, 1988. https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/hill-theophilus-hunter. Native Land Digital Team, “Map of Native Land,” Native Land Digital, Accessed April 17, 2020, https://native-land.ca/. NC State University. “NC Japan Center.” Accessed September 29. https://japan.ncsu.edu/. Hinton, Mary, Duke Kerr, and Mary Bates Sherwood. “Hunter, Theophilus.” NCpedia, 1988. https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/hunter-theophilus. Seed, Patricia. Ceremonies of possession in Europe's conquest of the New World, 1492-1640. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1995. “Spring Hill,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, October 31, 1984, North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/nr/WA0188.pdf. Smith, Rick. “Source: Should Amazon choose Raleigh, NCSU-owned property is a leading contender​.” WRAL TechWire, June 4, 2018. https://www.wraltechwire.com/2018/06/04/source-should-amazon-choose-raleigh-ncsu-owned-property-is-a-leading-contender%E2%80%8B/. Shaffer, Josh. “Raleigh is Growing Around Wake County’s Oldest Grave. Leave it Alone, Descendants Say,” The News & Observer, (Raleigh, NC), October 23, 2018.https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article220407315.html. Shaffer, Josh. “Raleigh is Growing Around Wake County’s Oldest Grave. Leave it Alone, Descendants Say.” The News & Observer, (Raleigh, NC), October 23, 2018.https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article220407315.html. Summerell Chamberlain, Hope. History of Wake County, North Carolina. USGenNet Inc., 2014. http://www.us-data.org/nc/wake/bio/hunter_theophilus.txt. Visit Raleigh. “Spring Hill House.” Accessed September 29, 2020. https://www.visitraleigh.com/listing/spring-hill-house/60552/. Waugh, Elizabeth Culbertson. North Carolina's Capital, Raleigh. Raleigh: Junior League of Raleigh, 1967. Multimedia “Roots of Hope:Rediscovering The Legacy of John Hunter Documentary Premiere.” City of Raleigh. Sep 23, 2020. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNRviiVhiMI. Wilson, Jade. “ The Will of the Father.” The Black on Black Project, June 1, 2019. https://www.blackonblackproject.com/will-of-father-raleigh.