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Friday, March 1, 1985
NCCU loses longtime faculty members
Two longtime members of
the department of English died
within a week of one another
recently.
Wiliam Edward Farrison,
professor emeritus of English,
died Feb. 18.
Mrs. Minnie Pearson
Turner Spaulding, 77, who
taught at NCCU for 17 years,
died Feb. 14 after a brief il
lness.
Farrison is one of the two
people for whom the Farrison-
Newton Communications
Building was named.
He taught at the university
from 1939 until he retired and
was named professor emeritus
in 1970. He served as chair
man of the department of
English from 1939 to 1960.
Farrison was the author of
William Wells Brown: Author
and Reformer (University of
Chicago Press, 1%9). The
book was the first full
biography of Brown, thought
to be the first black American
to publish a novel. Farrison
also edited a scholarly edition
of Brown’s novel Clotel; Or,
The President’s Daughter: A
Narrative of Slave Life in the
United States.
Mrs. Spaulding taught at
NCCU from 1956 until she
retired in 1973. During her
tenure at NCCU she was co
director of the Honors Pro
gram and a founding member
of the NCCU Museum of
Art’s board of directors and
was chairman at the time of
her death.
Farrison was a co-editor
with Hugh M. Gloster and
Nathaniel Tillman of My Life,
My Country, My World: Col
lege Readings for Modern Liv
ing in 1952. He contributed
numerous articles and book
reviews to scholarly journals
throughout his life.
Alphas project
praised by mayor
By Helen Eagleson
Two members of the Gam
ma Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi
Alpha fraternity have designed
a program which promotes a
big brother role model for
youngesters ages 7-12.
Marty Cpmer, a 1984
graduate of NCCU, and
William Barber developed
project Lift, an ancronym for
(love insures a future for
tomorrow) as a means of help
ing young men develop
positive attitudes about
themselves and their futures.
The project, which the
fraternity presented at the
1984 Alpha Phi Alpha conven
tion, includes tutoring ses
sions, informing youngsters
about Black History, pro-
Public Administration
to present talent show
The Public Administration
Club will sponsor its annual
Extravaganza of Talent April
11th, in the B.N. Duke
Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.
Outstanding participants
will be awarded 1st, 2nd, and
3rd, place prizes and members
of the audience will be eligble
for door prizes.
If you would like to display
your talent. You can sign up in
the Cafeteria, or contact the
He was an early president of
the College Language Associa
tion and a member of several
other civic and professional
organizations.
Mrs. Spaulding taught for
26 years at Hillside High
School. She was born in
Durham and graduated from
Durham public schools.
Before coming to what was
then North Carolina College
for Negroes in 1939, Farrison
had taught at Lincoln Univer
sity (1928-1930), West Virginia
State (1930-32), and Bennett
College (932-39).
He graduated magna cum
laude from Lincoln University
in 1926 and earned a master’s
degree from the University of
Pennsylvania in 1930 and a
doctorate from Ohio State
University in 1936.
Mrs. Spaulding earned a
bachelor’s degree in English
from Howard University in
. 1928 and a master’s degree
from NCCU in 1956.
She was a member of Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority, a
former president of the Na
tional Barrister’s Wives, a
former president of the
Durham Chapter of the Links
and a member of numerous
other civic organizations.
Farrison was born August
19, 1902 in Orangeburg Coun
ty, S.C.
He is survived by his wife
Alice N. Farrison, also a
longtime teacher in the depart
ment of English.
Mrs. Spaulding is survived
by her husband, lawyer C.C.
Spaulding Jr. Surviving, in ad
dition to her husband, are
three sons, a stepson, a sister,
a brother and eight
grandchildren.
viding social activities for par
ticipants and allowing them to
attend church with members
of the fraternity.
Lift currently has 15 active
participants and is located at
John Avery Boys Club on
Alston Avenue.
Because the project
possesses so many positive
qualities. Mayor Charles
Markham presented the frater
nity with a proclaimation
declaring Lift a city wide pro
ject.
The fraternity will present
Lift at the regional convention
in Birmingham, Ala. to be im
plemented as a project in
South Carolina, Mississippi,
Alabama, Georgia, Tennesse,
Florida, and North Carolina.
NCCU grad to present computer art
With so many uses for the computer, is it possible that one day there could be computer
art?
William O’ Farrow believes so.
O’Farrow, an NCCU graduate is currently researching various computer graphic
approaches that will facilitate the incorporation of the computers such as the Apple He as
an effective education tool.
These approaches are designed to be easily managed by the novice programmer. The
computer graphics method developed at Brogden Middle School, where O’Farrow is an art
instructor, is the only one of its kind implemented in the Durham City School System’s
Cultural Arts Department.
The program provides students with a unique problem-solving task that merges specific
aspects of computer graphics with traditional artistic concepts
O’Farrow will present a computer graphics demonstration that features High resolution
graphics, LOGO turtle graphics, and KOALA touchpad generated graphic techniques March
24, at 4:(X) p.m. in the Alfonso Elder Student Union.
English club plans diverse semester activities
By Tammy L. Capehart
The NCCU English Club’s
spring plans include reports on
the Howard Communication
Conference and fund-raising
activities.
On Tuesday and Thursday
of this past week, the club held
a book discussion on A
English prof,
talk on slave
Gathering of Old Men by
Ernest Gaines at 10:40 a.m. in
the English Library.
On March 5, Treva Mclean,
Trudy Rogers, Calvin
Williams, and Karen Jamagin
will give reports on the
Howard University Com
munications Conference.
to present
narrative
Public Administration Pro
gram (PAP) at 683-6018 or
683-6549. Deadline for ap
plications are March 8.
The Public Administration
Club will hold auditions
March 19-25 and will contact
you to schedule a convenient
time for your act.
The club will also present a
special tribute to the 75th Dia
mond Anniversary Celebra
tion.
By Quentin Sinclair
“The Name and the Nature of the Slave Narrative,’’ a lecture
by Dr. John Sekora, professor in the department of English, is
scheduled for April 10th, 3:45 p.m., in the seminar room of the
Communications building.
The lecture is sponsored by the Sigma Tau Delta English
Honor Society. A reception in the English Library will follow.
Sekora, the author of The Art of the Slave Narrative: Essays
in Literature Books and Slave Narrative: Art and Authority in
America’s First Literary Genre, has a strong background in the
study of the slave narrative. At present he is writing a third book
on the subject, William Wells Brown and the Afro-American
Practice of Narrative.
Sekora has had a distinguished education. He earned an A.M.
in 1963 and a Ph.D. in 1972 from Princeton University. From
1967 to 1969 Sekora was a Fulbright Fellow in England, where
he was a lecturer in Afro-American Studies at the Institute of
Race Relations. He was a Fellow at the National Humanities
Center from 1982-1983. Since 1983 Dr. Sekora has been an
English Professor at NCCU.
They will discuss the con
ference as a whole, providing
helpful information for
underclassmen. The reports
will be given at 10:40 a.m. in
the English Library.
March 26, the club will
sponsor a Flea Market and
Bake Sale at 10:00 a.m. in
front of the Communications
Building. The funds will be us
ed to help pay for special
events that the club has spon
sored throughout year.
On April 20 at 8:00 p.m.,
the English Club will attend
Ceremonies In Dark Old
Men—a famous drama por
traying ghetto life—performed
by the Negro Ensemble Com
pany. Acclaimed actors
Douglas Turner Ward and
Robert Hooks of Roots are
among the members of the
NEC who will be performing.
The drama will be held at the
Stuart Theater on the N.C.
State University campus.
April 23, there will be a
Senior Tea at 10:40 a.m. in the
English Library.
See, PLANS, p. 11