North Carolina Central University
CENTENNIAL SPECIAL EDITION ~ MAY 15, 2010
Campus Echo
100 YEARS OF
TRUTH AND SERVICE
are
sto-
of
rich
Our
stories
told
F ellow Eagles, family
and friends, in your
hands you hold a
piece of history connected to
this Centennial year.
In the
search for
N. C. Central
University’s
past, the
Campus Echo
merely
scratched the
surface.
Carlton There
Koonce countless
Editor-In-Chief ries
NCCU’s
history since its humble
founding 100 years ago.
It would be next to impos
sible to record all the tales of
strength, perseverance and
bravery that have played out
on this prestigious campus.
These pages contain only
a few of these stories. It is a
sampling of people, ideas
and situations.
From founder James E.
Shepard’s early struggles
and triumphs to establish his
dream for African-
Americans, to this year’s
centennial festivities, we
have tried to capture a sense
of the significance of NCCU’s
Centennial.
Some of the stories here
hold painful memories; oth
ers hold the promise of a
brighter tomorrow.
All the University’s sto
ries, told and untold, chal
lenge us to revisit and to
remember the long dusty
road that has been the trail
from slavery to freedom.
It has been an honor to
serve as the Campus Echo’s
Centennial editor-in-chief
and for our staff to share this
history with all Eagles, near
and far.
We hope this edition com
pels you to research more
University history so that
future alumni may continue
to fly high.
As we look forward to the
next century, the Campus
Echo asks everyone to join
us in remembering.
NCCU CELEBRATES A CENTURY OF GROWTH
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A newly renovated campus courtyard is symbolic of constant progress at NCCU over the century.
The renovation Is part of an ongoing beautification effort
Ashley Roque/Ec?io stajf photographer
Family affairs, NCCU shares
By Ashley Gihffin
ECHO ASSISTANT EDITOR
“The roaring 20s” con
jures images of jazz leg
ends like Duke Ellington
and Louis Armstrong.
Then the good times
came to an end and the
Great Depression loomed.
At the North Carolina
College for Negroes, a fami
ly tradition was being bom.
The Williams clan
boasts eleven N. C. Central
University alumni includ
ing aunts, cousins and
great-aunts.
The first of the clan was
Beulah “Gigi” Luvenia
Kearney-Williams, who
arrived in 1928.
She established a family
tradition that continues to
this day.
Kearney-Williams, now
99, is one of NCCU’s oldest
alumni.
She graduated 75 years
ago with a degree in
accounting. Tuition, room
and board then cost $300.
Born in 1910, Kearney-
Williams grew up in the
rural town of Franklinton,
N.C. where she spent most
of her childhood helping
her sharecropper father in
the field.
Her mother was the
cook for white plantation
owners.
Although Kearney-
Williams’ parents were not
well-educated, they
dreamed that their chil
dren would attend college.
At 18, Kearney-Williams
arrived at North Carolina
College for Negroes in
Durham where she and her
father were greeted by
Beulah ‘GIgl’ Luvenia Kearney-Williams, 99, started a family tradition in 1928 when she
enrolled in the North Carolina College for Negroes, now NCCU.
Bryson Pope/EcIio staff photographer
founder and president she could remember “He was a nice-looking
James E. Shepard. Shepard’s approach as man,” she said.
Kearney-Williams said “kind and heart-warming.”
^ ■ See TRADITION Page 3
Origins
explored
By Britney Rooks
ECHO OPINIONS EDITOR
Both the struggle and the character
of N.C. Central University’s founding
days are revealed in recent archival
documents provided to the Campus
Echo.
The documents, provided courtesy
of the Rockefeller Archive Center in
Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., offer a fascinating
account of NCCU’s first two decades:
from its days as the National Religious
Training School and Chautauqua in
1910 to its transformation into the
National Training School, then to the
state-supported Durham State Normal
School, and then to the North Carolina
College for Negroes.
The documents include founder
James E. Shepard’s correspondence,
various appeals for financial support
and Rockefeller General Education
Board reports.
The documents tell the story of the
institution’s early financial struggles,
its religious foundation, and its philos
ophy of education.
NCCU began as a normal school — a
school that trains high school gradu
ates to become teachers.
One 1921 document provides
Shepard’s background: He graduated
from Shaw University in 1894 at the
age of 19. He was employed as a phar
macist in Durham, worked for the
Internal Revenue Service, and was
appointed General Field Secretary of
the International Sunday School
Association in 1905.
In a 1909 handwritten appeal for
support to a Dr. Wallace Buttrick of
New Jersey, Shepard writes, “There
can be no question that if such institu
tions are needed for the white race ...
that to a greater degree ... one would
be of much help to the colored race.”
■ See ORIGINS Page 2
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By Divine Munyengeteewa
ECHO STAFF REPORTER
When you read that N.C. Central
University was instituted in 1910 as
the National Religious Training
School Chautauqua, you might won
der: “What exactly does this
‘Chautauqua’ mean?
“It translates into ‘meeting place,”’
said Terry Huff, coordinator of
University Dimensions of Learning.
The idea behind the Chautauqua
summer-camp movement, which was
rooted in Christian instruction and
popular education, was to bring cul
ture, lectures, plays, music and edu
cation to rural and small-town
America.
■ See CHAUTAUQUA Page 2