Laurinburg Institute: Builder of Colored Youth
By JOHN MYERS
"Go forth and help in the
common and academic train
ing of colored youths." These
words were stated by the
Grand Old Man of Tuskeegee,
the late Booker T. Washing
ton on the steps of Snow Hill
Institute in Snow Hill, Alaba
ma in the very early 1900's.
Of the people who listened
to his words on that day, two
decided to follow his advice.
These two were Mr. & Mrs.
E, M. McDuffie. They had just
finished their education at
Snow Hill Institute and were
quite aware of the struggles
of the black man to receive
an education. On that day they
decided to do something about
the situation. And the some
thing they did witnessed the
beginning of Laurinburg In
stitute in Scotland County,
Laurinburg, N. C.
The year was 1904. The
first structure was a delapi
dated one room building do
nated by a concerned citizen.
The major tools possessed by
The McDuffies were faith and
dedication. With these meger
beginnings they set out to
teach the black youth of a
bigoted white world. And
teach they did.
Two years after its opening
the state of North Carolina
chartered Laurinburg Institute
as a non-profit educational cor
poration, and it operates today
under the terms of this same
charter.
A shrewd businessman as
well as a dedicated teacher,
President McDuffie nursed the
venture carefully with his wife,
who was also raising three sons
and four daughters, always at
his side.
The old frame house grew
into a complex of brick build
ings on a sprawling site in the
heart of New Town, Laurin
burg's Negro district. There
were dormitories because it be
came evident early the school
was destined to serve a much
wider area than Scotland
County.
The first gymnasium for
whites or blacks was built and
faj the Nfyjjo.
youths learned the values of
team work and physical condi
tioning. Here in what was once
referred to as the "Cracker
Box" was produced great stars
like Sam Jones of the Boston
Celtics and Jimmy Walker of
the Detroit Pistons.
From the beginning the school
offered more than reading,
writing and 'rithmetic. Presi
dent McDuffie and his wife
poured their life blood into
the venture. They lived with
the students, counseled and
guided them, and wove religion
and a deep sense of responsi
bility to God and country into
the overall curriculum.
This was the foundation
■fcid painstakingly by President
fylcDuffie before his death in
1953. Since that time, a son,
and his wife have
parried on the heritage and em
bellished the dreams.
From the beginning ade
quate financial support was a
major problem and the son of
the founder, F. H. McDuffie,
who became president, traveled
far and wide selling the values
of Laurinburg Institute to in
terested states, and the names
of the present dormitories and
other buildings reveal the iden
tity of some of the major
benefactors.
In 1958 the Institute was
moved from its original site to
a spacious, new campus a short
distance north. New brick
buildings were constructed and
today the educational plant is
valued at more than $1 million.
BUILDINGS & FACILITIES:
Laurinburg Institute pre
sently has a 150 student capa
city. Living quarters for its
students are contained in four
buildings. The girl's dormitory,
Hale House, has room for 50
female students in its present
arrangement. Three male dor
mitories, Morris Hall, Barstow
Hall and Bidwell Hall, have a
joined capacity for approxi
mately 100 residents. There are
12 buildings composing the
present campus. In addition to
the four residence halls there
is the Charles G. Johnson Stu
dent Center built in 1960
which serves as the hub of
campus activity. It is a com
pletely air conditioned build
ing housing an auditorium,
grill and lounge area, and
meeting rooms. This is the re
ception room of campus.
Kimball Hall, tW gymna
sium, Houses aft excellent bas
ketball court, a j&nior olympi;
sized, indoor swimming pool
and is well equipped (or all
forms of physical education. It
also includes the school li
brary and home economic#
classrooms and laboratories.
The main academic building
laboratories, plus administra
tive offices. It is a single
story structure with 9,000
square feet of floor space.
Other buildings include a
cafeteria, a central storage
building, music practice room,
teacher's cottages, and a health
center.
Mrs. Lillian Farrar R. N.
has been in charge of the
health center for the previous
two years. She is equipped
with an infirmy of a 20
patient capacity, a whirlpool
bath and message facilities,
conference room, examining
room, oxygen equipment, and
diet kitchen. Dr. David Wil
liams is on call 24 hours a
day from in-town Laurinburg.
F. H. McDuffie, Sr., Presi
dent of Laurinburg, concerns
himself primarily in the roll of
raising capital funds and su
pervising the physical opera
tion and growth of the school
plant.
He is perhaps better known
nationally as Coach McDuffie
the basketball coach who has
turned out such stars as Sam !
Jones, Jimmy Walker, Spider
Bennett, Charille Scott, ani *
Charlie Davis. -VUjI
The Executive PrasidSStf
Mrs. S. E. McDuffie, has
served In the role of execOttm.,
director of the school program
and is directly responsible as
Principal to the North Caro
lina Department of Public In
struction for all aspects of the
academic work.
In addition to her other
work, she is responsible for
personnel (academic, opera
tional and maintenance) as
well as the school finances.
ENTRANCE REQUIRE-
>Tflf il
'XauflnbUrg Institute is a
prep-school with its academic
stress going to grades 9-12 with
an offering of one year post
graduate studies in college pre
paratory courses. The Institute
maintains an open door policy
for entrance with major em
phasis lying heavily on recom
mendations from community
dtizens. Two letters of refer
ence are required for a student
entering Laurinburg. A student
must remain at the Institute
at least two semesters unless
otherwise granted permission
by the school's president. Stu
dents must establish residence
on the campus and must abide
by dormitory regulations. Stu
dents who are atheists or ag
nostics are not knowingly
accepted. Protestant and
Catholic students are admitted
but no denominational teach
ings are permitted. While Chris
tian conduct is expected, the
school remains fully nonsec
tarian.
All financial accounts must
be kept current. A student who
is deliquent in payments will
be cut off from all school serv
ices if delinquent past 20 days.
COURSES & DESCRIP-
TIONS:
Ninth Grade:
Sub-ninth-English 9 B, English
9-A, Social Studies, General
Science, Modern math, Alge-
-Changing
Continued from page 4A
ment. Laugh. It all starts to go
away and you feel that laugh
ter, indeed, is very good medi
cine.
Fifteen minutes later, ano
ther friend comes by to visit
and during the conversation,
she delcares: "All afternoon
the children have been yelling,
"You didn't dot your i, you
didn't cross your. t: w Now,
you wonder if there's a great,
brain food on thf market some
place.
.teems on
the rise with plenty for all, but
as long as we can laugh at our
selves, perhaps, relatively .
safe. i '
Here's hoping you remem
ber to cross yapc j gnd dot your
t. Oh, wety!..Tomorrow Is
another day to aoijge the fun
ny farm. f
bra, phyacal education, and
electiVee.
Tenth grade:
English 10-A, biology 10-A,
algebra, world history, lan
guages-French and Spanish,
and electives.
Eleventh Grade:
English lit, U. S. History,
languages, geometry and che
mistry,
Twelfth grade:
English IV, Social Studies,
economics-sociology, physics,
and electives.
OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES:
The social life of Laurin
burg Instltate, as with any
prep-schooj, is varried to the
tastes of different students.
The activities are sectioned in
to Interscholastic; football,
basketball, baseball, track,
tennis, and swimming. Recrea
tional: creative dance, swim
ming, horseback riding, intra
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mural sports, and drama. Soc
ial Clubs; Omegas-boys, Sigma
Chi-boys, and Jr. Deltas-girls.
Service Clubs; Dormitory Assn,
and the Honor Council.
The school gymnasium also
serves as a gathering place for
concerts, dances, and recitals.
FUTURE PLANS FOR
LAURINBURG
Laurinburg Institute, in its
quest for education for a
minority group, as so many
other facilities have done in the
past, aimed for the brighter
students. In the past the Insti
tute concentrated on students
in the top half of their class.
This idea is presently under
going close scrutinization by
the faculty. In the future
Laurinburg wishes to adopt
classes for educationally de
prived students as well as for
the superiors. Under present
planning for the fall are
courses in remedial reading and
mathematics. These courses
will necessitate more teachers
with wider skills, a larger
library, and more classrooms.
Also in the planning stages
in the enlargement of the Insti
tute to capacitate an enroll
ment of 300 students. With
this added number of campus
residents will come the need of
more dormitories and the
building of a chapel. Present
ly the auditorium serves this
purpose.
In 1904 Mr. & Mrs. E. M.
McDuffie had a dream. They
dreamed of an institution
where their race could get ade
quate education to prepare
them to become businessmen,
doctors, lawyers, and engi
neers. They lived to see their
dream take breath and live
after them. Now, their son and
his wife are dedicating their
lives to see that the dream of
their relatives never dies. The
dream was hard work. The
dream lives. The dream is
Laurinburg Institute.
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