Flowers Begins Fifty-First
Year of Service to University
Trinity College And Duke
Professor Becomes Presi
dent In Exercises Held
Monday At Noon
Durham, June 1. —When Dr.
Robert Lee Flowers was inducted
into the presidency of Duke Uni
versity this morning the ceremony
was of double significance, for
not only did it formally place him
in the university highest office
but it rounded out his fifty years
of continuous service to the
instution.
Ever since Trinity, now the
undergraduate college and nu
cleus of the university, spent
1801-92 as its last year on its
original campus in Randolph
county, 90 miles from Durham,
Dr. Flowers has been close-to
every phase of the university’s
development.
And now, he is beginning his
university presidency at the start
of a new aspect of the university's
life, its participation in various
national defense programs, in
cluding the Naval Reserve Of
ficers Training Corps. Himself a
graduate of the United States
Na\Aal Acadiemy, Dr. Flowers
during the next few months will
have unusual satisfaction in giv
ing much attention to the unit
that four years hence will pro
duce its first class of naval en
signs.
Born on November 5, 1870, at
York College Institute, the son
of George Washington and Sarah
'Haynjes flowers, Robert! Lee
Flowers was the eldest of seven
children, six sons and a daughter.
?
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INSURANCE AGENCY
Roxboro, N. C.
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Saw Dream Come True
As a youth along the banks of
the Catawba River, which later
in life he was to see harnessed
and the source of hydroelectric
power serving a great region, he
yearned to have a part in the
building of something great and
perm-anent in his native state,
something that would become a
monument of achievement. His
dreams have come true.
iPalf iot that he was, George
Washington Flowers sought to
equip his eldest son for service
to his country, and after an ele
mentary education in the public
schools of the community and at
the Taylorsville High School,
Robert Lee Flowers entered the
United States Naval Academy in
1887, having received an appoint
ment from the Eighth Congres
sional District. As a midshipman
his service was excellent and he
soon took a place of leadership
among his class mates. Graduat
ing in 1891 after having fulfilled
all requirements for a commis
sion, he was granted a discharge
from the Navy in order that he
might return to North Carolina
and assist in the building of the
progressive educational program
that was first taking shape at
that time.
President John Franklin Crow
ell has recognized the ability of
the “dapper young naval officer”
and asked him to join the
faculty of old Trinity, then in
Randolph County. Combining the i
firmness necessary to a success
ful teacher, with a courtly
manner, he soon won the respect
of students and the confidence of
his colleagues. His connection with
Trinity began in the Fall of 1891
and has remained unbroken.
Coming to Trinity at a time
when the dynamic young Crowell
was instilling new ideas of edu
cation in the -.institution, Dr.
Flowers fitted well into the pro
gressive plan of the president.
At first an instructor of Electrical
Engineering, he later devoted his
time to Mathematics, and reveal
ed himself as an authority in
this field. His innate ability as
a teacher enabled him to carry
the most backward students in
to the intricacies of “math” to
such an extent that they were
soon keenly interested in the
subject.
In 1900 Dr. Flowers received
the master of art degree from
Trinity College, and in 1927 re
ceived the honorary degree of
Dictor of Laws from Davidson
College.
Married in Durham.
On June 22, 1905, Dr. Flowers
was married to Miss Lily Virgi
nia Parrish, the daughter of Col.
and Mrs. E. J. Parrish of Durham.
Their home on Trinity campus
has long been one of gracious
hogpitality and unsurpassed
charm. They have two daughters,
Mrs. Lenox D. Baker of Durham,
and Mrs. Thomas F. Huey, of
Anniston, Ala.
The service record of a man
such as Dr. Flowers is naturally
leplete with incidents concerning
his leadership, his ability, and his
personality. Joining the insti
tution about the time it was
preparing to move from Ran
dolph County to Durham, Dr.
Flowers helped to assuage the
recalcitrant conservatives who
felt that Trinity should remain
on its traditional site. Young and
enthusiastic he soon enlarged his
already wide circle of friends to
include those benefactors who
made possible the building of
new Trinity at Duke.
When Bishop Kilgo took charge
at Trinity in 1894, Dr. Flowers
was found to be a capable as
sistant and helped put through
many plans cf the president. The
trying days of the institution as
it sought to establish itself firmly
in an industrial community were
marked by the enthusiasm and
hard werk of the young math
professor.
Upon the inaugration of Presi
dent Few in 1910, the Trustees
sought to work out a better plan
of organization for the admini
stration of the college, and turn -
ed to Dr. Flowers. The office of
the Secretary to the Corporation,
embodying close contact with
the public, the proper recording
cf faculty proceedings, and aid
to students, was given to him to
handle in addition to his growing
teaching responsibilities. The
attendant growth and organiza
tion of this phase of college work
reflects his handling and the
help to and gratitude of students
and alumni are indicative of his
successful administration. When
in 1923 the Office of Treasurer
became vacant, the Trustees
turned to Dr. Flowers to take
o\Jer theise responsi
bilities. Year by year expansion
has brought additional burdens
and responsibilities, all of which
have been handled in the same
quiet manner, successful in the
proper coordination of the vari
ous elements that entered inljo
the problems, and in such away
as to win the admiration of all
with whom he dealt.
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Main Street Roxboro, North Carolina
For some years Vice-President
of the University in the business
division, Dr. Flowers became
acting president on the death of
President Few on October 16,
1940. On January 29 of this year
the university board of trustees
elected him president of the
university.
Retains His Vitality.
Retaining much of that vitality
so characteristic of his earlier
years, Dr. Flowers has been able
to “carry on” and do the work
that ordinarily men of less
vigorous health would have brok
en under. In addition to his vast
responsibilities, none of which
suffer for like of attention, he
has been active in the affairs of
the community. Local civic
affairs have made large inroads
in his time, but he has been able
to do justice to all of these varied
interests. As a director of the
Durham Chamber of Commerce
he has contributed much of wis
dom and councel to the proper
working out community problems;
as a Rotarian he has fittingly
lived the motto “He profits most
who serVbs best, and has enacted
the prestige of the Durham
Rotary Club during his admini
stration 'as president of that
organization. He is also interest
ed in, and whenever possible
partakes of, the social life of the
community and adds much to
fraternal occasions when he can
banquet with members of his
fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega,
and other societies and organi
zations..
Following the death of James
B. Duke in 1825, Professor
Flowers in 1926 succeeded the
Founder of the Duke Endowment
on the Board of Trustees on that
body.
'"Being identffied with an
educational institution of promin
ence, and since his services have
always commended attention, it
is little wonder that he has been
so frequently called upon for
advice to other educational and
university
' religious institutions. His active
interest in the cause of Negro
education is evidenced in his
services as Trustee of the North
Carolina College for Negrrs.
Never forgetting the struggle of
j the less fortunate, he has done
| much in the case of the orphans
of the state during his tenure as
Trustee of- the Masonic Orphan
age at Oxford. His connection
with the Durham Yeung Men's
Christian Association as a direct
or has been of great value to the
community. Since 1916 he
been a member of the Board of i
Education of the Methodist j
Episcopal Church South, and of
the North Carolina Conference
Board of Education. As a mem
ber of the General Conference of !
the Methodist Episcopal Church,!
South, he is frequently in attend- j
ance upon the sessions of that:
body and has become a prominent
churchman of outstanding ability.
His active official connection
with Memorial M. E. Church,
Durham, has mantained all these
years.
Dr. Flowers also is a trustee of
Greensboro College, the Metho
dist Orphanage at Raleigh,
Lincoln Hospital, the North Caro
lina College for Negroes and is a
director of the Durham Chamoer
of Commerce and the Durham
land Southern Railway. He is
member of the North Carolina
I Academy of Science, Phi Beta
i Kappa, Omicron Delta, and
numerous campus organizations,
and is a Mason.
—o
I CONVINCING
C. S. Young, a demonstration
farmer of the Shoal Creek sec-
Ition of Yancey County, has
convincing demonstration that
alfalfa can be grown successful
ly in the county, says Farm Agent
R. H. Crouse.
o-
IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE IN
THE TIMES
HUGH WALPOLE
DIES IN LONDON
Heart Attack Is Fatal To
Prolific Novelist Who Saw
Hitler Weeping
London, June 1, —Sir Hugh
Walpole, the British novelist who
wrote almost a book a year from
the age of 25, died of a heart
attack early today. He was 57.
He had been ill for a week at his
Lakeland home, Brackenburn,
near Keswick in the Cumberland
mountains.
He was known in the States
not cnly by his “Jeremy” books
and his “Herries” sage but for
frequent lectujres, visits and a
stay on the West Coast.
In his novel “Roman Fountain,”
published last year, Walpole re
caled an occasion when Adolf
Hitler wept. He met Hitler in
Bayreuth in 1924 soon after Hit
ler had served a prison sentence
for the Munich beer cellar putsch
and had written “Mein Kampf.”
“I remember he cried,” wrote
Walpole. “And that I felt his
passion for Germany so sincere
it seemed to burn through his
ugly boots into the ground and
thpti I liked him and thought
him in every way tenth rate.”
He wrote almost to the end.
One of his main contributions I
was the regular book review
section of a London newspaper, j
• It was an example of his dis
like for inactivity and his joy
in literary labor which he found
comparatively easy.
“I write as I breath,” he once
remarked. And again, “I never
. had any impulse but one, to put
people down in words as I 3ee
them.”
Compared to that of most au
thors, Walpole’s career was a bed
of roses, yet a$ a fledgling writer
he was not without discourager
ment. ,
THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1941
“When I started as a writer
everyone was against me. I was
told I had no creative gifts at all;
if I had any they were critical
gifts. Everyone to whom I show
ed my work told me it was shock
ing. But I didn’t mind. There was
never any question in my mind
that I was going to be a novelist.”
Outwardly the most placid
and composed of men he was
actually a person of great ex
uberance. But he was meager of
gesture and avoided pose. He
liked to converse from a deep
armchair, his soothing resonant
voice giving the impression of
1 extraordinary repose.
Some of his comment on writ
ing:
: “What I'm sure of now is that
unless you have got the impulse
very definitely I don’t think tak
ing up the profession of writing
should be encouraged...
“My supreme piece of luck was
in being completely fascinated
by the work I was doing. I adore
writing. If you can be absorbed
in something you’re doing, find
enough in it to live on, then I
think you’re inevitably a happy
man...
“Nothing is worse for an
author tha'n inactfvity unless it
is too much work which drives
| writers close to insanity.”
o
MATTRESSES
!
| The two mattress centers in
j Northampton County have turn
led out 2,073 mattresses for low
income farm families since the
project was started, reports As
sistant Farm Agent H. G. Snipes.
o
RESOLUTION
The Jamesville 4-H Club in
Martin County has resolved to
Hold regular monthly meetings
i during the summer so as to stim
' ulate more interest in club work,
■ says Assistant Farm Agent J. L
Eagles.