Charles Duncan McIver and the Rise of Teachers Institutes in North Carolina

Charles Duncan McIver, president and founder of the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNC Greensboro), had an interest in expanding women’s education which began much earlier than the founding of the college in 1891. His dedication to teaching and his commitment to meeting the challenges of educating women in the post-Reconstruction South began during his college years at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). While at the university, he and his classmates, Edwin Alderman and James Joyner, became aware of the miserable condition of education in their state. The young men discovered that the problems stemmed from citizens’ general indifference toward education and their reticence to fund it with tax dollars. They realized that there needed to be deep changes of attitude, as well as legislation, to truly revolutionized North Carolina education.

Charles Duncan McIver with a group of educators at a Teaching Institute

In addition to these educational challenges, North Carolina faced severe economic issues in the years following the end of the Civil War in 1865. Many of the state’s citizens were impoverished, earning meager livings on small farms. The western part of the state was even worse off than the rest, due to its relatively rural and isolated population. In addition to these considerable financial and logistical obstacles, McIver found the state unwilling to embrace change. The population’s general opposition to taxation and state legislation over regional education made the improvement of the public-school system almost impossible. Funding for education, therefore, was sparse. Those who could afford it attended church-affiliated private schools, and those who could not were left with underfunded public alternatives.

After graduation from the University of North Carolina, McIver and Alderman found teaching positions and quickly gained reputations as leaders in public education in North Carolina. In 1886, McIver became Vice-President of the Teachers’ Assembly and began to openly advocate for educating young women to become teachers and help close the state’s abysmal education gap. He understood that providing women with adequate education would afford them a certain amount of freedom and life choices while also helping improve North Carolina’s educational system. Although his ultimate goal was to establish a teachers’ college supported by tax payers’ money, that dream proved to be ahead of its time. Even though the Teachers’ Assembly supported the idea of a woman’s college, it ultimately failed to pass the state legislature in 1887 and 1889.

Charles Duncan McIver and Edwin Alderman

These legislative efforts, while ultimately failures, featured passionate speeches and debate from McIver and his allies. An accomplished and charismatic orator, McIver made a good case to the General Assembly, stating “Is there any good reason why we should make annual appropriations for the benefit of our sons and disregard this modest and only request that our daughters have ever made in that direction?... Unless some such measure as this is adopted, these girls, and those of coming generations similarly situated, are doomed to live and drudge and die without ever having known the blessing of being independent, and frequently without having ever gone beyond the borders of their own counties.” (1)

Yet despite his arguments, the General Assembly was unwilling to support a public women’s college at that time, although, they did approve week-long teachers’ institutes to be given in each county. These institutes would provide professional training to North Carolina teachers (men and women) and would eventually demonstrate to the legislature - and to the public - that this type of training was needed and appreciated.

Rewarding their commitment and perseverance, McIver and Alderman were chosen by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to create the teacher institutes. To help with this monumental task, they were given the charge to recruit others of like mind and abilities, and they engaged their college friend J. Y. Joyner, as well as other committed educators. The men felt that they were facing an uphill battle against deficient schoolhouses, incompetent teachers, lack of uniformity in textbooks, and parental apathy. (2) Thus, they began the grueling task of traveling to each county, attempting to train the over 5000 public school teachers, focusing on how to organize a class, how to manage students, and how to teach effectively. (3)

They held the teaching institutes for three years and they were extremely popular. This was due, not in small part, to McIver’s strong and charismatic personality. His friend James Joyner described him and “the most irresistible and convincing speaker I ever heard,” and Alderman believed that he was “the most effective speaker for public education that I have known in America.” (4)

State Normal and Industrial School

Finally, in 1891, the legislature approved the creation of the State Normal and Industrial School, which was designed to “prepare young women to earn a livelihood in teaching or in business.” The school opened in October 1892, with McIver as its president and Alderman as a professor of English and History. Joyner came later, becoming the head of the English Department on Alderman’s departure.

(1) The Decennial, Greensboro, NC: State Normal and Industrial School, 1902.
(2) Interestingly, the participating teachers would also be asked to assess the program to improve the “efficiency of the system.” Reports of Conductors of County Institutes in North Carolina; Report of Prof. E. A. Alderman, 1889-1990. Charles Duncan McIver Records, 1855-1906, Box 139.
 (3) Ibid.
(4) Notebook, Lula Martin Mclver Papers, Folder 1, Charles Duncan McIver Records, 1855-1906, Box 139.; Edwin A. Alderman, "The Life and Work of Dr. Charles D. Mclver,” North Carolina Journal of Education, 1 (December 15, 1906): 6.
 

The History of the Spartan Tartan!

*Sarah Maske is a senior at UNC Greensboro, with a double major in history and archaeology. She is interning in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collection and University Archives for the spring 2019 semester.

While tartan is a popular pattern in clothing today, it has an important place in North Carolina’s history. In the early 19th century, North Carolina held the largest population of Scots outside of Scotland.(1) After the failed Jacobite rebellions led by the Bonnie Prince Charlie ended in 1746, Highlanders and other Scots moved to North Carolina to start a new life. This new life included the freedom to wear their tartan, which was outlawed in the Scottish Highlands by the British Government under the Dress Act of 1746 as a way to strip the Highlanders of their identity and clan affiliation.

UNC Greensboro Official Tartan Recording

It is not surprising that UNC Greensboro would have its own official tartan celebrating the Scottish heritage of University founder, Charles Duncan McIver. On August 12, 2005, UNC Greensboro’s tartan (number 6265) was officially placed in the International Tartan Index. (2) Commissioned by the former Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan and Associate Vice Chancellor Helen Dennison Hebert, the tartan took three years to create and gain official recognition by the Scottish Tartans Authority. (3) The University worked with the International Association for Tartan Studies in Pennsylvania and designer Dr. Phil Smith Jr. to develop a tartan in the University’s colors of blue, gold, and white. The goal was to design a tartan that would promote tradition and school pride among the students, alumni, faculty, and staff.

Commemorative Tartan Blanket

The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives houses a variety of artifacts and textiles commemorating the tartan project, including two commemorative  tartan blankets, which were presented to major donors during the Students First Campaign.(4) The wool blankets have the patterning of the UNC Greensboro official tartan in blue, gold, and white with Minerva embroidered on the front. The textile collection also includes Chancellor Sullivan’s pleated UNC Greensboro tartan skirt. The University Archives’ artifact collection holds the tartan certificate presented to the University by the Scottish Tartan Authority honoring the recording of the UNC Greensboro tartan in the International Tartan Index.

Chancellor Patricia Sullivan's Tartan Skirt

So whether you are an upcoming participant in the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in July, a fan of the Outlander television series, or just a lover of tartan prints show your Spartan pride with the UNCG Official Tartan.

1. Beach, Kathryn., “The Highland Scots,” NCPEDIA, 2006.https://www.ncpedia.org/highland-scots
2. Tartan Certificate, UA 100-0608, Artifact Collection, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina Greensboro.
3. Withers, Lanita, “Begorra, It’s a Custom Spartan Tartan For UNCG the Specially Created Tartan Features a Blue and Gold Plaid.” Greensboro News & Record, February 11, 2005. https://www.greensboro.com/begorra-it-s-a-custom-spartan-tartan-for-uncg-the/article_73cc0d7d-e08b-544c-8bb9-f457b5a82272.html
4. UNCG Spartan Tartan Blanket, UA 107-0164, Textile Collection, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina Greensboro.
5. Patricia Sullivan’s Pleated Tartan Skirt, UA 107-0155,  Textile Collection, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina Greensboro..

The First Day of Class at State Normal, ca. 1892

When a current UNC Greensboro student walks down College Avenue, they see quite a different campus than an earlier student would have experienced. On October 5, 1892, the State Normal and Industrial School welcomed 176 students to the new girls college. There were only three building on the grounds – Main Building (now Foust), Brick Dormitory, and founder Charles Duncan McIver’s home. When the young women arrived, the buildings were new and unfinished, and the campus was not landscaped. It had just recently been a 10-acre corn field surrounded by farms and wood

State Normal students arrive at their new school

That first year, all of the students roomed in the large Brick Dormitory. One girl later remembered that she and her fellow students were collected at the train station and dropped off at the dorm, sitting on either side of the main hall until they were given their room assignments. They students slept four to a room, sharing two double beds. Hailing from all corners of the state, almost 80% grew up on farms. In some cases, it was their first trip out of their own county, and they were both excited and anxious.

Early students spill out of Brick Dormitory

On the first day of class, the girls gathered in Main Building and were asked to form a line according to their height, with the shortest at the front. Then, they marched to the assembly room, which also acted as a chapel, filing uniformly into each row. This allowed the taller students in the back row of desks to have a clear view of the proceedings, as they only had shorter classmates in front of them. This routine continued every morning at 8:45 after the morning bell was rung. President Charles Duncan McIver addressed the students, leading a chapel period, during which he read from the Bible and made general announcements. Dr. McIver also conducted the morning ritual of “mail call,” announcing letters and packages received from home. The students would eventually move to classes, which related to their choice of academic track - pedagogy, home economics, or business. All of the classrooms were located in Main Building. The students also took science courses, such as physiology, which included the study of a real skeleton that the girls named “Miriam” in honor of Miriam Bitting, the first campus physician. 

Dr. McIver with his students

In the early days, the buildings on campus were lit first by oil lamps, then by gas lamps, and finally by electricity. Each student was responsible for her own lamp, as well as for keeping her room clean and her bed made. As there was little money from the state to hire additional kitchen workers, the girls also helped in the large dining hall that was located in Brick Dormitory, taking turns setting the tables, serving the meals, and washing the dishes. 

State Normal students had very little personal freedom during the first years at the school. They had to receive special permission to leave campus and only after passing the inspection of Miss Sue May Kirkland, “lady principal.” Kirkland was “custodian of manners and morals” and “referee in matters social and domestic.” Wearing hats and gloves was mandatory and acting in a proper demeanor was expected at all times. Although Miss Kirkland was committed to decorum, she was also kind and sympathetic and the students were devoted to her.

Miss Sue May Kirkland

Some of the most popular activities on campus were memberships in clubs (such as the YWCA, the bird club, the glee club, the drama club) and literary societies. Although McIver did not allow social sororities on campus, he gave the girls the opportunity to join either the Adelphian or the Cornelian literary society, which hosted debates, plays, dances, teas, and other campus entertainments. The students also valued sports, especially tennis, basketball, and field hockey, which they played in blousy black serge gymnasium outfits with black cotton stockings and leather shoes. Special events were also planned, such as the “County Fair,” which was held in 1894. The outdoor pageant featured students from each county in the state putting on a skit representing a unique characteristic of the area. The fair proved so popular, it was held several times, especially for visitors.

Students participating in the "County Fair"

 As the student population grew during the next few years, the campus began to expand, adding Guilford/Midway Dormitory, the Students’ Building (incorporating classrooms, a large assembly hall, and space for the literary societies), and the Carnegie Library (now the Forney Building). Other buildings disappeared, such as the first barn and Brick Dormitory, which burned to the ground in 1904. As expected, new faculty came to the school, and others moved on. Other changes were unforeseen. The school’s energetic and charismatic founder and first president, Charles Duncan McIver, died in 1906, just a few weeks short of his 46^th birthday. 

Yet, on October 5, 1892, the campus crackled with excitement! The students were thrilled to be a part of the first class of State Normal. They knew that Dr. McIver and Miss Kirkland were at the helm and all was right with the world.

Letters from Abroad: McIver’s Trip to Europe, Part 2

McIver chose the Hamburg-Amerika line for his transatlantic crossing

As the S.S. Blucher started its ten-day voyage across the Atlantic, Charles Duncan McIver and James Joyner explored the ship and began their individual routines. McIver enjoyed daily walks on the deck and was thrilled when he glimpsed “large fish and sea animals” in the waves. His letters to Lula expressed excitement about the trip and the beautiful weather, as well as his relief at not becoming seasick like many of the other passengers. He reported that the food was excellent onboard ship and although he had been given “instructions from home” to watch his diet, it was becoming increasingly hard to do so. The elaborate first class menus included rich German dishes and the sumptuous desserts were difficult to resist. McIver spent the first days of his cruise with little to do but “loaf, tell yarns, [and] eat 5 times a day.” He wrote Lula that he was enjoying more “rest and freedom from care that [he] had in a long time.”

Joyner and McIver on deck of the S. S. Blucher, 1905

As one of the main reasons for the trip was to improve his health, McIver found his way to the gymnasium and made exercise a part of his daily ritual. He was amazed to find that the training equipment ran on electric motors, including a machine that took the speed of either a horse or a camel, and a massage apparatus with a belt that moved from the shoulders to the waist.


Entertainments were also a favorite part of his day, with music on the deck every morning and concerts held for the first class passengers in the evening. McIver was particularly charmed by the sounds of informal accordion music and dancing that wafted up from the lower steerage decks.

Dancing aboard the ship

There was much to tell, and McIver continued to write Lula even though he knew that he would not be able to mail his letters until the ship reached its first stop in Plymouth, England. He pined for his little family and took time each day to look at their photographs and write letters. Joyner missed his family as well and wrote his wife constantly. McIver even suspected he was writing Mrs. Joyner poetry! In a romantic flight of fancy, the two men decided to send their wives “love message[s]” from mid-ocean on the Marconi, a recently invented system of wireless communication using coded signals.

When they arrived in Paris, Joyner had correspondence waiting for him at the Grand Hotel, but there were no letters for McIver. His next note to Lula chided her for not sending mail and newspapers. When he finally received a letter from her, he was “dee-lighted!” He continued to write and chronicle his trip from France, to Germany, down the Rhine River, to Brussels, and finally to England.



During his travels, he received letters from his family, as well as his colleagues at the college. A birthday telegram was delivered from campus physician, Dr. Gove, and professors Gertrude Mendenhall and Viola Boddie, and steady correspondence was received from his administrative assistant, Miss Coit. A letter also arrived from the college’s African American facilities manager, Zeke Robinson, who had worked for McIver in his early years at Peace College and later joined him at State Normal. Zeke wrote “It is useless for me to try to tell you how much I have missed you, for you know that already.”

A letter to Lula dated September 28, 1905

By early October, the traveling companions began the last leg of their European trip. McIver had enjoyed France, Germany, and Brussels, but he really seemed to hit his stride in England. He marveled at the country’s history and monuments, and he attempted to see all the sites of London, including the British Museum and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Then they traveled throughout the English countryside, visiting Kent, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Oxford. McIver and Joyner also took every opportunity to see plays and productions, ranging from variety shows to more serious plays such as Louis XI starring Henry Irving (a week before his death). McIver wrote Lula, “I was impressed more than ever by the tremendous greatness of the English people and the civilization for which they are responsible.”

McIver especially loved the Lake District. Yet it was at this “ideal spot” that he lost a treasured personal possession. In a letter dated October 6, he told Lula of his heartbreak at losing his locket which contained her picture. While he knew he could purchase another when he returned to North Carolina, he grieved the loss of such a sentimental object.

The travelers’ final stop was Scotland where the beauty of the scenery and tales of Culloden and Mary Queen of Scots did not fail to impress them. McIver also tracked down several of his Scottish relatives and paid them a visit. Although the men had a wonderful time in Scotland, as they made their way south to catch the ship to America, McIver’s letters reflect his desire to “start straight home … and fly all the way.” The fall semester at the State Normal was underway and he missed his family – he was ready to go home. As he boarded the ship at Dover, he summed up his adventures to Lula, “This has been a good trip, full of interest, instruction, and pleasure, but this is the happiest day I have spent abroad because I’m starting toward you and our dear children.”

The McIver home on the State Normal Campus

By all accounts, McIver had enjoyed himself immensely, yet what was planned as a relaxing excursion, had quickly transformed into an extensive and grueling tour. He admitted to his wife, “Our trip has been more strenuous than I expected it to be.” It certainly did not give him the much-needed rest he required and once he returned home, his schedule remained as hectic as before he left.





In subsequent months, McIver’s fast-paced, stressful life began to catch up with him. Less than a year after his grand European trip, Charles Duncan McIver was dead. He suffered a stroke ten days before his forty-sixth birthday. Lula saved his letters from Europe, as well as much of their other personal correspondence, which can now be found in the archives of UNC Greensboro.

Letters from Abroad: McIver’s Trip to Europe, Part 1

Charles Duncan McIver had not been well. Although he was only 45, the years of hard travel, an indulgent diet, and the responsibilities of his role as founder and president of the State Normal and Industrial School had taken its toll. Those close to him were concerned about his health and suggested that a sea cruise might provide the rest and relaxation he would need to restore his strength.

Charles and Lula McIver and their "quartet" of children

 In the summer of 1905, McIver began to finalize his plans for a trip to Europe. Accompanying him would be his friend, James Y. Joyner, a fellow University of North Carolina alumni. McIver and Joyner were part of a group that championed teachers’ education in North Carolina, holding training institutes across the state. In 1891, when the North Carolina legislature finally agreed to establish the State Normal and Industrial School, a state sponsored college for women, McIver took the helm as president and Joyner served as a professor, then head of the English Department. In the years after the school was established, Joyner left to pursue other endeavors, but McIver remained president with the constant pressures and responsibilities that came with the position.

James Joyner and Charles Duncan McIver

McIver’s wife, Lula encouraged her husband’s trip with his college friend and agreed to spare him for what would be an eight week adventure, while she remained home caring for their four children. Lula was an educated woman in her own right and matched her husband’s intellect and energy. A Salem College graduate, Lula had studied medicine and was a committed supporter of women’s rights. They were a very devoted couple, conferring about all matters and writing copious letters during their many separations, as McIver often traveled for business. Yet, this trip would be different – it was longer and communication would be more tenuous. Overseas correspondence could take weeks to deliver and telegrams and telephone calls were costly. As his departure time drew near, the couple devised a code that could be telegraphed inexpensively (the charge was per word), serving as a short-hand to convey how they were doing. For example, “Alog” meant “We are well. How are you?” or “Comem” meant “Come home, Annie is sick,” etc. Promising to write every day, McIver set out on the first leg of his trip, a train from Greensboro to New York, the first week of September.

With a gregarious and engaging personality, McIver encountered many interesting acquaintances as he made his way north. He wrote to Lula the evening of September 4 (on Park Avenue Hotel stationery), telling her of meeting a Captain E. J. Parish of Durham, who suggested that he go into business for the American Tobacco Company. He was obviously flattered and intrigued by the thought of a career change. When he arrived in New York, he met with Mr. Mebane, who tried to persuade McIver to postpone his European trip and instead, stay in New York to discuss taking a job there. It is apparent by his letter that McIver was seriously pondering this offer, but it would have to wait until he returned. While he was in New York, McIver also had the opportunity to meet “Dr. Booker Washington,” likely referring to Booker T. Washington, the African American educator and orator, with whom he had a relationship through the Southern Educational Board.

Correspondence from New York

Lula responded to her husband’s letters with relief and reports of the home front. These mostly included everyday household news of the children, visitors, and her attempts at campus maintenance. Many of her letters reflect her deep worry for his health. She writes, “Sweetheart, please please take care of yourself. It makes me so anxious to see you so sick and tired. I cannot rest.” She also begs him to watch his diet. McIver loved rich food and it was perhaps impractical to suppose that he would curtail his eating habits on a European cruise. She signed her letters affectionately with “lots of kisses from your loving wife.”

While in New York he met his friend, James Joyner, and finalized their travel plans. After considering several different ocean liner companies (including the White Star Line, which would later launch Titanic), they decided on the S. S. Blucher, of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. The friends booked first class passage and also purchased tickets for their return trip October 20, departing from Boulogne, France, and arriving in New York on October 28.

As the ship departed from New York, McIver took the time to quickly write a note to Lula “to say another goodbye,” assuring her that he was well and that his he liked his ship’s quarters very much. He signed the letter, “I love you Sweetheart, I tell you I do. Love to the dear quartet (his children Annie, Charlie, Verlinda, and Lula Martin). Affy (affectionately) your husband, Charles Duncan McIver.” And with this note, written at 11am, he began his European adventure.

The S. S. Blucher

Next week: McIver’s shipboard experience and his “Grand Tour” through Europe!

 *Courtesy of GG Archives https://www.gjenvick.com

The Liberty Ship, S.S. Charles D. McIver

On May 23, 1943, the North Carolina Ship Building Company, located in Wilmington, North Carolina, launched its 100th Liberty Ship, the S.S. Charles D. McIver. As founder and first president of the State Normal and Industrial School (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro), and a fierce advocate of public education for women, McIver was a natural choice for a commemorative Liberty Ship. He was one of several North Carolina educators to have this honor. Initially named after notable deceased Americans, the ships names’ eventually included men and women, of all ranks, who were lost in the war. Naming opportunities came to those who raised two million dollars in war bonds.

The S.S. Charles D. McIver, 1943*

On the day that the S.S. Charles D. McIver was launched, high-ranking representatives of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, along with local dignitaries, gathered for the festivities in Wilmington, which was broadcasted on the radio. The shipyard band played as the newly christened ship slipped into the water. For glamor, Hollywood actress Constance Bennett was in attendance to present the shipyard with an award for its exceptional purchases of war bonds. Launching its first Liberty Ship only hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Wilmington shipyard was considered one of the best producers of these types of ships in the United States. The yard boasted over 20,000 employees and the ability to deliver up to ten ships per month.

Actress Constance Bennett (polka dot dress) attends the launching ceremony at the Wilmington Shipyard, May 25, 1943**

Based on a British design, Liberty Ships were basic cargo vessels built by the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. The first of these “Emergency Cargo” ships was launched on September 27, 1941, with President Franklin Roosevelt in attendance. Named the S.S. Patrick Henry, who is well remembered for his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, the president expected these ships to bring liberty to Europe and they were dubbed accordingly. Liberty Ships were meant to be quickly and economically mass-produced, with parts manufactured throughout the country and then assembled at shipyards on the east and west coasts, as well as the Gulf of Mexico.

The launching of the S.S. Charles D. McIver**

Eighteen shipyards built over 2700 ships during the years between 1941 and 1945. Considered the “ugly ducklings” of the naval fleet, the Liberty Ships averaged 441 feet long with a crew of forty-four, holding almost 10,000 tons of cargo in addition to tanks, planes, and ammunition. Built to last only through the war, many of these ships survived, with over 800 incorporated into the United States cargo fleet, and others sold to Italy and Greece. Several ships continued to serve into the 1970s, and currently, two are used as museums. Sadly, the S.S. Charles D. McIver did not fare as well. On March 22, 1945, it sank after striking a mine as it left Antwerp, Belgium. A full rescue was made by a British motor minesweeper and a motor torpedo boat, which rescued the Merchant Marine crew and the armed guard also on board. The S.S. Charles D. McIver was later written off as a total loss.

*Image from the Charles D. McIver (Liberty Ship) subject file
** Image courtesy of New Hanover County Public Library, North Carolina Room

125 Years Ago: Starting Classes at State Normal

On October 5, 1892 – 125 years ago this week – the doors of the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) opened its doors for an initial class of 198 women from across North Carolina. The institution was originally chartered by the State of North Carolina in February 1891, with a mission of training female teachers and instructing them in “drawing, telegraphy, type-writing, stenography, and such other industrial arts as may be suitable to their sex and conducive to their support and usefulness.” Leading the charge in the establishment and development of the school was Charles Duncan McIver, a staunch advocate for public schools, teacher education, and higher education for women. After the state legislature approved funding, McIver was named the first president of the State Normal.

View of the State Normal campus from Spring Garden Street, 1894

Four North Carolina communities put forth offers to be the home for the new school: Durham, Graham, Thomasville, and Greensboro. Ultimately, Greensboro won due to its relatively central location and the convergence of railroad lines from six directions (see this post for more information on the selection of Greensboro as the school's site). McIver and other school boosters quickly set about identifying a location in Greensboro where the new institution could be built. Ultimately, in November 1891, the site that was selected was one referred to as the "Pullen Site," located about a half mile west of Greensboro Female College on Spring Garden Street. This site was also within view, but not directly on, the railroad line. Two Raleigh real estate speculators and philanthropists, Richard Stanhope Pullen and Robert T. Gray, donated the ten acres that would house the school.

After a year spent planning the new school and constructing its facilities, classes began at the State Normal on October 5, 1892 (the date we now celebrate as Founders Day).Courses of study were divided into three departments: normal (teaching), business, and domestic science. The normal, listed as the leading department, included pedagogy classes as well as coursework in English, history, math, science, foreign language, art, music, and physical culture. This department also served as the academic home for McIver. In addition to serving as President of the school, he taught courses in pedagogy, education, and civics – courses that maybe went on a bit longer than anticipated. A memoir written by a staff member noted that “both in class and in chapel, he kept the students after the appointed hour so frequently that faculty members tried to avoid having their own classes scheduled in the following periods.”

President Charles Duncan McIver and the State Normal faculty, 1893

The standard course load for these new students included 22 to 27 class meetings per week, divided among six or eight individual courses. Study time was curtailed by the dormitory lights-out rule from 10 pm to 6 am, designed to ensure that students got adequate sleep. Every freshman regardless of major took the same eight courses in algebra, English, general and English history, Latin, physical geography and botany, drawing, vocal music, and physical culture (although domestic science students substituted sewing for drawing).

Founding the State Normal proved to be a milestone in education – and particularly women’s education – in North Carolina and throughout the United States. McIver and the early educators and students at the State Normal set the groundwork for UNCG as it stands today. One hundred twenty-five years after the first classes took place, the legacy remains.

The Demise of the McIver Building and its Mural

The McIver Building is slated to be demolished in the spring and summer of 2018, making way for the new Nursing and Instruction Building. Designed by J. N. Pease and Company of Charlotte, North Carolina, when the McIver Building officially opened in October 1960, it was one of the few modern buildings on campus. It was also one of the first to be air-conditioned.  Named for Charles Duncan McIver, the founder and first president of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, it replaced the previous McIver Memorial Building, which stood in the same location until it was razed in 1958.
The “new McIver Building” was planned as a classroom space, but it was primarily meant to house the Art Department. In 1967, a wing was added to expand the department and to create the Weatherspoon Gallery. A kiln was constructed behind the building in 1966.

McIver Building

Opinions differ on the architectural merit of the structure, especially because of its juxtaposition to the historic Foust Building, but at the time of its construction, it was a cutting-edge design with an innovative art installation on its facade. Yet, from the time that the new structure was completed, it was controversial. While some welcomed the modern design, many felt that the new, contemporary edifice was reminiscent of a “penitentiary,” and missed the more conventional architecture of the old McIver Memorial Building. This opinion was echoed by Professor Randall Jarrell, who referred to the structure as “The Thunderbird Motel.”

McIver Building Dedication, October, 1960

The art installation on the western facade was also controversial. Architect J. N. Pease commissioned Joseph Cox (1915-1997), a professor at the North Carolina State University School of Design in Raleigh, to create a large “mural,” which would be featured above the western entrance of the building. Cox was a native of Indianapolis, Illinois, earning his B.F.A. from the John Herron Art School and his M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. He began working on large projects in his early twenties, including a commission sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to paint murals for post offices in Indiana and Michigan. In 1954, Cox took a position at the School of Design, and he taught there for twenty years, also fulfilling commissions for his art throughout the state. His interest focused on the use of interesting and diverse material, and capturing the light and shadow seen in nature.

"Mural" Created by Joseph Cox

He was asked to create the art installation for the McIver Building only a few years after he came to North Carolina. Although he was faced with financial limitations and unusual space restrictions, Cox created the modern design from a series of gray enameled panels that projected about three inches from the wall. This 35 x 20 foot sculptural facade was designed as an abstract “art piece” and was created to cast a changing pattern of light and shadow as the sun moved west during the day. In the morning, the mural would be hidden in shadows, and it would be gradually illuminated by the sunlight. At night, lights hidden behind the columns would create a green-silver sheen on the facade.
Cox’s continued interest in light and shadow can be seen in his “Color Wall,” which was created in the early 1970s for the D. H Hill Library at NC State University. This kinetic sculpture was designed to display constantly changing vertical patterns of color when lighted by twenty-three spotlights.  Although the Color Wall remains a part of the Hill Library, other of the artist’s art installations no longer exist. It is likely that the mural on the facade of the McIver Building will suffer the same fate, and be disassembled as part of the demolition of the structure, which will take place next year.