The History of the College Yearbook - Part III

A student dreams about graduation, Pine Needles 1960

As Woman’s College (now UNCG) moved into the 1960s, the school was on the precipice of enormous change. It was a time of political and social unrest in the country and in the community, but the campus yearbook, Pine Needles, did not always reflect this turmoil. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Pine Needles retained a more traditional format, including photographs of campus buildings, school organizations, sports, and individual student portraits. These yearbooks also tended to represent a more conventional view of women’s roles in society. Images of female students dreamily pondering graduation, shiny new cars, and engagement rings, occupied many of the pages. Local events, such as the Woolworth Sit-ins of February 1960 and the Tate Street protests, were noticeably missing from the publications. Yet, there was a sense that Woman’s College students were moving toward greater self-awareness. The make-up and mindset of the student body was evolving, and soon the yearbook would become more of a reflection of the times.

One of the most significant changes on campus during the 1960s was the admittance of male students. The school had been a women’s college since it opened in 1892, but in the fall of 1964 it opened its doors to men and officially became The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. During the first few years after this shift, there was very little evidence in the yearbooks that men had been integrated into campus life.  It took several years before male students were fully assimilated into the student body and were equally represented in the yearbook.

President Richard Nixon lampooned in the 1973 Pine Needles

The 1960s and 1970s ushered in a more political era on the UNCG campus, and this shift was reflected in the yearbooks. Political cartoons and realistic photographs peppered the Pine Needles of these decades. Presidential elections and campus protests were prominently featured. President Richard Nixon was a particular target of student artists on the Pine Needles staff and he was lampooned in several volumes. These highly charged drawings echoed the art of political cartoonists such as Paul Conrad, who was chronicling current issues such as Watergate, civil rights, and social injustice in national publications.  Pine Needles not only covered national events, but also those closer to campus, such as the Black Power Forum, which was included in the 1969 yearbook.  It also continued to include images of students, campus views, and school sports, as well as visiting bands and entertainers.

Black Power Forum, Pine Needles 1969

In the decades after the college became co-educational, it was still trying to come to terms with its new identity. UNCG had embraced the male students and campus expansion, but because of its lack of social opportunities and adequate dormitories, many considered the school to be a “suitcase college” or commuter school. The administration actively sought ways to bring the students back to campus. A survey of the student body reflected a strong interest in bringing national fraternities and sororities to the university. From the time that the school opened, these types of social organizations had not been welcomed by the administration. Charles Duncan McIver, the founder and first president of the college, had considered them elitist, and instead instigated literary societies. Fraternities and sororities were finally approved by the faculty and trustees, and the first membership rush took place in 1980; the same year that the school exceeded a 10,000 enrollment.

Pine Needles 1984

 
When the school celebrated its 100th birthday, the event was chronicled in the 1992 Pine Needles. But sadly, this centennial edition would be one of its last. Budgetary constraints and general student apathy heralded the demise of the yearbook, and the last volume of Pine Needles was published in 1993.

However, the yearbooks remain a popular and heavily researched part of the archival collection at UNCG. Each volume serves as a time capsule of fashion, school traditions, campus scenery, and student life. Most importantly, these yearbooks have recorded and commemorated the history of the school, from its beginnings as a woman’s teaching college to its current place as a vital public liberal arts and research university.

The History of the College’s Yearbook Part II: 1930s to 1950s

As the college moved into the 1930s, it underwent transformations that reflected the unsettled economic trials of the country. The stock market crash of 1929 threw the nation into a financial crisis, resulting in a drop in enrollment and faculty pay for the North Carolina women’s college. Faculty took an additional hit when Greensboro banks failed in 1933. In the midst of these calamities, and under the watchful eye of President Julius Foust, the school officially consolidated with the University of North Carolina and the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Engineering, and was renamed the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina.

Students representing "Sportsmanship," 1931 Pine Needles

Yet during these tumultuous times, the Pine Needles yearbook maintained its high quality with a combination of photographs and interesting graphics. Most of the yearbooks from the 1930s had themes which gave the publications a visual focus. The 1932 edition featured the “melting pot” of American culture with chapter illustrations that represented various groups of North Carolina settlers. The theme of the 1933 yearbook was mysteries and superstitions, incorporating drawings of stylishly dressed young “detectives” who resembled the recently created heroine, Nancy Drew. This edition also reflected an unusual part of the college’s history when men were briefly admitted as day students during the Great Depression. It was during this time that Pine Needles began to consistently include photographs of the faculty and students; campus buildings; “superlatives;” class mascots; and societies, organizations, and clubs. Dedication and In Memoriam pages saw older faculty members and students remembered by the campus community.

Image from the 1933 Pine Needles

The 1941 Pine Needles ushered color into the annual publication and featured the 50th anniversary of the founding of the college. This yearbook, as well as the 1942 – 1946 volumes, covered the years when World War II was a major part of the daily life of the school and the country. Through the War Service League, the students and faculty, led by Chancellor Walter Clinton Jackson, contributed a great deal to the war effort. Yet, beyond the war, 1940s yearbooks also reflected the growth of the college, with events such as the Arts Forum and Social Science Forum and the founding of the Weatherspoon Art Gallery. At the end of the decade, the school was the largest women’s college in the United States and Pine Needles attempted to modernize its design by replacing quaint themes with a look to the future.



Chancellor Jackson with Woman's College Students, 1941 Pine Needles

 The 1950s brought a great deal of change to the campus. Chancellor Jackson retired in 1950 and many older campus buildings were replaced by more functional structures. The decade also saw the desegregation of the campus in 1956 with the admittance of JoAnne Smart and Bettye Ann Davis Tillman. Although JoAnne and Bettye were included in individual and dormitory group photographs, it would take years before African American students were truly represented in Pine Needles. As the college moved into the 1960s, enrollment was at an all-time high, but Woman’s College was facing many challenges which reflected larger national issues, such as Civil Rights and the Vietnam War. Part III of the History of the College’s Yearbook will cover the school’s move to co-education, campus activism, and the demise of Pine Needles.



JoAnne Smart in a Shaw Dormitory Group Photograph, 1957 Pine Needles

The History of the College Yearbook Part I: 1902 – 1932

Drawing of a "State Normal" student

 The Carolinian, 1909

Perhaps more than any other campus publication, the school yearbook is the most reflective of the college’s physical environment, the interests of the students, the styles of the times, and even the social and political climate of the county. For the first ten years after the State Normal and Industrial School (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) opened in 1892, there was no official yearbook. This omission was rectified in 1902 when the Cornelian and Adelphian Literary Societies published a history of the first ten years of the college. The students named the publication The Decennial and dedicated it to the first president and founder of the college, Charles Duncan McIver. The Decennial listed the student classes from 1892, each with a class history. Images of students were also included, as well as academic and social clubs, athletic teams, dramatic organizations, and campus events. Student clubs echoed the young women’s interest in fun, but also in societal concerns as they established more socially-minded groups such as The Young Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Women’s Association for the Betterment of Public School Houses in North Carolina.

By the end of the 19th century, women were not only increasingly involved with community issues, but they were also beginning to occupy significant roles in the workforce. This trend can be seen in The Decennial in which student essays titled “Thoughts and Experiences of a Business Woman” and “A Woman’s Opportunities in the Business World as I Have Found Them,” extolled the benefits of business training for women and hoping for the achievement of equal pay.

Senior basketball team, 1909 

In 1909, the first true annual, named The Carolinian, was published. It replicated the same basic format at The Decennial, and it was also dedicated to President McIver. Meant to give “a more appreciative knowledge and a more sympathetic understanding” of State Normal, the publication included photographs of the faculty and of each student class, with class histories, songs, toasts, and poems. The seniors had the privilege of choosing a special quotation and a current and childhood photograph. They also wrote a Class Prophecy, imagining what the students would be doing in the future, as well as a “Last Will and Testament,” passing along certain valued items and well wishes to the classes that followed.

The following pages included photographs of students who participated in academic and social clubs, athletics, dramatic organizations, and campus events. The last part of the yearbook contained essays penned by students from various classes; images of the campus; superlatives; and even jokes.

The State Toast

Pine Needles, 1920

The campus yearbook continued to be published annually, except for 1912 and 1916 when the funds were used instead to present elaborate campus May Day celebrations, and 1919 when the country was embroiled in World War I and the students created scrapbooks instead. The same year, the school started its own weekly student newspaper. Born from a creative writing class during the war years, students decided to name the new publication after the yearbook, The Carolinian. The yearbook needed another name. Inspired by the first lines of the state toast, “Here’s to the land of the long-leaf pine…,” the first edition of the new NCCW yearbook, published in 1920, took the name Pine Needles.
The yearbook continued to use the same format as in previous years, including photographs of students, campus grounds, and organizations; superlatives; and essays. Written tongue in cheek, the 1920 Pine Needles features the essay, “Confessions of a Dope Fiend,” tells the story of a Coca-Cola induced crazed dream during which a student saw her college friends in the future.

After the war years, Pine Needles reflected the social changes that were being felt throughout the country.  Students bobbed their hair like popular actresses of the time and clothing became less constricting. Additionally, the college was undergoing tremendous growth, and the yearbook always included the many new buildings being constructed on campus.

The Toasters Club

Pine Needles, 1927

The 1920s also ushered in some of the most creative designs in the history of the publication. Two notable examples are the 1929 circus theme edition and the 1930 yearbook which featured images inspired by Carl Sandburg’s book of poems, “Good Morning, America.” The Sandburg-inspired edition encompassed colorful images of nature as well as striking cityscapes into the decorative treatment. As the college moved into the 1930s, it underwent important transformations.

Images from the circus themed 1929 Pine Needles and the Sandburg inspired 1930 edition

In 1932, the school officially consolidated with the University of North Carolina and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Engineering, and was renamed the North Carolina College for Women.  Part II of The History of the College’s Yearbook will cover how Pine Needles reflected these changes.