Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Farmerettes

On April 6, 1917, the United Stated officially entered World War I. With the institutional motto of “Service,” the women of the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG) sought ways to contribute to the war efforts. Students came together to observe meatless and wheatless days, take classes in food conservation, raise money for the War Relief Fund, and make surgical dressings.

During the summer of 1918, ten Normal women heeded President Woodrow Wilson’s call to increase American food production and reduce food waste by volunteering to work on a 300-acre farm just outside of Greensboro. Most of these Farmerettes had no experience with farm work. In fact, most were not from rural areas at all. But, according to one student – Marjorie Craig (class of 1919) – these women “volunteered for that phase of war work because there was so little else we could do to help win the war … We were told that all the food produced at home made possible a greater supply for the soldiers.”

The Farmerettes knew that their presence in the fields might not be welcomed. As Craig noted, “we had been warned beforehand that we would be laughed at and we had prepared to ignore it.” In khaki uniforms and straw hats, these Farmerettes performed all but the heaviest agricultural labor – hoeing corn, pitching hay, threshing wheat, harvesting vegetables, feeding pigs, milking cows, and performing numerous other farm tasks. Work days began at 8 a.m. and continued until 5 p.m., with a one-hour break for lunch.

Campus administrators lent a hand, with J.M. Sink, superintendent of buildings and grounds, supervising their work. Even President Julius Foust stepped in to drive the reaper to cut the wheat.

Ten years after this summer, Margaret Hayes (class of 1919) recounted her time on the farm: "Being a Farmerette I count as one of the most worthwhile experiences of my life. We were engaged in something that we felt was real and vital, not just puttering, as we suspected was the case with some of the war work."

There were tangible results: hundreds of cans of vegetables, as well as products that could not be canned. In total that summer, these students worked to produce 1100 bushels of wheat, 3000 bushels of corn, 2500 gallons of tomatoes, and 2000 gallons of beans. Most of these foodstuffs were used in the campus pantry the following semester. But perhaps more important than the resulting products, the ten Farmerettes united to fight misconceptions about women’s work abilities and contribute to the war effort in their own unique way.

Dr. Gove Goes to War

When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Dr. Anna Gove, resident physician at the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College (now UNC Greensboro), began preparing to become part of the effort.  Because female doctors were not allowed into the Army Medical Core, Dr. Gove looked for other opportunities to serve oversees.

By September 1917, Dr. Gove's personal papers show that she had purchased French textbooks from the Cortina Academy of Languages to prepare for European war work.  She had also sent a letter of resignation to Dr. Foust, President of the State Normal.  In his return letter, Dr. Foust expressed his hope that "after conditions become normal that you may yet find it possible to be with us again."

On January 29, 1918, a letter from the American Red Cross offered Dr. Gove a salary of $1800 a year for "general medical relief work among the refugees."  She was to set sail for France around March 1st.  Additionally, she was provided with a $200 stipend to purchase equipment and uniforms. "Goods to be bought a Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Mad. Ave. & 45th St., New York City."

List of equipment and uniform items to be purchased from Abercrombie & Fitch.  Not the handwritten list of addition items purchased by Dr. Gove.

Dr. Gove made the journey to France and was stationed at a clinic in Marseilles.  Her letters home paint a picture of her daily life and environment.  Marsielles, in the south of France, remained removed from front-line battle.  Dr. Gove writes, "With all this frightful struggle going on this city seems a place remote and unmoved by the fortunes of the contest."  She goes on to speak of the unsafe areas of the city where nurses cannot travel, the inflated prices of food and necessities, and the importance of having good shoes and clothing.

Dr. Anna Gove in American Red Cross uniform, ca. 1918

Gove spent her time in France with the Children's Relief Unit.  They worked with women and children fleeing the war in Eastern Europe.  Often, malnourishment and harsh travel conditions resulted in children arriving with serious and chronic illnesses.  Dr. Gove worked to educate mothers on the importance of hygiene to prevent sickness, an area that she continued to study after she returned from the war.

The armistice ending the war was signed on November 11, 1918.  Dr. Gove continued with the Red Cross.  She was sent to Aubenas, Ardeche, France to set up a dispensary, a small clinic to provide care for refugees.  In December, she wrote to her superior describing several unique and severely sick patients she had seen during the past month.  She finished the letter with a word about the rest of her cases that were "the usual run of people who never are well because they have never lived properly and are worse now from hard conditions."

Dr. Gove's service to the Red Cross ending in early March, 2019.  She took the opportunity to travel to Paris to sight-see. In April, Dr. Foust sent a telegram to Dr. Gove.  It simply read, "Expecting your return as physician need you salary exceeds two thousand write us." Rather than return to the States, Dr. Gove found work with the Smith College Relief Unit in Grecourt, Somme, France.  The Relief Unit was comprised of young students and alums from Smith College who wanted to volunteer for the war effort.  Gove continued to assist the unit with providing aid throughout the summer.  Her health took a turn for the worse, affecting her eye sight drastically.  In August, She went to her childhood home in New Hampshire and spent the Fall recovering.  She traveled to Greensboro in January 1920, helping out at the school part-time until her health returned fully.   

The Flu Pandemic of 1918: The "Fourth Horseman" Comes to State Normal

In 1918, an influenza pandemic began to spread across the globe. In the U.S., about 28% of the population became infected, and 500,000 to 675,000 people died over the course the next two years. The campus of the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG) was, of course, not immune to this easily-transmitted disease. In October 1918, the disease found the College, and campus administrators had to made quick decisions on the best course of action to protect the students and limit the spread of the flu.

Instead of suspending operations as some schools did at the time, State Normal President Julius Foust made the decision to instead quarantine students to the campus. From October through December, students were unable to leave campus, and guests were not permitted to visit. One alumnae wrote:

Wooden Dormitory (approximate site of the Alumni House today)

"It was that fall when the Fourth Horseman on his livid steed was abroad in the land. Pestilence, in the form of deadly influenza epidemic, was sweeping the country. No city, village, or hamlet was spared. It reached the campus as I remember in October. Several hundred girls contracted it ... A rigid quarantine was enforced. No one was allowed to leave the campus, no going to town, no weekends at home, only walks into the country were permitted."

Several hundred students were infected -- so many that the campus infirmary could not hold them all. Wooden Dormitory (also known as Guilford Hall) was converted into a makeshift hospital. But fortunately, none of the students contracted pneumonia, and no deaths resulted. As President Foust wrote in his unpublished history of the College, "This was remarkable in view of the fact that many more people died from flu in this country than were killed in the war [note: Foust is referring to World War I]. Both faculty and students had relatives and friends in the army and frequently a report would come that a loved one had been killed or died from influenza, but these sorrows were endured with Christian fortitude."

The pledge signed by students prior to leaving campus in December 1918

By December, the influenza outbreak on campus had subsided enough that Foust decided that the students should be allowed to return home for the holiday break. But each student was required to sign an agreement pledging to report any illnesses in their home, avoid possible sources of the disease, and reporting to the infirmary for a health assessment immediately upon returning to the school.

When the holiday period end and student returned to State Normal, they faced a week of final exams. But, as soon as those were complete, they began to celebrate the end of the semester and of the full campus quarantine by planning a large gala event for the evening of February 3, 1919. As reported in the Greensboro Daily News:

"Memories of long, dreary weeks of quarantine were forgotten, and mirth reigned supreme through the spacious dining hall, when at 7:30 o'clock last evening students of the State Normal and Industrial College participated in one of the most elaborate entertainments in the history of the college.

The first event of the evening was, perhaps, the most impressive when 700 young ladies, dressed in quaint costumes, formed a long, gala procession and passed in review before the judging members of the faculty ... After the procession had ended a unique program, arranged by Misses Clarence Winder and Lula Martin McIver, was given, including farce scenes of "what might have been" and "what actually happened" during the quarantine. A liberal sprinkling of humor was traced through the numerous sketches given, and the effect was indeed ludicrous.

During the latter hours of the evening a delightful dance was given in which the majority of the young ladies participated. Between dances several vaudeville sketches were presented, including aesthetic dancing, ballet scenes in which the students were dressed in colonial costumes, "buck and wing dancing," and other forms of the Terpischorean art."

Frank Porter Graham

Frank Porter Graham was born on October 14, 1886 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In 1909, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) with a degree in law and went on to earn his graduate degree in history from Columbia University in 1916. Graham’s teaching career began as a high school English instructor from 1911-1913 at a school in Raleigh, N.C.. After two years of teaching, Graham returned to Chapel Hill to become the secretary of the local YMCA. He was given a position at UNC as an instructor in history in 1914 and later volunteered for the Marine Corps in 1916, going on to serve in World War I.

After returning home from the war in 1919, Graham continued his career at UNC-Chapel Hill as an assistant professor of history, earning the rank of associate professor in 1925, and full professor in 1927. While at UNC, Graham was a member of the President’s Committee on Education and served as the president of the North Carolina Conference of Social Service. He also founded the Citizen’s Library Movement of North Carolina.

In 1930, Graham was named President of the University of North Carolina. Two year later, the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), North Carolina State College, and the Woman’s College (now UNCG) merged to create the University of North Carolina System. Graham was appointed president of this new organization and served in the role from 1932 until 1949. During his tenure, Graham was known for his intensive lobbying for the continued financial support from the government for universities in North Carolina.

However, his term was not without some controversy. A year after his appointment, Graham traveled to Greensboro, N.C. for the first time to meet with the president of the Woman’s College, Dr. Julius Foust. It was documented that the two men did not agree on the future path of the college. Eventually, Graham called for Foust’s retirement due to his own feelings and recommendations from trustees and faculty members.

During World War II, Graham devoted a lot of his time to public service. He was a member of the National Defense Mediation Board (1941-1942), National War Labor Board, and Maritime War Emergency Board (1942-1946). Following the war, he was appointed to the President’s Committee on Civil Rights in 1946 and in 1947, President Truman asked Graham to serve as the U.S. Representative on the United Nations Committee of Good Offices on the Dutch-Indonesian dispute.

On March 6, 1949, North Carolina U.S. Senator J. Melville Broughton died from a massive heart attack. In filling the vacant seat created by his death, North Carolina Governor W. Kerr Scott appointed Graham to the position. His tenure would be short, serving from March 29, 1949 and until November 26, 1950. Graham ran for the senate seat the follow election, but was unsuccessful in his bid. 

In 1951, while serving as defense manpower administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor, Graham was appointed as a United Nations mediator for the dispute between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir boundary. He would devote the remainder of his active political life to the Kashmir dispute before returning to Chapel Hill and retiring in 1967.

Frank Porter Graham died February 16, 1972 in Chapel Hill. 

German Instruction at State Normal during World War I, part two

In last week's blog post, we looked at the history of German language instruction at State Normal (now UNCG) as well as the growing anti-German sentiment in Greensboro and across the United States after the U.S. officially entered World War I in April 1917. This week, we will look more closely at how the war impacted a German-born member of the State Normal faculty.

As mentioned last week, Christine Reincken was hired in Fall 1913 to head the German department at State Normal. Reincken was born in Germany but had spent most of her adult life in the United States as a student and instructor. On February 13, 1918, she wrote State Normal President Julius Foust after a German-born faculty member was fired from his teaching position at Greensboro College, asking if she should resign her position. After a face-to-face discussion, Foust persuaded Reincken to stay on campus.

State Normal President Julius Foust
Sadly, no photos of Reincken could be located.

When the Spring semester concluded, Reincken wrote Foust again -- this time with a request. In a letter dated June 1, 1918, she asked that Foust "write a few lines for me, just stating how long I am at the College. I thought it might simplify matters if I had it to show since I as a foreign born will have to register soon." Foust quickly responded and provided her with a statement, which read:

To whom it may interest: I write to say that Miss Christine R. A. Reincken has been teaching German in this College for the past four years. We have found Miss Reincken a most satisfactory member of our faculty in every way, and she has gained and maintained the highest respect and admiration both of our faculty and students. This has been due to the thoroughness of her work, and also to her fine character and wholesome influence.

Reincken also formally offered her resignation for Foust's consideration. Foust presented her resignation to the college's Board of Directors, who, "after a thorough discussion," chose not to accept it. Foust did note, however, in a letter dated June 22, that "it is impossible for us at this time to know what may happen. So far as I am able to judge, there has been no criticism of you or the Board on account of your connection to the College, but ... we can never know what may happen."

Reincken reported back to Foust in a letter dated July 4, 1918, that she had indeed registered in Milwaukee, where she was visiting at the time. She thanked him for his letter of support, adding that, while the information he provided was helpful, she doubted that it would prevent him from having to answer more questions about her employment. Reincken also stated that his "reassuring words" helped her decide to return to the college in the Fall semester. She once again mentions, though, that she "fully understand(s) that conditions may change and demand different decisions at any time."

Eleven days later, on July 15, German troops launched their final offensive of the war with the Second Battle of the Marne. And on July 25, Foust wrote Reincken to let her know that the conditions changed and that he feels it would be best for her not to return to the college in the Fall. Foust stated:

I am not writing this letter to you as an official of the College, but wish it to be considered simply a personal one. I have endeavored to think about this whole matter not simply from the standpoint of the College, but also from the standpoint of what is best for you. I have come to the conclusion that it is doubtless best, if you can make satisfactory arrangements, not to hold any public position during the war ... The suggestion that I have to make, as indicated above not as an official of the College but as one who feels a very cordial friendship for you, is that you withdraw from the College from the present at least ... Your service to the College has always been manifestly satisfactory, and I regret to think of losing it even for a short time, but I believe the suggestion I have made is the best from every standpoint.

Caroline Schoch

At the same time, Foust was in conversation with Caroline Schoch to join the German Department in Reincken's place. Born in northeastern Iowa, Schoch was the granddaughter of self-exiled liberals who had fled the German state during the revolutions of 1848. Unlike Reincken, she was not subject to the registration requirements and other public critiques that came with being German-born.

Understandably, Reincken was upset by this outcome. In a three-page response to Foust dated August 5, she described her feelings of hurt and fear -- but she also noted that she "must accept it at present as an outgrowth of the conditions that develop daily now." But she continued:

I have been over 30 years in this country, have 5 nephews now in the service - one in France, one in Italy, one as officer on a U.S. steamer, 2 soon going over. Yes, I am a German born, stamped an Alien Enemy, and must take the consequences. One cannot forget and lose the deep affection for ones old home, but one would not help them do wrong - on the contrary, help to destroy it ... I have quietly done what I thought right with all the sympathy and feeling and compassion for those who go and for those who sent their loved ones over for the cause. Gladly would I do and give anything to help humanity, where I can and I probably shall find the place. ... I, as an Alien Enemy, must be utterly silent and express no opinion ... But I have felt and acted loyal in every respect for and towards this country, thinking it only right to do so, and I thought you and others there knew. 

Reincken never did return to State Normal. Schoch accepted the position of department head and served as the lone professor in the department until her retirement in 1948. When Schoch passed away in 1961, the memorial statement issued by Woman's College began, "In the fall of 1918, when American patriotism expressed itself oddly but decisively by banning the study of German from high schools, Dr. Foust, president of this college, had sufficient faith in the eventual wisdom and sanity of the College and the people of North Carolina to bring to its faculty Miss Carolina P. B. Schoch, a dynamic teacher of German."

German Instruction at State Normal During World War I, part one

Our colleagues in University Archives at UNC Chapel Hill recently wrote a great blog post about a parent who, in 1918, was upset that his son was required to have two years of German courses before registering for a chemical engineering class. This letter from the parent to UNC President Edward Kidder Graham (father of later Woman's College chancellor Edward Kidder Graham, Jr.) was sent approximately one year after the United States declared war on the German empire and officially entered World War I.

At the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG), teaching of the German language also fell under attack during this time. German language instruction had been offered at the school since its opening in 1892. Both German and French were offered under the Department of Ancient and Modern Languages during that initial year. By 1895, students were required to complete four years of foreign language study in either French, German, or Latin. In 1896, Bertha Lee (one of the first graduates of State Normal) was named head of the department - a position she held until ill health forced her retirement in 1913.

Cornelian Literary Society, 1914

The October 1913 State Normal Magazine announced the arrival of professor Christine Reincken, the new head of the school's German department. Reincken was the first faculty member dedicated solely to teaching German; previous German instructors also taught courses in other departments, such as mathematics or pedagogy. The announcement in State Normal Magazine notes, "Miss Reincken, who is a native of Germany, has been living in this country a number of years, and has taken courses at Columbia University and like institutions. She comes to us from Ward Seminary, Tenn., where she was likewise head of the German department." Under Reincken's leadership, the German department continued to grow as a small, but strong, academic unit. She also served as a faculty member of the Cornelian Literary Society.

On April 2, 1917, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson appeared before Congress to ask for an official declaration of war against Germany. Four days later, with a vote of 82-6, Congress passed a resolution stating:

Whereas, The Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts of war against the people of the United States of America; therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial German Government, which has thus been thrust upon the United States, is hereby formally declared; and that the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial German Government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.

As U.S. involvement in the war progressed, so did anti-German sentiment across Greensboro (and across the United States). In their February 8, 1918 issue, the Greensboro Daily News reports the resignation of Professor Robert L. Roy, a faculty member at Greensboro College. The article notes that "the resignation was the result of a complaint voiced by E.D. Steele of High Point, at the time he withdrew his niece from the student body, giving publicly his reason that the college was employing a German citizen on its faculty."

Fearing that parents might similarly argue against her employment, on February 13, 1918, Reincken sent a letter to college president Julius Foust expressing concern. She wrote, "conditions may make it necessary that I resign my position, for my presence here as a German may be embarrassing. Will you please tell me when the time has come or if it is better not to wait and resign now? It is with a heavy heart that I write this for I love my classes and could not appear before them and feel their mistrust in these times." Foust met with her, and Reincken decided to stay at the college for the time being.

Greensboro Daily News, March 22, 1918

The following month, on March 22, State Normal hosted a competition between Davidson and Lafayette Colleges in which students debated over the whether or not "the successful prosecution of war requires that all citizens of Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and Turkey now residing in this country be interned for the term of the war." In their argument in favor of this statement, Davidson debaters argued that "enemy aliens" had destroyed $50 million of American property, "distributed propaganda in the United States that is dangerous," and "influenced nearly 2,000,000 negroes to leave the south." One debater questioned whether Germany would provide American citizens with freedoms, adding "do you think that you could listen to this debate in Berlin and come out alive?" Ultimately, however, the judges determined that Lafayette's debaters who spoke in opposition to internment were victorious.

Anti-German sentiments continued to grow across Greensboro as well as most of the United States as the war progressed. Next week, we will look in depth at how this affected Christine Reincken and her work at the State Normal.

Dr. Anna Howard Shaw: Noted Suffragist and Namesake of UNCG Dormitory

Dr. Anna Howard Shaw (1847-1919)

Shaw Residence Hall, located on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), is one of the few buildings not named in honor of someone officially associated with the University. Yet, the connection between the college and the noted suffragist, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, was an important one. She would ultimately leave the North Carolina College for Women (now UNCG) significant scholarship funds in her will, and the college would name a dormitory in Shaw’s honor.

A native of England, Anna Howard Shaw immigrated to the United States with her family in 1847. She spent much of her childhood with her mother and four young siblings in the wilderness of Michigan, where her father had purchased a 360-acre tract of land and sent his wife and children to live there alone. At fifteen, Shaw became a school teacher, but felt that her true calling was to be a preacher. While her chosen field met strong disapproval from her family and friends, she persevered and earned her own way through Albion College in Michigan and Boston University School of Theology. Shaw was the only woman in her graduating class. In 1880, she was ordained as the first female minister in the Methodist Protestant Church. She continued her education, earning a medical degree from Boston University in 1886. Choosing not to practice medicine, Shaw became increasingly involved with the Temperance and Suffrage Movements, developing a strong friendship with women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony. Shaw was elected president of the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1904, and was appointed the Chairman of the Women’s Committee of the United States Council of National Defense during World War I.

Shaw at Commencement 1919

It was political science professor, Harriet Elliott, who first extended an invitation to Shaw to speak at the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG). The two women met at a lecture at Columbia University and their personal interest in suffrage and women’s rights led to a fast friendship. During these politically active years, State Normal was fortunate to have several strong suffrage advocates speak to the student body. Shaw spoke at the school on three occasions between 1917 - 1919. She felt especially close to the State Normal girls, stating that the spirit of the school was “inspiring and unique.”

In spring 1919, the senior class requested that Shaw speak at their graduation. The Class of 1919 considered themselves the “wartime class,” as their college years overlapped the time that the United States was involved in World War I. The students were anxious to hear Shaw’s vision the post-war world. Interrupting a national tour promoting the League of Nations, an ailing Shaw traveled down from Washington to speak at the college’s commencement. In her address, Shaw commended the young students for their wartime campus mobilization efforts and asked that they redefine their post-war roles as moral leaders for the peace. She understood that the true legacy of the war was this generation of young women that would shortly gain the vote and become more politically active than at any other time in American history. At the commencement exercises, college president, Julius Foust, announced that the new campus dormitory would be named in Shaw’s honor. She would die only two months later on July 2, 1919, a year before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted American women the right to vote.

Shaw Residence Hall, designed by Harry Barton, opened in 1919

Dr. Anna Maria Gove, Lady Doctress

When it came time to form the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG) in 1891, student health was of the utmost importance.  And since the student body was comprised of young women, President Charles Duncan McIver wanted to provide the students with a campus physician who could care for all their needs.  Miriam Bitting served one year as campus physician before marrying and moving to New York.  The start of the second year of the young college saw a need for a new physician to take Dr. Bitting's place.   Upon the recommendations of several of her instructors and mentors, including a letter from Emily Blackwell, the third woman in the United States to earn a medical degree, Dr. Anna Maria Gove was hired as the second woman physician for State Normal in 1893.

Anna Gove was born on July 6, 1867 in Whitefield, New Hampshire to Maria Pierce and Dr. George Sullivan Gove.  As the only daughter of a physician, Anna was exposed to the profession from a young age.  It was said that she often rode with her father on the back of his buggy to visit patients around the area.  So it seemed natural for Anna to pursue a medical career, even in a time when there were so few women doctors.  She attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary where she graduated in 1892.  After a one year internship at the New York Infant Asylum in New York City, Dr. Gove came to Greensboro.

Dr. Gove brought progressive ideas to the little woman's college in North Carolina.  She formulated and put into practice a system for every freshman to have a physical and medical examination upon entering school.  She would then lay out plans to correct minor medical defects while the student was at college.  State Normal was the third college in the United States to adopt this practice.

Even with Dr. Gove's diligence, illness came to the school through a number of epidemics.  She saw the students through a large measles outbreak in 1895.  Keeping the sick women quarantined away from their fellow students and reassuring parents of their daughters' well-being kept Dr. Gove busy.   When the typhoid epidemic descended on campus in 1899, Dr. Gove worked night and day to discover the source of the problem and assist the dozens of sick and dying students.  Shortly after the epidemic passed, Dr. Gove took a leave of absence from the school to recoup and recover both mentally and physically.

Perhaps because the typhoid epidemic left such and impression on Dr. Gove, she had a passion for keeping up-to-date on the changing medical field.  She took several leaves of absence from the school throughout her early career to increase her medical knowledge.  In 1896-1897, she spent a year studying internal medicine in Vienna, Austria.  She returned to Vienna in 1913-1914 to continue her post graduate studies, where she met and worked with the famous orthopedist, Adolf Lorens.  Dr. Gove even assisted on one of his surgeries.

Dr. Gove in her WWI uniform

With the outbreak of WWI, Dr. Gove looked for a way to become involved in the war effort.  Women doctors were not accepted into the army medical corps, so Dr. Gove sought another way to put her skills to use.  In March 1918, she joined the American Red Cross and travelled to France to serve with the Children's Bureau in Marseille.  Dr. Gove worked with refugee children, assisting with dietary and other health concerns.  After the war, she served with the Smith College Relief Unit in Somme, France, before returning to the college in 1920.

Dr. Gove spent much of the 1920s developing a Health and Hygiene Department at the college.  She attended numerous lectures at the University of Michigan on mental and physical hygiene and brought that knowledge back to North Carolina.  Dr. Gove was a pioneer in the detection and control of tuberculosis at colleges and was asked to read a paper on the subject at the meeting of the National Tuberculosis Association.

By the time of Dr. Gove's retirement in 1936, she was being widely recognized for all her contributions to the college and to the medical profession.  The campus infirmary was named for Dr. Gove on May 30, 1936.

Dr. Gove passed away on January 28, 1948 at age 80.

Farming for Uncle Sam

On April 6, 1917, the United Stated officially entered World War I. With the institutional motto of “Service,” the women of the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG) sought ways to contribute to the war efforts. Students came together to observe meatless and wheatless days, take classes in food conservation, raise money for the War Relief Fund, and make surgical dressings.

During the summer of 1918, ten Normal women heeded President Woodrow Wilson’s call to increase American food production and reduce food waste by volunteering to work on a 300-acre farm just outside of Greensboro. Most of these Farmerettes had no experience with farm work. In fact, most were not from rural areas at all. But, according to one student – Marjorie Craig (class of 1919) – these women “volunteered for that phase of war work because there was so little else we could do to help win the war … We were told that all the food produced at home made possible a greater supply for the soldiers.”

The Farmerettes knew that their presence in the fields might not be welcomed. As Craig noted, “we had been warned beforehand that we would be laughed at and we had prepared to ignore it.” In khaki uniforms and straw hats, these Farmerettes performed all but the heaviest agricultural labor – hoeing corn, pitching hay, threshing wheat, harvesting vegetables, feeding pigs, milking cows, and performing numerous other farm tasks. Work days began at 8 a.m. and continued until 5 p.m., with a one-hour break for lunch.

Campus administrators lent a hand, with J.M. Sink, superintendent of buildings and grounds, supervising their work. Even President Julius Foust stepped in to drive the reaper to cut the wheat.

Ten years after this summer, Margaret Hayes (class of 1919) recounted her time on the farm: "Being a Farmerette I count as one of the most worthwhile experiences of my life. We were engaged in something that we felt was real and vital, not just puttering, as we suspected was the case with some of the war work."

There were tangible results: hundreds of cans of vegetables, as well as products that could not be canned. In total that summer, these students worked to produce 1100 bushels of wheat, 3000 bushels of corn, 2500 gallons of tomatoes, and 2000 gallons of beans. Most of these foodstuffs were used in the campus pantry the following semester. But perhaps more important than the resulting products, the ten Farmerettes united to fight misconceptions about women’s work abilities and contribute to the war effort in their own unique way.

The Carpenterettes and the YWCA Hut

"The Carpenterettes," 1918

During World War I, the students of the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG) took part in numerous aspects of campus work -- including many of the jobs vacated by local men. In the summer of 1918, seven students calling themselves the “Carpenterettes,” banded together and built a YWCA hut. The “hut movement” was spearheaded by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and quickly became popular in America. Several huts were constructed in Greensboro for community use. These inexpensive and durable buildings were based on the simple army huts constructed for the war.

The Exterior of the YWCA Hut

The YWCA hut was built on the State Normal campus at the north end of College Avenue. It became a popular all-purpose recreational building at the college for the next thirty years. Greensboro contractor, John T. Hunt, supervised the project free of charge, and the students cleared the land, laid the bricks, and helped frame the structure.

The Interior of the YWCA Hut

The hut’s design included a kitchen, a small library, and a large meeting room measuring 40 by 80 feet with four fireplaces. The furniture for the hut was purchased with local donations. State Normal students even solicited and received a phonograph from Thomas Edison. After the war, the Carpenterettes disbanded. The YWCA hut was razed in the 1940s when North Drive was built.   

Farming and Feeding the Campus

Looking at the current site of the Quad, you might never guess that it was once the home to a campus farm and dairy barn that supplied State Normal (now UNCG) with milk, pork, and produce. But in 1897 Charles Duncan McIver established the first campus farm on a newly-acquired plot of land on the western side of the campus. In addition to providing the school with food products, the farm also served as a teaching laboratory for horticulture classes.

Campus dairy farm (near site of current Aycock Street), 1922

Initially the farm was managed by Thomas L. Brown, an English horticulturalist who was then working at the Biltmore Estate. McIver, however, did not allow the farm to proceed without his direct supervision and impact. In fact, he bought much of the livestock himself. The campus also constructed a substantial dairy barn near the current site of Shaw Dormitory.

It took seven years (as well as Brown’s replacement and a reduction in the livestock herd) for the farm to begin turning a profit for the school. After 1904, however, the farm operations grew substantially. By 1910, the cattle produced more milk than the students could consume, allowing the college to sell and profit from the surplus.

Soon, however, campus expansion (specifically the newly-constructed Woman’s Dormitory) led administrators to search for new sites for the barn. In 1913, the livestock and their barn were moved further west, closer to Dairy Street (now Aycock Street).

Only four years later, however, the campus farm had proven too small for the growing student body, and the land it occupied was needed for other purposes. The Quad was carved out of the farm’s eastern side, and there were plans for a physical education building and golf course to occupy the remaining area. While the college had use of an additional farm southeast of Greensboro, it needed more space to produce more foodstuffs.

So, in 1923, president Foust purchased a 250-acre plot of land in Friendship Township about eight miles west of campus (near the current Piedmont Triad International Airport). Primarily, this site was used as a dairy farm, with Holstein cows providing milk for students and extra milk being sold to local dairies. The old campus barn was demolished, physical education facilities were constructed where the farm stood, and farming operations fully moved away from the immediate campus area.

During World War II, the campus experienced a shortage of workers for the farm. As a result, forty to fifty German prisoners of war were bused in daily from Winston-Salem to provide much-needed labor. Once American soldiers returned from overseas, however, the labor shortage continued. Foust and later president Walter Clinton Jackson were advised – but refused – to sell the farm as it began to lose money. Both cited distrust in the quality and quantity of milk available from local dairies as the primary reason for retaining the farm.