Educate a Woman: Virginia Terrell Lathrop

     The 1920s was an age marked by dramatic social changes, rejecting traditions, huge economic growth, and, for many, an exhuberant lifestyle of drinking and dancing. Though many of the women of the 1923 graduating class of North Carolina College for Women (NCCW, and now UNC Greensboro) adopted the bobbed hairstyle of the day, for the most part, they were starting the decade by focusing on getting an education rather than embracing the habits of the flapper generation. Within months of their graduation, in August of 1923, President Warren Harding died suddenly, and Vice President Calvin Coolidge was catapulted to the oval office. A year later, he would run for president and win. The class of 1923, aged at least 21 years, were of legal voting age at the time, and the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 meant that they were eligible to vote in their first national election. They would begin life after graduation in a world full of new opportunities for women.

Virginia Terrell, senior yearbook picture, 1923

      Virginia Terrell Lathrop (1902-1974) was the 1923 class president, majored in History and English, and was awarded the superlative for wisdom in her senior yearbook. It was only natural that she continued to be a clever trailblazer in the years following graduation. 

     Lathrop was a product of her education and chose to focus her career in journalism. A trendsetter, she became a reporter and feature writer for Raleigh's News and Observer, Greensboro's Daily News, New York's Evening Post, London's Express, the Paris edition of the New York Herald-Tribune, and Asheville's Citizen. In later years when asked if she used her college major in her career, she wrote, "Yes - in a better understanding of people and events; and in the skills of communication through writing and talking and reading." Indeed, her numerous articles and two books conveyed her keen interest in and understanding of the world around her.

     In a 1935 questionnaire sent to members of the class of 1923 prior to their reunion, Lathrop was asked to summarize her professional and personal life during the twelve years since graduation. Aside from the newspaper work described previously, she wrote, "Roving about as secretary to a playwright in Switzerland; handling mail in a tourist agency in Paris; press agent for a professional stock company in Asheville; free lancing, with a few accepted magazine articles; marriage & housekeeping; and since then free lancing, with occasional publicity work for stock companies, theatres, Chamber of Commerce, and last year for the celebration of first English settlement on Roanoke Island." 

Virginia Terrell, "Wisdom", Superlatives, 1923 yearbook

     In just over a decade since her college graduation, Lathrop had managed to live abroad for a stint, work as a journalist for several highly respected publications in the US and abroad, as well as find time to meet and marry her husband in 1928. Albert Lathrop was educated at the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio and resided in Asheville at the time of their marriage. A few years later, the Lathrops welcomed their only child, a son, Terrell "Terry" Lathrop. Terry Lathrop would continue in his parents' footsteps by attending college and obtaining a B.S. in Civil Engineering from North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University) and an M.A. in City Planning from Yale University.

     Just prior to WWII, in 1938, Virginia Lathrop returned to her alma mater to serve on staff to begin the University News Bureau. By that time, she was an experienced journalist and had remained committed to the college as well as to freedom of education for all. She also was very active in her community by serving on boards or committees of the Red Cross, YWCA, Friends of the Library, Parent Teacher Association, and the Cub Scouts. During the war, Lathrop served in a civilian capacity as a regional director for the North Carolina War Finance Committee, a role in which she organized war bond sales for western North Carolina counties. War bonds were sold to finance the war and were advertised as a way for average citizens to protect liberty and democracy; no doubt this work was an extension of Lathrop's commitment to protecting freedom of education. In addition, Lathrop's first book, Educate a Woman: Fifty Years of Life at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, was published in 1942.

Lathrop's first book published in 1942

     After the war, Lathrop continued to invest her time and effort in the interest of education as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Consolidated University of North Carolina. She became a member of its Executive Committee in 1953. In 1972, the organization became UNC Board of Governors and Lathrop continued to serve until her death in 1974. She also remained faithful to UNC Greensboro and visited the university many times during her tenure as a trustee and for reunions of the class of 1923.

     Lathrop was known as the unofficial university historian. Her second book about the university, Bricks and People: A Walking Guide to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, was published in 1973. She even was invited to present a brief history of the university as the 1966 Commencement speaker, in which she extolled the virtues of the founder of the State Normal and Industrial College (later NCCW and now UNC Greensboro), Dr. Charles D. McIver. 

Virginia Terrell Lathrop

     Like Virginia Terrell Lathrop, McIver was an unflagging supporter of the education of women. Lathrop quoted McIver who expressed his purpose of creating the institution as follows, "...to give such education as will add to the efficiency of woman's work in whatever walk of life her lot may be cast." Lathrop's lot was cast into a walk of life characterized by service to a cause - freedom of education for all people - a movement she served her whole life.

Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan: Encoded in the DNA of UNCG

UNCG opened its doors in 1892 as a publicly-supported school for women from across North Carolina (and beyond) to receive a higher education. But it would not be until the 103rd year of the school's existence that a woman would serve as the university's highest-ranking administrator. On January 1, 1995, Dr. Patricia A. Sullivan officially became the 9th Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the first woman to hold the chief executive position on campus.

Patricia Sullivan was born in Staten Island, NY, and received degrees in biology from Notre Dame College of St. John's University (B.A., 1961) and New York University (M.S., 1964 and Ph.D., 1967). Her work experience included research positions with the National Institutes of Health as well as faculty positions at Wagner College, Wells College, Texas Woman's University, and Salem College. She also served as Dean of the College at Salem College from 1981 to 1987, and as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Texas Woman's University from 1987 until her hiring at UNCG.

During her time at UNCG, the campus underwent a number of major changes that helped it become the institution it is today. Under Sullivan's leadership, enrollment at UNCG reached an all-time high, while academic standards for admissions also increased. Enrollment of students from underrepresented communities also increased significantly during this time. As JoAnne Smart Drane, one of the first African American students to attend the school, noted in a tribute to Sullivan, "she valued the University's diversity as strength."

Sullivan also led a charge to move UNCG to its current classification as a Research University with High Research Activity. Funded research grew 180% during her years as chancellor, from $12.7 million to $36 million. Additionally, numerous doctoral programs were established during this time, including Ph.D. programs in nursing, geography, economics, information systems, special education, community health, communication sciences and disorders, history and medicinal biochemistry. UNCG also established partnerships with North Carolina A&T University to found both the Gateway University Research Park and the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering.

Not only did the academic landscape of UNCG change under Sullivan's leadership, but the physical landscape changed as well. Sullivan diligently advocated on behalf of the North Carolina Higher Education Improvement Bonds, which was the largest bond referendum for public education in United States history. Ultimately, the passage of the bond referendum provided $3.1 billion for construction at state universities and community colleges across North Carolina. UNCG received $166 million from the referendum for construction and renovations. The Science Building that would later be named in Sullivan's honor was constructed as a result of that referendum. Numerous other buildings - including the Brown Building, Forney Building, and the UNCG Auditorium - were also renovated and modernized.

Sullivan with former Chancellor Moran at moving of Chancellor's Residence

Through the bond referendum, successful fundraising campaigns, and other donations, approximately $500 million total in new construction and renovations were added during Sullivan's time as chancellor. In addition to the Science Building, the Gatewood Studio Arts Building, the Moore Humanities and Research Administration Building, and the Spring Garden Apartments residence hall were constructed during her tenure. Also, in a collaboration with Preservation North Carolina, the historic Chancellor's Residence was moved, renovated, and reopened as the Armfield-Preyer Admissions and Visitor Center.

On December 6, 2007, Chancellor Sullivan announced that she would retire, effective July 31, 2008. At the time, she was the most senior chancellor among the UNC System. In remarks to the UNCG Board of Trustees upon announcing her retirement, Sullivan noted, "as with any journey, each year during which I've served as chancellor has been marked by great strides and great successes. Many inspiring challenges and surprises. Times when my heart felt great pain from the tragedies we had to overcome. And times when my heart swelled with pride at the accomplishment of our people. It has been, after all, a very beautiful voyage ... and I shall always understand what UNCG means."

Following the Spring 2008 Board of Trustees meeting - her final meeting as chancellor - a ceremony was held in which the Science Building constructed with the bond referendum funds that she diligently worked for was renamed the Patricia A. Sullivan Science Building. Board of Trustees Chair Steve Hassenfelt noted, "I think we found a way to encode Pat Sullivan and her tremendous leadership into the DNA of UNCG for many years to come." During the ceremony, UNC President Erskine Bowles also presented Sullivan with The Old North State Award, which recognizes "dedication and service beyond expectation and excellence to the Great State of North Carolina."

At her retirement, Sullivan was also fighting a battle with pancreatic cancer. On the morning of August 20, 2009 after a two-year battle with the disease, she passed away at the age of 69. A campus-wide service was held in her memory on September 14, 2009, with remarks from numerous UNCG alumni, faculty, and administrators. As the following Chancellor Linda Brady remarked in closing the ceremony, "there is a void on our landscape. But it is just a physical void. Pat's engaging smile and encouraging spirit - her intellect and reason - is on every hallway, in every building - in each classroom, studio, and laboratory. It's in the Weatherspoon, the library, the Elliott Center, on the athletic courts and fields ... Her spirit lives on in the hearts of all of us who hold UNCG dear ... and who continue the commitment to advancing the University that she dearly loved."

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.

Mildred Barrington Poole (Class of 1921) and the first desegregated schools in the South

In 1951, Mildred Barrington Poole (Class of 1921), made a bold decision.  Mrs. Poole became the first chief administrator and principal of the Fort Bragg school system in 1948. When she arrived, black and white servicemen’s children attended different schools, following the standard of “separate, but equal” established by the Supreme Court’s 1896 decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson. White children had attended the post’s eight room school, while black children attended a school off post in Cumberland County. Mrs. Poole decided to end this practice by desegregating Fort Bragg’s schools and for the first time anywhere in the South, black and white children attended school together.

Mildred Barrington in her Senior year, from the 1921 Pine Needles (North Carolina College for Women (now UNCG) yearbook)

 Mrs. Poole’s decision was based on a few factors. Executive Order 9981, signed July 26, 1948 by President Harry Truman, mandated that, “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.” That Executive Order provided the legal standing to desegregate post schools, but of course, no one had done that yet at any of the other bases in the South, even though non-segregated schools were standard practice in overseas post schools at that time. The conversion to desegregated post schools in the South was slow and mired by political considerations and hurdles. Indeed, as late as April 1953, 21 segregated post schools continued to operate in the southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.1
 The second factor for Mrs. Poole’s decision to desegregate may have come from one of the post’s officers. As Mrs. Poole recalled in 1992, an African-American Army lieutenant had asked her why his daughter could not attend Fort Bragg schools. Mrs. Poole said that she had no real answer for that other than to tell him, “it’s because of the color of her skin.” Recognizing the pointlessness of that reasoning, she worked to desegregate the post’s school, by establishing the Fort Bragg school system independent of Cumberland County Schools, which in turn allowed for the Executive Order to cover the change over from segregated to integrated schools.2
The third factor, of course, was Mrs. Poole’s own feelings on the subject. “I just did what my spirit told me was right and what I knew I had to do.” Having grown up in a segregated world, it had taken her a few years to come around to this point of view. As Mrs. Poole said in an article in 1954, “It took me two or three years to prepare myself for this view…There’s nothing to fear about it. There is no trouble among the children – none whatsoever. It becomes a natural thing.”

Photo from June 6th, 1954, Greensboro Daily News article

 There were however, some concerns and threats along the way to desegregation. At the start of that first integrated school year, an officer’s wife told Mrs. Poole that her husband had forbidden her to send their daughter to “school with Negroes,” and that he was going to send her back home with the child. Mrs. Poole told the woman, “I hope the child won’t look back 25 years from now and be ashamed to say that you wouldn’t let her go to school with these children.” The child remained in school.2 There was also a box full of death threats and hate mail that Mrs. Poole received and had kept in her basement. Despite the hate mail and death threats, Mrs. Poole never relented or wavered in her conviction to desegregate Ft. Bragg’s schools.
 In addition to desegregating the Ft. Bragg schools, Mrs. Poole, without fanfare or drama, quietly hired the first African American teacher at the school. Not a single parent was aware of this fact until late in the school year, during parent-teacher conferences. Mrs. Poole’s attitude concerning the race of her teachers matched her attitude concerning the race of the students: “I can’t tell you how many Negro children we have. I don’t know. No one needs to know, and no newspaper needs to know. They are not Negro and white. They are children to us, and we treat them that way.”3 Mrs. Poole also shrewdly understood that there were also advantages to be found in desegregating first. This African American teacher had been hired away from a “one of the big city systems” in South Carolina, mainly because the South Carolina Governor was a very strong proponent of segregated schools. The opportunity to teach at an integrated school was very attractive.4
 Mrs. Poole also had thoughts on how to go about integrating the public schools in North Carolina. “If I were giving advice to the public school people of our own county, I would tell them to announce that the schools would open on a non-segregated basis--that otherwise things would be as before. The buses would run the same routes, and the schools would be manned in the same way. I believe that voluntary segregation would remove most of the problem--but I believe firmly that today we must face our problem. We must, I believe, invite the children of all races to attend the schools of the family choice, and be prepared for the result.” Mrs. Poole believed that, “If we have any trouble (desegregating) it will come from the adults, and not from children,” but in the end, Mrs. Poole believed that “North Carolina is ready for the end of segregation. I think we’ve got plenty of sense to handle it, and not let things remain a reflection on our good sense and our religion.”5

Photo from June 6th, 1954, Greensboro Daily News article

 Unfortunately, Mrs. Poole was eventually pushed out of her Fort Bragg school job in 1956, but not before she had successfully integrated the schools and hired its first African American teacher. Mrs. Poole would go on to teach in North Carolina public schools for the rest of her career. She always maintained that integration was the right choice to make, “Integration was what, in the sight of God, we should have done. I’ve never, ever had the feeling what we did at Fort Bragg was wrong.”6
 In 2016, Mrs. Poole was honored posthumously with an announcement of the opening of a new school at Ft Bragg. The Mildred B. Poole Elementary School opened in 2018, the first school on the base named after someone who was not a soldier.7


*Callie Coward of the Cataloging Department first found and directed the author toward Mrs. Poole and her accomplishments. Thanks Callie!
 
1- Integration of the Armed Forces 1940-1965, Morris J. MacGregor, Jr., Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 2001
2- "Unsegregated Grade School is Operated at Fort Bragg" The News & Courier, 10/13/1951 
3- "Non-Segregated School Ends 3rd Year" Greensboro Daily News, 6/6/1954
4- Ibid.
5- Ibid.
6- "School named after a woman 'ahead of her time'" Paraglide, 10/6/2016
7- "Fort Bragg to dedicate school to Mildred Poole" Fayetteville Observer  4/15/2018

Hidden History: African American Employees at State Normal

While African American students were banned from enrolling at the school now known as UNC Greensboro prior to 1956, the campus during its earlier years operated primarily on the labor of African American men and women who served as cooks, janitors, handymen, and others who worked behind the scenes.

Ezekiel "Zeke" Robinson

Little is known about these early African American employees, but the 1913 edition of the student yearbook (known at the time as the Carolinian) carried a short article about them as part of its section celebrating the school's twentieth anniversary. This section, titled "Some Old Servants of the College," highlights the contributions of many of the workers "who have served our Alma Mater long, faithfully and honestly." The language used and viewpoints presented are indicative of how the white female student body viewed the African American service workers.

The largest portion of the article is dedicated to Ezekiel "Zeke" Robinson, who the author notes "is now the acknowledged 'power behind the throne.'" After being hired by president Charles Duncan McIver at the school's opening in 1892, Robinson managed the school’s large support staff, nearly all of whom were African American. He is praised in the article for his faithfulness to the school, nothing that "no member of the faculty has ever felt more responsible for the College than Zeke has."

Amanda "Aunt Mandy" Rhodes

Amanda "Aunt Mandy" Rhodes, who also worked at the school at its opening, is also singled out for praise. Rhodes served as a dormitory housekeeper, and the article notes that "there isn't a girl who has lived on Aunt Mandy's hall whose love she hasn't won by her irrepressible enthusiasm and her interest in the girls and in everything they do."

William "Uncle William" Peoples is described in the article as "our most talented servant," as he "can pack, wrap, and dispatch packages, deliver and open boxes, fix electric lights, force the most difficult trunk locks, and a hundred other necessary things." Peoples, who arrived at the college around 1901, is also praised for his sense of humor.

William "Uncle William" Peoples

The article concludes with brief mentions of "a few more of the many servants who have proved indispensible [sic] to the College." These include "Uncle Henderson, and old cook of the College, and an interesting character, who died in service here" as well as "Johnson, janitor at the Training School for many years, [who] has always won the love and respect of both teachers and children by his integrity, his faithfulness, and his polite and willing service" and his wife Nannie, "maid in Senior Dormitory, and the sworn friend of every Senior."

Needless to say, the State Normal would not have succeeded without the contributions of these and the many other African American employees who ensured that the lights operated, the buildings and grounds were clean, the students and staff were fed, and the general operations proceeded smoothly and did not disrupt the school's educational mission.

Professor Ivy and His New Experiment: Beaufort Art Colony

"Woman's College Trying New Experiment On Coast," reported the Greensboro Daily News in June of 1938. Beginning in the early 1930s, the North Carolina College for Women (now UNC Greensboro) offered a course in marine science for a select group of students. Each summer, students applied to attend the course in Beaufort, North Carolina. Students were tasked with arranging their own room and board for the duration of the course and were able to get practical experience in the field of marine biology. The program developed into an annual opportunity for students desiring a hands-on approach to their education in a course that would now be described as experiential learning. (To read more about the Marine Biology Summer Session, please click here.)

Woman's College student drawing at Beaufort Art Colony, ca. 1938

The 'new experiment' in the summer of 1938 entailed the creation of a similar summer program available for students wishing to study art. Young women were offered the opportunity to study advanced landscape painting at the coast.

Professor Gregory Ivy, head of the Art Department of Woman's College, had searched for an ideal site to establish this summer 'colony' of art students. Beaufort had been recommended to him as a suitable location and easily won him over upon his first visit to the town. Aside from the scenic landscapes all around, he also found an optimal indoor space to serve as shelter on a rainy day or as a lecture hall. Beaufort was home to one of the largest structures built of logs in the country, its community center. The local Chamber of Commerce allowed Ivy to use a large room in the community center that, with its beautiful light, served as an excellent art studio and lecture hall for the summer program.

Ivy conducting a class critique at Beaufort
Community Center, ca. 1938

The first course in the summer of 1938, attended by around 30 students, provided the chance to earn four hours of college credit and incorporated the concepts and techniques used by the Post-Impressionists, Cubists, and Surrealists, all modern art movements of the late 19th and early 20th century, and no doubt a draw for the young artists of Woman's College. The program was open to students of other southern schools and colleges as well as to teachers interested in the experience.

Ivy and his painting students at Beaufort
Community Center, ca. 1938

In its second year, the summer art program offered the same landscape painting class as well as a general advanced painting class. Participants, some studying to become professional artists and others considered themselves hobbyists, began using an old mansion house in town as their dormitory. Though plans were made to eventually build a dormitory for the summer program, it never came to fruition.

Aside from the additional course offered the second year, the first annual Beaufort art exhibition took place, jointly sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and Professor Ivy. Local artists as well as out-of-state artists were invited to participate, and it was billed as the first exhibition of its kind in a southern coastal town.

One can only imagine the idyllic setting of Beaufort in the late thirties and early forties for the Woman's College art students. Hilda Brady, a junior at Woman's College during the summer of 1939 described it as "the land of the jasmine because of the great abundance of these fragrant flowers, a spray of which was placed beside the plate of guests each morning." In all likelihood, such treats for the senses were available in abundance for the young women who spent the majority of the year in land-locked Greensboro.

Professor Gregory Ivy sketching a student on the coast, ca. 1940

The effects of World War II unfortunately put a damper on the Beaufort Art Colony, which was shuttered for the last three summers of the war, 1943-1945. The art colony reopened in 1946 and art courses were expanded to include design, figure drawing, and art education in addition to the watercolor class taught by Dr. Ivy. The Colony also began to include music in the course offerings. By the mid-fifties, the "Fine Arts" summer session of Woman's College included dance, theater, and creative writing.

In the late forties and early fifties, the Fine Arts summer program, focused mostly on theater, was held in western North Carolina in the mountains near Burnsville (for more information about the Burnsville School of Fine Arts, please click here). It returned to Beaufort by 1954, sixteen years after it began. Aside from a broad selection of fine arts courses available to college students that year, classes for school-aged children were introduced, and the Beaufort Chamber of Commerce began providing two scholarships, one for adults and one for children to attend the program. The Woman's College Library provided library facilities and a trained librarian during the summer session as well.

Modern dance class at Beaufort, ca. 1940

Professor Gregory Ivy, founder of the Beaufort Art Colony, left the Woman's College in 1961. It is clear the Beaufort Art Colony continued into the mid-fifties, but there is no specific mention of it in University Bulletins after 1954. Since the Colony was the brainchild of Ivy, it is likely that it ended with his tenure at the University. In his resignation letter, he expressed his frustration at the college's lack of funding for the Art Department. His legacy at the Woman's College extends well beyond the Beaufort Art Colony. To read more about Ivy, please visit "Gregory Ivy: The Legacy of a Non-Conformist". Professor Ivy was the driving force behind developing the Woman's College art program. His idea to start the Beaufort Art Colony was just one of many contributions to art education at what is now UNC Greensboro.

Ivy's legacy lives on in the thriving UNC Greensboro School of Art, which boasts both undergraduate and graduate degree programs, a nationally and internationally renowned faculty of practicing artists, and an incredibly motivated, talented student body.

Food Service Workers Strike of 1969

Cafeteria food service on campus was first introduced in the 1950s, but dissatisfaction soon mounted as growing enrollments brought longer lines and complaints about the choices and quality of the food offered. In 1964, the Carolinian student newspaper ran a comparative analysis of the food services offered at UNCG, Chapel Hill, and N.C. State, finding the other two institutions’ services superior to those on the Greensboro campus. In response to this criticism, the university gave up its own food service that summer and, for the first time, contracted with a national campus food service, ARA-Slater (now Aramark).

This relationship between UNCG and ARA-Slater would last for forty-five years (until 2009), but not without controversy. The first strike against ARA-Slater occurred in December 1964, when black full-time employees objected to a proposed pay cut, even though they were already being paid only ten cents an hour more than primarily white part-time student employees.

Scene from the picket lines of the ARA Strike, 1969

By 1969, tensions had increased. Following strikes at UNC-Chapel Hill and at North Carolina A&T, ARA-Slater employees at UNCG - including some who were students at A&T - went out on strike on March 26. The issues included the hourly wage, lack of overtime pay, sick and holiday pay, performance reviews, and dismissal procedures. A flyer noted that the "demands must be met as soon as possible but no later than immediately." While not overtly related to race, the workers' grievances underscored the differences in opportunities and expectation afforded to the university's primarily white students and the primarily black staff that served them. As Chancellor Ferguson would later recall, "Initially, the strike was not a black and white issue, but in time an element of race conflict was involved because most of the workers were black."

Following the walkout, the SGA voted to support the striking workers and to call for a boycott of the cafeteria. In a controversial move, SGA also voted to use student funds to hire an attorney to represent the striking workers. On the night of March 31, a crowd of approximately 1200 students, including activists from A&T, demanded that Chancellor Ferguson answer their demands. Ferguson agreed to address the campus the next day, at which time he stated that he must remain neutral. Behind the scenes, however, Ferguson was involved in the negotiations between ARA-Slater and well-respected black attorney Henry Frye. In the end, ARA-Slater offered the striking workers even more than they had requested, and the strike ended April 2. Despite calls for competitive bidding, ARA-Slater's contract was renewed for the following year.