WC Takes to the Skies

In the Fall 1946 course catalog, the Physics Department at Woman's College added a new class to its curriculum. "Elements of Aeronautics" allowed WC students to not only understand the principles of aeronautics but to actually learn how to fly from instructors from the Hawthorne Flying Service at the Greensboro-High Point airport (now the Piedmont Triad International Airport). An article in the Greensboro Daily News noted that "the course, as outlined, will be one of the first of its kind in the country, and Woman's College will become one of the few girl's schools in the nation to offer flying to its students."

Dr. Anna J. Reardon

The course was led by Dr. Anna J. Reardon, head of the physics department. Prerequisites included at least one year of mathematics, one year of physics, and written permission from the student's parents. In the first semester, seven WC students signed up for the course -- Lucy Rodgers, Tommy Tomlin, Jean Fleming, Margaret Ferbee, Betty Pickett, Jean Kirkman, and Betty Sue Beaman.

Students began with on-campus classes in the Science Building focused on navigation, aerodynamics, aircraft, meterology, and air regulations. Three times per week (third period on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday), the students focused on learning to read maps, chart courses, and study wind drifts.

The classroom learning provided the necessary groundwork for the flying lessons that followed. A minimum of one afternoon per week, each member of the class had to catch the Winston-Salem bus from campus to the Greensboro-High Point airport for a half-hour private flying lesson from one of four instructors of the Hawthorne Flying Service. An article in the Carolinian student newspaper made special note that, "for flying, the girls wear slacks, blue jeans, or army tans."

"Elements of Aeronautics" students with one of
their instructors, Carolinian, Nov. 15, 1946

Initial flying lessons focused on straight and level flying. As the Carolinian reported, "Among the most astonishing things to these flyers was running a straight course to discover the plan flying straight at an angle because the wind is blowing. Instead of holding at a steady course down the air-strip on a take-off the students go to one side, almost getting off the runway." After mastering straight and level flying and adjustments to wind drifts, the students moved on to banks and turns. By the end of the course the students demonstrated their skills with "pylon eights," described as "ice-skating eights in an airplane, with two houses as center of each loop."

"Elements of Aeronautics" appears in the WC course bulletin through the 1954-1955 academic year. But at least one of the original Fall 1946 students continued their aviation-related work. In a 1990 oral history interview, Dr. Reardon notes that one students "followed up with piloting after she graduated from here. She moved out west some place and she took part in some of these races across the country."

Greensboro Got the Girls ... Now Where Do We Put Them?

In last week's Spartan Story, we looked at the decision to name Greensboro as the site for North Carolina's newly-created State Normal and Industrial School. Greensboro citizens were happy and excited -- while those in other towns also in contention for the institution were not so pleased. Greensboro won the right to host the new school by pledging $30,000 along with a site for the campus's development. But the offer alone didn't mean that the money - or even the land - was in hand.

In July 1891, shortly after being awarded the school, a committee was formed to drum up citizen support for a bond referendum to be voted on in late July. The bonds would allow citizens to support the city's efforts to raise the $30,000 pledged to the state. The committee proved successful in its campaign as 771 citizens voted in favor of the bonds; no votes were cast opposed.

State Normal's first president, Charles Duncan McIver,
pictured here in his office in the Main Building in 1895

That night, a "rousing meeting" was held at the Greensboro Court House. The chief speaker was Charles Duncan McIver, who had been selected by the board of directors to be the first president of the new State Normal and Industrial School. McIver "fervently proclaimed his faith in the future progress of the State through the education of its women. He expressed complete satisfaction with the Board's selection of Greensboro for the school, praising its climate, accessibility and its fine public spirit." Likewise, the Greensboro correspondent to the Raleigh News and Observer reported that "Greensboro was delighted with President McIver, and glad to know that he is soon to be one of us."

The issue of raising $30,000 through bonds proved simpler to resolve than that of finding and selecting a site for the school. A number of sites around town were suggested as possibilities. The Steel and Iron Company offered two sites - one directly on a rail line just over a mile outside of town and one within the city limits on Church Street. Another site offered, known as the "Brick School Site," was located about 100 yards west of Greensboro Female College (now Greensboro College). Another site known as the "Tate Site" was also just west of Greensboro Female College on West Market Street.

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. The land sat just inside of the city's corporate limits, adjacent to a farm owned by the Reverend R. R. Moore.

Epps & Hackett's original architectural renderings for the
Main Building and Brick Dormitory at State Normal

With a site selected, the board of directors hired Greensboro architects Orlo Epps and C.M. Hackett to design two large brick buildings for the campus. One building was to house the school's academic functions and the other to house its students. Contractor Thomas Woodroffe was brought on to build the structures. Epps and Hackett chose to design the two buildings in the Romanesque Revival style which had been made popular at the time by architect Henry Hobson Richardson.

Main Building was constructed to house the president's office, 10 classrooms, the library, a small gymnasium, and an auditorium/chapel. Originally referred to as the "matron's hall" or the "living building," the second structure is most often referred to as Brick Dormitory. Located approximately where the current McIver Building stands, Brick Dormitory contained a kitchen, a dining room, and living spaces for the student body.

After more than a year spent planning the new school and constructing its facilities, the State Normal and Industrial School officially opened its doors for an initial class of 198 female students from across North Carolina on October 5, 1892. The Brick Dormitory was destroyed by a fire in January 1904. But the Main Building, which was renamed in 1960 to honor Julius Foust, the second president of the school, remains in use primarily for classroom and academic office space. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Greensboro Gets the Girls!

On February 18, 1891, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed an act that officially established a "normal and industrial school for white girls." This act appropriated $10,000 per year for maintenance of the school, but not for buildings, land, or other facilities. In fact, the act stated that "the institution shall be located ... at some suitable place where the citizens thereof shall furnish the necessary buildings or money sufficient to erect them." Cities were given until June 1st to submit their bids to host the new school.

Act to Establish a Normal Industrial School
for White Girls, 1891

On June 9th, the appointed board of directors met in Raleigh to consider the various host proposals. Three main competitors for the new institution emerged -- Durham, Graham, and Thomasville. Greensboro had not even submitted an offer, although the News and Observer in Raleigh reported that representatives from Greensboro "intimated an intention to make a proposition." The board members adjourned to investigate the proposals, but the Greensboro citizens continued their work. The Graham (N.C.) Gleaner wrote that "all this time the Greensboro folks were as busy as beavers, running hither and thither getting subscriptions to knock the other applicants out who had entered the race at the beginning and made a square manly fight for the school." Many newspapers intimated that Greensboro was the understood front-runner, assuming they could garner the necessary support and funds, and that the investigations of the other offers was merely a matter of courtesy.

After learning of the offers from Durham, Graham, and Thomasville, the citizens of Greensboro held a mass meeting on June 12th to finalize their proposal. The citizens present voted unanimously to make a bid of $30,000 plus a site -- an offer which surpassed all others under consideration. Following this offer, the school's board of directors unanimously decided to accept Greensboro's offer. The chairman of the board, Major S.M. Finger, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, stated, "I congratulate Greensboro on the result. I believe this is the proper place for [the school]. The Piedmont is the coming part of the State."

Local newspapers in Greensboro also celebrated the decision. The Greensboro correspondent to the News and Observer titled his article "Greensboro Wins," with the subtitle: "She Gets the Girls Industrial School -- The City of Flowers is Happy." The Richmond Dispatch announced "Greensboro Gets the Girls." And the Greensboro Patriot praised the "spirit of progress and liberality manifested by the citizens and rejoiced that Greensboro's advantageous location, accessibility to railroads, and healthy climate had been recognized by this decision."

Understandably, the other three cities under consideration for the school were not pleased by the decision. The Durham Globe blamed "the men of property" in that city for "lack of enterprise," stating "Greensboro was wide awake and all her citizens were open-handed. There was no waiting for two or three men to do it all; there was no jealousy and no personal pride. It was city pride and city enterprise." Citizens in Graham complained that the board considered the proposals of Graham and Thomasville only as a means "to pry Greensboro" into submitting an offer.

Cover of a promotion booklet produced by the Greensboro
Chamber of Commerce, 1892

Thomasville, however, argued the strongest against the choice of Greensboro to host the new school. J.A. Leach, who presented Thomasville's proposal to the board of directors, wrote an open letter criticizing the board's "hasty action" and failure to give the other towns the chance to outbid Greensboro if they desired. His chief complaint, though, was that the board selected a "fashionable city" where prices were high compared to other areas. The choice of Greensboro, in his opinion, violated the section of the school's establishment act which stated that "the institution shall be located at a place where low rates of board can be secured." He argued that the purpose of the school was to provide education for poorer girls "not in a city that is noted for its style and costly female dress, where the Normal and Industrial girls will have to dress as well as the college, graded school, and city girls do when upon the streets or at the churches where they must go, but in some town where good board is cheap, and plain inexpensive clothing can be worn with propriety."

In spite of objections, Greensboro was indeed set to house the new State Normal and Industrial School. Stay tuned to next week's Spartan Story where we learn more about the Greensboro citizens' work to move forward with the campus's development.

R.I.P. UNC-G: The Hyphen Takes a Hike

"It's the kind of thing we tend not to think about until it's gone - something so basic and everyday that it becomes part of the wallpaper. At UNC-G, we began 1986 with something our university will probably never have again - a piece of our history from 23 years ago when our school became co-educational and dropped the 'Woman's College' moniker it had so long and proudly held."

These words in the 1986 edition of the Pine Needles yearbook don't refer to any person, place, or thing of particular importance on campus. Instead, it refers to a January 1986 administrative decision that, from then on, the University's name should be abbreviated as "UNCG," as opposed to the "UNC-G" designator that had often been used since the institution's name change in July 1963.

The Pine Needles' tribute to the fallen hyphen

While the decision was not announced via an official University press release, there was a concerted effort by administrators to provide "uniformity in the University's visual identity" by standardizing the abbreviation used. Prior to 1986, no formal regulations guiding the abbreviation of the school's name existed.

In late 1985, administrators combed through the University's archives and found that North Carolina General Statutes regarding the name change in 1963 only referred to the full name of the institution. No abbreviations were mandated or even used in the official records. Wilson M. Davis, director of UNCG's Office of Information Services, wrote on December 31, 1985, "at present, the predominant usage on campus in print is UNC-G. In the news media, it is strictly UNC-G, except for an occassional slip-up in an out-of-town paper. Most publications on campus have traditionally used UNC-G, but some have also used UNCG. The Bookstore has it both ways on sweatshirts and other materials. It is used both ways on athletic uniforms. Men's basketball jerseys are without the dash and women's basketball shirts use the dash."

1985-1986 men's basketball team (with their un-hyphenated UNCG jerseys)

1985-1986 women's basketball team (sporting UNC-G hyphenated jerseys)

With no consistency in references to the school, administrators sought to standardize the abbreviations used across campus in all internal and external communications. In line with other UNC system schools, such as UNCW in Wilmington and UNCC in Charlotte, the decision was made to permanently forgo the hyphen. Beginning in late January 1986, official press releases issued by the Office of Information Services all refer to the institution as UNCG. Other information outlets on campus, however, weren't so quick to implement the change (including that 1986 Pine Needles, which uses UNCG and UNC-G interchangeably throughout the publication).

"History will record 1986 as the year we lost our hyphen, this is true" continued the Pine Needles piece. "Once all the UNC-G shirts, UNC-G team uniforms, and UNC-G stationery are gone, our hyphen will fade into history - a dim memory from the past to be puzzled over in the future by the same sort of people who wonder who the McIver Statue is 'of' and who the Jarrell Lecture Hall is named after."

Indeed, the hyphen has faded from most use today, and the current University Brand Guide clearly states (in bold), "When addressing audiences familiar with the university ... use UNCG." "UNC-G" falls at the bottom of a list of "unacceptable uses of the institution's name."

When addressing audiences familiar with the university — people such as faculty, staff, alumni, students and community members who know what these letters stand for — use UNCG. - See more at: http://ure.uncg.edu/brandguide/?brandcat=university-names#sthash.qRI0Q5nZ.dpuf

When addressing audiences familiar with the university — people such as faculty, staff, alumni, students and community members who know what these letters stand for — use UNCG. - See more at: http://ure.uncg.edu/brandguide/?brandcat=university-names#sthash.qRI0Q5nZ.dpuf

The 1932 Carnegie Library Fire

Carnegie Library after the fire

On October 2, 1905, the library at the State Normal and Industrial College (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) moved from a small room in the Main building (now the Foust building) to the newly constructed Carnegie Library (now the Forney Building). Recognizing the ever growing need for more library space, College President Charles D. McIver contacted Andrew Carnegie, a well-known philanthropist and strong supporter of libraries, and asked for the funds needed to construct the building. Remarkably, he agreed to fund the entire project, which totaled $18,868 at its completion. This was surprising given that he has just supported the construction of two other libraries in Greensboro.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck the library on September 15, 1932, when it mysteriously caught fire. According to The Carolinian, the student run newspaper, the “fire broke out shortly before 3 o’clock and was reported by a workman who saw the flames as he was going to work.” Others noticed the fire as well, including an airmail pilot who had just left the airport when he saw the flames. In an effort to alert those on the ground, he flew his plane extremely low over the building, waking up many of the girls in the dormitories. A crowd of students and faculty members soon gathered around the building to watch as fireman frantically tried to extinguish the fire. The most serious damage occurred in the reading and library science room while the reserve room and most of the stacks were spared significant damage since they were protected by a vault-like structure that was closed before the flames could spread.

The final damage to the building and its contents, including the books, was estimated to be approximately $98,000 (or $1.6 million today). Afterwards, Mr. Charles H. Stone, the college Librarian, began the arduous task of rebuilding the damaged library collection. Books and materials that could be salvaged and saved were transported to the Students’ Building while materials in the stacks were left in place, but were not accessible to students. 

The Carnegie Library was rebuilt and remained the primary library on campus until June 1950 when the books were moved to a new, larger library building across the street, later named in honor of former Chancellor Walter Clinton Jackson.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Campus Visits

During her long and politically influential life, Eleanor Roosevelt made several visits to the North Carolina College for Women, now called The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).  Her first visit occurred in November 1931 as part of a campaign stop during her husband’s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1932 bid for the United States presidency.  She was described by the local papers as “the wife of the presidential candidate” with great personal charm whose grandmother had familial connection to a prominent family in Savannah, Georgia.

As part of her 1931 visit, Mrs. Roosevelt spoke to the students in Aycock Auditorium on the subject of “Opportunities for Modern Women in the Business World.”  While hesitant to express any strong political opinions in newspaper interviews, Mrs. Roosevelt was not shy in articulating her clear support for women seeking second careers after their children had left the home. She also predicted that women would eventually have a growing role in American politics and that someday soon, political candidates would be chosen based on their qualifications and not on their gender. The following November, Franklin Roosevelt defeated presidential incumbent Herbert Hoover to become the 32nd president.  During his next twelve years in office, Eleanor Roosevelt would establish herself as one of the most important women in politics.


Mrs. Roosevelt meets with Dr. W. C. Jackson
and Student Government Association  president, Woody Hewett during her 1945 visit

Mrs. Roosevelt’s second visit to the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina (now UNCG), and the first in her role as the First Lady, occurred in March 1945.  While touring the campus, she described it as “charming” and made several positive comments on the buildings that had been constructed by the Works Progress Administration, which was part of her husband’s New Deal Program.  During her visit, she gave a speech that focused on the privilege of education and the responsibility of America’s youth in building a better world. Her day also included lunch with her personal friend Harriet Elliott, Dr. Walter C. Jackson, and members of the faculty, and tea at the Weil-Winfield Residence Hall with students.  Before leaving Greensboro, Mrs. Roosevelt also visited the Overseas Replacement Depot, Bennett College, Greensboro College, and the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina (now North Carolina A & T University). 



Mrs. Roosevelt speaks to a capacity crowd in Aycock Auditorium during her 1953 visit

Her third and final visit to the campus occurred in February of 1953, during which her message to the students of the Woman’s College focused on the United Nations (UN). In December 1945, President Harry S. Truman appointed Mrs. Roosevelt as a delegate to the newly established UN General Assembly.  Addressing a capacity crowd in Aycock Auditorium, she gave what was considered an optimistic, but also realistic, speech on the current world condition, covering the politically strained relationship between the United States and Russia, the health conditions in India, and the importance of the UN as the last hope for world peace.  Recognizing the serious tone of her talk, she attempted to lighten the mood by recounting tales of her early days in the UN. She described how her male colleagues were generally suspicious of her motives and fearing that she might do “something dangerous” she was placed on a committee where they though she couldn’t “do much harm.” To their surprise, Mrs. Roosevelt would go on to become the first chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights where she was instrumental in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Mrs. Roosevelt remains one of the most illustrious and memorable persons to ever visit the UNCG campus.


Fifty years of WUAG

WUAG, the FM radio station licensed to UNCG, took to the airwaves on July 6, 1964, for its first test broadcast at 89.9 MHz, a frequency which had been abandoned by Greensboro's Grimsley High School. The new station aired a mix of classical music, news, and educational programming, broadcasting with a paltry ten watts of power. Operated by the Department of Radio and Television (now Media Studies) under the direction of Bill Young, WUAG was not originally a student enterprise. The station began regular operations on September 21, 1964, and was on the air from 11AM to 11PM daily.

WUAG classical program schedule, 1964

Four years later, the UNCG Student Government Association, aided by the Western Electric Company College Gift Program, established a student-run radio station focused on popular music and news. WEHL, which signed on in spring of 1969, was an AM carrier-current station--its signal was transmitted via the university's electrical wiring rather than over the air--and had its studios on the second floor of Elliott Hall (now Elliott University Center).

In the spring of 1971, WUAG signed off due to budgeting and other issues. The University ultimately transferred control of the FM frequency to students. WUAG replaced WEHL as UNCG's student-run station in September, 1973, emphasizing contemporary rock, jazz, and folk music. The musical format was described as "progressive rock" and featured artists and songs outside the "Top 40" mainstream. The first general manager of the new station was Gary Kofinas, a student from Charlotte.

Discussions began in the late 1970s about the future of WUAG. Federal regulations stated that the station could not renew its license as a ten-watt station. UNCG considered upgrading the power to between one thousand and twenty thousand watts and eliminating the student-programmed popular music format in favor of classical music and/or an NPR affiliation. Station manager Butch Fuller went on record in a 1979 Carolinian article as being opposed to the latter option.

WUAG promotional sticker, ca. 1980

By the time of the station's license renewal in 1981, however, the university had delayed its decision so long that no frequency that would allow a power increase was available. FCC regulations did allow the station to continue broadcasting at 106.1 MHz provided there was no impact on any existing commercial broadcaster and no power increase, a fact that worked to the advantage of the student staff as this conditional low-power status removed NPR affiliation as a possibility. Promotional announcements in 1981 and 1982 announced the frequency change and a new brand: "The Music 106."

At about this same time, WUAG entered into an agreement with the Department of Broadcasting and Cinema (now Media Studies) which essentially made it a semiautonomous part of the department. Authority was transferred from the University Media Board, a student organization, to the new University Station Advisory Board, which included students and faculty. The arrangement provided funding for the station and permitted it to host internships but also allowed it to keep focused on its mission of providing alternative music programming featuring a mix of local and emerging artists such as R.E.M., Lets Active, and the Violent Femmes.

Student working in the new WUAG studios, 1984

At the same time, the station strove for a more "professional" sound than some college stations, emphasizing a new level of musical consistency, news and sports programming, 24-hour broadcasting, and staying on the air during breaks and holidays. A 1983 ratings report stated that WUAG was the Triad's top noncommercial station and was actually outperforming several area commercial stations even with its power constraints.

Another benefit of the partnership resulted in the station's 1984 move from its home in Elliott University Center to new facilities in Taylor Building, which provided expanded news, production, and office space. Program Director Duncan Brown initiated the first broadcast from the new studios on Saturday, February 4, 1984, by playing the song "New Toy" by Lene Lovich.

CD release party flier, 2006

By 1991, interference with stations in Raleigh and Salisbury had necessitated another frequency shift, this time to 103.1 MHz. In 1994, the station also began publishing the Dead City Radio zine, profiling alternative musicians such as Polvo and Superchunk. By the late 1990s, WUAG was online with a streaming audio signal that could be heard worldwide, and was also sponsoring local music events and releasing local music compilations on CD.

For most of its history, WUAG had been managed by student employees, some of whom were paid a small salary or stipend. In 2003, Jack Bonney, a former student worker, was hired as the station's first full-time general manager, ushering in a new era of stability for the station. Bonney's position was eliminated due to budget cuts in 2011, shortly after the station moved to its new home in the renovated Brown Building, which was also home to the Media Studies Department. As of 2014, WUAG is once again a student-run radio station, although a close relationship with Media Studies continues.

For more information, please see the WUAG Digital Exhibit that is part of UNCG Digital Collections.