Activity is Her Therapy - Elizabeth Stewart Bennett
This article describes Elizabeth Stewart Bennett. This and other articles may be found in the University Archives.
Citation for this article is: "Activity is Her Therapy," ECU Report, Volume 14, No. 1, January 1982.
It would be difficult to find a graduate of this school who is more loyal than Elizabeth Stewart Bennett. She holds the record for perfect attendance at Alumni Days since her graduation in 1928.Last spring when the coffee hour was in progress and Mrs. Bennett had not arrived, Don Leggett, director of alumni relations remarked, "She will be here, for we couldn't have an Alumni Day without her." True enough, for as the coffee hour was coming to a close, Mrs. Bennett arrived and the weekend was in full swing.
This love affair with East Carolina goes back to 1914 when she left her home in Nash County to fulfill a lifelong desire to become a teacher. She recalls when the campus consisted of an administration building, a dining hall, a power plant, an infirmary, and the east and west dormitories and there wre no paved sidewalks, only board walks. "Everyone, including Dr. Wright, knew everyone by name," she said, "and the rules were very strict about things like signing in and out, and wearing hat and gloves when leaving the campus."She said most of the social life centered around the two literary societies.[Edgar Allan Poe Society and Sydney Lanier Society] Everyone was a member of these societies. "We produced some very fine plays and musicals and we had a good time," she recalls.
In 1917 Mrs. Bennett began teaching in Louisburg for $50 a month, with two thirds of that going toward room and board. She was there for six years and then taught in Whitakers, Kernersville, and the suburbs of Rocky Mount. Every summer she attended summer school on loans, using a life insurance policy as collateral. "I saw the handwriting on the wall and knew it was just a matter of time before a degree was going to be a requirement for teaching, so in the summer of 1927 I returned to campus and finished my degree with the class of '28," she said.
It is with this Class of '28 which Mrs. Bennett has had a close association over the years. [In 1982] there are 39 of the 49 members of the class living and for the past ten years they have had annual reunions.Throughout the year they keep in touch and if a member is ill or needs assistance, other classmates offer help.Miss Emma Hooper was their English teacher and class advisor and they keep in touch with Miss Hooper at her retirement home in Tennessee.
Although being nearly ten years older than many of her classmates (due to the teaching years between the diploma and work on the degree) Mrs. Bennett has no problem keeping up with her class and in some ways out-distances them.Since her husband's death in 1948, Elizabeth Bennett has become a dance expert. Her early interest in dance began when she introduced her school children to square dancing. She would attend national dance clinics and get new ideas to teach her students. In 1960 the Folk and Square Dance Federation of North Carolina was formed and it was in 1979 that Mrs. Bennett was the first person named to the Federation's hall of fame.Recently she has worked with the Burlington Recreation Center conducting dance classes.
Elizabeth Bennett's love for dancing goes back to her days as a farm girl when many people frowned upon this form of entertainment. While a student at ECTC, there were no boys (although according to the charter it was a co-ed school) so, "When we had dancing, I took the part of the boy," she said.
She explains there are seven basic rhythms; walking, running, hopping, skipping, jumping, sliding, and galloping and you turn these into dance patterns. International folk dancing is her favorite, although it is not done in her area.In 1966 she traveled in Europe for three weeks and attended the Annual Square Dance Convention in Germany. "Most people do not care to learn international square dancing," she remarked, "because it has involved footwork and takes long to learn." Concerning western style square dancing in the United States, she said, "it has spread like wild fire (in large part due to records and magazines) to the point where in North Carolina, for instance, we seldom find a hall large enough to accommodate everyone who wants to attend."
Mrs. Bennett doesn't let infirmities like a broken hip on two occasions hold her back. "Dancing is the last activity I plan to give up, and I plan to live to 100," said the 86 year young woman. In the past few years she has attempted to get senior citizens interested in recreation dancing, but admits it has been a struggle. "I want to get them away from the television set and moving on their feet," she said. "I'm just trying to do what the doctor recommends you know, because they will tell you that next to walking, dancing is the best thing."
Of course Mrs. Bennett does her share of walking and dancing, but she also does a large share of driving as she has nearly 200,000 miles on her classic 1952 Studebaker. She remarked that it was the first of the automatic transmissions and is now being redone to put it in mint condition.
Although she said she had purely selfish reasons in her campaign before the state legislature to improve the benefits for retired teachers, the outcome has improved the lot for all in the Retired School Personnel organization. "I received my first retirement check in 1961 and it was for $37.14 and this was for 34 years of teaching."
Mrs. Bennett encouraged retired school teachers to write letters to their representatives and she visited many of the legislators in their Raleigh offices to make them aware of the plight of the pensioners.
A bill was passed which allowed teachers to pick up service prior to the enactment of the state retirement law.Career teachers who had taught 10 years were allowed $75 a month.
There was only one period of time in Mrs. Bennett's life when she was not in the teaching profession and that was the eight and a half years she was executive secretary for the Rutherford County Red Cross.Some of these years were during World War II when the Red Cross came to the aid of local servicemen and their families. "The most difficult part of that job was when I had to give the dreadful news to parents," she said.
Naturally a person like Mrs. Bennett who has lived a life of service should aptly receive recognition.In addition to the Hall of Fame honor, Mrs. Bennett has also received the Outstanding Alumni Award from ECU and has had a scholarship named in her honor by the Eta Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa.
