The Training School Quarterly: A Record of Excellence
This article first appeared in East Carolina University, The Formative Years, 1907-1982. It appears here with the permission of the author,
Dr. Mary Jo Bratton.
As
East Carolina Teachers Training School began to make a place for itself
in the educational climate of North Carolina, the school's faculty and
students sought to create a publication or publications that would reflect
the excellence of the education that they were experiencing. Beginning
in 1914, a multipurpose publication was initiated to fill that need. The
Training School Quarterly was designed to serve as a professional journal
that would publish timely articles by established scholars, primarily in
the field of public school education. It also printed the major addresses
delivered at East Carolina by distinguished guest lecturers. Moreover,
it carried articles of general interest to progressive educators on both
the state and national level. The book review section was helpful, particularly
for the alumni who were anxious to keep abreast of recent educational publications.
The
Quarterly was, in fact, designed also to serve as the alumni bulletin;
a special section was devoted to news about former students. Another section
contained a record of campus events, faculty activities, and coverage of
various organizations. Each year, an extended section of the spring issue
contained the school's yearbook. This included names and pictures of the
graduates, highlights of the class history, and a detailed account of the
commencement exercises.
During
the Quarterly's ten-year life, the editors, demonstrating acute
historical consciousness, included numerous articles on the establishment
and growth of East Carolina prior to the initial volume in 1914. The 1919
fall issue contained a lively review of the first decade of operation and
featured signed articles by most principals involved. Overall, The Training
School Quarterly merited high marks in achieving its goals in every
area. Not only did it establish an exemplary standard of professionalism
for future publications, but it also became the precursor of them all--the
student yearbook, the newspaper, the alumni bulletin, student handbook,
and literature quarterly.
In reviewing the 1915 spring issue of the Quarterly, The Charlotte
Observer, called it the "finest educational publication issued in North
Carolina in recent years." The student staff was elected annually by the
members of the Poe and Lanier literary societies, and the student editor
and business
manager alternated between the two groups. A composite effort, to which
both faculty and students contributed, The Training School Quarterly
remains a testimony also to the editorial skill, descretion, and dedication
of faculty advisor and English professor Mamie Jenkins.
A complete run of the Quarterly is available in the University
Archives, providing students, faculty, and visiting scholars with
insight into the formative years of the school's development. After 1923
the Quarterly was supplanted by a variety of publications that focused
on specific aspects of life and education at East Carolina.
