An Era of Progression:
The College Transformation, ECTC 1921-1951

---

Brochure for the second of four exhibits created for the ECU Centennial. The exhibit was on display in the Special Collections Department September 2006 - February 2007.

See also items which were featured on display:

Exhibit Case 1: ECTC 1921-1951
Exhibit Case 2: The Campus
Exhibit Case 3: The Presidents
Exhibit Case 4: Student Publications
Exhibit Cases 5 & 6: Student Life
Exhibit Case 7: Athletics

---

AN ERA OF PROGRESSION --
THE COLLEGE TRANSFORMATION:
EAST CAROLINA TEACHERS COLLEGE
1921-1951

East Carolina Teachers College

East Carolina Teachers Training School quickly outgrew its simple, 1907 beginnings. The institution needed to expand in order to accommodate the growing student population and interest in a BA degree program. ECTTS was renamed East Carolina Teachers College in 1921 and began to offer four-year degree programs. It was at this time that student enrollment reached 1,000. Later, in 1929, ECTC approved its first MA program. The last students of the two-year Normal Program graduated in 1937.

The physical makeup of the campus changed as well. Two new dormitories (Cotten and Fleming) were built in addition to the library (Whichard), the Student Building (Ragsdale), Graham and Flanagan Buildings, Davis Arboretum, and the Garage. The Trustees also purchased the Haywood Dail house (which later became the home for ECU chancellors) and constructed College Stadium.

Throughout the '20s and '30s, the growth of the ECTC community led to many advances in student life. The YWCA produced a Student Handbook and several student organizations were formed. ECTC was also honored by visits from such notable persons as Amelia Earhart (just before her disappearance) and Eleanor Roosevelt. The college also began to participate in intercollegiate athletics and a point system for acquiring letter sweaters was incorporated. In 1934, the sports teams (first known as the ECTC "teachers") adopted a new name—the East Carolina "PIRATES."

Just as we were adopting the name that would forever become synonymous with our East Carolina identity, East Carolina Teachers College lost its pioneering visionary. Dr. Robert Wright died in 1934 and was replaced by Dr. Leon Meadows as president of the college. During its time as ECTC, the campus would be served by five different presidents: Robert Wright, Leon Meadows, Howard McGinnis, Dennis Cooke, and John Messick.

Student activities and campus participation changed throughout the ECTC years just like the rest of the institution. The College Band was organized in 1938 (what we now know as the ECU Marching Pirates). A theater group was formed (predecessor of the Loessin Playhouse), a detachment of the AFROTC was implemented, and male student enrollment finally surpassed female enrollment after World War II. Interestingly, the SGA split (men and women) in 1934 and then merged to again act as one governing body in 1943. ECTC also began a Greek community on campus by sanctioning the Zeta Delta chapter of the Alpha Iota sorority in 1940.

For thirty years, our Teachers College grew, flourished, changed, and expanded before once more reinventing itself as East Carolina College in 1951.

ECTC and the War Effort

The college was heavily involved in supporting American forces overseas in World War II. Hundreds of students, faculty, and alumni were called into duty, and those that remained on campus fought valiantly on the homefront. The Alumni Association donated a service flag to be hung in the Austin Building while the college sold its WWI cannon for scrap metal. Dr. Meadows completed the transaction by saying, "We send it back to Hitler, with love."

As the war progressed, campus efforts continued to be a part of daily student life. Female students knitted hundreds of sweaters and rolled mountains of surgical dressing for the Red Cross. They were also trained for first-aid and electrical patrol in the dorms and infirmary during black-outs. Male students entering active service (or the reserves) were offered a new class as part of their ECTC curriculum -- Meteorology and Navigation. Student organizations raised money to buy war bonds which would later be turned into a "Victory Loan Fund" for future students.

Dr. Meadows further supported ECTC’s efforts by encouraging the students at the training school to develop victory gardens. He also aided the campus in relieving the gasoline and tire shortage by suspending Homecoming, Thanksgiving break, and the spring holidays for the duration of the war.

East Carolina was also the only educational institution in the nation to have doubled its government quota for trained Civilian Aviation Auxiliary students.

Student Handbook Rules

ECTC began circulating a Student Handbook in 1926. These handbooks were printed by the YWCA and contained a listing of rules, regulations, and student privileges to be observed on campus. Below are listed a few of these rules and the year they were included in the handbook.

• Students must wear hats when shopping or calling. (1926-27)
• Students may go to the Picture Show once a week. The picture must be approved by the Advisory Board of the Student Council. (1926-27)
• Students may have company twice a month, on Saturdays or Sundays. (1927-28)
• Each student is responsible for keeping her room in order. Rooms are inspected regularly by the matrons. (1929-30)
• Students may leave the campus with a brother twenty-one years or older, or sister eighteen years or older. (1932-33)
• Shorts are not to be worn in parlors, offices, on front campus or on the street. (1950-51)

Alma Mater

Praise to your name so fair,
Dear old East Carolina.
Your joys we’ll all share
And your friends we’ll ever be.
We pledge our loyalty,
And our hearts devotion.
To thee our Alma Mater,
Love and Praise.

-- Harold McDougle, ‘44

---

I would like to offer a special thanks to Suellyn Lathrop, University Archivist, for her much needed assistance in navigating the materials in Archives for this exhibit. Her patience, knowledge, and resourcefulness were a tremendous asset in developing this exhibit.

CREDITS

• Exhibit Curator: Adrienne Dunning Rea

SOURCES

• All exhibit items and photos are from the University Archives collections of Joyner Library unless otherwise noted.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Call: 252-328-6671 or 2661
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/spclcoll/index.cfm

Individuals with disabilities, requesting accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), should contact the Department for Disability Support Services at (252) 328-6799 (V) or (252) 328-0899 (TTY)