Arthur Linwood Tyler

Arthur Lynwood Tyler. Image Source: https://www.newspapers.com/image/336673272/?terms=ARthur%20Tyler&match=1

Governor Robert Gregg Cherry (1891–1957) appointed Arthur L. Tyler to the ECTC board in 1947 as he, Cherry, purged pro-Meadows trustees from the board. Gov. Cherry’s choice of Tyler, a highly successful and largely self-made businessman, indicated his, Cherry’s, preference for high integrity in administering East Carolina’s financial affairs. Tyler was reappointed in 1953 by Governor William Bradley Umstead (1895–1954) to another six-year term. During his tenure as a trustee, East Carolina moved beyond the Meadows scandal of the mid-1940s and into a new era of phenomenal growth as a growing number of WWII veterans empowered by the GI Bill decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree at ECTC. Unprecedented growth in student numbers, especially male students, led to continual increases in faculty ranks as well as new funding for dorms and other campus buildings to accommodate the growing student body. In recognition of East Carolina’s successful growth, and its newly found stable leadership in Dr. John D. Messick, the new president, and his popular assistant, Dr. Leo W. Jenkins (1913–1989), the state legislature upgraded East Carolina’s curricular mission from that of a teachers college to a four-year liberal arts college with a focus on teacher training.

Throughout the 1950s and especially as chair of the board from 1955–1959, Tyler strongly supported increased state funding for East Carolina and readily used his clout as a highly respected and well-connected business leader for the sake of enhancing funding. In one of his more pointed statements, Tyler suggested that the state legislature was discriminating against East Carolina in not providing it with funding equitable with other state schools such as the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State College (now, NCSU). In advocating increased funding for ECC, Tyler and Messick worked closely together through 1959. That year, Tyler’s term expired and Messick, reportedly exasperated by the parsimonious support provided by the state legislature, resigned to take a position in education in Washington, D. C.

Tyler’s election as board chair in 1955 was historic. From the school’s founding in 1907, the state superintendent of public instruction had served by virtue of his office (ex officio) as chair of East Carolina’s board. This arrangement provided for prominent, powerful chairs who gave continuity and guidance to the new school during its first five decades of development. The state superintendents who served as ex officio chairs included (1) James Yadkin Joyner (1862–1954), chair from 1907–1919; (2) Clyde Eugene Brooks (1871–1947), chair from 1919–1923; (3) Arch T. Allen (1875–1934), chair from 1923–1934; (4) Clyde Atkinson Erwin (1897–1952), chair from 1934–1952; and (5) Charles Carroll (1900–1995), chair from 1952-1955. In 1955, in recognition of East Carolina’s maturity as an institution of higher education, the state legislature changed this arrangement governing East Carolina’s board so board members currently serving would have the authority to elect their own chair from their ranks. Via a unanimous vote, Tyler was promptly elected chair of East Carolina’s board thus becoming the school’s first board-elected chair of the trustees.

Tyler had earlier served on the executive committee and the budget committee. In 1953, the year of his reappointment, he helped coordinate the ECC College Foundation’s incorporation for the purpose of raising an endowment fund for need-based merit scholarships. The same year, the Rocky Mount Telegram, Tyler’s hometown newspaper, praised ECC and President Messick for their desire to see East Carolina assume the proportions of a university for eastern North Carolina. While the drive for university status is often linked with Dr. Leo W. Jenkins’ presidency a decade later, it was during Messick’s administration that the idea began to circulate in eastern North Carolina and elsewhere, and no doubt the presence of well-known businessmen like Tyler on the board lent it considerable credibility.

As a board member, Tyler oversaw an exceptional expansion of the physical campus. Although scattered about the fringes from one end to the other, new construction — including College Stadium, completed on the east end in 1949; Memorial Gymnasium (now, Christenbury, dedicated in 1953) adjacent College Stadium; a new library, J. Y. Joyner Library, and a dormitory for female teachers, Erwin Hall, both dedicated in 1955, on the west end; two dormitories for men (now, Slay and Umstead), completed in 1949 and 1955, on the south-central edge of campus, and a new women’s dormitory (now, Garrett), completed in 1956, on the west end; a new classroom building (now, Rawl Building) built in 1959, on the south side of Wright Building; a new building for the performing arts (now, McGinnis), completed in 1951, toward the east end; an amphitheater dedicated to former trustee, E. G. Flanagan (1956, no longer extant), and a home economics building (now, Bloxton House, 1952), both on the southwest end — expanded the physical campus to the limits of its earlier acreage between Fifth and Tenth Streets, devouring along the way much of the natural setting that once enveloped it. One of the first additions, the Dail House (later known as the President’s House, then the Chancellor’s House) across Fifth Street from the Administration and Classroom Building (later known as Old Austin, now demolished), purchased in 1949, hinted at the post-WWII prosperity driving East Carolina’s expansion as well as the practical need for more adjacent acreage if the growth momentum were to be maintained.

East Carolina’s physical growth likewise reflected its explosive growth in student numbers: enrollment quintupled, from approximately 900 students in 1947 to nearly 5,000 by 1959. Faculty ranks swelled as well, with more male PhDs taking faculty positions than ever before. Tyler’s standing as a prominent easterner serving professionally as executive vice president of one of the largest department store chains in North Carolina at that time perhaps inspired Messick’s rise as campus CEO and that of East Carolina as a powerful, burgeoning public institution of higher education with seemingly limitless potential for service and growth. Tyler’s empire of 15 Belk-Tyler stores brought him statewide admiration but by the end of his time as board chair, East Carolina had well surpassed it, having moved from scandal and stagnation to become the growth engine of education and economic transformation in eastern North Carolina.

Yet the single most consequential matter facing the board during Tyler’s tenure pertained to growth of a different sort, that embracing greater diversity and inclusion. In 1954, the Supreme Court handed down its Brown v. Board of Education ruling declaring the Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” provision allowing racial segregation, unconstitutional. Following Brown v. Board of Education, it became clear to all that Jim Crow’s days were numbered. Still, opposition surfaced in many Southern states and in some cases violent confrontations between local opponents and federal troops sent in to enforce the Supreme Court ruling ensued. East Carolina’s struggle to comply with the Supreme Court, while by no means exemplary, avoided the worst excesses of confrontational traditionalism.

As led by Tyler, the board transitioned reluctantly yet civilly from the school’s segregationist mission of educating “young white men and women,” as East Carolina’s legislative charter had stated since 1907, to a somewhat more inclusive campus. This transition followed legislative charter revision for East Carolina and a number of other schools, one leaving the trustees no legal reason to exclude African Americans from campus. In 1957, the state legislature passed H.B. 908, Chapter 1142, repealing previous statements of “primary purpose” for East Carolina College and all other state colleges that had been racially defined as either black or white, including Western Carolina, Appalachian State, Pembroke State, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical, North Carolina Central, Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, and Winston-Salem State. The new state law, in East Carolina’s case, stated that the school’s purpose was simply “the preparation of young men and women” without any racial qualifier added.

Nevertheless, the trustees voted, in May 1957, to express their “regret” that the clause, “for young white men and women,” would be omitted from the revised charter. And at its August 1957 meeting, with Tyler chair, the board formulated a policy for responding to applications from African Americans: “the trustees authorized ECC administrative officers along with the chairman and vice chairman [of the board of trustees] to act on individual applications … at their discretion, calling a meeting of the full board if they deemed it advisable.” Evidently, the board sought to maintain, as much as possible via convoluted admission procedures, a segregated campus. Later the same year, in November 1957, with Tyler still serving as chair, the trustees instructed President Messick not to send application blanks to an African American student requesting them. And the board further toughened its application review procedure for Negro applicants, now including the full board in the review process before granting admission.

The following year, the board finally relented after student support for African American entertainers on campus swayed them. At the February 1958 meeting, the trustees with Tyler still serving as chair, voted, 7–2, that “Negro entertainers if approved by the President and other administrative officers may be brought to the campus with the distinct understanding that they are paid entertainers only with no lodging or food on campus.” Tyler stepped down from the board following the expiration of his term in 1959. Governor Luther Hodges (1898–1974) soon appointed Henry Oglesby (1908–1985) of Greenville to replace him.

Born in Richmond, Tyler had moved with his family to Henderson, N.C. in 1908 and finished high school there, second in his class. He studied at the University of North Carolina for one year but strained circumstances forced him to leave UNC to work for the support of his family. He thus resumed work with Anchor Department Stores, taking a full-time position. The store soon moved him to Rocky Mount where he ended up living for much of his life. However, with WWI, he enlisted in the Army and was stationed at Fort Jackson, S. C., with the 8th Regiment of Field Artillery from 1917–1919. He resumed work for Anchor Stores before joining, in 1931, the Belk organization. He was soon made a manager in Rocky Mount and rose quickly from there to become executive vice president of the chain, later renamed Belk-Tylers in recognition of his astute and profitable management of it during the Great Depression.

In addition to serving on East Carolina’s board, Tyler was a trustee of two private schools, St. Mary’s Junior College (now, St. Mary’s School) in Raleigh and North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount. He was one of the most generous and influential business leaders during N. C. Wesleyan’s brick-and-mortar campaign in the late 1950s. The circular main drive on the campus is named in his honor. At East Carolina, an impressive high-rise men’s dorm on the west side of College Hill Drive is named in his honor.

Sources

• “An Honor and a Challenge.” Evening Telegram. May 28, 1955. P. 4.
• “Arthur Tyler is Winner of State DSA Award.” Rocky Mount Telegram. May 14, 1967. P. 5G.
• Barringer, Bugs. “Nash and Edgecombe Goal Reached in College Drive.” News and Observer. January 29, 1957. Pp. 1, 2.
• “Belk-Tyler.” May 19, 1965. East Carolina Manuscript Collection # 0741-b36-fb-v36.b.48. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/8081; https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/8082.
• “Belk-Tyler store location [Greenville, N. C.].” May 08, 1965–May 10, 1965. East Carolina Manuscript Collection # 0741-b36-fb-v36.b.1. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/8051
• “Belk-Tyler’s work clothes.” October 13, 1965–October 14, 1965. East Carolina Manuscript Collection # 0741-b38-fa-v38.a.35. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/8573
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes, April 11, 1956.” April 11, 1956. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10261
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes, August 9, 1957.” August 9, 1957. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10260
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes, February 22, 1956.” February 22, 1956. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10267
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes, February 25, 1958.” February 25, 1958. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10269
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes, May 13, 1959.” May 13, 1959. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10263
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes, May 17, 1952.” May 17, 1952. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10264
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes, May 18, 1957.” May 18, 1957. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10265
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes May 22, 1954.” May 22, 1954. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10268
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes, November 12, 1957.” November 12, 1957. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10262
• “East Carolina College Board of Trustees minutes, November 20, 1951.” November 20, 1951. University Archives # UA01.01.01.01.04. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/10266
• “East Carolina Trustees Claim Appropriations Figures Unfair.” Evening Telegram. May 14, 1959. Pp. 1, 4.
• “ECC Fund Is Incorporated.” News and Observer. September 13, 1953. P. 3.
• “ECC Trustees Name Head.” News and Observer. July 6, 1955. P. 8.
• “ECC: A University for the East.” Evening Telegram. May 21, 1953. P. 4.
• “Female students in Tyler Hall dorm room.” October 1992. University Archives # UA55.03.1559. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/36686
• “Firemen on top of Belk-Tyler [Greenville, N. C.].” 1955. East Carolina Manuscript Collection # 0741-b8-fd-v8.d.4. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/2692
• H. B. 908. Chapter 1142. State of North Carolina Session Laws and Resolutions Passed by the General Assembly. Winston-Salem: Winston Printing Company, 1957. Pp. 1091-1096. https://ncleg.gov/Files/Library/sessionlaws/1951-1960/pubs_sessionlaws195657.pdf
• “Messick and Jenkins at a luncheon.” 1956. University Archives # UA55.01.1924. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/23171
• “Name of College to be Changed.” The Landmark (Statesville, N. C.). April 9, 1951. P. 8.
• “New ECU Dorm to be Named in Honor of Arthur L. Tyler.” Rocky Mount Telegram. September 10, 1976. Sect. B, p. 1.
• O’Keef, Herbert. “Tar Heel of the Week: Arthur L. Tyler.” News and Observer. November 13, 1955. Sect. IV, p. 3.
• Sechriest, Vernon. “Eastern Carolina’s ‘Merchant Prince’ Announces Retirement.” Rocky Mount Sunday Telegram. February 2, 1969. Sect. B, p. 1.
• “Slide of College Hill and Tyler Dormitory.” 1974. University Archives # UA55.03.21852. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/63269
• “Snow on College Hill.” 1988. University Archives # UA55.01.879. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/24075
• “Tyler Hall.” February 2000. University Archives # UA55.03.4279. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/36754
• “Tyler Named Chairman of East Carolina Board.” Evening Telegram (Rocky Mount). May 23, 1955. P. 1.
• “Tyler One of Six North Carolinians to Get Distinguished Service Award.” Evening Telegram. September 29, 1955. Sect. B, p. 1.
• “Wesleyan College Is Assured for Area; Drive Big Success.” Evening Telegram. January 29, 1957. P. 1.

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