Henry Clark Bridgers, Jr.

Henry Clark Bridgers, Jr.. Image Source: East Carolina Manuscript Collection # 0558-b8-ff. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56710

Henry Clark Bridgers served on the ECTC board for 17 years, from 1926–1943, one of the longest and most eventful tenures in East Carolina’s history. First, Bridgers witnessed in the late 1920s the completion of an era of expansion in campus size, faculty numbers, and student enrollment. Then, with the Great Depression, he saw the school enroll increasing numbers of young men beginning a process of gender transformation that would lead to ECTC becoming, by 1950, a truly coeducational school. In 1934, following the passing of Robert H. Wright (1870–1934), the founding president of the school, Bridgers assisted in board in its selection of Dr. Leon R. Meadows (1884–1953) as Wright’s successor. Bridgers, himself adept at tennis, golf, and shooting, was likely pleased to see ECTC developing a men’s athletic program in competition with other nearby schools. Finally, however, Bridgers’ final year as a trustee saw the beginning of a scandal at ECTC, one that eventually prompted President Meadows’ resignation, his arrest, conviction, and imprisonment for misuse of student funds.

Bridgers was born in Hilma, the Bridgers’ rural family home located in what is now west Tarboro. Bridgers attended schools in Tarboro and then later studied at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed a law degree at UNC in 1895 and then returned to Tarboro to join the practice his father, John L. Bridgers (1850–1932) had established. An avid golfer, he soon converted part of his father’s homeplace into a golf course, later known as the Hilma Country Club (now closed), one of the first in the state.

Bridgers’ relatives were leaders in the development of rail transport in eastern North Carolina. His father served as counsel for the Atlantic Coast Line Railway and his uncle, Robert Rufus Bridgers (1819–1888), helped construct and then served as president of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad. With his family’s backing, H. C. Bridgers orchestrated, in 1898, the construction of the East Carolina Railway, running from Tarboro to Farmville where it linked with the Norfolk Southern line. In addition to serving as its president, Bridgers was the local counsel for the Southern Railway. Like his uncle, Bridgers also had substantial interests in banking and in 1913 was named president of the First National Bank in Tarboro. A well-respected and highly successful businessman, Bridgers served as president of ten other eastern North Carolina companies.

Sources

• Bridgers, Jr., H. C. “Bridgers, Henry Clark.” NCPedia. From the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, edited by William S. Powell. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/bridgers-henry-clark
• “College Board Holds Session: Takes Steps Looking to Putting in Effect Building Work at Greenville.” News and Observer. April 15, 1927. P. 11.
• “East Carolina Railway Train Car.” 1918. East Carolina Manuscript Collection # 0558-b8-ff-i17. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/944
• “Henry Clark Bridgers, Jr., Papers, 1870-1981.” Manuscript Collection # 558. J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/0558
• “Henry Clark Bridgers, Sr.” East Carolina Manuscript Collection # 0558-b8-ff. J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56710
• “Hilma.” 1890. East Carolina Manuscript Collection # 0727-b1-fc-i8. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/747
• John Luther Bridgers Papers, 1861-1872. Southern Historical Collection # 03020-z. Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/b/Bridgers,John_Luther.html
• “Letter from W. G. Elliott to Henry Clark Bridgers.” East Carolina Manuscript Collection # 0558-b1-fa. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/1232
• “North Carolina Railroads – East Carolina Railway/Railroad.” 2018. J.D. Lewis. PO Box 1188. Little River, S. C. 29566 https://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_east_carolina_railway.html
• “Select Acting College Head: Trustees Name Meadows for Temporary President of Greenville School.” News and Observer. May 3, 1934. P. 2.
• “Trustees of E.C.T.C. Hold Regular Meeting.” News and Observer. December 19, 1936. P. 10
• Turner, Joseph Kelly and Bridgers, John Luther. History of Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Raleigh, Edwards & Broughton Printing Company, 1920. https://archive.org/details/historyofedgecom00turn

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