Henry Clay Oglesby was the first male student to graduate with a four-year degree from East Carolina Teachers College. While there had been men on campus during the Training School era, from 1909-1921, the school did not offer four-year degrees at that point, so there were no graduates with a bachelor’s degree, male or female. Once East Carolina became a teachers college in 1921, a four-year program was implemented and soon came to prevail as the main curriculum for ECTC students. However, by that point, men had disappeared from campus, leaving the school a de facto girls school. In 1930, a group of young men, including Henry C. Oglesby, enrolled as degree-seeking students. Oglesby, a native of Kinston, had earlier attended Wake Forest College. With his transfer credits, he was able to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in 1932, thus becoming the first man to graduate from East Carolina Teachers College. Oglesby was also reportedly the first manager of the men’s basketball team and the first male student to appear in a senior play.
After graduating from ECTC, Oglesby married Rachel Frances Patrick (1908-1985) and became principal of Grifton High School in Pitt County. During WWII, Oglesby served in the U.S. Army, enlisting in the spring of 1943, and remaining in service until his release in fall of 1945. After WWII, Oglesby moved from teaching to politics, becoming secretary and later administrative assistant to First District Congressman Herbert C. Bonner. During his twenty years of service to Congressman Bonner, 1945-1965, Oglesby of course lived in Washington, D.C., but remained active in service to his eastern North Carolina and his alma mater. In 1949, he was elected president of the North Carolina Democratic Club of Washington.
In 1951, he was elected president of the East Carolina College Alumni Association. In 1959, Governor Luther Hodges appointed Oglesby to an eight-year term on the ECC board of trustees. Upon the abrupt resignation of President John Messick in late 1959, Oglesby was appointed, along with Henry Belk of Goldsboro and Charles Larkins of Kinston, to a committee charged with finding a new president for East Carolina College. Dr. Leo W. Jenkins was soon selected. Oglesby’s role in the elevation of Jenkins as Messick’s successor was one of his most noteworthy contributions to East Carolina history.
Following Bonner’s death in 1965, Oglesby was mentioned as a possible candidate for the office but declined to run. Walter B. Jones, Sr. of Farmville was subsequently elected to the seat. In the years following Bonner’s passing, Oglesby remained active in North Carolina Democratic Party politics, serving on the N.C. Democratic Platform and Resolutions Committee in the early 1970s. Oglesby also served on the State Democratic Executive Committee. He was also appointed to serve on the North Carolina Highway Commission in 1972. Through his distinguished career as an educator and political administrator, Oglesby set a high bar of achievement for East Carolina graduates, male and female.
Sources
- “Dean Weaver Among Those Recommended for ECC Presidency.” The Daily Tar Heel. Nov. 10, 1959. P. 1.
- “Democrats Set Platform Hearings.” Asheville Citizen-Times. April 16, 1972. P. 26.
- “First Alumnus to Head Alumni.” The High Point Enterprise. May 20, 1951. P. 19.
- “Four Named to ECC Board.” Statesville Record and Landmark. Aug. 31, 1959. P. 8.
- “Henry C. Oglesby.” University Archives 55.01.00.3672. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/23356
- “Henry Oglesby New ECC Alumni Prexy.” Rocky Mount Telegram. May 5, 1951. P. 7.
- “Members Selected.” Statesville Record and Landmark. Feb. 14, 1972. P. 11.
- “New Highway Commissioners Sworn In.” Rocky Mount Telegram. June 29, 1972. P. 1.
- “Oglesby to Head Washington’s N.C. Democratic Club.” The Robesonian. Dec. 20, 1949. P. 10.
- “Seek Successor to Dr. Messick.” Rocky Mount Telegraph. Oct. 26, 1959. P. 1.
Citation Information
Title: Henry Clay Oglesby
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 6/25/2019