Isaac Jackson “Jack” Edwards, Jr.

Isaac Jackson "Jack" Edwards, Jr.. Image Source: East Carolina Yearbooks, Buccaneer, 1961. UA50-01. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Isaac Jackson “Jack” Edwards completed a graduate degree at ECC, taught part-time in the Business Department, and served as director of Placement Services before assuming his most enduring role as a community-minded businessman helping to uplift Greenville’s eastern center bordering the campus’ west end. Through his efforts as one of Greenville’s premier Pirate-minded businessmen, Edwards contributed to a meaningful extension of college and then university culture into the town’s center and a renaissance in innovative partnerships between the campus and the community. The dynamic synergy earlier dominated by politicians and tobacconists, now, with Edwards’ leadership and then that of his progeny emerged as a multifaceted expression of book-culture, Pirate-culture, and art-and-architecture-culture, decisively upgrading Greenville, in the 1970s and beyond, as one of the truest expressions of a “college-town” in the state and region.

A native of Charlotte, Edwards was born June 11, 1924, to Isaac Jackson Edwards, Sr., and his wife Glena. His family soon moved to Greenville enabling Edwards to attend Greenville City Schools and, in 1942, graduate from Greenville High School. His father had an auto supply store near the town center and the Edwards family lived, early on, at 219 Eastern Street, resulting in his strong ties as a youth to downtown Greenville. After graduating from high school, Edwards served in the U.S. Army during WWII and by the age 20, had earned the rank of Second Lieutenant. After the war, Edwards began his undergraduate studies at UNC and in 1947, married Rachel Fleming. He graduated from UNC in 1949 with a bachelor’s in journalism.

Edwards initially rejoined his family’s Greenville business, Edwards Auto Supply, first as a manager, and then assumed ownership in 1960. After completing a master’s in business at East Carolina the same year, he taught as a part-time instructor in the Business Department before being named, by the newly installed college president, Dr. Leo W. Jenkins, to an administrative position as director of Placement Services.

In 1963, however, Edwards went into business, opening a book store, the Book Barn, just a block away from the west end of campus at the corner of Fifth and Cotanche Streets, catering primarily to the East Carolina clientele. In 1966, during East Carolina’s drive for university status led by his old boss, Leo Jenkins, Edwards and the Book Barn did their part by selling special edition purple bumper plates with gold “E.C.U.” lettering. The Book Barn also supported the arts by offering tickets for a local tour of homes with proceeds going to the Greenville Museum of Art.

In 1968 coinciding with East Carolina’s new status as a university, Edwards echoed that accomplishment by opening a new and grander business, the University Book Exchange, now commonly known as U.B.E. The sizable store steadily grew to become one of the most successful privately owned college bookstores in the state and region. In the meantime, the Book Barn expanded to nearly four times its original floor space, encompassing much of the block between Cotanche and Evans Streets. In 1973, Edwards opened Art and Camera Shop handling photographic and art supplies and equipment. That store soon branched into a framing shop and an art gallery accommodating senior shows by ECU art students. Notably, rather than demolishing Greenville’s older buildings and replacing them with new construction, Edwards repurposed existing structures thereby helping to preserve the architectural and historic character of the downtown area.

In 1974, Edwards’ son, Don, graduated from UNC and quickly emerged as the new, charismatic voice of the family business and its close ties to the academic, artistic, and athletic dimensions of the university. In 1981, the father-son team announced the establishment of six academic scholarships along with plans to increase the number annually. The younger Edwards noted that his family had been “privileged to be in a position to put something back into academics at the university in a way of appreciation.”

With his son’s leadership, Jack Edwards’ legacy of building an academically and artistically informed business district adjoining the university, devoted to its academic needs and its varied cultural expressions, grew phenomenally in the opening decades of the twenty-first century. It was, incidentally, Don Edwards who served as chair of the redevelopment commission in 2004 as the Tenth Street Connector moved towards reality and the city focused, in close coordination with the university, on growing a pedestrian-friendly living and working environment. He also was one of the forces behind the more positive reconceptualization of downtown Greenville as Uptown Greenville.

Throughout his life, Jack Edwards was an influential civic leader. An avid Rotarian, Edwards served as the governor of District 773 (1980-1981) and as one of the founders of the Greenville Noon Rotary Club. He was also a charter member of the Century Club, now the Pirate Club, and served as president of both the Pirate Club and the ECU Foundation. He was a lifetime member of the Pirate Club, member of the Chancellor's Society, and the Order of the Cupola.

Along with Leo Jenkins, Edwards was a charter member of St. James United Methodist Church. Honoring his innovative contributions, the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce named Edwards “Citizen of the Year” and “Small Business Leader of the Year.” The Boy Scouts of America also honored Edwards as “Man of the Year.” And on any number of counts, Edwards stands as one of the most multifaceted and creative exemplars of East Carolina’s distinctive motto of service to the greater good.

Sources:

• “A Growth Business At Campus Edge Is Helping ECU’s Students.” Rocky Mount Telegram. November 12, 1982. P. 5.
• “Auto Tags Ready.” Rocky Mount Telegram. August 10, 1966. P. 15.
• Brooks, Emmie. “Uptown Greenville: A transformation story.” North State Journal. September 18, 2019. https://nsjonline.com/article/2019/09/uptown-greenville-a-transformation-story/
• Coble, Dorothy. “Shadow of Exams Creeps Over Schools, Colleges: Jack Edwards of Greenville Heads N.C. Student Council Congress.” News and Observer. December 1, 1940. P. 6.
• “Director Named.” News and Observer. July 8, 1960. P. 32.
• “Director of Placement Services: Mr. Jack Edwards.” Buccaneer. 1961. P. 25. Also, “School of Business.” P. 30.
• Drake, Jackie. “Town and gown work in tandem.” East: The Magazine of East Carolina University. Fall 2015. P. 25. https://issuu.com/eastcarolina/docs/east_fall15_issuu
• Drescher, John. “East Carolina wants respect off field, too.” Charlotte Observer. December 30, 1991. Pp. 1, 4.
• “EC Selects Placement Director.” Rocky Mount Telegram. July 7, 1960. P. 5A.
• Green Lights. 1942 (Greenville High School) Yearbook. Pp. 8, 11, 13, 25, 26, 27, 30, 45.
• “Greenville Homes Opened for Tour.” News and Observer. March 15, 1964. P. 12-I.
• “Greenville Tour Of Homes, April 16-17.” Rocky Mount Telegram. April 9, 1964. P. 12.
• “Jack Edwards.” Yackety Yack. 1949 University of North Carolina Yearbook. Pp. 62, 334.
• “Jack Edwards Assumes Position As Director Of Placement.” East Carolinian. July 21, 1960. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38667
• Kammerer, Roger. “Uptown Revisited: The Montgomery Ward-Belk Tyler Building.” Greenville Times. Vol. 29 Issue 6, May 4-June 1, 2011. P. 5.
• “Obituaries: Jack Edwards.” News and Observer. April 10, 2007. P. 8B.
• “Pirate Radio Podcasts 9-10-2020 – Don Edwards, owner of University Book Exchange (U.B.E.).” https://soundcloud.com/user-306843198/pirate-radio-podcasts-9-10-2020-don-edwards-owner-of-university-book-exchange-ube
• “Plates Say ‘ECU’.” Durham Sun. August 11, 1966. P. 33.
• Walton, A. J. “City plans presented to senate: Issues, concerns raised.” East Carolinian. November 9, 2004. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/59554

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