James Lester Griffin

James Lester Griffin. Image Source: From the News and Observer, April 27, 1922, p. 31.

In addition to serving on the ECTC board of trustees from 1926–1930, James Lester Griffin also served as a trustee of Wake Forest College (then, located north of Raleigh). He also worked as a cashier and then later as director of the Bank of Pittsboro. As an ECTC trustee, Griffin helped guide the school through a period of extraordinary growth which witnessed the construction of successive new buildings on the east end of campus as well a growth in student enrollment and faculty ranks.

Notably, Griffin served on the newly created Committee for Salaries and Institutional Policies — along with Arch T. Allen (1875–1934) and Elizabeth C. Connor (1880–1937) — that helped to adjudicate criteria for differentials in faculty pay reflecting levels of graduate education completed, degrees earned, and years in service to East Carolina. In effect, the committee provided administrative sanction at a high level for better pay for newly hired faculty with doctorates, most of whom were men, than for many older, longer-serving faculty, most of whom were women, who had, by comparison, less graduate training but more years in service.

Griffin was born in Pittsboro, N. C., attended local public schools before studying at Wake Forest College from 1893–1895. He later served as principal of Siler City High School and then superintendent of the Chatham County Public Schools. From 1902–1922, he was clerk of the Superior Court of Chatham County, before being elected, in 1922, to serve as state senator from the Thirteenth District.

Sources

• Bratton, Mary Jo Jackson. East Carolina University: The Formative Years, 1907–1982. Greenville, N.C.: East Carolina University Alumni Association, 1986.
• Griffin, James L. “Banks to Make Business Safe: No Conflict of Interest between Stockholders and Customers.” News and Observer. April 27, 1922. P. 31.
• “James L. Griffin Claimed by Death.” Charlotte Observer. November 12, 1930. P. 17.
• “James L. Griffin Dies at Pittsboro: Well Known Citizen of Chatham County Passes; Funeral Today.” News and Observer. November 13, 1930. P. 15.

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