Kate Reynolds Beckwith

Image Source: Portrait of Kate Reynolds Beckwith, Lady Principal of East Carolina Teachers Training School from 1909-1925. Date approximated.

Kate Reynolds Beckwith was a charter member of the faculty and “lady principal” at ECTTS and then ECTC, serving the school, in effect, as the dean of women – though she never held that title as such – during the pivotal years from its opening in 1909 until her retirement, due to ill health, in 1926. While the school was coeducational from the start, as Beckwith so memorably observed it became a de facto women’s school as “the male ingredient … progressed to actual self-annihilation” … having realized that “the Training School [was] … neither a stumbling block nor yet a stepping-stone to Pulpit, Bar or Dissecting room.” As the female student body remained dominant until the 1930s, Beckwith’s position as an officer of the school, second only to President Robert H. Wright, was extraordinary. Her work toward maintaining high academic standards as well as suitable decorum among the student body on campus and in the community was crucial in establishing for the new school an exemplary reputation.

A native of Fredericks Hill, Virginia and a descendent of the two prominent families (Duke and Reynolds), Beckwith was educated at the Virginia Woman’s College in Richmond. She later moved to North Carolina, where she married, in 1889, Sidney Thomas Beckwith (1864-1897), a Washington, N.C. attorney. During the decade that followed, Beckwith had one child, a daughter, and taught in the public schools of eastern North Carolina. Tragically, her husband passed away in March 1897, shortly before he was to announce his candidacy for the First District congressional seat. Following her loss, Beckwith took successive positions first as a faculty member with Louisburg Female College, then as lady principal of Columbia College in South Carolina, and then as principal of Swan Quarter High School. In 1908, she accepted a position as associate principal of the American College of Aesthetics in Florence, Italy. However, the next year, 1909, Beckwith joined the ECTC faculty as a founding member, where she remained until retirement.

While at East Carolina, Beckwith was exceptionally active in the community. She was a member of the First Methodist Church of Washington, N.C., the Greenville Woman’s Club, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the King’s Daughters, and the American Red Cross. In 1915-1916, she served as chair of the ECTTS faculty committee supporting the construction of a public library for Greenville.

During WWI, Beckwith succeeded Mrs. R. R. (Sallie Southall) Cotten as chair of the First Congressional District in the North Carolina Division of the Council of National Defense tasked with recruiting student nurses for service in army camps and hospitals. And Beckwith chaired the Women’s Division of the Pitt County Liberty Loan Committee, and the Finance Committee of the Pitt County Unit of National Defense. She also served as Pitt County chair of the Red Cross. Known for her intelligence and eloquence, Beckwith often gave public addresses during WWI on important roles women could play. She also offered a course on patriotic speaking open to those on campus.

Beckwith oversaw the student body of the teacher training program expand from an initial 176 students to over 500. Former university historian Mary Jo Bratton described Beckwith’s role as follows: “Not only was she charged with guarding [students’] morals and well-being, she was also expected to imbue them with the social graces and maidenly decorum appropriate for a Southern lady in the role of a professional woman. During the Progressive Era, this was no simple task, but rather a challenge that embraced the paradox of retaining the posture of traditional and proper feminine dependency while fostering the competency and independence that were essential for a teaching career.” Following her retirement, Miss Annie Morton of Beaufort assumed the position as lady principal, later reconceptualized as dean of women.

At the second ECTC Founders Day held on Saturday, March 4, 1933, Beckwith was invited back to campus to participate in the celebration as “the guest of honor.” The second half of the program that day, devoted to honoring Beckwith, climaxed with the dedication and planting of a tree in her honor. Three alumnae – Mrs. Louella Lancaster Stancill of Falkland, Mrs. L. P. Thomas of Farmville, and Mrs. Charles M. Warren of Raleigh – offered tributes of appreciation. Dr. Leon Meadows honored Beckwith with an address, “The Meaning of Planting a Tree and Dedicating It to Someone.” In his talk, Meadows, who had worked closely with Beckwith during the early years of the school, outlined what he called the “five qualities of the first lady principal, her industry, culture, love of the beautiful, sympathy and loyalty.”

After retiring, Beckwith lived with her daughter, Mrs. Hansford D. Tyler, in Miami, Florida, until her own passing, age 84, in March 1948. She was buried in Oakdale Cemetery, Washington, N.C. In October of 1950, ECTC erected a granite structure with a bronze marker at the entryway to campus, the Beckwith Gateway, between the Library (now Whichard) and the Administration Building (now Spilman), off Fifth Street honoring Beckwith. These remembrances, at the second Founders Day and then in stone at an entrance to the campus, are testaments to the impact Beckwith had on the student body and its sense of service to the community.

Sources

• Beckwith, Kate R. “A Year of Student Government.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 8, no. 3. April, May, June 1921. Pp. 205-206. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37031
• Beckwith, Kate R. “The Spirit That Pervades the Dormitory.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 7, no. 1. October, November, December 1919. Pp. 20-24. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37025
• Bratton, Mary Jo Jackson. East Carolina University: The Formative Years, 1907-1982. Greenville, N.C.: ECU Alumni Association, 1986.
• “College To Keep Founder’s Day.” Charlotte News. February 7, 1933. P. 7.
• “East Carolina Teachers Training School.” Tar Heel (Elizabeth City). August 20, 1909. P. 6.
• “ECTC Erects Marker Honoring Late Dean.” Rocky Mount Telegram. October 8, 1950. P. 8.
• “ECTC Projects Are Announced.” News and Observer. October 16, 1949. P. 6.
• “Faculty Members Working for Library.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 2, no. 3. October, November, December 1915. Pp. 248-249. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37009
• “Faculty News.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 4, no. 3. October, November, December 1917. Pp. 283. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37017
• “Faculty Notes.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 7, no. 1. October, November, December 1919. P. 83. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37025
• “Founders Day Plans Completed.” Teco Echo. February 22, 1933. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38001
• “Founders’ Day At Teachers’ College.” News and Observer. March 3, 1933. P. 5.
• Kate Beckwith. University Archives # PAB619. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, North Carolina. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/23227
• “Mrs. Beckwith Gives Course in Patriotic Speaking.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 5, no. 2. July, August, September 1918. Pp. 212-213. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37020
• “Mrs. Beckwith Is Accorded Honors.” Miami News. March 26, 1933. P. 20.
• “Mrs. Beckwith Leaves.” Teco Echo. Dec. 19, 1925. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37803
• “Mrs. Beckwith to Leave Washington.” Washington Progress. June 15, 1898. P. 3.
• “Mrs. K. R. Beckwith.” News and Observer. February 18, 1948. P. 5.
• “Mrs. Kate R. Beckwith.” News and Observer. February 16, 1948. P. 8.
• “Mrs. Kate R. Beckwith.” News and Observer. February 19, 1948. P. 17.
• “Mrs. K. R. Beckwith Succeeds Mrs. Cotten.” Greenville News. July 19, 1918. P. 1.
• “New Addition to the Faculty of Louisburg Female College.” Franklin Times. June 17, 1898. P. 3.
• “Red Cross Work of the Year.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 5, no. 1. April, May, June 1918. P. 131. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37019
• “Red Cross workroom at East Carolina Teachers Training School.” University Archives # 50.03.5.1.175. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/908
• “Series Of Projects Announced For Year By ECTC Alumni.” Rocky Mount Telegram. October 15, 1949. P. 2.
• “Spilman Building and Beckwith Gateway.” Date: 1975. University Archives # UA55.01.1086. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/23049
• “State News.” Rocky Mount Record. February 6, 1908. P. 4.
• “The New Lady Principal.” Teco Echo. December 19, 1925. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37803
• “The Professor of Poise.” East: The Magazine of East Carolina University. Fall 2010. P. 60. https://issuu.com/eastcarolina/docs/east_fall10
• “War Work by Mrs. Beckwith.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 5, no. 1. April, May, June 1918. Pp. 123-124. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37019
• “War Work of Faculty Members.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 5, no. 3. October, November, December 1918. P. 296. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37021

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