Patricia “Pattie” Simmons Dowell (1891-1975) was the first student to register at East Carolina Teachers Training School in the fall of 1909. Two years later, in May 1911, she became the first student to be awarded a diploma, making her the first to graduate out of the first graduating class at ECTTS. At the May 23, 1911 commencement, presided over by Josephus Daniels, editor of the News and Observer, Superintendent for Public Instruction, James Yadkin Joyner and Gov. Thomas J. Jarvis, Dowell spoke briefly on behalf of her class in presenting the school with $112.50 as the nucleus for a Loan Fund for students. Dowell explained that she and the other twelve ladies in the graduating class wanted to express in concrete form their appreciation of what the school had done for them.
Dowell later became the first graduate of ECTTS to earn a bachelors degree, completed at Peabody College in 1927. Prior to that, she taught briefly at ECTC, 1923-1924. She subsequently earned a masters degree, at North Carolina State College in 1933. Dowell was also the first ECTTS student to earn a doctorate, finishing her Ed.D. at New York University in 1945.
Dowell served as one of the organizers and the founding president of the Wake County ECTTS Alumni Association. During her years at ECTTS, Dowell was the founding president of the Young Women’s Christian Association. Before retiring in 1960, Dowell returned to East Carolina College as a professor of home economics.
Commenting on the gender diversity on campus, Dowell recalled, "There were men enrolled, but there was almost no exchange between them and us girls." She added, "they weren't as dedicated to teaching as we were. Everyone was expected to present the neat, well-groomed appearance that teachers should and remember that they were representatives of East Carolina." Dowell, though a leader in women’s education in the East, was very much a woman of her times in respect to her racial sensibilities. As part of an ECTC alumnae event held in 1920, she participating as one of the leaders in a minstrel show staged for the entertainment, on campus, of members of the ECTC Young Women’s Christian Association.
Dowell passed away in Raleigh, in 1975, age 84, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
Sources
- Brodie, Edward. "Pattie Dowell-East Carolina's First," The Fountainhead (Greenville, NC: Nov. 6, 1969), pp. 13, 15.
- “Commencement of East Carolina Teachers Training School.” The News Dispatch. June 1, 1911. P. 2.
- “Dr. Wright Speaks At First Service.” Greenville News. June 20, 1921. P. 1.
- “Finals at the Training School.” Charlotte Observer. May 24, 1911. P. 9.
- “E.C.T.T.S. Alumnae Organize.” News and Observer. September 26, 1920. P. 17.
- "Pattie Dowell." Date: 1924 | Identifier: 50-01-1924-24. Tecoan. 50-01-1924-24 University Archives. Digital Collections. Joyner Library, East Carolina University. Persistent URL: https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/24051
Citation Information
Title: Patricia Simmons Dowell
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 6/25/2019