Ruth Moore Johnson

Ruth Moore Johnson. Image Source: From the Durham Morning Herald, May 16, 1948. Section Three, p. 1.

Following the death of ECTC trustee William Shelburn Moye (1876–1935) in the spring of 1935, Gov. J. C. B. Erhlinghaus (1882–1949) appointed Ruth Moore Johnson of Raleigh to fill the vacant seat. At the time, Mrs. Johnson’s husband, Charles M. Johnson (1891–1964), was state treasurer, an office he had held since 1932. He continued in that capacity until 1948 when he ran, unsuccessfully, for governor. With the board appointment, Mrs. Johnson, an ECTTS alumnus (class of 1913), became the first East Carolina alumni, male or female, to serve as a trustee of the school.

Johnson remained on the board from 1935–1948, helping to guide the school through its growth as a more fully coeducational institution of higher education, then the challenges it faced during WWII as so many of the newly arrived men on campus left to join the armed forces. During that already trying time, ECTC president, Leon R. Meadows (1884–1953), resigned under the cloud of scandal. Meadows was eventually tried, convicted, and imprisoned for misuse of student funds. Nevertheless, as with the majority of the trustees during that time (and all of the female trustees), Johnson supported Meadows, sanctioning his dismissal of faculty and declaring him, Meadows, exonerated of any financial wrongdoing. In the aftermath of WWII, Johnson saw ECTC undergo marked growth largely driven by young men returning from service and taking advantage of benefits in higher education offered by the GI Bill. With the expiration of her term in 1948, Johnson was not, however, reappointed to the board.

Johnson, née Moore, grew up near Burgaw in Pender County. After graduating from ECTC, she taught English and history at Burgaw High School where she also served as assistant principal, and then later at Warsaw High School. In 1920, she married Charles Johnson, also from Burgaw. After marrying Johnson, who remained in public office for a number of years, Mrs. Johnson became active in the Raleigh Needle Work Guild, the Y.W.C.A., the Daughters of the American Revolution, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Raleigh Garden Club, the American Legion Auxiliary, the Stratford Book Club, the PTA, and the Raleigh Woman’s Club.

Sources

• “1913 Class Register.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 1, no. 4. January, February, March, 1915. Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards and Broughton Printing Co., 1915. P. 260. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37006
• “Alumnae.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 2, no. 1. April, May, June, 1915. Raleigh, N. C.: Edwards & Broughton Printing Co., 1915. P. 52. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37007
• “Alumnae.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 4, no. 3. October, November, December, 1917. Raleigh, N. C.: Edwards & Broughton Printing Co., 1917. P. 266. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37017
• “Alumnae in Attendance.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 2, no. 2. July, August, September, 1915. Raleigh, N. C.: Edwards & Broughton Printing Co., 1915. P. 156. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37008
• “Alumnae News.” Training School Quarterly. Vol. 2, no. 4. January, February, March, 1916. Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards & Broughton Printing Co., 1916. Pp. 332, 333. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37010
• “Appointed on Board.” News and Observer. April 19, 1935. P. 22.
• “Faculty of Warsaw High School Is Reelected.” News and Observer. May 5, 1915. P. 6.
• Fourth Annual Catalogue of the East Carolina Teachers Training School, 1912-1913. Greenville: The Reflector Co., Printing, 1911. P. 40. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/36984
• Gill, Edwin. “Johnson, Charles Marion.” NCPedia. From the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, edited by William S. Powell. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988.
• “Local ECTC Alumnae Chapter Sponsors Luncheon at Club: Mrs. Charles M. Johnson, Member of Board, Special Guest.” News and Observer. March 24, 1944. P. 8.
• “Mrs. Johnson Dies at 79.” News and Observer. August 17, 1972. P. 52.
• “Mrs. Ralph Honeycutt Hostess to Daughters of Confederacy.” Wilmington Morning Star. April 2, 1916. P. 7.
• Second Annual Catalogue of the East Carolina Teachers Training School, 1910-1911. Greenville: The Reflector Co., Printing, 1911. P. 30. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/36982
• Third Annual Catalogue of the East Carolina Teachers Training School, 1911-1912. Greenville: The Reflector Co., Printing, 1912. P. 38. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/36983
• “Tribute is Paid South’s Soldiers: Robert Simms, Jr., Is Speaker at Confederate Memorial Rites Here.” News and Observer. May 13, 1946. P. 10.
• “Warsaw News Notes.” News and Observer. December 28, 1915. P. 8.
• “Warsaw Township Schools to Begin Terms Monday.” Wilmington Morning Star. August 30, 1917. P. 4.
• “When You Vote for a Man, You Also Are Casting a Ballot for His Wife.” Durham Morning Herald. May 16, 1948. Section Three, P. 1.

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