Thomas Jennings Hackney, Sr.

Image Source: Rocky Mount Telegram. May 24, 1953. P. 2.

Wilson businessman Thomas Jennings Hackney, Sr. joined the ECTC board of trustees in 1945, by appointment of Governor Robert Gregg Cherry (1891–1957), to fill the unexpired term of the late Julien Knox Warren (1886–1945) of Trenton, a trustee since 1929. Hackney helped guide East Carolina through a transitional period occasioned by the trial and conviction of Dr. Leon R. Meadows (1884–1953), president of the school, for false pretense and misuse of student funds. Following Meadows’ resignation in 1944, an acting president, Howard J. McGinnis (1882–1971) was named, then a search for a full-time president ensued. The latter resulted in the hire of Dr. Dennis Hargrove Cooke (1904–1982) in 1946, but then Cooke resigned the following year to take a position at Woman’s College in Greensboro. Another search was therefore conducted resulting in the hire of John D. Messick (1897–1993) as the new president. Hackney’s time as a trustee was largely consumed in these searches for stable leadership at ECTC even as the school was moving into a period of sustained growth in enrollment and faculty numbers. During Hackney’s final two years as a trustee, he helped establish a new student loan program for ECTC students. The term he was appointed to fill expired in 1949, marking an end to his service as an ECTC trustee.

When appointed, Hackney joined four other new board members Gov. Cherry appointed: Radford M. “Ralph” Garrett (1886–1955) of Greenville, Claude Phillip Morris (1888–1959) of Hertford, Hugh G. Horton (1896–1959) of Williamston, and Henry Clay Belk (1898–1972) of Goldsboro. These new appointees replaced earlier board members — Dr. Paul V. Fitzgerald (1882–1957) of Greenville, Mrs. John G. (Margaret Weyher) Dawson (1888–1975) of Kinston, Mrs. W. B. (Mary) Murphy (1888–1980) of Snow Hill, and Mrs. Charles Samuel (Leila Suttle) Forbes (1883–1964) of Greenville — all stalwart supporters of President Meadows even as his administration dwindled into scandal, criminal charges, two lengthy trials, and finally conviction and imprisonment for false pretense and misuse of student funds. An open critic of Meadows, Gov. Cherry continued to replace pro-Meadows trustees as their terms expired, resulting in, in total, Cherry’s appointment of an unprecedented 11 of the 12 board members. Of the twelve trustees serving in 1944, only Arthur B. Corey (1891–1950) remained in 1949, and he passed away the following year due to a heart attack.

Though it seemed the new appointees might trump what remained of the pro-Meadows faction, when Corey, who had opposed the board’s 1944 vote to exonerate Meadows, moved, in the fall of 1945, to reinstate those faculty fired by Meadows with the approval of the board, not a single trustee supported his motion. And when Corey then moved that the board investigate the faculty firings, his motion was not seconded. Although hardly pro-Meadows, the new trustees, including Hackney, balked at any attempt to reverse the infamous personnel decisions made by the former ECTC president and upheld earlier by the board.

Educated in the Wilson public schools and at the Bingham School in Mebane, Hackney graduated from the University of North Carolina before returning home to help his family run their large firm manufacturing truck bodies. The Hackney Brothers Body Company, founded in 1854 as the Hackney Wagon Company, was at one time the largest manufacturer of buggies in the South. In the twentieth century, it successfully redirected its manufacturing to truck bodies.

In addition to serving as president of his family’s firm, Hackney served as a trustee at Atlantic Christian College (now, Barton College) in Wilson from 1932–1971, and as chair of the trustees from 1936–1965. Following his resignation in 1971, he was named “trustee emeritus.” Hackney was preceded as chair of the trustees by his father, George Hackney (1854–1948) who served as chair of the board from 1906–1931, and was succeeded by son, Thomas J. Hackney, Jr. At the 1953 ACC commencement ceremonies, Hackney Sr. received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the college.

Active in Wilson civic interests, Hackney was a member of the Wilson board of aldermen from 1913–1917, and 1927–1933. During WWII he served on the War Production Board as a member of the Industry Advisory Committee. He also served as vice-president of the Atlantic Building and Loan Association of Wilson.

In 1949, Governor Kerr Scott (1896–1958) appointed Charles Fisher Carroll (1900–1995), then superintendent of the High Point City Schools, to succeed Hackney.

Sources

• “ACC to Confer Three Honorary, 58 A. B. Degrees.” Rocky Mount Telegram. May 24, 1953. P. 2.
• “College Gets New President: Dr. John D. Messick of New Jersey Chosen for East Carolina Teachers College.” Charlotte Observer. July 2, 1947. P. 10.
• “College Trustees Chosen by Scott.” Statesville Daily Record. June 15, 1949. P. 9.
• “ECTC President Gets New Post: Dr. Cooke to Head Education Department of Woman’s College at Greensboro.” News and Observer. May 22, 1947. Pp. 1, 2.
• “ECTC Starts Drive for New Loan Fund.” News and Observer. October 15, 1946. P. 7.
• “ECTC Teachers Unable to Win Reinstatement: Two Motions Favorable to Them Fail To Gain Support.” Asheville Citizen-Times. September 5, 1945. P. 3.
• “Effort To Reinstate E.C.T.C. Teachers Fails at Greenville.” Herald-Sun (Durham). September 5, 1945. P. 3.
• “Five New Members Named to ECTC Trustees’ Board.” News and Observer. August 18, 1945. P. 2.
• “Hackney Elected ACC Board Head.” Herald-Sun (Durham). February 27, 1965. P. 10.
• “Hackney wagons.” 1854-1900. Tobacco Farm Life Museum. ECU Digital Collections. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N. C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/14280.
• Lucas, Wade. “Hackney Brothers Company: Governor Praises Free Enterprise at Birthday Event.” News and Observer. April 21, 1954. P. 3.
• “New E.C.T.C. Trustees Take Office Sept. 4.” Herald-Sun (Durham). August 28, 1945. P. 5.
• Records of the Chancellor: Records of John Decatur Messick, 1947-1959. University Archives # UA02-05. Box 6: Hackney, Thomas J., Member of the Board of Trustees, 1947-1949. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C.
• “Spikes Elected President at ECTC Trustees’ Meeting: Burlington Educator Would Succeed Meadows; Salary Question Considered.” News and Observer. March 15, 1946. P. 1.
• “Trustees Refuse to Act on ECTC Faculty Issue: Attempt to Reinstate Three Professors Fired Last Year Ends in Failure.” News and Observer. September 5, 1945. P. 8.
• “Under the Dome.” News and Observer. February 14, 1946. P. 1.
• “Under the Dome.” News and Observer. June 24, 1947. P. 1, 2.
• “Under the Dome.” News and Observer. August 20, 1945. P. 2

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