The portrait of thirteen unidentified students dates back to the early days of Training School history. The first year, the vast majority of students were female, despite the fact that the school’s charter defined it as a co-educational institution. As a result of low male enrollment, the men’s dormitory was converted, giving the girls on campus two dorms and the men none. Prospective male applicants were advised to find lodging in town, and townspeople were encouraged to accommodate them as possible. The net effect was that regardless of its progressive affirmation of co-education (rare in 1909), the Training School was female. Clubs, activities, classes, and athletics quickly reflected the gender realities. It would not be until well into 1920s that a significant male student body appeared.
The ECTTS charter said, in no uncertain terms, that the school was “for the purpose of giving to young white men and women such education and training as shall fit and qualify them to teach in the public schools of North Carolina.” Born in the early Jim Crow era, the Training School was a segregated facility built upon the victories of the Democratic Party’s white supremacy campaigns of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Yet white supremacy was not so much spoken as clearly assumed, throughout the first decade of the school. Occasionally, it raised its head: the Training School Quarterly, the school’s premier publication, included a prominent essay in its first issue wherein the n-word appears. However, compared to the Teachers College period (1921-1951) that followed, especially the 1920s and 1930s, there was relatively little racially offensive rhetoric and imagery, at least in school publications.
Most of the ECTTS student body was from North Carolina, with the eastern region contributing significantly. Other states sent students, but by and large the Training School was a very North Carolina institution. Tuition was not a problem: there was none, provided that students affirmed their willingness to teach in the state’s public schools for two years. There were fees for room, board, books, etc., but by comparison with the cost of higher education in modern times, ECTTS was all but free. For those who needed financial assistance, a loan fund was managed by the Training School, and grew annually with successive donations from graduating classes.
The student population also grew annually. The first year, 1909-1910, there were 174 students during the regular academic year, and 330 in the summer session. By 1914-1915, there were 295 students in the regular year, and 394 in summer. By the end of the Training School era, ECTTS had taught over 6,000 students. The number of graduates, however, was much lower. In 1911, for example, only 18 students graduated. By 1918, the number had increased, but only to 74. Attrition was clearly a problem. But then again, the gates to admission were wide open. Proving yourself capable was another matter.
The handsome new campus provided students with a small, hilltop town of their own, one providing the basics of life, including meals in the cafeteria, medical attention in the Infirmary, and an expansive campus for recreation. Laundry facilities were also provided. Dorm rooms were doubles, outfitted with “iron beds, springs, mattresses and pillows, two chairs, a table, a washstand, a bureau and a wardrobe – all the necessary furniture for comfortable living.” Steam heating and electricity were pervasive. Water was provided through the Greenville system, and was checked regularly for purity.
The curriculum was flexible, depending on the needs of students. For those who had not finished high school, a two-year “academic” curriculum was provided, completion of which was considered equivalent to a high school degree. For those intent on becoming teachers, a “professional” curriculum offered a two-year program of coursework leading to teacher certification. Conceivably, a student could spend four years at ECTTS, finishing high school first and then completing the professional course. There was also a one-year course of study for rural teachers interested in upgrading their level of certification. There was also a “graduate” curriculum for those who had graduated, but wished to continue their education at ECTTS. As much as possible, the school sought to accommodate the varied educational needs of its students even as it remained focused on its primary purpose, teacher training.
Academics went hand in hand with athletics. The latter were meant to provide for the health and well-being of students, as well as to teach them how they might instruct others in the basics of physical exercise, presumably in a public school setting. Basketball, tennis, and cross-country walking were the most popular sports. At every turn, character and good sportsmanship were emphasized. There were also various clubs and organizations on campus. The first was the YWCA, followed by literary societies, the Lanier and Poe. The latter served as sororities of sorts long before Greek life appeared. Among other things, the literary societies staged dramatic performances almost annually, enlivening campus life. School trips to Raleigh or the N.C. mountains were occasional. Campus lectures by big name speakers like Helen Keller added intellectual stimulation. With WWI, the student body mobilized as it could, knitting layettes for Belgian children and picking cotton to raise money for the war cause. Although not a politicized campus, the percentage of suffragettes seems to have been high. By the time the Training School was elevated to Teachers College status in 1921, few wondered whether the student body was ready for the next challenge.
Sources
- Bratton, Mary Jo. East Carolina University: The Formative Years, 1907-1982. Greenville, N.C.: Alumni Association, 1986.
- “East Carolina Teachers Training School students.” University Archives # 55.01.6034. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/1216.
- Ferrell, Henry C. No Time for Ivy: East Carolina University, 1907-2007. Greenville, N.C.: East Carolina University.
- First Annual Catalogue of the East Carolina Teachers' Training School, 1909-1910. Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton, 1910.
- Busbee, Jaques. “Our Native Trees and Flowers.” The Training School Quarterly. Vol. 1, no. 1. April, May, June, 1914. Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton, 1914.
- Tenth Annual Catalogue of the East Carolina Teachers Training School, 1918-1919. Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton, 1919.
Citation Information
Title: The Student Body: The Training School Era
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 6/11/2018