Wright Circle

A few years after Wright Circle assumed its characteristic shape, it emerged as the most well-known spot on campus. Its popularity, dating from 1932, was a byproduct of the mid-1920s building boom that populated the east end of campus with a succession of new buildings: a dorm (later, Cotten), the Library (Whichard), the Campus Building (Wright), and the science building (Graham). With these, campus activity shifted away from the austere front steps of Austin Hall (formerly, the Administration Building) towards the new cluster defining the perimeter of Wright Circle. During construction, the circle had been a “waste space,” an accessible collecting point for construction debris. However, Martin L. Wright (1882-1945), chair of the Campus Beautification Committee and professor of sociology, envisioned a fountain for the space, one that would transform it into a focal point of campus beauty.

Investing in Wright’s plan, the class of 1932 funded construction of a pond as its senior gift to ECTC. The pond was soon stocked with decorative fish. A fountain was also added by the fall of 1932. Along with the surrounding shrubs, grass, and walkway, the circle and its fountain immediately became the iconic expression of campus beauty. The class of 1932 made their gift the stuff of legend with an elaborate pageant presented during class day exercises, June 4, as part of their commencement week. Entitled “The Fountain Of All The Muses,” the pageant with orchestra accompaniment was staged at the campus lake before a “large audience.” Replete with allusions to ancient Greek mythology, it credited the mythic “Fountain of All the Muses” with inspiring the class to give the school a fountain since the school had been for them “a fountain of learning.” According to the Teco Echo, the gift was not simply the fountain, but “Wright Circle” as well.

From the start, Martin Wright had referred to the circle as “Wright” honoring the work of founding president of the school, Robert H. Wright. Throughout the 1930s, Martin Wright supervised campus beautification, including planning for the circle and its fountain. He was also responsible for the creation of the campus lake in 1931, the year before the fountain in Wright Circle became a reality. Both sites were exceptionally popular with the student body, as the class of 1932’s pageant, “The Fountain Of All The Muses,” held lakeside, reveals. Wright also coordinated plantings and landscape design campus-wide during the 1930s and early 1940s.

Despite Martin Wright’s contributions to campus beautification, ECTC President Leon R. Meadows charged him, along with professors Herbert ReBarker and E.L. Henderson, of “inciting students and creating unwholesome influences on the campus.” Meadows asked the ECTC Board of Trustees to dismiss these professors, which it did. Martin Wright had openly criticized Meadows, as had a number of students, claiming that Meadows had mismanaged student funds. The allegations were soon substantiated, and Meadows, charged with embezzlement. Meadows was brought to trial, found guilty, and sentenced to prison. Unfortunately, Martin Wright died of a heart attack on December 10, 1945, his shameful dismissal never having been overturned. Later, Wright, ReBarker, and Henderson were exonerated by the American Association of University Professors, but this achievement only came posthumously for Wright and ReBarker.

In 1951, the Board of Trustees, “to remedy an injustice” to Martin Wright, dedicated Wright Circle posthumously to him. Although a bronze plaque was installed to make clear which Wright was being honored, because Martin and Robert Wright (not related) shared a last name, the renaming did not change the common nomenclature. Indeed, for decades, most have assumed that the circle, fountain, and Wright Building were all named for Robert H. Wright. In 2009, following a major overhaul to the circle, including installation of a new fountain, the latter was renamed “the Trustees’ Fountain at Wright Circle.”

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Sources

• Bratton, Mary Jo. East Carolina University: The Formative Years, 1907-1982. Greenville, N.C.: East Carolina University Alumni Association, 1986.
• “East Carolina’s Natural Beauty.” Rocky Mount Telegram. March 30, 982. P. 23.
• “ECTC Hearing.” Rocky Mount Telegram. July 18, 1944. P. 1.
• “Improvements to be Made on Campus.” Teco Echo. November 2, 1932. Vol. 9, no. 3. P. 1.
• Neff, Christine. “Fountain Dedicated on Founder’s Day.” Pieces of Eight. May 1, 2009. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/poe/2009/509/fountain.cfm.
• “Senior Classes Give Pond.” Teco Echo. June 6, 1932. Vol. 8, no. 17. P. 1.
• “The Fountain in Wright’s Circle.” Teco Echo. November 23, 1932. Vol. 9, no. 4. P. 3.
• “’The Fountain of All The Muses’ Presented by Seniors.” Teco Echo. June 6, 1932. Vol. 8, no. 17. P. 1.
• “The Trustees Fountain at Wright Circle.” ECU News. 2017. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/mktg/trustees_fountain_time_lapse_construction.cfm.
• “Wright Circle Changes Slated.” Rocky Mount Telegram. December 16, 1960. P. 12.

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