Act of Establishment Creating UNCG -- 125 Years Ago Today!!

Today marks the 125th anniversary of the passage of the bill that established the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG). On February 18, 1891, the General Assembly of North Carolina agreed to fund a "normal" (teaching) school for women. The act appropriated $10,000 per year for maintenance of the school, but did not include any money to support contribution, land, or other facilities costs. In fact, the act stated that "the institution shall be located ... at some suitable place where the citizens thereof shall furnish the necessary buildings of money sufficient to erect them."

Class of 1893, the first graduating class of State Normal

In June 1891, Greensboro was selected as the official site for this new school, making a bid of $30,000 plus a site location. The chairman of the school's founding Board of Directors, Major S.M. Finger, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, stated, "I congratulate Greensboro on the result. I believe this is the proper place for [the school]. The Piedmont is the coming part of the State."

Stop by Jackson Library between 1pm and 3pm to see a pop-up exhibit featuring the actual charter, the letter received by Charles Duncan McIver naming his as the first president of the school, and many more photographs and other records from the earliest years of UNCG.

A Flair for the Dramatic: Early Campus Theater Productions,1896-1916

A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1912

The students of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro claim a rich history of dramatic performance. From the campus’s earliest years as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women, the student body has authored plays, created stage sets, sewn costumes, and performed both male and female roles. The first theatrical performance was County Fair in 1894, and each subsequent year saw an increase in the dramatic repertoire enjoyed by students, faculty, and the public. As there was no drama program at the time, student groups, such as the campus literary societies (predecessors of the modern sorority), the YWCA, specific classes, and the Dramatics Club (beginning in 1912) organized and performed for the pleasure of the campus.

An exhibit featuring photographs of student dramatic productions dating from 1896 to 1916 is on display in the Elliott University Center connector from September 1st until November 1st.

Changing Times: An exhibit on the History of UNCG

The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives is excited to announce the launching of a new, rotating exhibit in the first floor reading room of Jackson Library titled "Changing Times: A History of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro." The exhibit will trace the development of the school from its founding in 1891 up to the present day and will feature artifacts, documents, and photographs from the University Archives.

The Main Building (now Foust Building) and the Brick Dormitory, 1897

The first display highlights the years where the University was known as the State Normal and Industrial School, from 1891-1897.  It includes information regarding Anna Gove, the second school physician; on Charles D. McIver, the school's first president and founder; and on the cost of attendance in 1893.

A Student's Perspective: Behind the Stacks in Manuscripts and Archives

I started in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) as a volunteer during the fall semester of my freshman year at UNCG (2010). I had emailed someone (I can’t remember who now) in the library and asked if there was any need for volunteers in the library. I thought I’d be checking out books or reshelving things. The person replied and told me that there was no need for help in the main part of the library and suggested that I email Kathelene Smith in Archives. I did, and a week later I started as a volunteer. I mentioned this to my older brother, Dr. Joe Sanders, who is a faculty member at Kansas State University. He was surprised to hear this; he had just given a lecture on some research that he had done at SCUA. This was a nice surprise and made me even more interested in the work that goes on here.

Throughout my first year at SCUA, I worked on many different projects. The most extensive was some cataloguing with the State Normal Magazine that I did for Hermann Trojanowski, one of the archivists here. Hermann was a great sport and taught me a LOT about many aspects of archives. I also worked on organizing some photographs, supervised by Kathelene and Hermann. As it turns out, I knew less than I thought I did because after proudly presenting the results of my photograph organizing, Hermann gently pointed out that I had done the notes on the back of the photographs upside

down! Regardless of my stumbling during the first year, Keith Gorman and Kathelene pulled me aside and told me that if I wanted to return the next year, they would allow me to do so as a paid departmental student employee!

During the fall 2012 semester, I had to do a class project. It was a biography of a student who had gone to UNCG when it was still the State Normal and Industrial School, and we were required to use the archives to do it. It was great fun to experience SCUA from a researcher’s point of view, and I definitely had a head start because of my experiences and knowledge of what the archives contain. But I was surprised at how many more resources exist – it never ends!

Over the course of the last two years, I've learned about an amazing world of processing, administration, and project planning that I had no idea even existed. I absolutely love what I do; there are so many great things about working at SCUA. I've worked on some projects with nearly every staff member here and gotten to know them fairly well. I can honestly say that I have never worked with a group of people who are this kind and understanding and hilarious to be with. Every day there is something new to explore within the projects that I’m doing, and every day I learn more about UNCG – an entire history that I never would have guessed was there.

Rachel Sanders

President

UNCG Historical Society

Chairperson

Student Libraries' Advisory Council

Peer Career Ambassador

UNCG Career Services Center

Kappa Delta Pi - Education Honor Society

McIver Statue Centennial: 1912-2012

 

Charles Duncan McIver, ca. 1895

Charles Duncan McIver was born on September 27, 1860, to Henry McIver and Sarah “Sallie” Harrington McIver in Moore County, North Carolina.
   
McIver entered the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill in 1877 and graduated in 1881.  After graduating from UNC, he accepted the assistant headmaster position at the Presbyterian Male Academy in Durham, North Carolina.  McIver was elected principal of the newly established graded high school in Durham in 1882.  After two years, he resigned his position in Durham for a teaching position at the Winston Graded School in Winston, North Carolina, where he met his future wife, Lula Martin.  They were married on July 29, 1885 and had four children.
   
McIver accepted the position of head of the literary department at Peace Institute, a girl’s school in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1886.   While in Raleigh, he lobbied for a normal or teacher training school for women.
   
In 1889, he and Edwin A. Alderman were chosen by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to conduct a series of teacher institutes to instruct teachers and enlighten the public about the need for a normal school in North Carolina.
   
With an annual salary of $2,500.00, McIver was appointed the first president of the newly established State Normal and Industrial School in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1891.
   
Unfortunately, he died on September 17, 1906, at the age of 45; however, he did see his dream of founding a college to educate women in North Carolina realized – that institution is now known as The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
   
Shortly after McIver’s death, a committee was appointed by Governor Robert Glenn to raise funds to erect a statue in McIver’s memory.

 

The eight-foot statue of Dr. Charles Duncan McIver was sculpted by French-born American artist Frederick W. Ruckstuhl in Paris, France, and cast by the Fonderie Nationale des Bronzes in Brussels, Belgium.  Ruckstuhl created two statues.  

The original statue cost $7,000 and was erected on the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina, and dedicated on May 15, 1912.  A duplicated statue cost $1,100 and was erected on the campus of the State Normal and Industrial College now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  

The statue was dedicated on Founders Day, October 5, 1912, and stood in front of the McIver Memorial Building until it was moved to the front lawn of Jackson Library in 1960.

 

The original location of the McIver Statue was on the lawn in front of the McIver Memorial Building, site of the current McIver Building.

 

After the McIver Memorial Building was razed in 1958 and the current McIver Building was erected in 1960, the statue was relocated to the area in front of Jackson Library, a more central location on campus.  Note the Stone Building in the background.

Over the years, students painted and decorated the McIver Statue on numerous occasions such as Easter of 1971, when the statue was painted pink and topped with rabbit ears.  

Photograph courtesy of the Greensboro News-Record Library.

 

Starting in the late 1950s, students began to paint and decorate the statue.  By the 1980s, the statue was in disrepair due to the weather and being periodically cleaned with cleaning solutions.

 

In November 1990, the eight-foot statue was prepared to be shipped to Karkadoulias Bronze Art, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, to be cleaned and restored.

 

In May of 1991, the statue was returned to the campus in time for the university’s centennial celebration. Eleftherios Karkadoulias directed the statue back on its pedestal after being restored by Karkadoulias Bronze Art, Inc.

 

After the restoration, which totaled $7,500, the statue was returned to the university on May 10, 1991— two days before graduation.

Happy Birthday Charlie: Celebrating the 150th Birthday of President Charles Duncan McIver

Charles Duncan McIver

Charles "Charlie" Duncan McIver was born on September 27, 1860, to Henry McIver and Sarah "Sallie" Harrington McIver in Moore County, North Carolina.

He began his formal education following his 8th birthday at a local one-room schoolhouse in Moore County. McIver enjoyed hunting rabbits, fox, squirrels, opossums, and raccoons and did regular chores on his father's farm during the summer and after school until he entered the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill in 1877. While at UNC, he made good grades and won a medal for Greek studies the spring of his sophomore year.

In 1881, McIver graduated from UNC and accepted the assistant headmaster position at the Presbyterian Male Academy in Durham, North Carolina, making $45.00 a month. McIver was elected principal of the newly established graded high school in Durham in 1882. After two years, he resigned his position in Durham for a teaching position at the Winston Graded School in Winston, North Carolina, where he met his future wife, Lula Martin. They were married on July 29, 1885 and had four children.

McIver at Peace Institute, 1886

McIver accepted the position of head of the literary department at Peace Institute, a girl's school in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1886. While in Raleigh, he lobbied for a normal or teacher training school for women.

In 1889, he and Edwin A. Alderman were chosen by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to conduct a series of teacher institutes to instruct teachers and enlighten the public about the need for a normal school in North Carolina.

McIver in his office located in the Main (now Foust) Building

With an annual salary of $2,500.00, McIver was appointed the first president of the newly established State Normal and Industrial School in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1891.

Unfortunately, he died on September 17, 1906, at the age of 45; however, he did see his dream of founding a college to educate women in North Carolina realized - that institution is now known as The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

An exhibit celebrating McIver's birthday will be on display in Jackson Library next to the Reference Desk until October 11, 2010. From October 11th until the end of the year, the exhibit will be on display in the Jackson Library/Elliott University Center Connector.