East Carolina University History Tour

Entries on This Tour

1. Ruth Allen White Dormitory, Eastern Carolina University

This dormitory was constructed in 1969 and named in honor of Ruth Allen White, a faculty member and administrator at East Carolina University for thirty-two years. White served as the Dean of Women from 1950-1959.

2. Student Recreation Center

The Student Recreation Center at East Carolina university was and is one of the biggest construction projects that has taken place at ECU. With construction costs being around sixteen million dollars in 1994, it was a necessary advancement that the university made to compete with other schools within the UNC system. The most interesting and controversial aspect of this project was that it was completely funded by the student body. Since this project was funded by the students of ECU, student fees rose about one-hundred dollars per semester to incorporate the construction costs of this project.

3. Ledonia Wright Cultural Center

The Ledonia Wright Cultural Center, housed in Bloxton House, opened on October 22, 1995. It is located across from Mendenhall Student Center and is beside White and Greene residence halls. The cultural center promotes diversity and social justice for all students and provides services which help students succeed. The center offers counseling and any other important needs. The Center is also home to student groups such as the Society of United Liberal Students which was founded in 1975 for African Americans. Ledonia Wright was an Associate Professor of Community Health and a mentor to many African American students as well as a respected colleague to her fellow professors at East Carolina University. Wright died in June 1976 at the age of 46. The cause of her death is still unknown and her body was mysteriously found in the Tar River. Today, the faculty and staff at Ledonia Wright Cultural Center continue her work by mentoring students and working in the community.

4. Jenkins Fine Arts Center

The Old Austin Building once stood where the Jenkins Fine Arts building now stands. It was one of the first four buildings that was a part of the East Carolina Teachers College's first buildings. After a fire in 1968, President Leo Jenkins and state inspectors deemed the building condemned and they had the building torn down. In its place, the school started construction on the Fine Arts building that is still standing today. The Jenkins Fine Arts building was finished and open for students and faculty for the 1960 school year. It has had several renovations over the years and was named for the late Chancellor of the University, Leo W. Jenkins.

5. Thomas Jordan Jarvis and Jarvis Hall, East Carolina University

East Carolina University started as East Carolina Teachers Training School. In 1909 the school opened with 6 original buildings. One of those buildings was a male dormitory and class room named Jarvis Hall. It is named for Thomas Jordan Jarvis. He is considered the father of ECU because of his contributions to not only North Carolina politics, but his role in the founding of the school and his efforts in the conception and construction. Jarvis Hall is the only building still being used for its original purpose. Originally designated as a male dormitory, it is now used for housing both male and female students.

6. University Status

Before East Carolina was a university, it founded as a Teachers College. As the school and academics grew there was a need to expand the college to university status to better serve the community and North Carolina. From early in his presidency of the college, Dr. Leo W. Jenkins fought hard to attain the university status and eventually become part of the University of North Carolina System. East Carolina faced a lot of opposition during the process but the outcome was in East Carolina's favor in June of 1967.

7. The Collegiate Life of Laura Marie Leary Elliott

Laura Marie Leary Elliott was the first African American student at East Carolina College in 1963. Her enrollment was the result of both internal and external forces that pushed for integration in higher education. During her sophomore year, Elliott moved into Ragsdale Hall on campus after living with family. Although she admittedly experienced little to no outright racist tension, her roommate requested a transfer after discovering she was African American. She would go on to receive her four-year degree in Business Administration. Laura Marie Leary Elliott is celebrated as a beacon for integration for African American students at East Carolina.

8. Cotten Hall

Cotten Hall, a student’s dormitory on the campus of East Carolina University, was built in 1925 and opened one year later. It is named for the writer, poet and community leader Sallie Southall Cotten. She was born in Virginia in 1846 and moved to North Carolina as a young woman for her education. In 1866, she married the Confederate Army veteran Robert Randolph Cotten. He later bought two plantations in Pitt County, where the couple lived for many years. After a mainly domestic life for almost thirty years, Sally Cotten was chosen by the governor of North Carolina to represent the state at the World’s Columbian Exposition, in Chicago in 1893. Inspired by this experience, Cotten dedicated her life to the clubwomen movement upon her return. She became an advocate for women’s education and social change. Sallie was president of the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs. Cotten was one of the founders of the End Of The Century Book Club in 1899. This organization later founded Sheppard Memorial Library in Greenville.

9. Graham Building

The Graham Building is an academic rectangular classroom building built in 1929 in Wright Circle and named after Maria Daniel Graham, one of the first faculty at East Carolina Teacher Training School. The building itself today houses the department of geological sciences. The building has had extensive remodeling over the years to accommodate the departments of Foreign Language and Geography. The Graham Building has also provided a space for Science, Education, Nursing School, and Practice School Kindergarten. The class of 1993 donated a clock to be placed in front of the building.

10. Kennedy Presidential Rally at East Carolina College

On September 17, 1960, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy took part in one of East Carolina's most pivotal events. After parading down 5th street in downtown Greenville, North Carolina, Kennedy found his way to College Stadium. Welcomed by over 20,000 people, the nominee focused his speech on life in North Carolina, specifically, local agricultural economics. Although Kennedy's rally was short-lived, his impact on East Carolina College and all of Eastern North Carolina was profound. The event was not only important for the Democratic campaign in the South, but also to the reputation of Dr. Leo Jenkins, president of East Carolina College. John F. Kennedy’s progressive legacy as 35th President of the United States would prove consistent with East Carolina’s ideals of working toward a better future for many years to come.

11. Brewster Building

The Brewster building is located across Tenth Street between the Fletcher Arts Building and Christenbury Gymnasium. It was built in the 70's, and was one of the first buildings on campus designed for air conditioning. It also provides an exit from each floor onto a courtyard. The Brewster Building was dedicated to Lawrence Fay Brewster on January 20, 1974. It currently contains the departments of History, Geography, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Religious, the Testing Center and Women's Studies Program.

12. A.J. Fletcher Music Center

This building is East Carolina University's music center. It is the home of East Carolina University's school of music that has roughly 250 undergraduate students and 70 graduate students in the program as of the fall semester 2016. The school is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and is very active in other national associations. The building was built in 1966 at the price of 1.25 million dollars. The building has a gross square footage of about 58,950, in that includes private practice rooms, a conference room, 2 studios, classrooms, couple auditoriums, and the largest music library east of Raleigh.

13. Legacy Hall

Legacy Hall was built in 1960, and was originally called the Aycock Dormitory. Throughout the years this building has experienced several changes, from refurbishing projects in 1970 to 1993 to the renaming of the dormitory itself. It was formerly named after Charles B Aycock, governor of North Carolina from 1901 to 1905. Charles B Aycock was an advocate for public education, and because of all of his accomplishments this dormitory was dedicated to him. In recent years, there has been extreme controversy over Aycock and his views on race relations. Although Charles B. Aycock was an advocate for universal public education, he viewed the involvement of African Americans in the democratic process as a condition to be opposed. Aycock stated that "When we say that the negro is unfit to rule we carry it one step further and convey the correct idea when we declare that he is unfit to vote. To do this we must disfranchise the negro." Additionally, Aycock's involvement in the 1898 Wilmington "Uprising" has been establish through NC State government documents. What has been remembered as an uprising was actually a form of coup d’état.1 Starting around 2014 over 50 people wrote letters to the University explaining their concerns about Charles B Aycock's racial views. On February 20, 2015 Aycock Dormitory was changed to Legacy Hall.

14. Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum

Minges Coliseum is a multipurpose arena constructed in 1966 by East Carolina University. The coliseum offically opened on January 8th, 1968 and was dedicated on January 27th, 1968. Generous donations from the Minges family (Owned the Pepsi-Cola company of Greenville) as well as Walter L. Williams (local businessman) have seen the construction and renovation of the facility become what it is today. The coliseum is the current home of the East Carolina Men's and Women's basketball teams and the Women's volleyball team.

15. Gender Equity in Sports comes to ECU

The Title IX lawsuit of 1978 against East Carolina University (ECU) was a lawsuit that made it fair to women who played sports At ECU. Debra Newby was one student who helped win this lawsuit against ECU. Debra Newby changed how women were treated in sports. She also made sure they got funding just like the male athletes did, including scholarships. Mrs. Newby changed the way women were perceived in sports because they were now treated as equally as the men athletes were being treated. ECU had to make everything equal for both men and women athletes on campus and off (away games). Newby made ECU give women scholarships, their own locker rooms in Minges and other complexes on campus, their own warm ups, transportation to away games, and so much more!

16. Student Protest at Ficklen Memorial Stadium Against the Playing of Dixie

In 1969, the Negro Students’ Grievance Committee at East Carolina University created a list of grievances and demands to address the challenges and shortcomings they believed still plagued Eastern Carolina University long after the institution opened its doors to African American students. One demand from this list was for the university to end the practice of playing the 19th century folksong "Dixie" at the football games. During the civil rights movement, "Dixie" became a symbol for the antebellum South and the racial worldview of white supremacists who embraced Confederate symbols. The student's list of grievances and demands was given to ECU president Leo Jenkins in March 31st,1969. The president addressed these grievances at a convocation at Ficklen Memorial Stadium (Now the Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium). President Jenkins expressed his support for the playing of Dixie as tradition leading some of students to leave the meeting in protest. After the convocation, Black and white students worked to spread awareness of the perspectives of African Americans and supporters of civil rights regarding the song and a campus-wide referendum resulted in a majority of students voting to end the practice.

17. Dowdy Ficklen Stadium

Dowdy Ficklen Stadium was built in 1963 and is home to the East Carolina University football team. The stadium has an occupancy of 50,000 and has been expanded significantly from the time of its first game when it could accommodate around 10,000 fans. The stadium was named after James Skinner Ficklen, owner of Skinner Tobacco Company in Greenville and a donor to the university and its athletics program. The stadium's name became hyphenated in later years to honor donors Ronald and Mary Ellen Dowdy who funded the expansion of the stadium.

18. Clark-LeClair Stadium

Clark-LeClair Stadium is an important part of East Carolina University athletics. This stadium houses the baseball department. What is now known as Clark-LeClair Stadium was once called Hairrington Field from 1971-2004. However after major renovations in 2004 the field was renamed and dedicated as Clark-LeClair Stadium. Its located southwest of Dowdy-Ficklen Football Satdium in the heart of the athletics district. The field's history is a rich one dating back many decades with serveral different influential figures playing major roles in the foundation of the stadium. The baseball program has provided many opportunities for young men to attend college and participate in competitive sports while becoming well rounded members of society. The field today is an intricate part of student life and the pride that comes with being a "Pirate".

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

East Carolina University History Tour

Created by Anne Whisnant on April 26th 2019, 4:33:32 pm.

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Description

This walking tour of the ECU includes stops at a variety of campus buildings, landmarks, and athletic facilities. The tour consists of individual entries created by ECU students, faculty, and librarians. Many of the entries were created during the 2016-17 year by students working with Whichard Visiting Professor Dr. Anne Mitchell Whisnant. Additional entries for campus buildings and landmarks can be added by future faculty and students.

Entries on This Tour

East Carolina University History Tour

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