Classroom

Ruth Allen White was born on November 17, 1903 in the small
town of Colerain, North Carolina in Bertie county. She graduated high school in
1923 and enrolled into East Carolina Teachers College. She ended up completing
the normal course of study in two years. When on campus she become a member of
the Poe Society, the Athletic Association, track team, and the baseball club.
Her entire career was spent in the education field as she working in the
Roanoke Chowan Public School system. Later she came back to ECU to peruse a
master’s degree.&nbsp;

Upon her return, she began working as a dormitory counselor
for Fleming Hall. In 1951, she became the Dean of Women which is a title that
she held until her retirement from the university, as the Dean of Women she was
responsible for dealing with women's affairs on campus and make sure women were
properly involved in campus events. She also held memberships in the North
Carolina Education Association, American Association of University Women, and
National Association of University Women. During her time as Dean of Women on
campus she saw that four larger women’s dorms were built on campus in the mid-1960’s.
Miss White retired from the University after thirty-two years of service. 

On November 9, 1969, another women’s dorm was
constructed. It was ten stories tall and it was built in honor of Ruth Allen
White’s retirement. The university decided to dedicate this dormitory in
honor of Miss White as she was retiring from the position of Dean of Women. In the 1980’s the dorm was changed and was no longer a women’s dorm and became
a coed dorm.&nbsp;

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.

Ruth Allen White Dormitory, Eastern Carolina University

Admin

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.

While the conception of this project originated in the early
1990s, the construction of the Student recreation center proved to be one of
the most major construction projects that this campus has seen and it also
provides a key turning point in the evolution of East Carolina University. The
reason that this was such a key turning point for ECU was because before the
Student Recreation Center was created the only gym available to students was
Christenburry Gym, which was constructed in 1952 and was becoming outdated. In
the early 1990s, the university realized this and after watching the
construction of other Student Recreation centers within the UNC school system decided
that it was time to construct a new recreation complex for ECU students, to be
able to compete with the other schools within the UNC system.1

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On Tuesday
January 18, 1994 the ground was broken on the construction site and the project
officially began.2&nbsp;A few months after the ground breaking ceremony,
information was released in the university news-paper that student fees were
expected to increase by ninety-seven dollars per semester starting in the fall
of 1995.3&nbsp;This created a lot of controversy on campus because this project
was completely funded by students, and the rise in student fees was
unavoidable. However, the controversy came with the question of who will be
able to freely use the recreation center and who would have to pay a entry fee
for use. Most of this controversy was pointed towards the faculty who felt like
they should be able to use the recreation center without paying an entry fee. This
was all solved when the university decided that students could use the
facilities offered at the student recreation center free of charge because
those charges would be incorporated into the new student fees, but anyone who
wasn't enrolled as a student had to pay an entry fee to be able to access the
facilities offered, including faculty and staff. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Within
the first couple of years after the opening of the Student Recreation Center it
was more difficult&nbsp;to be able to use the center and its facilities for
recreational purposes. This was due to the fact that the university health
classes had the whole complex reserved to teach in for the majority of its
operating hours. This has changed or the better over the past few years because
now any student can go there during its hours of operation and use the
facilities offered without being in class. The facilities offered at the
Student Recreation Center include a weight room, rock climbing wall, indoor and
outdoor swimming pools,racquetball courts, a juice bar, and more. &nbsp;&nbsp;

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.  

Student Recreation Center

The Ledonia Wright Cultural Center was originally known as
the Afro-American Cultural Center, which was established at the "Y"
hut in 1975. The center was moved in 1995 to create a larger setting for
minority students.1 Bloxton House, the building that hosts the Ledonia Wright
cultural center was built in 1952. It originally was a training facility for
Home Economic students and the Center for Career Placement. Now, it is known
primarily as the home to the Cultural Center.2Ledonia S. Wright was born on January 5, 1930 in Rockingham,
North Carolina. She attended Shaw University and graduated in 1949 with a degree
in Chemistry and Education. From there, she attended North Carolina Central
University, then known as North Carolina College, and earned a Master of Science
in Public Health in 1951. She worked at the North Carolina Health Department
until 1953 when moved to Buffalo, New York and worked for Roswell Park Memorial
Institute. At Roswell, Wright experimented in Ketosteroid therapy,
Bio-chemical research, and Cancer research. From 1956 to 1974, Wright worked
in Boston, Massachusetts at Tufts School of Medicine and other public and
private individuals in and around Boston.3

It was in 1974 that Wright returned to North
Carolina and became a teaching faculty member in the School of Allied Health's
Department of Community Health at East Carolina University. Her job was to
"teach and develop community health courses for students, also serving as
a technical adviser to the larger Division of Health Affairs."4 She was
also the faculty adviser for the Society of United Liberal Students (SOULS), a group created to help with desegregation of the campus.5
Ledonia made such an impact on the campus that when the Cultural Center was
moved in the 1990s, it was named after her.6

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.

Ledonia Wright Cultural Center

This campus building is home to the School of Art and Design and contains classrooms, offices, workshops, and studios. The building was named in honor of Dr. Leo Warren Jenkins who led the campus as from 1961-1978. The Leo W. Jenkins Fine Art's Center was built from 1973 to 1977 and officially dedicated in 1977.he Leo W. Jenkins Fine Arts building now stands&nbsp;on the site where the Original Austin Building stood. As one of the buildings a part of the Teachers Training School of East Carolina College, the Original Austin building was one of the first four original buildings on campus. Classrooms, a library, meeting rooms, an auditorium and administrative offices were all a part of the Old Austin Building before an addition was made in 1941. The West Wing was completed in 1922 and added a gymnasium, a small assembly hall, a book-room, sleeping quarters for the Alumnae visitors, a sewing department, and enlarged laboratory, several additional classrooms and practice rooms for music.1 The Original Austin building caught fire in 1968 and according to Leo Jenkins, the President of the University, the building was condemned.3 The State Property Control Division insisted that the building be demolished as soon as possible. The state building inspector even went as far as ordering it to be boarded up.4 Jenkins made the decision that they would clear the building at the end of that semester and the building was to be demolished on June 3, 1968.&nbsp; Jenkins presided over a period of rapid expansion of East Carolina College that led to university status reflected in the institution's name changing to East Carolina University. Many of the current campus were constructed during these years, including campus buildings, dormitories, a large percentage of the College Hill neighborhood. This period also saw the expansion of Joyner Library, Mendenhall Student Center and Hendrix Theater. Campus librarians and historians generally credit Jenkins for his leadership during times the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Leo W. Jenkins died after an extended battle with cancer on January 14, 1989. Dr. Leo Warren Jenkins was born May
28, 1913. A&nbsp;New Jersey native from Succasunna, he called attention to himself in
East Carolina with his accent and demeanor: direct and down-to-brass-tacks.
This is partially due to his extensive military service in World War II, having
served in Guadalcanal, Guam, and Iwo Jima, earning himself the Bronze Star for valor and two Presidential Unit Citations from the latter station.1 His
experience in education began with teaching within the New Jersey public school system, and in higher
education at Montclair Teachers College, netting him the title of Assistant to
the Commissioner for Higher Education of the New Jersey State Department of
Education.2 Dr. Jenkins earned a B.S. in education from Rutgers University
in 1935, and his master’s from Columbia three years later.3 Shortly after,
he married Lillian Jacobsen in 1942, had six children, and moved to North
Carolina in 1947 to begin work&nbsp;at East Carolina College.4

Dr. Jenkins received his doctorate of education from
New York University, initially hired as Dean of the School of Art at East Carolina Teacher’s College
in 1947. He was elevated to Vice President of the college in 1955, and inaugurated as
President of East Carolina College on May 13, 1960.6 Dr. Jenkins’ unwavering
ambition and loyalty to realizing East Carolina College’s potential pushed the
school into an accelerated path to success and into what East Carolina
University is today. Relatively early in his tenure, Dr. Jenkins became
Chancellor Jenkins as he achieved the school “University” status on June 6,
1967,7 legally adding East Carolina into the public university system of
North Carolina. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; More than anything, Dr. Leo Jenkins’
tenure was known for the campus’ rapid expansion. Many of the current buildings
that exist today were built under Dr. Jenkins, such as the Brewster, new
Austin, Belk, and Fletcher Music Hall buildings as well as dormitories such as the
Aycock (now Legacy Hall), Greene, and Belk Residence Halls; most of the College
Hill neighborhood.8 The Mendenhall Student Center and Hendrix Theater were
also built around the same time, including an expansion to Joyner Library.8

East Carolina’s modern image features its football
program and medical school, both of which were modernized by Dr. Jenkins. Both
Ficklen Stadium—dedicated in 1963—and Minges Coliseum—dedicated in 1967—were
constructed, with an additional expansion for Ficklen, in order to host ECC’s
up-and-coming athletics program at the time.8&nbsp; Throughout years of
back-and-forth, Dr. Jenkins ignited East Carolina’s football mania with East
Carolina College’s induction into the National Collegiate Athletic Association
on September 1, 19619 and the hard-won entrance into the Southern Conference,
confirmed on May 4, 1964.10

Perhaps the hardest fought battle of Dr. Jenkins’
career was his struggle for East Carolina’s Medical School, saying “If one man
had been sick it would have been a tie vote, and if two men had been sick we
would have lost the Med School; it was that simple,”11 regarding the
legislators involved with ECC’s legal promotion to ECU. Often derided for East
Carolina’s desire and need for a medical school, Jenkins, prominent for his
witty retorts and double entendres, famously responded to the question of “what
the hell would you do with an organ in eastern North Carolina?” with “We would
play it the same as you would. Frankly, we would probably play it better.”11 East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine graduated its first class
in 197712 and has revolutionized eastern North Carolina since.

Chancellor Jenkins was also faced with the largest
domestic controversy within the latter half of the twentieth century, the
repercussions of segregation. Between February and March of 1969, the Society
Of United Liberal Students (SOULS) presented a list of ten demands to ECU’s
Administration in an effort to address racial disparity on
campus.13 Applauded statewide by the public and those within the universities
for his supportive and firm approach to the issue, Chancellor Jenkins addressed
each of these demands.14 With East Carolina host to the largest
African-American population of any college in the state at the time, about one
hundred thirty students compared to the next largest being Duke University’s
sixty-eight and Western Carolina’s twenty-five Black students.15 The grieved
SOULS members appeared on Chancellor Jenkins’ doorstep on the night of March 27,
1969. Jenkins saying “I support them...”,16 immediately addressed the entire
student body at Convocation on April 1, 1969.17 Chancellor Jenkins calmed the
boiling racial tensions on campus thereafter with his response to the demands.
He worked diligently with the Race Relations Committee,18 and had the
university produce a pamphlet discussing the race issues on campus with
integrity and honesty for all students, including prospective freshmen.19 Jenkins had a
blunt approach to racial tension, tirelessly working with the faculty and
administration to address the grievances articulated by the students. Facing the
unsavory racial truths with the aforementioned brochure for prospective
students illustrated Dr. Jenkins’ direct leadership style.

Upon his retirement on June 30, 1978, Dr. Leo
Warren Jenkins had developed the reputation as the embodiment of East Carolina
University across the state, always faithful and passionate about his
university and students. When asked about his greatest achievement, Dr. Leo
Warren Jenkins replied, “The greatest achievement? I feel it was instilling a
sense of pride in the people here in the East. People walk a little taller
because of ECU, and they take a great pride in themselves.” Dr. Jenkins
died of cancer on January 14, 1989.21

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.

Jenkins Fine Arts Center

&nbsp;Founded as the North Carolina Teachers Training School in 1909. The school would eventually become East Carolina University.1 The Purpose of the school was to train high school teachers for work in eastern North Carolina. There were six original buildings on the original campus. One of those buildings was Jarvis Hall. Designated a male dormitory and classrooms, it is named for Thomas Jordan Jarvis.2 &nbsp;Thomas Jordan Jarvis was born in Jarvisburg, Currituck County, North Carolina, in 1836 to Bannister and Elizabeth Jarvis. Bannister Jarvis was a Methodist Minister and farmer. While not poor, the family would not have been considered wealthy. For this reason there was not enough money to send Thomas Jarvis to school. Jarvis did go to school when he was 19, attending Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. He graduated in 1860, and a year later was awarded a Master of Arts degree. Jarvis was teaching at the outbreak of the Civil War, in which he volunteered for the Confederate Army, and served with distinction. Wounded in battle, he lost use of his right arm. After the war he began reading law and was granted his law license in 1867.3 &nbsp;In 1865 Jarvis served as a delegate to the State Convention. In 1868 he was elected as a representative to the State Legislature from Tyrell County N.C. In 1870 Jarvis was chosen to be the Speaker of the House, and in 1876 was elected as Lt. Governor. Zebulon Vance was the Governor of North Carolina in 1879, and was elected to the US Senate. Jarvis then served out the rest of Vance's term. In 1880 Jarvis was elected to be Governor. Vance died while he was in the Senate. Jarvis then served out the rest of this term also. Jarvis would eventually become Minister to Brazil under President Grover Cleveland. Upon completion of this posting Jarvis returned to the US and began a private law practice.4&nbsp; &nbsp;In the first years of the 20th Century there was a need within North Carolina for better teacher and education programs, with several communities petitioning the state government to appropriate the funds to build a school. In 1907 Greenville, North Carolina passed a bond measure which then opened the possibility for the school to be built.5 March of 1908 the Board of Trustees for the school was sworn in. Jarvis was selected as the Chairman of the Board.6 April of 1908 the plans to build the school were accepted, with a local contractor selected. Bids to build the school came from contractors in New Jersey, Georgia, and several from Virginia, as well as those from surrounding cities in North Carolina.7 The original construction featured South American style architecture. This style was selected by Jarvis because of his time in Brazil. The school was opened in 1909. &nbsp;&nbsp;

 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. 

Thomas Jordan Jarvis and Jarvis Hall, East Carolina University

"The people of Eastern North Carolina proudly look to
East Carolina College, the state's&nbsp; third
largest and fastest growing public institution, already organized into six
schools, and they say, 'Here already stands a university. Why not then declare
it so?'"-Leo Jenkins.1 This sums up the motivation of Dr. Jenkins to
get East Carolina College university status. In the original position papers it
states, "The statistics clearly show that North Carolina needs another university." One of the studies done by Dr. Horace Hamilton of NCSU "estimates a
6,000 students per year increase for the next ten years in North Carolina's
institutions of higher education." The papers also asserted that putting a university in the eastern part of the state could help with the
development and "contribute to the human resources of the whole
state."2


















Jenkins endeavored to educate the University of North Carolina System board of governors of the benefits of making East Carolina College into a university. Some of the examples
he stated were to, "Attract more teachers of high quality who want to be
associated with a university", "Make available to many thousands of
deserving and capable North Carolina college students a university education in
name as well as quality", "Contribute more to the improvement of the
cultural and economic life of Eastern North Carolina".&nbsp; Jenkins stressed all of the academic programs at the undergraduate level. The Master of
the Arts Degree in Secondary Education (Graduate degrees) was one of the first graduate level programs.&nbsp; He also highlighted East Carolina College's growth over the past 20 years.3


















The University of North Carolina System at that time consisted of UNC
Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and University North Carolina at
Greensboro. Those institutions' leadership feared that if East Carolina College gained university
status, the state would simply divide the same funds among 4 universities instead of 3. Archival documents contained a draft reply from "a friend of the College" to the editorial in the The News and Observer . The editorial in question denigrated East Carolina stating, "that
there are no competent scholars at East Carolina College who believe it is in
fact ready to be a university." It further expressed, "disbelief that the East
will ever have university substance."&nbsp; In addition there were many political cartoons that ridiculed Leo W. Jenkins and the school.&nbsp;4














In the end East Carolina College received its&nbsp;university&nbsp;status on June 29, 1967.5 According to the ECU International
Affairs site; East Carolina&nbsp;University&nbsp;now has an, "enrollment of more
then 27, 000 students and offers 103 degree programs, 72 master's degree
programs, 18&nbsp;doctoral&nbsp;degree programs, two intermediate degree programs,
first- professional degree programs in medicine and dentistry and 71&nbsp;department-mental&nbsp;certificates."6 UNC Chapel Hill continues to lead in
medicine in their specialties, and the East Carolina University School of Medicine mainly focuses on family
medicine.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

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.

University Status

By the 1960s, the discussion of desegregation at ECC was reaching its peak, with the rise in the Civil Rights movement. Dr. Leo Jenkins was in a particular bind: Brown v. Board of Education (1964) called for desegregation across the United States, but North Carolina enacted legislation to stall integration. Dr. Jenkins rationalized that in order to facilitate proper integration, they needed a student that could handle the challenge of college. That student was going to be Laura Marie Leary Elliott, whether she wanted it or not.1Few examples exist of those who were made martyrs for the sake of change, but Laura Marie Leary Elliott is one of them. Born in Vanceboro, North Carolina, Elliott was a gifted student on her own. At 17 years, old she graduated valedictorian from Pitt County Training School in Calico, North Carolina and then presumably applied for admission to East Carolina College. By her own admittance, she knew nothing of the decision behind her admission into ECC. Luckily, she unknowingly had a guardian angel inside the system working for her: Dr. Andrew Best. Dr. Best was an African American family practitioner in Greenville and a major community leader in Greenville. It was he who convinced Dr. Jenkins to allow Laura Marie Leary Elliott to attend ECC and even gave a personal voucher for abilities. She even described him taking a supportive role during her time at East Carolina.2As the entire process of her enrollment was largely handled by her parents and Dr. Best, it is not surprising that she did not even understand the gravity of her role. In most of her recollections, she found herself dislocated from other students, and often lonely and isolated.3 Mostly this was caused by the still overwhelming racism that existed on campus during this time. In the 1963 edition of the Buccaneer, the year book for East Carolina University, during Formal Rush week the Gamma Beta sorority was dressed out in Black-face and banjos. It is unsurprising then that Laura Marie Leary Elliot did not appear in the school yearbook until her sophomore year in 1964.4Although she claims that she never experienced any blatant racism or harassment, one event expresses the true nature of her existence on campus. At some point during her college career (presumably sophomore year), Elliott moved into Ragsdale Hall. Upon moving in, her roommate immediately requested a transfer of rooms (although unstated, one can assume it was race-related). As if the alienation and isolation were not enough, Elliott remained in that dorm room alone, because no one else would room with her. As time passed and as more students were integrated, Elliott would become somewhat of a leadership figure for those new students. Eventually she would go on to get her degree in business administration and work for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.5

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.  

The Collegiate Life of Laura Marie Leary Elliott

Sallie Southall Cotten was born in Virginia in 1846. As a young girl, she moved to North Carolina,&nbsp; where she received an education from Wesleyan Female College and later Greensboro Female College, graduating in 1863. She worked as a schoolteacher for several years until she married Robert Randolph Cotten in 1866. He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. They first lived in Tarboro, where Robert Cotten owned a business, later they moved to Wilson. Finally, Robert Cotten bought two plantations in Pitt County, Southwood and Cottendale, where the couple spent the most part of their lives.7&nbsp;Robert Cotten was an influential community leader at the time. He was a member of the General Assembly and a proponent of the idea to place ECTTS in Greenville.4&nbsp;His wife Sallie on the other hand spent almost three decades of her life primarily as a housewife.7&nbsp;In 1893 however, Sallie Cotten was appointed by Governor Elias Carr to&nbsp; represent North Carolina at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, an experience which left a permanent impression on her.1
In Chicago, she met educated women from all parts of the country.7 She was impressed by the impact of their commitment on society. When she returned to Greenville, she dedicated her life to the clubwomen movement and was very active among the reformers during the Progressive Era. She supported social reform and became an advocate and supporter of women’s education and social improvement.1&nbsp;She was a member of the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs for many years and functioned as its fifth president. The federation supported local civic reform and the child labor reform, created a loan fund for girls (the Sallie Southall Cotten Loan Fund) and promoted education.6&nbsp;In addition, Cotten was the secretary in of the National Congress of Mothers for several years and a member of numerous other clubs, such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the King's Daughters, and the&nbsp; Pitt County Federation.7&nbsp;Further, Sallie Cotten was among the founders of the End of the Century Book Club,&nbsp;which was organized in 1899. The club was supporting civic improvements and played a crucial role in the founding of the Sheppard Memorial Library in Greenville.5 Although she was a noted social reformer, Cotten agreed with white supremacist ideas, which were prevalent among whites at the time.1&nbsp; 
Besides her political involvement, Sallie Cotten wrote several books and poems during her life. Among others,she authored the book The White Doe; the fate of Virginia Dare; an Indian legend, published in 1901 and What Aunt Dorcas Told Little Elsie, published in 1923.1&nbsp;
After her husband died, Sallie Cotten moved to Massachusetts, where she died in 1929. She was buried in Greenville.7
Cotten Hall on East Carolina Campus was named in her honor. A dormitory at at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro also bears her name. Several scholarships for women were dedicated in her memory.2 Cotten Hall at East Carolina, also called Dormitory B, was constructed in 1925 at a cost of $203,750. The architect&nbsp; H.A. Underwood from Raleigh, North Carolina designed the structure.4 Cotten Hall was originally built as a women’s dormitory. It opened in 1926 next to Fleming Hall in the central neighborhood.3 As the original dormitories, Cotten Hall was built in the Spanish-mission architectural style. ECTTS founder Thomas J. Jarvis,spent time in Brazil, acquiring a taste for that design. Cotten Hall was renovated three times, in 1950, 1963 and 1985.4&nbsp;In 1958, a ceremony took place in Cotten Hall, where the portraits of Sallie Cotten and her husband Robert Randolph Cotten were unveiled by two of their daughters, Mrs. Sallie Cotten Wiggin and Mrs. Elba Cotten Wesson. At a 1958 ceremony at Cotten Hall, portraits of Sallie and Robert Cotten were unveiled by two of the couples daughters, Mrs. Sallie Cotten Wiggin and Mrs. Elba Cotten Wesson. Around 200 people attended the ceremony, as the Vice President of East Carolina, at the time, pointed out the leadership and achievements of the couple for the community.6<div> </div>

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. 

Cotten Hall

Maria Daniel Graham was born in 1876 in Warrenton, North
Carolina. She grew up in a teaching family where many of her relatives had
major roles in the educational system of North Carolina. Throughout her early
teaching career, Maria Daniel Graham taught Greek and Mathematics in rural
North Carolina. In 1909, Maria Daniel Graham was one of the first three faculty
members at the East Carolina Teacher Training School. (3) Graham was the head
of the mathematics department for thirty-six years. Out of those thirty-six
years, eighteen of those years, she served as the chair of the department. (1) 

On top of holding a position as one of the first faculty at
East Carolina Teacher Training School, Maria Daniel Graham was a part of many
organizations. Graham was the chair of the advisory committee for the YWCA for
twelve years. She was also a member of the Student Loan Fund, Homecoming
Committee, Course of Study Committee, Alumni Advisory Council, and Social
Activities Committee. Although Graham enjoyed mathematics, she was an advisor
of the Edgar Allen Poe Literacy Society on campus. 

Graham was regarded as a sympathetic woman who dedicated her
passion of teaching and students into her everyday life. Students admired her
time-commitment to their successes. She spent a lot of time outside of the
classroom on campus providing her time and commitment to the multiple
organizations she was a member of. Maria Daniel Graham had an everlasting
impact on the expectations of future educators at the East Carolina Teacher
Training School, which is present day East Carolina University. 

Raleigh architect George
R. Berryman designed the Graham Building and it was constructed in 1929 . The building has served many purposes such as science, education
classes and the East Carolina Nursing School. A third floor was added in 1960
to house additional classrooms for students. In 1993, the building was named
part of East Carolina University’s historical district on behalf of the ECU
Board of Trustees. (2) The graduating class of 1993 donated a clock in front of
the building. (4)

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.  

Graham Building

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;On Saturday, September 17, 1960, East Carolina hosted a
rally for Presidential candidate - John F. Kennedy.1 After previously denying
College President Dr. Leo Jenkins’ request to visit campus, Kennedy seized the
opportunity to come visit Greenville, North Carolina.2 The Senator from
Massachusetts declined Jenkins’ offer to speak on campus originally to focus on
his campaign for the presidency; however, when the South became a more crucial
part of the election, Kennedy found himself in Pirate Nation that very
same year.3 This event was not only pivotal to the Kennedy campaign in North
Carolina, but would also come to be known as a stipend of Jenkins’ presidency.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kennedy’s rally
at East Carolina College could have not been possible without much
collaboration among faculty, students, and politicians. The Young Democrats
Club certainly played an important role in the rally itself. When Kennedy came
down 5th street, a large banner created by club members greeted him.4 The club was also responsible for much of the
positive propaganda found at the rally itself.5 The main collaboration, however, that made
this event possible, was between Terry Sanford and Leo Jenkins. Sanford was
running for governor during this time and was a known promoter of the Kennedy
campaign. The preexisting relationship between these two men had a definite
impact on Kennedy’s decision in scheduling a rally in Greenville. Joseph
Steelmen, a history professor at East Carolina College, was also active in the
efforts to get the Democratic nominee to Greenville. Not only did the professor
write Mr. Kennedy several times urging him to visit Eastern North Carolina, but he also
made a contribution to the campaign fund. From his letters, it becomes clear
that Steelman thought that Senator Kennedy was not only an outstanding man, but
the leader that North Carolina, and the entire country, needed.6 From the collaboration among so many great
minds, it becomes evident that the rally that took place at College Stadium was
not only important to the 1960 Democratic campaign, but also to the college
itself.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Senator
Kennedy stood in front of approximately 12,000 people as he spoke at East
Carolina College stadium.7 Kennedy
catered his speech to different aspects of North Carolina living. The future
president specifically focused on the positive impacts that his presidency
would have on the agricultural economy of North Carolina.8 &nbsp;It becomes evident from his speech that
Kennedy was speaking to the population in front of him. Namely, young, educated
North Carolinians that valued their homeland and were intrigued to what the
next president would do to preserve the traditional ideals of the state. The
candidate directly stated that, “Here today in the richest and most productive
tobacco country in the United States . . . we believe, as Franklin Roosevelt
believed in his day, in an agricultural program that lifts the farmer up.”9 Kennedy may have only been in Greenville, North Carolina for one day, but his
impact on the college itself extends far past twenty-four hours.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With
the tragic and untimely death of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, the
entire world shook, including East Carolina College. Jenkins was especially
shaken by the horrific event stating that, “He was part of this campus, being
the only president ever to visit here.”10 Although some might look over
Kennedy’s visit in 1960, it really played a formative part in what would become
East Carolina University. Not only did this visit inspire donors to contribute
to the future of East Carolina, it also provided income for local newspapers.
David Whichard III, Greenville Daily Reflector Editor, made a great profit off
of the newspaper story of Kennedy’s visit and would eventually donate to the
college itself.11 Although the
location where President John F. Kennedy spoke so many years ago might be
easily overlooked today, the impact that his visit had on both East Carolina
and the city of Greenville should not be ignored. Kennedy saw a great vision
for this country and that very same image can be seen today in all that East
Carolina University has flourished into since the day he set foot in College
Stadium.

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.

Kennedy Presidential Rally at East Carolina College

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Brewster Building was constructed in 1970 and has
approximately 80,000 square feet, with four separate wings, each connected by
breezeways.1 These four, rectangular-shaped wings are located around the four
sides of a square-O-shaped courtyard.2 It was designed to provide an exit
from each floor into the courtyard. Brewster has three floors on the East,
West, and North wings.3 On the South wing which is the long, narrow wing that
houses the offices to the building has four floors.4 

&nbsp;

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The design for the Brewster building consists of windows with
small slits in them so that no one can climb in or out and the windows have
stone shutters so that no one can see in or out unless they are right in front
of them.5 Brewster also has a generator that can support the whole building
as well as metal gates that can be lowered quickly to shut anyone from the
outside out.6 Myths claim the building had these gates for three reasons. One
being that the building was built after shootings on other schools campuses,
and it was designed as a form of protection if that were to ever happen on East
Carolina's campus. The second reason was because of protests happening on
campus, and it was a way to protect students from that as well. Then the third reason was that it was to restrict access to the HVAC units when necessary.This is not
cited anywhere, however, after asking older generations, and Historians of&nbsp;the university, this is what they stated. 

&nbsp;

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Legends have it that this building was designed like a fortress
to prevent anti-war demonstrators from occupying the building.7 However this
legend is very unlikely but the university is not doing much to refute it. The
reason this is very unlikely is because there were no student riots here
against the Vietnam War.8 The biggest campus protests in those dates were
over the administration's opposition to co-ed dorms.9 You can see why many
people would believe this myth; as the descriptions of the building would lead
you to believe that and it is stated on the ECU website as part of the official history
of the building.10

&nbsp;

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;There is a more reasonable explanation as to why Brewster is
built the way it is. Brewster represents architecture's early attempts at
passive heating and cooling techniques.11 Narrow windows keep out the sun in
the summer, and a building that encircles a courtyard minimizes the surface
area exposed to the winter wind.&nbsp;12

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.

Brewster Building

The music building was not always located at A.J. Fletcher
Music Center, before the building was erected, the music program used to be
located in another building that was formerly a library. As the program grew,
the more serious the school became in dedicating a space just for music
students that was brand new. In 1966, the building was built by architects at
A.G. Odell Jr. and Associates.1

Originally the building wasn’t named after anyone in
particular until Leo Jenkins,&nbsp;East Carolina's President (1960-1978), had noticed A.J.
Fletcher's accomplishments in the music industry.In 1971, the music building was dedicated to A.J. Fletcher.&nbsp;Fletcher never taught at
East Carolina but he had donated money to the university for the music program.2 Fletcher was born in Ashe County, North Carolina and he had
attended Wake Forest College and their law school. He was active in many North
Carolina special boards and was the editor for Mooresville Enterprise and The
Apex Journal. In 1948, Fletcher had founded the the National Opera Company and
then in 1955 he founded the National Grassroots Opera Foundation in 1955.
Shortly after that he also founded the A.J. Fletcher Educational Foundation in
1961. In addition to creating&nbsp;all of these foundations Fletcher, was
also a member of the North Carolina Arts Council, a trustee of North Carolina
School of Arts, and the author of "Opera Premier". Fletcher was a
recipient of distinguished citation from the National Federation of Music Clubs
in 1957.&nbsp;3

The most current foundation from Fletcher is the A.J.
Fletcher Foundation. The foundation is known for supporting organizations in
North Carolina that helps improve the lives of North Carolina citizens. &nbsp;The Fletcher Foundation focuses on the
Triangle area of North Carolina as well as public schools and elementary
schools. They work with many partners throughout the state to help improve make
an impact on as many people as possible.4 It is unknown if the foundation has donated any resources to East Carolina University.&nbsp;

One of the most known East Carolina University's
music icons is Herbert L. Carter. Inside the building there is an auditorium
dedicated to Carter. Carter served as the band director for several decades and
he made a large impact on those that came through the doors of the music
school. Before coming to ECU in 1956, Carter served in the military and then went on to
study at Columbia University and continued hit studies to Juliard. Carter
helped improve the program and started at just two bands in the program and
then expanded it to at least six bands during his time. Along with the
auditorium in his name, there is&nbsp;also a scholarship in honor of him and his wife
that is available to student musicians.&nbsp;5

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. 

A.J. Fletcher Music Center 

Charles B Aycock was born on
November 1, 1859 in rural Wayne County. His parents, Benjamin Aycock and Serena
Hooks, "were industrious, thrifty, and pious, and both had a good sense of
management."2 In 1840, they built a house on 50 acres, and by 1960 the
Aycock family had accumulated 1,036 acres of land and owned thirteen slaves.
Benjamin Aycock was an active member of the Democratic party. He served as
Wayne County's Clerk of Court and then went on to serve as a member of the
North Carolina Senate from 1863 to 1866. Benjamin Aycock's support of the Confederacy and racial views shaped Charles B Aycock's own political views.3During his youth, Charles B
Aycock attended the Wilson Collegiate Institute and the Joseph H. Foy School in
Kinston. After teaching for a year in Fremont, he was accepted to the
University of North Carolina. After attending UNC, he studied at the University
Normal School where he became enthusiastic about universal education. In 1881,
Charles B Aycock was licensed to practice law and joined Frank Arthur Daniels
as a law partner in Goldsboro, North Carolina. In the years of his law&nbsp; practice, Aycock became active in the Democratic party. He assisted in the foundation of the pro-Democratic newspaper, the Goldsboro
Daily Argus, in 1885. Charles B Aycock became a fixture at Democratic party
rallies. He served as an elector for Grover Cleveland, and in 1892, Aycock was
nominated as Presidential elector at large. Because of his work for Cleveland,
Charles B Aycock was appointed as U.S. District Attorney for eastern North
Carolina from 1893 to 1897.3 During the 1890s Charles B Aycock and his firm
partner Arthur Daniels joined in the fight against the interracial "Fusion
Movement". Fusionists would campaign on free public schools for all and
equal political rights for all men. "Conservatives created a one-party state under what Daniels called “permanent good government by the party of the White Man.”" Through this Aycock, along with other conservatives, built the social
order of segregation that prevailed until the civil rights movement ended it in
the 1960s.4&nbsp;In 1900, Charles B Aycock was
elected as governor of North Carolina. Throughout his whole campaign and term
he stressed the importance of education. During his first year in office,
Aycock spoke at local rallies in behalf of school taxes and bonds. He went on to make pleas for educational progress. Charles B Aycock helped form the
Association for the Promotion of Public Education in North Carolina.
"Under Aycock's leadership, the appropriations for the public schools and
the state's colleges were increased, teaching standards were raised, state
adoption of textbooks replaced the more expensive system of local adoption, 877
libraries were established in rural schools, and hundreds of schoolhouses were
built."5 The enrollment of white children rose eleven percent, while the
enrollment of Black children rose ten percent.6 In 1901, two proposed state constitutional amendments would have allowed whites to use taxes to improve only white schools. When Aycock threatened to resign if they were passed, neither bill ever came to a vote.7 After his term as governor, Charles B Aycock returned to his law practice in Goldsboro. In 1911, he
became a candidate for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate. On April 4,
1912 he died while campaigning. The last word Charles B. Aycock uttered as he died on a political rally podium was "education". This was a fitting last word for a man who improved education for all North Carolinians.8

&nbsp;

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.

Legacy Hall

Without John Minges and his family, the construction of
Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum might have never happened. Minges, who in
1966 was the president of Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company, donated $25,000 for the
university to construct a basketball facility.(1) This donation was the single
largest private gift East Carolina had received, therefore they named the new
facility Minges Coliseum. A few decades later, the arena was in desperate need
for modern renovations. Luckly, Walter L. Williams, who was the president and
founder of Trade Oil Company, donated a million dollars&nbsp;for renovations towards the
coliseum.(2) After receiving this donation, the university changed the name of
the coliseum to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. 

&nbsp;From the beginning of its construction, Williams Arena at
Minges Coliseum was going to be a special project. The total cost of the new
facility was $2,500,000, &nbsp;along with the
lettering on the outside of the building estimated to be around $1,200. After
the building opened in 1968, it won several architectural awards including one
by the American Institution of Steel Construction, one of only 15 winners
nationwide out of 150 etries. (3) The arena was officially dedicated on January
27th, 1968 as East Carolina played its first home game against West
Virginia. According to a letter from East Carolina Chancellor Leo Jenkins to
Ray Minges, Mr. Minges hosted officials from the Southern Conference as well as
the league's commissioner in his home after the building's dedication and first
basketball game.(4)

&nbsp;As for the current state of Williams Arena at
Minges Coliseum, modern era upgrades have established the arena as a state of
the art facility. In 1994, East Carolina spent around $11.5 million to replace
the basketball floor, add more seating, air conditioning, new lighting and new
locker rooms.(5) Thanks to those additions, the arena has hosted an array of
different events. It is also the home to another sport, women's volleyball.
Concerts(Lee Brice, Future, Rae Sremmurd), professional wrestling (WWE) and
even the first sitting presidential visit from George W. Bush to&nbsp;promote his tax and budget proposals.(circa 2001) were all hosted at the
coliseum in the last 20 years.&nbsp;

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.  

Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum

&nbsp; Title IX Law passes in 1972 states: "No person in the
United States shall be judged based on sex, be excluded from participation in,
be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any education
program. (1)&nbsp;&nbsp; The Title IX
lawsuit of 1978 against East Carolina University(ECU), was brought against them
by a woman named Debra Newby. Newby was a student athlete at the time she
brought up the lawsuit. She was on the JV basketball team and she also ran
track for ECU. She saw the men sports getting the scholarships, uniforms,
equipment, etc. She said "The men's warmups were better than our actual
uniforms". She got tired of it not being fair between the men and the
women athletes on campus, so she began her journey to change how things were
going to go. She brought her complaint to a man named Charles "Sonny"
McLawhorn. McLawhorn was the lawyer that was going to represent Newby and her
group who were fighting for equality in sports. David Stevens was the attorney
for ECU from 1971-1988. (2)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1978 was the
year the lawsuit was first put against ECU. Here is a timeline of events that
took place that year and beyond:On April 21, 1978, Newby and other female athletes, first
put in their complaint about Title IX not being executed (3). On May 2, Newby
began to get help from McLawhorn. From July, up until August, meetings between
Stevens (ECU attorney) and McLawhorn (Newby's attorney) was going on to see if
they could resolve this issue (4). On August 30, the "new plan" was
announced (5). On September 6, David Stevens announces that an agreement
entitled "Plan to Strengthen Women Athletics and Comply with Title
IX" (6). Finally, on September 14, the Chancellor of ECU, Thomas Brewer,
ordered the athletic director by the name of Bill Chain, to follow the New
Plan. On September 16th, Bill Chain gave a budget and operational plan to
rectify the inequalities of men's and women's sports (7). Finally, all the hard
work of Newby and McLawhorn and others was finally being put to good use and
everything was falling into place. &nbsp; The new
plan was &nbsp;called the “Plan to Strengthen Women Athletics and Comply with Title IX. Before
this plan, only 7 women had scholarships throughout ECU for sports (8). The
funding would go towards making more scholarships available for women athletes.
Not only would the funding help with scholarships but this plan allowed women
get new uniforms, money from the college to buy their food on travel, buy their
gear (equipment) needed, locker rooms for them to change into, and they would
not have to jam into vans to go to their away games (9). This new plan made it
possible for 99 scholarships to be available for women athletes, which was a
huge increase since the beginning of women sports (10). One other thing that
was going to happen was that women athletes were not going to have walk across
campus or miles to get to their field from changing into their uniform. This
plan made it possible for the women basketball players to have a locker room to
change into (11). This plan made it fair to all athletes across campus. Then
men and women athletes were finally starting to get equal things when it comes
to playing a sport.&nbsp;&nbsp;Title
IX todays have changed so much for women not only on ECU’s campus, but all
women on a campus in the United States of America. Not only are there more
women sports on campus such as volleyball, it is normal to see female athletes
around campus (12). A big change that has happened since the Title IX lawsuit
is that the softball team got their own complex. In 2011, ECU built the ECU
Softball Complex. This complex is located right across from the baseball
complex. This complex was “long overdue” because the softball players were not
playing on a good field (13). Finally, they got what they deserve and that is a
beautiful complex just like the baseball players. &nbsp;



























&nbsp;Debra Newby went on to become a lawyer. Newby has her own
law practice called Newby Law: Debra A. Newby, Attorney At Law. She now lives
in Northern California, which is where her law office is located. She
represents clients in Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino and Marin counties and throughout
the greater Bay Area. (14)

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!

Gender Equity in Sports comes to ECU

The song "Dixie" was created by Daniel Decatur
Emmett, who wrote the song for a minstrel show in 1859. It was very popular
around the time of the Civil War and became a symbol of the Confederacy.&nbsp;The song's narrator was a slave from the South who told stories about his &nbsp;"Old Missus" and
her husband. Other lyrics narrated by the slave suggested that he was satisfied his life on the&nbsp;plantation and was not interested in&nbsp;freedom from slavery. While
"Dixie" was performed in minstrel shows, the white actors would put
burnt cork on their face and sing and dance in the stereotypical way&nbsp;of African
slaves. Because of these factors, "Dixie" would be considered as a
racial slur against African-Americans a hundred years later.

"Dixie" was
often played at East Carolina University's football games between the 1950s
and 1960s. In 1968, the Negro Students Grievance Committee was established to address&nbsp;discrimination&nbsp;faced by Black students at ECU. In order
to reach their goal, they created a list of demands &nbsp;and
sent it to ECU President Leo Jenkins. A symbolic issue on the list soon became a point of contention as many whites believed that the request to stop playing "Dixie" at sporting events and the removal of
the Confederate flag was unreasonable.&nbsp;White residents of the city and white alumni sent Jenkins letters expressing their disappointment in his
decision to approve the banning of "Dixie" and the Confederate flag
removal, even though no official decision was yet made and he also believed that the song and flag was tradition and therefore not a hostile image or practice.The students met with President Jenkins three times to address issues on the list, but the President did not respond with any policy changes.&nbsp;On March 26, 1969,&nbsp;several students held a demonstration at the president's home and demanded an answer regarding his stance on the list of demands. Leo Jenkins made
the decision to address these demands&nbsp;at a
convocation.&nbsp;During the convocation at&nbsp;the former Ficklen Memorial&nbsp;Stadium on March 31st, Jenkins stated that it was his opinion that the song and flag were not offensive and should continue to be a symbol of the university and its traditions. Many of the African American students walked out of the stadium before the president's speech was
finished and a referendum revealed that a majority of students wanted to end the practice of playing Dixie.&nbsp;

 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. 

Student Protest at Ficklen Memorial Stadium Against the Playing of Dixie 

Prior to construction, Dr. Leo Jenkins, president of East Carolina University, played a crucial role in launching a fund-raising campaign to help fund Ficklen Stadium. The blueprint for what is now known as Dowdy-Ficklen stadium, occurred in March of 1962.&nbsp; The total estimated cost of the initial&nbsp;project in 1962&nbsp;was $288,090.00. On May 3, 1962, a groundbreaking ceremony took place in Greenville, NC. Through donations from the local community, college staff, student government, and Pitt County, the stadium that was once merely a dream, turned into a reality.&nbsp; From 1961 – 1962, over 260,000 in donations had been raised, exceeding the goal of 200,000. This success of the funds campaign was attributable to the spearheading efforts of an eight-man committee of Greenville businessmen: Chairman W.M. Scales Jr.; Dr. E.B. Aycock; H.L. Hodges Jr.; R. Wallace Howard; J. Con Lanier Sr.; S. Reynolds May; and David J. Whichard II. In addition, the highest pledges were made by Pitt County (10k); Greenville Utilities Commission (10k); and Home Savings and Loan (3k) Working hand in hand with Dr. Jenkins, the drive brought in $283,387 – the largest fundraising project in the history of Pitt County.&nbsp;On May 3, 1962, a groundbreaking ceremony took place in Greenville, NC. While under construction, the playing area of the field was fumigated with Methyl Bromide, known to kill most disease.&nbsp; Only four other football fields in our nation were treated in this highly regarded manner.&nbsp; The first football game played in the new stadium was a historical game played between ECC and Wake Forest College. It was the first home meeting between the Pirates and an Atlantic Coast Conference member. Its victory ignited a firestorm among the Pirate faithful and was the rock on which the future of the program would be built. It has to be one of the most important wins in the school’s history — home or away. Today, the highest attended game was in Sept. of 2014 against North Carolina, with 51,082 people in attendance. A close friend of East Carolina, Mr. Ficklen, established the Ficklen Foundation which provides many scholarship opportunities to the students at East Carolina University.Another round of renovations is currently underway and scheduled to be completed by 2018.&nbsp; Totaling 55 million dollars, this renovation is to provide premium parking, loge boxes, field-level club seats, and suites and additional Pirate Club seating out of the sun on the south side. Construction is set to begin following the final home football game" of the '17 season.

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.

Dowdy Ficklen Stadium

If you were to look up Clark-LeClair Stadium in 1971 you
would not be able to find any information on it. This is not because a baseball
field did not exist for East Carolina University, but because the field possessed
a different name. Harrington Field was located near Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. This
baseball field was renovated for $100,000 and was dedicated on May 9, 1971 in
honor of Milton E. Harrington, a Pitt County native.1&nbsp;In 1927 Mr. Harrington
attended Duke University where he became a well known baseball player. Aftter
his time at Duke University, he returned to Greenville North Carolina where he
was heavily invloved in the Coastal Plain League and was called "The
Father of Organized Baseball" in Greenville.2&nbsp;The then President of
East Carolina University Leo W. Jenkins said "Harrington Field will help
us continue our baseball with a higher level of interest and greater benefits
to players, other students, and loyal supporters of college baseball."3

&nbsp;In 2004 Harrington Field was replaced with a newly
renovated field that was renamed Clark-LeClair Stadium. The project costed an
estimated one and a half million dollars. The new upgrades included seating for three
thousand plus, offices, locker rooms, equipment rooms, press box, and many other
additions.4 The first game to be played at the new stadium was on March 4,
2005 which showcased East Carolina defeating Michigan two to one.5 The new
stadium was highly reviewed by players and fans alike. A state record was set
at Clark-LeClair Stadium on April 22, 2009 for the largest crown to witness a
college level baseball game, when East Carolina hosted the then number one team
North Carolina Tar Heels. East Carolina went on to win that game four to zero
among the presence of five thousand five hundred and eighty one spectators.6 &nbsp;

The name Clark-LeClair Stadium got it's title from two main
sources. The William H. Clark family was a big time supporter of East Carolina
Athletics and donnated one and a half million dollars to the new renovation
project of Clark-LeClair Stadium. Bill Clark who was very well known in the
Greenville community wanted to get Keith LeClair's name on the stadium in honor
of everything that he has done for the baseball program at East Carolina
University. Keith LeClair was a former Priates' head coach for the baseball
team from 1997-2002.7&nbsp;He was a very influential figure during his time with
the baseball team. As well he was a strong supporter for getting a new state of
the art field. Kieth LeClair later fell on hard times due to health issues but
was very greatful for all that the William H. Clark family had done for him,
his family, and East Carolina University. He is honored to have his name
displayed on the stadium and&nbsp; believes
that it "represents all ECU coaches and players of the past and present
and all the great traditions this baseball program was built on."8&nbsp;&nbsp;

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".

East Carolina University History Tour

Ruth Allen White Dormitory, Eastern Carolina University

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources