North Carolina State University - Agromeck Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

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The North Cjiroliiia College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts During the years in which North Carolina was slowlj ' emerging from the economic havoc wrought by Civil War antl Reconstruction, some far-sighted men began to see the necessity of rearing industrially equipped men. They felt keenly the need of competent men to Iniild and direct new industries, and to restore the land which had been impoverisheil l)y slave labor. They recognized that men capable of doing what was needed would have to l)e educated in industrial schools and technical colleges. This recognition came slowly, because the Southern people up to that period had been wedded to classical education. The first organized body to take steps for the establishment of an industrial institution in North Carolina was the Watauga Club. This club, composed of bright young men, explained its mission by declaring that it was an association in the City of Raleigh, designed to find out and make knoAvn information on prac- tical subjects that will be of public use. In 1885 this club presented to the Legis- lature the following memorial: We respectfully memorialize your honorable body: First. To establish an industrial school in North Carolina which shall be a training place for young men who wish to acquire skiU in the wealth- producing arts and sciences. Second. To establish this school in Raleigh in connection with the State Agricultural Department. Third. To make provision for the e ' ' ect-ion of suitable buildings and for their eqiiipment and maintenance. (Signed) Arthur Winslow, Ckniriiian. W. J. Peele. W. LTER H. P.1GE. 12

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General Alumni Association R. H. Merritt, Raleigh President W. D. Briggs, Raleigh Vice-President A. W. Taylor, Burlington Secretary-Treasurer Executive Committee J. A. Park, Chairman R. H. Merritt J. W. Harrelson Prof. C. B. Williams J. B. Bray R. J. Wyatt A. T. Bowler F. B. Sherwood Walter Clark, Jr. W. F. Pate R. I. Poole E. E. CULBRETH Raleigh AInmni Committee on Athletics J. A. Park, Raleigh J. W. Harrelson, Raleigh R. H. Merritt, Raleigh E. E. Culbreth, Raleigh A. T. Bowler, Raleigh J. B. Br. y, Raleigh James McKimmox, Raleigh C. W. Gold, Gr( ensboro W. L. Darden, Norfolk S. B. Alexander, Jr., Charlotte O. M.Ax Gardner, Shelby 11

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This memorial quickened general interest in the proposed school, and several bills looking to its foundation were introduced in the Legislature of 1885. On March 7 one of these bills, introduced by Hon. Augustus Leazar, of Iredell County, became a law. This law provided that the Board of Agriculture should seek proposals from the cities and towns of the State, and that the school should be placed in the town oifcring most inducements. The Board of Agriculture finally accepted an offer from the City of Raleigh. Meantime, the ideas of the advocates of the school had been somewhat broad- ened as to the character of the proposed institution. They saw that Congress was aljout to supplement the original Land Grant Act by an additional appropria- tion for agricultural and mechanical colleges in each State. The originators of the conception then sought the aid of progressive farmers in order to change the school into an Agricultm-al and Mechanical College. Col. L. L. Polk, the editor of the newly established Progressive Farmer, threw the weight of his paper heartily into the new idea. jNIeetings were held in various ])laces, and two very large meet- ings in Raleigh considered the proposition. As a result the school already provided for was, by action of the Legislature of 1887, changed into an Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the Land Scrip Fund was given the newly formed insti- tution. In aildition, the law directed that any surplus from the Department of Agriculture should go into the treasury of the college. ]Mr. R. Stanhope PuUen, one of Raleigh ' s most broad-minded citizens, gave the institution eighty-three acres of land in a beautiful suburb of Raleigh. The first buikling was completed in 1889, and the doors of the college were opened for students on October the thirtl, 1889. Seventy-two students, representing thirty-seven counties, were enrolled the first year. The faculty consisted of six full professors and two assistants. From this small Ijeginning in 1889 the college has growii to be the second in size in students and faculty among the colleges for men in the State. It has now a faculty of sixty members ; a student enrollment in all courses of 760; and twenty brick buildings. 13