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

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Being in advanced ROTC required a six-week training camp in the sum- mer after the junior year. I rode in a Model ' T touring car to Fort Mc- Clellan, Ala., as a cadet, Overton said. (He first met the future Mrs. Overton at a dance for the cadets while he was at camp.) As far as transportation in those days, not many students owned cars. There were a few stripped- down Model T ' s and one Austin, he said. On weekends most students went home by air — with their thumbs in the air, that is. Some went to Eetsie- Teetsie — East Carolina Teacher ' s College — to see their sweethearts. Of course, other State boys had girlfriends in Raleigh. I never did stop at St. Mary ' s school but I used to see them Meredith gals on the bus or at the First Baptist Church. Mrs. Overton added that the boys used to walk back and forth in front of Raleigh ' s girls ' schools just hoping to see a girl. When the students had free time, some of them would go to the Grand Theatre on Fayetteville Street, which featured touring vaudeville acts com- plete with comedians and dancing ladies. We thought they were pretty well stripped down, Overton said. State students sometimes went to the Sir Walter Raleigh Hotel. They ' d have bands and fancy people to watch, he said. His wife said that the State boys ' girlfriends would get let- ters on stationery stolen from the hotel ' s mezzanine. Letters in those days were mailed with a 2-cent stamp. never did stop at St. Mary ' s school but I used to see them Meredith gals on the bus or at the First Baptist Church. And of course, sporting events were popular. There was a heavy turnout for football games at Riddick Stadium, Overton said. Football and basketball had freshman and varsity teams. Other team sports included wrestling, boxing, swimming, track and cross country. The rivalry with North Carolina had already begun by the late ' 20s. State students had started calling Raleigh ' s The News and Observer the Nuisance and Disturber. They felt State only got bad press from the N O while all the complimentary news came out of Chapel Hill, accor- ding to Overton. Beyond team sports, physical fitness has always been stressed at State. Students then had to take six credit hours of PE in order to graduate. If a student happened to be caught up with his classwork and needed some extra money, he could pick up a job assignment at the YMCA. Overton said a student could spend an after- noon doing yardwork, scrubbing, painting or floor polishing for pro- fessors ' wives, and so pick up an extra two or three dollars. The YMCA building was on the campus back then. Overton noted how much the campus has changed over the years. I lived my first year in 1911 dormitory, he said. He joked that his old room is now a men ' s room. The 1911 Building got its name becau.se the hazing of freshmen was banned by that class. Overton graduated from State in 1931. His son and grandchildren have carried on the red-and-white tradi- tion. Two of his grandchildren entered State two years before his 50th reunion. But despite all the changes that have taken place at State, L.H. Overton, class of ' 31, will always be a Wolfpacker. — Ann Houston 4 16, Student Life

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ent The campus (above) began to resemble its present ap- pearance in Overton ' s day. As a student he considered a car on campus to be a luxury (left). Overton spent the sum- mer of 1930 at ROTC camp (right) in Fort McClellan, Alabama. Student Life 15

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4 4 fitness Slate, credit ite, caught needed iupa Iverton I alter- ibbing. )rpro- nestra onltie noted langed year in ! joked men ' s sname ;n wn late in mliave ' tradi- uldren ire liis ill the ace at il.wll Overton ' s military training was somewhat less strict than this 1913 Agromeck photograph implies (far left). At the turn of the century dorm room mirrors were in- spected with a white glove, and woe to the resident when the least bit of dust could be seen on the glove tips. Overton spent his freshman year in the 1911 Dorm (near left, in a 1922 view), which got its name from the class that abolished hazing. He is seen with a girlfriend (below left) in 1931. This 1915 Agromeck il- lustration (below right) hints that all was not work for the early State men. ' f KLS.gu ' f ir ' Student Life 17