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

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Brooks Hall (above right) and the University Bell tower (above) both sit on the east side of Campus where Holladay Hall and the University was begun. Opening

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Building Blocks Of A University In Motion % ILVU PLAN It Started as a plan to fulfill the needs of two separate groups of North Carolina citi- zens. These two groups, the North Carolina framers and the recently fornned Watauga Club, were beginning to become dis- satisfied with the adequacy of the programs at the University in Chapel Hill and the services that these programs were providing to the people of North Carolina. The Watauga Club advocated an industrial school so the people of North Carolina would not be dependent on the schools of the North for a technical education. On March 11, 1885 this group saw the passing of their bill in the North Carolina Legislature that called for the formation of a school that would have instruction in ' woodwork, mining, metalurgy, practical agriculture and any other bran- ches of industrial education deemed necessary. ' This bill designated that the location would be in the city that offered the highest bid. Raleigh even- tually bid $8,000 and $3,000 in land near the fair grounds, $1,000 more than the runner-up in the bidding, Kinston. As construction of this ' Indus- trial College ' was being planned, Colonel Leonidas L. Polk began a series of meetings with farmers of the state. These meetings culminated when the Watauga Club ' s Industrial College was transformed into a Land-grant College by a vote of the Legislature on March 3, 1887. This bill formed the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. A University planned from the very beginning to serve the needs of the people of North Carolina. Opening

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Building Blocks Of A University In Motion ion FOUNDATION For in Institution to withstand the tests of time, it must have solid academic as well as physi- cal foundations. These founda- tions were planned and built by many concerned citizens of North Carolina on about 60 acres of land in West Raleigh that was donated by R. Stanhope Pullen. In December of 1888, the Board of Trustees began the search for the seven required faculty positions. At their next meeting in July of 1889 the board set the qualifications that all ' Applicants must be at least fourteen years of age, must furnish evidence of good moral character and physical devel- opment , must be able to read and write ordinary English in- telligently, and must be familar with simple arithmetic..., and have fair knowledge of geo- graphy and state history. ' The trustees also set tuition at twenty dollars a year and board to be eight dollors a month. Brick and labor from the State Penitentiary was used to con- struct the first building on Campus, currently Holladay Hall. William J. Peele delivered the principal address at the laying of the corner stone for the Main Building (later named Holladay Hall after the University ' s first president) in August of 1889. In that speech he remarked that in these walls ' are nothing but North Carolina brick and her still solid santstone. This building is a monument of ' labor and love; for this is a temple reared by North Carolina for North Carolina in affection for her children. ' With the Main building com- pleted, the faculty secured and the freshman class enrolled, the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts opened its doors on October 3, 1889. Opening