A cartoon "As Others See Us," from the 1912 Oak Leaves, illustrated the open windows of dorm rooms that so vexed the college officials. In brief, this cartoon illustrates one of the limitations of the small, downtown campus: the students desire for freedom, fresh air and convenience, versus the administration's demand for decorum.
In 1922, students, faculty and other notables traveled to the future campus location for a first celebratory barbecue, which was commemorated by photos in the yearbook. The attendees were given a tour of the site with the locations of the coming buildings pointed out. Then, the students enacted a "miniature pageant," during which the "former spirit of Meredith formally presented the land with its manifold opportunities to her younger sister, the new spirit of Meredith" after which the "Alma Mater" was sung. Following this solemn ceremony, the classes competed in baseball, among other games, and in "numerous songs and yells of the girls." And of course, the "crowning feature" of the outing was a "feast" of barbecue and "its fitting accompaniments.... substantial enough for the appetite of a host of college girls."
For a few years, a commemorative barbecue among the grove of oak trees was an annual tradition.
Vera Milton (Class of 1925) pasted two snapshots from the October 9th, 1924 groundbreaking at the new site in her scrapbook. In the top photo, President Charles Brewer stands in the midst of a cotton field in what was the Tucker Farm. Next to the snapshot, Milton wrote on the page, "Barbeque / 1924 / The first / shovel / of / dirt" with an arrow pointing to the bottom photo. On the left, she wrote, "Mr. Jones" - Wesley Norwood Jones, who was a trustee of the college from 1889-1928. Jones “lifted the first shovel of dirt where the library and administration buildings are to stand.” Various trustees then followed suit, followed by a talk by Mr. Jones reminding everyone that to complete their plans for the new campus, “hard work and prayer is needed.” The ceremonial part of the day being over, the faculty, trustees and students then enjoyed a dinner of barbeque, potato salad, sandwiches and ice cream. The article in the Twig ended this account by reporting, “It was with much regret and many sighs that we forced to quit that beautiful grove of white oaks which was grayed by the incoming shades of evening. Thus ended a perfect day.”
Milton's scrapbook is held in the Meredith College Archives.
An illustration from the Bibical Recorder with an idealized view of the future campus. This illustration was also inserted into the college's Quarterly Bulletin in June 1925.
In a "Retrospect / Prospect" edition, the June 1925 Meredith College Quarterly Bulletin printed this photo of the "Avenue of Trees" and "The Oaks" - exciting features of the new campus site.
Administration Building under construction. The first floor would come to house the offices of the President, Secretary and Bursar, as well as the post office, parlors and a lecture hall. The second floor library under its impressive rotunda was entered by a long flight of steps fronting the building. The two halls for the Astros and Phis literary societies were on the third floor.
In an October 1924 article in the Twig, this building was actually referred to as primarily the library (in the center under the rotunda), with the administrative offices and parlours at either end.
Administration Building (Johnson) on left and Dorm A (Brewer) while under construction. Dorm A housed the senior class.
Students came to visit the new campus while it was under construction.
Cornerstone ceremony at the Administration Building (1925), the first permanent construction on the new campus. Traveling to event from the city, the attendants "left the highway and went over a muddy road, through a cotton field, and into an oak grove...(where) the Baptist ministers and laymen were surprised at the natural beauty of the location...."
According to a report in the Meredith College Bulletin, the following items were placed in the cornerstone:
A student curious about the new campus-in-process poses with a handy wheelbarrow.
The Administration Building (Johnson Hall) as it appeared in the snow when the new campus opened to students in January, 1926. Once it melted, the snow had created slippery, muddy conditions on the raw, unlandscaped grounds. Students had finished 1925 on the downtown campus. When they returned to school after the break, their belongings had been moved for them.
The long front entrance onto campus from Hillsborough St.
The original quadrangle made up of the Administration Building (named Johnson Hall), dorms A (Brewer), B (Faircloth), C (Vann) and D (Stringfield), as well as the dining hall.
Each dormitories would provide living quarters for 125 students. Each building had a lunderetter, a kitchenette, a "pressing room," and social room on each floor. Space was also set aside to provide living quarters for 40 teachers.
The new dining hall - built large enough to accommodate Meredith College's projected future growth.
As the students left the downtown campus in December for the holiday break, they packed and marked their trunks. When the 375 students and resident staff returned to school, now in its new location, they found their belongings ready for them in their assigned rooms. This hard work was credited in Mary Lynch Johnson's A History of Meredith College to employees who "deserved more than passing attention." While Johnson did not allude to their race, the context makes it clear that these individuals were African-American. Johnson gives special attention to Adonis "Donis" Stroud, " who coming to the Baptist Female University as porter and general handyman, had ruled the place for twenty years." She continues, "Ed Kirby, Will Nichols and Joshomore Brodie were indipensable in the move. The maids who helped were Rosie Jeffers Lyon, Pattie Leach, Sophie Ford and her sister Arthelia Cole; Catherine Evans and her sister, Lizzie Anderson; and Arnetta Brown." Johnson concludes, "Considering the immensity of the project, it is almost a miracle that every trunk, box and bag was placed in the right room without even a temporary confusuion to be adjusted."
These photographs with unidentified staff appear in the 1922, 1930 and 1925 Oak Leaves.
The new campus was the main topic of the January 15, 1926 Twig. The students ended 1925 on the downtown site, and began 1926 on the outskirts of town in the snow and mud.
To read: Twig, January 15, 1926
An aerial view of the new campus in 1928. The "temporary buildings" visible at the top of the photo housed classrooms and laboratories and studios. These buildings - despite thin walls and leaky ceilings - would be used until the first new construction in 1949 with Jones Auditorium. The first new classroom building was Joyner (now Lux), completed in 1956.
Closest to the dorms was the auditorium - a large, framed building open up to the rafters and with wooden seats. The stage was large enough to accommodate plays, chapel, commencements and other campus gatherings. A music theory classroom was located in the back.
The next structure over was the Science Building with classrooms, labs and offices built along a single hallway. Created with the same plan, the Classroom Building housed the liberal arts curriculum. A gymnasium was placed behind these buildings in 1928 and was also "temporary."
Two structures left from the Tucker Farm were a farmhouse and an old chimney. The chimney may have been used as a casual gathering place clubs and student organizations, class socials, church groups, etc. The house became the BeeHive, a student store and soda fountain.
Carlyle Campbell Library
Meredith College
3800 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
919-760-8532
