Introduction
James Edward Shepard and the History
of North Carolina Central University,
1875-1947
By Henry Lewis Suggs
© Copyright 2010, Henry Lewis Suggs. Copyright No. PRE000002168, U.S. Copyright Office.
All rights reserved. No portion of this chapter may be copied or electronically transmitted without the
author’s permission.
Introduction
James Edward Shepard and the History of
North Carolina Central University, 1875-1947
By Henry Lewis Suggs
A famous writer once said: “Every Page of History Must Have Its
Beginning.” Such is the case of North Carolina Central University. James Edward
Shepard chartered the National Religious Training School and Chautauqua in
July 1909. Shepard designated the school as “opened” in October 1910. Although
chartered in 1909, the school celebrates 1910 as the official year of its
establishment. When I presented a copy of the official 1909 charter to Chancellor
James Ammons, he flinched. He referenced the legal ramifications of a changed
historical date. I reflected upon the discrepancy in the school’s history. In any
case, tradition won: Chancellor Ammons ruled that the university was founded in
1910. Historically, however, a university is founded when it is chartered instead
of when classes began.
NCCU is currently celebrating its centennial—100 years of tradition,
struggle, and academic achievement. The university’s motto is “Truth and
Service,” and its mascot is the American eagle. According to folklore, Shepard
chose the eagle as the school’s mascot because “the eagle is no ordinary barnyard
fowl.” Shepard selected maroon and gray as the official colors of the school. To
many, “truth” is a nineteenth-century philosophical term that embodies the
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holistic approach to education. Shepard and the black conservatives viewed
“truth” as a strategy to solve the “Negro problem.”
Historians have a more panoramic view of the first centennial than most
eagles. This celebration is going to be indexed into larger studies of society,
culture, and race. Here’s why. First, this centennial occurs during the first decade
of the new millennium, a new century. This century has unfolded as one of the
most turbulent periods in American history. During the past few years, America
has experienced Sept. 11—an attack on its soil—as well as Hurricane Katrina and
the worse economic meltdown since the Great Depression. The election of a black
president, the end of the Iraqi War, and a massive influx of immigrants has
changed forever American social history. The above events are going to be
studied, analyzed, and debated. Meanwhile, the first centennial class will be a
benchmark for an in-depth and well-documented study of black education titled
“A Century of Progress, 1910-2010.”
The school has experienced several name changes during its brief history.
It originated as the National Religious Training School and Chautauqua in 1909.
The name changed to the National Training School in 1915 and to the Durham
State Normal School for Negroes in 1923. The name was changed to North
Carolina College for Negroes in 1925 and to North Carolina College at Durham in
1947. The school assumed its present name, North Carolina Central University
(NCCU), in 1969.
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When the state affixed the prefix North Carolina to the name of the school
in 1925, it was an anomaly. At that time, with the exception of U.S. land grant
colleges, many of the historically black colleges (HBCs) within the South were
named for a city or region. Such is the case in North Carolina. The state of North
Carolina has five historically black public colleges, which is more than any other
state in the nation. Aside from NCCU and North Carolina A&T (Greensboro), all
of the state’s HBCs are named for cities: Fayetteville State, Elizabeth City State,
and Winston-Salem State. North Carolina has three times more public HBCs than
South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and Arkansas, and twice as many as Virginia,
Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. Yet, despite this collective body of scholarship, a
high state education official complained to me about the paucity of black male
teachers in the pure and natural sciences at the secondary and university levels.
Also, the academic power has yet to make a significant impact on race relations.
The Durham NAACP characterized the city’s race relations as “civil.”
Shaw University (1865), a small, black Baptist college in Raleigh, is the
mother of black education in the state. Shaw gave birth to North Carolina A&T.
Shepard graduated from Shaw in 1894. North Carolina A&T helped to facilitate
the establishment of the National Religious Training School and Chautauqua
(NRTS&C) in 1909. James Dudley, president of A&T, was the first board
chairman of the NRTS&C. He was a personal friend and confidant of Shepard.
They met at Shaw University’s annual commencements, black Republican
conventions, and activities of the International Sunday School Association. Thus,
NCCU and North Carolina A&T had established a collaborative platform to uplift
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society, to champion academic advancement, and to advocate cultural
enrichment before the birth of NCCU. There was a collective awareness of a need
for academic excellence, racial solidarity, and entrepreneurship as a strategy for
success. The NRTS&C’s mission of a trained ministry was coupled with Shepard’s
vision of an expanded middle class.
There are approximately one hundred HBCs in America. They are almost
evenly divided between public and private. Surprisingly, Maryland has four
public HBCs. Also, public HBCs exist in California, Oklahoma, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Many Americans are unaware of the large number
of HBCs in the United States. Also, they assume fallaciously that the HBC in their
community is a mirror of HBCs elsewhere. NCCU is one of the most unique HBCs
in America. First, the state affixed the name North Carolina to a small, black
liberal arts college. Also, the state authorized North Carolina College to offer
graduate degrees in library science and education and advanced certificates of
certification for high school principals, teachers, and superintendents. There was
a genuine effort to make North Carolina College the premier school of choice for
black education and to project Shepard as the state’s most preeminent leader.
Dean Helen Edmonds often exalted the graduate school, which she
directed, as among the best within the South. North Carolina College was
recognized as the best Negro school in the South by power brokers within the
state legislature during the Great Depression. The above recognition, in part,
explains why the school survived a proposed merger with North Carolina A&T
during the Depression.
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Meanwhile, throughout the early 1950s, weekly editions of the Norfolk
Journal and Guide published full-page ads in bold black type that read: “N. C.
College Teachers Admitted to Graduate Courses Without Exam.” The state fully
funded out-of-state summer school for black teachers as a strategy to avoid
desegregation. Presumably, teachers elsewhere, especially from within the deep
South, were required to take on-campus proficiency exams to qualify for
admission to graduate courses. Correspondingly, during the post-World War II
years, with the exception of Howard University, NCCU was the only HBC in the
upper South to offer a Ph.D. in education. The degree was well-respected. The
first graduate was Walter Brown. Until recently, the NCCU Law School was one of
four HBC law schools in the nation. The others are: Howard (Washington, D.C.),
Texas Southern (Houston), and the Southern University Law Center in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. Florida A&M created a law school a few years ago.
The NCCU Shepard history project began a few decades ago. I have
unearthed the exact date that it began. On June 22, 1944, Helen G. Edmonds, an
NCCU history professor, interviewed President James Edward Shepard for a
biography. She defaulted on her objective. Instead, she chronicled her research
into a book on fusion politics during the Gilded Age (1890-1900). Unfortunately,
she was overwhelmed by her research and lost her historical objectivity. She
exaggerated Shepard’s role as a power broker in black Republican politics and his
leadership potential as well. Like Shepard, Edmonds was a Republican and a
power broker in national Republican politics. She seconded Republican Dwight
Eisenhower’s nomination for president of the United States in 1956. After
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Shepard’s death in 1947, she assumed several high administrative positions at
NCCU and eventually dropped the project. Historian E. E. Thorpe, a
distinguished scholar, once seriously considered the project. He declined because
of a lack of archival resources and research funds. Another professor, Caulbert A.
Jones, a distinguished scholar, writer, and contemporary of Shepard, declined
the project for the above reasons as well. Edmonds, Thorpe, Jones, and others
lacked access to archival resources, major historical collections, and on-line
libraries that were available to me when I took on the project. This book is the
first serious study since Helen Edmonds.
The economic meltdown dampened the spirit of the first centennial. The
celebration was somewhat subdued. It was less exciting than expected. There
were no parades, festivals, or long-term workshops or seminars. The Shepard
House, Shepard’s presidential home, remained closed. The Durham Carolina
Times, a black weekly, failed to publish a serial on the first centennial or the
legendary Shepard family. This author is surprised that NCCU failed to highlight
the academic, social, and business benefits that this nation has derived from the
plethora of teachers, principals, lawyers, doctors, nurses, dentists, and business
professionals that NCCU has produced during the past 100 years. The C. T. Willis
Commerce Club, the E. E. Just Biology Club, and the University “Thespians”
inspired thousands of students with the university’s motto of “Excellence Without
Excuse.” An appreciation of music, art, and drama was stitched into the
curriculum. The music department was internationally known, and the popular
TV sitcom Good Times highlighted weekly the artistry of NCCU’s Ernie Barnes.
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Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first black mayor, graduated from the NCCU Law
School.
At the secondary level, there was intense competition to hire North
Carolina College (1925-1947) home economics, music, art, and drama teachers.
Academically, until the 1960s, the name North Carolina College meant the best.
More recently, published books by NCCU scholars have changed the history and
the historiography of the South. At some point, however, NCCU and HBCs
elsewhere as well, abandoned academic excellence as a strategy for success. Thus,
the schools lost a critical mass of academic excellence. Hopefully, this book will
rekindle the “Eagle Spirit” and imbue the Eagle community with a renewed sense
of family, “Truth and Service.”
Dr. James Ammons, the former chancellor of NCCU, enticed me to leave a
history professorship at Clemson University in 2003 to write the history of
NCCU. What an honor, I thought. Here, I reasoned, is an opportunity to recreate
the school’s history and to perpetuate the legacy of a hundred-year-old HBC. A
sense of destiny engulfed me. Historically, black public colleges suffer from a lack
of identity, documented history, and alumni support. A school’s identity is linked
to its image. “Image is everything,” noted Shepard. Although the school went into
bankruptcy several times, Shepard always projected the various named schools as
stable and prosperous.
Group identity, self-image, and self-esteem are inextricably linked to the
learning process. Group learning in the classroom and teacher effectiveness are
greatly enhanced when individuals from within both groups have a sense of
“core” self-esteem and have a positive image of the academic institution. Core
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self-esteem is rooted in history. It is empowered by agape love, genealogy,
theology, family, and education. It is permanent and everlasting. It regenerates
itself. Generic self-esteem is less secure. It is often evolved from athletics,
entertainment, and what is termed, “Misguide-Education.” When the glory ends
and the cheering stops, the self-esteem disintegrates into self-pity and a lack of
confidence. My objective is to give NCCU students something that is going to last.
Shepard loved history. He internalized the admonition of his friend Carter
Woodson, the father of black history, that of all the social sciences, history is the
best instrument to empower a person with a sense of hope, destiny, and selfesteem. Thus, Shepard organized monthly on-campus inspirational lectures. One
of the most popular lecturers was Howard J. Chidley. He was a main speaker at
NCCU from 1910 until his death several decades later. Aside from national
religious leaders, the speakers included P. B. Young, Mary McCloud Bethune,
C.C. Spaulding, Benjamin E. Mays, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, and others. All of
the speakers exalted the Protestant ethic, mannerism, punctuality, and the
Washingtonian principles of self-help and entrepreneurship. Unlike today, the
students had a dream: they expected to achieve, and they thought about the social
consequences of failure. The main differences between the first class (1910) and
the first centennial class (2010) are encapsulated in words such as attitude,
vision, and a sense of urgency. The first class was imbued with a sense of destiny;
they recognized that they had to work twice as hard to get one-half as much.
Thus, I reasoned, NCCU needs a well-documented history of itself. The
current student population of NCCU is a mirror of the hip hop generation. Hip
hop is generational. It is a rich cultural phenomenon. The hip hop student
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generation needs an enhanced sense of self-identity and a “core” sense of selfesteem. In essence, this generation is positioned to make a difference. Unlike the
generation of the 1960s, they are unburdened with the issue of race and the
ancillary issues of race such as overt social discrimination and personal violence.
On the flip side, this generation is insensitive to the nuances of history. They have
the illusion of inclusion. Unfortunately, however, race is still etched into the
American landscape. Accordingly, I concluded that a well-documented history of
NCCU is an excellent strategy to introduce students to the academic challenges
and the value of critical thinking inherent in a dynamic multicultural technocratic
society. Perhaps minister Joel Olsteen said it best when he remarked: “Seeds of
discouragement cannot take place in a grateful heart.” A grateful heart is gifted
with grace, integrity, and a core sense of self-esteem.
The printed word is powerful. This book is detailed and focused. The
primary objective is to give students and faculty, especially research-oriented
faculty, a panoramic view of all of the major archival and research components
involved in this study. The original draft outline chronicled a few pages on
Shepard’s genealogy; this has now evolved into an entire chapter. The
genealogical research stirred my imagination. It enriched my soul. Unfortunately,
a good deal of Chapter One (on genealogy), Chapter Four (on the National
Training School), and Chapter Seven (the Great Depression) will be summarized
and omitted from the forthcoming 300-page abridged edition. Also, the research
for a well-documented historical monograph of about one hundred pages will be
offered to the university without charge to teach a course on the history of NCCU.
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The Shepard History Project accelerated the completion of a
corresponding book titled The Noble Warrior: Chester Franklin and the Kansas
City Call, 1919-1955 (2010). This was a long-term project. The research was
completed before my arrival in Durham. This is the second in a trilogy of
biographical serials on the black press. The first was P. B. Young,
Newspaperman: Race, Politics and Journalism in the New South (1988), a
history of black Norfolk and the Norfolk Journal and Guide. The research on
Chester Franklin, and an earlier published volume titled The Black Press in the
Middle West, 1865-1985 (1997), helped me to document Shepard’s travel day by
day throughout the Midwest. The book on Chester Franklin was commissioned by
a major university press. The university press director’s retirement, the current
economic crisis, and the “meltdown” changed things. Nevertheless, historian
John Hope Franklin (no relation to Chester) urged me to “keep at it” and to
complete the book. Also, after NCCU’s provost selected me as a member of the
charter committee to establish the school’s department of journalism, I was
inspired to finish the book as well. During a home interview with John Hope
Franklin concerning his years at NCCU, he extended to me an inspirational
message. We were interrupted by several neighbors who dropped in to view his
famed flower nursery. He introduced me this way. “This is Professor Suggs from
Clemson, who has created a new field of study [black press] with no money.”
The study of minority journalism has achieved more credibility within the
academy during the past decade. The study of Shepard, Young, Newman, and
now Chester Franklin accelerated the history and the historiography of the black
press. The press is a rich primary source that documented the early years of the
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NRTS&C. The press captured Shepard’s words and emblazed them in the motto
of the first class: “Begin at the Beginning and Be Thorough.” This author was
guided and inspired by the above admonition from the first class. Also, as an
alumnus of NCCU, I feel a sense of mission. Also, there is a need to throw down
the gauntlet and to help make Shepard’s dream of an equalitarian society and
Martin Luther King’s dream of a beloved community a reality.
The volume on Shepard is a barometer of American social history. It is an
hourglass of what historians call time and place. Here’s what I mean. A few days
after my arrival on-campus, I visited the campus deli for breakfast. I was joined
by senior staffers who inquired about my status on campus. I responded proudly:
“I’m here to write the history of NCCU.” The staffers looked at one another; then
they stared at me. The table exploded with laughter. “You goin’ to do what,” one
female staffer sarcastically asked. A few weeks later as I entered the deli for
lunch, a staffer asked: “Professor, are you through yet?” No, I responded, it is
going to take years.
The Shepard project was initially conceived of as a single-authored twovolume institutional history from 1910-2010. When I visited a resource room on
campus that reportedly housed Shepard memorabilia and archival material, I was
rebuked with these words: “We ain’t got nothing—they private, they secret.” I was
escorted to the door. It was abruptly closed with these words: “Start from
scratch.” Thus, with few exceptions, NCCU resources were unused for this book.
The point of the above is that just as race is still a part of the American landscape,
the debilitating ingredients of victimization and socialization are still on the
horizon. The research and writing was produced with the help of the National
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Archives, the Library of Congress, county, state, and local archival and legal
records, approximately seventy-five library resources, the P. B. Young Papers,
and my black press clipping file.
The personal papers from my years at Clemson were returned to Clemson.
The Shepard Library at NCCU accepted my twelve hundred (1200)-volume book
collection on American and African American history as a gift a few years ago.
Also, external reviewers for this volume characterized the papers of the Shepard
History Project as “precious.” They recommended that the documents be
indexed, catalogued, and housed in a secure, temperature-controlled
environment. The personal letters of James E. Shepard, the original
documentation of the NRTS&C, the National Training School, and the history of
Durham State are especially valuable. NCCU has yet to evolve an archive.
Accordingly, students and faculty who wish to read and to research Shepard’s
genealogy, the NRTS&C, Durham State, and North Carolina College will probably
have to travel five hours to a major institutional library. Thus, you have the
reason for the separate and detailed chapters.
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Review of Chapters
Chapter One
Genealogy
Carter Woodson, the father of black history, once remarked: History is
looking back and moving forward. Thus, to gain a deeper insight into the Shepard
legacy and better visualize the generational aspects of James E Shepard, I
decided to pen a chapter on genealogy. Genealogy evolved from history.
Genealogy is the sociology of the antebellum slave family, the economics of
sharecropping and tenant farming, the culture of post-Reconstruction, and the
politics of race. Genealogy defined Raleigh’s Oberlin community after the Civil
War and anchored the black church in slavery and freedom. Genealogy is birth,
heritage, and the family. Genealogy is us. It is within us, and it inspires us to
achieve.
As noted, the Shepard family has a rich legacy. The Shepard family is an
American family. It is one of the most preeminent families within the state. This
chapter shows that the legacy and heritage of the family predates the American
Revolution. This book debunks the published folklore that James E. Shepard’s
ancestral family was mulatto and born free.
The family’s patriarch, Richard Shepard, was born a slave on a farm in
Eastern North Carolina. This chapter lists the name and the date of birth of all
members of his family. He was a Sunday School teacher and a leader within the
slave community. After the Civil War, he migrated with his family to the Oberlin
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community. He was one of the founders of Raleigh’s black First Baptist Church.
He died in 1875, a few months before the birth of James Edward Shepard.
Chapter Two
The Prodigal Son, 1875-1907
This chapter records Shepard’s birth and his early years in Raleigh. It was
necessary to recreate both antebellum and post-Reconstruction Raleigh after the
Reconstruction years. James Edward Shepard’s father, Augustus “Gus” Shepard,
was a missionary for the Missionary Baptist Church. Meanwhile, the youthful
Shepard attended private schools in the area where his father pastored various
churches. He graduated from Shaw in 1894 and became deeply involved in
Republican politics during the 1890s. He was selected by the International
Sunday School Association to attend the association’s international conference in
Rome, Italy in 1907. He was nominated by Needham Broughton, a Sunday School
official, because he was, “The Right Man.” Broughton was a member of Raleigh’s
famed Broughton family. This chapter debunks published accounts of his Rome
trip.
Chapter Three
A History of the National Religious Training School and Chautauqua, 1907-1912
This chapter is a transitional chapter. It is one of the most interesting
because it details the birth of the school. This chapter captures the moment. For
example, the night before the beginning of classes in 1910, there was a mass
meeting at the St. Joseph A.M.E. Church. The external reviewers felt themselves
in attendance at this meeting and in corresponding programs at the
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Emancipation Proclamation ceremonies and the Great North Carolina Fair.
Shepard returned from Rome, Italy in 1907 the most prominent race man in
America. He often communicated with Booker T. Washington and the governor
of the state. He was still a power broker in black Republican politics. This chapter
details the first class, the first commencement, and Shepard’s relationship with
Carr, Duke, Mason, Chidley, Pritchard, and the various philanthropic
organizations.
Chapter Four
On a Fixed Road to Destiny: Education and Politics, 1912-1916
Chapter Four records the bankruptcy of the NRTS&C and the
establishment of the National Training School. The history of the early black
businesses in banking, manufacturing, and insurance are recorded. All of the
various commencements are detailed, and Shepard’s travels to the Midwest are
recorded.
Chapter Five
War, Politics, and Race, 1916-1923
The Shepard family was prepared for World War I. After the U.S. declared
war in April 1917, Shepard immediately volunteered the campus of the NRTS&C.
He served as a member of the draft board and was a member of the committee
that helped to recruit black officers. The Shepard family personally experienced
World War I. This author exercised professorial privilege and withheld the
evidence.
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This chapter records the “Great Parade of Colored Vets” after the war and
Shepard’s response to lynching and post-war violence. There is a detailed
discussion of the bankruptcy of the National Training School.
Chapter Six
Durham State Normal and the Ascendancy of North Carolina College,
1923-1930
For the first time, there is a detailed discussion of Durham State Normal.
N.C. College was created in 1925. A computer delayed the completion of this
chapter.
Chapter Seven
The Great Depression, 1930-1940
In Progress.
Chapter Eight
The War Years and Beyond, 1940-1947
This chapter analyzes all of Shepard’s speeches during World War II. He
was selected by the War Department to recruit black officers. A bounty of primary
and secondary sources is etched into this chapter. Shepard’s reaction to the postwar years and his death in 1947 are detailed.
This chapter has been researched and is in progress.
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