Faculty During World War I
April 30, 2018
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of U.S. participation in World War I, Special Collections continues its examination of the impact that the war had on NC State students, faculty, and campus. The post below focuses on the faculty and staff of State College (now North Carolina State University).
Previously in this blog series, we have focused on student profiles including Robert Opie Lindsay and James Malcolmson Rumple. But students and alumni were not the only ones affected by the war. Some faculty and staff members enlisted and joined the war effort while others shouldered the extra work of their absent colleagues. This page from the Alumni News of February 1, 1918 reports on the various facutly members leaving to fight in the war:
Standout Harry St. George Tucker, professor of Engineering, was cited for bravery in the Alumni News of March 1, 1919. The commendation order reads, "This officer is to be highly commended for his immediate action near Brancourt [France], 10th of October, 1918, when Company D, 105th Engineers, was suddenly subjected to an intense enemy bombardment. Observing from a distance the confusion which took place [..] he proceeded to the company and assisted in assembling it and its transport, leading them to a place of safety." Tucker was promoted to captain and eventually returned to specialize in highway engineering at State College. Ruble Isaac Poole, professor of architecture, excelled at Camp Oglethorpe and became 1st lieutenant in the 105th Engineers, as relayed in the May 1, 1918 Alumni News. He also resumed his position teaching architecture before resigning from teaching to open an engineering office in Raleigh. Fred Barnett Wheeler, featured previously in this series, served in the Overseas Gas Defense Service, returned to State College where he managed the woodworking shop, and eventually became mayor of Raleigh.
John William Harrelson, alumnus and professor of mathematics, served as captain of the Coast Artillery of the North Carolina National Guard based at Fort Caswell. There, he trained many former State College students in heavy artillery and anti-aircraft, commissioning them for deployment into the field. "Cap," as he was known, returned to State College after the war and resumed his duties in the Mathematics Department. He was promoted to colonel in 1923 and became Chancellor of the university in 1934. He served in this capacity until 1953.
State College's strength in animal and veterinary sciences meant that faculty and students were particularly well-suited for the Army Veterinary Corps. The "Army Vets" were tasked with caring for animals (primarily horses, but also mules and pigeons) used in military transport. There were over 2,000 officers by the end of the war. The Alumni News of March 1, 1918 lists nine instructors who joined the Veterinary Corps. This notice in the Alumni News of April 1, 1918 shows the government was actively soliciting recruits at State College:
While the exodus of faculty must have strained the remaining faculty, it was partly offset by the drop in enrollment that occurred in 1917-1918 as students enlisted. However, by the 1918-1919 academic year, enrollment dramatically increased from about around 600 to over 1000 students. How did State College cope with these shifts and ensure there were enough professors to handle the influx? Some teachers took on extra class loads. As reported in the Alumni News of June 1, 1918, "Professor Yates is left without a single teacher to help him in his department [mathematics]." The Board of Trustees took action to allow for more flexibility for the president (now the "chancellor" of the university): "That the President be authorized to make such shifts in the teaching force as are necessary from those departments in which little teaching is needed to [..] departments which are crowded with work" (Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes, September 30, 1918). The Board of Trustees also focused on retention of faculty as inflation skyrocketed and salaries quickly became inadequate. Raises for the remaining teachers were quickly approved. Former students were encouraged to apply to State College, and in October of 1918, eleven new professors were reported in the Alumni News.
In the late 1910s, State College endured the disruption of war, the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, inflation, and enrollment drops and surges. In the end, State came out of it all with a reinvigorated faculty and student body, ready to begin decades of intense development on campus.
The Alumni News, which provided most of the sources for this post, has recently been digitized and is now available online through the 1940s on Special Collections' Rare and Unique Digital Collections site.
Other Special Collections News Articles about World War I
Robert Opie Lindsay, North Carolina's Only Flying Ace
From Somewhere in France: Letters from Alumni in World War I
Fred Barnett Wheeler: Alumnus, Soldier, Councilman, Mayor
Agricultural Patriotism During World War I
Lieutenant James Malcolmson Rumple
Recipes from World War I (Part 1) - Meatless
Recipes from World War I (Part 2) - Wheatless
Recipes from World War I (Part 3) - Sweetless (Sugarless)