NC State's First Student

First Graduating Class, 1893. Walter J. Mathews (back row, third from right) is considered to be the first student at NC State. Alexander Q. Holladay (center) was the first college president.

This October marks the 125th anniversary of the first classes held at NC State and the first students enrolling in the college.  By tradition, Walter J. Mathews is considered to be the first student.  The University Archives holds an oral history recording of Mathews, made in June 1966, when he was 95.  In the interview Mathews says that he was the first student by virtue of having arrived first on campus on September 30, 1889.  An early register in the University Archives does list those first students in 1889.  Mathews is among those listed on the first day of classes (October 3, 1889), but he is not the first on the list.  In the interview he indicates that he was not the first person entered in the register.  He said that Professor D. H. Hill Jr. was the one entering the names in the register and did not list students in order of arrival.  (Hill later became college president, and he is the namesake of the library.)

Walter J. Mathews (first NC State student) in later life.

Walter Jerome Mathews was born on August 20, 1870, in Buncombe County and grew up on a farm near Asheville.  His education at NC State focused on mechanics, and he was part of the college's first graduating class (1893).  He had a career in construction, eventually owning his own business in Goldsboro.  He even served a term as mayor of that city.  He died there on August 28, 1967, shortly after his 97th birthday.

In the oral history, Mathews recalls the train trip to Raleigh in 1889, and he remembers that when he arrived no one in town knew much about the college.  He walked out to the school, which consisted of only Holladay Hall at the time, and found only one person and no furniture when he got there.  Elsewhere in the interview he talks about working on the school farm, student life in general, and the first commencement exercise, and he mentions the early literary societies and first dormitories.  The recording is now available online .

In addition to the oral history, the NCSU Libraries also has Mathews's diploma (a bachelor of engineering) and newspaper clippings about his life and career.  Please contact the library's Special Collections Research Center for information on how to access these items.