|
|
|
GREENSBORO -- Dr. Allen Trelease spent the last decade writing the history of UNCG’s first century, a period that stretches from the founding leadership of President Charles Duncan McIver through the administration of Chancellor William E. Moran.
Just published by Carolina Academic Press, Trelease’s 659-page volume is titled “Making North Carolina Literate: The University of North Carolina at Greensboro from Normal School to Metropolitan University.” It covers the period 1892-1994.
Trelease will discuss the book at 4:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 9, in the UNCG Alumni House, with a reception and book-signing to follow. The event is free and open to the community, and is sponsored by the Alumni Association and Friends of the Library. The book is available through the UNCG Bookstore (336-334-5563) and costs $25. The also is $6.95 charge for shipping and handling.
Trelease, who retired from UNCG in 1994 as an emeritus professor, wanted to write as definitive a history as possible. For almost a decade, he occupied a regular place in the Special Collections section of Jackson Library. After scouring the chancellors’ papers and every other related file, Trelease compiled seven large boxes of copied material.
The book follows the development of the campus through seven chapters that cover periods of approximately 15 years. Recurring topics include administration, academic affairs, faculty, students, alumni, and establishment of the professional schools and the College of Arts and Sciences. Also included are chapters on desegregation, the student protests of the 1960s and 1970s, institutional identity, and student life issues of race, gender and residence. The written history is 482 pages, with another 177 pages of chapter notes, bibliography and the index.
“I enjoyed the research and the writing; I even enjoyed doing the index.” Trelease said. “But it was a long process. Someone else gets to do the next volume.”
The university’s mission changes
have been substantial over the years, Trelease said, but never lost its
focus on providing higher education opportunities for the state.
“Today, UNCG is among many institutions
nationally, which are not flagship schools but have very good programs,”
Trelease said. “Like our creative writing program, or certain programs
in physical education or nursing, they draw students from all over the
country and around the world.
“At the same time, the great majority of our students come from communities within driving distance of the campus. So we serve primarily the Triad metropolitan area along with several neighboring counties, and this is an important contribution. We are taking care of students who otherwise would probably not be able to go to an institution of higher education once they get through the community college system. This university is here to serve them and it serves them very well.”
Trelease is author of the books, “Indian Affairs in Colonial New York: The Seventeenth Century,” “White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction,” and “The North Carolina Railroad, 1849-1871, and the Modernization of North Carolina.” He was editor of the UNCG centennial book “Changing Assignments: A Pictorial History of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.” He served as head of the Department of History and is a past president of the Historical Society of North Carolina.
By Steve Gilliam
Posted 1-28-04
Back
to the Latest News Releases
Return
to the University News Service Home Page