Spartan Stories
Tales from the UNCG University Archives
Dr. Anna Gove
Dr. Gove Goes to War
When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Dr. Anna Gove, resident physician at the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College (now UNC Greensboro), began preparing to become part of the effort. Because female doctors were not allowed into the Army Medical Core, Dr. Gove looked for other opportunities to serve […]
Separating the Sick from the Healthy: Early Campus Infirmaries
by Kathelene McCarty Smith Students Suffering from the Mumps in the First Infirmary In the summer of 1895, just three years after the opening the State Normal and Industrial School, (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro), the first infirmary was built. Previously, sick students had been housed in a single room in Brick […]
“A Noble Idea:” The History of Peabody Park (Part One)
Take a look at a campus map. What strikes you about the physical layout of the school and its use of green spaces? It is a campus that is filled with looping walkways, clusters of enormous oaks and pines, manicured gathering places, secluded benches and gardens, and pristine playing fields. The largest open space at […]
Dr. Anna Maria Gove, Lady Doctress
When it came time to form the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG) in 1891, student health was of the utmost importance. And since the student body was comprised of young women, President Charles Duncan McIver wanted to provide the students with a campus physician who could care for all their needs. Miriam Bitting […]
The Beginning of Physical Education on Campus: 1892 – 1917
by Kathelene McCarty Smith Dr. Miriam Bitting, first campus physician, ca. 1892 When the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) first opened its doors in the fall of 1892, the Department of Physiology and Physical Culture was in place. Its purpose was to educate the students in the care and training of their bodies […]
Walter Clinton Jackson, Race, and WC Resources
by Erin Lawrimore Throughout the first seven decades of its existence, the institution now known as UNCG grappled with a number of questions regarding facility use by students from neighboring colleges, particularly the nearby African-American institutions such as North Carolina A&T and Bennett College. Interior of the College Library, circa 1923 As early as February […]
Physical Culture at State Normal
by Erin Lawrimore Dr. Miriam Bitting A founding department at the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) was the Department of Physiology and Health (also known as Physical Culture). This unit had two objectives: instruction in hygiene and creation an individualized program of exercise for students. Work in the department included gymnastics, calisthenics, and […]
