Spartan Stories

Tales from the UNCG University Archives

by Kathelene McCarty Smith Mary Settle Sharpe (1863-1944) was a woman ahead of her time, in both education and politics. She was an early member of the faculty of State Normal and Industrial College (UNC Greensboro) and was also the first woman nominated for public office in the state of North Carolina after the ratification […]

by Kathelene McCarty Smith Student Dancer, 1928 (p. 275) Dance has always been a very important part of the history of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). When the college opened in 1892 as the State Normal and Industrial School, “movement” was taught as part of the Physiology and Hygiene curriculum under the […]

Have you ever wondered how UNCG acquired such a beautiful green space on the northern edge of its campus?  Well, the founding and development of Peabody Park is a fascinating story that reflects UNCG’s overall growth as a center of higher learning and a Greensboro neighbor.  Given the complexity of the story, the Park’s history is being […]

by Alexaya McKelvey *This blog was written by Salem Academy student Alexaya McKelvey as part of her January Term Internship with the University Libraries at UNCG.May Day – the celebration of a new season for crops, new beginnings, and the crowning of spring royalty. In 1904, The State Normal and Industrial School, now The University […]

by Kathelene McCarty Smith While the earliest campus presentations were staged as entertainment for visits by state dignitaries, increasingly, other sources of student entertainment began to sprout up at the State Normal and Industrial School (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro). Recitals were planned by music professor Wade Brown, who also assisted the […]

by Jennifer Brooks For the first fifty years, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) celebrated May Day.  May Day revels were based on ideas of Renaissance England, where the first day of May signified the end of winter. Traditional May Day fetes were filled with activities such as decorating a May Pole, crowning […]

by Hermann Trojanowski May Pole Dancers, 1916 The tradition of celebrating May Day can be traced back to the pre-Christian era when the first day of May marked the end of winter in Northern Europe.  Rituals celebrated fertility and the planting of new crops with gathering flowers, dancing around a tall pole, and crowning a […]

 
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