Let’s take a stroll through campus. As you walk down the McIver pedestrian mall towards McIver Street, a red brick building stands on your left. One of the Moore buildings. To be exact, the Margaret C. Moore Building.
Ms. Moore, like many names that grace our campus buildings, remains largely unknown to current students, faculty, and staff. So here are some things you might like to know:
Margaret Catherine Moore of Baltimore, Maryland, attended the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in physical education and biology in 1935.
While in school, Margaret was a member of the Adelphian Literary Society, the Athletic Association Cabinet, College Chorus, Playlikers, and the Student Government Association Judicial Board.
Evidence of Margaret’s activities while at the WC can be found in her scrapbook, which is part of the Margaret Catherine Moore Papers housed in the Special Collections and University Archives. The scrapbook contains numerous notes, letters, programs, and photographs, making it easy to see how much she was involved with the activities (both social and academic) at her school.
After graduating from WC, Margaret attended New York University where she received her Master of Arts degree in guidance and counseling. She then went on to receive a diploma in nursing from Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing in New York, and then a second graduate degree, a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
It was with her career in nursing that Margaret’s life found meaning. As Chancellor James Ferguson said of Ms. Moore, “She entered into a conscientious application of her understanding and energies to an expansion of knowledge of health and the means by which health service might be employed to lessen suffering, to succor the weak, and to sustain the strong.”
Margaret served on the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill for six years, then returned to UNCG in 1967 as one of the first ten faculty for the newly formed School of Nursing. The Search Committee was pleased to hire one of UNCG’s own graduates as one of the members of the original faculty to teach
nursing.
Margaret made significant contributions to UNCG’s School of Nursing, particularly the School of Nursing building. She served as Chairman of the Building Committee, contributing her creativity and knowledge of learning needs to develop plans for the building. The School of Nursing building was dedicated on Founder’s Day (October 5th) 1969.
Professor Moore passed away in 1975 at the age of 62. The School of Nursing building was name in her honor during the tenth anniversary observance of the founding of the School of Nursing, held on October 5, 1976.
Article by Kathelene McCarty Smith
