THE FIRST REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EASTERN CAROLINA 
 INDUSTRIAL TRAINING SCHOOL 
 
 FOR BOYS 
 
 ROCKY MOUNT, N. C. 
 
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 _ JANUARY 1, 1927 
 
THE FIRST REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EASTERN CAROLINA 
 INDUSTRIAL TRAINING SCHOOL 
 
 FOR BOYS 
 
 ROCKY MOUNT, N. C. 
 
 _ JANUARY 1, 1927 
 
 RALEIGH 
 CAPITAL PRINTING COMPANY 
 STATE PRINTERS » 
 1927 
 
Ub Ont Re ote g 
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 vey BOARD OF DIRECTORS a) Ngee ae 
 Ree Fountarn, Chairman a bt eee Merete nV se pe ote tai Mee ee: Rocky } M un 
 S. C. SITTERSON, SCCTELATY ...---ecsseececeeeenee- Ee a CS POs ena tala King 
 J.C. BRASWELL, Tredstr eros cceeccceccrctcrn aR 3 sine ae ROCK yg Mer 
 GC. FSTROSNIDER. As cea eM ea ae Dek cnt: Mee lie lect adit ie ON a 
 ; STAFF 
 SAMUEL Bhs LABON ABD. 5.520 estan BA ae ok Re ee -Superinten 
 Mrs, mud Sxerme 0 cee ity ae Sas de ane lee aie ae eee Ma 
 GUY Wi ALESANDER 2c, ee ee ...Cottage Officer and Farm Superintende 
 J) WAYLAND SUBDGR 217s: els tuna, Oo ead Cottage Officer and School Pri c 
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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 
 
 Rocxy Mowtnt, N. C., January 1, 1927. 
 
 To His Excellency, Aneus Witton McLuan, Governor, 
 Raleigh, North Carolina. 
 
 Dear Sir:—In compliance with the statute I herewith submit the 
 first report of the Eastern Carolina Industrial Training School for 
 Boys. | 
 
 This report is irregular, as a biennial report at this time is not pos- 
 sible. The school had been running less than six months at the end of 
 the biennium, so for practical purposes the Superintendent has made 
 this report up to January 1, 1927. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 R. T. Fountarn, 
 Chairman, Board of Trustees. 
 
Tue First Buriprine 
 
» THE FIRST REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EASTERN CAROLINA 
 INDUSTRIAL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR BOYS 
 ROCKY MOUNT, N. C. 
 
 LOCATION 
 
 The Eastern Carolina Industrial Training School for Boys is located 
 on Highway 40, three and one-half miles north of Rocky Mount. The 
 building site is just across the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, about one- 
 fifth of a mile from the highway, but the State land extends to the high- 
 way, with a road frontage the entire width of the farm. The State owns 
 132.88 acres of land, 117.58 being a gift of the City of Rocky Mount 
 and 15.3 having been purchased by the State. The site is well adapted 
 to beautification and development, due to the elevation, the building 
 itself being 60 feet higher than the river, three miles away. About three 
 hundred yards from the building there is a clear, never-failing spring 
 which will be used as the center of a park and the source of a swimming 
 pool to be developed later. Only a short distance further there is a 
 small stream which crosses our land and which will be used for. stock 
 watering and lower down as sewage disposal. 
 
 BUILDINGS 
 
 There is one building which was erected as the initial building and 
 which must serve for every purpose until other buildings are erected. 
 In it are the following: First Floor—The reception room; the office; 
 dining room, kitchen, and storage; play room, boys’ sitting room and 
 school room (all one); clothes room, wash room, shower room, and 
 toilets. Second Floor—Boys’ dormitory containing thirty beds, officer’s 
 room, matron’s room, infirmary (two rooms). Until December 1, 1926, 
 the infimary was occupied by the Superintendent and his family. 
 
 The Superintendent’s cottage was erected at a cost to the State of 
 $2,000. \ This was made possible because practically all the labor was 
 done by the school officials and the boys. The cottage has been 
 appraised as having a value of from $4,500 to $6,000. It is located 
 across the road from the main building, on a two-acre tract purchased 
 separately from the main farm. | 
 
 For a barn we moved a pack house measuring 20 x 30 feet to a desired 
 - location and built ten-foot sheds around it at no cost to the State except 
 for material. | 
 
 The shop was likewise an old building 14 x 20 feet which was moved 
 and ten-foot sheds built around it. These sheds are used for storage of 
 
6 First Report oF THE 
 
 farm machinery, an automobile, and the back part for a poultry house. 
 
 We have also built a poultry house, a wood and coal shed, a brick 
 pump house, and have recently moved two other old buildings to be used 
 as a garage and a granary. All this labor was furnished on the place. 
 
 STOCK 
 
 We have two mules and one horse for farming purposes. 
 
 We have three milk cows, two grade Jerseys and one registered Hol- 
 stein. We also have a registered Holstein sire and two grade Jersey 
 heifer calves. The two Holsteins are the basis of our herd which we 
 hope to build up within a few years, gradually eliminating the grade 
 stock. 
 
 We have four hogs, which will be killed in the late winter. 
 
 We have about one hundred laying hens, consisting of two flocks, leg- 
 horns and barred rocks. We also have three red Bourbon turkeys. 
 
 FARMING 
 
 The farm is under the direction of Mr. Guy W. Alexander. Mr. 
 Alexander was reared on the farm, is a practical man with farming 
 stock and machinery, has had four years experience at the Jackson 
 Training School, all of which render him a very efficient man in the 
 work for which he is employed. 
 
 The past year was only a beginning in farming. The farm was in 
 poor condition, due to neglect and to tenant cultivation. With only a 
 small number of boys and with only two horses, it was not possible to 
 prepare the land or plant the crops that should have been planted. 
 Nothing was planted that could not be used as food or feed. On account 
 of the continuous and excessive working of our horses, we lost one in 
 the hot July weather. This kept us from “laying by” our crop, for it 
 was several weeks before arrangements could be made to get a team of 
 mules. In spite of all these handicaps, our harvest was fairly good. We 
 have enough corn, hay, and forage for our stock through the winter. We 
 have Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, navy beans, peas, kraut, cucumber 
 pickles, molasses, apples, all of our own production, which will last well 
 into the year 1927. We also raise pienty of peanuts and popcorn for 
 the boys. 
 
 Practically all the farm is now plowed for spring planting, and much 
 of it is in cover crops, rye, oats, crimson clover, and vetch. 
 
 THE SCHOOL 
 
 Our school teacher is Mr. J. Wayland Sledge. Mr. Sledge is a gradu- 
 ate of Wake Forest College, and, although inexperienced in actual class- 
 room work, is by inheritance and training well qualified for the work, — 
 his father being a teacher for many years. 
 
EASTERN CaroLina [npustTRIaAL TrRatmntne ScHoon ror Bors 6 
 
 Most of our boys are badly graded. All of them are retarded, some 
 not being able to write a letter home. It has been necessary to do indi- 
 vidual instruction to a large extent. The training needed most seemed 
 to be English, both written and spoken; so the first months were given 
 over almost entirely to the subject of English. All public school subjects 
 are taught, but in different months. This intensive work is proving 
 very satisfactory. School work begins at 8 o’clock in the morning and 
 goes to 12 with half of the boys. The afternoon session runs from 1 to 
 5 o’clock with the other half. We have school six days in the week. By 
 using half of the boys on the outside it is possible to keep up the farm 
 and housework along with the school work. 
 
 PROJECT WORK 
 
 The training that the boy gets in the every-day work is a very im- 
 portant part of the boy’s education at the Eastern Carolina Training 
 School. It is in a way the old apprenticeship idea at work. When any 
 work is done, whether it be bedding potatoes, building a poultry house, 
 laying concrete, caring for stock, the boy is trained to do it himself. 
 Our aim is that a boy shall be able to do things as well as know things, 
 when he leaves here. We also place in the boy’s hands books that will 
 help him in the various projects undertaken, and in this way books 
 become a useful thing to him instead of something imposed upon him as 
 a part of school. Letter-writing instead of the usual “composition” is 
 used as a practical application in English. Building, ditching, draining 
 of land, plumbing, etc., helps make the arithmetic lesson practical. The 
 cooking is all done by the boys, and in this work the boys are taught the 
 use of the cook book. 
 
 RECREATION 
 
 Play is a big thing in a boy’s life. For indoor play we have two 
 earom boards, checker boards, dominoes, erector, tinker toys, boxing 
 gloves, punching bag, and various puzzles and card games. We also 
 have a victrola and radio, which see little rest. 
 
 For outdoor play we have baseball, basketball, football, marbles, horse- 
 shoes, ete. Every once in a while we have a big bonfire in the athletic 
 field at night, where we roast corn, potatoes, marshmallows, ete. Both 
 of our cottage officers are good coaches in the outdoor games, so the boys 
 are getting good training in these sports. 
 
 If the boy’s conduct and work has been satisfactory for the week, he 
 is permitted to go to town to the picture show on Saturday night. He 
 is entirely on his own honor among the Saturday night crowds, and up 
 to the present time no boy has betrayed the trust. | 
 
8 First REPORT OF THE 
 
 DISCIPLINE 
 
 Discipline, which at the beginning seemed to be one of the impocsinle 
 things, has come to be a very simple part of the work. The boys them- 
 selves, through the honor system, largely manage themselves. - The 
 sleeping dormitory has never been locked, and the Yale lock which was 
 placed on the pantry and the padlock on the refrigerator have not been 
 used for many months. No lights are left burning at night, neither do 
 we have a night watchman. Occasionally: we have a runaway, but we 
 have never yet lost a boy. | 
 
 PUNISHMENT 
 
 We never whip. Our punishments consist of depriving boys of some- 
 thing they like to do. Usually it is play or a meal or a picture show. 
 In excessive cases it is a period of from twenty-four to forty-eight hours 
 in the “jug” (solitary confinement) on water and crackers. In case of 
 a runaway, the boy’s hair is clipped. 7 
 
 RELIGIOUS WORK 
 
 Sunday school is conducted at the building each Sunday morning at 
 10 o’clock. At 11 o’clock the boys attend church in town. ‘This ar- 
 rangement makes for better contacts with the. townspeople, and more 
 people are becoming interested in the boys all the time. At the present 
 time our family is so large that we cannot transport them, so the church 
 people send cars out each Sunday for the boys and return them after 
 church. After the dinner has been finished on Sunday and while sitting 
 at the tables each boy is asked to tell in his own words what he heard at 
 church. This helps to recall the sermon as different boys tell of differ- 
 ent parts of the sermon. After dinner on Sunday we have quiet hour 
 for writing and reading until 4 o’clock, when the boys take a stroll 
 about the farm in whatever direction Shes wish to go. 
 
 The spiritual part of the work has helped us very much in the job of 
 handling the boys. This religious atmosphere has a fine toning influ- 
 ence, and yet it does not make the boy any less a boy. Our boys are 
 rapidly connecting themselves with the churches in the city with the 
 view of taking their church letters with them when they return home. 
 This is encouraged, but not urged. 
 
 POPULATION 
 
 On January 18, 1926, we took our first boy. Within a month we had 
 received eight boys, one of whom was transferred to Caswell Training 
 School. Our number remained at seven for two months, when one more 
 was taken. We held this number until water was obtained, when we 
 began receiving boys about as rapidly as we could handle them, consider- 
 
Eastern Carotina InpustriaL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR Boys 9 
 
 ing our equipment. On December 31, 1926, we had 25 boys in the house 
 with one more boy ordered in and many applications and inquiries on 
 file. Within a short time our capacity of thirty boys will be reached. 
 
 FINANCIAL 
 
 We are rather proud of our financial showing in view of the fact that 
 our expenses were unusually heavy in. preparing to open the school. The 
 salary. of the Superintendent began after the first week in August. Al- 
 though the school did not open, on account of the delay in getting water, 
 the salaries of the matron and cottage officer began October 15th. These 
 people reported for duty and were continuously occupied. No crops 
 were harvested, so all food and feed had to be purchased. One item of 
 maintenance of $951.50 was used in completing the water system. In 
 spite of all these extraordinary expenses we were able to turn back to 
 the State Treasurer at the end of the fiscal year $2,034.77. 
 
 GIFTS 
 
 Our gifts have been small, but have been useful and very much appre- 
 ciated. We realize that we must prove ourselves before “men of means” 
 will give us consideration. 
 
 The list of gifts and donors follow: 
 
 Crosley Radio, Victrola—Mrs. Frank Bulluck, Rocky Mount. 
 
 Two old carriages (used for farm wagons)—Mr. J. C. Braswell. 
 
 $38 for games—Rocky Mount Kiwanis Club. 
 
 $2 for games—Boys’ Sunday School Class, Selma (N. C.) Cotton Mill. 
 Carom Board—Mr. George F. Brietz, Selma. 
 
 Collie dog—Mrs. T. A. Cooper, Rocky Mount. 
 
 Piano—Rocky Mount Cotillion Club. 
 
 Our Christmas gifts by the people of Rocky Mount and Whitakers are 
 too numerous to mention. I think all the churches in Rocky Mount, 
 as well as most of the service clubs, were represented in the programs and 
 gifts. The Methodist Protestant Church of Whitakers, through its 
 Christian Endeavor societies, sent many good things to eat. 
 
 THE FUTURE 
 
 We are asking the Legislature for a school building, two dormitories 
 (capacity 30 each), a dairy barn, 92 acres of land and the necessary 
 equipment to make the additional improvements usable. We are also 
 asking for an appropriation for fencing, of which we are very much in 
 need. | 
 
 We hold an option on 92 acres of land, which we are asking for, at a 
 price of $100 an acre. This land extends to within 250 feet of the main 
 building and 100 feet of the Superintendent’s cottage. Colored people 
 
10 : First Report 
 
 own the land adjacent to this tract. It is a fact that the school must at 
 some future date purchase this tract of land. It can be bought much 
 cheaper now than if it falls in the hands of speculators. We need the 
 land along with the additional 60 boys. Our sewage disposal plant, 
 according to the Engineering Department of the State Board of Health, 
 must be located on it. It is a necessary extension of our program. 
 
 As we see it, the future of the school depends on what the Legislature 
 does. We have the natural site, we have passed the hardest part of the 
 beginning, the spirit is fine here, so we are facing the future with confi- 
 dence. 
 
 FINALLY 
 
 I cannot finish this report without stating that I have had the 
 heartiest codperation from the board in all progressive plans. Especi- 
 ally would I mention Mr. R. T. Fountain, chairman, and Mr. J. OC. 
 Braswell, chairman building committee and treasurer, both of whom 
 have been called on repeatedly in solving the emergency problems that 
 continuously arise. They have never failed to give of their time when 
 the needs of the school called for it. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 SaMvUEL EK. Leonarp, 
 Superintendent. 
 
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