A look back at our first student

October is American Archives Month.

https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/67886

Throughout the month, ECU’s Special Collections division will feature and celebrate the importance of archives by sharing some of the stories preserved in our collections.

The start of this series featured Pattie Simmons Dowell. On October 5, 1909, Dowell became the first student to enroll at East Carolina Teachers Training School. She graduated in 1911 with her credentials to become a teacher.

ECU originally began in 1909 as a “normal school” named East Carolina Teachers Training School. Normal schools were common during that period, and their main purpose was to train students, over the course of two years, to become teachers for elementary students in public schools.

Continue to follow along in October to learn more about the university’s history and archives.