Bluford Library Archives: 100 Years of Noble Hall

Noble Hall is one of the grand brick buildings on the historic north district of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Its foundation was laid in 1922 and was completed in 1923, Noble was originally the “Agricultural Building” and has been the home to our outstanding School of Nursing for 70 years!

All of A&T’s historic buildings constructed prior to 1922 like the Old Dudley Hall (built in 1893) and the North Dormitory (1895) were demolished or destroyed by fire decades ago. Therefore, Noble is not only our oldest building but also the first structure in A&T history to stand for 100 years!

The origins of Noble Hall and how it came to be is fascinating. Before sharing this story, consider that today in 2023, North Carolina A&T exists on 188 acres of land. This land holds over 60 academic and student support buildings with more than 15 residence halls and apartment complexes.

Compare this to 1910, when there were just three buildings and two dormitories. President James B. Dudley (1859-1925) remarked in his 1908-1910 biennial report that one of the greatest needs for the “Agricultural and Mechanical College For The Colored Race” was for an “agricultural building.” He stated a new building would allow “better work in our agricultural classes,” and it would “relieve the congested condition” of the campus kitchen and dining room which was also being used for the agricultural department.

Dudley made national headlines in 1913 for decrying Jim Crow public transportation laws as a public health hazard. The news coverage also stated his goal to build the new agricultural building. In 1914, President James B. Dudley expressed to the public of North Carolina the strain of A&T’s growth. Enrollment had reached 500 students, but there was only enough dorm living space for 100. For a while the housing shortage made the agricultural building a “less urgent but essential” need.

The following year, the state’s budget for A&T was fixed at $15,000 annually, and President Dudley expressed again, and again, the inadequacy of this. $60,000 was needed for an agricultural classroom building. At a 1921 state appropriations meeting, President Dudley was asked what he would most want even if the budget remained the same. He said “build the agricultural building then the dormitory” showing that the new classroom building had become the top priority.

Around this time, Dudley began suggesting that a new agricultural building at A&T be constructed as a monument “to the negro soldiers” of World War I. This new passion likely reflected Dudley’s 1920 appointment as the North Carolina commissioner for the National Memorial Association. This association was formed by the Committee of Colored Citizens in 1915 to establish a national memorial for Black veterans.

Finally, by 1921, sufficient funding was approved for new construction at the college. A final bid was won by contractor and architect, William P. Rose of Goldsboro, N.C. The cornerstone was placed in 1922, and construction was completed between April and August of 1923, at a cost of $115,000 (about $1.9 million in 2023).

As the former home of the Agricultural Department and the new Agricultural (Cooperative) Extension Service, this building held the offices of some of our greatest North Carolina A&T Agricultural Hall of Famers. Aggie legends like Dr. John W. Mitchell (John Mitchell Drive on the A&T campus), John D. Wray ’1909 the state’s first Negro Club (4-H) Agent, S. B. Simmons ‘1914, co-founder of the New Farmers of America of North Carolina, home economics pioneer Dazelle Foster Lowe, Dr. W. L. Kennedy, Dr. John C. “Dean Mac”, MacMillian and hosts of others.

The Agricultural Building was renamed after Board of Trustees Chair Marcus Cicero Stephens Noble (1855-1942) in 1933. Noble wasn’t just any board member. Serving as chair for over 30 years, he famously only missed one meeting in 43 years, and that was due to illness in the final three weeks of his life. Noble was also a longtime friend of the Dudley family starting with their teaching careers in the public schools of Wilmington, N.C. in the 1880s. He had once called First Lady Mrs. Susie B. Dudley the best teacher in the state. Noble was also unconventional among his colleagues as he was familiar to the A&T students and was called upon at times to settle disputes and strikes between them and the administration.

Coverage of the A&T campus in the 1930s promoted Noble Hall for its modern science laboratories, as well as being the headquarters for the college’s agricultural work. The influence of this building would change forever when it was dedicated to the new School of Nursing. Established in 1953, it was the “first basic collegiate program for Negro Nurses” in North Carolina. Initially, the School of Nursing only occupied the first floor, sharing the building with the Graduate School and labs for various sciences. Over time the school grew, and the other departments relocated.

Today “Nursing” and “Noble Hall” are classic synonymous pairs in the history of Aggie Pride! After 70 years as home to nursing and a century of Aggie scholars, Noble Hall has produced generations of nursing Deans and professors of A&T, the University of Maryland, Hampton Institute, and many other institutions.

As for his vision of Noble Hall as a monument to Black soldiers, President Dudley would have been proud to know that one of A&T’s highest-ranking military alumni, Brigadier General Clara Leach Adams-Ender ‘61, was a student of the nursing department. Also, right next door to Noble today is the “The Oaks” formerly the president’s house, but today the home of A&T’s Veterans Affairs.

Information for this story comes from newspaper interviews of President James B. Dudley from 1914 to 1923, his presidential reports, the library archives vertical files on “Noble Hall,” our growing School of Nursing Collections and the first quarterly report of Willetta S. Jones, the inaugural Dean on Nursing at A&T.

A special thank you goes to the Noble Hall Centennial Committee, various faculty and staff of the School of Nursing and Mrs. Arneice Bowen former Head of Cataloging at Bluford Library & library liaison to the School of Nursing.

For more information about this story, or to learn more about A&T History please contact the Bluford Library Archives and Special Collections at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.