The Class of 1925 and The Great Transition
Alumni at A&T often look back to their graduating years with fond memories, but they can also recall the adverse times and hardships they faced. Members of the Silver Class of 2000 still recollect the fears of Y2K, and recent Aggies of the classes of 2020-2025 will always remember the impact of COVID-19. Looking back into Aggie history, the Centennial Class of 1925 remains remarkable for graduating through the transfer between two of our greatest leaders, Dr. James Benson Dudley (1859-1925) and Dr. Ferdinand Douglas Bluford (1883-1955).
Faculty 1925, with Dr. James B. Dudley seated in the front center. F. D. Bluford is second to the left of Dudley.
This transfer began tragically following the death of Dr. Dudley on April 4, 1925. Known as A&T’s “Great Pioneer,” Dudley had been the president of the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina for 29 years. Under his leadership, A&T began awarding bachelor’s degrees in 1899, secured farmland, more than quadrupled in enrollment, and grew to national prominence. His wife of 41 years Susie B. Dudley (c.1852-1933) founded dramatic arts at A&T, penned the lyrics to “Dear A&T” and their home the “Magnolia Castle” was a major center of community in East Greensboro.
Dudley was also a finance officer, Sunday school superintendent, and an active leader in many national institutions. He was described in the tribute edition of the A&T Register as a “good neighbor, a reliable friend and counsellor, a patient and loving husband and father, chivalrous and generous.”
Aggies everywhere, the city of Greensboro, the state of North Carolina and the educational world abroad mourned his passing. His death also meant that the class of 1925 would be the very first in A&T history to graduate without him. The college still needed to plan for the annual commencement which was scheduled for May 24-28, 1925.
On April 6, 1925, F. D. Bluford, dean of the college, was appointed acting President of the College by the executive committee of the Board of Trustees. A graduate of Virginia Union University and Howard University, Dr. Bluford began his extensive career at “A. and M. College” in 1912. Having already taught at Kentucky State University and Alabama A&M University, Bluford served as a professor in the Academic Department, college librarian and an editor of the A&T Register. Following a stroke suffered by Dudley in 1921, Bluford was actively taking on many of the presidential duties.
Even with his qualifications, Dudley’s shoes were monumental to fill even for what may have seemed like a temporary appointment. Just before his death Dudley was appointed Chair of the Board of Negro Junior Land Grant Colleges by US Secretary of Education J. J. Tigert. A&T hosted the National Conference of Land Grant Colleges, with several HBCU leaders and members of the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education as guests. Dr. Bluford gave the welcome on behalf of Dr. Dudley. Also, several of the regional Black public schools in Guilford County were also scheduled to have their commencements on the A&T campus.
On May 28, the fourth day of A&T’s commencement, 15 bachelor’s degrees were conferred with an additional 45 diplomas to the graduates of A&T High School. The most famous among the bachelor recipients was the valedictorian Major Franklin Spaulding (1898-1964). M. F. Spaulding would return to Aggieland as a professor of agriculture from 1928-1937. He would earn his Ph.D. in 1935 from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, being both their first African American doctoral graduate and the first to earn a Ph.D. in Agronomy in any institution. Also in the class were Thelridge Henry Jeffers, a teacher in the Pender County Schools, and Walter Maxie Grandy, also a teacher who would earn his master’s degree from A&T in 1955.
Before and after the ceremonies there was a lot of speculation of who would be A&T’s next president. At the time Bluford was not the only suggestion for the role. Among the candidates was Dr. James E. Shepherd of the Durham State Normal School for Negroes (now NC Central). Several in the A&T Alumni Association endorsed Dr. Gaston Alonzo Edwards the president of Kittrell College in Kittrell, NC. Edwards was a graduate of A&T in the class of 1901 who is still widely studied today as NC’s first licensed African American architect. He remained president of Kittrell, and A&T would have to wait another 84 years before an alum would lead the institution.
On June 20, 1925, F. D. Bluford was unanimously elected by the Board of Trustees as the 3rd president of the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina. He would serve with tremendous merit and distinction for 30 years until his death on December 22, 1955. Highlights of the Bluford Era include A&T becoming an “A” college, the reinstatement of women for bachelor’s degree programs after a 27-year halt, establishment of the Graduate School in 1939, and increased acreage and enrollment by more than 500%.
James B. Dudley and Ferdinand D. Bluford remain two of the most honored African American leaders in the city of Greensboro. Generations of Aggies attended the James B. Dudley High School or the F. D. Bluford Elementary School before enrolling in Aggieland. Bluford and Dudley Streets intersect in our historic district where they lived and lived for close to 60 years. While Old Dudley Hall (1893-1930) was destroyed by fire, the Dudley Memorial Building has proudly stood for over 90 years. The former F. D. Bluford Library (now the Fort IRC) was dedicated in 1955, and the legacy of Dr. Bluford’s librarianship and English teaching has carried over into the current F. D. Bluford Library beginning in 1991.
One of the greatest tributes to Dr. Dudley was “Dudley Day” a holiday initiated by President Bluford in 1925 or 1927. Eventually Dudley Day became “Founders Day” which is why A&T had this event in November for decades instead of March 9th.
F. D. Bluford and James B. Dudley c.1920, on the steps of the “Magnolia Castle”
Also, as far as is known, the University Archives and Special Collections does not have a commencement program, class photo, or headshot of any member of this historic class. We are also missing letters, scrapbooks, and interviews from the class of 1925 to really know their perspectives from this historic year. Copies of Walter Grandy’s thesis are available in our collections.
As we approach the centennial of Dr. Bluford’s presidency, the archives have several boxes on Dr. Bluford gifted by First Lady Hazel Diffay Bluford, along with materials about his family study. If you have more information about this story or have materials and recollections about Dr. Dudley, Dr. Bluford, or graduates of the class of 1925 please contact us at libraryarchives@ncat.edu
CLASS OF 1925 (IF ROOM AND SPACE PERMITS INCLUDE THIS LIST)
Samuel E. Brown Jr. – Waynesville, NC
John D. Chalmers*** – Cameron, NC
Walter Maxie Grandy – Wilson Mills, NC
Carl Allenmore Harris – Warren Plains, NC,
Elgin Leonard Harrison, Cumnock, NC
John Henry Holloway, Lynnhaven, VA
John Christian. Hyman, Oak City, NC
Waiters Jackson, Chadbourne, NC
Thelridge Henry Jeffers, Roxboro, NC
James Trevor Locke, China Grove, NC
Earl Clinton Setzer Sr, Clover, SC
Major Franklin Spaulding*, Clarkton, NC
John Wesley Spearman, Scott’s Hill, NC
Luther Birt Tillery**, Morehead City, NC
William Percival Kelly, Southern Pines, NC (1900
*Valedictorian
**Salutatorian
***John D. Chalmers is listed in 1925 newspapers listings for the May 28, 1925, commencement, but not in the 1943 A&T Bulletin reprint used for this article. Also, the 1925 articles say “15” graduated, not 14.
By: James. R. Stewart
