Page 23 - N.C. A&T Magazine Spring 2019

FirsTClass

class of 1899 Marks 120 years

By James R. Stewart Jr. ’08

On Nov. 02, 1939, President F.D. Bluford
introduced a special guest to the large
Founder’s Day assembly in the
college gymnasium, ausTin
W. CurTis sr., dean of the
department of agriculture at
West Virginia State College.
Forty years earlier, Curtis
was one of the very first
graduates of the Agricultural
and Mechanical College for the
Colored Race.

Curtis told the audience of how
when he came in 1896, there
were only four buildings and
five faculty members: President
James B. Dudley; A.T. Stevens,
teacher of agriculture; Orlo Epps,
mechanics; Charles H. Moore,
English; and a “Mr. Hayes.” In
Curtis addition, he recalled his days
of being appointed head of
the original dairy barn, which
consisted of just two cows, while he was still a
student in 1897.
For decades, Curtis was the only member of
the first graduating class of whom there was a
full history. Fortunately, with some investigative
work the lives of the other six class members
have been rediscovered.
In most university histories, they were known
only as W.T.C. Cheek, I.S. Cunningham, E.L.
Falkener, J.M. Joyner, P.E. Robinson and A.
Watson. Understanding the full names and
stories of all seven members of the class of
1899 in time for their 120th anniversary reveals
why their motto, “No Steps Backwards (sic),”
was prophetic, and why “Aggies DO” has been
a true sentiment from the very beginning.
These are their stories:

Curtis Hall
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