North Carolina State University. College of Textiles

The College of Textiles at North Carolina State University began classes in the fall of 1899, primarily due to Daniel Tompkins's interest in having a textile program at what was then the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. By 1901 construction began on Tompkins Hall, the first textile building at NC State. The college eventually needed more space for students and equipment so in 1940 the college moved to Nelson Hall on the western fringes of campus. By January 1991 the college moved to Centennial Campus.

From the description of North Carolina State University, College of Textiles committees records, 1940-1978 [manuscript] (North Carolina State University). WorldCat record id: 521112062

The North Carolina State University College of Textiles is the largest of its kind in the United States, offering one of only two accredited Textile Engineering programs in the country. In 1991, the COT moved to the North Carolina State University Centennial Campus, where students learn in state-of-the-art laboratories that are unequaled anywhere in the country.

From the description of North Carolina State University, College of Textiles publications, 1941-2009 [manuscript] (North Carolina State University). WorldCat record id: 586163384

The Mission of the North Carolina Textile Foundation is to promote the welfare, future development and reputation of the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University as the premier institution for textile education and research. As a nonprofit organization, the Foundation supports the College and Dean by providing funds for scholarships to deserving undergraduate and graduate students, recruitment and retention of highly qualified educators and researchers and placement of graduates. The Foundation also assists in the acquisition and maintenance of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for research and education.

From the description of North Carolina State University, College of Textiles, Textiles Foundations records, 1942-1988 [manuscript] (North Carolina State University). WorldCat record id: 521117172

The College of Textiles at North Carolina State University began classes in the fall of 1899, due to Daniel Tompkins's interest in having a textiles program at what was then the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. By 1901 construction began on Tompkins Hall, the first textile building at A&M College. The college eventually needed more space for students and equipment so in 1940, the college moved to Nelson Hall on the western fringes of campus. By January 1991, the college moved to Centennial Campus. An internationally-known textile technologist and educator, Thomas Nelson, was the Textile School's first dean.

From the description of North Carolina State University, College of Textiles, Office of the Dean records, 1899-2011 [manuscript] (North Carolina State University). WorldCat record id: 570911524

The College of Textiles at North Carolina State University began classes in the fall of 1899, due to Daniel Tompkins's interest in having a textile program at what was then the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. By 1901, construction began on Tompkins Hall, the first textile building at NC State. The college eventually needed more space for students and equipment, so in 1940 the college moved to Nelson Hall on the western fringes of campus. By January 1991, the college moved to Centennial Campus.

From the description of North Carolina State University, College of Textiles annual reports, 1906-2005 [manuscript] (North Carolina State University). WorldCat record id: 521099682

The Mission of the North Carolina Textile Foundation is to promote the welfare, future development and reputation of the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University as the premier institution for textile education and research. As a nonprofit organization, the Foundation supports the College and Dean by providing funds for scholarships to deserving undergraduate and graduate students, recruitment and retention of highly qualified educators and researchers and placement of graduates. The Foundation also assists in the acquisition and maintenance of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for research and education.

The College of Textiles at North Carolina State University began classes in the fall of 1899 due to Daniel Tompkins's interest in having a textile program at what was then the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. By 1901 construction began on Tompkins Hall, the first textile building at NC State. The college eventually needed more space for students and equipment so in 1940 the college moved to Nelson Hall on the western fringes of campus. By January 1991 the college moved to Centennial Campus.

From the guide to the North Carolina State University, North Carolina Textile Foundation Records, 1942-1988, (Special Collections Research Center)

The North Carolina State University College of Textiles is the largest of its kind in the United States, offering one of only two accredited Textile Engineering programs in the country. The College of Textiles produces more than half of the textile graduates in the United States each year.

The textiles department was founded at North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later North Carolina State University) in 1899 due to Daniel Tompkins's interest in having a textile program. George Franks Ivey taught the first course in textiles in 1899. The next year the college expanded this program; Ivey left and Henry M. Wilson joined the faculty as an instructor in cotton manufacturing. The college offered courses such as carding and spinning, weaving, textile designing, and textile chemistry and dyeing. The courses provided students with specialized expertise to operate mills and use advanced scientific research in the textiles industry.

The original textile equipment was housed in the basement of Holladay Hall. Support for the program grew, and in 1901 the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $10,000 toward the construction of a textile building. This structure, Tompkins Hall, resembled a textile mill of the period and was completed in early 1902. Thomas Nelson, a young Englishman from the Lowell Textile School in Massachusetts, joined N.C. State's faculty in 1901 and became department head in 1906 following Wilson's resignation.

On 24 March 1914 Tompkins Hall was almost completely destroyed by fire. With the help of builders and manufacturers, who donated much of the replacement machinery, the textiles program bounced back and by 1919 enrollment reached 154. Meanwhile, the textile industry continued to expand in North Carolina, as mills from the North moved South. The new School of Textiles (later College of Textiles) was created out of the School of Engineering at the Board of Trustees meeting on 8 June 1925 and Thomas Nelson was appointed dean of the school.

In 1943 Malcolm E. "Sandy" Campbell succeeded Nelson as dean of the textiles school, and expansion continued. The college joined in the defense effort during World War II by offering a course in fabric inspection and testing for those employed in war industries. In addition, faculty from the College of Textiles investigated substitutes for silk, which was critically needed for the manufacture of parachutes. The college was instrumental in North Carolina's production of fabric for the war, which surpassed all other states.

After the war the area of textiles research continued to broaden, and North Carolina State led the way. Research at the university led to Professor William "Ed" Shinn's 1955 development of the knitted OrlonTM aorta on a necktie machine. In 1959 the state of North Carolina gave funds to support textiles research for the first time. Campbell retired in 1967, and David Chaney was named the new dean. Research funding grew, and the college received several large federal grants during the 1970s. Dr. Solomon Hersh and a team of researchers at N.C. State studied brown lung disease (byssinosis), a disease suffered by cotton mill workers. Through their research they determined acceptable levels of exposure to cotton dust and contributed to the establishment of occupational health standards in textile mills.

Chaney retired in 1981, and Dame S. Hamby became the new dean of a textiles college that offered the largest textiles research program in the United States.

As the college planned to move to the university's new Centennial Campus, advances in textiles research continued. Hamby retired and Robert A. Barnhardt became dean in 1987. The next year groundbreaking for the new College of Textiles building on Centennial campus was 17 May 1988.

In more than 100 years of textiles at North Carolina State University, the college and the field of textiles has diversified. Professor Emeritus Mansour Mohamed worked to produce a method of three-dimensional weaving systems that produce lightweight, superstrong, high-performance textile composites that are used in cars, planes, and in the aerospace industry. This technology was developed for NASA's Mars Mission Research Center at NCSU. In the 1990s Dr. Sam Hudson found new uses for fiber made from chitin and chitosan, materials extracted from the shells of crabs and other shellfish. He and others at N.C. State have developed methods to use chitin and chitosan to clean wastewater left by the dyeing process, to create fibers for paper-making, and to develop a biodegradable wound dressing that employs chitosan's healing properties.

From the guide to the North Carolina State University, College of Textiles Committee Records, 1940-1978, (Special Collections Research Center)

The North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later North Carolina State University) was founded in 1887 and expanded the textiles program through the early 1910s, developing courses in chemistry and dyeing, weaving, design, and manufacturing. The school was first housed in Tompkins Hall, built in 1901, and later moved to Nelson Hall and Centennial Campus, to accommodate increasingly technological equipment and facilities.

Through the early 1900s the Textile Exposition and Style Show provided students the opportunity to display their work, from fabrics and fashions to manufacturing machinery and processes. Research efforts of the college aided the war effort during World War II, and through the mid-twentieth century contributed to medical developments, including the invention of the artificial aorta and the study of brown lung disease.

From the 1980s to the present the college has been closely involved with the textile and other industries by hosting a number of national and international conferences and through the extension and applied research programs.

From the guide to the University Archives Photograph Collection, College of Textiles Photographs, circa 1911-circa 1995, undated, (Special Collections Research Center)

An internationally-known textile technologist and educator, Thomas Nelson, was the Textile School's first dean. Nelson was born in Preston, England in 1872. He came to the United States to work in mills in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia, and he taught at the Lowell Textile Institute in Lowell, Massachusetts before joining the faculty at North Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1901. Nelson became head of the textile department in 1906 and dean of the School of Textiles in 1925. He retired as dean in 1943, but he continued to serve as professor on the faculty until 1949. Nelson died in Raleigh in 1953. In 1954, the School of Textiles building was formally named Nelson Hall in his honor.

Dean Nelson's successor, Malcolm Eugene "Sandy" Campbell, improved the school's educational program and expanded textile research. Born in 1902 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Campbell graduated from New Bedford Institute of Technology in 1922 and received his B.S. from Clemson College in 1930. He was named Dean of the State College School of Textiles in 1943. In 1954, Dean Campbell directed the development of an artificial, knitted artery, invented by Professor William E. Shinn, that later helped save his life after he suffered an aneurysm in 1970. During Dean Campbell's tenure, the Textiles Library was expanded and renamed the Burlington Textiles Library. Dean Campbell retired from North Carolina State University in 1967 and died in 1978.

David Webb Chaney became Dean of the School of Textiles upon Dean Campbell's retirement in 1967. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1915, he received an A.B. in Chemistry from Swarthmore College in 1938 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942. He was a member of the Governor's Advisory Council on the State Technical Services Act, the Governor's Council for Economic Development, and the North Carolina Engineering Foundation.

As Dean of the School of Textiles of North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering, Dame Scott Hamby increased private financial support, reorganized the curriculum, and forged closer links between the textile industry and the university. He received a B.S. in textile engineering in 1936 from Auburn University. He joined the State College faculty as a professor in 1948 and in 1956 was named Burlington Industries professor and supervisor of the Quality Control Division in the School of Textiles. In 1965, he was appointed head of the department of textile technology and in 1972, director of textiles extension and continuing education.

The fifth dean, Dr. Robert A. Barnhardt succeeded Dean Hamby in 1987. Before coming to North Carolina State University, Dean Barnhardt was the executive vice president of the Institute of Textile Technology (ITT), where he was hired in 1966 as dean and director of education. He received a B.S. from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science in 1961. At the University of Virginia, Barnhardt earned a master of education degree in 1970 and a doctorate in higher education administration in 1974. During his tenure, the college was relocated to Centennial Campus.

Dr. A. Blanton Godfrey was the chairman and CEO of Juran Institute, Inc. before his appointment as Dean of the College of Textiles at N.C. State University. He was an adjunct professor at N.C. State from 1995 to 2000. Godfrey received his bachelor's degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1963, a master's degree in statistics in 1970, and a Ph.D. in statistics in 1974 from Florida State University.

From the guide to the North Carolina State University, College of Textiles, Office of the Dean Records, 1899-2012, (Special Collections Research Center)

The North Carolina State University College of Textiles is the largest of its kind in the United States, offering one of only two accredited Textile Engineering programs in the country. The College of Textiles produces more than half of the textile graduates in the United States each year.

The textiles department was founded at North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later North Carolina State University) in 1899 due to Daniel Tompkins's interest in having a textile program. George Franks Ivey taught the first course in textiles in 1899. The next year the college expanded this program; Ivey left and Henry M. Wilson joined the faculty as an instructor in cotton manufacturing. The college offered courses such as carding and spinning, weaving, textile designing, and textile chemistry and dyeing. The courses provided students with specialized expertise to operate mills and use advanced scientific research in the textiles industry.

The original textile equipment was housed in the basement of Holladay Hall. Support for the program grew, and in 1901 the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $10,000 toward the construction of a textile building. This structure, Tompkins Hall, resembled a textile mill of the period and was completed in early 1902. Thomas Nelson, a young Englishman from the Lowell Textile School in Massachusetts, joined N.C. State's faculty in 1901 and became department head in 1906 following Wilson's resignation.

On 24 March 1914 Tompkins Hall was almost completely destroyed by fire. With the help of builders and manufacturers, who donated much of the replacement machinery, the textiles program bounced back and by 1919 enrollment reached 154. Meanwhile, the textile industry continued to expand in North Carolina, as mills from the North moved South. The new College of Textiles (School of Textiles) was created out of the School of Engineering at the Board of Trustees meeting on 8 June 1925 and Thomas Nelson was appointed dean of the school.

In 1943 Malcolm E. "Sandy" Campbell succeeded Nelson as dean of the textiles school, and expansion continued. The college joined in the defense effort during World War II by offering a course in fabric inspection and testing for those employed in war industries. In addition, faculty from the College of Textiles investigated substitutes for silk, which was critically needed for the manufacture of parachutes. The college was instrumental in North Carolina's production of fabric for the war, which surpassed all other states.

After the war the area of textiles research continued to broaden, and N.C. State led the way. Research at the university led to Professor William "Ed" Shinn's 1955 development of the knitted OrlonTM aorta on a necktie machine. In 1959 the state of North Carolina gave funds to support textiles research for the first time. Campbell retired in 1967, and David Chaney was named the new dean. Research funding grew, and the college received several large federal grants during the 1970s. Dr. Solomon Hersh and a team of researchers at N.C. State studied brown lung disease (byssinosis), a disease suffered by cotton mill workers. Through their research they determined acceptable levels of exposure to cotton dust and contributed to the establishment of occupational health standards in textile mills.

Chaney retired in 1981, and Dame S. Hamby became the new dean of a textiles college that offered the largest textiles research program in the United States.

As the college planned to move to the university's new Centennial Campus, advances in textiles research continued. Hamby retired and Robert A. Barnhardt became dean in 1987. The next year groundbreaking for the new College of Textiles building on Centennial campus was 17 May 1988.

In more than 100 years of textiles at N.C. State, the college and the field of textiles has diversified. Professor Emeritus Mansour Mohamed worked to produce a method of three-dimensional weaving systems that produce lightweight, superstrong, high-performance textile composites that are used in cars, planes, and in the aerospace industry. This technology was developed for NASA's Mars Mission Research Center at N.C. State. In the 1990s Dr. Sam Hudson found new uses for fiber made from chitin and chitosan, materials extracted from the shells of crabs and other shellfish. He and others at N.C. State have developed methods to use chitin and chitosan to clean wastewater left by the dyeing process, to create fibers for paper-making, and to develop a biodegradable wound dressing that employs chitosan's healing properties.

From the guide to the North Carolina State University, College of Textiles Annual Reports, 1906-2005, (Special Collections Research Center)