Courses in history were a part of the original curriculum of the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later, North Carolina State University) when the college openned in 1889. The Department of Rural Sociology and History was established in 1923, marking the first time that history courses were part of academic department at NC State. In 1925, the Department of Rural Sociology and History separated into two departments, forming the Department of History and Sociology, and the Department of Rural Sociology. In 1937, the Department of History and Sociolgy was again separated, and a stand-alone Department of History was created for the first time (a separate Department of Sociology was also created).
The Department of History's curriculum autonomy did not last long - in 1943, political science curricula was added to the department, and the new Department of History and Political Science was established. In 1965, these departments separated again, creating the current Department of History as well as the Department of Politics.
The Department of History has been the host to many important milestones for woment on campus at NC State - in 1966, the department hired only the third female full professor NC State had had, and Norma Wright Garcia became the first female African-American undergraduate to graduate from NC State, receiving a degree from the Department of History. Finally, in 1977, Mary (Betty) Wheeler became only the third female department head in the history of NC State, when she took over that leardership role in the Department of History.
The Department of History is an active academic department at NC State as of 2010, and is administered by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
From the guide to the North Carolina State University, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of History Records, 1936-1994, (Special Collections Research Center)
