Highway Marker in Eden Will Honor Birth of the Community College System

Oct. 24, 2012 - PRLog -- RALEIGH, N.C. -- The industrial expansion in North Carolina after World War II led to a demand for technical and vocational training. Under the administrations of Governors Luther Hodges and Terry Sanford, seven Industrial Education Centers (IECs) were created that became the core of the Community College System.

A North Carolina Highway Historical Marker will be dedicated to honor the birth of the N.C. Community College system (http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/) at the first IEC in Eden on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. at the John Motley Morehead High School.

The State Board of Education selected Burlington, Durham, Goldsboro, Jamestown, Wilmington, Wilson and Leaksville (present-day Eden) to locate the first IECs.

Leaksville was the home of Governor Hodges and Fieldcrest Mills, his former employer. Under its original name, Marshall Fields and Company, Fieldcrest turned over its vocational training building and its equipment to the Leaksville School System. In the summer of 1957 the school system transferred the training to a new vocational building on the campus of Morehead High School. In May 1958, Leaksville opened the first Industrial Education Center.

By 1963, 20 Industrial Education Centers were operating, and they formed the core of the new N.C. Community College System.

For additional information on the program, call Al Royster at (336) 627-7731. For information on the N.C. Highway Marker Program, call (919) 807-7290. The Highway Marker program (http://ncdcr.gov/Divisions/History/HistoricalResources/HighwayHistoricalMarkers.aspx) is administered jointly by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources and the N.C. Department of Transportation (http://www.ncdot.gov/).

About the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources:

The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation's first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the N.C. Arts Council, and the State Archives.

Cultural Resources champions North Carolina's creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state's economy. To learn more, visit us online at http://www.ncdcr.gov and http://www.ncculture.com.