Pembroke Indian School
Friends of (lie Indians in Robeson County
found it extremely difficult to interest the»
State in educating the Indians, but now a
splendid institution is carrying on a fine
piece of work.
THERE is :i legend (lint when the
first colony of Sir Walter Raleigh
vanished, leaving only the word
"Oroatoan” carved on n tree, the sur¬
vivors of his colony were taken by
their Indian captors into the inte¬
rior, where they finally became amal¬
gamated with and incorporated into
the tribe of Robeson Indians known
for more than a century as the "Croa-
tan” Indians.
For years these Indians were known
to fame principally because of the
depredations committed by a band of
outlaws tinder Henry Berry I-owry
during the years following the Civil
War; and while no one can excuse or
condone their acts of murder arid of
arson, yet there is some palintion even
here, for Lowry started on his lawless
career because he was naturally an¬
gered bv the lawless act of the Con¬
federate “Home Guard” in trying his
father and brother by drum-head
court martial, convicting them of
larceny and having them shot, then
and there.
A Different Case
Consider the different case of
Hiram Revels, who is of the blood of
that race and who sprang from our
soil; he rose to be United States Sen¬
ator from Mississippi, where he filled
the seat vacated by Jefferson Davis
when he resigned to become President
of the Confederacy — the only full-
blooded Indian ever to occupy a seat
in that august body.
The most famous oration of Zebu-
Ion II. Vance was his “Scattered Na¬
tion,” which he applied to the He¬
brew race ; but he might well have de¬
livered one on the “Neglected Nation”
and applied it to our Robeson In¬
dians, for they were wards neither ot
the state nor nation; the whites had
done little for them ; they would have
no commerce with the blacks.
In lied Springs lived Hamilton Mc¬
Millan. modest, rather shy country
lawyer who had given much of his
time to a studious investigation of
these people and their history. He
considered the plight of these people
-"Lo, the poor Indian, whose uutu-
К у
R. C. LAWRENCE
tored mind" — and he arose with a high
purpose in his heart. He lieeame a
member of the Legislature of 1887 de¬
termined to do something for them,
and he wrangled from a reluctant leg¬
islature a beggarly appropriation for
the maintenance of a Normal School
for this race. But even this tiny driblet
from the legislative treasure hail
strings attached to it. for the act
stipulated that unless a building had
been erected by 18S9. the appropria¬
tion would bo repealed, and moreover
that beforo anyone could become a
student, he must sign a contract
agreeing to teach for a year. No
red-headed stepchild ever received
worse treatment.
These people have the true Indian
characteristics; they never forget a
favor or forgive a wrong. Small as
was this sum, it furnished a nucleus,
and under the wise leadership of Rev.
W. L. Moore, the Indians not only
secured a site, hut at their own ex¬
pense erected thereon a modest build¬
ing, and here Moore opened the doors
of the infant institution with a stu¬
dent body of fifteen.
Other Appropriations
The small school lmd such promis¬
ing beginnings that the legislature
slightly loosened its purse strings, and
in 1909 a new site was purchased at
Pembroke, which was an ideal situa¬
tion, in the very heart of the Indian
settlement, on the main line of the
Atlantic Coast Line between New
York and Florida; and on the line of
the Seaboard between Wilmington
and Charlotte; and for its building
fund there was a legislative appro¬
priation of the enormous sum of
83,000.00!
Rut “tall oaks from little acorns
grow," and in 1921 the eminent Koli-
oon lawyer, Judge Lycurgus K.
Vareer. did something more than
champion the basic hard surface roads
net which became a law at that ses¬
sion. As a member of the Senate, it
was Varser who secured an appro¬
priation of $7.1,000.00 for the erec¬
tion of a new and up-to-date building.
Vigorous work was henceforth carried
on; soon a dormitory was built and
faculty houses were erected ; and in
1924 the high school was given a
standard rating by the State Depart¬
ment of Education. Moreover a sum¬
mer school was started, and as its stu¬
dents became alumni, they usually be¬
came teachers and they carried the
gospel of education to their own
people.
While founded as a normal school,
no such work had really been done un¬
til 1920; hut in that year a beginning
was made with one full-time and one
part-time instructor; and 1928 wit¬
nessed the graduation of its fir*t nor¬
mal class, a class which heard read
a message from the State Department
of Education designating it as a
standard school.
These Indians believe with Tenny¬
son : “Forward, forward let us range,"
and they pressed the good work, and
an attractive athletic field and grand¬
stand were completed; a home eco¬
nomics building was erected; a large
water tank constructed; and so rap¬
idly was progress made that in 1929
the institution began doing two years
of standard college work.
Another great forward step was
taken in 1935, when a department for
teaching tho deaf was added, a com¬
mercial teacher employed, and a full¬
time librarian secured to serve its li¬
brary of 5, OOt* carefully selected
hooks, in connection with which is a
well supplied reading room. By 193S
the institution was not only doing
standard normal work, hut three
years of standard college work. In
1939 a new high school building ad¬
jacent to the college campus wa>
completed, and a new gymnasium was
erected. The following year the work
started by Hamilton McMillan bur¬
geoned into bloom as a full-fledged
standard four-year college, recognized
as such by the State accrediting
agencies. "The good men do lives after
them”; and the memory of Me Mil-
( Continued on page thirty-seven)
