UNC Pembroke’s unique history will be celebrated during a special Founders’ Day ceremony at 11 a.m., Thursday, March 14 in front of Old Main on campus.
Open to the public, the event will highlight the university’s heritage and the seven visionaries who founded Croatan Normal School, the forerunner institution to UNCP: Isaac Brayboy, James E. Dial Sr., Preston Locklear, W.L. Moore, James Oxendine, John J. Oxendine and Olin Oxendine. The celebration will feature music, a traditional blessing and honor song from the Lumbee Tribe Cultural Team, and a special presentation about the founders by UNCP students and Dr. Lawrence Locklear, director of the Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity and adjunct associate professor of American Indian Studies.
Established as Croatan Normal School on March 7, 1887, UNCP began as the only state-supported American Indian college in the nation.
Family members of UNCP’s founders can contact Dr. Rebekah Lowry, director of Alumni Affairs, at rebekah.lowry@uncp.edu or 910.521.6333 if they plan to attend the event.
UNC Pembroke's Founders
Isaac Brayboy
(January 21, 1836 – February 3, 1919)
According to a family oral tradition, lumber used in the construction of historic Old Main in 1922-23 was supplied by Brayboy’s grandson Tecumseh’s sawmill.
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James E. Dial Sr.
(1855 – November 8, 1933)
Dial served the institution as a member of the Board of Trustees for 35 years and was one of the longest serving trustees.
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Preston Locklear
(March 16, 1839 – January 21, 1916)
Locklear was one of the first to push for separate American Indian schools in Robeson County that were administered by American Indians.
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Rev. W.L. (William Luther) Moore
(October 12, 1857 – December 22, 1930)
Moore was the first principal and teacher at Croatan Normal School (now UNCP). Moore Hall, located adjacent to historic Old Main, is named in his honor.
James “Big Jim” Oxendine
(1821 – December 16, 1896)
Selected by his peers, Oxendine was the first chair of the institution’s first Board of Trustees.
JJ (John J.) Oxendine
(1826 – November 28, 1903)
Oxendine’s family ties run deep. He was a brother to “Big Jim” and the great grandfather to Dr. Joseph Oxendine who served as UNCP’s third chancellor from 1989 to 1999.
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Olin Oxendine
(January 7, 1853 – July 6, 1932)
The son of “Big Jim”, Oxendine was a farmer in the Red Banks community, southwest of Pembroke.
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