After the War: Education...
Following the end of World War II, an important part of compensation for veterans was the congressional passage of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the GI Bill. This bill improved upon the more limited health care and bonus compensation programs available after World War I. Educational benefits of the GI Bill included vocational rehabilitation and help with tuition and living expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools. Colleges across the nation saw a dramatic increase in student enrollment primarily due to the GI Bill. In the peak year of 1947, veterans accounted for forty-nine percent of college enrollment.
Western Carolina University, formerly Western Carolina Teacher’s College, like many colleges of the time embarked upon massive expansion plans to add lecture halls, classrooms, dormitories and cafeterias to their campus due to the increase in veteran enrollment. The building or renovation of Hunter Library, Bird Administration, Breese Gymnasium, Stillwell Science, McKee, and Hoey represented the new era of growth for Western as returning veterans created an enrollment boom across the nation. In the years to come, millions of veterans in the United States would seek educational opportunities due to the passage of the GI Bill.
Sam L. Queen, Jr. was born in 1923 in Haywood County, North Carolina. Like generations before, Sam and his family lived on a two hundred acre farm in the area. As a child, Sam enjoyed common pastimes like hunting, fishing, and exploring in the mountains. In 1940, he graduated high school and, shortly thereafter, enrolled at Western Carolina Teachers College (WCTC).
On December 7, 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor came as a shock to the nation and to students at WCTC. Sam Queen, like several of his classmates, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on October 23, 1942. While in the Marines, Queen saw a great deal of combat including the famous Pacific battle on Iwo Jima during which he was injured.
After returning from the war on August 16, 1945, Sam came back to WCTC with the help of the GI Bill. “That GI Bill was a real saver for me…” Queen states as it helped pay his tuition, room and board, and provided a small subsidy each year. Veterans also were allowed to catch up on course credits by taking tests rather than the entire course of study. Such accommodations proved helpful to Sam. After taking several tests, he “…went down the hill a starting sophomore and came back a second quarter senior.” To represent the veteran population at WCTC, Sam became president of the Veterans Club his senior year. After graduating from Western Carolina Teachers College, he continued his education at the University of Tennessee.
Accelerated School Programs for Veterans...
The Veterans Administration offered several educational programs to help veterans returning from the war. In 1946, the Accelerated High School Program for Veterans began at Western Carolina Teachers College in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The program resided there for only one year before being transferred to Sylva High School. The Accelerated Program for Veterans offered three main programs. These included a high school program in which veterans were paid $120 a month to obtain a high school diploma, a college program, and a trade school program. The government also offered housing to the veterans attending the college program. Homes were pre-fabricated and located on the Western Carolina Teachers College campus in a housing area referred to as “Boodleville.”
The trade program was very important and popular among veterans teaching such subjects as agriculture, husbandry and other tasks necessary for farm life. The trade program located at Cherokee, North Carolina taught carpentry, electrical work, welding, mechanics, and plumbing.
The Accelerated Program for Veterans was very beneficial in helping service men and women obtain more education in anticipation that they could begin a life better than they had known before the war.
In 1946, Western Carolina Teacher’s College procured thirty-six pre-fabricated housing units from the government to be used as lodging for veterans. The campus village was known as Boodleville, from the term "boodle" meaning a display of great affection. The units housed veterans and their families.
The older veteran students initially had a difficult time adjusting to campus life, especially with traditional activities such as "Rat Week" a time when upperclassmen initiated freshmen to campus life. There was also strong resistance by the veterans to campus regulations such as no alcohol, an imposed curfew, and limited socializing with members of the opposite sex. By November 1946, the veteran’s village created a town council to oversee problems and elected a mayor to represent the village at student government meetings. After these formative steps, student veterans quickly became an integral part of the college environment.
Farm Schools...
At the time of the United States’ entry into World War I, public education was undergoing dramatic changes. Along with a recommendation for a longer school term, extending from four months to six months, state leaders pushed for other improvements as well, including increased school funds and a minimal salary law for teachers. State leaders also recommended an increase in the number of farm schools in western North Carolina.
The growth and interest in farm schools developed from the increased awareness of the importance of farming to communities in western North Carolina. The farm-life school was an attempt to train individuals in farm management with instruction in agriculture, business practices, and household tasks. One farm school located in Asheville, North Carolina, not only incorporated the typical farm-life subjects but religion as well.
State and federal funding provided some support for farm-life schools. Participating counties were required to supply equipment and for every amount over $2500 the county spent toward a farm school, the state would match those funds.
At the end of World War I, Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act of 1919 that “recognized that military service prevented young people from receiving training for employment or a vocation.” The addition of federal funds for veterans helped shape instruction at farm-life schools as well as colleges and universities and those influences still resonate today.
In 1915, a newspaper article from the Jackson County Journal, Sylva, North Carolina, urged people in the county to recognize the need for a Farm-Life school in their community. Twelve counties in North Carolina had previously taken advantage of the opportunity to have this type of school.