The Herman H. Duncan Collection consists of seven photographic prints (1921–1922, undated) depicting Greenville High School athletic teams and unidentified baseball teams in eastern North Carolina. Included are group portraits of the football, basketball, track and field, and baseball teams from Greenville High School, as well as images of unidentified teams, one possibly from New Bern, North Carolina. The photographs document early 20th-century high school athletics and local sports culture in Pitt County and surrounding areas.
Herman H. Duncan joined the faculty of Greenville High School during the 1921-1922 academic year. Along with his teaching resposibilities, Duncan served as the coach of the inagural Greenville High School football team in 1921, along with the men's basketball, track, and baseball teams.
Greenville High School was a public secondary school located in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina. The school was originally established in 1903 as part of the Greenville Graded Schools system and served students in the upper grades of the city's public education program. Initially housed on Evans Street in a combined elementary and high school facility, the high school was relocated in 1915 to a newly constructed building on Fifth Street near present-day East Carolina University.
In April 1927, the 1915 school building was destroyed by fire. A replacement facility was constructed on the same site later that year. By the late 1930s, Greenville High School offered a broad curriculum that included college preparatory courses as well as vocational subjects such as industrial arts, home economics, and business education. The school also maintained a range of extracurricular organizations, including student publications, music and theater groups, academic clubs, and athletic teams.
Greenville High School fielded competitive athletic teams in sports such as football, basketball, and baseball. The school's football team, in particular, was a central part of student life and community engagement. Athletic events were regularly attended by students, families, and local residents, and the teams often competed with schools across eastern North Carolina. Participation in sports was supported by faculty sponsors and booster organizations, including local civic groups such as the Rotary Club.
Throughout the mid-twentieth century, Greenville High School operated as one of the city's main public high schools for white students during the era of segregation. In 1957, a new public high school, J. H. Rose High School, was constructed on South Elm Street, and Greenville High School was gradually phased out as a secondary institution. The eventual desegregation of Greenville's public schools in the late 1960s and early 1970s led to the consolidation of students from formerly segregated schools, including C. M. Eppes High School and J. H. Rose High School.
This Herman H. Duncan Collection consists of seven black-and-white photographic prints (1921–1922, undated) depicting Greenville High School athletic teams and other unidentified baseball teams in eastern North Carolina. The bulk of the images document Greenville High School's football, basketball, track and field, and baseball teams during the early 1920s. Each team is represented in posed group portraits, with student athletes in uniform and occasionally accompanied by school staff or coaches.
Two photographs depict unidentified or possibly non-Greenville teams. One shows a baseball team posed in front of a "Frank Wilson" sign. The team is possibly the Greenville Greenies. Another image is believed to represent a team from New Bern, North Carolina, dating from approximately 1918 to 1920.
Most of the photographs include identifications on the reverse side.
The two Greenville High School yearbooks were transferred to the North Carolina Collection.
Gift of Louise Duncan
Encoded by Mark Custer, January 4, 2008
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.