Last May Elizabeth City State University recognized some of its oldest living aluma, women who have seen a great deal of change since their early days at the historically black institute of higher learning.
Erma Roberts will agree, things have certainly changed since she was in college.
She started at Elizabeth City State Normal School in 1936 and received her BS in education from Elizabeth City State Teachers College in 1940.
“It was something I always wanted to do,” she said. “I enjoyed learning new things.”
Jean Bischoff, university archivist at Elizabeth City State University, shared a document that states the tuition and fees for a student of that time.
Boarding was just $14 a month, an expense these days seems minor, but in the 1930s, was quite costly. Many girls that lived outside of town boarded with family members closer in, Bischoff said. Quarterly fees for fuel, tuition, lights and room rent added up to $14 per person. Other fees included monthly laundry — $1.25 for a woman and $1.50 for a man.
After graduating from Elizabeth City State Normal School, Roberts taught grades one, two and three for 34 years, starting in 1940, “when schools were not integrated,” she said. “When they became integrated I went back to school to become a teacher of special children.”
Roberts studied Special Education at East Carolina University, and took graduate classes at Syracuse University.
“I enjoyed teaching very much,” she said. “I enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve done what I wanted to do, the things I’ve enjoyed. The joy comes out if you enjoy what you’re doing.”
