Duke School and the Birth of the High School (Part I of IV)

By Sion H. Harrington III

The information you are about to read was extracted from several sources in addition to the "Principal's Report for 1920-1921 for Duke High School and will be expanded in two future offerings. The Principals Reports are preserved in the State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC.

Duke High School was in its infancy when Sprinkle took the helm. It had a relatively short lifespan not because of anything wrong on the part of Sprinkle, but because the U.S. Post Office decreed that as of January 1, 1926, the small town of Duke would have to change its name to avoid mail delivery confusion with Duke University in Durham. The powerful and extremely rich Duke family of Durham and New York, had offered tiny Trinity College of Randolph County more money than it ever dreamed existed if they would re-locate to Durham and rename their school "Duke." Money DOES talk!

It is unknown at the time of this writing exactly when the "Graded School" (a school divided into grades) at Duke commenced or how many grades it had What we do know is that the school operated on the second floor of the village's one large store, "Cole-Johnson (later Hassell-Johnson) Mercantile Company" (a.k.a. "The Big Store") built in 1904 at the corner of "H" and 12" Streets. The school remained at this location until the first ", purpose-built" school was constructed at the intersection of "G" and 10th Streets in 1924. Those of us of a certain age can remember when it was the "Elementary Building." When it was built, it served both the elementary and high school until the high school building was constructed circa 1924/ 1925.

Sometime in the late 1910s or early 1920s sufficient grades were added to create a high school, of sorts, because initially it consisted of only two grades. The exact year the other two grades were added to complete the requirements for a complete four-year high school is yet to be discovered. But they must have been added by 1923 because on May 17, 1925, the first and as far as anyone knows the only graduation occurred at Duke High School under that name. The Erwin Historical Society, Inc. Museum holds two unique artifacts related to this event. One is a printed brochure for that graduation, and the other is a small, very worn gold ring that was proudly worn by one of the high school's first graduates, Miss Stella Johnson (Mrs. Stella Johnson Caldwell). Sadly, any markings that were on the ring originally were worn away long ago.

In 1920-21, the school term for all grades ran for thirty-two weeks from September 27'through May 20" with a total enrollment for the high school represented by a meagre nineteen students, eight boys and eleven girls. The high school posted an average daily attendance of fifteen, seven boys and eight girls. It boasted one full-time teacher, a lady, and one part-time male instructor. The school's combined student body numbered five hundred and ten in nine grades, of which two hundred and seventy-two were boys and two hundred and thirty-eight were girls.

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