Principals of Princeville School

Listed below are the known principals of Princeville Graded School, all of whom also carried teaching responsibilities that reflected the dual roles required in early rural schools. 

Listed alma maters denote the schools where these educators completed their college studies and earned their degrees.

William Patrick Mabson (Lincoln University) — 1882–1889

John Craven Jones (Oberlin College) — 1889–1907

C.O.H. Thomas — 1907

William Augustine Perry (St. Augustine, Hopkins Grammar School, Yale University, Harvard University) — 1907–1911

Henry Edward Hagans (Shaw University) — 1911–1912

Victor E. Howard — 1912

Walter Alexander Pattillo, Jr. (Shaw University) — 1912–1924 (possibly until 1930)

George Leslie Harper (North Carolina College for Negroes [renamed North Carolina Central University], Columbia University) — 1930–1936

Walter G. Byers (Shaw University, Columbia University) — 1936–1938

Sylvester Voltaire Brown (North Carolina College for Negroes, North Carolina Central University) — 1937–1943

Helen Arabelle Walston (Fayetteville State Teachers’ College [renamed Fayetteville State University]) — 1943–1953

Mary Susie Ward Matthewson (Shaw University) — 1953–1979 (also Teacher, Grade 2)

Teachers of Princeville School

Early Teachers (1890s–1910s)

• Victor Howard — 1891, 1892, 1893, 1910, 1911
• Kate Thigpen — 1891
• Portia Newton — 1891, 1892, 1893
• Sarah E. Eppes — Grade 1, 1893
• John P. Wimberly — Teacher, McNair Crossing, 1893
• Callie Bryan (or Bryant) — 1895
• Mrs. Leathers — Grade 1, c. 1904
• T.P. Bridgers — 1905
• Candace Harrison — 1905, 1911
• Mattie C. Rosser — 1910
• Callie B. Hyman — 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915
• Mattie L. (or E.) Garrett — 1902, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915
• Josephine Payton — 1911
• Carrie Battle — 1911
• Lydia Lee Meeks Grissom Coley — Supply Teacher, 1911–1912
• Maud Williams — 1913
• Lucy Royster — 1914, 1915
• Esther Bryant — 1914, 1915
• Geneva Williams — 1914, 1915
• Frances Stephens — 1914
• Laura Hammonds — 1915
• Mary Clark — 1915

Mid‑Century Teachers (1930s–1960s)

Listed alma maters denote the schools where these educators completed their college studies and earned their degrees.

• Pearl Jane Ward Bennett (Shaw University) — Grades 4–5, 1930s?–1965
• Fannie Olivia Bridgers (Shaw University) — Grade 1, beyond 1931
• Elizabeth Ivey Pittman Hedgepeth (Fayetteville State Teachers’ College [renamed Fayetteville State University]) — Grade 7, 1950s?
• Margarette Bullock Purvis (Powell) (Shaw University, Columbia University) — Grade 3, 1958–1961
• Evelyn Joyner Reeves (Fayetteville State University, North Carolina Central University) — Grade 5, 1960–1969
• Elsworth Barnes (Fayetteville State Teachers’ College [renamed Fayetteville State University]) — Grade 8, 1960+
• Minnie Louvetta Hines‑Campbell (Fayetteville State University) — Grade 6, 1961+
• Joseph Louis Biggs (Fayetteville State University, A&T University) — Grade 6 (substitute), c. 1963

Teachers Whose Names Survive in the Records

Although these educators were documented in various historical sources, insufficient surviving details kept them from being fully profiled in the book.

• William P. Arnold
• Willie E. Bachelor
• Irma B. Brown
• Howard Bryan
• Martha Mitchell Bullock
• Delores Cherry
• Corrine Victoria Clark
• Jessie M. Conyers
• Ruby Agusta Graves
• Grace M. Hadley
• Gladys Hargrove
• Esther McCall Harper
• Vivian N. Harrison
• Dorothy Lucille Hinton
• Vera M. Jenkins
• Leona P. Johnson
• Reba Mayo Little
• Inez C. McEachean
• Sallie Jeanette Pattillo
• Lois Pettaway
• Jessie L. Pitt
• Lavern Scott
• Johnsie M. Snipes
• Robert S. Taylor
• Ed L. Thornton
• Mary P. Williams
• Vivian N. Woodruff