Peter Weddick Moore (June 24, 1859 - April 15, 1934) was a

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

educator and the first president of

Elizabeth City State University Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) is a public historically Black university in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It enrolls nearly 2,500 students in 28 undergraduate programs and 4 graduate programs and is a member-school of the Thurgood Ma ...

. Educated by Sampson County public schools and

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

, Moore later became an assistant principal at the Normal School at Plymouth, until he built and became principal of what is now known as the

. Moore fought strongly against the segregation of education and society as well as for equality among whites and blacks. Throughout his life, Moore contributed greatly to the achievements of the North Carolina Teachers' Association and held every role within the organization.

Early life

Moore grew up in

Duplin County, North Carolina Duplin County ( )
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

parents, he had a tumultuous childhood. His father is believed to have been killed by the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

, so his mother was forced to raise him and his four siblings alone. Moore's mother believed that her children should all be educated and saw to it that Moore went to school during his upbringing. He was said to have gone to a neighborhood school created by the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...

. He went on to study at the Philosophian Academy in a neighboring county, where he was able to develop his academic interests. After graduation, Moore became certified to teach in a

one-room school One-room schoolhouses, or One-room schools, have been commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, and Spa ...

, allowing him to further pursue his passion for academia.

Adulthood

Education

Moore was recognized by his peers as a man of dignity, who was well-informed of current events. He received an A.B. degree in 1887 from

. Shaw also awarded him both M.A. and LL.D. degrees in recognition of his many contributions to education in the state. Moore's career began when he started teaching in the Holly Grove district at age 20. He saved the money earned from teaching and raising

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

to supplement his education at Shaw University.

Career

Post-graduation, Peter Moore began teaching again for a year before he was given the position of assistant principal at the State Normal School in Plymouth, North Carolina. In 1891, four years after beginning in Plymouth, Moore was asked to be the new leader of the State Colored Normal School at Elizabeth City. After the school opened, it split into three separate schools: Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, and Winston-Salem State Normal Schools. Moore served as the principal until 1928 when he retired, just six years before his death.

Legacy

Despite his declining health, Moore continued to teach

classroom management Classroom management is the process teachers use to ensure that classroom lessons run smoothly without disruptive behavior from students compromising the delivery of instruction. It includes the prevention of disruptive behavior preemptively, as ...

in his retirement. In 1928 he was granted the title of President Emeritus by Elizabeth State University. This position included a home and salary for the remainder of his life. Moore is credited as the reason that relations between whites and African Americans were so positive in Elizabeth City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Peter 19th-century African-American educators 19th-century American educators Shaw University alumni 1859 births 1934 deaths People from Duplin County, North Carolina 20th-century African-American educators 20th-century American educators