Education, School of
The School of Education traces its origins back to 1877, when the university established a Summer Normal School to provide training for teachers in North Carolina. Teacher training was offered only during the summer until 1885, when the Department of Normal Instruction was established. A graduate program was established in 1896. The name was changed to the Department of Education in 1903 and became the School of Education in 1913. That same year the school moved into Peabody Hall, a new building constructed with support from the Peabody Education Fund, which had long provided resources for teacher training at UNC and other schools.
Education was a popular major at the university in the post—World War II era, with school enrollment increasing around the state. In 1962 the university awarded more graduate degrees in education than in any other major. By the 1990s the school was consistently ranked among the top twenty-five education programs in the country.
The School of Education has often led the way at the university in hiring women faculty. Women began teaching at the Summer Normal School as early as 1878. In 1927 Sallie Marks became the first woman to join the faculty at UNC, and in 1970 Roberta Jackson joined the School of Education, becoming the first tenure-track African American woman at the university.