From These Roots

When North Greenville High School was founded in 1892, there was no electricity on campus and the only form of outside communication was by mail. The first discussion of bringing electricity to campus came in 1919 when the trustees formed a committee to research building a light plant on campus. Light plants in those days were usually generators that were powered by kerosene or diesel fuel. The light plant at North Greenville was finally installed in 1921 and the report given to the North Greenville Baptist Association was that the light plant was “in fine working order and giving complete satisfaction.”

When Dr. M.C. Donnan, North Greenville’s last principal and first president, arrived on campus in 1929, he was determined to bring electric lines to the campus. He approached the Duke Power Company who agreed to build a line for the cost of between twelve and fifteen thousand dollars. Dr. Donnan went door to door in the community trying to find enough residents to agree to pitch in for the electric line, but they all felt that Duke should pay for their own line and refused to help. A year later, Duke Power offered to build the line if Dr. Donnan could sell twenty stoves at $120 each and get the three local cotton gins to switch to electricity. Dr. Donnan and a representative from Duke, Tom Parsons, worked all summer to meet the requirements of the Duke Power Company and they succeeded. Duke built the line and North Greenville had regular electricity for the first time.

In the days before phones were on campus, students could only communicate with the outside world by writing and receiving letters. However, women on campus had strict rules regarding their mail. For example, in the 1920s, women could only receive mail from four parent-approved individuals. If the principal suspected a female student was receiving mail from someone who was not on their approved list, the student could be disciplined.

We’re not sure when phone lines came to North Greenville, but in 1959, underground phone lines were installed, a phone was located in every building, and the first switchboard came to campus. The new switchboard system included two direct lines outside and 14 extensions on an intercom system across campus. It wasn’t until 1989 that students had the option of paying for a phone in their dorm rooms. Students could bring their own phone to campus and pay for a plan through an outside company if they wanted their own phone line. Before 1989, students in each dorm had to share a phone with the whole dorm or at least their entire hallway. Eventually, every dorm room included a phone that roommates would share until, finally, landline phones in dorms were discontinued due to the rise in popularity of cell phones.

North Greenville entered the computer age on August 13, 1981, with the installation of the school’s first computer. The computer was an NCR 9020 with a lease-to-own price of $46,704.60. Some people felt North Greenville was too small of a school to need a computer, but the administration disagreed. Mr. Ammons, the business manager at the time, stated in an interview for The Skyliner, “The demand for information has grown in leaps and bounds, both internally and externally, and the equipment we now have is wearing down… the school really can’t keep abreast of the requirements that we have.” The original purpose of the computer, according to Skyliner reporter Pam Driskill, was for use in the business office to take care of things like payroll, budget control, accounts payable, etc.

The computer systems on campus grew throughout the 1990s. In late 1994, a new Comprehensive Academic Management System (CAMS) was added to the campus. This integrated system was used for student records, admissions, etc. At this time, the computers were tied to a campus network that allowed users to access the same data from multiple computers.

It was also in the 1990s that the internet came to North Greenville College. The school’s first website went online in 1996 with the help of the Independent Colleges and Universities of South Carolina organization. The website address was http://web.sunbelt.net/~icusc and included information concerning the college and its programs. The site also included color photographs and a form prospective students could fill out to receive additional information.

By 1997, e-mail was becoming more popular, and some students were bringing their own computers to campus. Back then, the modems were connected to the internet through phone lines. Students could pay for their internet service through companies like AOL and AT&T. Since so few students had computers on campus, groups of students would team up with computer owners and split the cost of internet service. The computer owner would get free internet and the students paying for their internet service would get to send e-mails. A typical unlimited internet plan was around $19.95 per month or a 10 hour a month plan could cost around $9.95. An article in The Skyliner at the time written by Dr. Robert Detjen suggested students write their e-mails offline so they could quickly send them through e-mail and save on their internet usage time.

Eventually, nearly every student on campus came to school with either a desktop computer or a laptop. The Internet moved from a dial-up phone connection to Wi-Fi and now most students carry the internet wherever they go via a cell phone. It will be interesting to see how many more technological changes come to the North Greenville campus in the future, but hopefully, the school’s Christ-centered mission will always remain the same.