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| S C T E CHN I CA L CO L L E G E S Y S T EM ’ S
F I R S T 5 0 Y EAR S
“Absolutely.”
“I am so glad to hear you say that. He has been forgotten in
North Carolina, but what I and a few other North Carolinians
know is he should get the same credit in North Carolina you
guys show him in South Carolina.”
Herring had hired Martin and believed his genius showed in
how he set things up and how he created industrial education
centers in North Carolina.
“Our very first one was in Burlington,” said Herring. “I got a
call one day from the governor’s office in South Carolina. ‘Gover-
nor Hollings and his folks have heard about your industrial edu-
cation center, and they want to see it. Could we arrange a tour?’”
“Sure, come on up.”
Martin met them in the lobby in Burlington. Board Chair
Herring was there. Hollings and company toured the shops and
labs and returned to the lobby. “Governor Hollings pulled Wade
aside in the corner,” said Herring. “I didn’t know what was going
on, but I had a suspicion. I found out that Governor Hollings
said ‘Wade, what are they paying you in North Carolina?’”
“Wade said, ‘$6,000,’ and Hollings said, ‘I’ll pay you $12,000.
You’re coming to South Carolina’, and he did.”
“Other than that conversation with Dallas Herring, I never
heardWade’s name in North Carolina,” said Russell. “I was proud
to tell Herring, ‘At the Midlands Technical College campus, we
have the Wade Martin Building. We remember Wade.’ That de-
lighted Herring.”
Russell didn’t have rock star or football heroes. “My heroes
were the system’s original leaders. I looked up to those folks so
much. In my early days, I read
Impact
and Wade Martin’s name
kept coming up. He was the ultimate hero. Although Wade
passed away before I came into the system, I admired him from
a distance and wanted to learn more about him.”
John E. “Jack” Riley
was hired to head up Special Schools
The 1960s
M O B I L I Z I N G A G R E A T R E S O U R C E
