Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Transcribed by Barbara Kawamoto. Dr. Dallas Herring "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore Friday, January 1, 1993 A few days ago I had the pleasure of a visit with my good friend, Dallas Herring, of Rose Hill. He gave me one of his recently published books entitled "What has Happened to the Golden Door?" This book is a series of reflections on his concepts and goals of education. He is one of the real successors of the pioneers, Governor Charles B. Aycock, J. Y. Joyner, Charles McIver, Walter Hines Page, Edwin Alderman, Dr. Charles Fisher Carroll, and others. He led the movement for creating the community college system while he was Chairman of the State Board of Education (1957-1977). Dr. Herring was born in Rose Hill in 1916 and is the son of the late Dallas B. and Lulu Southerland Herring. On both sides he is descended from the very best of the pioneer colonial families. He was graduated from Rose Hill High School in 1933 and in 1938 he was graduated (cum laude) from Davidson College with majors in English and Economics. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa. He studied German and Greek and when he finished college, he could speak and write well and his philosophy of education was already well grounded. Later Dr. Herring received the following honorary degrees: LLD., Pfeiffer College, 1959; LLD., Davidson College, 1961; Doctor of Humanities, N.C. State University, 1964; and LLD., University of N.C., Wilmington, 1982. Dr. Herring is an active member of Zion Presbyterian Church, Rose Hill, and has served as ruling elder, clerk of sessions, and a member of the board of trustees of Flora MacDonald College. He is president of the Atlantic Coffin and Casket Company, which was founded by his family in 1907. Dr. Herring served as mayor of Rose Hill from 1939-1951; chairman of the Duplin County Board of Education, 1951-55; chairman of the Southern Council for Better Schools, 1960-63; as chairman of State Board of Education, 1957-77; and member of the N.C. Board of Higher Education, 1956-1965. In his writings he sums up some of his philosophy of education in a few statements quoting, "There is no substitute for learning-learning that will equip the youth of this country so that it may cope with the grave responsibilities of government in these dangerous times, learning that will prepare them to be more than economic men and women producing and consuming the goods and services of our fabulous economy...quality education must be designed to meet the educational needs of all the students which universal education reaches. In order to accomplish this we must simply face up to the fact that we cannot place every student on the same assembly line and expect all students to come out at the end with equal educational attainments." In 1977, the Winston-Salem Journal said in speaking of Dr. Herring: "He has been a forthright and unfailing advocate of excellence in the schools and of the blend of academics and practical subjects which he called comprehensive education." Dr. Herring will always be remembered as a shinning leader in the field of education in North Carolina. He is truly a man of the renaissance. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Barbara Kawamoto ==============================================================