Department History

Viola Boddie

(The Carolinian p. 19, 1909)

(The Carolinian 1917)

(Pine Needles 1940 )

Born on her parents’ farm in Nash, NC on October 2, 1863, Viola Boddie attended Littleton College, NC and taught in Henderson College before winning a scholarship in 1889 to the Normal School at Nashville, TN, (now Peabody College,) where she earned a degree with teaching certificate in 1891. She returned to her home state and taught for a year in Asheville before being hired in 1892 by Charles McIver to be head of the Department of Latin and head of the Department of French at a salary of $750.00.  This salary was raised to $864.00 for the year beginning October 1, 1893 and to $900.00 for the following year.

One of the original 15 faculty members at the institution, Viola Boddie taught Latin for 43 years, giving up the headship and teaching part-time in her last year before retiring in 1935. She died on March 20, 1940 at age 76.

The Alumnae News (November 1935) published the following remembrances of Miss Boddie in honor of her retirement; Oeland Lamar Barnett graduated from the Normal School in 1898 and succeeded Mary Sanders as Assistant in Latin in 1900. After a leave of absence in 1901, she returned as Assistant in 1902-03 and 1903-04, and again as Instructor in Latin in 1907-08 and 1908-09.