By Nancy W. Lewis, Edgecombe Assistant Home Agent, in Extension Farm-News, published by the Agricultural Extension Service, N.C. State College,
March, 1957
Club women in Edgecombe County have established a Eugenia
Van Landingham Loan Fund in honor of “Mrs. Van” for her outstanding
contribution and loyalty to home demonstration work.
“We love and admire Mrs. Van so much that it is a pleasure
and a privilege to contribute to a student loan fund in her honor,” was a reply
received in response to a letter from Mrs. E.P. Hinton, retiring Edgecombe
County home demonstration county council president, when she approached the
home demonstration clubs some weeks ago in regard to establishing a Eugenia Van
Landingham Loan Fund.
The purpose of this fund will be to help worthy girls
acquire a college education who otherwise might be unable to do so because of a
lack of money.
When thanking the women, Mrs. Van said, “When you give a
person an education, you give them something which cannot be destroyed or taken
from them. Nobody can steal or borrow it. This is like a dream come true for
me. I hope to live to see it grow and grow and grow, and some worthy girl take
advantage of this opportunity.”
Mrs. Arthur M. Turner, county council president, Tuesday
during the first quarterly meeting of 1957, appointed a board composed of the
19 home demonstration club presidents, with Mrs. E.F. Hinton as chairman, to
make further plans for building up and administering the fund. The
contributions thus far have been donated by the individual clubs. Mrs. Turner
charged the group with the responsibility of devising a plan whereby other
sources of income might be acceptable.
It is very fitting that Mrs. Hinton be made chairman as she
has been planning, talking, and working untiringly for the past year in her
efforts to bring the Eugenia Van Landingham Loan Fund into being. She feels
that Mrs. Van is such an outstanding national, state, and county leader and
that her club women are so proud of her that this is one small token they can
present her in appreciation for her contribution to the enrichment of their
lives.
Mrs. Van, as she is fondly called by her women, came to
Edgecombe County on October 15, 1937 when there were nine home demonstration
clubs with a membership of 250 women. Today there are 19 clubs with a
membership of 602. These women are happy and proud to pay tribute to Mrs. Van,
who with her poise, charm, understanding, and love for people, exemplifies the
highest type of womanhood.
In the words of the poet,
“May the God that looks down on His
People
To weigh them in body and mind,
Be sure to lose not her pattern,
But make many more of her kind.”
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