The oldest of the Doughterys was D.D. or Dauphin Disco Dougherty…obviously the boy’s father, Civil War Veteran Daniel Boone Dougherty enjoyed alliteration. Further proof: DD’s brother, B.B., or Blanford Barnard, was born a year later.
Did you ever get together with your sibling and say, “You know what we should do? We should start a school and not just any school but one that trains teachers!” No? Well, we can be thankful that a conversation like that took place between BB and DD Dougherty sometime in the late 1800s. The brothers were a study in contrasts. B.B. was a lifelong bachelor; D.D. had a full and happy family life. B.B. was a brilliant educator; D.D. had the business sense in the family.
B.B. was a quiet, severe-looking man with a passion for education. When the school superintendent of Ashe County was away from home one day, young B.B. galloped after him on horseback to get his teaching certificate. That was all it took in those days: pass an oral exam from the local superintendent, not necessarily delivered on horseback (!), and you could teach.
Even though B.B. passed the test that day, he knew the mountain children needed more from their teachers.
He dreamed of a college where young men and women from the mountains would become real teachers, teachers as learned and professionally trained as any in the country. Then, his dream continued, they would return to their small towns and inspire the next generation.
The dream of B.B. and D.D. became a reality as Watauga Academy opened in 1899 with 53 students in three grades. With a grant from the state, it became Appalachian Training School for Teachers in 1903 and never really outgrew the name, at least among the locals, until it became Appalachian State University in 1967. As of 2016 it’s part of the UNC system and has well over 16,000 students. And education is the only department so far to offer a doctorate.
Among the school’s early benefactors was Greensboro textile magnate, the Denim King, Moses Cone.
In fact, Cone offered $1,500 cash and a spot on the Cone estate in Blowing Rock to build what became ASU…but the Doughertys chose Boone…despite that, Cone continued to support their efforts for higher education in the mountains.
In the beginning both Doughertys taught a full load, but later DD moved into administration, and buying the necessities, and running the school farms, yes they grew much of what they ate…you might call it subsistence schooling! And, upholding the family tradition and devotion to education, after D.D. passed away in 1929, his wife Lillie Shull Doughtery took over as treasurer and business manager for several years.
DD’s brother, BB, started out as the president and served as such for 56 years! Due to his contributions to education across the state, BB was named as the top North Carolina citizen in 1950. For perspective on longevity, there were seven presidents after BB in the following 56 years!
We’ll close with this little known fact, the Appalachian State Fight Song, Hi Hi Yikas, is sung to the tune of the German folk song Berg vagabunden or “mountaineering comrades” because apparently nothing is more synonymous with school spirit than German folk tunes…so now you know!
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