Skip to Quicklinks
Skip to Quicklinks
Contact Information

University and Community Relations
PO Box 1510
Pembroke, NC 28372

Phone: 910.521.6249
Fax: 910.521.6694
Email: relations@uncp.edu

Location: Lumbee Hall, Room 427 and
Jacobs Hall, Suite A
Campus Map

 


dial humanities building

The Adolph L. Dial Humanities Building (1980), named for a professor of American Indian history, which houses the Departments of English, Theatre, and Languages, History, as well as the University Writing Center, a computer lab, an oral language lab, a lecture theatre, and the English Resource Center.

Dial Humanities Building

Adolph L. Dial Humanities Building

Adolph Dial

Adolph L. Dial
(1922-1995)

Adolph Lorenz Dial, or “Mr. Adolph,” was a scholar, teacher, businessman, politician, philanthropist and friend. He was also an avid storyteller. Among his collection of stories is the story of the Lumbee Indians in "The Only Land I Know." In this monumental work, Dial gave voice to others who had historically been silenced.

Born in the Prospect community in 1922, Dial learned the value of work on his family's farm and attended all-Indian public schools and Pembroke State College for Indians. He later served in World War II and saw firsthand the horrors of Nazi concentration camps. Upon returning home from the war, he was denied entrance to North Carolina's graduate schools because he was Indian.

Dial earned a master's degree from Boston University. In 1958, he joined the faculty of Pembroke State College, an institution his grandfather, the Rev. W.L. Moore, was instrumental in founding. At the University, he served as a 30-year faculty member and was founder of the American Indian Studies program.

Dial was a visionary who helped establish Lumbee Guaranty Bank in 1971 and built Pembroke's first shopping center. A major advocate for federal recognition, he believed Lumbee should not become "welfare Indians." Dial was elected to the N.C. House of Representatives in 1990 and died in 1995.

Mr. Adolph's legacy still looms large at this University and in the Pembroke community. The Adolph L. Dial Amphitheatre, used for the outdoor drama "Strike at the Wind!," stands as a testament to Dial, the philanthropist. His
legacy as a scholar, teacher and friend to the University lives eternally through the Adolph L. Dial Humanities Building, lecture series, an endowed scholarship and faculty awards for scholarship and community service.

Updated: Thursday, November 15, 2007

Return to Campus Map

 

© The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
PO Box 1510 Pembroke, NC 28372-1510 • 800.949.UNCP (8627) • 910.521.6000