NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1969 SESSION
CHAPTER 771
HOUSE BILL 1090
AN ACT TO AMEND G.S. 134-67 TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE EASTERN CAROLINA INDUSTRIAL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR BOYS.
WHEREAS, the Honorable Richard Tillman Fountain of Edgecombe County, former Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, was born February 15, 1885 and died at his home in Rocky Mount, February 21, 1945, after a lifetime of distinguished and honorable public service to his Community, County and State; and
WHEREAS, after attending public schools in Edgecombe County and Tarboro Male Academy, Richard Tillman Fountain, as early as 1907, completed his course in law at the University of North Carolina, and was licensed in the Spring of that year; he formed a partnership with his cousin, GMT. Fountain, and after the latter's death in 1923, formed a partnership with his brother, the Honorable Benjamin Eagles Fountain, Sr., a former member of the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, Richard Tillman Fountain distinguished himself by his notable record of public service with his activities as a member and Chairman of the Rocky Mount School Board for many years, a member of the Legal Advisory Board of Rocky Mount and Edgecombe County, a member and presiding officer of the Civitan Club, a member in good standing of the American Bar Association, a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, of which he served as Vice President in 1922 and 1923, a member of the Rocky Mount Bar Association, of which he served as its President, Director of the First National Bank, City Industrial Bank, and the New Home Building and Loan Association, a member and past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church where he served as Deacon and Sunday School Superintendent for many years; and
WHEREAS, in 1911, Richard Tillman Fountain was appointed Judge of the first Municipal Court of Rocky Mount, serving in that capacity until his election to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1918; and
WHEREAS, Richard Tillman Fountain served in the North Carolina House of Representatives in the Sessions of 1919, 1921, 1923, 1925, and 1927, culminating his distinguished service in this capacity by his election as Speaker of the House in 1927; and
WHEREAS, as a member of the General Assembly, he actuated and assisted in the adoption of the law to establish the Great Smokey Mountain National Park; that because of his fervent interest and dedicated efforts in the preservation of the great natural resources of this State, he served several years as a member of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park Commission and the North Carolina Park Commission; and
WHEREAS, the Honorable Richard Tillman Fountain was elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor by the people of North Carolina for the term beginning 1928 and terminating in 1932; and
WHEREAS, Richard Tillman Fountain, in his self-appointed quest to lead the State of North Carolina to higher summits of attainment, envisioned, introduced, and championed the law enacted by the 1923 General Assembly, which authorized the establishment of the Eastern Carolina Industrial Training School for boys; and
WHEREAS, the Honorable Richard Tillman Fountain, as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Eastern Carolina Industrial Training School for Boys, presided over its destiny for more than two decades with the fortitude of a skilled statesman and the insight of a dedicated leader and prophet, and led it, with unerring precision, toward its present pinnacle of accomplishment; and
WHEREAS, it is appropriate that a State should recognize the creative achievements of its people, who render distinguished public service to their fellow citizens, the following tribute of appreciation and esteem is expressed by the State of North Carolina to the Honorable Richard Tillman Fountain, the Founder of the "Eastern Carolina Industrial Training School for Boys";
NOW, THEREFORE,
The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. G.S. 134-67, as the same appears in Replacement Volume 3B of the General Statutes, is hereby amended by striking out the words "Eastern Carolina Industrial Training School for Boys", in line 2, and inserting in lieu thereof, the words "Richard T. Fountain School", for the reason that the said institution shall hereafter be known and recognized as the "Richard T. Fountain School".
Sec. 2. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 10th day of June. 1969.