N.C. A&T Alumni Times

In 1927, Henry Clinton Taylor, a recent graduate of Syracuse University, accepted the position as instructor of art at the North Carolina A. and T. College in Greensboro, N.C. By 1930, he founded the first department of arts in the institution’s history. When this department was organized one of its earliest students was a young man named Preston Haygood. He was born in 1907 in Winder, Georgia one of at least seven children to William and Martha Haygood. His family later moved to Charlotte, N.C.

As a student at North Carolina A&T, Haygood was very active in campus life. He was president of the Gamma Tau Fraternity, president of the Pan-Hellenic Council, vice-president of Student Council, and a student instructor in fine arts under H. Clinton Taylor. One of his drawings was reproduced for the February 1932 edition of the “A&T Register” with the staff being quoted about his talents saying “the quality of this work speaks for itself.” He was elected art editor for the A&T Register that fall and again in 1933, while also working as a reporter for the paper. At the May 24, 1934, commencement he became the first Aggie to earn his bachelor’s degree in fine arts.

Shortly after graduating from A&T College, Haygood married the former Alice B. Foote and began a long career as an artist. He worked as a picture framer and commercial artist for “The Art Shop," which is currently the longest ongoing business in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Haygood built a great reputation as an artist and designer in the “Gate City.” For decades he was highlighted first as a successful example of the N.C. A&T arts department. Reportedly he designed his own home, maintained a local studio, painted murals for several local churches, and was commissioned to do commercial art for several Greensboro area business firms. His illustrations appeared in at least one known published book, “Nebraska and His Granny,” a 1936 children’s book by poet Rose Leary Love who was the wife of former A&T mechanics instructor George B. Love.

Haygood continued to support the arts in the Aggieland community. He contributed portraits for a Negro History Week observance in 1937. In 1941, for a series of agricultural and technical conferences for A&T’s 50th anniversary, he spoke on growing opportunities for African-Americans in commercial arts. His artwork was featured in campus exhibits with other accomplished graduates like muralist and cartoonist Garrett Whyte. He was also active in the East Greensboro community participating on the executive committee for the newly built, Hayes-Taylor YMCA Building on the corner of Dudley and Market Streets.

In the early 1960s, Haygood established his own arts framing business called the “Arts Specialty Shop,” located on Washington Street in Greensboro, and its advertising slogan was “You Name It, We Frame It.” In 1973, he passed away in Greensboro and was buried in Piedmont Memorial Park. He and his wife, Alice had three children: Major Hillis Haygood, who was a professor of aerospace sciences at various NC colleges; Preston DaVinci Haygood, a Charlotte-area banker and businessman; and a daughter Pamela Haygood Washington.

To learn more about N.C. A&T History, or if you have more information about this story, please contact the F. D. Bluford Library Archives at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.