Ester & Naomi

In 1942, Campbell was basically a woman’s college, with World War II taking away nearly the entire male student population. While their brothers and cousins fought overseas, Ester Howard and Naomi Hinson were transitioning from life on the farm to college life. Chosen randomly as roommates, the two have remained close friends for over 70 years.

By Billy Liggett

Naomi Hinson (left) & Ester Howard (center)
stand in front of Treat Dormitory with their roommate
Mary Alice Stevenson in 1942.

In the same dining hall where they shared many meals as college roommates over 70 years ago, Ester Howard and Naomi Hinson are talking about boys.

Today it’s Naomi sharing the story of how she met her husband, Edgar, on the Sunday before she went to Campbell and just weeks before he’d ship off to fight in World War II. She was actually dating Edgar’s cousin, but the two became pen pals as he wrote her from a warship in the Pacific.

“And I kept writing him even after I decided his cousin wasn’t the one for me,” she recalls, smiling warmly, not paying much attention to what remains of her salad.

“Well, I didn’t know you knew Edgar in college,” Ester chimes in with a hint of surprise in her voice. “How about that … Naomi was in love, and I didn’t even know it.

“Of course,” she adds, “boys didn’t matter to me too much at the time. I was here to get an education. Not a husband.”

The two friends share a laugh and for a moment, it’s 1942 again. Ester and Naomi are freshmen at Campbell College, a small liberal arts school surrounded by tobacco and hog farms with an enrollment made up almost entirely of young women — men who aren’t in the ministry are likely in the war. Both have brothers and cousins fighting, and reminders of the war are everywhere, from prayers in daily chapel services to military obstacle courses for civilians and rations on many items from sugar to shoes.

“It was a different time,” Ester says, “but it was a wonderful life. It was the life we knew. We made the best of it, and I made a dear friend.”

A friend who, 72 years later, makes the 88-mile trip from Whiteville to Buies Creek with her granddaughter Shelley to visit, catch up, reminisce and, on occasion, share a lunch in the same spot in Marshbanks Hall where two young girls used to talk about boys.

Memories of Treat

After a 90-minute lunch (where conversation dominated time spent actually eating), the longtime friends head back to Ester’s home, nestled in the western-most portion of the Keith Hills community. The Deep River flows right up to her backyard and makes for a picturesque view behind her many gardens, flower beds and lawn statues.

In her living room, overlooking the gardens and the river, Ester sits next to Naomi, who’s clutching four small and faded but otherwise mint-conditioned photos. The first one is barely larger than a wallet-sized photo, and it reveals a much younger duo joined by their third roommate from 1942, Mary Alice Stevenson. Ester stands in the middle upright with a hint of a smile on her face, her arms around Naomi and Mary in front of Treat Dormitory in the area where the Rumley Center and Pat Barker Hall now stand.

The photo brings both smiles and instant memories as Ester and Naomi start talking about the bathrooms at their old dorm.

“All of those girls, and we had only one lavatory. One place to brush our teeth,” Ester says.

“We lived on the third floor and had to go down two flights of stairs to go the bathroom or take a shower,” her friend adds.

“We had to go downstairs,” Ester says laughing. “Oh my, I’d forgotten that. Well, we didn’t complain. We were just happy to be there.”

A native of Harnett County, Ester chose to attend Campbell College because she wanted to study elementary education and one day become a teacher. Her family wasn’t poor by any means — Ester was raised on a farm, and her father raised hogs and chickens — but she did help pay her own tuition during her two years in Buies Creek by working in the kitchen at Marshbanks.

Naomi’s oldest brother was a Campbell student in the 1930s, and the Green Sea, S.C., native had a high school classmate — the local pastor’s son — who was attending Campbell for the ministry in 1942. She remembers the bus ride to Lillington and having to ship her luggage from South Carolina by mail to get it to campus.

Naomi’s family grew tobacco, so the new roommates had an instant connection on Day 1. They were both farm girls.

“I think the Lord put us together,” Naomi says. “We had similar experiences coming in. Both of us were raised on a farm by Christian parents. Neither of us knew what it was like to stay home from church on a Sunday. My mother and father taught me how to make it when the time came to leave home. I met Ester’s mother and her brother and sister … their family was raised the same way. The Lord put us together. I really believe that.”

The friends also had the war in common. Ester had four brothers who fought in World War II, as did her first and second husbands. Of her family, one soldier was killed in the war — her cousin Clyde Stewart, who wrote Ester often from overseas and signed his letters, “Sweet Dreams” (two words now embroidered and hanging in a frame in her home today). Naomi had three brothers in the war — her oldest was eventually called back to the homeland to help the family farm from going under. Ester’s husbands (both of whom she met after the war) both received Purple Hearts, as did Naomi’s middle brother, who was wounded in Germany.

“All I remember during that time is [the war] was just a terrible, terrible thing,” Ester says. “It was a struggle for so many people. Not as much for those of us back home, but still a struggle. Food was rationed … I remember we had to ration our gas, our sugar and tea, and even our shoes. I remember vividly having to find a coupon or a ticket in order to buy shoes.”

While the men fought in Europe, Africa and the Pacific, Campbell’s female population endured their own military training between classes — in case the war ever made its way back to the homefront. All students were required to take part in physically demanding obstacle courses.

Ester takes out the white linen dresses she and her classmates had to wear for that training. Stored in plastic for seven decades, the dress looks much like it did when Ester was 18.

“I thought [the training] was tough, but it was one of those things we had to do,” she says. “We felt like it was important, especially during that time. Then again, it was a different time … but wonderful. We had a wonderful time at Campbell.”

There for Each Other

Next to the dress, Ester has a quilted pillow — one that folds out into a blanket-and-pillow combination that feels much more comfortable and durable than the “quillows” you can find on Pinterest. This work of art was a gift from Naomi to Ester years ago, and it’s a gift Ester holds dear to her heart.

“Oh, Naomi has a talent,” Ester boasts, adding that her friend majored in home economics while at Campbell and was a beautiful seamstress. “All this time, and I still haven’t returned that talent to you.”

She takes out a doll — one of her hundreds of dolls that she’s collected since childhood — and shows Naomi the dress.

“I did sew this dress,” she says, handing the doll to Naomi as carefully as if it were a real infant. “I’ve been wanting to show her this for years. See? I wasn’t a total loss!”

That their friendship has lasted this long is impressive considering Ester and Naomi went their separate ways after their two years in Buies Creek.

Shortly after getting her two-year degree in home economics, Naomi learned that her old high school needed a teacher. It worked out well, because with her family all overseas — even her sister was working for the war effort at the time — her parents needed her nearby. Shortly after the war, she and Edgar married and had a child. When Naomi was ready to return to work, she learned she needed a four-year degree to teach full time. So she commuted to UNC-Pembroke and eventually became a teacher.

Ester, meanwhile, went on to Meredith College directly after Campbell and earned a bachelor’s degree in education and eventually a Master of Education in Supervision and Administration from UNC Chapel Hill. She would continue her post-graduate studies at N.C. State, Duke and East Carolina universities. Her career as an educator spanned 43 years, 23 of those years as supervisor of elementary education for Harnett County Schools.

Ester was named a Distinguished Alumna of Campbell, and she received the prestigious Presidential Medallion in 2000. In 2011, at the age of 86, she penned her first novel, “That’s Elizabeth.” She’s recently finished her second novel, “My Unforgettable Life.”

Over time, the two kept in touch mostly by phone calls and personal hand-written letters. Their families vacationed together on occasion — Ester attended Naomi and Edgar’s 50th wedding anniversary. Naomi recalls an oyster roast on the beach one year.

There were also gaps of time where the two didn’t communicate much. When their husbands died and as both became too old to drive long distances, getting together became more difficult. Shelley volunteered to drive her grandmother to Buies Creek so she can see her friend more regularly. Now, as Ester and Naomi approach 90, they meet, have lunch and reminisce two to three times a year.

“I give her more credit for keeping our friendship alive and strong,” Ester says, reaching over to hold her friend’s hand. “The day I received my Distinguished Alumni award, there she was on the front row, smiling. I’ve loved the friendship we’ve been able to maintain.”

“In all these years,” Naomi adds, “We’ve never had any big disagreements. There’s never been a cross word between the two of us. I suppose you don’t find friends like that often.”

“It’s wonderful when people are so outward with their love,” Ester says. “It’s more than just saying ‘I love you.’ Naomi has exhibited love and has been a true friend for a long time. I just love her so much for that.”

Campbell & the War

World War II had a tremendous impact on Campbell College. Enrollment in 1942 declined from 700 students to around 400, the vast majority of these remaining were women. Like many other colleges throughout the country, intercollegiate athletic programs such as football, baseball, basketball, track and tennis were temporarily suspended during the war years.

The war also affected food supplies on campus. A mother wrote President Leslie H. Campbell in January 1943 that she worried over her daughter’s welfare: “I don’t feel like she is getting the proper food, she has lost too much weight, and keeps getting thinner every time I see her.”

Students at Campbell during the war years were required to take part in military-like training exercises. Female students trained on obstacle courses led by former military personnel. By 1945, German prisoners of war were sent to Buies Creek to work on roads and other construction projects.

At the end of the war, veterans were eager to return to their studies and the Buies Creek campus. Despite a shortage of dormitory space, classes resumed and the fall curriculum included refresher courses for these individuals. Wrote Campbell: “These are pretty hectic days for us here. We are overcrowded in the dormitories and all the woods around us seem to have students in them.”

Returning male students formed veterans clubs in 1946 and 47. Pictured above is the 1946 club, which doubled in size the following year.

This article is related to: