A painting of the founder of the Caswell Developmental Center now hangs at the Center’s Museum & Visitors Center on Vernon Avenue.
Dr. Ira Hardy IV of Kinston donated the portrait of his ancestor, Dr. Ira May Hardy, in November.
The portrait, painted by an unknown artist, L. Freeman, hangs above a fireplace in the museum.
Leon Owens, Center director, said he appreciates receiving the painting as it depicts the man who got the center off the ground.
“It’s a beautiful painting,” he said. “It reflects our history. It’s a big part of our history, and it’s a wonderful addition to our museum.”
The late Hardy, a La Grange native who had a family member with mental retardation, wrote a paper outlining his vision for a place to treat the “feebleminded,” according to the Caswell Center’s website.
Hardy, who passed away in November 1948, submitted that article to the Seaboard Medical Society. That paper and his lobbying efforts resulted in the General Assembly authorizing the school in 1911.
The North Carolina School for the Feebleminded was built in 1912 with Hardy serving as superintendent in a building that still stands today in the center of the campus. The residence, a farmhouse now known as the Stroud House, opened in 1914 with the admittance of 15 women and a new superintendent.
Residents received treatment, schooling and vocational work training on the farm until they were able to return to their homes.
The Caswell Center grew out of the imagination of Hardy to its present state — more than 100 buildings on 300 acres and the oldest facility of its kind in North Carolina. In fact, it had housed 2,000 residents before another facility was built.
“If it hadn’t been for Dr. Hardy,” Owens said, “there wouldn’t be a Caswell Center.”
The Center’s 100th anniversary was held April 2011.
The founder’s descendent, Hardy IV, believed the portrait would be “wonderful” to display at the museum, said Danielle Howell, director of Volunteer Services.
“His family donated a very beautiful portrait,” she said. “… I think it was a great honor to have that portrait here.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com.
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For more information on the history of the CaswellCenter, visit caswellcenter.org