A Brief History of Neill A. & Iva J. McLean: A Story of Strength and Love

By Mary McLean Dowdell

​

My family started with Neill Archie McLean—we later found that he was named Neill Archibald McLean—and wife, Iva Miller Eugene Jones McLean coming together at Hampton Institute. Daddy was born August 20, 1905 in Harnett County, Lillington, North Carolina. He lived until February 22, 1995. He was one of seven children born to Henry McLean and Louise McLean. My father talked about the fact that his parents were together for the early part of his life, but they had a stormy marriage. His father was a magistrate in Lillington, and I understand that he was always called or referred to as Squire Henry. Squire Henry left the family. He just walked away. They do not know where he went. Based on my understanding from my mother, my father was always reading the news, looking, and hoping to find his father. There were some who thought that his father had gone to the Philadelphia area, but no one really knew for sure. 

​

My mother was born September 2,1908 in Pulaski Virginia, and she lived until December 21, 2001. Her parents were Charles Robert Jones and Mary Jim Jones. Mother graduated from the highest level of public schools in Pulaski, Virginia. However, the school system for Blacks only went to the tenth grade. So, to complete the twelfth grade and get into college, she had to attend the academy at Hampton Institute. Once she completed the academy, she went into the college. My father also attended Hampton Institute.

​

I interviewed my mother and recorded it in 1998. She told me about how she and Daddy met.
She stated that she was working in the dining hall at Hampton, and my daddy would come in regularly. At one point, he asked her to attend a dance with him. Momma said she grew up rural and Pentecostal; she never learned to dance because dancing was considered wrong. Her girlfriends, however, convinced her to attend the dance and taught her how to dance.

​

In time, Momma realized that Daddy was serious about her and was interested in her as a girlfriend. She also was interested in him. She stated that what appealed to her was his very serious approach to life and that he made time and put in energy to check on his mother and sisters after his father left them. She said he would take a bus back to North Carolina whenever he could to handle business for the family and would put aside money for them. She said that although Daddy had brothers who were older, the family looked to him for leadership.

​

My mother majored in home economics. She worked in the dining room and in the dorms.
She also spoke about working in the faculty house; she had a variety of jobs there. She was taught the formal way to make beds. There were no shortcuts allowed, and a low performance was not tolerated. Hampton students were trained to be consistent top performers and to always represent the school well.

​

So anyway, my father did all kinds of odd jobs—whatever he felt was needed to assist his mother with taking care of his siblings, even when he was still a teenager. When he became old enough to get into college, he went to Hampton Institute in Hampton Virginia, which is now Hampton University. He went there on what they called a work-year program, where you would work a year to get the money you needed for school and then go to school a year, repeating this cycle until you graduated. And so, he went on to work on a ship, did barbering, farming, and other jobs. He talked a lot about the different types of jobs that he had. My mother would always tease him and say, “Mac, you have had more jobs than you could possibly have had at your age,” and then they would just laugh at it. But he did whatever he felt he needed to do. He really was into supporting family and providing. Daddy worked in whatever was legal and available. Daddy graduated in 1934. Immediately after Hampton, Daddy went to New York to further his education at Cornell University, where he worked as a graduate assistant. He did not complete that program, but in 1965 received his master’s in education supervision from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro North Carolina.

​

On November 29, 1935, my parents married in New York City Hall. My daddy had gotten a job with the American Missionary Association. My momma said he told her that he needed a wife for that job. Of course, they had liked each other for several years by then. She was happy to get married, and they went to Brick to start their life together. Daddy worked as the executive at Bricks Rural Life School for 19 years. The Rural Life Schools were set up in key areas of the south to provide education and support to freed slaves who needed skills in self-sufficiency. Slaves knew how to farm and follow the commands of their owners, but did not know how to acquire land, sell farm products, manage their own homes, manage their finances, and conduct their business affairs. During their time at Brick, they had 6 children-all born right on the campus of the Brick Rural Life School. 

​

In 1954 Neill accepted a position as an Elementary School Principal at Robinson Elementary School. After a few years he was hired as the Principal of Conetoe High School, in Conetoe North Carolina. Most of his professional jobs as an educator were in Edgecombe County North Carolina. During the World War 11, he worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which was formed to bring electricity to the rural areas of the nation. Neill was the first Black to serve on the Tarboro City School Board. He served as a Manager of the town of Princeville, North Carolina from 1974-1980, resigning due to health limitations. Neill was appointed to serve on the Board of Edgecombe Community Technical College. He served on the Edgecombe County Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the Joint Council on Health and Citizenship and the Edgecombe Credit Union. Neill served as the head Deacon of his church, Jerusalem Baptist Church, in Whitakers, North Carolina. 

​

With all the commitments to education, community development, and representing the African American people with integrity, Neill was also committed to his family. He and Iva worked together on every professional and community assignment. They were also together on raising their six children. Every child attended college and went out from home with the skills to become world changers.

​

For more information on Neill and Iva McLean I refer you to the following publications, that reference the work of Neill and Iva McLean.  The first three are out of print but listed in the Library of Congress or found in the archives of Elon University, Elon, North Carolina. The fourth is a recent publication (10/2020) authored by Dr. Mary McLean Dowdell, the fifth of the couple's six children.

​

References

​

Brownlee, F. L. (1946). New Day Ascending. Boston: The Pilgrim Press.

Morton, R. (1945). Men of Soil. http://archive.org/stream/menofsoilstoryof00mort_0/menofsoilstoryof00mort_0_djvu.txt. 

Pitts, N. A. (1950). The Cooperative Movement in Negro Communities of North Carolina. Washington DC: The Catholic University of America Press.

Dowdell, M.M. (2020). Brick to Brick: Building a Black Family in America. Indiana: Xlibris Publishers