The Tale of the Green Trunk

Posted: November 2, 2012

Zadok with his 3rd generation green trunk.

At University Housing, we like to think that your future and our legacy combine to give you the best experience that NC State has to offer. In this story, a young resident shares his family’s unique connection to NC State.

Dressed in a button-down flannel shirt, black cowboy boots, jeans, and a classic NC State hat, Zadok Moss (pronounced Zay-dok) looks like any other NC State student, but behind his youthful smile and Southern accent is a unique story.

Zadok is no stranger to sharing his story, and on this overcast Tuesday in October, he beams with pride as I ask him about his tale’s main character – an antique, green trunk.

“It [the trunk] was first brought to NC State in 1953 when my grandfather, Walter Lee Moss, Sr., came to State,” Zadok begins as I examine the Harry Potter-esque trunk. “My grandfather lived in Turlington, and he had the trunk on campus back in the 50s.”

Zadok rummages through a drawer in his room and pulls out more history. He hands me sequential issues of the Agromeck from the days when his grandfather attended State. We both flip through the black and white pages, examining names and faces. “There’s my grandfather,” Zadok points as I move in for a closer look.

Before we are both lost in the pages of time past, I ask him to continue his story. “My dad, Walter Lee Moss, Jr. came to State in the late 1970s, and he lived in Sullivan. Just like my grandfather, he brought the same green trunk to campus.” While Zadok’s father did not graduate from State, he spent several years studying forestry. The trunk – in the meantime – spent several years “living” (or shall we say surviving) the college life.

In the summer of 2011, Zadok was preparing for his freshman year at NC State, and he remembered the old, green trunk with NC State stickers. “I asked my dad, and he said that both he and my grandfather had brought the trunk to State, so I thought I would carry on the tradition,” Zadok shares. His mom helped clean out the trunk, and in the fall of 2011, the family relic once again made its appearance on NC State’s campus – nearly 60 years after its first debut.

During Zadok’s freshman year, the trunk “lived” in Owen Hall. This year, the trunk has taken up residence on the 3^rd floor of Bragaw Hall. The emerald, shabby-chic trunk stands in sharp contrast to the wallpapered wall of new NC State athletics posters and trendy college student décor.

Zadok shares, ““Whenever someone comes in my room, the first thing I do is point out my trunk and tell them the story.” When I ask if he would let his future kids bring the trunk to NC State, Zadok’s response was “the more generations, the better.” We’ll take that as a yes!

It’s not often that University Housing has a resident with a 60-year track record of living on campus, but the Moss family trunk is an exception. Through three generations, the trunk has been witness to the evolution of campus living at NC State. If only that trunk could talk! Imagine the stories it could tell.

Zadok Moss is a sophomore from Rutherfordton, a small town in Western North Carolina. Zadok is majoring in Biological Engineering. Zadok is uncertain of how his grandfather came to own the trunk. After close examination, we couldn’t find any markings or labels that hinted at the trunk’s origin. Historically, trunks were used as traveling chests – or luggage.