Spelman College - Reflections Yearbook (Atlanta, GA)

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PRESIDENTS MISS LUCY HALE TAPLEY MISS FLORENCE M. READ l91.0- I927 1927-1953

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PAST MISS SOPHIA B. PACKARD MISS HARRIET E. GILES 1881-1891 1891-1909

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THE FIRST GRADL'ATING CLASS . . . 1887 SPELMAN - PAST AND PRESENT HWe Jive in deeds; not years; in thoughts, not breaths; In feeiings, nor. in figures on a dial. We should count time 15y heart-thmbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the nobiest, acts the best . . . Spelman College has a noble and dynamic past. The idea of founding Spelman was. conceived by two New England women, Miss Sophia B. Packard and Miss Harv riet E. Giles. Their idea became a reality on April 11, I881, when eleven women met in the basement of Friend- ship Bapliet Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Rev. Frank Quarles was pastor. The infancy of Spehuan, then called the Atlanta Bap- tist Female Seminary, was Filled with hardships. Yet there was always faith in the fulfillment of the Spelman dream: to develop into a strong and serviceable institution for the etlutimtinn of Negro women. The iirsl students were eager to learn to read and write, t Philip James ltuilm: Spdmnu Mum nqrr. June. 1889. p, 1. 2AM Km 0,? Pr'fJgJ'l'NH Hm! Pi'rmttxt'. The Clifton Conferem-u 18m. 10 951' so that they could read the Bible and write letters to loved ones. who were far away. The ages of the Hrst students ranged fmm lwenty-fwe to fifty years. ttGirls had to learn to write kneeling 0n the Eoor that they might use their seats for desks? In 1882, when two new teachers were added, the stu- dent enrollment had grown so large that more room was; needed; and in 1883 the seminary moved into the ta01d. Barracks11 which had been occupied by Federal troops during the Civil War. 111 1884- a printing 033313 was equipped, and the Spelman Messenger was hrst published in 1885. Many important events have been recorded in the Messenger since then.