Greensboro College - Echo Yearbook (Greensboro, NC)

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moulding factors in the life of the College and have left a lasting impress. The fourth in this honorable line of succession was the man whose name was so long associated with Greensboro Female College that in the memories of a large propor- tion of the old pupils of the College, from 1854-1890, the two are inseparable; and at the name of Rev. T. M. Jones, D. D., hundreds of old girls rise up and call him blessed. Dr. Jones was a Christian scholar and a gentleman of the old school type, than which no Tiigher has been developed ; and his refined and polished manner gave him peculiar adaptation to the position at the head of a school for girls. Thirty-six years of abundant and fruitful labors in the cause of woman ' s -education place him in the front rank of educators, not only in his own State, but in the South. It was during the presidency of Dr. Jones, when the •College was in one of the most flourishing periods of its history, that a great calamity befell it in the desiruction of the building by fire soon after the opening of the fall term in 1863. This misfortune necessitated a suspension of the school for ten years, though during that interval Dr. Jones, with practically the same faculty, was pursu- ing his beloved work at other points in the State. No sooner had the country begun to recover from the business paralysis resulting from war ' s terrible devasta- tion than the North Carolina Conference begun to take steps for the restoration of Greensboro Female College. The corner-stone of the new building was laid in 1871, and Phoenix-like the College arose from her ashes, to enter, August 27, 1873, upon a new career of usefulness and prosperity along educational lines under the guidance of her same president and members of the old faculty. The Church, in common with other institutions as well as individuals, was embarrassed financiall} after the war, and in spite of heroic struggles was unable to discharge the debt incurred in erecting the new building, and it seemed impossible for the Church to retain ownership of this beloved daughter of the Church. At this crisis a syndicate of prominent laymen, actuated by the generous purpose of not allowing the College to pass from the con- trol of the Church, purchased the property in 1882, and have held it ever since, subject to the control of a board of directors, for educational purposes and as a school for the Methodist Church in North Carolina. Through these changing fortunes Dr Jones continued at the head of the institution until his greatly lamented death in June, 1890, when Dr. B. F. Dixon was chosen to succeed him. Dr. Dixon, by his genial, kindly nature, greatly endeared himself to his students, and during the three years of his presidency he attracted large numbers of girls to the College, and brought to it the largest pat- ronage in its history. Dr. Dixon having resigned in the spring of 1893, Dr. Frank D. Reid, at that time editor of The Raleigh Chris- tian Advocate, was elected president of the faculty, enter- ing upon the duties of the position with vigor and earnestness. For one year he gave to the College his best thought and energy ; but in the midst of what promised to be a most successful career, at the beginning of the II

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.y THE history of Greensboro Female College antedates by many years that great civil struggle which may be regarded as the watershed dividing those two great streams of life, the Old and the New South, and stretches back into that remote, and some- what vague and hazy period so often referred to in South- ern parlance as before the war. Chartered in 1838, it is the second oldest chartered college for women in the South, and was among the first institutions of learning for advanced education of girls at a time when the merest rudiments of learning, with a few shallow accomplishments, was considered all the in- tellectual development required in the restricted sphere to which women were relegated. This eldest daughter of the Methodist Church in North Carolina was called into existence by generous-hearted, large-brained men who realized that the Church owes to her daughters as good intellectual training as to her sons. With almost prophetic insight, seeing that the service of Christian womanhood was to become an important factor in the great work of the evangelization of the world, they provided for the accomplishment of this mission by giving to the girls of the Church opportunities for both heart and brain culture. And right nobly have the daughters of the Church responded to the opportunity thus opened, for of the many hundreds who have passed through the portals of Greensboro Female College, few have failed to answer the call of the Church, and of very many of them it may be said with truth, Many daugh- ters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Owing to delay growing out of widespread financial depression in the country at large, the corner-stone of the building was not laid until 1843. I 1846 it was ready for occupancy. The following fall Rev. Solomon Lea, a man of scholarly attainments, was chosen president, and with an able faculty, the school was opened to the girls of North Carolina ; and, indeed, to the entire South, for in those days of paucity of schools for advanced educa- tion of girls, the College drew to itself many from the far Southern States, who came by stage coach or by pri- vate conveyance to avail themselves of the advantages not afforded, at that time, in their own States. On the resignation of Mr Lea, Rev. A. M. Shipp, of South Carolina, was chosen as his successor, and admin- istered the affairs of the College wisely for three years, after which he resigned and accepted a professorship in the University of North Carolina. Dr. Shipp was f llowed by Rev. Charles F. Deems, D. D., who was afterwards so widely known as the pastor of the Church of the Strangers in New York City. Under Dr. Deems the patronage was largely increased, and the College enjoyed an era of great prosperity. Doubtless, the intellectual vigor and robustness of character pos- sessed in a marked degree by Dr. Deems were powerful 10

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fall term of 1894, he was suddenly called by death from earthly activities. Up to this point in its history the College had been pre- sided over by able and scholarly ministers of the Meth- odist Church. At this juncture a departure from previous traditions was made by the election of a layman to take the helm and guide the course of this honored old insti- tution. The board of directors realized that, in the able and scholarly young educator who, for six years, had filled a professorship in the College, they already pos- sessed the man who was endowed with all the qualifica- tions requisite for the position, and Dr. Dred Peacock was called to the responsibility of directing the affairs of the College. With characteristic progressiveness of spirit, the first step of the new president was the complete reorganization of the College courses according to the most modern methods, and a general expansion of the work by enlarging the curriculum and providing better facilities for study by means of well-equipped laboratories and improved appliances in the various departments. But the most striking monument to Dr. Peacock ' s energy and sagacity is the magnificent I ibrary founded and endowed, in the nan.e of Mrs. Peacock, as a loving memorial to their little daughter, Ethel Carr Peacock. The Library con- tains more than 7,000 carefully selected volumes, besides many valuable pamphlets and much magazine and other periodical literature, all of which has been collected through Dr. Peacock ' s untiring effort to render this, as it is, the largest and best library in any college for women in the South. With this invaluable aid to research the students are enabled to do a far higher grade of work in literature and history, as well as along other lines, than would be possible without it. Had Dr. Peacock not accomplished many other things of value for the College, this one achievement alone would entitle him to be re- garded as a great benefactor to the institution ; but this was but one among manj ' other wise measures carried out by him, and under his administration the College enjoyed eight prosperous years. In the spring of 1902 Dr. Peacock, having suffered several years from ill-health, was urged by a prominent specialist of New York to give up his educational work and to engage in more active business life as a means of restoration to health. Acting upon this advice, Dr. Pea- cock offered his resignation, and the board of directors decided upon another innovation in the election of the lady principal, Mrs. Lucy H. Kobertson, to the presi- dency. Mrs. Robertson had been connected with the College eighteen years of her twenty-five years spent in teaching, and having filled several different depart- ments in the College, she was thoroughly conversant with all its workings, its aims, and its needs, and so was en- abled to adjust herself to the new relation without any of the friction that might so easily arise in the inauguration of a new administration. The friends of the institution feel assured that it will be her con.stant purpose and endeavor to maintain the high standard for which the College has ever stood from its foundation. Although she is just closing her first year as president, she has manifested a spirit of progress that