Louisburg College - Oak Yearbook (Louisburg, NC)

Page 17 text:

I % k III 1 10 ilr. Jiiliii I - Kdliliitr iis priLii ' L] tl nf lli. ' Bi.vs ' Ai ' ailoniy ami Miss Purtviiliic, a huly from Massachusetts, was in cliargr of the Scininary. Mr. Iii)liliitt and liss rarlriilg-f snun liccanu tin ' vicfinis nt tin ' lilind foil ' s arrow and were niarrii ' d. I ' mU ' r the joint lcad(rslii|) of these two wortliy ])eople these schools established a n-initalKin that made them famous throuirlnnit the state. Ill 1855 another step forwanl was taken. For more than half a eentiiry the old Seminary ha l done its work, hut the people realized that sonn ' thiiifj more was needed; that the time had arrived when young women should be given higher edueational advantage.s. To uuvt this demand a joint stoek eompany was or- ganized and chartered by the Legislature, under the name of the Louisburg Fe- male College Company, the object of which was to establish a college of high standard for young wonu ' u. The present Main Building of the College was then erected, and its doors were openetl in 1S57. From its classic walls have gone out streams of influence, always Christian in character, which gladdened and blessed the lives of all who came within its sphere. The College stood unscathed through- out the bloody storm of the Civil War with Mr. ' Southgate, ' a man of wisdom and culture, at her head, in the sprifig nrf 1865 the president and hi.s family moved into the old Academy, and our beautiful building, for such it always lias been became a hospital for sick soldiers of the Federal ' troops that were garrisoned in our midst. At ' one time, on account of debt, our Alma Mater was about to go into the hands of northern philanthropists and become a school for colored Presbyterians, but a timely amendment to its charter provided that t should be used as a school for the white race forever. In 1891 the property came into the hands of the great-hearl d Washington Duke, and was held by him for the education of Xorth Carolina women during the remainder of his life. In 1907 at the death of Mr. W ashington Duke, the property was given to the INorth Carolina Conference by his son, Mr. Benjamin Duke. After the church assumed control of the property and policy of the school the Davis Memorial Building was erected and a laboratory and a central heating plant installed. It was given formal recognition as a Junior College by the Gen- [ 15 ]

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CoUese J i£itorp ' 4 Q ' « 9 BKFOliK the guns of tlic Hcvnluli iii;ii v W;ir wliicli resulted n flip independ- eiice (if the United ' States, had eeased, the ( ounfy nf l-Vaukliii was funned, and immediately following the forniation of the County, the town of Louishurg was laid off. A hundi ' ed acres of laud were jiurchased at tiie Fords of the Tar ' for this purpose, an d of this one hundred acres two lots of twelve acres each were set apart for educational purposes. The Main Street of the town divides these plots, and on one of these Louisburg College is now locatiil. To the rear of the College buildings, additional land has been purchased, and the present holdings of the College are tiearly twice as much as the original grant. In J7 ) the Franklin -Vcademy for Males and Females was chartered and startedjon its carey of usefulness under the guiding hand of Mr. Matthew J)icker- son, a native of Connecticut and a graduate of Yale, as its principal. The students were to receive instruction in Heading, Writing, Arithmetic, English, Grammar, Geography, Belles-letters, Khetoric, Ethios, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Mathemat- ics, Astronomy, .Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French and Italian, languages and all, for the .sum of $26.00 per annum. Mr. Dickerson must also have been a wonder- ful financier for wtfiare told that in the three years that he taught he acquired an estate quite sufficient to subserve the rational purpose of life, namely : a farm of more than 300 acres, si.x slaves and a quantity of stock. A few years later it was thought best to separate the male and female depart- ments, and in 1S02 the Louisburg Female Seminary was chartered, and suitable buildings erected for the purpose of instructing the young ladies in Reading, Writing, English, Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography, Astronomy, Painting, Music, and useful and ornamental needle work. The old building still stands on the edge of tlie campus. It is weather beaten, and moss covered, a reminder of other days, a rival in age with the old Green Hill house, in which in 1785 the first Methodist Annual Conference of the organized Methodist Episcopal Church in America was held, and which still stands a few miles from town. [ 14 ] .fs % ' 3 I

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LTiil liuard of KdiicMtiiiii in I ' .U. ), iiiul tochiy ranks u.s a Ifadiug Junior ( ' (jllcf;!. ' tor Yo ung Women in llic State. In January l!li!4, the lioai ' d of Trustees met in Wilmington ami ileeideii on a f ii- arcl movement program for the college. . n addition to the .Main Huildiug was jirovided for and a ( ' ani|iaign for $. )(l(),0(l() for huililings and endowment wa.s authorized. Jn the fall of I ' .iiM the addition to the Main IJuilding had heen com- pleted. ' J ' he inside of hofh Main and l)a is Huildings had heen eompletcdy re- modeled, ith other improvements provide(l for, Louisburg College will rank second in line in the South, and will he in position to fill its appointed plaee in the Educational I ' rograni of the Chureh and State. To this end we will ever strive and with free hearts, willing hands, and earnest prayers do all we can to aid our dear Old Louisburg College in her work for the highest development of Christian womanhood. i I 16 1