University of North Carolina Greensboro - Pine Needles Yearbook (Greensboro, NC)

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work liv which our social coiulitioiis allow them to earn a livelihood? If one sex had to d( ) with(5ut education, would not men be better able to get along without it than women? Why is it that for a hundred years the State has been helping the stronger and letting the weaker take care of themselves? Why is it that the subject has rarely, if ever, been mentioned l)y one of our leading politicians? Is there any good reason why we should make annual appro] ria- tions for the benefit of our sons and disregard this modest and only request that our daughters have ever made in that direction? If women are admitted on the same terms as men to the privileges of all other State institutions, why should we draw the line at education in the University and in the Industrial School? Shall the State hel]) her sons to develop their intellectual and indus- trial powers and do absolutely nothing for those who are to Ix ' the motliers of the next generation of men? It is unfortunate that none of our female colleges are endowed, and that they are, on that account, too expensive for the average well-to-do citizen to patronize. Those who send their daughters to such schools generally do so at an expense of from $250 to $450 a year. Now, if such a school is established as is contemplated by this bill, a man of moderate means who has a daughter desiring to become a teacher can send her to this Training School (which will be located at some place where board is cheap) for about one hundred dollars a j ' ear, or even less. This would render the education necessary to make a girl self-supporting possible to one thousand girls in North Carolina who now have not the faintest hope of enter- ing one of our more expensive schools, where the board alone costs from $150 to $200 a year. Unless some such measure as this is adopted, these girls, and those of coming generations similarly situated, are doomed to live and drudge and die without ever having known the blessing of being independent, and fre- quently without having ever gone beyond the borders of their own counties. At the same time, the State is losing much of her best talent for the work of teaching her children. As a matter of self-interest, we think the State ought to do what this bill asks. Justice to our women demands it, and. on the grounds of humanity alone, they deserve more from their brothers, who make the laws and the appropriations, than they have ever received. .Shall the - appeal tc) you in vain? Ch.vrles D. Ak Ivkr. Chairman, E. G. Harrell, E. P. Moses, E. A. At.dermax, GEORr.E T. WlXSTOX, D. M. TT Thompson, ■• Mrs. 1. A. McDoNALn,

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ftatory of tit? North (Earoltna tnU Normal anb HltibuBtrial (Eolkg . IX tlie tonic atmosphere of universal education, which to-day stimulates to enthusiasm every true North Carolinian, one finds it hard to believe that it is only a decade since the youth of the State, interpreted from the standpoint of State provision for higher education, was conceded to mean only its sons. Notwithstandinof the fact that in Section 41 of the Constitution of 1776, adopted at Halifax, the State acknowledges its obligation to provide educa- tional facilities for the instruction of youth at low prices, and the Section closes with the words, and all useful learning shall be encouraged in one or more universities, as late as 1889 we find the Legislature, in response to the following memorial, considering for the first time a broader interpretation of this mandate : To the Honorable, the General Assembly of North Carolina: Sirs : — As members of a committee appointed by the North Carolina Teachers ' Assembly to present the matter to the Legislature, we beg to call your attention to one feature of the Training School Bill now before your honorable body. That it is expedient to change the present system of normal instruction in the State, few people doubt ; that a system of county institutes would do more good, nearly everybody admits. The Joint Committee on Education from the two Houses were unanimous on these points, and decided to report favorably the entire bill as you see it printed. It is to call your attention to the importance of the Training School as the head of the system of county institutes that we take this means of addressing you. Everybody agrees that a permanent Training School would be a good and desirable help to the school system of the State. The Superintendent of Pub- lic Instruction has twice recommended it, and the North Carolina Teachers ' Assembly, through their committee, is now asking for it for the third time. But without considering these points, it seems to us that there is one thing which alone ought to pass the bill — namely, its importance to the education of our girls. If it was wise a century ago to provide, at the State expense, a University for boys, and if it is right to give this University support now, as no one will deny, can any man consistently refuse to allow a small amount from the public school fund (not enough to shorten the school term one-half day) to establish a Training School where girls can prepare for almost the only

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This hill passed the Senate three to one and failed in the House by a small majority. However, in this emergency, the old North State, true to her fame in history, did not lack noble and far-seeing spirits who, returning to each suc- cessive Legislature with the perseverance of the importunate widow, secured from the Legislature of 1891 the reward of their labors in the passage of an act establishing a Training School for girls. Its charter name was The Normal and Industrial School, but the General Assembly of 1897 changed the name to The State Normal and Industrial College. The management of the institution was placed in the care of a Board of Directors consisting of one member from each of the nine Congressional Districts, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction being, c.v officio, an additional member and president of the board. The act establishing the College outlined its purpose as follows : Section 5. The objects of this institution shall be: (i) To give to young women such education as shall fit them for teaching; (2) to give instruction to young women in drawing, telegraphy, typewriting, stenography, and such other industrial arts as may be suitable to their sex and conducive to their sup- port and usefulness. Tuition shall be free to those who signify their intention to teach, upon such conditions as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors. After a most animated contest between the towns of Thomasville, Durham, and Greensboro to secure the institution, it was located at. rather than in, the latter town, as it was then defined by dwellings. But the phe nomenal growth of the city during the last ten years leaves no doubt to-day as to which is the fitting preposition by which to define the location of the College. To secure the school, Greensboro voted $50,000 in money. The site, ten acres, was donated by Messrs. R. S. Pullen. R. T. Gray, and others. About one hun- dred and twenty acres adjoining the original site have been added by purchase. In (Jctober, 1892, the institution began its work with an annual appro- ])riation of $10,000; with only three buildings, with dormitory capacity for less than one hundred and fifty boarders; with fifteen rooms in the main College building, including cha])el and offices ; with a teaching force of fifteen, and an enrollment of 223 students. Through the liberal increase which each General Assembly has made in its appropriation to this College, and through the generosity of the Peabody Board, under the efficient agency of Hon. J. L. AI. Curry, the College has been able to enlarge its usefulness very greatly in every dei)artment. Its faculty and executive force now number about thirty. Its laboratories are well equipped, and it has a carefully selected library of three thousand volumes. A handsome practice school building, substantial brick infirmary, steam laundry, large dining-room, and well arranged kitchen, all testify to the steady growth of the College. By additions to the first dormitories, and by renting several neighbor- ing residences, its dormitory capacity is now sufficient for about three hundred and fifty hoarders. 9