William Penn High School - Penn Yearbook (High Point, NC)

Page 11 text:

An Early Campus Scene above Students in Front of Congdon Hall high on a hill beside the railroad was obtained and building plans were submitted. Five hundred dollars ($500) was subscribed by whites, one thousand dol¬ lars ($1000) by Negroes, and two thousand dollars ($2000) by members of the New York Yearly Meeting. By spring 1894 the building was completed. In December, 1894 Mr. Meade, the principal, was replaced by Mr. Frank Clarke. His teaching staff con¬ sisted of Thomas and Hannah Leggett. In 1895 Booker Washington of Tuskeegee Institute was asked to suggest, as principal, a Negro man “well- versed in education mechanics, carpentry and agricul¬ ture; and a cottage was constructed to house the prin¬ cipal and his family, for the Friends thought that a successful principal should be married. To help in feeding the students and faculty, five acres of the campus were planted in corn, wheat and sweet potatoes. In June 1897 the new principal, Alfred J. Griffin, came to High Point to assume his command. By 1899 the school’s enrollment had reached 276. Congdon Hall was built to house the girls during 1899-1900. The boys of the school dug clay, made bricks and con¬ structed the building which later housed the science department and the industrial departments of William Penn until 1952. The 1899-1900 catalog listed the following courses of study: sewing, dressmaking, cooking, algebra, me¬ chanics, bricklaying, plastering, blacksmithing, farm¬ ing, botany, geometry, physics, chemistry, bookkeep¬ ing, instrumental drawing, voice culture, Bible, Latin, and pedagogics. Listed expenses included: board and tuition, $7.00 monthly; day students’ tuition $1.00 monthly. Students might pay $2.00 monthly in labor. The Class of 1925 7