School History of North Carolina : from 1584 to the present time

by John W. Moore

CHAPTER LXXIV.

THE COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS.

A. D. 1880.

As was intended by the men who framed the Constitution of North Carolina at Halifax in 1776, the University of the State has long held the leadership of such institutions in the Commonwealth. The unfortunate and inexcusable interference of politicians with its management during the years of reconstruction only resulted in its temporary eclipse. The public refused it patronage when the new managers had installed a strange faculty in the seats of Governor Swain and his long honored coadjutors; but since the restoration of the ancient order of things, prosperity has returned both to the University and the beautiful village in which it is situated.

2. Many useful reforms have been accomplished in its curriculum and management. Perhaps never before was seen each devotion to study and compliance with the rules on the part of the students. The President, Dr. Kemp P. Battle, had been much identified with the institution, before assuming charge of its fortunes. His learning, combined with public experience, made him a wise ruler of the literary community over which he was called to preside; and the excellence of the new faculty is becoming every day more evident in the scholarship and bearing of the young men who are sent out from its halls.

3. Wake Forest College is the oldest of the sectarian colleges of the State, and has long vindicated its usefulness among the Baptist churches. Its first intended end was the education of young men for the ministry, but this has been largely augmented by the successes of its graduates in every other branch of human usefulness in our midst. The councils of the State, and the learned professions, have been greatly illustrated by men who laid the foundations of their success by diligent application to their duties while attending as students at Wake Forest.

4. In the recent death of Rev. Dr. W. M. Wingate, the institution lost a president who had given long and signal service; but, in his successor, Rev. Dr. T. H. Pritchard, perhaps even higher executive qualities are seen. Wake Forest catalogue has latterly contained about two hundred names of students, and, through the munificence of certain friends, the college has received handsome additions to the buildings and appliances.

5. Davidson College has also immensely developed in the last few years. Not only in increased patronage, but in the grade of scholarship a great advance has been achieved, so that few institutions in America afford higher and more thorough instruction than is now enjoyed by the young men who avail themselves of the advantages here offered.

6. The same things may be said of Trinity College, under the direction of Rev. Dr. B. Craven. The pulpits of the Methodist churches in North Carolina have long borne evidence of the literary and moral excellence imparted to the graduates, and in many respects the whole State has been benefited and elevated by contact with such men.

7. The female seminaries at Salem, Greensboro, Raleigh, Murfreesboro, Thomasville, Wilson, Kittrell, Oxford and Louisburg have also prospered in this era of general advancement among the North Carolina schools. Large numbers of young ladies from other States are sent to them for education, and, in the noble emulation thus evolved, admirable instruction is obtained.

8. Among preparatory schools, that of Major Robert Bingham, at Mebaneville, in Alamance county, is, by common consent, supreme in North Carolina, and perhaps in the South, not only in number of students, but in the excellence of tuition, discipline and drill. On the catalogue of this institution will be found the names of young men from almost every State in the Union, and even some foreign countries are represented.

9. Other similar institutions have long flourished at Raleigh, Oxford, Greensboro, Kinston, LaGrange, Oak Ridge and elsewhere, and all of them are having a large influence for good upon the young men of the State. The Normal Schools at Chapel Hill and other towns have been largely attended by teachers, and great interest is also manifested in the graded schools. At no previous period has so much attention been bestowed upon matters of this kind by the people of North Carolina.

10. One of the most prominent of the graded schools in the State was organized at Raleigh in 1876, through the efforts of Capt. John E. Dugger, and named the "Centennial Graded School." The great success of this institution has led the citizens of other towns in the State to establish schools of like character. There are now to be found flourishing graded schools at Salisbury, Fayetteville, Goldsboro, Wilson, Greensboro, Charlotte, Wilmington, New Bern, Rocky Mount and Franklinton. Several towns also contain excellent schools of this description for the colored people, and their effectiveness is rapidly becoming apparent.

11. Soon after the conclusion of the late war—in the month of December, 1865—a colored school for both sexes was founded through the exertions of the Rev. H. M. Tupper, at the State capital, and called the "Raleigh Institute." On account of large donations from Elijah Shaw, of Massachusetts, and Jacob Estey, of Vermont, it was, in 1875, changed in name; the male school then became "Shaw University," and the female department was called "Estey Seminary." Spacious and well-built edifices were reared on different portions of the grounds, and hundreds of colored pupils have been in attendance since its foundation.

12. In a different section of the city exists another seminary of similar character for the colored people, founded in 1867, by the Rev. Dr. James Brinton Smith. This is called "St. Augustine Normal School and Collegiate Institute." It has been for some years under the charge of Rev, John E, C. Smedes, and is under Episcopal patronage. Though not so largely attended as Shaw University, it is still of great benefit to the race it was intended to educate, and in this way is also a blessing to the community at large. Another excellent school for the colored people is located in Fayetteville, and others are to be found in various sections of the State.

13. Ever since the close of the late war, the colored people of North Carolina have shown a remarkable unanimity in their efforts to procure education for themselves and their children. In this desire they have been nobly aided by the white men and women, and their progress has been rapid. It is the belief of all that only in enlightened public sentiment can safety be found for our peace and liberties; and thus the State is doing all that can be effected for the culture and mental improvement of all classes of its population.