Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

— nr*Mt' - -- uiRgWI ilk . i■ n , „ j^,ii^ - ’^siSPzzjB e® ol / A g» ~ IN Oxto td THE sta t£> VOLUMZ ONE. NO. TWENTY-SIX. MA R Y SHA RP COLLEGE: By Mrs. J. F. Miller. Si T '* HIS once famous institution of learn ing, located at Winchester, Franklin county, Tennessee, was the outgrowth of a long-felt need, and desire on the part of wealthy and ambitious parents to give their daughters advantages of a higher education than the schools of that date afforded. Female colleges T were few, and too many parents seemed content with the limited education of their daugh ters, received from Northern teachers employed to teach in the homes of wealthy families. Public spirited citizens from several Middle Tennessee counties met at Murfreesboro, in 1849, to discuss the location of a female college. Among them was A. S. Colyor, a rising young law yer from Winchester, who made a strong speech in favor of his home town; the others realizing his good judgment, offered no op position. Rev. J. R. Graves, at that time, editor of the Tennessee Baptist, published at Nashville, Tenn., was present, and recom mended his brother, Z. C. Graves, a prominent educator of Vermont, as a suitable president for the future college, whereupon Mr. Coylor wrote a letter that induced him to give up a flourishing school in his New Hampshire home, and come South. But on reaching Winchester with his small family, he was very much disappointed to find a field but little improved. A fall term had been advertised to open, and there was no school building, although a beautiful site, consisting of two acres, had been purchased and deeded to the Baptist Association. Ad joining this was a large brick res idence, which was converted into what was afterward known as the “College Board ing House,” and the school opened in the basement of a large Methodist church near by. Those dispos ed to ridicule the enterprise called it “The Desti tute,” but the zeal and fitness of Dr. Graves for the work whereunto he had been called, triumphed, as the sequel will show. The first and most liberal donation to the building fund was made by Mrs. Mary Sharp, of Franklin county, hence the name. After teaching two years under great disadvantages, Prof. Graves was delighted to move into his new building. Considering the times, it was an impos ing structure, built of brick, presenting a front of 140x80 feet depth of main building, three stories high, with wings afterward added. Mary Sharp College was, in its inception, a new departure, its '■ * ? j Hit QlllH'f Illi t iSlgWi ■ Mary Sharp College, Winchester, Tennessee. —A Relic of the Old South. ATLANTA, GA., AUGUST 16, 1906. purpose being to demonstrate the problem as to whether or not the female mind was capable of scientific research, and development, equal to that of the male mind. When Caroline Herschel prov ed the equal of her brothers in mathematics, she was considered a feminine prodigy, but Dr. Graves, by personal instruction and experience, demonstrat ed the fact that such minds among women were not altogether exceptional. It was said that when the Mary Sharp Junior Classes in mathematics were seen to develop formulas for plane or spheric al trigonometry, or calculate an eclipse with ease, the most skeptical beholder was convinced that girls had been mentally underrated. The curricu lum of this noted school was the same as that of male colleges, plus music. In the study hall Dr. Graves possessed a wonderful power over his pupils in directing the mental forces that mean so much during school life. It was said of him that he not only made thinkers of his girls, but he inspired them with a love for their work. A fine feature of the school was its economy; the girls wearing shep herd’s plaid calico as their everyday uniform, white muslin for Sunday in summer, and black alpaca in winter, the latter dress always enlivened by the class color. At the fall of Fort Donelson, one of the Confederacy’s first Waterloos, February, 1862. Mary Sharp College had reached the zenith of her glory. Several hundred girls from eleven different states, were being fitted for future use fulness in this noted college. The Confederate de feat caused a panic throughout the South, and anx ious parents called their daughters home; and the College Campus soon became the camping ground of the Northern invader. The fine old pianos were split into kindling wood, and a valuable library strewn over the highways for miles around. The vandalism was heartrending to Dr. G laves, who, by this time, had become intensely Southern in senti ment. With the exception of a little local patron age, the school was virtually s speeded about three years, but in 1565 it resumed work with renewed ented wife bowed to the weight of years, the vitality of the college waned with them. Then, too, after a lapse of half a century, other schools of similar advantages had become numerous, and Mary Sharp, as a female college, was relegated to the past. The proj as deeded to the Baptist Association with 7m- v understanding that it should always be used for educational purposes. So the trustees leased it to the public school officials of Franklin county, and today several hundied boys and girls from six to eighteen years of age are giving life and ?heer to the old college walls, and campus dur ing the ten months’ public school term. In writing a brief history of this once famous female college, something must be told of the man who made it famous. Zuinglius Calvin Graves was born at Chea- TWO DOLLARS A YEAR. FIVE CENTS A COPY. interest. Mary Shaip College stood the test of time, and ac quiicd a reputation equal to, it’ not above, any institution of learn ing in the South. Its thorough training and liberal patronage created great demand for its al umnae (and even undergraduates) for teachers. The study of the classics fifty years ago was held in high esteem by those who were capable of appreciating their val ue. Os the 4,500 girls who went to Mary Sharp College, 310 re ceived the A. B. degree, and nine reached A. M. Many distin guished women of the South, in fact, of the entire country, at tribute their positions in life to the valuable training received in this noted institution. Some of its first pupils are grandmothers, yea, more, great grandmothers, whose liearts are thrilled at the mention of Mary Sharp. Its first graduate, Miss Nannie Mere dith, now Mrs. Wily Embry, is slut alive, and living at Winches ter. But to all things earthly, there comes a close, and as the grand old president and his tai-