Founded by Friends : the Quaker heritage of fifteen - Scarecrow Press

Guilford College 27
In 1865, the war was over, but the situation for North Carolina Quakers
had not improved. A large number of Friends elected to move to the Midwest
rather than remain during an uncertain reconstruction of the wartorn
South. The efforts of the Baltimore Association to Advise and Assist
Friends of the Southern States, under the leadership of Francis T. King,
were key to the survival of North Carolina Quakers and New Garden
Boarding School. A grant of $5,000 was used for building repairs, new
equipment, and tuition assistance for students. It is likely that the grant
money was the sole source of income for the school during the immediate
aftermath of the war. Such a level of direct aid did not continue for New
Garden, but the Baltimore Association’s establishment of elementary
schools across the state prepared students to study at New Garden and
led to the hiring of New Garden graduates as teachers.
After the difficulties immediately following the war, New Garden
Boarding School remained fairly stable for the next decade. Efforts were
made to meet new educational standards and occupational training
needs. A collegiate course of study was formally adopted by the trustees
in 1867, and there is some indication that the trustees considered offering
more advanced work. However, the recently stabilized boarding school
was not in a position to take on the expenses required to make the transition
to a college, and the Baltimore Association rejected the trustees’ request
for assistance. During this time, the school maintained a two-year
preparatory department and a four-year academic one. Students in each
department could choose between the classical and the English track. A
few new courses were implemented and offered students some practical
knowledge. Boys in the 1870s could elect to take bookkeeping and business
courses, and girls were offered courses in traditional female crafts,
such as needlepoint.
FROM BOARDING SCHOOL TO COLLEGE
North Carolina Friends did not give up on their desire for a higher level
of Friends’ education in the state and continued to plead their case to others.
The need for an institution of higher education in North Carolina was
discussed in Baltimore by representatives of various yearly meetings at
the 1878 Educational Conference of Friends called by Frances King and
John Thomas. Whether the level of education would be that of a high
school or a college was not clear, and there was disagreement about the
location of such a school with some, including King, feeling it should be
in the more centrally located and thriving community of High Point. The
discussion continued at future educational conferences and among
Friends in North Carolina for several more years.