The History of Education in Claiborne Parish

The Academy Movement

Early Public Schools    Homer Male College    Homer Female Institute
Claiborne College    Arizona Academy

            The Academy Movement, which was begun by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia in 1755, reached Claiborne Parish in 1836 with the chartering of Claiborne Academy at Old Athens.  It is not known definitely where this school was located or if it ever operated.  Two years later, Minden Academy was organized.  Schools such as these were basically boarding schools, as most children lived too far away to commute to school every day.  The course of study was not designed to prepare one for a vocation but, rather, to develop reasoning power and an adaptable mind.  Instruction was offered in mathematics, Latin, Greek, and music.

 

            From the 1840s through 1890s private academies were probably the most common educational institutions in this area.  By 1840, there were 413 students in academies in Claiborne Parish.  One of the factors behind the rapid increase in private academies and colleges was the influence of various churches and fraternal organizations.  The Methodist Church, especially, promoted schools in order to provide trained clergy.  The Baptist denomination also promoted education, as did various Masonic Orders.  By the 1860s there were academies or “colleges” (which taught children of all ages) in Arcadia, Mt. Lebanon, Arizona, Homer and Minden.

 

Early Public Schools

 

            In 1847 a “Free School” law was passed but the results were met with public apathy.  At this time free public schools were looked down upon and given the term “pauper schools”.  Despite the lack of interest in public education in its early days, there were a few “free” schools in Claiborne Parish    In 1851 the following advertisement appeared in the Claiborne Advocate:

 

New School

The undersigned respectfully informs the public, that he has just opened a school at the Goodson School House, two miles south of Homer.  During a portion of the year, some three or four months perhaps, a Free Public School will be taught.  Patronage from Parents and Guardians is respectfully solicited.  Board may be had on moderate terms.

S. M. Williams

(Nov. 29, 1851)

 

            As this advertisement shows, public schools at this time were often open for only a few months out of the year.  After the Civil War, matters became even worse as public education became an area prone to corruption and misappropriation of funds.  The situation grew so bad that at the 1872 Louisiana Teachers’ Convention, W. Jasper Blackburn of Claiborne Parish declared the public schools to be “utterly worthless”.    In 1877 it was estimated that one child in five attended school.   In 1890 approximately 70% of African-Americans in Louisiana were illiterate

 

Homer Male College

 

            In 1855 the State Legislature passed an act chartering the Homer Male College under the supervision of a Board of Trustees appointed by the Louisiana Methodist Conference.  Zachariah Ragland donated the land in 1856, and the following year the corner stone of the college was laid.  This school was located on the site of the present-day Jaycee Park on upper North Main Street in Homer.  The building was a two-story Greek Revival structure closely resembling today’s Claiborne Parish Courthouse.

 

 Formally opened in 1859, the college was granted authority to confer the degrees of B.A., B.S., M.S., and M.S.  The first faculty was composed of Reverend Baxter Clegg, President; J. W. Stacey, Professor of Languages; and J. B. Gutten, Professor of Mathematics.  One hundred fifteen students were enrolled the first year.

 

Reverend W. D. O’Shea became President in 1860, followed by R. M. Seavy in 1863.   College courses were suspended in 1864 due to the involvement of most of the students in the War Between the States.   Classes were resumed in 1869 with Reverend T. H. Lewis as President and Professors Borden and Willis as his assistants.  Reverend James E. Cobb became President in 1870 with Professors A. C. Calhoun, J. W. Nicholson and E. M. Corry making up the teaching staff.  For two years the college had quite a renewal of prosperity.

 

It was during this time that the Louisiana Methodist Conference appointed Rev. T. J. Upton as its business agent.  He secured $40,000 worth of notes from patrons – the interest from which he intended to use to meet the operating expenses of the school.  Business conditions were so unfavorable, however, that most of the notes went unpaid.  Not wishing to resort to legal action to collect, the college abandoned the notes and found itself in serious financial straits.

 

The college had four Presidents from 1873 to 1877: Reverend J. Lane Borden, Reverend Baxter Clegg, Dr. R. B. Gordon, and R. A. Smith.   In 1878 the college was sold for debt at a Sheriff’s sale and lost it identity as a denominational school. 

 

G. G. Gill and his son, George Gill, purchased the college property and repaired the building for the continuation of school.  From 1878 to 1882, R. A. Smith ran the school.  In 1885, the Homer Male College was consolidated with the Homer Masonic Female Institute under the name Homer Masonic Male and Female Institute.

 

            Although the Homer Male College had a brief and troubled existence, it produced many distinguished graduates, including:  Dr. Sydney T. Moreland, Professor of Natural Science at Washington and Lee University; Judge John A. Richardson; Attorneys J. E. Moore and J. W. Holbert; J. E. Hulse, editor and publisher of The Guardian-Journal; Colonel James G. Meadors, Superintendent of New Mexico Military Institute; Judge J.W. Blackman of Alexandria; Dr. Philip Gibson; and C. O. Ferguson, President of the Homer National Bank.

 

Homer Female Institute

 

            The Homer Female Institute was incorporated in 1857 and operated as both a day and boarding school.  Its campus was located at the head of present-day McCasland Street in Homer. The school was purchased in 1859 by the Homer Masonic Lodge F. & A. M., No. 152 and renamed the Homer Masonic Female Institute.

  

Professor Wilcox was the first administrator.  When a policy of leasing the school was adopted in 1875, Professor and Mrs. T. S.  Sligh took charge of the school.  .  During this time the school flourished. Young women attended the Homer Masonic Female Institute from all parts of North Louisiana and South Arkansas.   In 1877 Sligh reported that the school’s enrollment was 167 students and that the faculty consisted of eight teachers.

 

            Rather than written tests, the students were seated on long benches in front of the teacher and were quizzed or sent to the board one at a time to answer questions.  Examinations were public and conducted in the same way.  The assembly room of the college was often full of people on examination day and one of the visitors, by request of the teacher, sometimes conducted the examinations.

 

            There were few holidays:  Christmas, May Day (when the Sunday School always gave a union picnic), and Commencement Day.  As a social feature to Commencement, the faculty sponsored a “Promenade Party” for graduates the last night of school.

 

            Both the Male College and the Masonic Female Institute were boarding schools.  For tuition, board, lodging, washing and lights  were:

 

            Payable in advance……………………    $15.00 per month

            For day pupils – primary………………..   $2.50 per month

            For Academic……………………………  $3.50 per month

            For Collegiate……………………………  $4.50 per month

 

The Homer Masonic Female Institute provided Homer and surrounding communities with many thoroughly educated young women, including: Mrs. Ella Ramsey Aycock;  Mrs. Ella Wilder Richardson; Mrs. Hattie Richardson Price; Mrs. Eddie Bugg Moreland; Mrs. Lela Moreland Meadors; Mrs. Dollie Barrow Dorman; and  Mrs. Bennie McCranie Wilder.

 

Homer Masonic Male and Female Institute/Claiborne College

 

            In about 1885 the Homer Male College and Homer Masonic Female Institute were combined under the name of Homer Male and Female College. Professor John H. Davidson was principal of the institution. The consolidated school, whose name was soon changed to Claiborne College, occupied the old Homer Male College building on upper North Main Street in Homer. Davidson’s assistants were Professor Walker and his daughter, Miss Sallie Walker and Miss Emma Traylor.  Professor Spann and Mrs. Hattie Lawrence were the next principal and assistant.

 

            In 1891 Claiborne College was operating with D. F. Huddle as principal, assisted by Thomas H. Harris, a Claiborne Parish native who would later become State Superintendent of Education.

 

            Claiborne College provided sound educational opportunities for the young people of Homer and, in 1900, became Homer’s first public high school, still occupying the building constructed for the Homer Male College so many years earlier.

           

 

The Arizona Academy

 

            Colonel James Nicholson and Colonel Austin Harris organized the Arizona Academy in 1869. The school opened with 45 students but soon increased to 125, attracting students from several surrounding parishes and states.  The two-story school building stood on the main street of the Arizona Community adjacent to the present-day Arizona Methodist Church.  This building stood under the big oak trees near the church.  Water was supplied by a spring in the edge of the woods some few yards away.

 

            The success of the Arizona school began to draw students from the Homer Male College.  The trustees in Homer offered Nicholson the Chair of Mathematics at a salary of $1,500 per year to return to Homer.  Although he accepted the position, he continued to operate the Arizona Academy.  When his partner, Colonel Austin Harris returned to fulltime ministerial work, Nicholson returned to the Arizona Academy for five years.  In 1877, Nicholson became the Chair of Mathematics at Louisiana State University.

 

Despite attempts to keep the Academy open, the school declined and became one of the smaller rural schools in the parish. In 1910 the Arizona Academy became a public school, and in 1928 it consolidated with Lisbon.  In 1928 the school board gave the upper story of the schoolhouse to the people of the community to build a post office.  In 1946 the remainder of the building was demolished.

 

In its heyday the Arizona Academy was known for its demanding curriculum and thorough teaching.  The Arizona Academy also has the distinction of providing Colonel Nicholson with his first exposure to coeducational instruction, the successful outcome of which he would put to good use as the future President of LSU.