news-record.com

Those of you who have kept up with my column over the years will recall many of the corrections and additions that I have brought forth regarding High Point Normal & Industrial Institute.

Each time I write something about HPN&I, it seems to spark more questions regarding the institute.

Once, I used data from an old annual report to bring forth information about the courses of study offered at HPN&I, and many of my readers wanted to know if I knew the names of any books used at the school.

I love a good history mystery, and finding the answer to questions like this really turns me on. First, we need some background on the school to help us understand this information.

High Point Normal & Industrial was organized circa 1894 when the Society of Friends purchased 5.1 acres of land from a black man named James Day. The school was funded and operated by the Society of Friends from 1894 until 1923.

HPN&I was a boarding school for some students and a day school for others. On May 29, 1923, for $10 and other considerations, the New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, with its principal offices at 144 E. 20th St., New York City, made a deed to the Board of School Commissioners of the city of High Point for the Normal property — 5.1 acres of land and 5 buildings.

When the city of High Point took over the school in 1923, the name was changed from High Point Normal & Industrial to The Normal High School.

The city did minor upgrading and renovations to the school to meet basic building codes.

During this changeover, a document was issued listing the needs at Normal High School. One such list was for books needed at the Negro high school. This is the first time I found anyone acknowledging the existence of a city-owned Negro high school.
The following are the courses, books requested, and the writer/publisher of the books on that list (some may be misspelled):

• English: “Ward, Scott, and Foresman”; third year and fourth year, “Composition and Rhetoric,” by Tanner, Ginn, and Co.
• Literature: First year, “Literature of Life, Book I,” by Scott Foresman; second year, Book II; third year, Book III; fourth year, Book IV.
• Civics and History: First year, “Textbook in Citizenship,” by Hughes, Allyn & Bacon; second year, “History of Europe, Ancient & Mediaeval,” by Robinson, Beard, Ginn & Co.; third year, “History of Europe, Our Own Times,” by Robinson, Beard, Ginn & Co.; fourth year, “History of the American People,” by West, Allyn and Bacon.
• Mathematics: First year, “Essentials of Business Arithmetic,” by Van Tuyl and American Book Co.; second year, “A First Course in Algebra,” by Edgerton and Carpenter, Allyn and Bacon; third year, “Second Course in Algebra,” by Wells and Hart, D.C. Heath; fourth year, “New Plane Geometry,” by Durell and Arnold & Co.
• Latin: First year, “First Year Latin,” by Collier, Daniel, Jenkins, and Ginn & Co.; second year, “Caesar’s Gallic War,” by Bennett, Allyn and Bacon; third year, “Cicero’s Orations,” by Bennett, Allyn and Bacon; fourth year, “Virgil’s Aeneid,” by Bennett, Allyn and Bacon.
• French: “The Phoenix Chardenal,” by Allyn and Bacon.
• Spanish: “Brief Grammar,” by Dvaita, Allyn and Bacon.
• Natural Science/General Science: “Everybody’s Science with Projects,” by Snyder, Allyn and Bacon.
• Physics: “Practical Physics,” by Gerhart, Chute, Allyn and Bacon.

 *  *  *

While researching information regarding HPN&I, I found some interesting information regarding our own High Point College when the campus was under construction.

High Point College at that time was faced with construction delays. Then-president R.M. Andrews announced that the school would open on time despite the fact the boys’ dormitory had not been completed, but the girls’ dormitory was ready for girls to move into.

The paragraph that got my attention reads as follows: “The most interesting development at the college at this time is athletics. W.R. Brown, of Greensboro, who has been selected coach of the new institution, is making extensive plans to inaugurate football, basketball and baseball. Mr. Brown is attending the coaching school at the University of N.C. under coaches Bob and Bill Fetzer.”

The rest of this story reads as if it is happening at High Point University. The following sounds a lot like statements made by President Nido Qubein over the past few years: “Work will begin this week on eight tennis courts, four for the boys and an equal amount for the girls. Tennis will be a big item at the college as well as in the city of High Point. Walkways across the campus and between the buildings will also be laid out this week. When completed, they will add much to the lines and symmetry of the campus.”

I find it amazing that High Point College’s early vision has been brought full circle by current president Qubein and the school’s board, in the form of High Point University.

I am sure the leaders then had no idea that one day this institution would evolve into what it is today. I didn’t and I was born and reared here. Isn’t local history great?

Glenn Chavis researches and writes about High Point’s black history. Contact him at Storytime40@aol.com