State

May 12, 1934 THE STATE Page Eleven NORTH CAROLINA’S GREATEST WOMAN ACCORDING to Mrs. Grimes, Hie outstanding woman in the history of the state is Mrs. Cor¬ nelia Phillips Spencer. Many North Carolinians know very little — if anything — about her. The accompanying article reveals some of the splen¬ did achievements of this truly great woman. By ALICE DUGGER GRIMES ★ WHO is the greatest wo¬ man ever to have lived in North Carolina? That question came up recently during an informal discussion of North Carolina people and events by a small group of friends in Raleigh. We found that the query intrigued US. We also found our¬ selves unable to agree. One mentioned Mrs. Robert Cotton, another railed at¬ tention to the fine work «lone by Mrs. .lane MoKimmon. still another brought up Miss Emilio W. McVea — and there were several others. Eventually, however, we agree«l that — all things considered — no woman ever has rendered more outstanding service to North Carolina than Cor¬ nelia Phillips Spencer. And the strange part of it is that probably very few North Carolinians today know any¬ thing about her. Cornelio Phillips Spcnccr When Joseph Caldwell, the first president of the University of North Carolina, vacated the «-hair of mathe¬ matics, James Phillips of Harlem, New York was appointed from many applicants to fill the vacancy. James Phillips, son of an English clergyman, head of his own private school in Har¬ lem, had married Julia Vermuclo of Plainfield, New Jersey, a woman ex¬ cellently educated, especially in the languages, preferring we are told her Greek testament to her English one. The spring of 1S26 found James Phil¬ lips, Mrs. Phillips, and their three children, the youngest Cornelia, only a few months old, domiciled in Chapel Hill. The university buildings at that time consisted of “three red brick structures, three stories each, forming three shies of a quadrangle with well and wooden belfrey, and a chapel." The number of students was less than one hundred, and surroundings were very crude. The little Cornelia and her brothers grew up n part of the community. The education of the three children, Charles, Samuel and Cornelia, began under Mrs. Phillips’s tutelage. Later when Charles and Samuel attended the university, Cornelia kept abreast of them by studying with them and under her father. Other university professors gave her instruction too, and we are told she equalled her brothers, both of whom became distinguished men “in vigor of thought and scholarly under¬ standing.” Tn 1853 she married James Magnus Spencer, a lawyer of Clinton. Alabama and a former student of the University of North Carolina. After his death in 18fil she returned to Chapel Hill with her small daughter, June, and made it her homo for nearly thirty-five years. It was during these years from ISfil to 1S04 that her great work for the university was «lone. She wrote bitter¬ ly and counseled bravely against the lowered standards of the university under the presidency of Rev. Solomon Poole. From ’fil to '71 the years were very lean, appropriations very small, and students dwindling in numbers, until finally in ’71 the doors of the uni¬ versity were closed. Her first reaction against the closing of the university partook somewhat of joy, for many of the undesirables of the new administration, one by one, shook the «lust of Chapel Hill from their heels ami departed. Buoyed now by the thought of a reopening under the old regime, for Governor Vance was her staunch friend, she began her indefatigable work for a reopening. Realizing that the state must now more than ever he kept aware of the closed university and of the absolute necessity for its reopening, she con¬ tinued to use her |к*п even more vigorously. A weekly column in the .Worth Carolina Presbyterian, of Char¬ lotte, carried a series of articles in vindication of the “Old Regime.” The Sentinel, of Raleigh Josiah Turner, MRS. CORNELIA PHILLIPS SPENCER, who ployed on important part in mak¬ ing the University of North Corolina what it is today. ★ editor — published a series of articles, “Pen and Ink Sketches of the Uni¬ versity.” She wrote also innumerable personal letters to the old alumni. Known as she was throughout the state for her broad interests in the uni¬ versity and her «loop attachment to it, she devoted a great portion of her time to individuals who wished to confer with her concerning the university and it* reopening. “Governors, statesmen, judges, university presidents found in her a wise anil trusted counselor." Uni¬ versity presidents conferred with her concerning the welfare of the universi¬ ty and also concerning public edu¬ cation. Governor Swain and Governor Vance consulted her frequently throughout the period of the Civil War and fro- quently throughout the periml of re- eonstruction. as did Governor More- head and Governor Graham prior to this period and Governor Scales later. It is written of her that during this critical period her influence was “prob¬ ably greati'r than that exercised by any other one man or woman of her gen¬ eration.” Her efforts during these many years finally blossomed into achievement for the university was ri4- opened in 1875. Mrs. Spencer did not care for public recognition, never delivered a public address nor sat upon a public platform. It is said that she did not welcome the mlinission of women to the uni¬ versity and was opposed to women ( Continued on page twenty-two)