Oak Ridge’s first Century
By II. G. JOKES
l’iofe**or of lli«tory, Oak Kidge Military Inotltutr
Here are the modern group of buildings which comprise Oak Ridge.
A proud military institution looks back
over 100 years off struggles and triumphs;
commencement to be time of celebration
at Guilford County school.
On May 25 and 26. alumni, pa¬
trons, and friends from all over the
United States will gather on the cam¬
pus of Oak Ridge Military Institute
in rural Guilford County to pay hon¬
or to the far-sighted founders of 1850
and the men and women who have
fostered the growth of the school.
Oak Ridge, with its 10-building,
oak-shaded campus, is celebrating its
1 00th birthday, and during the ob¬
servances, the school is pausing to look
back over a century of vicissitudes,
disappointments, and ultimate suc¬
cesses. Its history is a story of sacri¬
fice. ingenuity, and dedication.
Forty-Three Founders
It was on April 7. 1850, that forty-
three residents of the community
pledged $629 for constructing a build¬
ing in which their children would be
offered courses beyond the elementary
level. The signers appointed Jesse Ben-
bow, Allen Lowrey, James B. Clark.
Wyatt F. Bowman, and John H. Saun¬
ders as trustees and the first class was
admitted on March 3. 1853.
A Greensborough Patriot advertise¬
ment of February 12. 1853, stated.
"This institution will be opened on
Thursday, the third of March, next,
under the superintendence of John M.
Davis, a graduate of Emory and Hen¬
ry College, Virginia, and will continue
for a term of four months, after which
time the school will be reorganized,
and continue for a term of ten months
without intermission. This is a beauti¬
ful building, just completed, pleasantly
located on the main road leading from
Danville. Va., to Salisbury. N. C,
C’ol. T. O. Wright, president of the
institute. He has been connected with
the school for almost 30 years.
(about half way) and fifteen miles
northwest of Grccnsborough. Every in¬
ducement is offered to those desiring
a healthy and retired location. The
surrounding country is noted for its
morality and sobriety. . . ."
The dreams and efforts of the Oak
Ridge citizenry paid off. when on
March 3. a total of sixty-three young
men entered the doors of the new Oak
Ridge Institute, a door which within
the next hundred years was to admit
thousands of young men who have
taken a leading part in moulding the
future of North Carolina and the na¬
tion.
Antique Courses
I he first catalogue, issued follow¬
ing the first term in 1853. listed courses
of instruction that were equivalent to
some found in standard four-year
colleges today. In the Department of
English, such courses in the almost for¬
gotten fields as elocution, chirography.
declamation, philosophy, natural the¬
ology, political economy, and philoso¬
phy of natural history were offered.
Among the many other offerings were
geology, mineralogy, experimental phi¬
losophy. electricity, moral science, an¬
cient Rome and Greece, and the like.
Tuition was five dollars per session
( Continued on page 19)
THE STATE. MAY 24, 19S2
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