Mary Fisher Floyd Archives and Special Collections: Mitchell Home School Collection

Guide to the Mitchell Home School Collection, 1910 - 1996

Collection Number Mss 19981

G.A. Pfeiffer Library, Mary Fisher Floyd Archives & Special Collections

Descriptive Summary

Creator

Pfeiffer University

Title

The Mitchell Home School collection, 1910 - 1996

Call Number

Mss 19981

Extent

4 archival boxes, 1.25 linear feet

Location

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Pfeiffer University Archivist.

Information for Users

Restrictions to Access

This collection has restrictions to access. Please contact the Pfeiffer University Archivist for more information.

Acquisitions Information

The materials of the Mitchell Home School Collection were acquired in two ways. Some items have been in the University's possession since the time Pfeiffer was known as Mitchell Home School. Other items were donated by former students and faculty members of Mitchell. The collection is not yet closed so that new items may be added as acquired.

Provenance

This is an artificial collection which was originally housed within the subject-based system developed by Dr. Bernard Russell. Most materials are of unknown provenance.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], Mitchell Home School collection, Mary Fisher Floyd Archives, Pfeiffer University, Misenheimer , North Carolina.

Copyright Notice

Pfeiffer University owns copyright to this collection. Individuals obtaining materials from the Pfeiffer University are responsible for using the works in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.

Historical Note

Mitchell Home School was a mission school of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It had its origins in a school founded by Miss Emily C. Prudden between 1885 and 1903. It was called Oberlin Home and School, and was located near Hudson, North Carolina. On June 8, 1903 Miss Prudden deeded the Oberlin property to the Woman's Home Missionary Society. The offer had been made on the condition "that we contribute to its support $200 annually, and if it grows so as to require another teacher, an additional $100" (Woman's Home Missions, July 1903 p.128). In honor of her late step-son, Ebenezer W. Mitchell, Mrs. Mary A. Mitchell of Dayton, Ohio gave $1000 to the school. The institution took the name "Ebenezer Mitchell Home and School" under the Society. The school was plagued by problems, including a fire which destroyed the building, and in 1909 the decision was made by Society executives to accept an offer of land at Misenheimer, North Carolina, as the site of the new Mitchell Home School. The construction of a fifteen thousand dollar building was begun ion the summer of 1909. On February 2, 1910, the Southern Railway moved students and teachers, twenty-two in all, plus their freight, free of charge to Misenheimer. Southern Railway even delivered a load of coal from Tennessee to the new School. Classes began in April, serving forty-five boarding students, and thirty day students. The Mitchell School building was an omnibus-type structure, caring for all needs - classrooms, offices, dormitories, laundry, dining facilities. Fire plagued Mitchell in 1914 and all but one boys' dormitory was destroyed. The educational program adjusted to the reduced resources but still the school flourished. The first secondary school graduation was held in 1913, and was accredited by the NC Department of Public Instruction in 1922. The lower grades at Mitchell were slowly phased out as public county schools expanded and improved to fill those needs. Only high school courses were offered by 1932, the same year Mitchell graduated its first junior college students. The Junior College became accredited by the NC Department of Education in 1934, and by 1938 the school was operating solely as a Junior College.