The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-06-25
A SMALL BEGINNING
sss gs,s -- .sss -
Now Three Great Schools at
AsheviIIe.
Industrial Institutions the 0utgrow tn Of Kitchen
ch,riy Established by Mrs Il.
Especial to the Record Herald)

Especial to the RECORD feTalu.J
Washington. June 21.--In 1884 Rv. f. L.
Pease, who had been laboring for years
as missionary in the Sums OF New
York, wandered down into the mountains
of Western North Carolina, seeking
suitable home where he might spend his
declining years in peace and tranquility.
He was favorably attracted by the SUI
burbs of Asheville, purchased a little farm
Of thirty-five acres on a wooded hill on
the smooth boulevard which now
leads to George vanderbilts pail
atial fillmore, and built for himself a
small but comfortable cottage on a broad
eminence overlooking a lovely valley.
Mr.. and Mrs. Pease ultimately fell into
the custom of the country and took board.
ers of the invalid class who were seeking
relief from northern ailments in the dry
and stimulating atmosphere of Asheville,
but they found great difficulty in secur-
ing competent servants. From the time
OF their arrival they had taken an in
terest in the mountain people round about
the town, and their sympathy was aroused
by the ignorance and privations in which
they lived They often talked about the
many children growing up in squalor and
ignorance, and Mrs Pease found the girls
who came to her house to do cooking and
washing and other household work eager
TO learn and to initiate the ways of the
Northern people. So she organized a
class and taught them reading and writ
ing in addition to the arts of the house
hold
In a little while she began to receive
applications from mountain girls outside
OF her own neighborhood which her be-
nevolent heart could not refuse, and as
the classes grew the venerable mission
airy and his wife, who sought rest and
retirement after a lifetime OF labor
among the submerged classes Of the city,
found themselves irresistibly involved in
the responsibility of the new and broad
field OF usefulness. They were childless
and. as they expressed it, they felt that
the Lord had providentially brought them
to Asheville to train the neglected chill
dren Of the mountains in the ways of or
der and the paths of neatness. The lit
tie class in Mrs. Pease's Kitchen was the
germ of magnificent growth a
large system of industrial schools and
missions, which has been developed by the
Womans Board of Home Missions of the
Presbyterian church and the generosity
OF the Christian people of the North.
About twelve years ago, Rev. Thomas
Lawrence, now president Of the Ashevilie
Normal and Collegiate Institute for Young
Women, visited Asheyille as representa-
tive OF the Freedmens Burau of the wo-
mems board. Meeting Mr.. and Mrs. Pease,
he learned of the work they were doing
and recognized great opportunity One
day, while riding with Mr.. Pease the lat
ter said he would be willing to give all
his property to some organization that
would build and maintain on large scale
a school for the education of the noun
tain girls in the arts of the home. AS
majority OF the mountaineers are Method
lists and Baptists, an opportunity to ac-
cept the offer of Mr. Pease was offered
to the Methodist Board of Missions. but
for some reason it was declined, where
upon Dr. Lawrence, who is a Presbyterian,
brought the matter before the Womens
Missionary Board of his own church,
which agreed to undertake the enterprise.
Mr. Pease conveyed in fee simple to a
board of trustees his thirty-five acres of
land. and the Normal and Collegiate In
stitute for Young Women was founded.
This institution is distinct from the
Home Industrial School for Girls. The
latter is the direct outgrowth of the lit
tie kitchen mission established by Mrs.
Pease. but both institutions occupy the
same site, and this year over 400 girls are
being educated in them. The cottage
(which Or. and Mrs. Pease built to shelter
their declining years has been enlarged
by frequent additions, until now it accom-
modates les girls, and is crowded all the
time. There is always a waiting list of
applicants who cannot be taken care of
because OF the lack of room.
The institute is an imposing four-story
structure. and accommodates 225 girls
The total enrolment this year has been
293. The remainder board at private
houses.
Eight miles from Asheville, on the
Swannanoa River, is a school for noun
tain boys where there are now 10S
brawny young fellows being educated to
use their brains as well as their hands
for the good Of themselves and others.
-
Taking these three together at Ashe-
vile. there are now 500 young peple being
educated for usefulness by the generosity
of the Presbyterian Women's Board of
Home Missions.
VIM. e. CURTIS.