The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-08-13
MALE ACADEMIES
OF CAPITAL CITY
History of Old Schools Run by Strong
Men in Conflict With Manly
Boys.

| All was fair in the game-except
| leland, that lacking, there was no
real bitterness behind the never-endlng
conflict Humour there was of a
sturdy sort, indeed. There, too. it was
! give and take. Every old master had
| his nickname, product of the years
condensed wit of generations. But the
master was equal to the task. His
| tongue was SIS ready as his lash; his
sarcasm bit while yet his hand was in
| the collar of the culprit. queer
regime, this system, in these days of
no manual punishment and "expul-
sion" as the topmost penalty of crime.
| The old master was above expulsion;
/ the boy could not rely upon it for re-
treat. 1t was a case of fighting it out
or quitting the game. The result was
that there were developed types which
were SO excellent that they have the
unconscious glamour which we are apt
to attach to things which are old. The
system has played out now, but it
| worked in chose days." when masters
We're not afraid to whip nor boys to
fight
[ have emphasized this conflict be-
| tween the teacher and the taught, be-
cause it is precisely what will be lost
| from the old academy when the high
| school eventually supplants it for all
(
/ teachers, the methods. the study, even
the masterful hold of good men on
| boys which makes the learning stick
| and makes it something to have got.
| But it cannot restore the personal
| equation. That, in a sense, has gone,
perhaps for the best, but schooling
must not now be the fun for either
party that it used to be.
Raleigh has had among the mas
| tnr e he a les fnll1 rlln
stood forth as great in their day and
generation: William McPheeters
Jeff Lovejoy, j. j. Fray and Hugh
| Morson. The latter, after twenty
eight years of teaching at the Raleigh
Male Academy, was unanimously
chosen as the head of the new high
| school to be established in the fall.
With a record behind him such as few
| men have ever made, with the respect
| of every boy who ever sat in his school
room. honored in many States, with
his graduates high in their professions
| and represented in many faculties,
this man is still not old, still strong,
still ready for the giving of years of
his life to the larger public which the
necessity of making q living has thus
far kept him from serving. 1t has
been a life which any man climbing
down the crest of the hill before the
contemplate with envy.
The Academy Idea In Raleigh,
The first indication of a private
school in Raleigh IS found in a notice
in the Raleigh Register of the 18th of
June, 1900, in which it is stated that
"a school will be opened at Raleigh
on the 18th inst. for the instruction of
young gentlemen and ladies.
The tuition of the young gentlemen
to be conducted by Mr.. Guthrie. and
that of the young ladies by Mrs. Lang
ley" The courses of instruction are
set down as, reading, writing and
arithmetic, $3.50 per quarter, with
needle work apparently thrown in.
For English grammar, the classics and
the sciences, the cost was $3.50 quar-
ter. There was also to be a boarding
department. with board for the term
at $50. This school does not seem to
have prospered, for it dropped from
the notice of the papers, and is with
out other tradition, apparently, than
that given above.
On Friday, November 27th, 1901, it
is found that the Hon. Tim Blood
worth presented a petition in the Leg
iSlature from the people of Raleigh
asking that the Assembly would grant
the use of one of the squares of the
city for the purpose of establishing an
academy and also presented a bill car
rying the petition into effect. The bill
entitled. can act to establish an
academy in the city of Raleigh" was
passed either in the latter part of 1901
or early in 1902, the same being
copied in full in the Raleigh Register
of February 10th. 1902. The trustees
named We're John Raven. William
White, Sherwood Haywood. Theo-
philus Hunter, John Ingles, Nathaniel
Jones, Matthew McCullers. William
Hinton, Simon Turner. Sam High,
Joseph Gales. John Marshall. William
Boylan, Henry Seawell. They were
trustees of the "Raleigh Academy"
The square designated in the bill was
that owned by the city and then known
as "Burke's Garden, the present site
of the Governors Mansion.
The trustees first met on March
2Srd, 1902, at the Court House, decid-
ed to raise subscriptions and to meet
again on the 21st of April at which
time there were reported $500 sub
scribed. At a subsequent meeting it
was decided to advertise for bids for
building, which was fully described.
The building was to be 40X24 feet, two
storied, and with pitch of 2 feet be-
low and 10 above. At a meeting held
on the 9Th of June. 1902. if was de-
cided to ATTEMPT to raise 5000 addi-
tional for the purpose of constructing
the building of brick but this was
never done. The location of the
school was fixed at the centre of Burke
Garden and TO face North and South
The contractor. j. M. Goodloe, report
ed on the 9th of June, 1903. that the
frame of the building was ready to be
raised and the school was completed a
Few months later
1t does not definitely appear who
first taught in this early academy, but
must have been intended for one Mr. |
(ohn Evans, for in the Register of
September 5th, 1903 there appears an |
advertisement "To School Masters: |
The precariouS state of health of Mr. !
'ohn Evans, who for some time past |
las taught reading, writing and ac-
cunts in the city, having obliged him
relinquish school keeping for the |
present. a steady person of good char |
.cter might enter upon "a school of |
orty (40) pupils"
But on March 18th, 1904, there is an
announcement that the trustees of the |
.cademy desired to secure the services
ia teacher who could also give a |
weekly DISCOURSE !"