Andrew Female College, Group Photograph 2 - Pages 33 and 34
Scope and Contents
The May Benson Lyle Scrapbook contains Fifty-six (front and back) unnumbered pages with forty-nine black and white photographs (one each on the front and back covers of the scrapbook) recording May Benson Lyle's time as a student at Sam Houston Normal Institute from 1905-1908.
The images in the scrapbook are of campus buildings such as Austin Hall, Old Main Building, and the Peabody Memorial Library. There are also images of faculty members such as Ida Lawrence, Sue Smither, Professor Coleman, Professor Henry Fishburne Estill, Joseph (Joe) Pritchett, and his brother President Henry Carr Pritchett. Additional images show May Benson Lyle and her friends at the boarding house they lived in while attending Sam Houston Normal Institute.
Dates
- 1905 - 1908
Biographical / Historical
Andrew Female College was founded in 1852 and chartered by the Texas Conference of Methodist Churchs on February 7, 1853. The college was named after the Methodist bishop, James Osgood Andrew, who help caused a split in the Methodist Episcopal Church due to his ownership of African American slaves. This split caused a new Southern branch which was popular in Texas.
In May 1853, Andrew Female College had its first five-month session within Huntsville's "Brick Academy." During this period, education opportunities for women were limited, but nonetheless, enrollment at the college was high, and space became confined. Huntsville residents raised funds for a two-story building in 1855 for the growing college. Eighty students were enrolled at the college in 1856-1857, mainly from Walker County but from surrounding counties as well.
James M. Follansbee was the college's first president. Student courses focused on classical literature, languages, art, music, and domestic life. The college would also host annual concerts and exhibitions sponsored by the Music and Art Departments. Visitors from Walker County would visit these annual events to witness the work and talents of these young women.
Andrew Female College continued to operate during the Civil War due to the efforts of the college's board of trustees, Charles Keenan, Daniel Baker, Henderson Yoakum, and Thomas Ball. The college continued to be successful, but the 1867 yellow fever epidemic claimed the lives of several faculty members, students, and the college president. Although the college continued to operate for the next twelve years, it had never fully recovered from the effects of the yellow fever epidemic.
Due to the opening of Sam Houston Normal Institute in 1879, Andrew Female College closed in 1880. The property of the college was conveyed to the city of Huntsville and became the community's first public school of the same year of the college's closure. Later, the school was moved to Rogersville on 10th Street and Avenue P in Huntsville as a school for African American children.
Extent
1 Photographic Prints : Black and white photograph. Writing in black ink.
Language of Materials
English
Physical Description
Page 33: Black and white group photograph taken outside with wooden buildings behind them. Underneath the photograph in stylized writing is "And great was the fall thereof." in black ink.
Page 34: Blank
Repository Details
Part of the Thomason Special Collections & SHSU University Archives Repository