Winston salem state university4/16/2023 ![]() These courses allowed students to meet requirements for college admission. In addition, academic programs were offered in natural sciences, geometry, Latin, one modern language, and social sciences. Slater gardens provided for the school’s needs as well as for the immediate Columbian Heights community. The1912-1913 catalog describes the school’s educational offerings under three departments: the Normal Department (designed to prepare teachers for rural public schools in the state), the Industrial Department (intended to train students in practical, industrial arts including sewing, cooking, laundry work, domestic economy, carpentry, poultry raising, dairy and agriculture), and the Music Department. Through the determination of its leaders and the generosity of its supporters, Slater’s programs did expand and its enrollment grew. Reid were among the prominent members of the Winston-Salem community who served many years on its Board of Trustees. The school continuously relied on forward-thinking whites for both financial and political support. The success of Simon Atkins’ program to educate African-Americans depended from the beginning on interracial collaboration. In fact, programs had to be cut back for a time because important philanthropists from the northeast who misunderstood the situation reduced their financial support. The funds provided by the State, however, were inadequate to run the school. (Normal schools were intended to offer high school graduates a two-year program in primary education.) Access to State funds gave hope to financially struggling Slater that was reorganized as one of North Carolina’s Normal Schools. Recognizing a great need for trained elementary school teachers, the General Assembly voted in 1905 to supply modest funding for “Normal Schools”. In 1903, there were twelve teachers at Slater and 300 students were enrolled. Faculty were the only paid employees students did all the “ordinary work”, including cleaning and caring for buildings and grounds and laundry. Slater also boasted a herd of 120 cattle including thoroughbred Jerseys and the finest Guernsey bull in the area. The first brick building on campus, Lamson Hall, was dedicated in 1900.Ī 1902 report from Simon Atkins to the superintendent of Public Instruction states that Slater Industrial Academy controlled over 100 acres of land, owned three horses with wagons and harness, and a “complete outfit” of farming equipment. McClure, editor of the Philadelphia Times, observed that students were taught “…with a degree of method and skill that inspire the highest measure of pride…”. In spite of its humble origins, Slater’s program soon drew recognition and praise. Along with basic academic subjects, students learned skills such as carpentry, brick making, wheelwrighting, blacksmithing, cooking, and sewing. The school’s single building was a 20′ by 40′ one-room frame structure with a full basement. The first class of twenty-five students started in September 1893 with only one teacher. Slater Industrial Academy began at what became the corner of Stadium Drive and Atkins Street in Winston-Salem. ![]() In an atmosphere charged with social unrest, political turmoil, and economic hardship, Simon Atkins’ good will, courage, and determination paved the way for Slater to develop, over seventy-seven years, from a struggling private school to a teachers college and on to a flourishing university. His inspiration to found a school that would prepare young people to meet community needs through academic study and technical training led to the 1892 charter of “The Slater Industrial Academy”. Having worked as principal at Depot Street grade school, the largest grade school for African-Americans in North Carolina, Simon Green Atkins was well acquainted with the shortcomings of education for African-Americans in the late 19th century.
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