COURSE OF STUDY OXFORD FEMALE SEMINARY, 1827.
OXFORD FEMALE ACADEMY.
SEVERAL Gentlemen from a distance, having requested information respecting the course of Studies pursued in this Institution, the manner of teaching, price of board, tuition, &c. we embrace the present opportunity of making a public statement on those subjects.
The following branches are taught, viz. Reading, Spelling, Plain and Ornamental Penmanship, Arithmetic, English Grammar, Geography with the use of the Globes, Projecting and Drawing Maps, Biography, Belles Lettres, Grecian, Roman and Jewish Antiquities, Botany, Mineralogy, Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Philosophy of the Mind, and Plain and Ornamental Needle-work.
The price of Board and Tuition in the above Branches, is $60 per session of 5 months. Music thirty—Painting and Drawing twenty— Latin Language ten—French ten dollars.
With regard to the manner of Teaching, the Instructors keep one object constantly in view, viz. to bring the understanding into exercise without burdening the memory. We do not think we have accomplished great things, simply because we can persuade a child to repeat a long lesson from the book. It is our object to fix the attention on particular facts and to get the pupil to understand the nature of those facts; and this not only in the higher branches, but in the first elements. In simple Arithmetic and English Grammar, we commence in this way; and by this method, we gain not only much more rapid progress in the first stages, but what in our opinion is of vastly greater importance, we get the pupil, almost without exception, to be fond of the study in which she is engaged. Study is then not an odious task, but a delightful employment. Nothing is more pleasing to youth than to discover the strength of their own powers of understanding. This discovery we endeavor to get them to make, and when this is accomplished we have no fears, but corresponding efforts will be made to bring these powers into exercise. Since the commencement of the Session, we have received a Chemical and Philosophical Apparatus; and now, each recitation in Chemistry, Philosophy and Astronomy, is accompanied with a Lecture and Experiments illustrating the principles of these sciences.
A close and parental watchfulness is exercised over the young ladies who board with the Principal, and while every necessary indulgence for exercise and recreation will be allowed them, nothing inconsistent with strict decorum & genteel manners will be permitted.
The local situation of this Institution is peculiarly propitious. The healthfulness of the place is extraordinary. Not an instance of serious illness has ever been known among the pupils, since a boarding school had been established here; and since the commencement of the last summer session, they have enjoyed uninterrupted health. The moral character of the society of Oxford and the vicinity, needs not our commendation; and what we consider equally favorable for the institution is, that a lively interest is manifested for its prosperity, and our first families pay every attention to the young ladies from abroad, consistent with the attainment of the object for which they were sent here by their Parents and Guardians. The Principal has four Assistants, three ladies and one gentleman, all constantly engaged—and we take this opportunity of assuring the public, that no exertions or expense within their power shall be wanting to make the Institution what it ought to be. Joseph Labaree.
Oxford, March 17.
—Raleigh Register, March 28, 1827.
(Source: North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840, By Charles L. Coon 1914)