The Calhoun School, Miss Charlotte Thorn's "Lighthouse on the Hill," Lowndes, Alabama http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/lowndes/history/calhounschool.txt ==================================================================== USGENWEB PROJECT NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Project Archives to store this file permanently for free access. This file is copyrighted and contributed by: Rose H. Ellis ==================================================================== May 2002 The Calhoun School, Miss Charlotte Thorn's "Lighthouse on the Hill" Is in Lowndes County, Alabama After the Civil War, many Northerners came south to educate the Negroes, some with pure motives but poor knowledge of how to accomplish their task and others with questionable motives though excellent knowledge of how to gain their selfish ends. Some, however, came with a genuine concern, zeal and knowledge, which particularly equipped them to teach the newly freed slave how to make both a living and a life. One of these was Miss Charlotte Thorn, and attractive Yankee socialite who, in 1892, founded the Calhoun School in Lowndes County, Alabama. Patterned after Hampton Institute in Virginia, the Calhoun School would demonstrate that Hampton's principles of post-secondary vocational education could succeed on the high school level, even in the poorest county of Alabama's Black Belt. Miss Thorn was the daughter of a Samuel Gilbert Thorn Harriett Elizabeth Lord. Samuel was an accountant in Baltimore and later a U. S. Naval officer. He was the assistant paymaster for the Navy. He left the Navy and established a successful investment house known as "Thompson & Thorn." Charlotte enjoyed all the pleasures and security associated with her wealthy, aristocratic family. Attractive and quick witted, she was troubled by nothing more serious than perhaps the decision of what gown to wear or which dinner party escort to accept. At a social gathering in the late 1800's, she met General Samuel C. Armstrong, founder of Virginia's Hampton Institute, a college devoted to black education. Accustomed to the usual light part repartee, she was startled when Armstrong, in the course of the conversation, abruptly asked, "Do you know that you are going to Hampton to teach Negroes?" Too astounded to do otherwise, she listened as he elaborated. After describing the plight of the emancipated black, he urged her to utilize her intelligence and training to help relieve this plight. She laughed at the mention of her "training" and declared that her only skill was playing cards. But evidently Armstrong sensed the strength lying beneath the social veneer of Miss Thorn. Precisely what transpired next is unknown, but the following year found Charlotte Thorn teaching at the Hampton Institute. There she met and became close friends with another teacher, Miss Mabel Dillingham. They had similar tastes and enjoyed a very pleasant life, but all this changed when they met Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute, while he was on a visit to Hampton, his alma mater. He told them of the tragic plight of Alabama Negroes who so much wanted an education for their children. Afterwards, the women talked late into the night, and the next day informed Washington of their willingness to teach Alabama blacks. They asked that he help them to find the place where the need was greatest. On his return to Tuskegee, he considered their question, and chose Lowndes County, located in the heart of the Black Belt and possessing the largest proportion of blacks to whites of any Alabama county. October of 1892 found the two young teachers in the midst of three hundred Negroes who had come to meet them at the old Ramah Church near Calhoun. Though the church was in an isolated area with no road to it, the people had walked or come in mule-drawn wagons to hear the ladies discuss starting a school. After being introduced by a Tuskegee graduate employed nearby, the women explained their plan. At the first meeting, two hundred fifty dollars cash was raised to build the school. The group distrusted banks and instead turned all money over to Booker T. Washington for safekeeping. More than anything, the ladies had dreaded asking the impoverished blacks for tuition for money was extremely scarce. Moreover, the community had thought the school would be free once it was built. Washington, however, had emphasized to the women the value of tuition in encouraging industry; he did not believe in getting something for nothing. Hence, twenty-five, thirty-five and fifty cents a month were set as tuition, according to grade level. One man remarked in an injured tone that he thought that his child was worth more than fifty cents. "There is no charity in giving" became an integral part of the Calhoun School's philosophy. Since the venture would certainly require financing beyond community contributions, a board comprised of prominent Northern businessmen and educators was formed and outside supporting groups were sought. Doubtless it was through Booker T. Washington that many contributions came. Other appropriations came from friends of Hampton Institute who had heard of Calhoun's needs through the "Southern Workman", Hampton's official voice. It also received support from the General Education Board, distributor of Rockefeller monies. Contributions were not limited, however, to large organizations. Reports published by the school list among the contributors: churches and Sunday School classes, missionary societies, women's clubs, civic groups, and individuals from all walks of life. Nor were all contributors from the North. Perhaps the most significant donation was made by Mr. N. J. Bell of Montgomery who gave the initial ten acres of land selected by the founders as the site for their school. Even with adequate funding, the task before the women was awesome. Few whites would associate with the teachers because they taught blacks. When the teachers' trunks and supplies arrived at the Calhoun railroad station, the townspeople could not understand why women of refinement, judging from the piano and tasteful, solid pieces of furniture, would voluntarily choose a life among Negroes in a backward county. The ladies, however, asked sympathy from no one. "Their pluck," an early newspaper account declared, "is matched by their good humor…They are as happy as any young women in a Chicago flat." Undaunted, they erected the first of a community of buildings which would eventually enjoy a wide reputation both as a school for eager students from the local area and as a pattern for educators from around the world. In constructing the first building, the Teachers' Cottage, Miss Thorn sought to build a dwelling basic enough to be copied by any poor farmer. Its clean and simple lines utilized native materials available to any in the locality who wished to imitate it. Inside there were flowers, pictures, and bright covers for the furniture. Miss Thorn welcomed all who wished to walk through, and many did. Soon, schoolhouses, barns, shops, and dormitories were built, and pupils swarmed to enroll. The pupils were eager to learn all they could about all they could. Throughout the progress Hampton's philosophy of work as a means of instilling self-respect and morality was applied. The cluster of white buildings grew steadily and came to be known as "The Lighthouse on the Hill." Each student received grounding in educational basics; vocational skills supplemented, but did not supplant, the teaching of writing, arithmetic, history, and the appreciation of literature. As the campus expanded, so did Calhoun's reputation as a model vocational school. Although many facets of the school's program were based on the Hampton plan, several were products of the community's needs. At the first meeting with Miss Thorn, the older men declared that they, too, wanted to learn. The result was evening adult education classes. At that time, for such classes to be held at a high school was unusual, if not unique. The most noteworthy of the school's projects was the promotion of land purchase by black sharecroppers. In 1894, a land company was started, selling forty to sixty acre tracts, with some ten-acre tracts going to women. These purchases were financed by Northern friends of the school at eight percent interest. In an 1896 "Yale Review" article, William Pitt Dillingham, assistant to Miss Thorn following his sister's death in 1894, stressed that along with improved methods, farmers were taught to raise food crops first (to prevent indebtedness to merchants) and a money crop such as cotton second (using this for land payment). Dillingham declared that, "land owning pulls the individual together for a struggle which means self-help, self-control, and consequent self-respect." Thus, the land ownership program epitomized the Calhoun School's philosophy. Another service to the community was the fostering of better health care. Since Miss Thorn was aware of how important cleanliness was in treating disease; so, whenever she could, she treated the sick herself. This school dispensary fitted students for glasses and tested for diseases. One senior, after becoming free of hookworm, declared that for the first time in his life he felt really well. In addition to the adult education classes, land movement, and medical outreach, Miss Thorn instituted monthly meetings of farmers, mothers, and parents. Annually, there were the County Teachers' Institute, County Farmer's conference, and Agricultural Fair. The faculty visited neighboring churches, homes, and schools, with tow outpost schools taught by Calhoun graduates under Miss Thorn's supervision. Amusements were not neglected. The school sponsored community Thanksgiving and Christmas programs, plus other informal meetings with refreshments and outdoor games. The influence of Miss Thorn was evident throughout Calhoun's program, as she sought to meet the needs of the people, simultaneously elevating their character, and stressing standards of excellence, whether in domestic work or in deportment. One graduate recalled that Miss Thorn was never too busy to notice the behavior of the students and often appeared suddenly in their midst. Using a crutch in later life and always-dressed in black, she was awesomely referred to by students as "creepin' Jesus," but was nonetheless respected by all. Perhaps the most practical contribution the school made to the community was better roads. Calhoun was difficult to get into or out of by road for the surrounding hills were faced with slippery mud know locally as "blue marl." Consequently, when the small farmer did produce a promising crop, the expense of getting it to market was discouraging. There was a railroad, but its freight charges, while not unreasonable to the large plantation owner, proved prohibitive to the small row cropper. Miss Thorn's nephew, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, laid out the stretch of road, which, at last, connected Calhoun to the outside world. The road, which exists today as County Road 33, was a joint venture of the school and the county, with the school grading it and the county surfacing it with gravel. Thus, in various ways, Calhoun's founder sought to link the school and the community. In spite of its outstanding staff and successful program, there were more people outside Alabama than inside who appreciated the scope and nature of the Calhoun School's work. Among those who came to observe the school's plant and methods were educators from China, Japan, Ceylon, Scotland, England, Poland, Korea, and various countries in Africa. Other visitors included YMCA personnel, prospective missionaries, and an Illinois state prison warden. In 1932, Charlotte Thorn, Calhoun's principal for more than forty years, died at age seventy-five. She left as her memorial a model vocational school for blacks. But the institution per se was surpassed by the living memorial of Calhoun graduates, who were always encouraged by Miss Thorn to gain as much further training and education as they could before returning to Lowndes County to strengthen the black community. At a memorial service held in Boston, Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones, a nationally recognized educator, declared Miss Thorn to be a heroine, but not a martyr. His sentiments echo those of a newspaper article written about the school's founders soon after its beginning: "But they are not martyrs. They are American women accepting seriously the responsibility that goes with higher education and refinement, and doing their part to uplift those who are American citizens to make them worthy of the name." By definition, a lighthouse is "a structure furnished with a brilliant light" to provide guidance for voyagers in darkness. For Calhoun's "Lighthouse on the Hill," Charlotte Thorn was, indeed, that "brilliant light."