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<br /> NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No.1024-0018
<br /> (8-86)
<br /> United States Department of the Interior
<br /> National Park Service
<br /> National Register of Historic Places
<br /> Continuation Sheet
<br /> Section number 8 Page 13 North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls
<br /> Orange County,NC
<br /> utensils were extremely limited in quantity. There were only four knives and no cups, bowls, glasses,
<br /> napkins, or table clothes.23
<br /> Religious instruction was an important element of NCIHCG's curriculum. NCFCWC promoted
<br /> achieving spiritual awareness as a core component of a healthy lifestyle. A local pastor and NCIHCG
<br /> staff conducted worship services. Residents were asked to pray several times daily. It was hoped that
<br /> Christian doctrine would inspire good behavior,thus reducing the need for disciplinary measures,
<br /> which included privilege loss and solitary confinement in the room adjacent to the bathroom.24
<br /> The institution continued to operate in the same manner during the early 1930s. John Henry Blue and
<br /> his wife superintended NCIHCG in 1931-1932, assisted by a second matron. Agricultural production
<br /> remained consistent,with forty acres under cultivation. Beef,pork, chicken, eggs,milk,butter, fruit,
<br /> and vegetables from the farm augmented the residents' diet.25
<br /> Minnie Pearson succeeded Charlotte Hawkins Brown as NCFCWC president in 1934. NCFCWC and
<br /> NC SBCPW continued to petition the General Assembly to assume NCIHCG's oversight. Residency
<br /> averaged around fifteen young women annually between 1932 and 1934, during which time
<br /> superintendents included J.H.Blue, Sadie F. Powell, and J. A. Lassiter. State Board of Public Welfare
<br /> field agent W. C. Ezell noted a need for additional classroom space during a February 1934 inspection.
<br /> At that time,the dining room also functioned as a classroom. Powell was then the only adult in
<br /> residence.26
<br /> J. A. Lassiter, a certified teacher, replaced Powell as matron in May 1934. Her husband oversaw the
<br /> farm's operation. That year,the girls cultivated fields, canned fruit and vegetables, sewed clothes and
<br /> bedding, and made comhusk mattresses, baskets, rag rugs, and other household items. They received
<br /> free medical care at the African American Lincoln Hospital in Durham,where NCIHCG sponsor and
<br /> trustee Julia Warren's husband, obstetrician Stanford Lee Warren,had been a founding trustee.
<br /> Cottage improvements included painting the porch floor and posts, oiling the interior wood floors, and
<br /> installing curtains and oilcloth table covers. Benefactors donated cash, a picnic lunch, and items such
<br /> as clothing, food, magazines, and a radio.27
<br /> 23 Ibid.,54.
<br /> 24 Ibid.,56.
<br /> 25 NCSBCPW,Biennial Report of the North Carolina School for Negro Girls for the Two Years Ended June 30,
<br /> 1932,396-398,NCSBPWI,Box 163.
<br /> 26"Mrs.Pearson Named Head of N.C.Clubs,"Pittsburgh Courier,May 19, 1934,p.8;"Annual Reports,
<br /> NCIHCG, 1928 and 1929,"Box 163
<br /> 27 NCSBCPW,Biennial Report of the North Carolina State Board of Charities and Public Welfare, 1932-1934
<br /> (Charlotte: Observer Printing House, 1934),55,75;"Annual Reports,NCIHCG, 1928 and 1929,"NCSBPWI,Box 163;
<br /> Andrews,John Merrick,49.
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