Orange County NC Website
8 <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 10 North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls <br /> Orange County,NC <br /> the organization celebrated the completion of a one-story,weatherboarded, hip-roofed cottage erected <br /> by contractors including James Henry Liner at a cost of approximately$4,600. The building contained <br /> a central living room/classroom, dormitory-style bedrooms,matrons' quarters, bathroom, dining room, <br /> kitchen, and basement furnace room. Painter S.P. Cheek charged$225. NCFCWC purchased <br /> household goods at Davis Furniture Company, Myers Department Store, and cots, mattresses, and <br /> pillows at Mebane Bedding Company. NCFCWC's Durham chapter, led by women including Julia <br /> Warren and Annie Day Shepard, subsidized the living room furnishings. Home Light and Power <br /> Company of Greensboro constructed and equipped a small pump and Delco generator house for <br /> $836.50. Well and septic tank installation cost an additional $405. Efland merchant S. C.Forrest <br /> drilled the well,provided hardware and supplies, and held the mortgage on the house and land.13 <br /> NCIHCG's architect has not been identified. Charlotte Hawkins Brown notes in her September 5, <br /> 1921 letter to North Carolina State Board of Charities and Public Welfare (NCSBCPW)commissioner <br /> Kate Burr Johnson that plans for a cottage estimated to cost$5,000 were being drawn. The finely <br /> executed line drawing on the cover of NCIHCG's circa 1930 fundraising brochure indicates a design <br /> professional's involvement. The cottage was erected as rendered with the exception of the wall <br /> sheathing material,which, due to budget constraints,was weatherboard rather than brick. The <br /> principal contractor James Henry Liner(1888-1959),who lived north of Efland in the rural Cedar <br /> Grove community,would have been capable of adapting the preliminary plans as needed. Liner's skill <br /> is apparent in his work for the Orange County Board of Education, for which he built the one-story <br /> brick St. Mary's School (1931) in Hillsborough.14 <br /> NCIHCG admitted its first residents in October 1925 under the supervision of matron Carrie M. <br /> Brooks,teacher Rosa Morrow, and farm manager Charles Fuller. Brooks, an educator who had <br /> previously resided in Greensboro and Washington, D. C., accepted a year-long contract with a$900 <br /> salary. She prepared for the position by working in July and August at the Virginia Industrial Home <br /> for Colored Girls,where she received guidance from Janie Porter Barrett.15 <br /> Like many comparable institutions,the NCIHCG included a farm that provided residents with <br /> sustenance and exercise. Agricultural returns reported to 1925 North Carolina farm census taker A. K. <br /> McAdams indicate that the farm manager, children, and staff cultivated 33 acres of corn,tobacco, <br /> 13"North Carolina Federation Women Held 1611 Annual Session,Mrs.Brown,Pres.,"New York Age,May 30, <br /> 1925,p.2;NCSBCPW,Biennial Report of the NCSBCPW, 1924-1926(Raleigh:NCSBCPW, 1926), 120-121;Charlotte <br /> Hawkins Brown,undated report and fmancial statement,NCSBPWI,Box 163. <br /> 14 Charlotte Hawkins Brown,correspondence, 1921,and NCIHCG financial statements,NCSBPWI,Box 163; <br /> Orange County Board of Education minutes,November 12, 1930,microfilm,North Carolina State Archives,Raleigh;death <br /> certificate. <br /> 15 Charlotte Hawkins Brown,correspondence and reports,NCSBPWI,Box 163. <br />