58

It was also reported that a dining hall was on its foundation

and covered in l904, needing only to be enclosed,69 but the building was never again mentioned in the material consulted. It is likely that

completion of the building, for dining purposes at least, never oc-

curred, for three subsequent references make it clear that the dining

area continued to be in the girls" dormitory, i.e., the original build- ing.70

Chavis described the financial situation at the college as al» most desperate in the eighth and ninth years of his presidencyo The obvious reason, of course, was that the necessities had outgrown the resources. Money was lost, for instance, because a number of teachers with very small salaries had to be boarded without charge. In addi- tion, complete fees from the students ($50.00 a year for boarding stu- dents and numerous miscellaneous fees) could not be collected, even

though Chavis said that the students were improving at this point. The

most serious setback,however,was a sizeable decrease in appropriations

69N. C. Conference, Minutes, 1903, p. 39; l904, p. 29°

70The Rev. Grandison M. Phelps, interview, 20 June l969. The Rev. Mr. Phelps is a l9l4 graduate of Bennett College and is now pastor of Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church, Greensboro, North Carolina.

Mrs. J. E. Brower, interview, 20 June l969. Mrs. Brower, the former Anna Newbill, was a l9l8 Kent Home and Bennett College graduate. Her husband, the late J. Emmons Brower, was a l9l7 alumnus and the pas- tor of St. Matthew's Methodist Episcopal Church for many years. Mrs. Brower lives in Greensboro, North Carolina°

Bennett College, Annual Catalogue, l9l5, ppo 8=9a