39

report for that year appears incomplete in several respects. It omits, for example, any mention of a College course of study and it-mentions only the first year of the Normal class, with l9 students enrolled. It is specific and helpful, however, by reporting that the English course, in which 86 students were enrolled, consisted of the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. Twenty—one students and eleven students, respectively, were taking music and industrial courses. Thirteen of the total number of students graduated that year.8h

The quality of the work at Bennett was very highly praised by

an outside obserVer of the June H—6, l888,commencement exercises. The

reporter complimented, for example, the work of the two literary socie- _

ties, the Cornelian Ring for young women and the Literary Society for young men. His deScription follows in more detail:

The writer has attended the closing exercises of each term and session fer years, and can say without hesitation, that the speaking, oratory, diction, and a general appreciation of good English words, were almost surprising, but quite

gratifying to all who heard them . . . . we can only re- peat what has been said-”Bennett's work is second to none.

85

The material assets of the seminary increased in size during these eight years, but more income was always needed. In June, 1884,

the value of the property, consisting of the land and a four-story

86

brick building, was listed as $l5,000.00. An addition of about 3%

3—-

84Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education Society, Twenty-Second Annual Report, l889, p. 36.

aSGreensboro NOrth State, June 2l, l888.

§§Raleigh Register, June 4, l884.