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Oxford College and Raleigh Female Seminary
The origins of the Raleigh Female Seminary are misty and ill-defined. We do know that it was founded in Raleigh around 1870 by the Rev. William Royall. According to Charles Smith in his 1888 book The History of Education in North Carolina, F.P. Hobgood became the president of the Raleigh Female Seminary after Rev. Royall left. Smith states that Hobgood then moved the Seminary to Oxford in 1880, where it became the Oxford Female College. Jay Mazzochi contradicts this information in the Encyclopedia of North Carolina. Mazzochi reports that Oxford was in existence concurrently with the Raleigh Seminary. F.P. Hobgood was formerly the president of Raleigh Female Seminary, but left in 1880 to become president of Oxford. 
Oxford College Logo. To see more Oxford College and Raleigh Female Seminary ephemera preserved at the North Carolina Collection, click on the picture. There is one piece of evidence that links the two schools decidedly. At the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University resides a progress report for Miss Lavinia Blackwell, dated June 6, 1881. The progress report is printed with the name of Raleigh Female Seminary, but “Raleigh” has been crossed out and replaced with “Oxford.” This artifact strongly suggests that the Raleigh Female Seminary was defunct by 1881 or had been absorbed by the Oxford Female Seminary. Either way it was no longer in existence. The latter institution was founded in 1850 or 1851, according to Mazzochi and corroborated by Kemp P. Battle in his 1900 report “Old or Extinct Schools of North Carolina.” It was originally called Oxford Female College and was a Baptist institution. The Rev. Samuel Wait was the first president. Financial difficulties caused the property to be sold in 1857 to John H. Mills, who became the second president. Oxford College went through a series of administrators until 1880 when president Hobgood took the reins. He renamed it “Oxford Female Seminary” and his administration was a golden age for the College, marked by his charisma and progressive educational ideals. Hobgood divided the curriculum into preparatory and collegiate departments and students participated in daily physical exercises. All students wore the same uniform and attended chapel services every day. Such was the affection for Oxford College that when fire gutted the buildings in January 1904, the citizens of Oxford took it upon themselves to raise money to rebuild the school. Hobgood remained president until his death in 1924. The school closed a year later. Source for image on this page: Image from title page of "The Phoenix," 1907-1908, in the Oxford College Ephemera Collection, North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. VC378.9 M67 Oxford. Works Consulted: Battle, Kemp Plummer. “Old or Extinct Schools of North Carolina, Supplemental.” Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina, for the Scholastic Years 1898-’99 and 1899-1900. Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards & Broughton, 1900. 638-639 pp. Hill, Michael, ed. Guide to North Carolina Highway Historical Markers. Raleigh, N.C.: Division of Archives and History, 2001. 93 p. Mazzochi, Jay. “Oxford College.” In Encyclopedia of North Carolina, ed. by William S. Powell. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. 861 p. Powell, William S. Higher Education in North Carolina. Raleigh, N.C.: State Department of Archives and History, 1970. 74 p. Smith, Charles Lee. The History of Education in North Carolina. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1888. 124 p. Winston, George T. “Education in North Carolina.” The Southern States. May, 1893. 147 p. For further information: Raleigh Female Seminary report card of Lavinia Blackwell at Digital Durham. The Samuel and Sarah Wait Collection. Wake Forest University Special Collections and Archives. Student receipts (Oxford Female College), 1837. Series III. Financial Documents (Wake Forest College). Folder 80. Items available in the North Carolina State Archives Raleigh Female Seminary diploma of Lucy B. Kennedy in the North Carolina State Archives, Lucy B. (Mrs. Leonidas) Middleton Papers. Call number: PC.1485. Photographs of Oxford Female Seminary in the North Carolina State Archives, Office of Archives and History Photograph Collection Series. Box: Photographs Received 1989. Folder: Photographs Received in May, 1989. Call number: N.89.5.713-719. The Thomas Bell Collection in the North Carolina State Archives. Call number: PC.192. Items available in the North Carolina Collection Holden, W. W. Address Delivered Before the Ladies of the Raleigh Female Seminary: June 7th, 1859. Raleigh, N.C.: Holden and Wilson, 1859. Call number C378 UK4 v.12. Catalogue of the Trustees, Officers and Pupils of Oxford Female College. Petersburg, N.C.: O. Ellyson, printer. 1852/1855. Call number Cp378 O98H. The Annual Announcement of Oxford Female College. Oxford, N.C.: Oxford Female College. 1861. Call number Cp378 O98H 1861. Catalogue of Oxford Female Seminary. Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards & Broughton, Power Printers and Binders. 1889/1890. Call number Cp378 O98H 1889. Catalogue of Oxford Female Seminary. Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards & Broughton Print Co. 1912/13-1917/18, 1920/21-1923/24. Call number C378 O98H 1912. |
