1. Something of Myself
3. A Brief Autobiography by Phoebe Pegram Baughan
5. With an Introduction by Marjorie S. Mendenhall
7. In its history Woman's College has shown two distinct qualities-variety in its student body and a succession of prevailing ideals. Nor have these two qualities been unrelated. It is even possible that they have been interacting. The first student body, for instance, was integrated by the ideal of vocational self-sufficiency. The result was that a variety of types of students came together, for there were among them those who had been graduated from or had attended the older finishing schools, as well as poorly prepared girls from the mountain and rural districts-all seeking a satisfactory vocational outlet. The Normal School in those early days must have been something of an experimental school in which there was an endeavor to adapt the pattern of formal education to the demands of varied personality and opportunity. The recognition of an obligation of this sort and the wisdom, kindliness, and tact which Dr. McIver and his associates displayed, exemplified in Mrs. Baughan's admittance and subsequent treatment, raise a question as to the finality of the facile characterization of the early normal schools in the South as "long on piety and short on culture." Mrs. Baughan was, as her account indicates, in many ways unique. And yet her experience was not unrelated to the cycle of ideals which epitomizes the evolving history of the college. Without any implications of finality, we would outline that cycle to include: (1) the desire to discover a fructifying self-support, (2) service in the mission field, (3) the purpose to rehabilitate North Carolina, and (4) a wider idea of social service, motivated not so much by service to the state as by general principles; such as humanitarianism and public welfare-ideals which are influential throughout the world, closely bound as it is by the instruments and inventions of the power age. Minor motivations, judged by their effectiveness in this institution and not intrinsically, have been the woman's movement and world peace. From the special angle of approach which we have chosen, the present seems to represent a sort of interregnum. Indications of the outline for a new period may already have been given in the reorganization of the library and the addition of the departments of the fine arts and of philosophy. In a way Mrs. Baughan s career has synthesized the greater portion of the cycle which we have sketched, for her life cut the chrysalis of the picturesque but confining pattern made familiar to the reading public through such books as Horace Kephan's Our Soutbern Higblanders, to emerge and develop in the pattern of the age of power. The continuity in the history of the college, in which phase has been evolved out of phase, is similar to the continuity in the lives of mother and daughter. Mrs. Baughan has gone from calis PHOEBE PEGRAM BAUGHAN thenics to osteopathy, massage, dietetics and invention. And her daughter, Phoebe Baughan Barr, in her work with the Denishawn Dancers and as an inspiring teacher of dancing, has extended the line of interests to dancing as an art and as a means of education. Mrs. Baughan's account of her life will have an appeal beyond the circle of her personal friends. It will interest all who recognize a rare human document. M. S. M.
9. DEAR OLD PALS:
11. I sit here in my little office with only the sound of the waterfall and the hum of the power-plant to break the stillness of the night. Out of the past the panorama of sixty-five years rises up before me. September 23, 1872, I was born in a little log cabin on Hurricane Creek, in Surry County, North Carolina. They named me Phoebe Pegram. At the age of five I began to grow up and to learn the farm-work. Every morning I shouldered my hoe and went to the field right behind my Dad. He was a big strong man with a kind heart. He always loved meeven when I dug up as much corn as weeds. And when I got hot and tired he would hoist me up between the plow handles where I could ride until I was rested or ready to drbp off to sleep. In those days everybody had to work-not six hours a day, but from daylight until dark. Corn sold for thirty cents a bushel, nice fat dressed pork for three cents a pound, and eggs for eight cents a dozen. There was little time to play. I had four big brothers and three sisters. In the winter when the day's work was done, all of us gathered before the pine-log fire that served as a light. Each one had to pick his or her shoe full of cotton seed before he could go to bed. Out of the cotton so separated from its seeds the clothes of the family were made. Mother carded and spun the cotton into thread which she wove into cloth. Then she made the cloth into clothes-all with her fingers. If you were smart and worked hard you might have a nice Sunday dress or suit of homespun flax. That was real luxury. As the years went swiftly by, my mother became an invalid and the boys grew up and went out into the world to seek their fortunes. I learned to run the farm, to milk and churn, wash and iron. Task succeeded taskhoeing corn; feeding hogs, sheep, and cows; tending the chickens; and cutting wood along side my youngest brother, who had remained at home for a few years. Our horse died one winter, so we hitched ourselves to the shafts of the wagon and thus got the wood for that long, cold, mountain winter. Do not think there was no fun. When the wood was cut and all in the shed, out into the deep snow we trailed the rabbit or 'possum. Many were the feasts of baked "'possum and taters." And there were wonderful rides on the old loom bench turned upside down. This old bench played us many a trick. When we thought everything was going great, over we would go headlong into the deep snow. But the fun stopped when my last brother went away to the big city to learn to be a doctor. In a few short years my Dad passed away. Sometime after this Mother decided that since the older children had had some education she would send her three younger daughters to school. It seemed that the way was opening to fulfill my great desire. We walked the two miles as if they were but a little way. The teacher was very nice to me. She did not humiliate me by placing me with the younger children, 4 but gave me a grade all to myself. We went to school for five days. On Friday afternoon one of the trustees gave me a note for my mother. This is a copy: "Mrs. Pegram wens is sory to tell uons that you childrns dos not belong to this schol but to the tother districk. Sined by comity." T. Idson. (Cairman.) It was a terrible blow to have my school days end so abruptly. For a time my heart sank. But my thoughts could not be crushed. Mother was frail and I dared not show that I was disappointed. I toiled all day and read at night. For five years I ran the farm. But my desire to go to school and go into training to be a missionary to India was ever increasing. Many things happened in those five years. The most important was that Mother's health failed rapidly. Finally, we saw that the end was near. As we stood around Mother's bed she smiled and said, "Children, I have walked up and down the bank of the River many times; but this time I will cross over. Meet me on the other side." That night as I sat by Mother she opened her eyes and said, "Phoebe, are you there? You have never given me any trouble, and I see no trouble for your future. I expect great things of you, and I know that you will not fail." These words stirred the smouldering fire within my heart and have been a guiding star through all the long years of my life. After the funeral the boys asked the girls if they were afraid to stay home and take care of the place. Our answer was, "No, we are not afraid." This was in 1890. The next year there was much talk of a State Normal School which was to be opened at Greensboro in the near future. I watched the papers to see when that school, offering an education to girls like me, would open its doors. At last the time came. I spent days writing and rewriting my application. I got the appointment, not from Surry but from Stokes county. But I had no money. I was afraid to ask my brother, who then lived in Greensboro, for money, for he did not want me to leave the other girls. Without delay I went to Elkin to ask Mr. R. R. Gwyn if he would lend me the money. He promised to let me have as much as five hundred dollars and took my personal note for ninety dollars. The latter was about the The ALUMNAE NEwS MRS. BAUGHAN amount needed for my first year at school. The days that followed were exceedingly exciting. My clothes must be prepared. There were three new dresses-two gingham ones, and one woolen one for Sunday. My wrap was a crocheted sweater, made of snowwhite homespun wool. A home-made hat matched my Sunday dress. A brand-new pair of shoes and two pairs of hose completed my wardrobe. Finally the day arrived for my long trip. On the train I was so excited that when a lady got on at Guilford College and asked me if she could share my seat I could not say a word. That lady was Miss Gertrude Mendenhall * When the train stopped at Greensboro, many girls got off and gathered in the old depot to await Dr. McIver. I sat over in one corner by myself holding my little handbag. Soon Dr. McIver came in. After asking if there were any girls for the Normal School he came over to me and took my handbag. For a moment I held on to it. He smiled and said, "I will carry it for you." Outside, after shaking hands with a girl, he asked her to take care of me. Nellie Blair from Winston-Salem was very kind to me and won my undying love. At the school we were met in the hall by Miss Kirkland, who received us in a most cordial and gracious manner. The buildings were not complete. Lime barrels, nail kegs, and piles of plastering fragments were here and there. In the sitting room the girls stood around while Miss Kirkland assigned them to their rooms. My roommates were Miss Mattie Lou Bolton and Miss Mary Anderson. The beds IN HER GARDEN were not made. Some had no mattresses. Mine was one of these. Some of the girls wept; some laughed, but all made the best of conditions. The next day the trunks and mattresses arrived. Busy days followed, in which we dressed up our rooms and became acquainted with each other. The examinations were the talk of all. I did not know what the others were dreading, but I soon found out. When we assembled in the chapel, three or four teachers were on the rostrum. Among other things Dr. McIver told us how to fold our papers and where to write our names--at the top and the bottom of each page. All day I sat there and tried to read the questions. Somehow I never thought "fail." Four o'clock came, and Miss Bertha Lee told the girls to fold their papers and hand them in, whether they had failed or not. I folded my paper and again wrote my name at the top of the page and handed it in. Then I hurried to my room, not to weep and wail but to think. Finally I made up my mind to go to Dr. McIver and tell him that I could not stand the examination. In the meantime the faculty were having a meeting to look over the papers. Miss Broadway said, "I know I have the nicest, cleanest paper handed in. There is not a blot, a mispelled word, or a mistake in it." It was passed around and looked at in silence. There was nothing on the paper except Phoebe Pegram written on it in three places. Next morning I went to Dr. McIver's office and knocked very lightly. There was no answer, so I knocked a little harder. And Dr. McIver said, "Come in." He got up, shook hands APRIL, 1937 with me, called me by my name and asked me to have a seat. I preferred to stand for fear I should not be able to gel: up again. My tongue simply would not work. Dr. McIver seemed very busy, for he wrote and wrote on a bit of paper. After a while he asked what he could do for me. I at last found my tongue and said, "Dr. McIver, I cannot stand the examination." He wrote some more and then said, "Well, what are we going to do with you?" With bowed head I replied, "Anything. But do not send me home. I cannot go." Then he wrote some more, this time on a nice piece of paper which he told me to take to Dr. Alderman. Dr. Alderman in turn asked me a few questions as to why I had come to school and what I expected to do. It seemed ages before he smiled and said, "Miss Pegram, we are going to give you a trial and see what you are made of. Take this note to Miss Lee. She will help you with your program and give you your books." In Miss Lee I found the 1 o v e 1 i e s t lady I thought I had ever seen. This was the schedule which she made for me: Arithmetic, Rhetoric, History, Physiology, Physical Geography, M u s i c, Domestic Science, Art, .Elocution, and Physical Culture. Can you imagine how I felt with my armful of books as I thought of the fodder fields and of the haying days just behind me? By dint of early rising, against which there were no rules, I passed at the end of the. first semester in all but four studies. I got C [condition] on three. But at the end of the year I had made up the three Cs. I spent most of the summer making up deficiencies. The next year was one long to be remembered. The work was hard, but with joy I worked as unceasingly as in the beginning. I especially enjoyed the Physical Culture classes, in which I became efficient in swinging Indian clubs and dumb-bells, vaulting the old horse at sixty inches and the rope at five feet ten inches. I remained in the school for six years. Two of those years I was an assistant teacher in Physical Culture. I must tell you more of what those years meant to me. After I had been in school about six weeks Dr. McIver asked to see me in his office. Heart pounding, knees trembling, I went. But he met me with a smile and a hearty handshake: He wanted to know why when I came I did not tell them that Mr. Peg ram in Greensboro was my brother. My answer was, "I thought if I had friends they would be mine and not Jay's." He laughed and said, "Do you t h i n k we are that kind of friends?" I replied, "No, not now; but I did not know then." You have heard it said that you are judged by the clothes you wear. That cannot be true, for that first year I had but three dresses and my friends were just as true as in after years when my brother really dressed me up. First among the friends still dear to my heart I would name Dr. McIver, whose heart was of pure gold and who was a friend to every girl in the Old North State. He was an inspiration to all with whom he came in contact. His dreams have come true in the marvelous institution, the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina. Then there were Dr. Bitting, Dr. Alderman, Mr. Forney, Miss Fort, Miss Bryant, Mr. Brown, and Miss McIntyre, and the a s s i s t a n t teachers, Miss Lina McDonald, whose tragic death cast a shadow over all, Miss Maud Broadway, Miss Bertha Lee, and Miss Applewhite. Their memories are like a benediction. After the first year Dr. Bitting did not return to the school. Dr. Gove .came in her place. She slipped into all our hearts. Now, after forty years and more, she is dear to all who have known her. Miss Mendenhall never held it against me that I would not share my train seat. And Miss Boddie was so patient in the Latin class. Last but not least, I recall Miss Kirkland. Many were the nights that she sent her maid to tell me to come down that she might help me with my lessons. She taught me how to read, talk, and many other things. Sunday mornings she would have me go by her room to see that I was properly dressed. She never in any way criticized the home-made hat or dress. She told me instead such things as always to button my gloves, to walk straight, and to come right back after church. We must not forget the time Dr. McIver 'phoned Miss Kirkland that the legislature had appropriated twelve thousand five hundred dollars for the School and that he would be in on the ten o'clock train that night. Great preparations were made to celebrate. Tar barrels were sent out f ,t o m . Greensboro. The students gathered up all the old bells, horns, and pans, and marched to meet Dr. McIver. About half way to town we met him. He 5 dismounted from his carriage, and we all marched back to school, shouting and singing, beating pans and drums, and blowing tin horns. From the steps of the Main Building Dr. McIver made a speech. That was one grand occasion. May 17, 1897, Dr. J. L. M. Curry announced that he wanted to give a medal to the girl whom Dr. McIver and the faculty would name as deserving. Dr. McIver said that he thought that he spoke the minds of the faculty when he named Phoebe Pegram of Surry County. I was so overcome by the applause and the words of advice from Dr. Curry that my tongue as usual refused to make a sound. My George Peabody medal is mounted in a silver case like a watch. I cherish it more than any of my treasures. In the fall of 1898 I went to Gastonia, North Carolina, where I taught three years. There I met Mr. Baughan, and in 1901 we were married. Mr. Baughan is a civil engineer. I learned to love and to do much of his work of supervising the construction of roads and the installation of water, lights, and sewerage systems. It has carried us into most of the southern states. Two children came to bless us. Charlie, named for Dr. McIver, is an aviator and has lived in Mexico for the last eight years. Phoebe went to Woman's College too. She got her A.B. degree in the spring of 1927. She has married Dr. Scott Barr, now a member of the faculty of Tulane University. While we were in South Georgia another turning point in my life appeared. I had contracted malarial fever and I was desperately ill. Complications arose that no one of the various physicians seemed to understand. Finally an osteopath was recommended to me. You know that a drowning man will catch at a straw. In this instance it proved to be a life line. After a course of treatments I recovered. A year later I announced to my husband that I wanted to know something about osteopathy. Mr. Baughan said, "Go to it," and I did. I received my diploma in 1914. In the time of the influenza epidemics at the close of the World War I was as busy as any doctor and I didn't lose a patient. I have added to my work massage and dietetics. I find that this combination, along with what you think, will eliminate most human ailments. I wish I might tell you of my The ALUMNAE NEWS patients. They are those who have cried doctors without relief. One of them was my husband, who had paralysis about nine years ago. He is now quite well and works all the time. Somewhat by accident I recently added another interest to my life. I had a lot of copying to do. After trying to do it myself I decided to go to Greensboro and have a professional typist do it. As I watched the girl write I saw the inconvenience of having to keep the place with a ruler or a piece of paper. Then the wheels began to turn in my head. The result was a copy-holder for the typist. It brings the material right over the typewriter. I have had it patented. I am negotiating with some manufacturers, and I hope to sell it this summer. There are three things that I want to do before I shall be satisfied with my career: to fly an aeroplane, to broadcast a speech, and to secure an A.B. degree from the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina. Do you think I can realize them? I send love to all who know me. PHOEBE PEGRAM BAUGHAN.