While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
"So built we the wall; for the people had a mind to work."-Nehemiah.
The improvements undertaken and completed
by means of the student help began with the
removal of old rubbish, the accumulation of
years, and the impenetrable briar thickets
near the buildings.
During the latter part of the first spring
term in 1905 the boys applied two good coats
of lead and oil in cream and white to the
Boys' Hall. The work was well done although
it was the first work of the kind any of
them had ever attempted. The appearance of
the building was greatly improved, and every
boy was delighted to find how quickly the
painter's art could be learned.
The black picket and crooked worm fences
around the buildings were then removed and
replaced with good board and wire fences.
The extent of good and substantial fences,
erected during this period, aggregate about
100 rods of board and picket fences around
the campus, garden and stock yards; 12 large
farm gates, all hung between tall posts with
overhead tie; and 780 rods of web and barb
wire fence; all set with good Bodark or
Locust posts, top down and reinforced with a
strong oak stub in every panel, making a
valuable permanent improvement.
In March 1906 a young orchard was planted
consisting of 50 trees that include a number
of the best varieties of apples and peaches
suited for that section. These were
supplemented with a similar lot in 1913.
The purchase of lands, begun in 1908, as
soon as the restrictions were removed, was
continued until 1912 when the aggregate
included fifteen different purchases, making
270 acres and costing $2050.00.
Twenty-five acres were cleared of previously
ringed and dead trees and thirty more were
enclosed and cleared of underbrush and
useless trees.
The surface drainage work begun in 1905 and
completed in 1912, included outlets to all
the little ponds near the buildings, the
deepening of the artificial pond north of
the buildings, a deep drain with branches,
through the meadow and another one through a
large slough at the northwest corner of the
farm.
Buildings
The first building erected was a log house
24x32 feet with a good cistern in 1906, and
for the number of its conveniences it is an
excellent model. A cut and description of it
will be found in the latter part of this
volume.
A new shed was also built that year, on the
east side of the commons, for the
convenient, daily care of the growing herd
in the pastures.
In 1907 a belfry and farm bell were put on
the comb of the roof of the first girls'
hall. An axle was obtained and a wooden
wheel and frame were made for the large old
bell, and it was then mounted in the tower
of the chapel.
The new highway along the railroad to
Valliant was cleared of trees and the
materials converted into posts and fuel. Two
substantial oak bridges, five and ten feet
long respectively, were constructed over the
streams on this road to make it passable for
the loaded Oak Hill team during term time.
A string of hay sheds, 64x16 feet, was
constructed on the south side of the feed
lot and two portable racks for feeding hay
and fodder economically and conveniently
from the sheds.
In 1908 the enrollment having reached 115,
the seating capacity of the academy was
increased by lifting all the seats and
adding an additional row of thirteen double
seats to their number. The academy was then
painted two coats inside and outside and the
woodwork of the old desks was brightened and
tinted to correspond with the new ones.
These improvements made it look more
beautiful and attractive than ever before.
The porches on the south and west sides of
the girls hall were repaired by the
insertion of new joists where needed and the
laying of new floors.
Temporary Boys' Hall
In 1909, the Boys' Hall having been lost a
few days after the opening of the term,
November 8, 1908, a temporary boys' hall
55x24 feet was hastily constructed, its
dedication taking place Feb. 28, 1909, after
an address by Rev. Wiley Homer of Grant.
This meeting was held on a beautiful Sabbath
afternoon and the speakers and singers
occupied the wide platform on the west end
of the building. This building was erected
entirely by the student boys. The materials
in it cost $410 and it had apartments for an
office, one teacher and twenty-five boys.
It was intended as a place for the workmen
while erecting a new hall for the boys, the
material in it then to be used in lining the
new building.
The blistered condition of the front of the
girls' hall and academy from the intense
heat of the fire were then relieved by a
thorough scraping, sandpapering and
repainting.
Owing to the limited accommodations for the
boys in this building, and for the large
number of pupils in the primary department
in the academy, an extension of twelve feet,
with an upper room for special students, was
added that fall to the academy. While this
improvement was under construction, other
boys built a new wood shed, obtained in the
timber and prepared the supplies of fuel,
and built 170 rods of new fence. A
considerable quantity of sand was also
hauled for the foundation of the new hall
for the boys.
Elliott Hall
In 1910, the erection of Elliott Hall became
a necessity after the disastrous fire which
occurred on March 13th. This building is
80x32 feet, with an extension 6x32 feet, in
front, and a two story addition 18x16 feet,
for kitchen store and bath rooms, at the
northwest corner over a large brick-walled
cistern.
This building absorbed the attention of all
for more than a year, although it was opened
for occupancy on November 14th. It was a
great undertaking with the few workmen
obtainable. The clearing away of the
rubbish, the excavation for the cellar 28x75
feet and the construction of the foundation
wall, and the same for the large cistern
took a good deal more time than was
expected, and all of it was heavy and hard
work for every one that participated in it.
It was the 15th of June when the cement wall
around the main part of the foundation was
completed by the superintendent, who placed
the rock, cement and reinforcing materials
in the walls with his own hands as a
precaution against defects.
The construction of the frame work was
entrusted to Samuel A. Folsom, who, acting
as foreman of the carpenters, succeeded in
getting the building ready for occupancy at
the end of five months, or November 14th. So
great, however, was the amount of unfinished
work in the halls and rooms upstairs and of
cement lining needed for the excavation
walls in the cellar that a considerable
number of students were employed principally
at this work during that and the following
term.
Every part of the work on this building was
very faithfully performed. It is a
creditable monument to the memory of every
one that wrought upon it. It is symmetrical
and, though plain, is handsome in appearance
and very convenient in its uses; as an
administration building, girls dormitory and
boarding house. The lumber was furnished and
delivered by J. R. Bowles of Swink; David
Folsom made the window and door frames;
Solomon Buchanan served as foreman of the
painters, and he and George Stewart built
the walls of the cistern and the first story
of the chimneys. Edward Hollingsworth, in
addition to important work on other parts of
the building, served as foreman of the
construction of the stairways, belfry and
porches. It represents an expenditure of
$6,500 in cash and student labor. This does
not include the services of the
superintendent, who had previously prepared
the plans for the building and personally
superintended its construction.
Later Improvements
During 1911 and 1912 while some were putting
the finishing touches on Elliott Hall, the
last being the insertion of the fixtures in
the two bath rooms and the construction of a
closed room in the cellar for canned fruit
and vegetables, the other boys removed the
old oak stumps from the north field, drained
a slough covering four acres of land,
cleaned twenty acres of land for cultivation
and built 160 rods of good fence around it.
They also built a pretty and very convenient
semi-monitor hen house, with open front and
two out-yards.
Pulling Stumps
During the month of March, when the ground
was moist and favorable, a squad of the
larger boys would sometimes be equipped and
employed in pulling stumps. This was a new
employment for all of them, but they soon
learned to make a cheering success of it.
The working outfit consisted of two
levers, a very large and a smaller one, a
log chain, sixty feet of inch rope, and for
each of the workmen a shovel and an axe. The
method of procedure was to assign them in
teams of two each, to remove the earth from
around a lot of stumps to the width and
depth of about eighteen inches. The larger
lever, having the middle fold of rope
attached to its smaller end, was placed in a
vertical position at the lower side of the
stump and firmly fastened to its crown with
a log chain, the latter passing over its top
from the opposite side. The small lever was
placed in position at the side opposite the
larger one, for the use of the foreman. When
all the boys, in two lines facing each
other, had hold of the ends of the rope and
the signal was given, "Ready for a pull,"
something was sure to happen; usually the
uprooting of the stump, but sometimes the
breaking of the log chain, which was sure to
result in making a good natured pile of the
boys. The team did the pulling the first
half day, but the boys did it afterwards,
because they were more available and enjoyed
it.
Wall Of Elliott Hall
The concrete wall under Elliott Hall, built
by the superintendent and student boys in
the spring of 1910, was the first work of
that kind in this section of the country.
The sand was found and obtained without cost
along a stream in the neighboring timber.
The filler consisted of rock and broken
brick from the chimneys of the three
buildings that had been previously consumed
by fire, and they were incorporated in the
wall by hand. The iron used for reinforcing
the concrete was all obtained from the scrap
pile of the burned buildings. The processes,
or methods of procedure, were new to all the
workmen. As the work advanced it called
forth expressions of distrust, rather than
confidence and commendation. The mixing of
materials had to be strictly forbidden save
in the presence of the superintendent, whose
hands afterwards placed them in position on
the wall.
After the lapse of four years this wall is
solid as a rock in every respect. It has now
the reputation of being not only the first,
but also to this date one of the most
perfect and substantial concrete walls in
that section.
Working According To Rule
An expert carpenter has observed, "It takes
the average apprentice about one year to
discover, that he does not know how to drive
a nail with the skill of an expert;" one who
drives it through hard woods without bending
and brittle, without splitting. This skill
is however always more quickly acquired,
when a rule like the following is given the
apprentice at the beginning of his training.
"Gripping the hammer near the end of the
handle and setting the nail slightly
slanting from the edges toward the solid
center, strike the top of it fairly with the
center of the hammer, starting and finishing
it with gentle taps."
Whenever a new tool or implement was put in
the hand of a student, the rules governing
its use were fully explained, and a constant
effort was made to have the student do all
work by rule; whether it was on the farm, in
the kitchen, laundry or shop, as well as in
the class room. The essential parts of the
text books, that were reviewed most
frequently, were the definitions and rules.
A good position is the first essential in
reading, writing, speaking, sawing, planing
or plowing; and the second is to grasp and
use aright the tool or implement, whether it
be the pen, pencil, brush, axe, hammer or
saw. The good effect of patiently taking the
time to make every one familiar with the
rules governing the tools and work, became
noticeable very soon on the part of the
older students, both in the better quality
of the work and the larger amount of it
performed. Progress in studies and success
in the shop or field depends largely on the
ability to follow the rule, and the decision
never to violate it.
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Choctaw Freedmen and Oak Hill Industrial
Academy, 1914, Robert Elliott Flickinger
