Carr-Burdette College [Cover & Letter]
Name/Title
Carr-Burdette College [Cover & Letter]Description
Advertising cover from "Carr-Burdette College. / Sherman, Texas." addressed to "Miss Juetta Harrington, / Norman, O.T." Postmarked "SHERMAN. TEX. / OCT 9 1905." Letter describes how Carr-Burdette College was accommodating late arrivals due to the yellow fever epidemic in 1905. "Carr-Burdette College Sherman, Texas 10/8/1905 Dear Miss Harrington, By special request from a number of pupils who will be tardy in their entering College this fall, on account of the scare or quarantine resulting from the yellow fever epidemic, we have granted them liberal pro rata reduction. As we have granted it to those who have requested it, and as we are almost daily receiving letters asking for catalogues, we deem it just and right to grant the reduction to all who may be unavoidably late in their entrance either from this cause or from local causes, such as the shortage in crops, etc. We make, therefore this liberal proposition: All pupils who enter Carr-Burdette College the middle or latter part of October, or the first of November, will have board, fuel, lights, laundry (limited) and tuition in the Literary and Scientific Course and the use of the Gymnasium from date of entrance to the close of the session, June 1st,, 1906, for ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS ($135.00) - one half to be paid upon entrance and the remainder February 1st, 1906. Our teachers will give also special attention to students who enter late inorder to make up as far as possible for lost time. All such students will also be eligible as contestants for honors in any class. Do not defer entering until November 1st unless you are unavoidably detained, as you will have the same reduction if you enter in October. If there is any other obstacle in the way of your coming to Carr-Burdette that the liberal proposition herein made does not remove, do not hesitate to write us fully and freely concerning it, as to a friend; for such we are truly to girls anxious for an education. Let us hear from you without delay that we may reserve a place for you. Write us definitely when you will arrive in Sherman and on what train that we may be sure to meet you at the depot. Confidently expecting to hear from you promptly, I am Sincerely yours, Mrs. O. A. CarrContext
Carr-Burdette College, at Sherman, was a preparatory school and junior college for women that operated from 1894 to 1929. The founders of the school were O. A. and Mattie F. (Myers) Carr. After missionary work in Australia and administrative duties in Kentucky and Missouri, the Carrs moved to Sherman in the early 1890s. The rapid growth of the North Texas area, partly a result of the emerging agribusiness centers Denison and Sherman convinced the Carrs that a preparatory school for young women was needed. Mattie financed the construction of a large brick building by selling 250 lots at $200 each in Sherman. The "Girls' Home," as Carr called it, sat on an eight-acre campus. The Carrs planned to leave the institution to the Christian Church at Sherman. The college opened in 1894, and for the next fourteen years Mrs. Carr directed its development. After her death in 1907 the Christian Church in Sherman took control of the administrative duties. O. A. Carr died in 1913. During the next sixteen years the enrollment and finances of Carr-Burdette College peaked, stabilized, and then began a slow decline. In 1929 the institution closed. In April 1939 the property was sold, and the two brick buildings were razed. Oklahoma Territory existed from 1890 to 1907. During that time, higher education institutions founded were: ~ University of Oklahoma: In 1901 Fantine Frances Samuels became the first woman to receive a bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma. ~ Territorial Normal School (University of Central Oklahoma): The first graduating class at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in 1897 included three women and two men. ~ Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical School (Oklahoma State University): Jessie Thatcher Bost graduated in 1897, alongside two male students in the university's second graduating class. (A case of typhoid fever had prevented her from graduating with the first class in 1896).Category
The Handbook of Texas