The Lucy Cobb Institute was a

girls' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice o ...

on Milledge Avenue in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the st ...

, United States. It was founded by

Thomas R.R. Cobb Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb (April 10, 1823 – December 13, 1862), also known as T. R. R. Cobb, was an American lawyer, author, politician, and Confederate States Army officer, killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg during the American Civil War ...

, and named in honor of his daughter, who had died of

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects child ...

at age 14, shortly before construction was completed and doors opened; it was incorporated in 1859. The cornerstone for the Seney-Stovall Chapel was laid in May 1882, and the octagonal building was dedicated in 1885. The school closed in 1931. The campus of the Lucy Cobb Institute was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

on March 16, 1972. Today, the

Carl Vinson Institute of Government The Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVIOG) is an organization that works closely with officials and employees from state and local governments in the U.S. state of Georgia and internationally to help them achieve their missions and improve pub ...

of the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

is housed in the former Lucy Cobb Institute.

History

Background

In 1854, a piece called "The Education of Our Girls" ran in a local paper, the ''Athens Watchman''. The letter was written by Laura Cobb (Mrs. Williams) Rutherford, who was "writing from a ladylike modesty" about the poor state of education for women in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. It was signed "Mother" and argued, "girls have the same intellectual constitution as men and have the same right as men to intellectual cultural development". One of the letter's readers was Mrs. Rutherford's brother,

, the father of several daughters. Cobb, a lawyer, was completely unaware of the author's identity and after reading the editorial began raising funds for a girls' school.

School opens

The trustees purchased eight acres of land on what is now known as Milledge Avenue. When the school opened on January 10, 1859, its first principal was R. M. Wright. (It was in April of this same year the Watkinsville Road acquired its present name of Milledge Avenue.) The school was later headed by Madame Sosnowski (who organized the Home School after leaving the Lucy Cobb Institute).

Mildred Lewis Rutherford Mildred Lewis "Miss Millie" Rutherford (July 16, 1851 – August 15, 1928) was a prominent white supremacist educator and author from Athens, Georgia. She served the Lucy Cobb Institute, as its head and in other capacities, for over forty years, ...

, or "Miss Millie", a graduate herself of Lucy Cobb Institute, took over leadership of the school in 1880. The Georgia Writers' Project, in a 1940 publication on the state published in the ''American Guide Series'', characterized her thusly:

'Miss Millie,' always a champion of southern traditions, was a woman of powerful personality, commanding presence, and fearlessly outspoken opinions; she was known widely for the speeches she delivered in hoop skirts.

Seney-Stovall Chapel

It was Miss Millie who decided the girls needed a chapel and had them write seeking funding for one. In 1881, Nellie Stovall wrote "a beautiful and girlish letter" to

George I. Seney George Ingraham Seney (May 12, 1826 – April 7, 1893) was a New York City banker, art collector, and benefactor. He was the father of symphonic music executive Mary Seney Sheldon. He is best remembered for amassing a substantial collection of pre ...

, who responded with the funding for the $10,000 structure, an octagonal red brick building called the Seney-Stovall Chapel. It was designed by a local architect,

William Winstead Thomas William Winstead Thomas (1848–1904) (including two photos) was an American insurance company president and an architect. He was president of the Southern Mutual Insurance Company. Several of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register o ...

. When Miss Millie stepped down from the role of principal in 1895, she was replaced at the school's helm by her sister, Mrs. M.A. Lipscomb. Rutherford and Lipscomb were nieces of T.R.R. Cobb. In 1986, R.E.M. recorded two songs in the chapel for the documentary '' Athens, GA: Inside/Out''.

The end

Although the institute "became a well-known girls' preparatory school", "praised throughout the South for its emphasis on gentle manners and old-fashioned accomplishments", it "did not survive the depression", and closed its doors in 1931. At that point, the

took over its campus, and used the main building as a women's dormitory and eventually storage. A restoration effort to save the complex was completed in 1997 with the renovation of Seney-Stovall Chapel. The former Lucy Cobb Institute became the home of the

Notable alumnae

* Sarah Johnson Cocke * Julia Flisch * Moina Michael *

Caroline Love Goodwin O'Day Caroline Love Goodwin O'Day (June 22, 1869 – January 4, 1943) was an American politician who served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1935 to 1943. She was the third woman, and first woman Democrat, elected to Congress from ...

Fay Webb-Gardner Fay Lamar Webb-Gardner (September 7, 1885 – January 16, 1969) was an American political hostess, businesswoman, and philanthropist. As the wife of Oliver Max Gardner, she served as the Second Lady of North Carolina from 1917 to 1923 and as F ...

* Josephine Wilkins

References

External links

"Lucy Cobb Institute"
in ''

New Georgia Encyclopedia The ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (NGE) is a web-based encyclopedia containing over 2,000 articles about the state of Georgia. It is a program of Georgia Humanities (GH), in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System ...

''
Lucy Cobb Institute
historical marker {{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1859 Educational institutions disestablished in 1931 Defunct girls' schools in the United States Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) University of Georgia campus Defunct schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Schools in Clarke County, Georgia 1859 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1931 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) National Register of Historic Places in Clarke County, Georgia Girls' schools in Georgia (U.S. state)