Medal worthy recipes from the collection.

The Olympics may be over but we have plenty of medal contending recipes.

USE 1955 Cherry Champion Pie - Dixie Classic Fair

1955 Cherry Champion Pie from Dixie Classic Fair for Northwest North Carolina : favorite recipes from friends of the Fair.

USE Sure Winner Sausage and Egg Casserole - Hornets Homecooking

Sure Winner Sausage and Egg Casserole from Hornets homecooking : favorite family recipes from the Charlotte Hornets players, coaches, staff and special fans.

USE Silver cake - Tea Kettle Talk

Silver Cake from Tea-kettle talk recipes.

USE Kathy Camp's Blue Ribbon Fig Preserves - Red's Cook Book

Kathy Camp’s Blue Ribbon Fig Preserves from Red’s cook book : (road kill not included).

USE Prize-Winning Pound Cake - Supper's at Six

Prize-Winning Pound Cake from Supper’s at six and we’re not waiting!

USE gold cake - Gourmet...Eating

Gold Cake from Recipes for gourmet eating : a compilation of favorite tested recipes of housewives of Greenville and out of town friends.

USE Ohio State 1st Prize Winning Chocolate Cake-Home Cookin'

1978 Ohio State Fair 1st Prize Winner Chocolate Cake from Home cookin’.

Check out what’s new in the North Carolina Collection.

Several new titles just added to “New in the North Carolina Collection.” To see the full list simply click on the link in the entry or click on the “New in the North Carolina Collection” tab at the top of the page. As always, full citations for all the new titles can be found in the University Library Catalog and they are all available for use in the Wilson Special Collections Library.

La Vallee Female Seminary

From the front page of the North Carolina Standard, January 7, 1836
From the front page of the North Carolina Standard, January 7, 1836

 

Tippoo S. Brownlow, owner of the La Vallee Female Seminary, placed this advertisement recruiting students to his new school in an 1836 issue of the North Carolina Standard.  The school was in operation from 1833-1850, and was located between Halifax and Warrenton, North Carolina.  The La Vallee Female Seminary was run out of a small building behind what is now known as the Gray-Brownlow-Willcox House.  The school building had two floors in which there would have been space for classes to be conducted and for students to eat meals and socialize, and an attic area which was likely the living quarters for the students.  La Vallee Female Seminary was forced to close in 1850, when Brownlow could no longer support the school financially.

 

The Gray-Brownlow-Willcox House, as pictured in The Historic Architecture of Halifax County, North Carolina
The Gray-Brownlow-Willcox House, as pictured in The Historic Architecture of Halifax County, North Carolina

 

The La Vallee Female Seminary was benefited by an experienced staff.  Brownlow had also run a school called the La Vallee Academy elsewhere in Halifax County in the late 1820s, before moving his school to the grounds of the Gray-Brownlow-Willcox House.  In addition, the advertisement includes testimonies to the ability of La Vallee’s principal.  Mrs. Emma McElvey had previously taught at a female seminary in Schenectady, New York, and her success in that position is attested to by no less than the mayor and the First Judge of Schenectady, the City physician, and several ministers.

It is interesting to note the course offerings at La Vallee Female Seminary.  The courses one would expect to see offered at a ladies’ finishing school might include subjects like music and painting.  However, La Vallee offered its young ladies courses in chemistry, astronomy, history, geography, and algebra.  The course listings for music and art lessons appear at the end of the advertisement, as these courses incurred extra fees.

This advertisement comes from the oldest issue of a North Carolina newspaper that has become available on Chronicling America thus far.  View the full advertisement here.