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Postcard of the Columbia
Institute |
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Postcard from the Past:
A Message from School
By Dan Hardison
In the rolling hills of Middle
Tennessee at Columbia, an Episcopal finishing school for girls
was established in 1835 and called the Columbia Institute. The
school’s building – designed after an English castle with its
towers, turreted walls, and ivy-mantled porches – was completed
in 1838. The school became well known for its high standard of
education and was attended by girls from across the country.
This was a school where art and music were a part of the
standard curriculum, and where physical education that included
a daily walk were required, as well as attending chapel every
day. “A school where the best formative influences prevail and
where the tone is distinctively and dominantly moral and
spiritual.” Mark Twain paid tribute in one of his books by
saying, “A beautiful school on the Duck River, where the young
girls of the South receive their education in a castle.”
The Columbia Institute closed its doors in 1934, a casualty of
the Great Depression. The castle like old school was used for
storage and left abandoned until in 1959 it burned to the
ground. As a six-year old living in Columbia with my family, I
witnessed the Institute burn. Standing on the sidewalk in front
of the historic building, we watched as its massive stone walls
were engulfed in flames and crashed to the ground.
I have an old postcard with a picture of the
ivy-covered school on the front. On the back is an address for Knoxville,
Tennessee, with a postmark from Columbia dated September 22, 1913.
The message on the postcard is from a young girl living away
from home and attending the school. How different things must
have been for this girl so young, so long ago. The message
reads:
Dearest,
I got your letter this morning and sure did enjoy it. Will
answer it real soon. Please be good and next Wednesday send me a
package of chocolate cakes. If you send it then, I will get them
by Friday. Am very happy up here.
Love to all from the “noise of the family”
Then again, maybe there are some
things that never change. |
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