Although there are very fine institutions of learning for young women throughout the state, most of the private schools are not designed to prepare young women for a profession other than teaching or nursing. However, larger cities, like Charlotte, have schools such as Kings Business College and the Fleming University of Shorthand. Both institutions offer training in office skills.
Here is a reading list that a teacher might have assigned students at the turn of the last century. Some of the books are classics, like Robin Hood, and some would have been just published.
Dusk jackets of the books appearing on the reading list.
The Call of the Wild - 1903 by Jack London
Rural schools looked quite different from those in the city. Small, one-to-two room schools dotted the landscape in Mecklenburg County. Usually there would be more than one school in a community so it would be within walking distance for the children living in the ten or more nearby farms. Each school had at least one professional teacher for students from grades one to nine. Most children walked to school.
