N.C. Federation of Woman's Clubs to Meet in Pinehurst, March 12, 1923

Of Interest to Club Women. . . Club Women to Meet at Pinehurst

By Mrs. J. Henry Highsmith, Chairman of Publicity

The following will be of interest to the 175 or more club women in Waynesville, the thred(?) federated clubs from here always sending a good representation.

The date of the annual convention of the North Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs at Pinehurst have been changed from May 5 to 8 to May 4 to 6 inclusive. This change was found necessary to avoid a conflict with the State Bankers Association, which holds its convention there May 7, 8 and 9. The Carolina Hotel will be headquarters for the club women. Monday of convention week will be given to the three board meetings—the board of trustees, the executive board and the board of directors. The opening session will be Monday evening.

Mrs. Palmer Jerman, who recently visited Pinehurst to make arrangement for the convention, says that not only Pinehurst and Carolina Hotel are counting on making the approaching convention the best the Federation has ever known, but that the whole Sand Hill country is asking for a share in the entertainment of the State’s club women. A number of invitations to social features have had to be declined, she says, owing to the shortness of time the convention will be in session and the amount of important business there is to be transacted. However, Mrs. Jerman assures us, there will be recreation and social features a plenty to break the tedium of the conference work.

Arrangements will be made for these attending the convention to visit the two institutions that perhaps appeal most strongly to the club women of the State—Samareand Manor and the State Sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis. In the establishment and work of these institutions, the women will see the things for which they worked years ago realized. In the service that they are rendering humanity and to the State they will, no doubt, find encouragement to press on with their present program which apparently has found little favor in the eyes of the average legislator. Club women did not give up when their bill to erect and maintain a reformatory for girls was rejected by the legislature the first time or the second time. A visit to Samaracand will convince the most skeptical club woman that it is worthwhile to keep up the fight for a farm colony for women prisoners too old for Samarcand and for a reformatory for delinquent colored girls.

A new feature of the convention will be a press luncheon. The main topic for discussion at this conference will be the Federation Bulletin. While the Bulletin will not be a year old, its lusty growth and the possibilities for its further development and more effective service call for counsel and co-operation on the part of the convention delegates. Many questions entertaining to the Bulletin will be answered at the luncheon.

It might be said here that the Federation Bulletin has a reception that not only the most hopeful of its promoters anticipated. Judging from the welcome that has been given it and the prompt and willing responses of the members who have been called on to contribute to its columns, it is evident that the Federation had reached the point where to continue its growth and increase its usefulness it needed an organ of its own. To those who have made the Bulletin possible, the members of the Federation are deeply grateful.

Mrs. T.L. Gwyn, state chairman of Art, is calling attention to the $10 prize offered by the director of General Headquarters in Washington for a design suitable for a book plate to be used permanently n the headquarters library. The design is to be suitable for use by the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs and therefore should symbolize some phase of its work. All communications should be directed to iss Lida Hafford, 1734 N. Street, Washington, D.C., before May 1.

From the front page of the Carolina Mountaineer, Monday, March 12, 1923

According to NCpedia, Samarcand the State Home and Industrial School for Girls, was established in 1918 as a correctional institute for young women. The concept of the school originated through the work of Presbyterian minister A. A. McGeachy, who believed the state needed a protective care center for delinquent juvenile girls, many of whom were vagrants and prostitutes.

By 1919, Samarcand housed more than 200 females between the ages of ten and twenty-five. The school curriculum consisted of Biblical studies, music, science, and math. In addition, the girls received training in weaving, canning, and laundry preparation, as well as working on the chicken and cattle farm adjacent to the facility. In 1930, the administration opened an accredited high school on the campus, as well as a hospital. Discipline at Samarcand could be harsh. Corporal punishment, in addition to solitary confinement, was often administered to the young women who misbehaved. In 1931, sixteen inmates set fire to two of the dormitories. They were charged with arson, and twelve of them set fire to their cells in prison. Eight eventually saw prison time. A 1940 account of the disciplinary ward described mattresses on the floor with no beds and a single washbasin and toilet for nearly thirty girls.

Samarcand survived the Great Depression and the loss of many male staff during World War II. The state officially renamed the school Samarcand Manor in 1974 and transferred it from the Department of Corrections to the Department of Human Services. Samarcand remained a rehabilitation center for delinquent children and began admitting male patients as well. In 2002, state officials decided to return Samarcand to an all female institution. Samarcand closed in 2011. Online at ncpedia.org/samarcand-manor, accessed March 12, 1023.