Oxford Orphanage


NETTIE NICHOLS BEMIS: FIRST LADY SUPERVISOR, OXFORD ORPHANAGE

In 1898 the Board of Directors of Oxford Orphanage decided to create the position of "lady supervisor." They chose a young woman from Massachussetts as the first recipient of this title. Her name was Nettie Nichols Bemis, and she became one of the most influential, respected and loved individuals in the orphanage's history.

Bemis began her vocational career as a teacher in Hammerhill, Mass. After 10 years teaching, she went to Pratt Institute to study drawing and manual training (Bemis, 17). In September 1893, Bemis went to Durham, N.C., to teach drawing and manual training in public school. Four years later, she was asked to come to Oxford (18).

Things did not go smoothly for Bemis right away as she settled into her new position. Many of her co-workers resented the idea of being under the authority of a Northerner. Some even resigned. But Bemis was determined to succeed, and over time even some of her most antagonistic opposers became her good friends (22).

The first refoms Bemis initiated at the orphanage were the dining hall practices. When she came to Oxford, boys and girls ate separately and were called/dismissed from meals by a drum. Conversation was not allowed. Bemis encouraged the orphanage to loosen up the protocol. She did away with the drum, the doors between the rooms for dining were left open, brothers and sisters could sit together, and conversation was encouraged (27).

When Bemis first arrived at the orphanage, most people thought that orphan children needed only a "common education," which was probably the equivalent of elementary school. But Bemis believed that if anything, orphan children needed more education than their peers who had parents. So she decided to give them all the education possible (55).

The children went to school for three hours, worked half a day in some vocational department and studied two-and-a-half hours at night. Bemis introduced regular schooling and keeping recoreds of grades, which some staff members did not like initially (32). The children studied the continents and became very interested in other cultures (84). Regular science and a singing class were also offered. The singing class performed all over North Carolina (95). Bemis taught woodworking to the boys, as well as how to work with reed and raphia. She had learned these skills through her manual training courses at Pratt Institute (81). Domestic science was offered to teach cooking to the girls, who also learned different types of manual training (94). Teachers were sent to other cities one day per term for training, and many trained in the summer as well (93). Education grew, facilities were added and several students even went on to become teachers themselves (56). In later years, interest in college education grew and the age for boys to leave was extended to 18. Oxford Orphanage set up a fund to help with college expenses (131). "Not a single child was kept from college for lack of funds to pay his way," claimed Bemis. Before she left in 1929, Bemis got to lay the first brick of the new school building (159).

Another frustration for Bemis over the years was tight economics at the orphanage (41). However, she worked hard to see that the children were in no way disadvantaged by their situation. Bemis worked with various superintendents to create opportunities for the children to earn extra money. Children could earn money for seasonal work, such as raking leaves (74-75). Boys trapped animals; girls were into "tatting" (77). People were always eager to buy the children's handiwork(87), and the children always got to keep the money they made (77). The orphanage opened "Candy Corner," a place where the children could buy candy, spools of cotton for knitting, potted ham and crackers, and other items. The older girls operated the store themselves, and it grew quite a bit. All of the money went to pay for parties for the children, so the orphanage itself did not profit from the little venture (58-61).

When Bemis resigned in 1929 to live with her sister in Verona, N.J., she had definitely made a mark on the lives of the children who lived at the orphanage during her tenure. The alumni comissioned Bemis' cousin to make a bronze portrait of her. In accepting it, Mary Gold Shelton McMichael wrote: "If you could see the love in our hearts when we gaze upon her likeness, you would feel repaid a million times for your kindness," (14).

Another alum wrote: "We who have gone to Oxford Orphanage can see that the training we received has made us what we are today. None of us that I know of have much of the worldly goods, but most of us have something that is better, and something which no one can take away from us--character," (15).

Bemis appreciated the expressions of love from the many alumni who kept in touch with her until her death. "All these are my rewards," she said in reference to the words of the alumni. " I bless you all," (173).

Source: Bemis, Nettie Nichols. Life at Oxford. Herald Press: Charlotte, N.C. 1937.