The following is information I received from the TN Historical Society. My grandmother attended this school and graduated in 1917.

Saturday Evening July 29, 1911

Buford College for Women, Nashville, Tennessee

Mr E.G. Buford, Regent, Mrs E.G. Buford, President
Miss Louise Chambliss Burgess, Director of Music

A Limited, Select Home College for the Higher Culture of Women

Non-Sectarian. Thoroughly Christian
Patronage National and Foreign
Enrollment Strictly One Hundred
Twenty-Nine States, Five nationalities
Ideal Location, Excellent Equipment, Splendid Opportunities
Early Application Necessary for Admission
No Death, No Elopement, No Casualty in History of College
Term Opens September 21, 1911


HISTORY AND WORK

After fifteen years of marked success with her "Womens College" in Clarksville, TN, Mrs E.G. Buford, one of the South's leading educators, in the vigor and maturity of her cultured, consecrated womanhood, moved to Nashville and opened her Limited, Select Home College for the Higher Culture of Women."

Aided by Mr E.G. Buford, her husband, the honored Confederate Veteran and courtly Regent, and Miss Louise Chambliss Burgess, her accomplished, attractive sister and successful Director of Music Department. Mrs Buford has presided over "Buford College," promoting the steady progress of the institution for the past ten years, till, in her twenty-fifth year, "Buford" ranks the peer of any college for women in the land.

In "strength and beauty of hill and vale and stream, she rests amid the historic scenes if the red man's hunting grounds and famous battles of the Great War."


LAND AND ENVIRONMENT

A magnificent highland park of 25 acres, set in a virgin forest of giant oaks and magnolias, surrounded by and 85 acre woodland, with springs, wells and cisterns, upon a fine electric car line, within twenty minutes of the "Athens of the South."


PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Spacious, up-to-date buildings, only two stories in height, all outside rooms, surrounded by one-eight of a mile of broad upper and lower galleries, all six feet above ground, with no unwholesome cellars; sanitation pronounced "practically perfect" by the U.S. Board of Health.

An attractive Library Room, effectively furnished in mahogany, the home of thousands of valuable volumes; the handsome Auditorium; the elegant Parlors and Reception halls, Music Hall, Art Studio, Class Rooms, the Dining Room, Laboratory, well-furnished bedrooms, convenient bathrooms--all combine to make the ensemble of Buford College unusual.

College Garden, Dairy, Hennery, Water Plant, Steam Heat, Electricity, Laundry and Bakery, with a wholesome, abundant cuisine, insure the security of the great "Educational Center."


CHARACTER AND CULTURE

The limited, select enrollment of 10 representative young women insures personal care and character- building in the making of a woman for womanly ends.

Free from all sectarian bias, with the Bible as the basis, the great principles underlying manifold relations and obligations of life are constantly emphasized as the stronghold of the Home, the Church, the College, the Mart, the Nation.

Christian Culture for future service is the prize for the high calling of ideal womanhood, constantly upheld in every department of "Buford College."

The Comprehensive Curriculum embodied fourteen schools--English, History, Mathematics, Natural Science, Language, Religion, Philosophy, Domestic Science, Phonography, Journalism, Library Training, Expression, Art, Music.

Pre-eminently the Standard Four-Years' College Course, the thorough "Bible" Course, Conservatory advantages in Language, Literature, Music, Art and Expression must commend "Buford College" to thoughtful parents and ambitious students seeking high ideals and advanced opportunities.


FACULTY AND LECTURE CORPS.

The faculty is composed of experienced specialists in all branches of University and Conservatory training (cultured, Christian women, to the manor born), at home and abroad, long identified with the College, supplemented by a scholarly Lecture Corp representing every subject in the curriculum, the constant review system being considered one of the strongest features.


PATRONS, STUDENTS AND ALUMNAE
The college record to date embodies twenty-nine States and five Nationalities, testifying to national and international patronage, although the majority of the students are drawn from the South, and are characterized by Christian dignity, loyalty and culture, from Freshman to Post-Graduate.

James D Porter, ex-Governor of Tennessee, S.A. Mynders, State Superintendent, and W.W. Oglivie, State Commissioner, H.H. Lurton, Supreme Judge of the United States, all of Tennessee, are some of the eminent characters proudly numbered among Mrs Buford's patrons and Board of Advisors, while she has drawn support from ocean to ocean, from lake to gulf of the great republic, and even from foreign countries.

The representative student body, ranging from 16 to 20 years if age, not girls, but mature young women, seeking higher culture for future service, must have promise of noble wives, mothers and home-makers, uplifting the future of manhood and womanhood of the country.

That these high ideals are being realized is proved by the unusual Alumnae record of "Buford College" during the decade just closing--39 wives, 21 mothers, and 27 children.

In addition are thirty members who have been most successfully filling responsible positions as educators in all lines of thought, while others have been recognized as worthy leaders of social life.

When the National Alumnae was organized at the annual meeting in 1911, Miss Kendal was elected President-General, with nineteen State Presidents, and an Associate Alumnae organized, with Mrs I.M. Gibson, President-General, all looking to the progress and permanence of their noble Alma Mater.


CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS

No "Sororities"--but the 100 young women for a devoted "Sisterhood", with Mr and Mrs Buford as the ever-faithful "Pater and Mater Families", where each is interested in the well-being of all. Among the important organizations are the well-conducted Sabbath School, where all members of the church have a teacher, with the literature of their own denomination; a well-organized Y.W.C.A., composed of all the College household; two excellent Literary Societies, studying the "Life and Letters" of a chosen nation for the year; a comprehensive "Philharmonic Association", composed of all the College Music Clubs; an active Athletic Association, including the many clubs and teams for physical development; best of all, forming the climax, "The Shakespeare Club", composed of the Faculty, Post-Graduates and Nashville Alumnae, and affiliated with the "Tennessee State Federation of Women's Clubs."







ADVISORS AND PROMOTERS

Aiding, encouraging and promoting the institution, and always recognized with gratitude are the representative "Board of Advisors," the City of Ministers and Physicians, Business Firms of Caster- Knot, Loveman & Co, W.C. Williams meat Market, C.W. Hopkins & Co, Thompson & Co, Phillips & Buttorff, Brandon Printing Co. Thuss Bros., Union Bank & Trust Co., the Nashville Board of Trade, but above all, Mr. O.F. Noel, the benefactor who has contributed so largely to the erection, improvement and equipment of the College plant till every convenience and comfort enhances "Buford College."


A PLEA FOR PERMANENCE

Now, what will Nashville do for such an institution--a College that is advertising the city in every avenue of trade throughout the country, pouring thousands of dollars into her treasury annually as a free-will offering, and wielding a potent social moral and intellectual force in her community.

We plead that her hood people rally in support of "This Limited, Select Home College for the Higher Culture of Women".







GREEN HILLS NEWS
JULY 12, 1990


THEN AND NOW
by Libby Zerfoss Fryer

Buford College, the distinctively "University-preparatory" college in the South for women, was founded in 1905. The 25 acre campus was located on the south side of Caldwell Lane, east of General Bates Drive, on land later to be occupied buy the Glendale Park and zoo.

The 1905 yearbook, The Mirror, described the location as "the delightful elevation, invigorating atmosphere, and the spacious campus of twenty-five acres, amid forest trees; the freestone, sulphur, chalybeate and cistern water; the college garden, dairy and hennery, create a charming suburban home, upon a splendid electric car line, within thirty-five minutes of the "Athens of the South". Crowning this is the roomy, airy building, surrounded by an eighth of a mile of large double galleries, inviting light and ventilation in every direction--for there are no dark inner rooms for unwholesome cellars.

The entire structure is above ground, all under the same roof, having chapel, office, library, parlor, reception hall, dining room, class rooms, music and art studios and recreation hall on the first floor, thus avoiding in injurious effect of climbing stairs.

Roomy upper and lower halls extend throughout the entire building and on the second floor are the large, airy bedrooms for the students and teachers, all furnished with single iron beds and complete sets of furniture. Steam heat, open fires, electricity, and waterworks promote comfort and convenience.

"Daily mail and prompt telephone and telegram service insure close and direct communication of patrons with their daughters."

The information on Buford College is furnished by Hillwood resident Veronica Shivers West whose mother attended the college.

Next week--more on Buford College.


GREEN HILLS NEWS
JULY 26, 1990


THEN AND NOW

by Libby Zerfoss Fryer

EARLY TRAINING AT BUFORD
REWARDING AT 94

Cynthia Gardenhire Grissim, originally from Carthage, TN, went to Nashville's Buford College, located on Caldwell Lane. She is the mother of Martha Grissim Ellis (Mrs Jimmy), James Grissim and John Grissim.

At 94 years of age she still quotes and teaches Shakespeare to her friends at Belcourt Terrace, having studied with Professor and Mrs Lowry while attending Buford College. She also studied at Buford and plays the piano to entertain to this day. Isn't it wonderful that this early training has given her so much pleasure over the years?

The urn (an illustration included with article) was given to Mrs Grissim to "care for." The large and heavy silver urn has three arms, embossed roses and engraved on three sides. One side reads: "Mrs E.G. Buford, president, Buford College, Nashville, TN, May 1907." Another side reads: "Presented by Buford College Graduates Edel Terrell, Olivia Jones, India Mayfield, Annie Bell Chatham, Belle Murrel, Mabelle Ward, Elizabeth Fall, Frankie Crockett." The third side has the "Buford" crest.

Mrs. Bertha Bryan Foreman and Nelson Bryan's mother, Vance Bogle (Mrs O.N. Bryan) attended Buford College and this writer's grandfather, Dr G.C. Savage was on the Board of Advisors.

Do you have a relative or friend who might have attended Buford College? Let us know, 298-1015.