Address to the Public. The Trustees of Jefferson College at Washington, Mississippi, Have the Satisfaction to Announce to the Public That the Institution Is Now Prepared for the Reception of Students... [caption title and first line of text]

[Natchez, Ms.?], 1839. Very good.. Broadside, 13 x 15.75 inches. Printed in four columns; central vertical fold. Light wear and toning. In the present broadside, the trustees of Jefferson College announce that they are once again prepared to admit students in 1839 following a reorganization, and give their mission statement, courses of study, faculty list, tuition fees, and more. The school, located in Washington, Mississippi, just north of Natchez, opened in 1811, and was the first college in the Mississippi Territory. In the text of this broadside, one can clearly see sentiments and dispositions that would bring the Civil War to fruition. The first (truncated) two columns are chiefly dedicated to a description fo the new faculty and their skills, but also new measures put in place during the reorganization of the school. In place of gymnastics a daily military drill was substituted, and a military police was to be established, "for the preservation of good order and regularity." The remainder of the broadside descends into sectional paranoia, arguing that students must be kept close to home in order for them to maintain allegiance to Mississippi and the South:

"At this very moment, a formidable content has commenced between the North and the South, from the possible results of which the eye of the patriot instantly revolts.... It surely becomes us to preserve our children from any influence that might mislead their judgment or weaken their patriotism. To do this effectually we must keep them at home!... Send your sons to other States where they are relased from social bonds, you not only cut off these powerful incentives to emulation but you do more and worse, you weaken or detach the growing virtues of the heart... [and] you estrange them from their native land."

OCLC locates only a small handful of examples. (Inventory #: 3269)