In 1846, Christian abolitionists established the American Missionary Association. After the Civil War, the association provided schools for African Americans in the South and founded Bethany Institute here in 1870. With few educational opportunities available, especially for poor people and those in rural areas, African Americans had little hope of receiving even a basic education except through such schools. Many students walked miles to Bethany Institute and often missed classes because of winter weather. After 18-year-old Charlotte Hawkins arrived in October 1901, she addressed this problem with the help of students and parents by converting an abandoned blacksmith’s shop across the highway from the church into a classroom and girls’ sleeping quarters, and by obtaining an old house about a quarter of a mile away for the boys; because that house was in better condition, she later moved the girls there as well, housing girls upstairs and boys downstairs. The school and church were well attended, with pupils taking classes in the church on long benches that became pews on Sundays, and classes meeting only during the winter for four or five months. The school also offered higher-level instruction for older students preparing to become teachers and ministers, with Miss Hawkins teaching the older students while another teacher taught the elementary grades. A strict disciplinarian of high moral character, she supervised all activities to ensure proper conduct. Despite these improvements, the American Missionary Association withdrew its limited financial support of Bethany Institute in 1902. Inspired by the community’s pleas to keep a local school and guided by a strong sense of mission and faith in God, Charlotte Hawkins reopened the school on her own in the fall of 1902. It was later named the Palmer Memorial Institute in honor of her friend and mentor, noted New England educator Alice Freeman Palmer.