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Athenaeum Rectory, Columbia, Tennessee

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Athenaeum Rectory, Columbia, Tennessee

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File Name	shades_mca_0005.jpg
Title	Athenaeum Rectory, Columbia, Tennessee
Genre	Photographs
Description	Picturesque scene with well-dressed young women in hats and light-colored dresses in seated and standing poses outdoors in front of a vine covered two-story building with a three-arched portico and a fountain in the front yard.
Historical note	Originally commissioned by a cousin of James K. Polk, the Rectory (completed 1837) became the residence of the Reverend and Mrs. Franklin Gillette Smith after they moved from Virginia to Columbia, Tennessee so that he could become headmaster of the Columbia Female Institute. Even though Smith left the Institute in 1851, he and his wife continued to live at the Rectory, which became an essential part of the campus of the his Columbia Athenaeum, founded in 1852. The Athenaeum, which was primarily a boarding school for young women, remained open throughout the Civil War. It continued in operation after Smith's death under the auspices of one of his sons until 1904. This unusual building, with its Venetian Gothic Revival design, has been attributed to Nashville architect/engineer Adolphus Heiman.
Subject	Columbia Athenaeum; Columbia Female Institute; Women
Theme	Holding Fast to Beauty
Story	Education of Young Women
Geographic Location	United States--Tennessee--Columbia
Time period	1860-1869
Rights	Images reproduced on this website are intended for individual, educational use only. For research inquiries about specific objects or requests for high resolution images, contact the Maury County Archives.
Type	Still image
Format	image/jp2
Contributing Institution	Maury County Archives
Digital Publisher	Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
Reference URL	http://content.mtsu.edu/u?/shades,192
Archival file	shades11/shades_mca_0005.jpg