Did you know that Lawrence County High School had a Bible Department in the early 20th century?

This photo from the collection of the Old Jail Museum shows one of the popular Bible classes at Lawrence County High School in 1913. And ,as one astute reader pointed out, this class is almost entirely female.

In the spring of 1912, LCHS student Irl Cloud wrote an article about the LCHS Bible Department for the “High School Notes” column of the Lawrence ‘Democrat.’ The department was created by local philanthropist James Stribling, who built and owned the original LCHS building on Lafayette Street, and allowed the county to use it rent-free on condition that a Bible elective was offered to the students. Mr. Stribling also paid the salary of the Bible teacher.

When Irl Cloud wrote his 1912 article about the Bible Department, it was still just a little over a year old, and it was wildly popular among the students. According to Cloud, “this grand opportunity to study the Word of God was eagerly grasped by many of the students. One hundred twenty were enrolled during the year.” This probably represented most of the school’s total enrollment at that time. In the department’s twenty year history, it is estimated that no fewer than 2,000 students took classes offered by the LCHS Bible Department.

Cloud said that, by 1912, there were “four classes daily in the Bible” being taught at LCHS by Professor J.E. Thornberry, who would head the department until it was discontinued in 1930. Cloud goes on to say that “the New Testament class was so large that it was necessary to divide it into two classes, reciting at different periods.” A fourth class was devoted to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The Bible classes were electives, but the grades students earned in them could “also be averaged in with the examination grades on regular school studies.” Cloud said that “strict daily and examination grades are kept of all the Bible classes,” and that “all strive to make our Bible grade the highest grade on our report cards.”

Cloud clarified that “the Bible in this school is taught strictly non-sectarian. The students are not urged to believe any certain creed,” although any “difficult questions are thoroughly discussed in class.” The “sole aim” of the students enrolled in the classes, according to Cloud, “is to seek the real truth.”

Since the New Testament class was split into two classes due to its size in 1912, it is not unreasonable to speculate that the class might have divided largely along gender lines as students chose to go to the class attended by their friends. If that was the case, it would explain why so many of the students in the 1913 image are female.