Following her acceptance as a history teacher at I.I.&C., Peyton tried to reform

the school's policy on mandated learning and working hours by asking numerous

educational institutions, including the University of Mississippi, Converse

College, and the Bureau of Education (a sector within the Department of Interior)

on how many hours of schooling students should have. Peyton, taking a

democratic stance on school issues, advocated for the desires of the students and

pushed for the implementation of their ideas. This was mainly in part due to the

widespread failing grades. According to Peyton, only fifteen out of one hundred

and seventeen students passed all of their exams.1

 

On September 14, 1892, Peyton received advice from the Bureau detailing that

a seventeen hour educational plan plus five hours of domestic or industrial

work was adequate for a thriving student.2 This was largely different than

what I.I.&C. was expecting of its girls. Soon after, on October 12, 1892,

Peyton sent out a letter to the faculty, condemning the teachers for their students' failing grades [x]. In her words,

 

 

"If the Faculty or governing body of the I.I.&C. prescribe tasks which are more than the average girl can accomplish, then the Faculty are as much responsible for the failure of those who fail. [...] There may be three solutions of the failures - 1st that Mississippi girls are duller than the average, which I will not admit. Second - that our teachers are incompetent, which has not been true, as a rule. Third, that too much is required of the student body. I believe this is true. Since our girls are doing twenty-three hours work beside[s] the ten and a half hours a week of domestic work in the Dormitory, when they are on 'detail.'"[x] 3

 

 

Peyton in an expeditious manner quickly recognized the intense stress and pressure put upon the students and pushed to have it changed. For once, the girls' pleas were heard and measures were implemented to benefit their education. This event is notable in the history of the school as women for the first time at I.I.&C. gained their voice for the right of a good education, just as Peyton did twenty years before. For the next five years, the school's connection between students and the faculty strengthened and flourished into a thriving school.

 

In 1897, Peyton gave a speech to the "People of Mississippi" on the anniversary of the school's opening. Finally, the school was something to be proud of. The students were excited to get an education and desired to obtain it at Peyton's legacy - the Industrial Institute and College. As she spoke on the occasion in 1897 [x]: 

 

 

“At the opening of the Industrial Institute and College, thirteen years ago, when asked to speak, I said “More than ever today I am proud to be a Mississippi Woman. I love my native State. I am proud of all her resources. I am proud of her Governor and State

Officers. I am proud of her judiciary, of the State [indecipherable] and the State Press. I am proud of our schools and colleges, and especially of this college.”4

 

 

A year later on November 11th, Peyton died in Columbus surrounded by her family. She taught class up until she no longer had the strength for it and supported the school all the way until that eleventh day. Peyton died with the knowledge that the Industrial Institute and College was prospering, and the students were receiving the high standard of education that they had always wanted.

 

 

 

---

1 Letter from Annie Coleman Peyton to faculty, October 12, 1892. 32nd folder, lot 441. The Peyton Collection. Mississippi University for Women Archives.

2 Letter from LM Hanes to Annie Coleman Peyton, September 14, 1892. 31st folder, lot 441. The Peyton Collection. Mississippi University for Women Archives.

3 Letter from Annie Coleman Peyton to faculty.

4 Speech to "People of Mississippi" by Annie Coleman Peyton, no date. 33rd folder, lot 441. The Peyton Collection. Mississippi University for Women Archives.

---