Loulie Compton Seminary

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The Loulie Compton Seminary, originally the Birmingham Seminary was a girl's day and boarding school which formerly operated in Birmingham. It was founded in on September 8, 1897 by Loulie Compton and Hattie Morton. It was originally located at 2123 7th Avenue North.

Morton succeeded Compton as principal following her death in 1912, and renamed the school in her memory. At that time the seminary occupied a building at the corner of 5th Avenue North and 18th Street. In 1922 the school had an enrollment of 330, of which 54 were boarders. All students attended the church and Sunday School designated by their parents, in the company of one of the teachers.

In 1923 the school moved to 2214–2230 Ridge Park Avenue on Underwood Hill in Five Points South. The school's preparatory diploma was considered sufficient to grant enrollment at the University of Alabama and several other colleges. The graduate curriculum included college-level pipe organ, piano, violin, voice, physical education, art, expression and home economics.

In 1931 Morton was succeeded by Louis Heinmiller, who, with his wife Flora, intended to implement a plan of individually-tailored instruction and grading on a pass/fail basis, as determined by coursework rather than examinations. Dr Heinmiller died in 1939 and the school closed in the early 1940s. The Jerry Snead School of Dancing rented the former auditorium, and its furnishings were sold off by the R. A. Green Furniture Co. in September 1943.

The Birmingham Baptist Hospital acquired the Ridge Park Avenue property in the 1940s. The building was demolished in 1959 and the site used as a parking lot in anticipation of the construction of a new hospital with funding from the Public Health Service Act. With the construction of Red Mountain Expressway, the hospital decided to build instead on a site off Montclair Road.

References

  • "Seminary is named for Miss Compton" (October 24, 1923) The Birmingham News, p. 4
  • Dalrymple, Dolly (July 22, 1923) "Through the Shops With Dolly". The Birmingham News, p. 50
  • Dalrymple, Dolly (August 19, 1931) "New Loulie Compton Head Gives His Ideas on Education and School Life." The Birmingham News, p. 8
  • Hill, Miriam (February 5, 1959) "Landmark to give way to hospital." The Birmingham News, p. 3