Bennett College

to 1886.) Around this time, Bennett alumnae were nicknamed the "Bennett Belles" and the school gained a reputation as an institution of quality.
In 1926, David Dallas Jones was installed as president of the new women's college and served. Under his leadership, the college expanded, reaching an enrollment of 400. It became known in the black community as the Vassar College of the South, and Jones recruited faculty, staff, and students, from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The school was expanded to a 42-acre campus with 33 buildings, and its endowment increased to $1.5 million. Although he had major achievements, Jones's tenure was also marked with controversy.
In 1937, Bennett students protested downtown Greensboro movie theaters because of their segregation, which was state law at the time, and the depictions of black women in films they were showing. Frances Jones, daughter of the college president, led the protest; she was in her first year. This protest during the Great Depression and under Jim Crow …