 The school attracted hundreds of boarding students to Auburn in the 1840s and 1850s , offering a complete secondary education to women — including ancient and modern languages , literature , mathematics , and musical arts — at the same academic level of that given to men . By the 1850s , the school physical plant had been expanded to three buildings : a main building , a music building , and a chapel which included the largest auditorium in eastern Alabama and a fully equipped chemistry laboratory . By 1855 , the school enrolled 110 students . Faculty members included John M. Darby , a scientist who wrote his own textbooks for his students , including a Textbook of Chemistry and Botany of the Southern States , which was the earliest compilation of flora in the Southern United States , and William P. Harrison , a Methodist theologian who was eventually appointed Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives . A significant part of the curriculum included foreign languages ; courses in Greek , Latin , French , Spanish , German , and Italian were offered in 1861 . The Auburn Masonic Female College hosted speakers and debates among some of the region 's greatest luminaries , most notably an 1860 debate over secession which included William Lowndes Yancey , Alexander Stephens , Benjamin Harvey Hill , and Robert Toombs . 
