Henderson State University - Star Yearbook (Arkadelphia, AR)

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it to call repeatedly on its friends for financial aid. In general the gay nineties proved a trying era for the Arkadelphia Metliodist College. During the next twenty years the school experienced many changes. In the early 1900's the enrollment began to increase rapidly and the school took its place as one of the leading institutions of Arkansas. In 1904 the name of the school was changed to Henderson, in honor of Captain C. C. Henderson, who had helped the school through a financial crisis. In 1911 the name was again changed, this time to Henderson-Brown, in honor of Mr. W. W. Brown, also a friend of the college. In February, 1914, the administration building was destroyed by fire. Through the financial assistance of friends of Henderson, work on the new building was soon begun. In only a few months, despite financial difficulties, the Administra- tion Building, which now stands on the campus, was completed. In the post-war period Henderson reached its zenith as a church school. By this time the name Recldie was well-known by all football fans throughout the state, for it was during the 1920's that Smiling Jimmy Haygood and Bo Row- land produced teams never before equaled by any college in the state. During this time the Methodists of the state were supporting three colleges: Henderson-Brown, Hendrix, and Galloway. In October, 1928, the executive board of the three colleges, acting upon the report of the inspector of the North Central Association, met in Little Rock and voted to consolidate Henderson-Brown and Hen- drix, and, on November 15, 1928, the two schools were merged. It was decided to locate the 'consolidated school at Conway. Upon the request of the citizens of Arka- delphia, the property was deeded back to the city. The city of Arkadelphia then offered the plant to the State of Arkansas to establish a teachers college. This offer was accepted by the legislature and in 1929 Henderson State Teachers College was opened. Since 1929 the school plant has grown from four to seventeen buildings lo- cated on a beautiful campus of more than fifty acres. The enrollment has increased from two hundred to approximately one thousand students including summer school. In 1931 the schcool was admitted to the American Association of Teachers Colleges, and in 1934 to the North Central Association. Thus Henderson's first fifty years have been an era of advancement. The school has developed from a relatively insignificant little college of 1890 to a leading teachers college of 1940 whose influence is felt in every section of the state. What the next fifty years will bring can only be known in Henderson's centennial year, but we venture to predict that the Henderson of 1990 will overshadow all other col- leges of the state in enrollment, student records, and influence on Arkansas edu- cation. -MERLE BENTON

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HENDERSON IN 1910 HENDERSONRISQO-lf-940 The year 1940 marks the semi-centennial year of Henderson, beginning in 1890 with 110 students, a minimum of teaching facilities, and limited financial re- sources. The School With a Heart, as Henderson has been called, has experi- enced periods of hardships and the undermining work of its enemies, yet it remains as a first-class college for teachers, continuing to serve Arkansas in the field of teacher training. The school has been a teacher's college for only the past decade. But let us look back over 1-1enderson's past, over its early years as a struggling de- nominational school, its post-war zenith of power as a Christian institution, and finally its decade of service as a teacher's college. As early as 1886 the citizens of Arkadelphia, sensed the need of a co-educa- tional collcge in their city. This matter was carried before the Little Rock Con- ference of the Methodist Church and was accepted but was not ratified until 1889. About the time the building was to be erected, the Methodists decided to move Hendrix College from Altus, Arkansas, to another location. Immediately Arka- delphia entered the struggle to bring the school to this city. However, it was decid- ed to move Hendrix to Conway, and Arkadelphia returned. to its old plan. As a result, in September, 1890, Arkadelphia Methodist College opened with 110 students. The first ten years of the school's existence were years of difficulty. During these years the college faced financial difficulties and its lack of endowment forced

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-Q 'i 'S I 1890-The Arlcadelphia Methodist College, ultimately to become Henderson, opens as a combined academy and college. Above, the first student body of the scliool. Dr, G. C. Jones was tlie first president. 1895-Belles of the nineties, co-eds in Henderson, under the watchful eyes of a legion of cbaperones, take an outing at the bluff. . - Q V