Mississippi College - Tribesman Yearbook (Clinton, MS)

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mitory, which will accommodate about one hundred boys, was completed in 1913. The second building was the library building, which, in addition to providing facilities for the college library, contains a number of class rooms, and provides on the third floor permanent quarters for the literary societies. This building was completed in 1914. In 1912 Captain J. M. Crestman deeded to Mississippi College 997 acres of land in the Mississippi Delta, which land was to be sold and the funds used to erect a memorial building to his son. The Preparatory Department, which had been a part of the college from the beginning of its history, was abolished, and the Mis- sissippi College Academy was established in its place. Three years later the Academy was discontinued, leaving only the college course of four years. For several years the institution has been offering one year of resi- dent graduate work leading to the degree of Master of Arts. In the fall of 1924 a third building pro- gram was begun and has not ended a t the present writing. Three new buildings have been completed and many improvements made in the class rooms and on the campus. The first of the buildings resulting from the campaign was the Alumni Building, which resulted from the free will offerings of alumni, students and friends of the college. This building, a four-story brick structure, contains the dressing quarters for all athletic teams, a swimming pool, basketball court, offices of the various college organizations, and other facilities, such as guest rooms, two ladies’ rooms and reception halls. The sec- ond of these buildings was erected as a me- morial to the son of Captain J. M. Crestman. This building, a three-story brick dormitory, which will accommodate about two hundred students, was completed in 1926 and is one of the best of its kind to be found anywhere. The third building to be completed during this campaign was a modern hospital. This building was also completed in 1 926. Much credit is due Dr. R. W. Flail and Mr. B. B. Jones for the erection of this building. The suggestion for the erection of this last building was given by the Baptist Church of Grenada, Mississippi, which was supple- mented by the largest donation given on the building. The history of Mississippi College would not be complete without some account of the two literary societies. The Philomathean Society was organized on October 16, 1846, and the Hermenean Society was organized in 1854. From early times the two societies have published a college paper. The first of these publications made its initial appear- ance during the session of 1870-71 , and was called the Mississippi College Star. By 1883 the two societies were publishing The Elec- tric Light. The name of the College paper was again changed in 1888-89 to the Mis- sissippi College Magazine. This publication was continued until 1916, when it was sup- planted by the weekly paper, The Missis- sippi Collegian. For a number of years Mississippi College has desired membership in the standardizing association known as the Southern Associa- tion of Colleges and Secondary Schools, but the endowment was insufficient to meet the high standard of the organization. In 1 922 the Mississippi Baptists raised $250,000 and added to the endowment fund of Mississippi College. The General Education Board of New York thereupon donated $125,000 more to the same fund, this bringing the total endowment of the College from $250,000 to $625,000. When the Southern Association of Col- leges and Secondary Schools met in New Orleans in December, 1922, Mississippi College was admitted to full membership, thus fully establishing the institution in its claims of doing standard scholastic work.

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First Intercollegiate Baseball Team, 1901 was enlarged, the patronage was largely in- creased, new buildings were erected, new de- partments of instruction were added, and the curriculum was strengthened. In 1905 Captain Z. D. Jennings gave the college $20,000 for a Memorial building. This was the beginning of a building cam- paign, which resulted in the erection of two new buildings in 1907 and a third in 1911. These buildings were Jennings Hall, a three- story, fire-proof dormitory ; a large one-story dining hall, and the new science hall, a three- story building. From a standpoint of patronage Dr. Low- ery’s administration surpassed all previous history of the college. In 1910-1 1, his last year as president of Mississippi College, the enrollment was about 400. However, a large proportion of these were preparatory students. In 1 880 there was organized in the insti- tution a ‘ Military School,” with the purpose to secure a proper development of the physi- cal system, to promote habits of promptness and to encourage economy in dress. During the session of 1886-87 the military school was reorgamzed into two military companies which took the names, Mississippi College Rifles and Mississippi College Invincibles. In the soring of 1911 President Lowery announced his retirement from his connection with Mississippi College. The Board of Trustees, however, called to mind the short but efficient administration of Dr. J. W. Provine, who was for the second time elected president of the college and accepted the re- sponsibility. The administration of Dr. Provine, be- ginning in the fall of 1911, is not com- plete, and it shall be the task of some future historian to appraise his achievements. We shall venture, however, a brief summary of the attainments since it passed under the di- rection of Dr. Provine. In November, 1911, the Mississippi Bap- tist Convention approved the plan of launch- ing another campaign for a large endow- ment, new buildings and better equipment. Two hundred thousand dollars was raised by the people of Mississippi and the Gen- eral Education Board of New York gave $ 100 , 000 . The result of the campaign was the erec- tion of two new buildings, the science labor- atories were equipped, and the vested en- dowment was increased to nearly a quarter million. The first of the buildings resulting from the campaign was called Ratliff Hall, in honor of Captain W. T. Ratliff, who for forty years was president of the Board of Trustees of the college. This building, a three-story brick dor-

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