Atlantic Christian College - Pine Knot Yearbook (Wilson, NC)

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ho was compelled to give up school work. Prof. Kinsey, together with the other trustees and owners, very liberally gave over his interest in the building and entered into the work of establishing Atlantic Christian College. A campaign was made for money to furnish the building and to make needed repairs. I he people took hold of the idea with enthusiasm and earnestness. Dr. J. C. Coggins, a North Carolinian, at that time minister of the Christian Church at Decatur, 111., was called to the presidency. He made a thorough canvass of the State, and created quite an interest wherever he went. The college opened September, 1902, with more students than could be accommo- dated, several had to be refused admission. The trustees began the planning for new buildings. But soon the enthusiasm wore off. There were other disadvantages, and at the close of the second year it seemed that failure was inevitable. A number of mistakes had been made. The people had lost confi- dence in the school, and it looked like the doors would never be opened again. A new president must be found—a man that could tide over the stormy sea. The trustees began to look around. There was only one man whoub-thev thought could redeem the day. That was a man known all over North Caro- lina. A man who had served his State in many ways, in the legislative halls, in the schoolroom, and in the pulpit. A man of such straightforward char- acter and loving Christian qualities that everyone knew him only to love and respect him. A call went out to him, and Dr. J. J. Harper became president of Atlantic Christian College at the close of the second year—1904. Di Harper was a man of action, and had already planned other work for his latter years. He was preparing to write a History of the Christian Church in North Carolina, but he laid everything else aside and threw himself into the work of building up Atlantic Christian College, for the establishment of which he had labored so earnestly, and which he had had the honor to name. He labored against difficulties; he sacrificed every personal interest; his whole thought and ambition was to redeem the college and give to it its rightful position in the educational realm of North Carolina and in the minds and hearts of the people of the State. It was up-hill business, but steadily his earnestness and endeavor brought forth results. The attendance the third year was better than at first was thought it could be. The fourth year it was still better, and the fifth year it was better than ever before, and the buildings were taxed to their utmost capacity. The college was made stronger than ever before. The people gained confi- dence in it. Dr. Harper had done a work which no other person could have done. But the call came to him to return to his first work. He was advan-

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cing in years, and he thought that a younger and more active man could probably do better. lie asked the trustees to release him. Upon this request, in the Spring of 1907, ]Vir. J. C. Caldwell, then minister of the Christian Church at Selma, Ala., but who had had much experience in school work, having been president of a college in Kentucky for three years, a graduate of Kentucky University and Yale University, was asked to visit the school with a view to taking up the presidency when Dr. Harper gave it up. Mr. Cald- well and the trustees thought that it would he better for Dr. Harper to con- tinue as president of the college for at least another year. Mr. Caldwell was called to the pastorate of the Wilson Christian Church and was also made dean of the faculty of the college. With this arrangement—the combination « o o of youth and age, of enthusiasm and conservatism of the two giants, Mr. Caldwell and Dr. Harper—the college moved steadily onward. The sixth year was the best in the history of the college up to that time. The attend- ance was better than ever before, the faculty was stronger, and the grade of c 0 7 O work was of a higher order. It was truly the beginning of a brighter and better day. But just in the middle of the year a great calamity befell the college, and every heart was filled with sorrow and grief, for after a brief illness the beloved president, Dr. Harper, was called up higher to his greater reward. Ko man probably ever did more for the furtherance of the interest and the ideals of a college than Dr. Harper did for Atlantic Christian College, and no one was probably ever loved more for what he did or for the sweet Christian character which he always manifested. This was an hour of gloom ». O for the college, but Mr. Caldwell was master of the situation. Every student realized that the best way to show his love for Dr. Harper was to remain at his post and d'o all in his power to build up the college. Kot a single one left. Mr. Caldwell was at once elected president. He had been associated very closely with Dr. Harper and knew his plans and his ideals, and throwing into these his own youth and vigor and high ideals carried the work onward and upward towards the greater success. Mr. Caldwell is an exceptionally strong man; a man who can look into, the future and plan, and then has the practical ability to work out his plans. As a preacher he ranks among the best; as a business man he grasps the practical side of life and takes every step for the best advantage, and as a teacher he has few equals. Korth Carolina is fortunate to have such a man in its midst. Under his management the college has gone forward and will continue to go forward more rapidly as the days go by. 10