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

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DR. J. J. HARPER.

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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

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Already you can find the graduates and former students of Atlantic Christian College filling the important positions in life, and wherever they have gone they have made good. We have yet to find the failure among the Alumni of Atlantic Christian College, and we feel that the search will be long before such a one can be found. Steadily the young men and young women who have none out from the halls of old Atlantic Christian College have been O O making their way in life, and within a few years they will stand upon the top of the ladder of success. To-day, Atlantic Christian College writes her history in silver, but to- O %j J morrow she will write it in gold. To-day the seeds are just germinating; to-morrow they will sprout and grow and bring forth the mighty oaks of intellectual strength, and beauty and splendor. To-day her sons and daughters are climbing—some of them just beginning the mighty struggle—but to- O O O O « OO morrow tliev will take their stand among the mighty men and women of the O O u United States, the flower of American civilization—the bone and sinew of American power and wealth—the trained, Christian manhood and woman- hood of this the brightest land in all the universe. All liail, to thee, dear A. C. C. All hail, thou fount of knowledge, All hail, my Alma Mater, hail, Thou sunny. Southern college. 12