Bishop College - Tiger Yearbook (Dallas, TX)

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Dr. John L. Branham

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WE DEDICATE THIS YEARBOOK To Dr. John L. Branham — A Second Century Founder By Milton K. Curry. Jr.. President One Hundred years ago. it was the vision of Nathan Bishop, a Northern Baptist Layman, educator, and philanthropist, which gave wings and feet to the dreams of the illiterate ex-slaves of East Texas and Northern Louisiana to establish what became Bishop College. In the intervening years, each generation has produced a secession of continuing founders” whose new ideas, new visions, new dreams, and new ways of doing old things combined to move this institution closer to the realization of the dreams of the original founding fathers. The list is a long one that includes philanthropist of the South and of Texas like the late Dr. W. R. White and Carl Hoblitzelle. the retired Dr. Fred M. Lange and Carr P. Collins, Sr., and more recently Cecil and Ida Green, and alumni like the late L. K. Williams. Joseph J. Rhoads. Earl L. Harrison and G. A. Hobart Sheppard, or convention stalwarts like the late E. C. Estcll. Sr.. Z. Q. Hickerson and T. M. Chambers, Sr., each of whom added a new dimension to the expanding mission of Bishop College. But no single generation has exhausted the human resources which God has provided to sustain His work of developing the minds of men and women. And thus it is that this generation can boast of J. K. Haynes. Sr.. Mack H. Hannah. Jr.. C. A. W. Clark. Sr.. T. Oscar Chappelle. Sandy F. Ray. M. L. Price. A. W. McCraw. M. L. Scott. William J. Shaw,. . . and now John L. Branham, his lovely wife. Mrs. Ethel Branham, and the great Saint Paul Baptist Church of Los Angeles. California. When the Saint Paul Baptist Church, under the dynamic leadership of Dr. Branham, provided the majority of the funds to underwrite the construction of Branham Drive leading from Simpson-Stuart Road to the Carr P. Collins Chapel, it set a record for giving in one year by any Black Baptist Church in the country for a project at a Church-Related College. When it pledged S 100.000 to the Endowment Fund several years later, it set another record. When it loaned the College $35,000 and then cancelled it by converting it to a gift, it set still another record. But. when, within another month of the cancellation of the Note it gave through Pastor Branham a Cashier’s Check for $500,000 for the Endowment Fund to be matched by a similar amount from the Ford Foundation, it did more than set another record. It announced the dawn of a new day in Black Baptist Church stewardship, management, and giving to Christian Higher Education and a breakthrough to a new era of support for Bishop College. (One other Church. Good Street Baptist of Dallas. Texas. Dr. C. A. W. Clark. Sr.. Pastor, has already pledged a similar amount). But what is more, the coming of Dr. Branham. ’37. to the Board of Trustees of Bishop College again in 1976 (he was an Alumni Trustee during the period 1951-55) brought a new and electrifying force to generate new power and to “give wings and feet to the dreams of Dr. J. K. Haynes, the Board Chairman, who had bravely challenged the Trustees and Administration to raise $40 Million as the First Phase of a $ 100 Million Endowment for Bishop College to insure its financial viability through the Twenty-First Century. So. for his unusual sense of loyalty to his Alma Mater, for his exceptional leadership of a great congregation in the Saint Paul Baptist Church, and for his singular commitment to lead Black Baptists into a new era of adequate support of their educational objective, the Administration and Faculty of Bishop College arc happy to join the grandest student body in the world in saluting DR. JOHN L. BRANHAM to whom this Yearbook for 1977-78 is dedicated, and with him Mrs. Branham and the Saint Paul Baptist Church of Los Angeles! All hail the continuing founders of Bishop College as we prepare to enter the Second Century of this noble institution.

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A Secoru TIk pKlure iKnt tho»» Branham Dint ToiKr n%ht. Prcudcm M K Curry. it. receive a check from St Paul Bapeitt Church and it pa tor. Dr John L Branham Dr. Curry, in announcing ihc Endowment Gift, indicated that it iv to be uv«J to cttabliih a chair in the Social Science , to be named after Dr. Branham' wife (afKnr rtghli the ETHEL CARTER BRANHAM CHAIR IN SOCIAL WORK d Century Founder i