Centenary College of Louisiana - Yoncopin Yearbook (Shreveport, LA)

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pprmatinn THERE was an Old Centenary College, from whose halls came hundreds of the most stalwart men of the nation. From Centenary came men who in pre-war days de- fended Anglo-Saxon liberty and states rights against the ever encroaching ideas of communism and Centralization. From Centenary, after the Civil War, came men whose undaunted souls became a bulwark against an overturned social system and the more dangerous political menace of Reconstruction. Then her strength abated until her past was only a memory of other days. Her glory was only a dream. There is a New Centenary College on the verge of taking its place again among the leading colleges of the South. Men have put the old dream into reality. These men, coming from all denominations, bonded together in the Rotary Club of Shreveport, have raised for the college an endowment fund that has put the school on a firm foundation and made possible a future that shall outrival the past of this Southern institution. For largeness of vision, for untiring zeal, for personal sacri- fice and effort, the students of Centenary College render thanks to the Rotary Club. Students 1922. Page

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YONCOPIN, 1922 Board of Trustees Officers Dr. Jno. L. Scales President Mr. J. C. Foster Vice-President Dr. W. W. Drake Secretary Mr. T. C. Clanton Treasurer Members Rev. Wm. ScHUHLE Coushalta, La. Mr. E. A. Frost Shreveport, La. Mr. J. B. ARDIS Shreveport, La. Rev. W. W. Holmes Lake Charles, La. Mr. R. O. Randle Monroe, La. Mr. Jno. B. Hutchinson Shreveport, La. Mr. J. A. FOSTER Lake Charles, La. Rev. Briscoe Carter Minden, La. Mr. T. W. HolLOMAN Alexandria, La. Mr. Jno. M. Robinson La Chuta, La. Dr. R. H. Wynn Shreveport, La. JUDGE A. J. Murff Shreveport, La. Dr. R. D. Webb Minden, La. Mr. A. J. PEAVY Shreveport, La. Mr. F. D. Gunter New Orleans, La. Rev. J. G. Snelling New Orleans, La. Mr. G. S. PRESTRIDGE Shreveport, La. Mr. R. T. Moore Shreveport, La. Mr. Frank T. Whited Shreveport, La. Mr. J. W. Atkins Shreveport, La. Judge W. G. Banks Shreveport, La. Page eight

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YONCOPIN, 1922 History ox Centenary College ENTENARY COLLEGE has a most historic past and the brightest of pros- pects lor the future. It received the name Centenary because its history as a Meth- odist institution reaches back to 1839, the one hundredth year after the organiza- tion of the first Methodist society in England by John Wesley, when the first centenary offerings were taken for Christian education. The college was first located at Brandon, Miss., but as this location proved unforLunaie in every respect, it was moved in 1845 to Jackson, La. In moving to Jackson, Centenary College had selected a most historical spot, for there, years before, Ponce c!e Leon in his search for the Fountain of Youth had camped upon the crystal waters of Thompson Creek, naming it Rio Feliciana. The spot on which the college was built was never owned by France, as Mr. Horton, the owner of large tracts there, had purchased it from France. After the battle of New Orleans, General Jackson, with his Tennessee army, camped on the banks of the Rio Feliciana, and the citizens, in patriotic ardor, changed the name of their town from Bun- combe to Jackson. The state of Louisiana, in 1825, had founded a state college at Jackson. This college, however, had proved a failure, and it was this property that the Methodist con- ferences of Louisiana and Mississippi purchased in 1845, when Centenary College was moved. At Jackson, Centenary entered upon a brilliant career. During this period the college was well known throughout the South, nearly every family of prominence in the public life of the state being represented there. Indeed, the hrtory of this old pioneer college of the Southwest is commingled and interwoven as warp and woof with the history of the country, many of its alumni being men who have been distinguished in the affairs of the state, the South, and the nation. There is a tradition that Jeffer on Davis took a special course in Spanish at Centenary, and it is certain that Judah P. Benjamin, secre- tary of state in the Southern Confederacy, was a student in its halls. Charles Parlange, lieutenant-governor of the state, and C. J. Boatner, a brilliant lawyer and member of congress, were both students at this school; also E. John ElHs, Unitel States senator and a national figure in his day. Judge Ben Spencer was an alumnus of old Centenary, and while at school there wrote many of his famous speeches. Judge J. C. McVea and Judge Charles McVea, distinguished jurists; Dr. C. W. Carter, one of the brainiest men the Methodist Church ever produced; Dr. L. C. Perkins, Judge Anthony Sambola, Dr. Whyte G. Owen, Judge Charles Kilbourne, Judge George Wcodside, the Fullilove brothers, Amos J. Ponder, Judge A. J. Murff, and the Pharr brothers all received their degrees from old Centenary. The Holcombe brothers, too — A. R. and W. P., now located in New York, one a writer on a big New York daily, the other a prominent electrical engineer — graduated at Centenary. Members of the recent constitutional con- vention who could call Centenary their Alma Mater were Paul G. Barron, Charles Page ten