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

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YONCOPIN, 1922 Holcombe, E. A. Pharr, and O. H. Simpson, the latter being secretary of both State Senate and constitutional convention. A list of the prominent Methodist ministers of the state includes these from Centenary: N. E. Joyner, R. N. Harper, R. H. Wynn, C. C. Miller, A. S. Lutz, S. J. Davies, P. M. Brown, and others too numerous to mention. As all Southern institutions did, Centenary suffered from the hardships of the Civil War and the poverty of the reconstruction days. Collegiate work was almost entirely suspended, there being no graduates from 1861 to 1868. During the war a company of soldiers was organized from the student body of the school, and most of these young lives were laid down in behalf of the state and the South they loved so well. The build- ings were for a time used as a hospital base for the Confederates at Port Hudson, and were later occupied by the Federals. Back of these old buildings, under the spreading branches of great beeches, there was a Confederate graveyard. During the reconstruc- tion period Centenary College had a struggle for its very existence, and its salvation was due largely to the personal work of Bishop Keener, who secured money to tide it over the crisis. After Centenary had successfully weathered this period, it began again its great work, maintaining a place of commanding influence in both Louisiana and Mississippi. In 1 892 Millsaps College opened its doors in Jackson, Miss. With the loss of sup- port and changed conditions, it soon became evident that it would be impossible for the church of Louisiana to permanently maintain Centenary in Jackson, though excellent work was done there until the doors were closed in 1905. The previous year the Shreve- port Progressive League had made a proposition to the Louisiana Methodist Conference Page eleven

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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

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to move Centenary College to Shreveport. Negotiations were conducted, and Mr. J. W. Atkins ' offer of forty acres of land in Gladstone Heights was accepted. Work was begun immediately, and the doors of the college were again opened in the fall of 1908. The first president of the institution in Shreveport was Dr. W. L. Weber of Georgia, under whom gratifying progress was made. Dr. Weber was succeeded by Dr. Felix R. Hill, who served until his death in 1918. Dr. R. H. Wynn was elected to fill the vacancy. During his administration the college passed through another difficult period, but he succeeded in interesting the people and led an endowment campaign which was successful for the amount asked — $50,000. Dr. Wynn resigned the presidency in 1919, and Dr. William R. Bourne was elected. Under his leadership a program of expansion and construction was begun. At the beginning of his second year Dr. Bourne was released at the earnest solicitation of the director-general of the educational campaign of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to assist in the larger work of organizing the alumni of various colleges. He resigned in January, 1921, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, Dr. George S. Sexton. Under Dr. Sexton ' s wise leadership Centenary College has already made most remarkable progress. With such a man, who has already proved himself a natural leader, at its head, and with the increased endowment through the educational campaigns of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and through the munificence of the General Education Board of New York City, the future and perma- nent usefulness of the institution is assured. The history of Centenary would be incomplete without something of the library. It contains over three thousand volumes of both ancient and modern literature. There are books of science, history, philosophy and literature that date back into the past centuries, there being a few old editions of 1680 and hundreds of others of the early part of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Also among the priceless possessions are huge folios of rare engravings of Shakespearean literature. In their day these folios were worth thousands of dollars, and today, as there is no longer another such copy extant in America, no estimate can be made of their value. These folios are an American edition from the original copper plates of Boydell ' s Illustrations of Shakespeare, which was a collection of steel engravings from sixty-seven painters of the eighteenth and early nine- teenth centuries. England put out an edition of these folios by an act of appropriation of parliament, but as this appropriation was not large enough, the edition was inferior to the one put out in America. The original plates were brought over from England in 1842, and the American edition was brought out in 1848 under the signatures of Wash- ington Irving, Audubon (naturalist and artist), John Van Buren (later president), Robert Morris, Horace Greeley (editor), Harper and Brothers, James W. Gerard, S. F. B. Morse (inventor), Wm. C. Bryant (poet), Alexander H. Stevens (M.D.). and about twenty other famous Americans. There are enough of these folios to have a Shakespearean gallery, which is soon to be constructed. When this gallery is completed it will be the only one of its kind in America. In addition to these, there is a collection of hand-colored prints of all the Indian tribes of America, and some excellent prints of Page twelve