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

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5 ncomx) = EGINNING with her establishment at Jackson, Centenary took her place as one of the great educational institutions of the country. By 1860 her reputation as a leader in the cause of Christian edu cation had become so wide that she was used as a pattern and her standards were adopted by institutions founded with an eye to the future. Then came the period of the war between the States, during the duration of which Centenary was closed. All her students answered the call of their state; every member of the graduat- ing class of 1861 died on the battlefield in defense of the Confederacy. During the conflict, the college buildings fell into the hands of the Union forces, and for some time were used as the headquarters from which were directed a number of military operations. During their occupancy, the Federal troops de- stroyed many of the priceless books, art treasures and museum specimens. The only rooms left unmolested were those here- tofore occupied by the Union Literary Society; these no doubt were protected by the name Union engraved on the doorway. Notwithstanding the losses incurred as a result of the war, Centenary resumed her educational activities in 1868, and, during the Reconstruction period, played an important part in the life and progress of the South. V I ' UL

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€T 1 2 5 C IheQ o 270 OpW c CENTURY AGO CENTENARY WAS BORN. In 1825, just thirteen years after her admission into the Union, the State of Louisiana founded her first college. Thus was established at Jack- son, Louisiana, The College of Louisi ana, as Centenary was then called. The aim of the school then, as it is now, was to provide an educa- tion for a maximum number of deserving young men and young women; and as an expression of that aim, the Board of Trustees, as one of the first official acts, passed a resolution to the effect that Any number of children of indigent parents, not exceeding fifty at any one time, may be educated in the college or preparatory school, free of charge. ,, This resolu- tion is still effective. In 1839, the Methodist Episcopal Church South celebrated the centennial of the work of the Wesley brothers by providing for and stressing the importance of Christian education. In that year, the Louisiana and Mississippi conference established at Brandon, Mississippi, a Centenary College, which, six years later, purchased and absorbed the College of Louisiana. This consolidation of the two colleges was mutually beneficial. By locating the combined schools at Jackson, Louisiana, Centenary obtained good buildings and an excellent site, while the Col- lege of Louisiana profited by better financing. 5 j Page eighteen

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C eQJo 02 copm ■= HE YEARS following the Reconstruction period were prosperous ones for Louisi- ana: population increased, and new in- dustries developed. This progress was especially notable in northern Louisi- ana. Centenary, therefore, welcomed the invitation of the Progressive Young Business Men of Shreveport to locate in their city. To make this location possible, Mr. J. B. Atkins, Mr. J. W. Atkins, and their associates in the Gladstone Realty Company gave to Cen- tenary, in 1907, forty acres of beautifully wooded land on the outskirts of Shreveport. In 1908 Centenary was formally opened on her new site among new environs. Here the college secured new friends and additional assets. Ten years later came the World War, bringing in its wake financial stringency and financial strain. The year 1921 pre- sented a real crisis, and immediate assistance was necessary. In January of that year, a group of ten earnest, far-sighted, civic-minded, public-spirited men undertook the solution of Centenary ' s immediate future. Those present on that occasion were: E. A. Frost, F. T. Whited, Geo. S. Prestridge, J. C. Fos- ter, J. B. Hutchinson, T. C. Clanton, Dr. John L. Scales, R. T. Moore, Dr. Geo. S. Sexton, A. J. Peavy. The immediate finan- cial needs of the college were met by this body of men, and Dr. George S. Sexton was selected as the President of the insti- tution. Shortly after this, the business men of Shreveport raised a fund to help endow Centenary. i 2 5 Page twenty