Guilford College - Quaker Yearbook (Greensboro, NC)

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Wo tKfjt tjelobeb resibent of uilforb College anil an untiring promoter of tfjc ebu= rational interests! of i5ortf) Caro= lina, toe bebitatc tf)ig tfje f irsit igjEfuc of VL t ©uaber

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Dr. L. L. HOBBS

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Hoiii Hpnbon ohh T was a most natural thinp; for the first Annual of (luilfonl Col- lege to be dedicated to Dr. Hobbs — her first and only President. To write a history of his career would l)e to personify tiie Col- lege to which he has given his life in the fullest measure of devo- tion. The simplicity and sincerity of his life makes its history siinjile, though beautiful. Dr. Hobbs i.s a native of Guilford County and was born on the 17th of May, 1849, at New Garden (now ( iuilford College), North Carolina; almost within the shadow of the institu- tion in which has wrought so long anil so well. His ])ari ' nts were Lewis and Phoebe Cook Hobbs, who in their anxiety to give their children the enduring things of life hovered close by the ciuiet Friends settlement at New Garden. His ancestors came from Pennsylvania with the wave of Scotch-Irish and Quaker emigration which swept southward about tlie middle of the eighteenth century. His father was a teacher, a man of education and spiritual refinement, a dignified, lovat)le character. He taught in the little brick .school house which the Friends of New CJarden at once built near their Meeting House. He died while still a young man — his son Lyndon Ijeing only three months old, but wlm can say that it was not a beautiful sequence that the son, imbibing the loyal and unselfish .spirit of the father, should transform that same moilest schoolhouse into a modest, yet strong college ? It must be added that the early loss of the advice and care of his father was overcome by the blessing of a strong, courageous mother. Liheriting much from his worthy father and absorliing the gentle and ennobling influences which his mother cast about him. President Hol)bs began early to foster principles of integrity anil uprightness and to make the best of the opportunities about him, and even to make opportunities in the midst of difficulties in order that he might cultivate his mind and equip himself for usefulness in life. Having received his preparatory training at New fiarden Boarding School, now Guilford College, in 1872 he entered Haverford College, where he pursued his studies with real love of learning and entered with zest into college sports, both of wliich characteristics he happily still retains, so that not only in the class and lecture rooms and in executive affairs, but on the athletic field as well, the students have his cordial sympathy and co-operation. Upon his graduation in 1876 he entered at once upon what has grown to be his life work by accepting a place as teacher in New Garden Boarding School. The classics were his chosen field, and for several years his work was largely con- fined to the Latin language and literature. After special work in this direction, he received the degree of M.A. from his Alma Mater. Since that time he has studied at Clark LIniversity, Massachusetts, where he came under the influence of that profound scholar, G. Stanley Hall. By intelligent observation both here and abroad, he has developed that broadness of culture and toleration which marks the ideal teacher.