Lane College - Lanite Yearbook (Jackson, TN)

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BISHOP 1. LANE Lives of Great Men Lives of great men, all remind us, We can make our lives sublimef And departing leave behind us, -Foot prints on the sands of lime. The life of our own Bishop Isaac Lane has indeed been an example to us as that of a great man. As one glances back into the history of this, our beloved institution, he is convinced that Bishop Lane has left his foot-prints on the sands of time. Blessed above many is this great man, because he has built for himself a monument and now he lives and sees it grow. The life of Washington reminds us of bravery, truth and loyalty. The life of Lincoln reminds us of honesty and freedom. We may recall the lives of an innumerable number of great men and the impression that they have left, yet none have made a greater impression on the students, graduates and former students of Lane College than this man whose name carries with it morality, self-sacrifice, perseverance and humanitarianism. I -KARLINE HARDY. Page twenty-one

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x X MRS. MARY E. ROBBINS Preceptress of Girls' Hall, '22-'25, '26-'28. MRS. FLORENCE P. MOSELEY Matron of Cleaves Hall, '23-'25g Precep tress of Boys' Hall, '25-'28. PROF. HENRY L. MOORE, A. B. Instructor of Physics and Chemistry. MISS A. RUTH BAKER Teacher of Domestic Art. MISS DORSEY B. HATCHETT A. B. , Instructor of High School English and His- tory, '23-'28, PROF. FLOYD T. JEANS, A. B. Professor of Mathematics, Lane College, '27-'28. Page lwenty MRS. GUSSIE V. ADAMS B. S., Lane College '27, Assistant in office of Treasurer of Lane College, 1925-1928. r

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Lane College History 565W Forty-five years ago Lane College was founded by the Colored Methodist Church in America. Looking to the establishment of this enterprise, Novem- ber, 1878, a resolution was presented by the Rev. J. K. Daniel to the Tennessee Annual Conference, held in Nashville, Tennessee, and conducted by the sainted Bishop Miles, of the C. M. E. Church. The resolution was filed. A committee was appointed by the Conference and plans were inaugurated to advance the intended work. A severe epidemic of 1878 hindered the progress of the committee. Dur- ing this time Bishop Isaac Lane was appointed as presiding Bishop of the Tennessee Conference. He met the committee, gave advice and helped to form plans for the founding of the school. After having met with a number of difficulties, those assembled decided, at the Conference in 1879, with their small sum of finance, to purchase a lot at Jackson, Tennessee, as a con- venient location for this institution. Four acres of land were purchased Jan- uary 15, 1880, with 8240.00 Thus the work had its beginning which has been a religious and an educational factor to a great mass of uprising humanity throughout the Southland. After a lot was purchased, a greater task made its appearance, which task was the construction of a comfortable building for instruction. Through efforts put forth by Bishop Lane and his co-workers, funds were obtained and a building was begun in November of the same year. Miss Jennie E. Lane was the first teacher in this C. M. E. High School. It was instructed by her until January of the next year, when the term was successfully completed by Professor J. H. Harper, LL. D., of Jackson, Tennessee. In 1883 the school was chartered under the laws of the State of Tennes- see. This resulted in a change of title, from the C. M. E. High School to Lane Institute . The progress of the school was wonderful. The increasing number of students in 1889 was greater than the accommodating capacityg which resulted in the erection of a two-story frame building at a cost of S2,500.00. This also served as a girls' dormitory for some years. Demands grew greater as the time continued, causing a central auditorium to be erected, having beautiful towers with trimmings of stone, at a cost of 825,000.00 Rev. J. F. Saunders, D. D., was appointed in 1887 as Lane's first presi- dent. A member of the Memphis Conference, he served as president for fifteen years. His work was successful and pleasing to the Board of Trustees. In 1896, to meet a long-felt need, the College Department was organized and its name became Lane College-which name may it ever retain, and sur- round with moral and religious intelligence many thousands of Ham's sable sons. Rev. J. A. Bray, A. M., LL. D., was selected as second president. He was a member of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. His term began the 17th day of November, 1903. Within a year'the outstanding building was consumed by fire. Appeals were made to friends everywhere to help, and in 1906 the main hall was constructed, which cost 525,000.00 Three years as president Rev. Bray labored successfully. During this time many changes were made in respect to the progress of the institution. Rev. Bray retired at the close of the third term and took up work elsewhere. Page fwenfy-hvo