Mars Hill College - Laurel Yearbook (Mars Hill, NC)

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EW ERA DAVV ED. .. for the scholastic standards, together with his deep spirituality, received sympathetic support in his young companion who gave herself in tireless effort to the tinancial and physical growth ot' the college. In truth. the financial condition was such as to neces- sitate Dr. and Mrs. Moore's sacrificing their home life in order to maintain the girls' dormitory, in which Mrs. Moore served as dietitian, housekeeper, nurse, and mother to all the girls. Under such sacrificial leadership and with the high academic standards and Chris- tian ideals, Mars Hill College began to at- tract students from practically every state in the union and from foreign countries. Its faculty, likewise, grew. Despite the contin' Led financial struggle, Mrs. Moore's extra- ordinary business management succeeded in placing the college upon a basis of financial security and on the way to expansion. In memory of their only child, who died in infancy. Dr. and Mrs. B. W. Spilman, be- came the first benefactors ot' the college, giving a home for young women. This dona- tion was followed by the Q1'6C'tltJll of a young men's dormitory by Mr. M. C. Treat of Pennsylvania, who alsm established the first loan fund for young ministers. Within a few years the college expanded to include Moore Hallg the auditorium: the artistic stone library, a gift of Colonel II. Montague of Winston-Salem: and Rivermont dining hall and dormitory. named for the donor, Rivermont Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Further contributions by Mr. Treat and sacrificial giving of the faculty members greatly increased dormitory facilities for young women. Dr. B. W Soilman V .7 Robeit Lex- Moore and his wife, Edna Corp- -.-mng Mooie. in 18915. the year before they came lu Mars Hill. In 1917, War subdued the world. Once again the young men left the classroom and marched off to conflict. When veterans after the war sought Mars Hill College, they found her with an inadequate campus and dormitory space. The young' men were housed in almost every home in the vil- lage. In this crucial situation as in all previous ones ardent prayer opened heaven. In the spring of 19233, Mr. John Robert Sams and his daughter, Mrs. John Anderson, made a deed to the College for land for the boys' dormitory. Several months later. Mr. BI. C, Treat wrote President Moore that he would give 5145.000 for a boys' dormitory if friends of the College would contribute a like amount. The North Carolina Baptist Con- vention made possible the securing of the money. By 1921, two dormitories were ready for boys. In appreciation of the Christian ideals of the college, patrons, trustees, and alumni made other gifts. Outstanding among these was Mr. W. C. McConnell, patron and trustee for many years. whose generous gift made possible the McConnell gymnas sium: and the Robinson infirmary was built by relatives and friends in memory of the late Dr, W. F. Robinson, trustee and college physician. The endowment also was increased.

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' it ll lpl, lifi ,J li vi 'ii' 'll kill till' tu ,ll i'liii.il:' X l ull Aww , N 'lil . lx , 1 1 y it, 1 1 llfis ii' .wt! 'l 1 H 'F wg From 1890 to 1897 six men served , WQV' ' l , , 'A ' ,tx l as president in succession. Pictured 1 5 ,ti m - ,, mil N V at the right are four of them: J. M. 5' 'ilvi'iM4, ...M fy ,' V cm-ek. J. H. Yai-borough. C. P. sapp, Q -..,.m -t - fb ,A PM , and A. E. Booth. -J ll'ul'yi 1' ,V-l' M ,limi silky, 1' i A . . 6 Cheek Yarborough Sapp Booth of the school. She refused the administration, but agreed to continue as teacher if the trustees would employ a qualified educator as president. The trustees met her request and elected the dynamic Thomas M. Hufham, who was later joined by the distinguished spiritual leader, John E. White. Un- der these leaders Mars Hill College took a forward step. This advancement in learning continued for the next half decade, despite the burdensome finan- cial problems. under succeeding presidents T. M. Cheek, the Reverend J. H. Yarborough, C. P. Sapp, A. E. Booth. and W. P. MHLl1'j'. In April, 1897, the Reverend B. W. Spilman was making a tour of Western North Carolina in the interest of the Sunday School Department of the Until 1890 playing ball of any kind on the college grounds was strictly forbidden and could not be participated in except by special permission of the chairman of the board of trustees. One reported for violating this rule was given demerits. To play a game of ball the students would have to repair to some field away from the campus. Professor White organized the first athletic team to represent the col- lege in 1890. rr' . ., 1 ' K 3' 1 Baptist State Convention when he visited the Rev- erend T. M. Honeycutt, a trustee of the College. They were joined by John Robert Sams, also trustee, and they talked of the future of the col- lege. Dr. Spilman suggested they try to lay hands on a tall young man down the hill by the name of R. L. Moore. Following this suggestion, in the summer of 1897, the Board of Trustees called Rob- ert Lee Moore and Edna Corpening Moore, filled with the courage a vigor of youth, to accept the academic opportunities and the financial responsi- bilities of Mars Hill College. The heroic young couple found the college plant to consist of only two inadequate buildings and less than four acres of land. Dr. Moore's high regard of the college faculty 1899-1900. The first ministerial conference was organized in 1900 by the Reverend Walter E. Wilkins, a member

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'B-ol .28 Mars Hill College as Dr. Moore found it in 1897. Dr. Moore did not have the physi- cal strength, however, to press the cam- paign for buildings and endowment. Yet Mars Hill College, competing with the growth in other colleges, especial- ly state colleges, was compelled to go forward with her expansion program. Thus on February 6, 1935, Dr. Hoyt Blackwell, since 1928 teacher of Greek and Bible in the college, received at the office of the American Express Com- pany in Jerusalem a letter from Dr. Moore. appealing to him to return to Mars Hill College to direct the endow- ment and enlargement campaign. Dr. and Mrs. Blackwell, then traveling in the Near East, turned their faces home- ward and another new day dawned for Mars Hill College. In a meeting of the Trustees May 26, 1938, Dr. R. L. Moore submitted his resignation as president of Mars Hill College, asking that he be allowed as long as vigor of body and mind be vouchsafed to him to teach and to strengthen as he might the ties which bind the college and the former stu- dents, now numbered by the thousands. The trustees reluctantly accepted the resignation of President Moore, and after silent appeal for God's guidance and without comment the trustees unanimously elected Professor Hoyt Blackwell president of Mars Hill Col- lege, his term of office beginning on the eleventh day of June, which date marked the expiration of Dr. Moore's forty-one years of service and also his forty-fourth wedding anniversary. The Expansion Program continued. On Founders Day, October 14, 1940, the Charles M. Wall Science Building was dedicated. During the ten years following World War ll, the Endowment and En- largement Program continued its ex- pansion under the consecrated and sacrificial leadership of President Hoyt Blackwell. On May 30. 1946, the dorm- itory for women, constructed in 1941, was named for Mrs. Mae Cline Stroup '. ' '?'ur ag .,- Q Iii, . .. --, tH7:'9?iX . ffl I fi- 4, .. M Xt ix if .391 , fy fp, A i 'Rf .V1 , L,J in 1 ff. 7. -fy 1 s l 1 .r bw. QL? -71 ,ff--.in