Mississippi College - Tribesman Yearbook (Clinton, MS)

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Theodosia Searcy, daughter of Dr. J. B. Searcy, of Arkansas. He filled this position with eminent success for thirteen years, when he accepted the presidency of Mississippi College. This step marks an epoch in his life, and in the history of Mississippi College, opening up to him a greatly enlarged field of operation for his peculiar abilities and inaugurating a period of greatly enlarged prosperity for the College. Dr. Lowrey forms his opinions with great deliberation and holds to them with great per- tinacity. He has made a science of acquaintanceship and magnifies the good that is in others. He has a genius for friendship and personal loyalty is a principal source of his power. His manner of life has tended to make him a man of affairs rather than a scholar, and has developed his inherited gift of leadership. It is doubtful if a politician in Mississippi has so large a personal acquaintance with his constituency as Dr. Lowrey has with the Baptist con- stituency in Mississippi. He has shown great State pride and loyalty. A close observer has recently said that one of the striking facts of our time is the conspicuous ability of the educational leaders in the Southern States, and that educational work there is a form of statesmanship, and appeals to men of the very highest grade of ability. Dr. Lowrey s work is constructive, and his talent is executive rather than critical. He is showing himself able to project and exploit large and safe plans for the steady enlargement of the work and influence of one of the oldest and most useful of Southern colleges. What he is doing for Mississippi College is giving him prominence as an educational force in the South, and few roles are more honorable or conspicuous now than that of com- manding leadership in educational work. He has been fortunate in coming into the presidency of the College at a time of general prosperity and widespread educational awakening, when there is more disposition and ability to aid education, and a more general thirst for it. The man and the occasion have met, and he has not only utilized, hut has intensified these cooperating tendencies among Mississippi Baptists, and has made them effectual in the material enlargement of endowment and in one hundred and twenty thousand dollars already secured for new buildings, and in patronage increased to a present enrollment of four hundred and thirty-two students, with improved conditions on every hand, promising a glorious future for the College, with the time not far distant when she will have ample buildings and equipment for a thousand students. The things that have been in the mind and the heart of the President and the Board and the brother- hood are now taking shape and will in a few years transfigure the old campus. What Dr. Lowrey has been able already to accomplish, and what he is on a still larger scale planning to do, is on the foundation of less conspicuous hut equally grand work done by noble predecessors in office, whose work of toil and tears amid impossible conditions we must never allow to he obscured nor forgotten. P. H. E. 8

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Mississippi College HE first act of the Legislature of Mississippi chartering this famous old institution was passed on the 26th day of January, 1826. The institution was chartered under the name of Hampstead Academy. One year later an act was passed by the Legislature, changing the name to Mississippi Academy, and in 1830 an act was passed changing the name to Mississippi College. The institution was at first under the management of a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees, and had no denominational connection. Later it went under the management of the Presbyterians. The Presbyterians, having become tired of the responsibility on account of a division in their ranks, finally gave up the institution, and in 1850 it was transferred to the control of the Baptist denomination. When the war opened, the College had what at that time were considered excellent buildings, and also an endowment of about $100,000. The war, however, swept away the endowment securities, which consisted largely of notes from wealthy planters, whose fortunes were ruined by the war. The war also left the buildings in a dilapidated condition and a debt of $6,000 for repairs and running expenses. For many years the College struggled against financial embarrassments and did its work in poverty and toil. For many years the income was supplemented by collections from the churches. But, during all these years the College attracted a sturdy class of students, from among whom many strong and mighty men were developed. In 1890, under the leadership of Dr. J. B. Gambrell, a beginning was made toward endowment by the raising of $40,000. Immediately after the war, Dr. Walter Hillman was made president of the College, and under his leadership the institution made a new start toward prosperity. In 1872 Dr. Hill man was succeeded by Dr. W. S. Webb. Dr. Webb bore the heat and burden of the day with great efficiency and fidelity for eighteen years. The great work of the institution, and the noble name it bore during all these years, were due largely to the character and the work of this great man. Great endow- ments are important, but great men are more so. The institution that is headed by a great man, suited to his position, will do noble work and exert far-reaching influence, even against great financial disadvantages. President Webb s name and work ought to be kept forever fresh in the memory of the friends of Mississippi College. The next two administrations were brief but brilliant. Dr. R. A. Venable was president for four years, during which time the patronage was excellent. 10