William Carey College - Crusader / Pine Burr Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

Page 28 text:

T i 1 -i 3E: Faculty L. C. Bradley Business Manager Ethel Gill College Se cretary Mrs. H. K. Waller Matron of Dormitories Mrs. C. C. Vaxdergriff Housekeeper of Dormitories Mrs. Axxie McGowan Housekeeper in Dockery Hall Miss L. E. Shirley, R.N. College Nurse 7S

Page 27 text:

Faculty Margarkt Down Head of Or jan Drpartmrnt . Irii Mary Theresa Poe Head of Tlifory Difiarlminl, I ' m Lola Corixxe Holleman Inslruclnr in Piano Elizabeth Gilchrist Instructor in Piano Mrs. D. S. Harmox Stenography and Bookkcepinq Mrs. a. L. O ' Briaxt Librarian

Page 29 text:

it mm m mm- : Mississippi Woman s College I HEN the State BajUist Convention met at Ha ,iehurst almost twenty years ago, a committee was aijpoiiited to look into the advisability of establishing a col- lege for women with instructions to report at the next convention. The report of this committee was indefinite and the question was allowed to drop. Just about this time a stock company was formed in Hattiesburg to organize and carry on a Junior Co-educational College under the name of South Mississijipi College. The company included business men of all denominations and the president was Professor W. I. Thames, now the efficient Superintendent of Hattiesburg City Schools. A campus of fifteen acres was secured in the southwestern portion of the municipality and three large two-story buildings were erected, one an administration building and two dormitories. The school was carried on w ' ith great success for several years, but the loss of the administration bm ' lding by fire caused the institution to close its doors. Mr. W. S. F. Tatum, a prominent Methodist layman, came into possession of the property and endeavored without success to ha e his denomination establish a school for girls. He then offered the propcrt ' to the four Baptist churches of Hattiesburg on condition that they carry on a school for women for at least five years. Rev. A. L. O ' Briant and Rev. £. D. Solomon were then Baptist pastors in Hattiesburg and they brought about so much enthusiasm among the Hattiesburg Baptists that the proposition was accepted. In September, igi i, the first session was begun under the guidance of Professor W. W. Rivers, who came from a college in Arkansas. In November, when the State Baptist Convention met in Gulfport, the four Baptist churches of Hattiesburg, finding they had taken upon their hands too great a task, offered the property to the convention. There was a warm debate which lasted a whole afternoon, but the con ention finally agreed to accept the college. Prominent among those who urged the acceptance of the proposition were Dr. T. E. Ross, Mr. M. P. L. Love, Rev. A. L. O ' Briant, Rev. E. D. Solomon, Mr. T. S. Jackson, Mr. J. E. Byrd, Rev. L. G. Gates and others. A board of trustees was appointed with Dr. T. E. Ross as president and they elected as president of the college Prof. J. L. Johnson, who then filled the Chair of Modern Languages at Mississippi College. In Alarch, 1912, Professor Johnson and his wife, Mrs. Sue Bell Johnson, came to Hattiesburg to meet the Board of Trustees and after consultation with them, he accepted the position. The summer of 1912 was spent in putting the two buildings in order, securing a faculty and making an acti ' e canvass for students. As the Administration Building had burned, arrangements were made in the two dormitories for class rooms and chapel. When funds were needed for this work, one of the prominent bankers of Hattiesburg made a loan of ten thousand dollars through his bank to the college. The first faculty consisted of J. L. Johnson, President; Mrs. Mae Waller Batson, lady Principal: Pro- fessor O. P. Estes, Misses Morris, Lea Russell and Mariah Johnson in the literary department; Miss Phillips, Expression; Miss Graham, Art; Miss Stevens, Voice; liss Chase, Piano; Mrs. Bedford, Housekeeper, and ]Mrs. Russell, matron of the Self-Help Club. The first session opened in September, 1912, with about seventy-five boarding students. About twenty-five of these belonged to the Self-Help Club and had their dining room and kitchen in the second Dormitory, where the class rooms were located. At the opening exercises which took place in the Immanuel Church just across the street from the campus, many visitors from different parts of the state were present and great faith as to the future of the college was shown. 11 m '