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

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.HMMB-»eM»- By 1914 the enrollment had doubled and the call for an Administration Building was imperative. Air. J. E. Byrd and Rev. W. E. Farr went over the State and raised fifty thousand dollars for the college. Mr. Tatum, the donor of the original property, made another liberal donation in land, and the new building which contained, chapel, administration offices, class rooms, laboratories, special departments, gymnasium, library, and other rooms was named Tatum Court. It is a magnificent building which would cost easily now one hundred thousand dollars. On March 2, 1919, O ' Briant Hall, one of the dormitories, was burned. The citi- zens of Hattiesburg raised fifty thousand dollars and the Baptist Education Commis- sion arranged for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars which was used in erecting two modern brick fireproof dormitories and a dining hall. These dormitories were named Ross Hall and Johnson Hall. The name of Dockery Hall was given to the frame dormitory originally known as Ross Hall. A two-story building outside the campus was purchased and called Love Cottage. In this campaign Mr. Tatum again responded liberally. When the new dormitories were completed, it was seen that the campus was in great need of landscape work. Much grading and filling would have to be done to make the campus correspond in beauty and symmetry to the new buildings. At this time, Mr. W. A. Dockery of Memphis contributed five thousand dollars, which was used in doing this work. By this time the enrollment had reached four hundred and the faculty numbered forty. The college was maintaining every grade from the kindergarten through the high school work. In the high school and lower grades there were at least one hundred and twenty-five students. It was thought time to begin the work of standardizing the college and so all work below the Freshman year was dropped. The Convention con- tributed an annual support fund of ten thousand dollars to make up for the tuition which had been received from the lower classes. The salaries of teachers were raised thus enabling them to get more preparation. Up to this time the collge had no endow- ment whatever. The Education Commission offered to give one hundred thousand dollars for endowment if the college itself would raise two hundred thousand dollars. With the liberal aid from all denominations and organizations in Hattiesburg, and hearty co-operation from friends all over South Mississippi the amount was raised. Several large gifts were made, among them one of forty thousand dollars from a phil- anthropist, who has aided many young women to procure an education. This gives the college now an endowment of three hundred thousand dollars. In 1922, Mrs. Herrin of Laurel left by will some thousands of dollars to be used in memorial of her mother, Mary Ross. With this as a nucleus a beautiful building called the Mary Ross Hospital has been erected. Those are the high points in the thirteen years of the history of the Mississippi Woman ' s College. In such a small space no real account can be given of the labors of the heroic men and women who have given the best years of their lives to her suc- cess. Not even can be mentioned the names of hundreds of friends who have stood by in time of need. But all over the South can be found hundreds of her daughters who are using their Christian training to make the world better and brighter. 26 T I Y

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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 '

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®@©E TW©-W©1 And no one shall work for money, And no one shall ivork for fame, But each for the joy of working.