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THE FOUNDING OF LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE
By Duane Bonifer
Lindsey Wilson College
210 Lindsey Wilson Street
Columbia, Kentucky 42728
( Updated: May 2000)
INTRODUCTION
The founding of Lindsey Wilson College was marked by contradictions, confusion, near misses and an incredible amount of optimism by its architects. It was also marked by many of the traits, quirks and characteristics that would distinguish and sustain the institution throughout much of the twentieth century.
The institution that is now known as Lindsey Wilson College is a four- year liberal arts college located in Columbia, Kentucky, and affiliated with the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church. As of May 1, 1999, the college was a vibrant and dynamic institution: it offered a bachelor of arts degree in 16 areas and a master’s degree in two areas of education.
The college’s enrollment for the 1999- 2000 school year was reported to be 1,412; its full- time faculty – more than 60 percent of whom had terminally degrees – stood at 57; it owned more than three dozen buildings on 45 partially wooded acres; its budget was more than $ 18 million; and its endowment was approaching $ 30 million. By 1999, Lindsey Wilson had become something completely unimaginable when a committee of five preachers of the Louisville Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South was charged at the 1899 Annual Conference in Glasgow, Kentucky, to found a training school in their conference’s Columbia District.
BACKGROUND
Object Description
| Title | Founding of Lindsey Wilson College |
| Alternative Title | Short history of Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, KY |
| Author | Bonifer, Duane |
| Subject | Lindsey Wilson College |
| DLA Category | Education |
| Date | 2013-05-22 |
| Place | Columbia (Kentucky) |
| Format | 24 pages |
| Type | Text |
| Holding Library | Lindsey Wilson College |
| Identifier | LWCFounding.pdf |
| Publisher | Lindsey Wilson College |
| Rights | This image may be viewed, downloaded, and printed for personal use, but any commercial use is prohibited without permission of the College. Questions may be directed to the Library at (270) 384-8250. |
| Full Text | THE FOUNDING OF LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE By Duane Bonifer Lindsey Wilson College 210 Lindsey Wilson Street Columbia, Kentucky 42728 ( Updated: May 2000) INTRODUCTION The founding of Lindsey Wilson College was marked by contradictions, confusion, near misses and an incredible amount of optimism by its architects. It was also marked by many of the traits, quirks and characteristics that would distinguish and sustain the institution throughout much of the twentieth century. The institution that is now known as Lindsey Wilson College is a four- year liberal arts college located in Columbia, Kentucky, and affiliated with the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church. As of May 1, 1999, the college was a vibrant and dynamic institution: it offered a bachelor of arts degree in 16 areas and a master’s degree in two areas of education. The college’s enrollment for the 1999- 2000 school year was reported to be 1,412; its full- time faculty – more than 60 percent of whom had terminally degrees – stood at 57; it owned more than three dozen buildings on 45 partially wooded acres; its budget was more than $ 18 million; and its endowment was approaching $ 30 million. By 1999, Lindsey Wilson had become something completely unimaginable when a committee of five preachers of the Louisville Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South was charged at the 1899 Annual Conference in Glasgow, Kentucky, to found a training school in their conference’s Columbia District. BACKGROUND History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 2 The purpose of this essay is to present why Lindsey Wilson was founded and who the major players were in the institution’s founding and formative years. In the course of my research, I was unable to find any comprehensive history about the college’s founding or early years. The college has few records of its early years, and the archives and special collections at the University of Kentucky’s Margaret I. King Library has a rather small amount of information about the formative years of Lindsey Wilson. The best source of information for this essay proved to be the archives of the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church, back issues of the Louisville Courier- Journal and the now- defunct Adair County News. Other areas that proved to be useful included files on some of the college’s past donors along with scrapbooks that had been maintained over the years by various staff members. A chaotic “ history” book ( A History of Methodism in Adair County: 1782- 1969) by late Adair County resident Vista Royce Allison also was helpful. Although the book reads more like a series of journal and scrapbook entries than a study of the county’s history, Allison recorded observations and personal conversations she had with Lindsey Wilson founders and founders’ descendants that proved to be quite helpful. In the course of my research, I had hoped to find some original documents – correspondence or letters by the college’s founders – but nothing turned up during my research. I was especially disappointed that no one knows what became of Catherine Wilson – the college’s primary benefactor – or her descendants. Although she was widely praised as a leader at the turn of the twentieth century in the Louisville Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, I discovered very little biographical information about her aside from: that she was a women of some considerable financial means, although I did not learn where she made her money; she History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 3 contributed a significant amount of money to the Methodist Church, although I did not learn how much total money she gave to the church during her lifetime; she was the daughter of the Rev. Marcus Lindsey, who was a pioneer Methodist minister in Kentucky; and she had an adopted nephew and stepson named Lindsey Wilson who died in 1872 when he was 19 years old and was studying for the ministry. The person of Lindsey Wilson also remains a mystery to me. Virtually nothing about him was found. I do know that his biological mother died when he was young, so his father, Fletcher Wilson, later married his sister- in- law, Catherine. According to one account, Fletcher Wilson was a successful farmer, trader and banker, and he was president of the Citizen’s National Bank in Lebanon, Kentucky, when he died in 1890. At his death, he left $ 5,000 to the Methodist Orphans Home and $ 5,000 to the Board of Church Extension, which was a popular arm of the Church. Sadly, the college did not maintain contacts with its founders’ descendants. That problem can be partially explained by the fact that the institution had eight different leaders from 1904 to 1918. Although some of its early leaders went on to become distinguished men in higher education and industry after leaving Lindsey Wilson, none of them appeared to have viewed their position at Lindsey Wilson as a major stopping point in their lives. None of their letters remain on campus, and I was unable to find any memoirs that were written – although there is a possibility that Paul G. Chandler, Lindsey Wilson’s sixth principal, might have written something after he left the presidency of Clarion State College, now Clarion University. Another reason the college has not kept up with its past is because the institution often found itself fighting for survival. Following its transition to a junior college in 1923, Lindsey Wilson’s History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 4 leaders came close to shutting the institution’s doors for good several times – first in the early 1930s, then in mid- 1940s and finally in the mid- 1970s. And at least one time – in the early 1980s – the college considered moving its campus to another city. Until the twenty- year presidency of John B. Begley began in 1977, Lindsey Wilson was always struggling to either balance its budget or stay open. When facing such issues, preserving an institutional history becomes less important. A final reason Lindsey Wilson’s history seems to have slipped away is because for most of the 1900s the flagship college of the Methodist Church was Kentucky Wesleyan College. Although located in the Kentucky Conference until it moved to Owensboro in 1951, Kentucky Wesleyan was co- owned by the Kentucky and Louisville conferences from 1925 until the merger of the two conferences in 1996. Ironically, at the dawn of the twenty- first century, Lindsey Wilson displaced Kentucky Wesleyan as Methodism’s flagship college in Kentucky. By the end of the century, Lindsey Wilson’s enrollment was more than twice the size of Kentucky Wesleyan’s, and its endowment was almost $ 12 million larger. ( In fact, by fall 1999 Lindsey Wilson’s enrollment was larger than the combined enrollments of Kentucky Wesleyan and Union College, the third United Methodist college in Kentucky.) THE FOUNDING The leaders of the Louisville Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South voted at the church’s fifty- fourth Annual Conference held October 4- 10, 1899, in Glasgow, Kentucky, to start a training school in the Conference’s Columbia District. In 1899, the Louisville Conference covered most of the central and part of western Kentucky. The Louisville Conference – which included 49,752 registered Methodists – included the entire Pennyroyal and Western Coal Field History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 5 regions of Kentucky plus the Greater Louisville area. The conference spanned as far west as Hopkinsville and Eddyville, as far east as Monticello, Springfield and Lebanon ( but did not include Somerset) and as far north as Louisville and Jeffersonville, Indiana. ( The Bluegrass Region and everything east of it made up the Kentucky Conference; the Jackson Purchase area – including Paducah – was part of the Memphis Conference.) In 1899, the Conference’s Columbia District – which was known as the “ mountain counties” – was the largest of the nine conference districts in both population and square miles. The massive district covered most of what is now known as the Lake Cumberland area: from Monticello in the east to Edmonton in the west, and extending to Albany and Burkesville in the south. According to church records, in 1899 the Columbia District had 49 preachers ministering to 5,962 members at 18 churches – more members than any other district in the Louisville Conference. Despite being a hotbed of Methodism, however, the Columbia District was in an area of Kentucky with little to no infrastructure. A small railroad ran from Lebanon through Campbellsville and in to Greensburg, but the area’s roads were so bad that a trip to nearby Elizabethtown was almost impossible during several times of the year. ( A railroad line to Louisville would not come to the area until midway through the century’s first decade, and Lake Cumberland was not created until 1952.) Because the district suffered from such geographical isolation, Conference leaders wanted the district to have a training school to not only help prepare its preachers but also to spread Methodist values in the area through education. Education, while not the primary focus of the Methodist Church, had always been an important part of its social agenda in Kentucky. Since Methodism came to Kentucky in 1790, its members were concerned with education both as a way to train ministers and as a way to affect History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 6 society by influencing the young. Several schools had been started either by the Louisville Conference or by leading Methodists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By 1899, the Louisville Conference operated four schools – a female college ( Logan Female College in Russellville, Kentucky) and three training schools ( Vanderbilt Training School in Elkton, Vanderbilt Training School in Smith’s Grove and Vanderbilt Training School in Franklin). Logan Female College was the oldest, operated by Methodists since the Church assumed control of it in 1868. The three training schools were part of a larger plan among eight Methodist conferences in the South States to create a series of preparatory “ feeder” schools for Vanderbilt University, which at that time was Southern Methodism’s flagship university. By 1900 the number of Louisville Conference schools dropped to three after the Franklin school, which was founded in 1890, was forced to close because of lack of enrollment and money. It was the second Conference school in Southern Kentucky to close in 22 years, and church leaders did not want to have another failure when the next school was established. ( From 1873 until 1877, the Conference operated Warren College in Bowling Green. That school was forced to close because of the creation of Ogden College, a free male college that eventually merged with Western Kentucky University.) At the fifty- fourth annual conference in Glasgow, a committee of five men was appointed and charged to visit five cities in the Columbia District – Breeding, Burkesville, Campbellsville, Columbia and Glasgow – and determine which location was best for the new training school. From the beginning, the search committee brought a strong sense of mission to the school’s founding – a sense of mission that would permeate Lindsey Wilson’s history. In the eyes of its founders, this new institution was more than simply another school – it was an opportunity to History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 7 affect society through Methodist education. “ The committee returned [ from the five cities] with great encouragement, having found the entire Columbia District thoroughly interested in the proposed enterprise, and aflame with anxiety for its speedy projection,” the committee reported at the Annual Conference. “ Not only were the different communities ready and willing to bid for it liberally, but the young men and women, who are earnestly striving for an education, were persistent in their entreaties.” No records were discovered about the meetings, but it is known that the committee visited the five cities between the end of Annual Conference in early October and December 29. The committee’s primary interest was to not only to find an enthusiastic response from a community’s citizens and leaders but to also find a community that could support the institution through students and money. As early as 1898, it was reported that a wealthy, elderly Methodist benefactor planned to leave$ 10,000 in his or her will to establish a new training school in the Louisville Conference, although the name was not revealed. Church officials wanted the community where the school was to be settled to match that gift for two reasons – it would ensure that the school would open debt- free and it also would ensure that members of the community had a stake in seeing their investment succeed. On December 29, 1899, the committee voted to build its new school in Burkesville, the county seat of Cumberland County. Breeding and Glasgow were the committee’s second and third choices, respectively. Burkesville’s citizens promised to give$ 5,000 to the school by June 1, 1900, with two subsequent payments of $ 2,500 promised to be sent to the school by January 1, 1901. On May 1, 1900, a committee of eight Methodist leaders – including Joseph S. Chandler, who would later become principal of Lindsey Wilson – met with Burkesville leaders to discuss History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 8 final negotiations for school’s founding. But upon their arrival in Cumberland County, the committee received two surprises – the Burkesville community had raised $ 12,000 in gifts and pledges, $ 2,000 more than its goal; but a bitter argument had broken out over where the new training school should be located, either north or south Burkesville. The committee met with community leaders for three days “ earnestly endeavoring to reconcile all the elements, and unite a thrifty vigorous people in the consummation of what they believed would result in great blessings to them and the Conference” ( Fifty- Fifth Annual Conference Minutes). The committee’s leaders were unable to get the community’s two factions to resolve the dispute. When an alternate site was finally selected, “ enough subscriptions were withdrawn to seriously embarrass the enterprise, and the citizens were not able to guarantee more than $ 8,000” to establish the proposed school. So the committee withdrew the Louisville Conference’s offer to build a training school in Cumberland County, and it reported later that fall at the 1900 Annual Conference that no other options had been discussed. It is unclear why the leaders of Breeding and Glasgow were not approached, but one can assume two reasons: the growing season was well into place by mid- May and it would have been difficult to hold meetings with community leaders’ now focused on crops; and leaders of Breeding and Glasgow might have been upset with Burkesville being the committee’s first selection. Glasgow also had a private school called Liberty School and it had recently lost its normal school to Bowling Green because of a lack of community support, so there may not have been a sense of urgency by that community’s leader to welcome another school. Glasgow also was on the western edge of the Columbia District, and church leaders may have wanted the school closer to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to serve Methodists in the east. History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 9 Despite its disappointing beginning, the committee remained convinced of “ the need for the school ... is no less urgent now than it was a year ago.” Speaking in a language of urgency that marked other nineteenth social movements in the Methodist Church, the committee told delegates at the 1900 Annual Conference to press ahead and found a training school in the Columbia District: “ Nothing less than a victory, a great victory, should satisfy us.” The committee would achieve its “ victory” two years later when the fifty- seventh Annual Conference was held at the Adair County Courthouse in Columbia. Methodist leaders had wanted to offer the school to Columbia at the fifty- sixth annual meeting, but the Rev. R. W. Gordon, pastor of the Columbia Methodist Church, asked the committee to postpone the move until after its 1902 meeting in Columbia, “ when he believed the people would get an inspiration from the large gathering and a presentation of the educational work, and united in an effort to secure the school.” The six- day meeting in Columbia was quite successful, with the community of almost 3,000 rolling out the red carpet to the Conference delegates. The Adair County News reported that “ churches of all denominations” welcomed the Methodists to town and “ were most hospitable.” Gordon’s idea paid off, and Columbia leaders enthusiastically embraced the idea of starting the training school in their area when it was presented at Conference meetings. Columbia was no stranger to church- related schools. The Columbia M.& F. High School had been in operation since 1855. Founded as a preparatory school for Central University in Richmond and then later for Centre College in Danville, the Presbyterian school was the only other private school in Columbia when the Louisville Conference met at the Adair County Courthouse in 1902. The school could accommodate up to 150 students, but its enrollment had declined to 60 by the time Lindsey Wilson opened in 1904. ( It is unclear why the school was in History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 10 decline.) In order to secure the new Methodist training school, however, Adair County’s citizens had to raise $ 5,000 in cash “ or its equivalent in real estate suitable for our purposes.” Another $ 2,000 was to be raised from Columbia District Methodists living outside Adair County, and the Conference “ at large” was expected to raise $ 2,000 for a total of $ 10,000 for the school’s building fund. Longtime Methodist leader Charles R. Payne – who would later become business manager of Lindsey Wilson – was appointed to help raise the money outside Adair County and ensure that a dispute similar to the one in Burkesville would not erupt in Columbia. THE TRAINING SCHOOL MOVEMENT In naming Lindsey Wilson a “ training school,” its founders attempted to distinguish it from the numerous private and for- profit “ colleges” that existed in Southern Kentucky and Northern Tennessee. Many of these so- called colleges had been criticized for giving their students weak curriculums and little in the way of a practical education in exchange for their tuition. Students were also entering the emerging universities either poorly prepared or unfamiliar with what was expected of them academically. Although in the early 1900s Kentucky had not yet seen an explosion of high schools, many denominations served to pave the way for their success with the founding of secondary training schools. “ The whole educational movement is looking to the multiplying of secondary schools and diminishing the number of so- called colleges. In accord with this progressive movement, therefore, we recommend the financial strengthening of Vanderbilt University and Logan Female College, and the multiplying of our training schools. A training school does not require a great deal of endowment. An annual income of a few hundred dollars in addition to the tuition fees will guarantee a good school in a good community that has a school History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 11 spirit.” ( Minutes of the 56th Louisville Annual Conference) Lindsey Wilson’s founders also hoped the new school would join one of the Vanderbilt preparatory districts and help strengthen enrollment at the Nashville school, which was the alma mater of many nineteenth century Methodist ministers in the Louisville Conference. By the time Lindsey Wilson opened in 1904, the Conference’s other two training schools had curriculums that prepared students for course work at Vanderbilt. Although in less than 15 years Methodist leaders would disassociate the church from Vanderbilt following a bitter theological debate, at the turn of the twentieth century their focus was on supporting “ our own college” in Nashville, Tennessee. Another reason for establishing training schools was social influence. In 1900, there was no formal educational system in most of Kentucky, especially in rural areas in the southern part of the state. Some communities had established public schools, but most of those did not extend past the eighth or ninth grade. If parents wanted their children to receive an education beyond the eighth or ninth grade in rural Kentucky, they had to settle for proprietary schools, such as the Alexander School in Burkesville, or send their young people off to a boarding school in a larger city. In fact, the Methodist committee that founded Lindsey Wilson assumed that “ ninety- five percent” of the training school students would never even attend college, but they said that those students “ would be vastly benefitted by the training school course.” “ We note also that in the bounds of our territory are thousands of young people craving an education, who could be taught by Methodist teachers under our splendid system, and would gladly welcome the opportunity. ... Shall we neglect the opportunity to utilize this energy that is now at our command?” ( 56th Louisville Annual Conference) History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 12 FOUNDING, NAMING AND BUILDING THE SCHOOL Charles Payne found nine acres about one mile east of the Adair County Courthouse on which to build the new training school. Known as the Arbor Vitae, the Conference paid $ 1,500 to local resident and farmer and local newspaper editor Charles S. Harris for the land. The Arbor Vitae, once the home of early Columbia resident Col. William Owens, was known for its pine trees, which Owens was said to have brought to Columbia from his native Virginia. Legend has it that Harris’ land was worth more than then $ 1,500 he was paid by the Conference, but he agreed to the price on the condition that his nine children be allowed to attend the new school for free. There is no proof, however, any deal was struck between Harris and the Conference – and at $ 167 an acre, the land appears to have been sold for about the same price that most land was selling for in 1903 Columbia, so it is uncertain whether that story is true. In October 1902 long- time Methodist leader Catherine Wilson died. Wilson – a resident of Louisville and a descendant of Marcus Lindsey, one of Methodism’s pioneers – was expected to leave $ 10,000 for the new training school’s endowment, but when her will was probated it was discovered that she had only provided $ 6,000 for the school’s endowment. Wanting to avoid another delay in the school’s founding, Payne negotiated a deal with the Louisville Conference leaders in which the Conference would contribute $ 500 a year over the next eight years until the school had received the full $ 10,000 for its endowment. On May 14, 1903, Payne signed a contract for $ 8,081 with George Fletcher of Leitchfield, Kentucky, to build a main building and residence hall. The main building was a two- story brick structure that housed all of the college’s offices, classrooms and “ large chapel” on the first floor and a library of 500 volumes the second floor. It is unclear whether the basement was used History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 13 during the early years, although by 1912, the college had converted at least some of the basement to classrooms and laboratories. Payne estimated that the total cost of the land, buildings and equipment for the new school would be $ 12,000 – $ 2,000 more than what had been collected for the building fund. Payne, however, secured an additional $ 2,000 from benefactors in Southern Kentucky. Unfortunately, no records exist of the list of donors to the first building fund so it is not known who all of the early donors of the college were, where they lived or what motivated them to give to the new school. Aside from Catherine Wilson, the only other early donors known are Mrs. Kizzie Russell of Columbia, who left $ 1,000 in her will to the school; and Mrs. James Phillips of Lebanon, who was called “ a liberal donor to the cause of education.” Phillips’ donation – which has been reported as ranging from $ 1,000 to $ 1,500 – helped build the college’s dormitory, which included 19 “ well ventilated rooms” and was named in her family’s honor. During the schools first two years, Phillips Hall also served as a dining hall for the faculty and student body. In addition to the main building and girls dormitory, several references are made in the college’s early years to a boys dormitory, and in some early pictures there is evidence of a third building on campus that may have been used for a boys residence hall. It is unclear, however, whether that building was already on the Harris property when Payne purchased it for the Conference or whether it was built for the 1904 opening. The Naming of the School The new school was named in memory of Lindsey Wilson, Catherine Wilson’s deceased nephew and stepson. No mention is made in Conference minutes about Lindsey Wilson’s life or History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 14 the cause of his death, and nothing was written about Lindsey Wilson in the school’s first two viewbooks that were used to recruit students. In fact, not until 1915 did the school and conference spell his name consistently. In some material and news accounts, the school was spelled “ Lindsay Wilson” and for most of its first 19 years the name was hyphenated as “ Lindsey- Wilson” or “ Lindsay- Wilson.” ( In some issues in the Adair County News, it was not uncommon to see it spelled both ways in the same story!) If the students can be any guide to correct spelling, the Blue And White – which was founded during the 1909- 1910 school year and is the earliest student publication on record – spells the school’s name “ Lindsey Wilson” in the earliest known surviving copy of that publication ( November 29, 1912). It is unclear what accounts for the difference in the school’s spelling, but it may have been the result of Catherine or Lindsey Wilson not having any descendants who were involved with the school’s operation. It also may be attributed to the fact that most colleges named in memory of people use only last names, and in the case where two names are used, the name is frequently hyphenated. ( To this day, several national vendors misspell the college’s name.) OPENING THE SCHOOL & ITS EARLY YEARS No sooner did George Fletcher finish his work on the new Columbia school than was it ready for classes. Dr. J. J. Tigert preached the school’s opening sermon on January 3 in the school’s new chapel. Tigert, an author and resident of Nashville, was said by the Adair County News to be “ one of the ablest and most learned men in the South.” The “ Lindsay- Wilson Training School” opened on Monday, January 4, 1904, and according to college officials “ before the carpenters and painters could get out of the building, pupils from Adair and surrounding counties began to History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 15 pour into the dormitory until 222 had registered for the first session.” The students – who were taught by Payne, Principal Frank E. Lewis and three other teachers – paid $ 42.50 in advance or monthly installments of $ 7.30 ( a total of $ 43.75) to attend the school for the semester. To put the school’s enrollment figures in perspective, when the Vanderbilt Training School in Elkton opened in for classes on September 16, 1892, only 19 students were in attendance “ with a prospect of the number reaching twenty- five by the first of October.” By the following fall, just 28 had registered for classes at the Elkton training school. Although no records exist about the school’s first class, it can be assumed that a great majority were from Adair County. The earliest class on record – the class of 1904- 05 – included 101 students from Columbia. Almost all of the students of the Class of 1904- 05 – except one from Somerset and Minnie Fletcher of Leitchfield – were from the Columbia District. ( It is not known whether Minnie Fletcher was related to George, although it is likely that he could have sent his daughter to the school after working out a deal with school officials.) It is not known what kind of families sent their children to Lindsey Wilson during the institution’s early years. One presumes they were Methodist, although there is reason to believe they also were from the Christian and Presbyterian churches because several early faculty members at Lindsey Wilson served as organists or “ guest preachers” at both churches. ( A next step in this project is to research the families who sent their children to Lindsey Wilson to learn their church affiliation, economic status and social class.) It is known that none of the early students were black because Kentucky’s Day Law went into effect – and was supported by the Adair County News – in July 1904. But it is not known what the ages of the students were who attended Lindsey Wilson. The late R. B. Fenley of Louisville, Kentucky – who graduated from Lindsey Wilson in 1911 – told a History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 16 Lindsey Wilson development officer in 1992 that his classmates ranged from the very young to teen- agers and young adults. Early photographs taken at the school show students who appear to be young adults to no more than eight or nine. It is unclear, however, whether all of those in pictures were in fact Lindsey Wilson students or friends and family members of students. ( Another next step in this project is to locate the students who attended the school and check with census data when they were born. My assumption is that the students’ ages varied widely, reflecting families’ educational priorities and ability to allow students off the farms to attend school.) It also is unclear how many Lindsey Wilson students in the school’s early years did transfer to Vanderbilt. After 1914, Emory University became the conference’s new college, but because of the school’s distance, enthusiasm for it among Louisville Conference Methodists soon evaporated. It would be interesting to learn, however, whether the school’s founders were correct in assuming that “ 95 percent” of Lindsey Wilson’s students did not go beyond Lindsey Wilson or whether a high percentage became college students. The final piece of information I would like to learn is what Lindsey Wilson’s students did after attending the school. During the first decade, it is know that two students – Strother Hynes and Roy Helm – were named Rhodes Scholars; Mont Gabbert of the Class of 1906 became a distinguished professor at the University of Pittsburgh; and Katie Murrell, who began attending Lindsey Wilson in 1905, later served the college for 41 years as a secretary and the college’s librarian. In a 1965 fund- raising letter, Doug Mosley, then- assistant to the president, claimed that more than 50 percent of Adair County’s teachers were Lindsey Wilson graduates, pointing to the success of the college’s goal to train teachers for the region. But there is no clear picture about what early Lindsey Wilson students did following their years at the school – did they become ministers, teachers, educators or History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 17 something else? Several reasons explain Lindsey Wilson’s early success. One is that the school opened in the dead of winter, a time of the year when the area’s agrarian economy was at rest and farmers could allow their children to go to school. Another reason for its success was Lindsey Wilson officials created a curriculum that was grounded in utility, which is what appealed most to the area’s residents. Although school and church officials talked of educating students for life – or what they called “ a Christian citizenship” – the thrust of the school and its early advertisements was on a practical education. When the school opened in 1904, it offered two courses of study: a five- year program that was geared toward younger students and a four- year training school education that was designed to prepare students for the ministry, to teach in local schools or to enter Vanderbilt. By the 1905- 06 school year, the school offered courses of study that focused on training school, normal school, commercial education, elocution and music. With the exception of the training school program, the school prepared students for a vocation immediately after Lindsey Wilson. Although Vanderbilt may have been one of the primary reasons for establishing the school, it was not until 1909 that Lindsey Wilson was officially recognized as a member of the Vanderbilt training school system – five years before the Methodist Church withdrew its support from the Nashville university. Therefore, officials needed a strong beginning to win endorsement from Vanderbilt and also get off to a solid start with the local community. The practical slant on its early academic programs, the start of the first term in January and a fairly intensive advertising campaign in the local newspaper all helped ensure a strong enrollment. A third reason for the school’s early success was leadership. Although official Methodist History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 18 accounts of Lindsey Wilson’s early leaders are rather excessive in their praise, it is clear that some very wise decisions were made regarding early leadership. Lewis, the school’s first leader, was called a principal rather than a president in official school literature although several newspaper accounts also refer to Lindsey Wilson’s first leaders as presidents. Lewis, who was a graduate of Bethel College and Vanderbilt, also shared duties as pastor of the local Columbia Methodist Church. Naming him principal ensured that a “ local person” was in charge of things and also gave the first principal a paying job while the school was being built. Lewis may have been principal of the school, but it is clear that Charles R. Payne was the man in charge of day- to- day operations. Payne – who was at Lindsey Wilson from its founding through the 1905- 06 school year – carried the official title of “ business manager,” but in reality he served as the school’s co- principal. ( When he left the school, rather than naming another business manager, the school instead appointed co- principals.) Little is known of Payne in 1999, but in the early 1900s, the Adair County News wrote that he is “ so well known in Southern Kentucky as to need no introduction from the press.” During his time at the school he advertised Lindsey Wilson heavily in area newspapers and at local churches, he was a frequent speaker to church groups and a tireless fund- raiser. Following a trip to speak in Liberty in nearby Casey County, the Liberty News was so impressed with Payne’s “ hustling qualities together with his high standard of morals” that the newspaper predicted that Lindsey Wilson “ is destined to rank second to none in the South.” The local press was equally supportive of Payne, crediting him with the school’s high enrollment. “ He thoroughly understands his business,” the Adair County News remarked in 1904. A final reason for Lindsey Wilson’s early success was the temperament of Columbian culture History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 19 at the turn of the century was well- suited to a Methodist training school – or, as school officials put it in 1904, Columbia was an “ ideal place” for a school. In the early late- 1800s and early 1900s, the Louisville Conference was heavily involved with the temperance movement, an issue that was also quite popular with the Adair County News. Charles Harris – the paper’s editor and the person who sold Payne the land for the school – crusaded against the sale of alcohol, and he often boasted how Adair County had not been the home to a saloon in more than twenty years. The town also had a very strong church culture with four Protestant houses of worship – Baptist, Christian, Methodist and Presbyterian – listed in 1904. All four appear to have heavily influenced daily public life in the community. Politically, the town voted Democratic in state and national elections, and Harris was a political soul- mate of the Courier- Journal’s acerbic editor, Henry Watterson. The Adair County News regularly ran glowing reviews of Watterson’s editorials and actively advanced the political agenda of the wing of the Democratic Party he embraced. Payne was politically astute in his early public- relations efforts for the college, promoting the town of Columbia whenever he promoted the school: Columbia “ is on a high attitude, as healthy, is healthier than any town in the State. Her people are intelligent and public spirited. It is the very best of communities. No saloons with the County or City. Ours is an ideal place for a School. Nearly any Sunday you will find 80 per cent of our population at Church. ... Ours is a Christian community, where the Sabbath is observed and the influences of the community are for good Sunday- School and Church.” ( 1904- 1905 Lindsay- Wilson Training School Catalog) By the end of the 1904 fall term, the town- gown relationship was so positive that the News declared that since Lindsey Wilson was founded “ there has not been a gloomy day in the outlook of this town.” The paper also credited Lindsey Wilson as a major reason Columbia was History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 20 “ outgrowing any other town in Southern Kentucky.” “ No one doubts the great future of this institution, and none can over estimate its true worth to our town, county and entire Southern Kentucky. This enterprise has done more to awaken our people, to brighten the future of Columbia, to invite worthy families to cast lots with us than any other, if not all other recent enterprises combined.” ( Adair County News, December 14, 1904) The First Full Year Lindsey Wilson’s first commencement was held May 15- 18, and according to the News, more than 700 packed the chapel to watch the events. Following the school year, Lewis stepped down as principal and was replaced by S. L. Frogge. Frogge and his wife – whose first name or maiden name were not recorded – lived in Phillips Hall, where Mrs. Frogge served as matron. Frogge and Payne oversaw the male students, which included approving local homes as acceptable boarding places for male students who chose to live off campus. Frogge was always referred to in reports, news accounts and school publications and Professor Frogge whereas Lewis was addressed as Rev. Lewis. Although both men had considerable education for their time and place, Frogge represents the first “ professional” educator who came to the school. Before coming to Lindsey Wilson in 1904, he taught in public schools in McLean, Logan and Todd counties in Kentucky and he served as a principal or superintendent in Kentucky for a combined 22 years. Little is known of his educational philosophy, but it is known that he was influenced by the writings and thoughts of nineteenth- century American educator Horace Mann. Frogge also was a proponent of values- based education, an attitude that would carry through Lindsey Wilson’s curriculum over the decades. “ Education is not the treatment of mind as a reservoir to be filled with knowledge but it is the developing of the ability to use, with power, all History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 21 the elements which God has put into man,” he wrote in the 1904- 05 catalog. It is unclear why Frogge only served one year as principal because he was praised in the Adair County News and was favorably received at Annual Conference. And unlike the other seven principals of Lindsey Wilson, Frogge is the only one whose contributions were not recorded in official Methodist publications, and it is unknown where he went after Lindsey Wilson, which raises the question whether he left the school on good terms. Whatever Frogge’s relations with the church leadership might have been during his tenure at Lindsey Wilson, he had a significant impact on the school. Under his watch, enrollment boomed to 325. Frogge also brought two new faculty to the college, including R. R. Moss, a graduate of Southern Normal School who would later become co- principal and an important leader of the school. Frogge appears to have a had a significant impact on the school’s students because in September 1904, 13 male students formed the Frogge Literary Society. The group inspired the formation of the Columbian Debating Society, and the two groups developed a strong campus rivalry. Several of the school’s student leaders were members of the two groups, both of which became coeducational by 1910 and claimed more than 30 students each by 1912. ( The debating societies were so popular in the community that on May 10, 1906, the top member of each Lindsey Wilson society debated two students of the Vanderbilt Training School in Elkton on whether the federal government should own and control the nation’s railroads. The debate, which was reported to have attracted hundreds of area residents, was won by students from the Elkton school, who argued the negative.) Even though Lindsey Wilson was not officially a college until 1923, it never had any secret societies, similar to Greek organizations. From all indications, Lindsey Wilson’s students – even History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 22 the older ones – were always quite supportive of the administration and faculty. In early issues of the Blue And White, long tributes were made to faculty. ( It is hard to imagine a more supportive student body than one that would name one of its major organizations after the school’s leader.) In addition to the two literary societies, Lindsey Wilson’s early years also had an active athletics program. The school’s leaders embraced athletics “ so far as it does not interfere with school work.” The school sponsored male and female basketball and tennis teams along with a baseball team. It is not known whether the basketball and tennis teams competed against other schools, but the baseball team played rival teams in the area. From the turn of the century until the 1960s, baseball was extremely popular in Southern Kentucky, and many of the area’s communities sponsored baseball teams. The games – most of which were played on the weekends – became social outings in the region as much as they were athletic contests. For Lindsey Wilson, the importance of having such a team was that it gave the school a way to interact with members of surrounding communities. Commencement exercises for the first full year were held on June 11- 14, 1905. In addition to a church service, the school also used commencement exercises to showcase its students’ talents to the community. No record exists of how many students graduated, but it is likely that the exercises were designed to be a celebration of the school year’s end as much as they were to send students to the next station in their lives. The commencement sermon was delivered by the Rev. A. P. Lyon of Elizabethtown in which he made “ strong and forceful appeals and admonitions to the youth of the land,” the Adair County News reported. But as far as the News was concerned, the real story about Lindsey Wilson’s commencement was not Lyon’s talk nor was it the presentations made by the students. The real story was the success of its new local History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 23 school – a training school had been delayed in being started but in 18 months had grown into one the largest institution of its kind in Southern Kentucky. “ The plain unvarnished truth is that this school has passed the experimental stage and has, but its work, convinced the people of Southern Kentucky that its great possibilities can not be determined, that its power and bearing is awakening the old as well as the young, throughout a vast territory heretofore inadequately served,” the News declared. And although Lindsey Wilson was less than two years old, the case was already being made of the need to expand its facilities. “ The Educational Board and the Louisville Conference can not fail to see the thing most needful for its full development, and guided by the same spirit that established it, provide the means to enlarge its buildings and increase its faculty,” the Adair County News argued. Church support of the school would be an issue for Lindsey Wilson leaders the rest of the century, but what was most important about the school’s first 18 months was that its leaders had built a solid institution that did not depend heavily on the church or Vanderbilt for financial support. While the school would always have strong ties to its Methodist heritage, its roots were strongest in the local community. Lindsey Wilson’s early leaders – whether by accident or by design – established a strong relationship with the local community that would allow the school to weather the coming storms in the Methodist Church and make a relatively smooth transition in 1923 when it had to become a junior college. Although the college would be faced with closing in the 1930s, 1940s and 1970s, Lindsey Wilson was the only training school of the Louisville Conference that would survive the century. The training school at Smith’s Grove closed its doors in 1908; the one in Elkton survived the initial blow of the Vanderbilt controversy but was eventually forced to close in 1924; and Logan History of Lindsey Wilson College, Page 24 College finally closed in the early 1930s, unable to withstand the Depression. Lindsey Wilson, however, would weather all of the twentieth century’s changes in higher education, survive a Depression and two world wars, and by 2000 emerge as not only the last remaining Methodist training school but become the premier Methodist college in Kentucky. - 30- |
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