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71-27,617 HOIG, Stanley W., 1924- A HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN OKLAHOMA. The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1971 Education, history i University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan © 1971 STANLEY W. HOIG ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS niSSERTATIMJ HAS BEEN MIŒOFIIMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE A HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN OKLAHOMA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY STANLEY W. HOIG Norman, Oklahoma 1971 A HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN OKLAHOMA APPROVED BY DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PREFACE This study encompasses the field of higher education in Oklahoma from the early efforts prior to statehood to the present time. It attempts to consider for the first time every institution of higher learning which has come into being within the borders of present-day Oklahoma and, through them, to provide a synthesized history of higher education in the state. As one of the last areas of the United States to be settled, as a region where a frontier tradition is deeply rooted, as a state which came into existence from the consoli dation of two cultures, one Indian and one white, Oklahoma has known a unique educational history involving a continuous re orientation of educational needs and goals. Such a study should serve well in substantiating the historical purpose of higher education in Oklahoma by tracing the long and devoted commitment to education by both Indians and whites. Further, the history of Oklahoma's advanced learning should provide a basis of experience which would be of value to educational architects in blueprinting the future of higher education in the state and establishing a base of reference for other students of this subject area. iii The essential problem of this study, then, is to re search and identify the development of institutions throughout the course of Oklahoma higher education, to organize this into a comprehensive history which traces the mainstream of progress from the beginning to the present, to show how the goals and purposes of higher education in Oklahoma have changed over the years, and to establish the principal factors of growth, or failure, for Oklahoma colleges and universities. Many capable studies have been made of individual in stitutions in Oklahoma: in theses and dissertations, in self- studies and institutional reports, in articles for historical journals, and in unpublished manuscripts. Most of these studies, however, predate World War II and do not cover the most eventful and dynamic period of their history. The three decades since the Second World War witnessed tremendous growth and change in Oklahoma higher education, and it was only after 19^1 that the many institutions became a part of a developing system of higher education. No consolidated historical study of all the higher schools has been made since Henry G. Bennett did so in a 1924 thesis at the University of Oklahoma, though A System of Higher Education for Oklahoma, published in 19^1, did summarize the institutions in existence at that time, I wish to acknowledge the debt which this work owes to the earlier studies of Oklahoma colleges and universities. In some cases their research was relied upon heavily. IV I also wish to acknowledge the invaluable studies of Oklahoma higher education which have been made by the Oklahoma State Board of Regents for Higher Education. I would espe cially like to thank Dr. E. T. Dunlap and Dr. Dan S. Hobbs of the State Regents' office. Miss Valerie Snyder of the Oklahoma Historical Society, Mrs. Boyce Timmons of the University of Oklahoma Phillips Col lection, Mr. Jack Haley of the OU Division of Manuscripts, and Mrs. Dorothea Ray and Mrs. Lois Filbeck of the Central State College library were extremely cooperative and helpful in as sisting the research of this subject. Recognition should also be paid to the Oklahoma State University library, to Mr. Guy Logsdon of the University of Tulsa library, to Mr. Jim Byrnes of Cameron State College, and to my wife, Pat, for her assistance in the typing of early drafts of this work. Finally, I am deeply indebted to Dr. John Pulliam, Dr. Herbert Hengst, Dr. Dorothy Truex, and Dr. C. Joe Holland, all of the University of Oklahoma, who guided my planning and performance in this effort. V TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE .................................................. ill Chapter I. EDUCATION IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY.............. 1 II. BEmOPHENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN OKLAHOMA TERRITORY, 1889-1907 ........................... 16 III. ADVANCED CHURCH AND PRIVATE EDUCATION IN OKLAHOMA AND INDIAN TERRITORIES................. 50 IV. STATE-SUPPORTED JUNIOR COLLEGES IN OKLAHOMA, 1908 -191+1 ........................................ 90 V. STATE-SUPPORTED SENIOR COLLEGES IN OKLAHOMA, 1 908-1 9 ^ 1 ................................... 1 08 VI. STATE-SUPPORTED TEACHERS COLLEGES IN OKLAHOMA, 1908 -191+1 .......................................... 130 VII. CHURCH AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS IN OKLAHOMA, 1908-19^+1.......................................... 155 VIII. MUNICIPAL COLLEGES IN OKLAHOMA, 1920-19^1. • • • 182 IX. DEVELOPMENT OF A STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN OKLAHOMA..............................192 X. HIGHER EDUCATION DURING WORLD WAR II AND THE POSTWAR PERIOD, 1 9^1 -1 950 ....................... 206 XI. HIGHER EDUCATION DURING THE FIFTIES, 1950-1960 . 2hk XII. THE SENIOR INSTITUTIONS IN OKLAHOMA, 1960-1971 • 288 XIII. JUNIOR COLLEGES IN OKLAHOMA, 1960-1971 .......... 330 XIV. FINAL SUMMARY . 351 BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................. 361 APPENDIX.................................................. 380 VI A HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN OKLAHOMA CHAPTER I EDUCATION IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY Oklahoma's educational system had two beginnings, one during the first half of the nineteenth century among the Indians of eastern Oklahoma and the other following the first land rush into the central region of the state in I889 . Just as Oklahoma was created from a merger of the Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory, so was the state's higher education an outgrowth of the educational interests of two different cultural backgrounds. Important educational foundations were established in Oklahoma by the Five Civilized Tribes— the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole— long be fore educational institutions were initiated by the First Territorial Legislature in I89 O. It is significant that the civilized tribes were strongly interested in the education of their young and de termined in their encouragement and support of mission schools and academies. Though set back seriously by the Civil War, education in the Indian Territory made considerable 1 2 advancement prior to the first land rush in 1889 , with ele mentary through college-level work offered. The preparation of a base of students who were educated at the primary and secondary level, the widespread support of education through out the tribes, and the existence of institutions of advanced learning provided an impetus to Oklahoma higher education which otherwise it could not have known. The Five Civilized Tribes, who were removed from their homelands in the South and transplanted to present Oklahoma during the 1820 's and l830's, had already obtained an ad vanced level of civilization by the time of removal, and their interest in education was already well established. They had, in fact, left behind their own schools and academies when forced westward by the federal government: Brainerd Academy, founded among the Cherokees in 18 1 7 * 5 Charity Hall of the Chickasaws, l820; Choctaw Academy, l825; and a number of other schools which had been established by missionary societies. In addition, the tribes sent their select young men to Eastern schools such as the mission school at Cornwall, Connecticut. Though the Indians had at first been recalcitrant toward the white man and his ways, the work of missionaries and Indian agents and the influence of white intermarriages gradually wrought changes in Indian attitude toward education, particularly among the tribal leaders. In 1832 a chief of the Six Towns division of the Choctaws wrote to a missionary society regarding the tribe's first written laws which called for the establishment of schools: 3 I want the good people to send men and women to set up a school in my district. I want them to do it quick. I am growing old. I know not how long I shall live; I want to see the good work before I die. We have always been passed by and have no one to assist us. Other parts of the nation have schools; we have none. We have made the above laws because we wish to follow the ways of the white people. We hope they will assist us in getting our children educated. This is the first time I write a letter. Last fall is the first time we make laws. I say no more. I have told my wants. I hope you will not forget me. Hoolatohooma.' Thus by 18*+^ the Choctaw agent could report: The Choctaw, who have earned for themselves so much credit by the establishment of schools in their own country, and who have bestowed so liberally of the tribal means to the great cause of education, continue to press forward in their noble course. The example they have set to other tribes is worth more than the expenditure; and the improvement, socially, morally, and religiously, among themselves is priceless; it cannot be estimated.^ This was true of the other tribes, also, particularly the Cherokees and the Chickasaws, whose agent in 18^7 wrote: "The Chickasaws have great anxiety to have their children edu cated, and what is most astonishing, the full-bloods show as great a desire as the half-breeds; but they are all very anxious on this all-important subject. It was the missionaries who initially brought educa tion to the region of present Oklahoma.