A History Op Lon Morris College Dissertation

A HISTORY OP LON MORRIS COLLEGE DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Glendell A, Jones, B.A., M.Ed., M,Th, Denton, Texas May, 1973 Jones, Glendell A,, A History of Lon Morris College. Doctor of Philosophy (Secondary Education), May, 1973» 353 pp., bibliography, 66 titles. The problem with which this study is concerned is that of analyzing the implementation of the stated purposes of Lon Morris College of Jacksonville, Texas from 1847 to 1973. Histories and journals of the period, records and publications of the school and other institutions, and oral interviews of persons involved in its development provide data for the study. As a historical analysis, the study is divided according to successive periods in the school's development. The purposes of the study are to determine the (1) stated purposes of the school from 1847 to 1973» (2) constant and modified philosophies which guided those responsible for the development of th© school, (3) inter-relationships between those philosophies and the implementation of the school's purposes, (4) problems and variables which affected such implementation, and (5) prospects for implementation of the school's purposes after 1973. The study determines that the stated purposes of the school since 1847 have been to offer its students quality education and religious instruction. It analyzes the im- plementatlon of these purposes from the school's origin as a Masonic institution offering a primary curriculum and nonsectarian religious instruction in New Danville, Texas. The school became a female academy in 1854, qualifying for state tuition subsidies, and offered sectarian religious instruction after i860. Moving to Kilgore, Texas in the Panic of 1873, it became a Methodist, coeducational Institute, receiving high school accreditation in 1884, It moved to Jackson- ville, Texas in the Panic of 1893, where it received collegiate accreditation from the University of Texas in 1895. Without state subsidy after 1894, the school erected a new plant in 1909. Adding a Junior college curriculum in 1909, the school received accreditation as a college In 1916, It offered nonsectarian religious instruction from 1911 to 1923, when it restored sectarian instruction and received its first large endowment. Upgrading its curriculum and academic standards in 1924, the college received Southern Association accreditation and its first regular church tuition subsidy in 1927. Overcoming financial difficulties encountered during the Depression and the Second World War by increased cultivation of both public and private sources, the college erected a new plant to house record student enrollments between 1953 and 1973, From 1935 to 1973, the college expanded its curriculum and relaxed its academic standards, although the quality of its education remained acceptable to its accre- ditors. After 1944, the college again offered nonsectarian religious instruction, receiving continued church support and approval despite its lack of sectarianism. Following this analysis of the purposes, philosophies, and problems of the school since 1847, the study concludes that Lon Morris College persistently sought to offer its students quality education and religious instruction to 1973, but that its implementation of those purposes varied according to the different educational and religious philosophies which guided those responsible for its development. During most of its history, the school offered a quality of education closely correlated with established accreditation standards but on several occasions offered its students education of more or less than average quality. Unable to settle upon one interpretation of its religious purpose, the school alter- natively offered sectarian and nonsectarian instruction to its students during its different administrations. During its last half century, through the unique variable of per- suasive leadership, the school developed effective techniques to solve its financial problems by securing additional support from private and public sources, thus achieving financial stability to enhance implementation of its purposes after 1973, This study concludes that Lon Morris College implemented its stated purposes from 1847 to 1973. X A HISTORY OP LON MORRIS COLLEGE DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Glendell A, Jones, B.A., M.Ed., M,Th, Denton, Texas May, 1973 Copyright by Glendell Asbury Jones II 1973 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter I. THE NEW DANVILLE MASONIC FEI1ALE ACADEMY ... 6 II. ALEXANDER INSTITUTE 39 III. ALEXANDER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE 8l IV. ALEXANDER COLLEGE 115 V. LON MORRIS COLLEGE 1924-1935 160 VI. LON MORRIS COLLEGE 1935-19^5 199 VII. LON MORRIS COLLEGE 1945-1955 232 VIII. LON MORRIS COLLEGE 1955-1965 ... ..... 263 IX. LON MORRIS COLLEGE 1965-1973 ... ..... 307 X. CONCLUSIONS 337 BIBLIOGRAPHY 3^7 ill INTRODUCTION American education in general, and Southern education in particular, began with the private school, During the nineteenth century, most Southern primary schools were private in ownership and support, offering the public the "common" education of the period, consisting of the basic three "R's" - reading, writing, and arithmetic, Most Southern states pro- vided private primary schools with tuition subsidies for the training of needy students in these fundamental literate and computational skills. Before the Reconstruction of the South in the late nineteenth century, private schools were that section's only source of formal education, Of all nineteenth century schools, the private academy was the preferred educational institution for those families desiring a more advanced education for their children, Offer- ing either a terminal ("finished") or college preparatory high school course of study, almost every Southern community boasted a private academy before the Civil War, Like the private primary schools, the private academies benefitted from the state subsidy for needy students and thus were able to offer their education to the public as a whole. Both levels of private schools sought to offer the public an education designed to meet the needs of the nineteenth century South, Some of these institutions eventually became Junior colleges. In the late nineteenth century, the private junior college was developed primarily in the Southern United States, Often beginning as a private academy, the private junior college offered the first two years of university-level work as either terminal or preparatory to further university or college study, Like the private academy, the private Junior college became a popular institution in the South by the early twentieth century, Probably the most originally American of all institutions of higher education, the private junior college established a valuable transition between high school and university education, Even with the advent of public junior colleges, private junior c.olleges are still an integral, and significant part of Southern education today, comprising one-third of all junior colleges in the state of Texas alone, With the provision of state tuition subsidies to private junior colleges for the education of needy students, these institutions have become as open to the public as' were the nineteenth century private primary schools and academies. Prominent educators still see a bright future ahead for the private junior college as it carries on the traditions of private education in the twentieth century South, Although numerous studies have dealt with nineteenth and twentieth century education in the South, few studies have dealt specifically with the long-term development of a particular institution; this is especially true of private junior colleges, A study of the .development of a private South- ern junior college through an analysis of the implementation of its purposes might be useful in providing suggestive guides or leads for research into the developmental practices and patterns of Southern private education in general, Certainly, no history of Southern education during the past two centuries would be complete without reference to roles played by the private school. Such a study could also have general relevance to the overall subject of the development of American higher education to the present, If the purposes of an educational institution are to be reflected in its educatianal program, then an analysis of the implementation of purposes in the educational program of an institution should bea,relevant subject for research in higher education. The need for such an institutional study exists, As Le- land Medsker has written in The Junior College: Progress and Prospect; "Specific information has been lacking on how and to what extent the two-year college has implemented certain of its commonly expressed objectives," Assuming that an historical analysis might be useful in obtaining such information on junior college development, perhaps a study of a private ... Southern junior college from its origins to the present could provide Insights that might illuminate problems and solutions common to such institutions. Especially might this be true if the school had a long and varied history, such as that of Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas, For the past 125 years, Lon Morris College has had ex- periences typical of

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