Hendrix College and Its Relationship to Conway and Faulkner County
by Robert W. Meriwether
 
The institution which was to become Hendrix College was opened on October 30, 1876, in Altus, Franklin County, Arkansas.1 The school, known as Central Institute, was founded, owned, and operated by Rev. Isham L. Burrow, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, who had moved from Tennessee to Arkansas in 1869. Burrow had also operated schools in old Lewisburg (near present-day Morrilton) and Clarksville before moving to Altus, the highest point on the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad.

Central Institute opened with 20 pupils, which increased to 35 during the year, and Burrow was the only teacher. Instruction began in the primary grades, but as the students advanced a secondary department was added and additional teachers joined the faculty. In 1881 a "collegiate" department was created and the school became known as Central Collegiate Institute (C.C.I.). The original two-story frame building was supplemented in 1883 by an impressive three-story brick building with a tower rising 79 feet above the campus.

In 1884, many Methodist leaders in Arkansas wished to establish an institution of higher learning, not only to provide education for young people in a religious institution, but also to commemorate the centennial of American Methodism.2 In June of that year, a committee appointed by the Arkansas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South negotiated with Rev. Burrow to purchase Central Collegiate Institute for $12,500. On November 22, 1884, the conference approved the contract and in December the Little Rock Conference became co-owner. Two years later the third Methodist division in Arkansas, the White River Conference, agreed to join in "patronizing" the school.

A board of trustees appointed by the Methodist conferences named Rev. Burrow as president of C.C.I., which had around 125 students enrolled in the primary, secondary, and collegiate departments. There were usually four other teachers in addition to Burrow in the secondary and collegiate divisions. By 1887, C.C.I. had graduated eleven young ladies with the degree of Mistress of English Literature (a two-year program), three women with the degree of Mistress of Arts (a four-year program), and two men with Bachelor of Arts degrees (also a four-year program).

In June, 1887, a sharply divided Board of Trustees declined to reelect Burrow as president and instead named the Rev. Alexander C. Millar. The Board also released all but one of Burrow's faculty and hired colleagues of Millar at Neosho (Missouri) Collegiate Institute. The departure of Burrow and his faculty caused a great deal of bitterness in the Altus community, where Millar and his faculty were viewed as "Northerners".

Rev. Millar and his colleagues immediately began a program to upgrade the curriculum and requirements at C.C.I. In 1889 the primary department was discontinued, and the school was renamed Hendrix College in honor of Bishop Eugene R. Hendrix of Kansas City. Hendrix had been president of Central College in Fayette, Missouri, where he had taught Millar, and the bishop had highly recommended his former student for the presidency of the school in Altus. Millar and the trustees believed that the school now deserved the name "college," but Bishop Hendrix was not so sure. The bishop wrote that he appreciated the honor of having the school named for him, since some of his former students at Central College were teaching at the Altus school. However, Hendrix warned that many sma1l colleges were such in name only, and he hoped that Millar would be successful in raising a sufficient endowment to make the institution deserve the name and do the work of a college.3
Hendrix College was designated as the "male college" of the Methodist Church in Arkansas as a result of the establishment by the Methodists of Galloway Female College in Searcy .4 The Hendrix catalog issued in 1889 contained the statement that "Though Hendrix College is intended primarily for young men, yet its doors are open to young ladies who prefer the course of study and training offered in a male college."

Most of the some 160 students5 attending Hendrix College in 1889-90 were from Franklin and adjoining counties, but there were students from other areas of Arkansas and a few from other states. Included among these were six from Faulkner County: Annie Clifton and Annie Duncan of Conway, John Hugh Reynolds of Enders, Rufus B. Evans and Zara Evans of Vilonia, and Ashby F. Skinner of Cato. Both R. B. Evans and Skinner would become Methodist ministers.

The animosity between the citizens of Altus and the Hendrix College faculty did not lessen, causing some officials to consider moving the school to another location. It was also believed that Altus was too small (population less than 500) and too close to the western border of the state to provide the support the college would need if it was to f1ourish. Accordingly, in the fall of 1889 President Millar recommended to the three Methodist conferences that they authorize the Hendrix board to re-locate the college if, in the trustees' opinion, it was advisable. All three conferences agreed, and the Hendrix board met in Little Rock in January , 1890, and voted to ask for bids from Arkansas towns which would like to be the new location of the college. The board said it would move the institution to the town which "shall offer the greatest inducements in the way of lands, money, geographical position, accessibility, health- fullness, morality and patronage. "

Seven Arkansas towns responded with formal bids for the location of Hendrix College. None was better organized nor more enthusiastic than Conway. The leaders were Rev. Edward A. Tabor, pastor of the Conway Methodist Church, and Capt. William W. Martin, a successful local businessman.

Rev. Tabor had come to Conway as pastor of the local church in 1887. According to one local resident, the town was "unattractive and uncouth."
 
Streets quagmires of filth and mud in wet weather and clouds of dust in dry; hogs wallowing under the stores and in the streets; the air filled with mosquitoes and flies . . . . Five licensed saloons operated in a village of 1,000 people; drunken men reeling and fighting in the streets; gambling in the rear of the barrooms. Politics of the town and county under the complete domination of the liquor interests.7
 
Tabor gave the town a "re-birth. " He soon established a Y. M. C. A. and equipped it with a few books and some gymnastic apparatus. He then began a campaign to "dry up" the community by closing down the saloons within a three-mile radius of the local school house. Although women were not allowed to vote, they were eligible to sign petitions, and Tabor's campaign was helped immeasurably by the ladies of Conway. He was also aided by Capt. Martin, a Confederate veteran who, with D. 0. Harton, had moved their mercantile business from Springfield (Conway County) to Conway in 1885. Martin would later serve as mayor, president of the local school board, and representative in the Arkansas General Assembly. He is generally given credit for instituting the first sidewalks and paved streets in the town.8

After a heated petition campaign, which involved a good deal of intimidation and some personal danger (Martin allegedly at one time faced a drawn and loaded pistol), and a spirited lawsuit, Tabor and his prohibitionist allies won. The saloons closed at midnight on December 31, 1888. Tabor and Martin again joined forces in the winter of 1889-90 to mobilize Conway and Faulkner County in the effort to have Hendrix College located in the town. Tabor had recently married Mary Louise Randell of Conway, who had been the college roommate of Elizabeth Harwood, the wife of Hendrix President A. C. Millar, and the two women had remained best friends. Millar visited Conway and other towns to inspect possible sites and answer questions about Hendrix.

Capt. Martin pledged the considerable sum of $10,000 to start the campaign, which seemed to involve everyone in the town. George W. Donaghey, a young carpenter, subscribed $1,500, which was more than one-third of his assets. He later recalled the spirit shown by Faulkner County citizens :
 
"By gum, I’ll prescribe $1,000," shouted an unlettered farmer, who had never caught the correct pronunciation of subscribe. His subscription represented a long period of labor in a cotton patch.9
 
Eventually the citizens subscribed $72,000, but the Hendrix board wanted something more substantial than subscriptions. Martin pledged an additiona1 $1,000 and signed a guarantee of $55,000 as the Conway bid. "Literally forcing pens into unwilling fingers, Brother Tabor coerced [other citizens] into signing" the guarantee.10 The $11,000 given by Martin was "thought to be the largest contribution ever made to education by an Arkansas man." D. 0. Harton, J.C. Gist, and J.E. Martin (Capt. Martin's brother) contributed $3,500 each.11

Martin and Tabor led a delegation of nearly forty Faulkner County citizens to Little Rock on March 19, 1890, to present Conway's bid to the Hendrix trustees in competition with applications from Van Buren, Clarksville, Morrilton, Searcy, Stuttgart, and Arkadelphia. Among the Conway delegates were Circuit Judge J. W. Martin, County Judge P.H. Prince, Sheriff L.B. Dawson (who had engaged in a "shoot-out" with two murderers the night before), County Treasurer G.T. Clifton, County Clerk J. V. Mitchell, State Representative J.E. Martin, several former office-holders, J. W. Underhill of the Weekly Log Cabin, future governor George W. Donaghey, and many of the most prominent business and professional men in the community, including J.C. Gist, Sam Frauenthal, Dr. G.D. Dickerson, Capt. John Harrod, Sam Heiliger, Judge E. M. Merriman, Col. A.R. Witt, Col. G.W. Bruce, and John A. Pence.12

Appearing before the Hendrix trustees assembled in the First Methodist Church, the Conway delegation 's first presentation was by James H. Harrod, a Conway resident who had recently moved to Little Rock and who was the chairman of the State Democratic Central Committee. Harrod emphasized that Conway was free of liquor. He was followed by Rev. Tabor, J.C. Gist, Capt. Martin, and Judge Martin. After all presentations had been made, each town was given twenty minutes for rejoinders. The Conway rejoinders were given away by Rev. Tabor and Judge Martin.

The Hendrix Trustees then retired to a private meeting which began on Thursday evening, March 20. The Board, divided rather evenly among Conway, Searcy, and Arkadelphia adherents, was unable to reach a decision that night and continued its deliberations all day Friday. Finally, after 1:00 o'clock Saturday morning and on the 57th ballot, the deadlock was broken and Conway was selected as the new site of Hendrix College.13

The Conway delegates at Little Rock's Capital Hotel were jubilant when word was received of their town 's selection, and a telegram was immediately dispatched with the good news. When the delegates returned to Conway on the train that Saturday, they were greeted by hundreds of citizens yelling: "Hooray for Hendrix College, Conway, Education, Rev. Tabor, and Capt. Martin!" The worn and sleepy delegates saw a banner stretched across the railroad track proclaiming: "$72,000 - nothing small about Conway!" A German brass band14 played and a number of "Conway's fair ladies lent their voices and linen handkerchiefs in waving and cheering with the crowd." The Conway delegates were loaded into buggies and the band led a parade, Tabor and Martin in the lead buggy, with the people following "yelling themselves hoarse." It was reported that "whiskey men" who had formerly hated Rev. Tabor stopped him and, "with tears in their eyes," said "God bless you, Brother Tabor."15

Bunting, flags, and other decorations adorned the business district. Banners on the corner of Front and Oak streets proclaimed: "Captain W. W. Martin, $11,000 -"Rah for Bill Martin" -"Who and What can Excel E. A. Tabor for Christian integrity and Energy in a Good Cause?" A platform had been erected from which leading citizens made speeches. A Conway resident who witnessed both events said the jubilation of Conway over the acquisition of Hendrix College was no less than the joy expressed years later over the signing of the Armistice on November 11,1918.16

The reaction of the other towns which had entered bids for the college was a mixture of disappointment and determination. Clarksville used its money to support the efforts of the Cumberland Presbyterians to establish a school in 1891 which became The College of the Ozarks. The subscriptions at Morrilton were used to start a new college, which soon closed. The Little Rock Conference of the Methodist Church accepted the aid of the citizens of Arkadelphia to establish Arkadelphia Methodist College (later known as Henderson College and then Henderson- Brown College). Rev. Burrow returned to Altus from a church appointment in Oklahoma to open Hiram and Lydia College in the former C. C. I./Hendrix building; this school operated until 1906.

While Hendrix College was completing its last school year at Altus, preparations were being made to provide new facilities in Conway. The site chosen for the campus was on a low hill on the northern edge of town. A committee of Conway citizens headed by Capt. Martin purchased some 51 acres from J. M. Allinder; smaller lots were purchased from S. S. Patterson, William H. Vaughan, Maggie (Pugh) Bridges, John W. Harrod, and Bob Williams; and J. E. Martin gave several lots to satisfy his pledge.17 The campus was designed to contain 30 acres; the additional land to the north (across Winfield Street) was later sub-divided for sale as home sites. The spot, which was the highest point in Conway, was about one mile north of the depot, and the railroad ran along the western edge of the campus.18

A two-story brick building, named in honor of Rev. Tabor, was erected on the crest of the hill, facing the railroad tracks some 200 yards to the west. The first story of Tabor Hall was designed as one large dining room capable of seating 200 students, but during the first year it was partitioned and the front part used for the preparatory department and as the chapel. Attached to the rear of the dining room were the kitchen and pantries, with a cellar underneath. In the front of Tabor Hall was a vestibule containing the stairway leading to the second floor. The second floor would eventually be composed of ten student dormitory rooms, but temporarily it was partioned into four recitation rooms. From the top of the building, President Millar wrote to the Arkansas Methodist, one could easily see the point at which the three Methodist conferences in Arkansas joined.

On either side of Tabor Hall were two brick buildings (later known as North Dorm and South Dorm), each containing eight student rooms, four students per room, opening on to verandahs. The three buildings were constructed for approximately $11,000. J. W. Firestone made the brick for the buildings from his own kiln and supervised the brick work; other brick came from Henry Stapleton, whose works were northeast of the campus.19 Six small one-room cottages on the campus were outfitted for dormitory rooms. About eighty yards from Tabor Hall stood a small frame house which was converted into a "laboratory and museum." In the middle of the campus was another frame house which had been built by J. Frank Harrison; this building became the home of President Millar and his family.

The five-man Hendrix faculty made the move to Conway a few days after commencement exercises in Altus ended on June 17, 1890. With President Millar came his wife and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Millar .The others were professors J. B. Clark, W. B. Crenshaw, George H. Burr, and William H. Key, whose wife, Lalla, had been the music teacher at the school in Altus.

The first session of Hendrix College in Conway opened on September 16, 1890. As described by the students' literary magazine:
 
For several days the heavens had wept, but, when the morning of the 16th inst. dawned, the clouds, which had formed a curtain between the heavens and us, were removed, and Sol in all his glory shone upon us. Upon this beautiful morning Hendrix College entered upon a new era.20
 
Among the first students to register on that Tuesday were Conway residents William D. Cole, Jr., Mason E. Mitchell, and Annie Duncan. During the 1890-91 school year, 39 out of the 158 secondary and collegiate students were from Faulkner County. Throughout the 1890s there were a considerable number of Faulkner County students, not only from Conway but also from Beryl, Cato, Damascus, Enders, Enola, Greenbrier, Guy, Holland, Mayflower, Mount Vernon, Naylor, Palarm, Saltillo, Vilonia, and Wooster. Most of these were attracted to the Hendrix secondary department (later styled the Academy), since there were no public high schools available.

On Wednesday evening the citizens of Conway gave a reception in Tabor Hall to welcome the Hendrix students and faculty. A similar fete at the opening of the school year was held for several years, and usually featured musical entertainment and welcoming speeches, as well as refreshments. These social activities seem to have been greatly appreciated by the students and their professors.

On October 1, 1890, less than one month after Hendrix opened in Conway, Bishop E. R. Hendrix gave the principal address at a ceremony celebrating the laying of the cornerstone of what became known as the Main Building (later, College Hall). George Donaghey, who had been highly critical of the work of a Little Rock contractor on Tabor Hall, supervised the building of the four-story brick structure.21 Opened in September, 1891, the building was located some 75 yards from the south (Front Street) entrance to the campus and boasted an impressive tower which contained four clock faces (which, however, were never activated). In addition to classrooms and administrative offices, the Main Building held a chapel, the library, meeting rooms for the campus literary societies, and an exercise room in the basement. After the building was wired for electricity in 1896, there was a bath room in the basement with facilities which could be rented by the students for $1 a term.
The first graduation exercises in Conway were held in June, 1891. Following a tradition which had been started in Altus, the "commencement week" ceremonies began on a Sunday and continued through Wednesday. During this time there were programs featuring formal debates, orations, and declamations, the reading of prize essays, musical presentations, at least two sermons, a graduation address, the awarding of academic prizes, and the bestowal of diplomas on the graduates of the secondary and collegiate departments. During the early years in Conway, these activities were attended not only by parents of the students and patrons of the school, but also by many townspeople, some of whom considered commencement week at Hendrix to be the cultural and social highlight of the year.

The students ranged in age from boys of 14 in the secondary department to men in their late 20s who were preparing for the ministry. There were only a handful of female students, and most of these were Conway girls who lived at home. In 1892 it was announced that the Arkansas Southern Baptist Convention would establish a female college (Central College) in Conway .The reaction of the Hendrix men was predictable : "It is unnecessary to say that Hendrix shares the joy [ with the people of Conway].Man must not be alone!"22 The social rules at Central were, of course, even more strict than they were at Hendrix, but on two or three occasions each year Hendrix men marched the nearly two miles to a reception or cultural event at the female college. The young people were, needless to say, closely chaperoned. The formal social contacts between the two colleges continued on a regular basis until the late 1920s, when a higher number of women began enrolling at Hendrix.
In addition to the exercise equipment in the basement of the Main Building, Hendrix added recreational facilities during the 1892-93 school year by preparing an athletic field on the northwest corner of the campus. A tennis court was also constructed near the Main Building.23 The boys played a little baseball and football (soccer). Despite these facilities, one student during the 1890s later remembered that "about all the athletics we had was in the form of walking to the [Cadron] Gap after supper."24 Another diversion was a military company under the command of Capt. Ed Mitchell of the Faulkner County Light Guards. Some 50 Hendrix students drilled twice a week, and were regarded as being "very natty in appearance in their handsome, dark blue uniforms.25
Not only did Hendrix attempt to keep its students busy with demanding academic work, it was also interested in their spiritual and moral development. There was a compulsory chapel service each day, and all students were required to attend a church service somewhere in the community on Sunday. A revival was held on campus at least once a year, and sometimes lasted for two weeks. Social regulations were strict, and demerits which could easily lead to suspension or expulsion were imposed for infractions of rules ranging from untidy rooms to cutting chapel to use of tobacco. Students were dismissed on the first offense for major violations such as gambling or use of alcohol; in one case a student was sent home for "doing no good." Despite the attempts of school authorities to control social behavior, there were plenty of instances of youthful pranks and "horse-play." Sometimes these spilled over into the Conway community, as when the student literary magazine reported ruefully in 1902 that several of the Hendrix boys had gotten into serious trouble with town authorities for their actions on Halloween night.

Members of the Hendrix community were active in Conway church, civic, political, and cultural affairs during the 1890s. The Conway Shakespeare Club was organized in 1894 by a group of women who had been meeting twice a month as a class under the direction of Professor William H. Key. Both Mrs. Key and another faculty wife, Mrs. George H. Burr, were charter members of the club.26 Professor Burr, the Hendrix science teacher, was also a practical engineer, and was a leader in the development of the first electric light plant and both the water and sewer systems of the community.27 In 1898, Burr and Professor George C. Millar installed the first successful telephone exchange in the town.28 No individual was more responsible for the technological development of Conway during the period 1890-1915 than was George H. Burr. Burr's contribution should certainly have been welcomed by the college president, A. C. Millar, who in 1891 had issued a scathing open letter to the citizens of Conway accusing them of failure to improve the town 's sanitation after the relocation of Hendrix. "Your utter disregard of the correct sanitary principles may yet depopulate the town," he wrote. "Let every drain be opened, every old well cleaned out, all out-buildings renovated, and refuse and decaying matter be destroyed Like Caesar's wife, the healthfulness of Conway must be above suspicion."29 President Millar did not confine his civic activities to castigating the town for alleged imperfections. He was the president of the local Electric Light Improvement District, helped form the Anti-Saloon League in Arkansas and, in 1899, traveled all over the state in a successful effort to get the electorate to approve Amendment 3 to the state constitution, which authorized counties to levy a 3-mill road tax.30

From a financial standpoint, the 1890s were a bleak time for Hendrix College. After the Panic of 1893, there were several times when it looked as if the college would close for lack of funds. Although enrollment remained relatively constant at around 150 students, the school had no endowment income and had to rely exclusively on tuition and gifts. In 1894, four professors left the college and successfully sued for back salary in the amount of $2,000. In 1896, a creditor filed suit for payment of a $9,000 past due loan.31 Only the generosity of Capt. W. W. Martin and a few others kept the school from bankruptcy. After his death in 1911, it was estimated that Martin 's contributions to the school had totaled over $75,000, and it was recorded that on more than one occasion he had risked all of his own resources to allow the college to meet its obligations. 32

Despite the financial hard times, Hendrix authorities constantly attempted to provide an education of high quality in a Christian atmosphere. By the late 1890s, the college was depending on recent graduates for a good portion of its faculty, but these young professors responded to President Millar's constant exhortations to set and maintain high academic standards. Their labors were not in vain. In 1900, in a publication of the U. S. Office of Education, the statement was made that Hendrix College had the highest standards for admission and graduation of any institution of higher learning, public or private, in the state of Arkansas.33

In 1902, exhausted by his labors, A. C. Millar resigned as president of Hendrix. The Board of Trustees, which was now chaired by Capt. Martin, chose as the third president Rev. Stonewall Anderson, a graduate of the college who had also served a term as pastor of the Conway First Methodist Church. President Anderson inherited the problems that Millar had faced: maintaining high standards and finding money to finance the school.

The General Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South was a leader in the early part of the twentieth century in establishing verifiable standards for the hundreds of schools in the U. S. which styled themselves "colleges."34 Led by Stonewall Anderson, Hendrix strove to meet the standards, and was rewarded in 1908 when the college received a "Class A" rating from the General Board. At this time, Galloway female College in Searcy had a "Class B " rating and Henderson College in Arkadelphia was unclassified. President Anderson, realizing that the Methodist Church in Arkansas could not provide enough financial support for three colleges, began to look outside the state for funds. In 1910, due in large part to the efforts of Arkansas Governor George W. Donaghey, Hendrix received a gift of $75,000 from the General Education Board of New York (the Rockefeller foundation).35 This money, given on a "matching" basis, was the first of several substantial donations to Hendrix by the G.E.B. over the next 45 years.

On a more personal basis, several Hendrix students received support from Conway citizens in their efforts to obtain an education. For example, in 1905 student L. P. Farris of El Dorado received a three-year scholarship from Conway grocer William D. Cole, Jr., in memory of Cole's brother, Tom, a Hendrix freshman who had died the previous year.36 In 1927, Elmer Smith of Casa was able to attend Hendrix because Conway automobile dealer Theodore Smith co-signed the notes for Smith 's college tuition.37 Evidently, there were many other instances over the years when Hendrix students were able to get an education due to the friendship and support of Conway residents.

The first intercollegiate competition in which Hendrix students participated was in the early 1890s when Hendrix and Ouachita Baptist College in Arkadelphia began competing with each other in formal debate. Many Conway citizens attended those sessions held in Conway, and the series attracted state-wide attention. John Hugh Reynolds of Faulkner County won first place in the state collegiate oratorical contest in 1892. There were also some tennis matches played between Hendrix and Ouachita students, including at least one contest between women.

The mania for intercollegiate athletic teams, which struck many established American colleges and universities in the 1880s and 1890s, arrived on the Hendrix campus in the first decade of the twentieth century. The first varsity football team was fielded in 1906, and a basketball team was formed the following year. The Hendrix teams competed against other colleges such as Henderson and Ouachita, and against teams from Little Rock, Hot Springs, and Fort Smith high schools and Arkansas Military Academy in Little Rock. The Hendrix basketball team played on an outdoor court and found itself at a decided disadvantage when it went to Little Rock and played indoors. In 1908 the college constructed a baseball and football playing field on the northeast corner of the campus (where Galloway Hall now stands). A wooden grandstand and bleachers were built, and the facility became known as Russell Field in honor of Marcus J. Russell, the principal of the Hendrix Academy and coach of the Academy teams. Three new tennis courts were constructed on the site of the old playing field. Coaches for the various sports were Hendrix professors, including history teacher Thomas S. Staples, who coached the football and baseball teams for two years after joining the faculty in 1908, and later served as coach of the track team.

The opening of Arkansas State Normal School in Conway in September, 1908, was hailed by Hendrix officials, even though there were some fears that the community's loyalty to and support of Hendrix might in some ways be lessened. The Hendrix student magazine stated that:
 
"Hendrix entertains the best of good will towards the Arkansas State Normal We do not believe that the life of your school means the death of ours, the existence of both can only work to the upbuilding of Conway and education ...the promise for the future is bright. We wish you success."38
 
One of the most immediate benefits, as far as the Hendrix male students were concerned, was the presence of young women at the Normal School. Years later, one of the Hendrix men during the period 1910-15 remembered that social activities at Hendrix and in Conway were very limited, but that a few fortunate Hendrix boys had their social contacts with the girls at Central and the Normal School.39

Hendrix and the Normal School began an athletic rivalry in 1910 when the much more experienced Hendrix football team won, 82-0. The contests extended to other sports, such as baseball and basketball, and became more competitive as the "teachers" gained experience. As the rivalry intensified, Conway residents found their own loyalties divided. Rock and egg-throwing and derogatory shouts usually accompanied any game between the two schools. The problem became so bad that the Conway city council voted in 1914 to ban the playing of basketball in the town armory.40 On other occasions, the relations between the two schools were more up-lifting. In 1916, Rev. Burke Culpepper of Memphis, Tennessee, conducted "the greatest revival in the history of Conway" at the First Methodist Church. Students from Hendrix, State Normal School, and Central College sat in the gallery each night in special sections marked by their school pennants.41

In 1910 Stonewall Anderson resigned the presidency of Hendrix to go to Nashville, Tennessee, as the executive secretary of the General Board of Education of the Methodist Church, South. After being turned down by its first two choices, the Hendrix Board of Trustees turned again to A. C. Millar, who served three years in his second tenure as president of the college. During Millar's second term the school made steady progress in enrollment, and in 1911, for the first time, the number of students enrolled in the college was larger than the number in the Academy. That same year, all classes at Hendrix were dismissed so that the students could see an "aeroplane" at the Faulkner County Fair.

Of the many Faulkner County residents who attended Hendrix Academy and/or College during the school's first 25 years in Conway, a few were able to perservere until they received a collegiate degree.42 Those graduates who were Faulkner County residents included:
 
1891 -Annie Duncan (Durham)
1893 -John Hugh Reynolds
1894- J. H. McCulloch
1895- Minnie Vaughter (Williams)
1897 -Oscar Lee Dunaway
1899- Pearl Leigh (Voris), Anna Prince (Pittman)
1900- Gustavus L. Bahner, Paul Hartwell Greeson, William Umsted Witt
1901 -Nettie Murphy (Wilson)
1902- John Bruce Cox
1903- M. Edwin Dunaway, Maynard Leslie Hartley
1904- Jesse Bruce Greeson, Victor D. Hill
1906- Cecil H. Dickerson, John I. McClurkin, Joseph S. Utley
1907- Rupert H. Weems
1908 -Myrtle Eloise Charles
1909- Roxanna Clark (Reed), Martin J. McHenry, H. Lynn Wade, Roger B. Weems, Ethel May Wilson
1910- Florence Hamilton (Matthews), Vivian Elizabeth Hill, William B. Hubbell, Augustus Carlyle Maddox, James Frank Simmons, Mason Ward Riggin
1911- William Robert James
1912- Jesse Herndon Burr, Arch Elmer Pearson, George F. Hartje, Benjamin Moore Harton, James Baxter Stevenson, William Claud Vaughter, George Rice Wilson
1913- Carrie Vaughn
1914- Faye Canada, B. Paul Clayton, Claud D. Nelson, Louise Stevenson (Smith)
1915- James A. Anderson, Jr., Ruby Baugh (Fulmer), Ruth Baugh, James Howard Bishop,
Paul M. Fulmer, Silas Crum Fulmer, William H. Harton, Joseph Robert Holmes,
Howard Clyde Johnston, Henry Almus Stroup

Many of these would become associated with Hendrix as faculty and staff members, trustees, etc. J. S. Utley, a native of Greenbrier who would serve two terms as Arkansas Attorney General, also served two terms as president of the Hendrix Alumni Association and was a member of the Board of Trustees at his death in 1944.43 V. D. Hill, a Conway banker, would serve on the Board from 1911 to 1937.44 Future faculty members were Myrtle Charles (1927-53), M. J. McHenry (1911-54), and Vivian Hill, who in 1918 became the college's first full-time female professor and who taught until her death in 1956. Nettie Murphy married Hendrix professor W. 0. Wilson; she served as the matron for Hendrix girls living in the "Wigwam " and was an assistant in the Hendrix library for many years. Future Hendrix business managers were W. B. Hubbell, John I. McClurkin, and Gus Bahner. Dr. Cecil Dickerson was the college physician for nearly three decades. It should also be noted that the first two Hendrix students to receive Rhodes Scholarships for study at Oxford University in England were Claud Nelson and Howard Bishop.45 Many of the other Faulkner County graduates listed above maintained close ties to the college, and several had children and/or grandchildren attend the institution. And one became the single most influential individual in the history of the college: John Hugh Reynolds.

Reynolds was born on a farm near Enola in 1869.46 He attended the Methodist school in Quitman and then taught in rural Arkansas schools. He enrolled in Hendrix College at Altus in 1889, moved with the institution to Conway, and served as a tutor before he graduated in 1893. He received a master's degree in history from the University of Chicago and returned to Hendrix in 1897 as a professor of history and political science. In 1902 he went to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville as a teacher and was acting president during 1912-13. Elected President of Hendrix in 1913 to succeed his brother-in-law, A. C. Millar, Reynolds served for 32 years, until 1945. Active in many local and state civic affairs, Reynolds was elected the delegate from Faulkner County to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention of 1917-18. By the 1930s, Reynolds was considered by many to be the most influential educator in Arkansas, and he helped Hendrix College gain national recognition.

One of the stipulations which Reynolds made before accepting the presidency of Hendrix was the construction of a home for the president and his family. The first president's home had been a small frame house already on the site when the campus area was purchased in 1890. This building had been used by the Millar and Anderson families until 1910, when it became the home of Academy principal Marcus J. Russell and his family -it was henceforth known as "Russell Cottage." During his second term as president, A. C. Millar and his family resided in a two-story frame house on the southwest corner of Front and Independence streets, just across the street from the campus. When the Millars moved out in 1913, this house was converted into the college's first rooming house for women students. Professor and Mrs. W. 0. Wilson lived in the home and supervised the girls, who gave the building the name of the "Wig-Wam."

The new President's Home was a two-story brick building located south of College Hall at the south (Front Street) entrance to the campus. Designed by Charles L. Thompson, the eminent Little Rock architect, it was constructed by S. M. Apple and E. W. Jenkins, contractors. Hendrix students enjoyed watching three yokes of oxen used in hauling dirt for the project. Financed to a large extent by donations from Hendrix alumni (the building cost $16,500, including furniture), the home was ready for the Reynolds family in June, 1914.47
During his first five years as President, J. H. Reynolds concentrated on raising money for endowment and buildings - and, as before, the Conway community responded generously. In 1916 it was announced that Conway citizens, through their donations over the years to Hendrix, Central College, and Arkansas State Normal College, had contributed $81.43 per capita to education ($285,000 from a community of 3,500 population). This was the second highest community per capita contribution in the United States.48 In 1918, Jo Frauenthal headed a committee of 25 Conway business and professional men to solicit donations during a Hendrix fund drive. The effort was endorsed by Col. G. W. Bruce, the mayor of the city .49

Conway citizens were not interested in supporting Hendrix solely for the educational and cultural benefits the school brought to the community. Through its payroll, construction program, and local purchases, the college contributed greatly to the Faulkner County economy. For example, Mrs. Georgia Hulen, who took over the operation of the Hendrix dining hall in 1917, developed an extensive program for buying fresh produce, chickens and eggs, and milk and other dairy products from local farmers and dairymen. Twenty-five years later, many of these same farmers were doing business with Mrs. Hulen.50

In April, 1917, the United States entered World War I, and during the next year some 80 Hendrix students held military drill three times a week under the supervision of professors Lewis Winfrey and 0. T. Gooden. During the summer of 1918, Hendrix joined the war effort to the extent that the school often called itself a "Military College." A unit of the U. S. Army's Student Army Training Corps (S.A.T .C.) was organized on campus, Hendrix students were sent to an Army camp in Illinois for training to provide a leadership cadre, and the federal government constructed three barracks and a hospital on campus. The latter facility was overwhelmed in the fall of 1918 when the great influenza epidemic struck the Hendrix campus, affecting half of the some 400 students. Despite the heroic efforts of Dr. George Davis Huddleston, the Conway doctor who served as the college physician, two student-soldiers died from the disease.

World War I ended on November 11, 1918, and the Army discharged the Hendrix S.A.T.C. unit one month later. One of the barracks was dismantled, but a second became the college's biology laboratory, and the third was remodeled for use as the school 's first indoor basketball court. The wooden Army hospital served as the Hendrix Infirmary for 50 years. Another Army-type frame building was constructed by the college in 1918 for student social, recreational, and worship activities. Financed partly by contributions from Conway citizens, the structure, located west of Martin Hall, was known as the "Y"-Hut (because it was used frequently by the campus Y .M.C.A.). It was equipped with "a motion picture outfit, a Victrola, tables and innocent games." 51 In 1931 a stage was added, and the building, known as the "Little Theatre," was used by the college until the construction of an auditorium in 1952.

In addition to the two young men who died during the influenza epidemic, four Hendrix alumni died while in service during World War I. To honor these six men, a group of Hendrix faculty and students, including members of the Hendrix Ex-Servicemen's Club,52 formed the Hendrix Memorial Association to raise funds for an on-campus monument. In November, 1920, a ceremony was conducted dedicating the monument: a semicircular bench with a high back which served as the pedestal for a statue of an American "doughboy."
World War I had delayed the construction of the first "modern" dormitory on the Hendrix campus. B. T. Deal of Conway served on the committee which supervised the building of a four-story brick structure designed to accommodate over 100 male students. Also designed by architect Charles L. Thompson, the building was hailed by Hendrix officials as "absolutely fireproof and almost indestructible ...one of the most beautiful, convenient and sanitary dormitories on the Western Hemisphere." At the dedication on October 29, 1919, the building was named for Capt. W. W. Martin in a ceremony which featured addresses by Arkansas Governor Charles H. Brough and former governor George Donaghey. The Hendrix band and the choir from Conway First Methodist Church provided music for the several hundred people present. On the same day, Capt. Martin 's body was re-interred on the southwest corner of the Hendrix campus from its original resting place at Martinville.53 On this occasion, President Reynolds said that the grave "belonged to the people of Conway ...and is accessible for visitation at all times."54

A picture of student life during the period is given by Harry A. Little, who attended Hendrix in 1915-19 and who wrote his reminiscences some 50 years later.55 Little recalled that, as a green freshman from Mansfield, his favorite recreation was a Sunday walk up the railroad tracks to the tunnel. In the winter, the showers the boys took in a shed near Russell Field were very cold. A Hendrix man could date a Central College girl only from 2 to 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon, and often there would be 20 well-chaperoned couples sitting in the Central parlor. During World War I there was a shortage of teachers at Conway High School, and Little, a Hendrix junior, helped out by teaching three classes a day. After the military training they got at Hendrix, he and other students were disappointed when the war ended shortly before they were to go to France. In later years, he realized how lucky he had been not to have been sent to the trenches.

Mrs. Molly House, who served as a housemother for Hendrix women for nearly 30 years, remembered that she was instructed to keep a close eye on the girls in the Wigwam, especially where men were concerned. One of the favorite outings was a 'possum hunt under the watchful eyes of Professor 0. T. Gooden, although the boys and girls much preferred the "hunt" to the 'possum.56

In the post-World War I period, life on the Hendrix campus became more socially oriented as school rules were relaxed a bit. Since the days in Altus, the college had prohibited students from using tobacco or playing with "spot" cards,57 but in the 1920s the rules were changed to the extent that one of the favorite student-faculty contacts was the all-male "smoker" in the game room of Martin Hall, where student teams challenged their professors at bridge and other card games.

The relaxation of social restrictions also meant that there were more contacts between the Hendrix students and the town of Conway. For example, the Hendrix Young Women's Christian Association presented a play, "Miss Fearless and Company," in the Conway High School auditorium in April, 1921; the Harlan Literary Society presented a "Negro Minstrel" at the Grand Theater in March, 1921; and the Franklin Literary Society had its annual banquet at the Revilo (later, Bachelor) Hotel in February, 1926.58 However, sometimes the contact between Hendrix students and the community was not so pleasant. In 1923 three Hendrix boys were fined $200 each for throwing rocks and breaking insulators on telegraph lines near the railroad tunnel. In 1923, $200 was a lot of money.

The college and the community each attempted to show appreciation for the other. In 1919, a special train was run to Conway from Arkadelphia to bring fans of Ouachita Baptist College to see the football contest at Russell Field between the Tigers and the Hendrix Bulldogs. The Conway Commercial Club furnished automobiles to take the visitors from the station to the game.59 The next year, acting Hendrix president C. J. Greene announced the awarding of full tuition ($84) scholarships to a Faulkner County farm boy and girl, to be selected by the county agent and home demonstration agent.60

Despite very poor facilities, Hendrix athletics flourished in the 1910s. During the 1913-14 season, the football team defeated the University of Mississippi ("Ole Miss"), 8-6, and the Bulldogs claimed the state collegiate championship in basketball, baseball, and track. Following World War I, Hendrix experienced more successes, aided by Conway athletes like Pierce K. Merrill, Jeff Farris, Marcus Harton, and the Coleman brothers, "Fighting" Joe and Virgil. Probably the finest baseball player ever to compete for the college was Royce Williams of Greenbrier, who, when he graduated in 1924, was considered the best college player in the state. The Hendrix women also developed some good basketball teams -in 1919 they defeated the Normal College Dames, 16-6. In 1923-24, led by Ora Belle Simmons and Margaret Henig of Conway, the Hendrix women's basketball team won every game.

In 1919 the two Conway colleges broke athletic relations with each other in football and men 's basketball -a relationship which was not restored until late 1924. The break was allegedly on the question of student eligibility, but the Log Cabin Democrat claimed that the real reason was fear that the rivalry might "disturb friendship and cooperation and split townspeople."61 As a symbol of the reconciliation, the Hendrix and Arkansas State Teachers College (A. S. T .C.) faculties played a benefit basketball game in Pike Hall on the A.S.T.C. campus in February, 1925, to help the Y. M.C. A. build a lodge on Petit Jean Mountain. One month later, the faculties of Hendrix, Central, and A.S.T .C. presented a "Faculty Follies" benefit entertainment at the Conway Theatre. The sum of $225 was raised for the Y. M. C. A. lodge by the production, "hardly a moment during which the audience was not laughing.”62 In May the Hendrix and A.S.T.C. faculties played a baseball game at A.S.T.C.'s Estes Field for the benefit of the Faulkner County Hospital, and the next month J. H. Reynolds delivered the address at the A.S. T .C. graduation.

The resumption of athletic relations between the two Conway schools made possible the annual Thanksgiving Day football game between the Bulldogs (later, the Warriors) and the Bears. From 1925 through 1936, hundreds of Conway citizens turned out to cheer their favorite team and be thrilled by such athletic exploits as a 100-yard punt by the Bulldog captain, Bill Meriwether of Paragould, in the 1926 contest.63 In 1930, Conway Mayor H. D. Russell made arrangements with authorities of the two colleges for a portion of the Thanksgiving game gate receipts to go "to aid poverty-striken victims of the unemployment situation" during the Great Depression.64
No event since the re-location of the college to Conway in 1890 so closely involved Hendrix and the local community as the building of Young Memorial Stadium in 1922-23. Hendrix launched a major fund-raising campaign to finance the stadium, and Conway citizens became a vital part of the effort. Jo Frauenthal was named chairman of the Conway committee to raise money for the project, which originally also included a modern brick gymnasium. Members of the committee were divided into three teams headed by Mayor W. D. Cole, Roy G. Bruce, and Fred Gordy.65 The largest Conway donation ($3,000) came from S. G. Smith. Smith 's son, Theodore, served as a stadium commissioner, and Dove Harton (Mrs. T. S.) Staples of Conway was a member of the stadium committee.

The new stadium was to be located on Washington Avenue on the northwest corner of the campus after college officials were unsuccessful in attempting to purchase land from R. B. McCulloch to the east across Spencer Street.66 F. L. Scull of Conway got the construction contract with a low bid of $54,500. The concrete stands were built in a horseshoe and contained cypress bleacher seats designed to accommodate 5,000 fans. The stadium enclosed a football field and a quarter-mile cinder track which featured the only 220-yard straightway in Arkansas.67

The stadium was dedicated on October 12, 1923. All Conway businesses closed at noon, and Arkansas Governor Thomas C. McRae even ordered all offices in the state capitol to close so that persons could attend the dedication. A special train arrived from Little Rock at 1:00 p.m. An assembly estimated at over 4,000 persons listened to speeches from Governor McRae, U.S. Senator Thaddeus Caraway, Arkansas Attorney General J. S. Utley, and others over the first public address system that most of the crowd had ever heard. The stadium was named in honor of Robert W. Young, a Hendrix alumnus and athlete who had been killed in action in France in 1918, and Army and National Guard officials were on hand for the ceremonies. The events were recorded by newsreel cameras, including some aerial shots from an airplane. The dedication ceremonies were followed by a football game between the Bulldogs and the Centenary College Gentlemen from Shreveport, Louisiana -a contest the visitors won, 31-13. It was noted that the new modern stadium did have one draw-back: the fans had to remain in their seats and could no longer run up and down the sidelines as they had at Russell Field.68
The stadium facility, which was considered the finest of its day in Arkansas, was used extensively by the community. In August, 1924, some 3,500 persons gathered in the stadium to celebrate the completion of the paving of the Little Rock to Conway highway. It was estimated that an additional 1,500 persons sat in their automobiles and watched the fireworks display that concluded the program.69 In November of that year, the official Arkansas celebration of Armistice Day was observed in Young Memorial Stadium by 2,000 persons who heard addresses by former U. S. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and others. Similar official state Armistice Day celebrations were held at the same place in 1925 and 1926; the latter was addressed by U. S. Senator Joe T. Robinson.

Faulkner County citizens also began to flock to the stadium to see the outstanding Bulldog football teams put together by Coach Ivan H. Grove, who came to Hendrix in September, 1924. Among the attractions were some local boys, such as Ed Dunaway, Ed Speaker, and Russell "Kinky" Charles, who were stars on the Bulldog football teams. Conway also made a contribution to the Hendrix track teams of the era, including members of the squads which defeated the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in dual meets in 1921, 1922, 1925, and 1926. The greatest Hendrix track star was Conway's John R. "Long John" Thompson, whose injury in the decathlon tryouts in New York City kept him off the 1924 U. S. Olympic team. Thompson would later be elected to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame for his outstanding performances as a Hendrix athlete and as coach and athletic director for the Fort Smith Public Schools.70 Another Conway resident who attended Hendrix during the 1920s, Joe B. McGee, would in 1984 be given posthumously an award by from he Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame for meritorious service to athletics in Arkansas. McGee began covering sports for the Log Cabin Democrat while a student at Hendrix, and reported on the college's athletic fortunes for
nearly 60 years.

Young Memorial Stadium was the site of many other athletic contests besides those which involved Hendrix College, especially after lighting for night games was installed in 1931.71 In appreciation for the support of the community in building the facility, Hendrix made it available without cost to, at various times, Conway Senior High School, Conway Junior High School, and Arkansas State Teachers College. As long as Conway maintained a segregated "dual " public school system, the stadium was the home field for teams from the all-black Pine Street School. For years, Hendrix students formed a vocal cheering section for the Pine Street Polar Bears. The stadium was also the site of many local, district, and state high school track meets. Unfortunately, the college never realized its dream of building a modern gymnasium, with bathroom facilities, in the open end of the horseshoe. Therefore, Young Memorial Stadium, although allegedly the first facility in the state to have lights for night games, never had public restrooms or locker facilities for the teams.

Failing to raise enough money for a permanent gymnasium, Hendrix contracted with Major and Hale, local builders, to construct a "temporary" wooden structure 150 yards east of the stadium. Named for Owen O. Axley of the Southern Lumber Company of Warren, which donated the lumber, Axley Gymnasium was opened in 1926.72 Although it resembled a barn from the time it was built, Axley Gym provided facilities far superior to the World War I barracks building. Hendrix basketball teams began to improve, and Conway's Ed Dunaway was one of the star players. The 1931 team, which included Robert Miller of Conway, won the state college championship. The following year, the Warriors won all 15 of their basketball games against other colleges.
The relationship between Hendrix and the Conway community extended beyond athletics after World War I. The local Lyceum program was operated by a representative from five schools: Hendrix, Central College, the Normal College, St. Joseph School, and the Conway Public School District. The Lyceum brought several cultural programs to the town each year, not only for the benefit of the students but also the townspeople.73 Hendrix personnel were also active in various church and civic organizations. In 1924, Professor C. J. Greene was the individual primarily responsible for the establishment of the Conway Kiwanis Club, and professors T. S. Staples, Ivan Grove, and Henry Kamp were early leaders in the organization.74 In 1925, the Conway branch of the American Association of University Women (A.A.U.W.) was organized, and among the 12 charter members were Hendrix librarian Ethel Millar ,75 professor Arlie Salmons, and faculty wives Mrs. H. W. Kamp, Mrs. Ray M. Lawless, and Mrs. T. B. Manny. Early presidents of the Conway branch were Miss Salmons and Hendrix professors Vivian Hill and Myrtle Charles.76

In 1923, in order to meet a requirement for membership in the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Hendrix provided for the physical separation of its secondary and collegiate divisions by moving its Academy off the college campus. On a lot on the southwest corner of Clifton and Hairston streets purchased from J. I. McClurkin, Hendrix authorities contracted with Conway builders J. V. Major and Homer Tyler to construct a two-story brick veneer building. The first story contained classrooms, a study hall, offices, and apartments for faculty members: the second floor had dormitory rooms for out-of-town boys who attended the Academy.

Two years later Hendrix closed its Academy. Enrollment in the secondary department had been declining for several years as more Arkansas communities established good high schools. From its beginning, the Hendrix Academy had enjoyed a solid academic reputation, and it had sponsored an extensive extracurricular program. Debate was an important activity, and the Bullpup athletic squads played not only nearby teams such as Conway and Morrilton high schools, but schools as far away as DeWitt, Paragould, and Van Buren. The last Academy graduating class in June, 1925, had 25 members; of these, six were from Conway and three -George M. Hunt, Owen Thomas Hunt, and Deborah Cassie Ryder -were from Vilonia.77

The Academy building was converted into the college's first dormitory for women students. Soon named Elizabeth Millar Hall in honor of the wife of former president A. C. Millar, the dormitory's parlor and back yard (the Millar "garden") became the favorite areas for teas, receptions, wiener roasts, etc. Although the some 50 Millar Hall women often found it noisy and inconvenient to live "across the tracks" from the rest of the campus, the facilities were certainly an improvement over those in the Wigwam.78

In 1927 Hendrix constructed a one-story brick library building a few yards northeast of College Hall. W. A. Russell of Conway was awarded the contract to construct the $40,000 building.79 Hendrix was very proud of the modern facility, which was the first structure erected by a college in Arkansas for purely library purposes.80 Four months after it opened, Hendrix authorities announced the end of segregation by sex in the reading room, much to the delight of the student body. The library was the meeting place for the state convention of the American Association of University Women in April, 1928. In 1932, after an inspection by an official of the Carnegie Corporation, the Hendrix library received from the foundation a $6,000 donation, which made possible the addition of 5,000 books (to the existing 23,000 volumes) in the next three years.81

The years 1927-33 would be pivotal in the life of Hendrix College. At the beginning of the period, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in Arkansas was supporting three colleges: Hendrix, Henderson-Brown College in Arkadelphia, and Galloway Woman's College in Searcy.82 The three institutions were approximately the same size, but the Hendrix endowment was larger and the Conway school was the only one accredited by the North Central Association.82 Many school and church officials believed that some sort of coordination or consolidation was absolutely necessary if Methodist higher education in Arkansas was to prosper, and this was the belief of the new presiding bishop of the Arkansas area, Hiram A. Boaz of Texas.

In February , 1927, a study commission chaired by Bishop Boaz presented a plan calling for the establishment of a Methodist university in Little Rock and the reduction of Hendrix, Henderson-Brown, and Ga1loway to junior colleges. The plan raised a storm of protest from supporters of all three schools. In November a new plan was submitted which proposed that Hendrix and Henderson-Brown be consolidated at either Arkadelphia or Conway and that Galloway be continued as a four- year college for women. This proposal also generated strong opposition, and former Hendrix president A. C. Millar, who was editor of the Arkansas Methodist, stated in an editorial that "it is not right to set two fine communities like Conway and Arkadelphia at one another's throats in a death grapple. " At a mass meeting in Arkadelphia, one speaker recommended that "we ship Bishop Boaz back where he came from."

The boards of trustees of the three institutions were consolidated into one group, known as the "Board of Thirty," chaired by Harvey C. Couch of Pine Bluff, head of Arkansas Power and Light Company and former chairman of the Henderson-Brown board. B. Warren Brown, a Chicago sociologist, was commissioned to prepare an educational survey on Methodist higher education in Arkansas. Brown's report was issued in October, 1928, and stated that the church could no longer maintain three separate colleges. He recommended consolidation of all three schools, but noted that "both in respect to training and facilities, Hendrix offers the best basis on which to build an institution that will meet the rigid professional standards of the future."84 On the basis of Brown's report, the Board of Thirty recommended that Galloway be continued as a four-year women's college and that Hendrix and Henderson-Brown be consolidated, perhaps in some other location than either Conway or Arkadelphia. By then it was obvious that many church and college officials were hoping that the consolidated school would be located in Little Rock.

There was a predictably hostile reaction from both Conway and Arkadelphia. The Log Cabin Democrat, in a front-page editorial, called the recommendation "An Outrageous Proposal," and promised that any effort to move Hendrix to Little Rock would be "bitterly resented and vigorously fought to the last ditch by the people of Conway ." Bishop Boaz received a telegram of protest signed by, among others, Jo Frauenthal, president of the Conway Chamber of Commerce; Conway Mayor H. D. Russell; and S. Theodore Smith, chairman of the board of stewards of Conway First Methodist Church.85

Some members of the Hendrix faculty were also opposed to moving the college to the capital city. Dean C. J. Greene, in a statement to the annual meeting of the North Arkansas Conference of the Methodist Church, questioned the effect that the large city of Little Rock would have upon the spiritual, moral, and civic ideals of the Hendrix faculty and students.

Hendrix President John Hugh Reynolds found himself in a very difficult position. Understanding the financial necessity of some sort of merger, Reynolds often cited recent consolidations of Methodist colleges in both Iowa and Missouri. Reynolds personally favored the original plan which would have turned Hendrix and the other two schools into junior colleges, with a university in Little Rock. However, the Hendrix leader also had to consider the feelings of the Hendrix faculty, students, alumni, and patrons, and of the Conway community. Similar predicaments faced Rev. James W. Workman, the president of Henderson- Brown, and Dr. John M. Williams, the president of Galloway.

Reynolds' problems were compounded by a disaster which struck the Hendrix campus in the summer of 1928. The main building, College Hall, had suffered from a fire in June, 1924, when sparks from a burning Conway residence (the M. F. Moore home on Front Street) had ignited birds' nests in the tower. Conway firemen and Hendrix students were able to contain the flames in the tower area, although other areas of the building suffered from smoke and water damage.86 Then, on June 19, 1928, a major conflagration virtually destroyed the building. The blaze evidently started by spontaneous combustion in a chemistry department storage room on the fourth floor. The loss was set at $150,000, of which $87,500 was recovered in insurance. Fortunately, the library had been moved to the new library building six months previously, and the two fireproof vaults in College Hall saved the academic and financial records.

Despite the good possibility that the college would soon be moved to Little Rock, school officials quickly announced plans to rebuild. An architect designed a new three-story building which would utilize the foundation and some of the exterior walls of the old building. Under the supervision of business manager G. L. Bahner, two crews worked days and nights, and the new building was ready for occupancy when school opened in September. The new structure, known as the Administration Building, would serve the college until February , 1982, when it also would be destroyed by fire.87

While the college was constructing a new main building, Conway citizens launched an aggressive campaign to keep Hendrix in their community. Business leaders mailed 500 letters to friends and associates throughout Arkansas asking for support and ran advertisements in state newspapers stating the case for keeping the college in Conway .88 In January, 1929, Jo Frauenthal announced that local citizens would raise $250,000 for Hendrix if church officials would raise another $750,000 and promise to keep the college in Conway .89 In the meantime, the Little Rock financial community could raise only $1 million of the $2.5 million that the Methodist Church had said would be necessary for the establishment of a college in the capital city. Part of the problem may have been the unrelenting hostility of Conway and Arkadelphia citizens who were convinced that Little Rock was trying to "buy" their institutions. Some members of the Board of Thirty wanted to give Little Rock more time to raise the necessary funds, but others felt that the controversy and long uncertainty had already caused enough damage to Methodist higher education in Arkansas. By the time the Board withdrew its offer to Little Rock, it was obvious that the combined institution would be located in Conway .90

The Board of Thirty had agreed that if a college was moved from a town, the campus would revert to the local community. Citizens of Arkadelphia now began a campaign to get the State of Arkansas to take over the Henderson-Brown facilities and convert the school into a state teacher's college. When the bill to effect this change was before the Arkansas General Assembly in February, 1929, it was opposed by, among others, officials of Arkansas State Teachers College and many of that institution 's Conway supporters. The bill was passed by the Senate after limited debate, but ran into stiff opposition in the House of Representatives. The Conway Chamber of Commerce entertained 50 Representatives on the A.S. T .C. campus in an effort to defeat the proposal. On the final day, the debate was so fierce in the House that the sergeant-at-arms had to be called upon to restore order. The bill finally passed, 52-30.91 In September, 1929, Henderson State Teachers College (now Henderson State University) opened its first session in Arkadelphia.92

The Board of Thirty formally voted to consolidate Henderson-Brown and Hendrix on the Conway campus with the name of Hendrix- Henderson College. Conway business leaders announced that the community would give $150,000 in cash, materials, and labor to the college if Hendrix-Henderson would raise $300,000 by July 1, and would add another $100,000 if the college raised $450,000 outside of Conway.93 In order to raise this money, the city leaders developed a plan to form the Conway Corporation to operate the municipal electric plant and issue $200,000 in bonds, to be paid off by future earnings of the plant.94 This plan did not meet with the unanimous approval of civic leaders, and both W. H. Duncan and Judge P. H. Prince wrote stinging letters to the editor of the Log Cabin Democrat warning against saddling the community with such a big debt.95 However, on May 6, 1929, the Faulkner County Circuit Court issued the charter of the Conway Corporation and named as its directors V. D. Hill, J. J. Hiegel, R. H. Maddox, J. Frank Jones, and Frank E. Robins. The new corporation realized $215,000 from the sale of bonds, and the money was distributed to Hendrix-Henderson ($150,000), Arkansas State Teachers College ($2,000), Central College ($43,000, St. Joseph School ($10,000), and the Conway Public Schools ($10,000). 96

When Hendrix-Henderson began its fall term in September, 1929, the college made a few efforts to cement the merger with Henderson-Brown. The name of the athletic teams was changed from the Bulldogs to the Warriors, and the student newspaper, formerly The Bull Dog, became the College Profile. These steps did not lessen the ill-will and hostility, and most of the alumni of Henderson-Brown transferred their loyalty to the new Henderson State Teachers College. Only ten former Henderson-Brown students attended Hendrix-Henderson in 1929-30, only one teacher (Dr. Luther 0. Leach) transferred, and the academic records were the only school property to be moved to Conway.

On October 1, 1929, President Reynolds announced that Hendrix-Henderson planned to build both a science building and a women 's dormitory. These and other plans were put in serious jeopardy by the onslaught of the Great Depression, the start of which was signaled by the stock market crash in the fall of 1929. As the Depression deepened, it became more difficult for many families to send their children to college; but, on the other hand, with few jobs available, many young people decided they might as well go on to school rather than sit at home. At any rate, Hendrix-Henderson 's enrollment remained around 300 during the early Depression years, although there was always a considerable turnover in students. Tuition and other expenses were reduced, and members of the faculty received paychecks with a percentage of their salaries withheld.97 The college made every effort to conserve what funds it had, and Reynolds was proud to announce to the Board of Trustees in 1933 that, despite the dire financial circumstances, no "officer, teacher, or laborer" on the campus had been dismissed.98

Despite the economic hard times, student extra-curricular activities on the campus continued. Hendrix alumnus Don Martin, of the locally well-known "Musical Martins" family, was director of the Hendrix band from 1929 to 1935, and the organization enjoyed a state-wide reputation. Maxfield Garrott of Conway wrote the words and music for the school's new alma mater when he graduated in 1929. The Warrior athletic teams continued to have success, aided by Conway athletes such as Walter Dunaway and Nolan Whiddon in football, Bill Dunaway in basketball and tennis, Sam Sullivan in track, and Walter Wilson in football and basketball. In 1932, Charles Jones of Conway was named "best athlete." Conway citizens were kept aware of student spirit by such events as the annual Freshman pajama parade. In 1931, the Freshmen took an "uproarious trip" on a Saturday night through the downtown area, blocking traffic, and proceeded to Central College, where they serenaded the girls with vocal and instrumental numbers.99

No student provided more of the school spirit than Conway's Guy H. "Mutt" Jones. Jones was an outstanding debater, the president of the Booster Club, and president of the student body during the 1931-32 school year. Also a Warrior cheerleader, his antics while dressed as a "tiger" during the half-time activities of the Hendrix-Ouachita football game in 1929 helped to ignite a small riot in Young Memorial Stadium.100

Faulkner County residents visited the campus not only for athletic contests, but also for musical concerts, debates, plays and pageants, visiting speakers, and other educational and cultural events. A large crowd attended the 4th annual May Day festival in 1928 to see the procession of the queen and her court, a play, and a May pole dance by 22 coeds. In the queen's court were a number of Conway children, including Victor Hill, Louise Criswell, and Carolyn Camp, who would graduate from Hendrix in the 1940s.101

Local residents were also included among those students who were outstanding scholars. For example, in 1924 Elmer Bell, Erma Guice,102 and Lucille Jeter graduated magna cum laude. In 1931-32, the 60 Conway students enrolled in Hendrix accounted for one-third of the " A 's" given during the first semester. Three local students - Sam Bratton, Virginia Grinstead, and Nina Ruth Turney -made all " A's." That same spring it was recorded that 22 of the Conway students and one Vilonia student (Vida Ann Robertson) were the sons or daughters of Hendrix alumni.103 Three of the Conway students who graduated from Hendrix during the era would later return to their alma mater as members of the faculty: Joe G. Robbins (physics), Johnnie Donaghey Wallace (English), and Elizabeth McHenry (mathematics).

In 1931, the college was finally successful in buying the 168-acre McCulloch farm east of the campus. The land had originally been homesteaded by John H. McCulloch in 1872.104 In order to have better access to the property, Hendrix officials obtained permission from the Conway city council to close Spencer Street, which separated the farm from the main campus. The college constructed a 9-hole golf course on the farm in 1932-33.105

By the fall of 1930, members of the Board of Thirty which supervised Hendrix-Henderson College and Galloway Woman's College became very aware that the financial difficulties of the Depression era were threatening both schools. Galloway in particular, with little endowment and a declining enrollment, was in a desperate condition. Hoping to save the school, the board reduced Galloway to a junior college and consolidated its administration with that of Hendrix-Henderson, making John Hugh Reynolds the president of both schools.106 Because of the transfer from Galloway of a number of junior and senior women, Hendrix-Henderson authorities leased the J. N. Martin residence on Front Street as a rooming house to supplement the housing provided for girls by Millar Hall and the Wigwam. W. J. Key had been operating the residence as a rooming house, and the facility was known as "Key House" or "Junior House."107 One result of the increase in women students was that, in 1932, the number of graduating females exceeded the number of males (36-31) for the first time since the college had been in Conway. Among the women who transferred from Galloway to Hendrix were Conway residents Mary Lee Little and Eva Raney.

In an effort to create an institution which could attract the support of Galloway and Henderson-Brown alumni, as well as those of Hendrix, John Hugh Reynolds recommended to the Board of Thirty that the Conway school be re-named Trinity College and that the Searcy institution be called Trinity Women's College. This proposal was not popular with the students of either college or with the citizens of Conway and Searcy. When, in December, 1930, the board voted to make the name change, the College Profile led a vigorous protest by students and alumni. In March, 1931, 575 Conway citizens joined around 2,000 Searcy townspeople in signing petitions demanding the return to the traditional names,108 and Conway businesses which advertised in the Profile expressed a similar sentiment in their ads. Hendrix-Henderson students pointed out that the name Trinity was used by several other American colleges, and that the letter "T" was the symbol of both A.S. T .C. and Arkansas Tech at Russellville.

The unrelenting opposition of students, alumni, and townspeople soon forced the Board of Thirty to revoke its decision. In March, 1931, the trustees voted to return the name of Hendrix for the Conway school and retain Galloway as the name of the college in Searcy.109 Unfortunately, Galloway's troubles were not over. In 1932-33, the enrollment declined to 75, and the Board of Thirty announced that the school would close at the end of the school year and the institution would be "merged" with Hendrix. The grief of the Galloway alumnae and the outrage of the Searcy community was even more bitter, if possible, than that expressed four years earlier by the Henderson-Brown and Arkadelphia people. The campus at Searcy was vacant for a year , and then was sold to Harding College, which moved from Morrilton to its new home in 1934. Many of the Galloway alumnae refused to transfer their loyalty to Hendrix. Subsequent reunions were held at Searcy or Little Rock, and it was not until 1981, 48 years after the college closed that a reunion of Galloway alumnae was held on the Hendrix campus.110
In the fall of 1931, Hendrix opened its new four-story science building. Located west of Tabor Hall, the facility was made possible by a $150,000 grant from the General Education Board of New York. Many persons speculated that Hendrix received this support from the Rockefeller foundation because of the public stand that President Reynolds had made in opposition to the initiated act in 1928 which banned the teaching of Darwinian evolution in Arkansas public high schools and colleges. Reynolds' advocacy of academic freedom and scientific inquiry was especially interesting, since in 1922 a Hendrix religion professor had found it advisable to resign his position after his statements supporting a less than literal interpretation of the Bible had raised a public outcry. 111

The new science building, later to be named Reynolds Hall, was dedicated on December 5 at an assembly in Axley Gymnasium which featured a speech by Dr. Robert A. Millikan of the California Institute of Technology, who had won a Nobel Prize in physics. Over 2,000 persons attended the dedication ceremony, which received national attention.112

Student tastes in social activities changed considerably at all American colleges and universities after World War I, and Hendrix was no exception. The literary societies, which had provided much of the social life, had begun to decline in the mid-1920s and had disbanded by 1932. To provide more activities, in 1925 the students had organized a Booster Club to support varsity athletics and a Pack 'n' Grid Club* constructed a cabin on the banks of Cadron Creek some 20 miles from the campus for use during weekend hikes. There were other clubs for varsity lettermen and for students interested in academic subjects such as chemistry and French. However, Hendrix officials believed that something needed to be done to appeal to other aspects of student social interests.

In 1932, college officials instituted an experiment with local fraternities and sororities.113 Evidently, few students knew that such a move was contemplated since the College Profile stated that it was "an astounding announcement that swept the student body off its feet. " Soon four fraternities and three sororities were organized, with Conway student Leah Rose Hicks as the president of one of the women 's groups. The first "rush" was held in February , 1933, and the Profile described the event as the "greatest social weekend Hendrix has ever known." During the next several months, the seven organizations established the types of social activities which would be followed for the next 13 years, including wiener roasts at Cedar Park, steak fries on Cadron Ridge, banquets at the Bachelor Hotel, dinners at the Owl Cafe, and dances at the Conway Country Club.114

Fraternities and sororities seemed to make it easier for Conway students to become active in campus social life. In return, the local residents had two advantages which were of value to their "brothers" and "sisters": (1) they were more likely to have access to an automobile,115 and ( 2) their homes were great places for parties. For the next several years, the social columns of the campus newspaper and the Log Cabin Democrat contained numerous references to parties held in the homes of Conway students like Molly Gordy. One of the fraternity leaders was C. J. Erbacher, Jr., of Conway, who was elected president of the Hendrix student body for 1933-34; in the same election, Cyril Holmes of Conway was elected vice-president.

 
The increased social activities on the campus seemed to necessitate additional campus security, and in 1930 the college hired W. H. "Buck" McHenry of Vilonia as nightwatchman. McHenry was also called upon to enforce the school 's social regulations, and many couples had their "courting" in the stadium or on the golf course interrupted. "Buck" would remain at Hendrix for over 25 years as security officer and later as manager of the bookstore.

In 1933 the Conway community was agitated over the question of whether to allow the showing of motion pictures on Sunday. Although Hendrix officials seem not to have taken a stand on the issue, the students were pleased when in April the voters of Conway approved Sunday movies.116 The next moral issue to be decided by the electorate was of more consequence. In July, with strong support from Hendrix authorities and local Methodist clergymen, the citizens of Faulkner County voted over 2 to 1 against the repeal of the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) to the U. S. Constitution. However, the rest of the state was voting 3 to 2 in favor of repeal and electing a majority of "wet" delegates to the Arkansas ratification convention to be held August 1st.
When it became obvious that prohibition was going to be repealed both in Arkansas and the nation, the presidents of the three Conway colleges -J. H. Reynolds, Col. H. L. McAlister of A. S. T. C., and Dr. J. S. Rogers of Central- wrote a joint public letter to Arkansas Governor J. M. Futrell. The three presidents asked Futrell to make sure that any change in Arkansas statutes concerning the sale of intoxicating beverages not overturn any previously-passed local legislation which prohibited the sale of intoxicants.117 The appeal was not successful. At a special session of the Arkansas General Assembly in August, legislation was passed legalizing the sale of beer all over the state. Several Conway establishments immediately began the legal sale of beer, much to the distress of Hendrix officials.

At the beginning of the 1933-34 school year, the second of the two buildings which President Reynolds had promised in 1929 was opened. W. Homer Stewart of Conway was the contractor.118 On October 13, 1933, dedication ceremonies were held for the first Hendrix building specifically designed as a residence hall for women. Located on the northeast corner of the campus (the site of old Russell Field), the two-story brick building for 92 women was made possible by another grant from the General Education Board and the earlier donation from the Conway Corporation.119 The dedication featured an address by Dr . Emory Holloway, a 1906 alumnus who had won in 1927 a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Walt Whitman. Holloway introduced John Erskine of Columbia University and the Julliard School of Music, who gave the principal address. An added benefit of the ceremony was that Erskine became interested in the program he saw at Hendrix, and the college began to receive valuable financial aid and personnel through Julliard. One year later the dormitory was named Galloway Hall in honor of the Methodist woman's college which had operated from 1889 to 1933 in Searcy .120
In 1934, Hendrix began to celebrate the semi-centennial of the purchase of Central Collegiate Institute by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in Arkansas. The institution had developed from its pioneer beginnings in Altus to a strong and stable college which was able to make progress even during the early years of the Great Depression. In 1924 it had received national recognition as one of the two Arkansas schools accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools during the first year that Arkansas schools were eligible for membership. International recognition had followed in 1929 when it became one of two Arkansas institutions on the approved list of the American Association of Universities,121 and in 1931 the college won recognition from the American Association of University Women.

Hendrix College could not have made this record of achievement without the support of the Conway community. In 1932, President Reynolds announced that $1,000 would be available for Conway students "as an expression of appreciation for what the people [of Conway] have done for [Hendrix] ." 122 Since tuition was then $100 a year, this was the equivalent of ten full tuition scholarships.

As Hendrix entered its second half-century, it had firmly established its role as a small, co-educational, undergraduate, residential, liberal arts, church-related institution located in a small town in central Arkansas. The foundation was solid, and the college would continue to progress with the Conway and Faulkner County community.
 
 
Footnotes
 
1Most of the information on the years at Altus and the removal of the college to Conway is
from Robert W. Meriwether, Hendrix College: The Move from Altus to Conway (Little
Rock: Rose Publishing Co., 1976).
 
2For a history of earlier efforts to establish Methodist schools in Arkansas, see Willis Brewer
Alderson, " A History of Methodist Higher Education in Arkansas, 1836-1933,"
(Fayetteville: Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, College of Education, University of
Arkansas, 1971). Hereafter cited as Alderson, "Methodist Higher Education."
 
3Bishop E. G. Hendrix to Rev. A. C. Millar (Kansas City: June 12,1889). Hendrix College
Archives.
 
4For a history of the founding of Galloway, see Robert W. Meriwether, "Galloway College:
The Early Years, 1889-1907," Arkansas Historical Quarterly (Winter 1981), pp. 291-337.
 
5This figure represents all of the students registered for even one day in either the secondary
or collegiate departments. It appears that the maximum number attending Hendrix at one
time was around 125, with some 100 of these in the secondary department. Hendrix College
Catalog (1890).
 
6Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Hendrix College (January 1. 1890). Hendrix College
Archives.
 
7Frank E. Robins. "Rev. Edward A. Tabor and His Triennium in Conway... Log Cabin
Democrat (May 25, 1931). Hereafter cited as Robins, ..Rev. E. A. Tabor...
 
8Bill Lynch, "Captain William W. Martin," Arkansas Historical Quarterly. (Spring 1952), pp.
41-55.
 
9George W. Donaghey, Autobiography of George W. Donaghey (Benton, Ark.: L. B. White
Printing Co., 1939), p. 159.
 
10Frank E. Robins, "Crises in History of Hendrix College Recalled by Cabin Publisher," Log
Cabin Democrat (January 26, 1973), p. 10. This is a copy of a speech delivered by Robins
at Hendrix College on May 24,1931.
 
11A. C. Millar, "Conway," Hendrix College Mirror (June 1890), pp. 1-4.
 
12Arkansas Gazette (March 19,1890), p. 1.
 
13James A. Anderson, "Inside Story on How Conway Got Hendrix College by a Single Vote
Margin in 1890," Log Cabin Democrat (January 15,1942).
 
14This was very likely the band from St. Joseph Catholic Church pictured on page 7 of the
Spring and Summer, 1983, issue of Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings.
 
15Arkansas Gazette (March 23, 1890), p. 1.
 
16Robins, ..Rev. E. A. Tabor."
 
17The land had originally been homesteaded by Thomas Francis in 1868, but the homestead
was canceled in 1872. On February 10, 1872, it was homesteaded by John Frank Harrison,
who sold most of the property to J. E. Martin in 1875. Martin began selling lots as early as
1876; the sale of 51 acres to Allinder was in 1884. The abstract for the property is in the
Office of Fiscal Affairs, Hendrix College.
 
18In 1890 the railroad ran north from the Conway station and continued along the western
edge of the campus (Washington Avenue) to the Cadron Gap. After the tunnel under
Cadron Ridge was completed in 1903, the railroad was re-routed to begin curving
westward after crossing Independence Street.
 
19Myrtle E. Charles, “Early Days at Hendrix College, 1887-1910," Faulkner Facts and
Fiddlings (October, 1960), p. 13.
 
20Hendrix College Mirror (September 1890).
 
21Donaghey. Autobiography, pp. 161-162. -8-
 
22Hendrix College Mirror (January 1892), p. 15.
 
23The athletic field was on the site of the present-day Mills Center parking lot; the first tennis
court was located on the present-day courtyard in front of Trieschmann Fine Arts Building.
 
24Interview with Forney Hutchinson (Class of 1899), College Profile (October 26, 1934), p.
3.
 
25Hendrix College Catalog (1895), p. 34.
 
26Mrs. J. S. Rogers, Jr., and Mrs. Helen Cole Littleton, "History of the Conway Shakespeare
Club," Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings (Winter 1964), pp. 95-98.
 
27For details on Burr's accomplishments, see the articles by Roger Q. Mills on the Conway
electric, water, and sewer systems submitted in 1984 for the Faulkner County history.
 
28Article by G. W. Sammons, Log Cabin Democrat (March 8,1926).
 
29Alexander C. Millar, " An Address to the Citizens of Conway" (1891). Hendrix College
Archives.
 
30Thomas Rothrock, "Dr. Alexander Copeland Millar," Arkansas Historical Quarterly
(Fall1963), p. 221.
 
31Ethel Kay Millar, "Economic History of Hendrix College, 1887-1902" (1917). Hendrix
College Archives.
 
32Elmer Clark, "Captain W. W. Martin: Friend of Man," Hendrix Brochures, No.3 (1915).
 
33Josiah H. Shinn, History of Education in Arkansas (Washington, D.C. : Government
Printing Office, 1900), p. 112.
 
34Alderson, "Methodist Higher Education," p. 202.
 
35Ibid., p. 304.
 
36Lucian P. Farris, Some of My Experiences Told in Short Stories (Seal Beach, California:
privately printed, 1969), p. 66.
 
37Elmer Smith, This Really Happened: The Athletic Memories of Elmer Smith (Petit Jean
Mountain, Ark.: privately printed, 1975), p. 52.
 
38Hendrix College Mirror (October 1908), p. 31.
 
39J. J. Propps, "Memories of Hendrix College," Arkansas Historical Quarterly (Spring 1969),
p. 62.
 
40Hubert L. Minton, "The University of Central Arkansas, 1907-1929," edited by George W.
Balogh, Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings (Winter 1984), p. 11.
 
41Arkansas Farmer (March 17,1916).
 
42The collegiate degrees offered by Hendrix College were the Bachelor of Literature (Lit.B.),
a two-year program; the Bachelor of Philosophy (Ph.B.), a three-year program; and the
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.), the four-year degree. Beginning in 1902, only the A. B. degree
was awarded.
 
43Arch J. Troxell, "Francis David Utley Family ," Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings (FalI1983),
pp. 6-7.
 
44Other Conway laymen who served as trustees of the college before 1934 were W. W.
Martin, George W. Donaghey, G. L. Bahner, John E. Little, and S. G. Smith.
 
45Eugene Hendrix Stevenson, a Conway resident who graduated from Hendrix in 1916,
would later also be named a Rhodes Scholar. In 1919, Hendrix student Richard Earl Melton
of Conway reached the finals in competition for the prestigious international scholarship.
Bull Dog-Mirror (January 15,1919).
 
46For the most complete biography of Reynolds, see “Thomas Rothrock, Dr. John Hugh
Reynolds," Arkansas Historical Quarterly (Spring 1966), pp. 22-35.
 
47Robert W. Meriwether, "The President’s Home," Hendrix (Fall 1980), pp. 4-6. The
Reynolds family included four children - Ruth, George, Elizabeth ("Tip"), and Margaret - all
of whom would graduate from Hendrix College. Elizabeth Reynolds would be an instructor
of physical education at the college in 1928-29. Another member of the household was
Mrs. Reynolds' mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Harwood, who lived with the family from 1924
until her death in 1935, just one week before her 104th birthday.
 
48Arkansas Gazette (December 23, 1916).
 
49Log Cabin Democrat (May 7,1918).
 
50Article by Virginia Rhine, College Profile (April 9,1943).
 
51 Arkansas Methodist (July 3, 1919).
 
52An example of one of these veterans was Elmer J. Munn of Vilonia, who attended Hendrix
before the war, served in France, and returned to Hendrix to graduate in 1920. In 1951,
then a doctor in El Dorado, he was elected to the Hendrix Board of Trustees.
 
53Robert W. Meriwether, "Martin Hall," Hendrix (Spring 1991), pp. 4-5. In 1937, a five-ton
granite boulder was placed on top of Capt. Martin's grave, and another dedication
ceremony was held in his memory .
 
54Log Cabin Democrat (October 25,1919).
 
55Harry A. Little, "Hendrix Is a Part of Me and I Am a Part of Hendrix" (1968). Hendrix
College Archives.
 
56Hendrix College Bulletin (January 1943), p. 9.
 
57"Spot" cards were the regular playing cards. Since these cards were often used in gambling,
their use was prohibited. Evidently, it was permissible to play the card game "Rook," and in
1913 the student dormitory rooms over the Hendrix heating plant were informally known
as the "Rookery," since the boys there frequently played the game.
 
58The Franklin and Harlan literary societies had been formed while the college was still
located in Altus. All the college men belonged to one or the other. Although their primary
purpose had been to promote forensics and writing (they sponsored debates and edited the
school literary magazine), by the 1920s the two organizations were becoming more social in
nature. See Robert W. Meriwether, "The Franklin and Harlan Literary Societies," Hendrix
(Winter 1980), pp. 8-10.
 
59Log Cabin Democrat (November 12, 1919).
 
60Ibid. (June 12,1920).
 
61Ibid. (November 29, 1924).
 
62The Bull-Dog (March 20,1925). p.63
 
63Arkansas Gazette (November 26,1926), p. 14.
 
64College Profile (November 27, 1930).
 
65The Bull-Dog (February 16,1923).
 
66Log Cabin Democrat (April 20,1923).
 
67Arkansas Gazette (June 21, 1923).
 
68Log Cabin Democrat (October 12,1923).
 
69Ibid. (August 27, 1924).
 
700ther persons connected with Hendrix who would be elected to the Arkansas
Sports Hall of Fame were coach Ivan H. Grove and alumni Frank “Swede'. McCormack,
Ambrose”Bro" Erwin, Elmer Smith, and Bill Meriwether.
 
71Log Cabin Democrat (October 9,1931).
 
72Robert W. Meriwether, "Axley Gymnasium," Hendrix (Spring 1980), p. 89.
 
73 The Bull-Dog (October 11,1922).
 
74Log Cabin Democrat (July 24,1924).
 
75Ethel Millar was born in the first president's home on campus while her father, A. C. Millar,
was president of Hendrix. She graduated from Hendrix in 1917 and returned as librarian in
1919, serving in that capacity until her retirement in 1960.
 
76See article on Conway branch of A.A.U.W. by Gladys Sachse submitted in 1984 for
inclusion in Faulkner County history.
 
77 The Bull-Dog (June 20, 1925).
 
78Robert W. Meriwether, "Millar Hall," Hendrix (Summer 1983), pp. 6-7.
 
79Log Cabin Democrat (October 1,1927).
 
80Arkansas Methodist (January 19,1928).
 
81Guy Andrew Simmons, "Hendrix College: A Brief Historical Sketch, 1884-1944" (1944),
p. 36. Hereafter cited as Simmons, "Hendrix College."
 
82Unless otherwise noted, the material on the merger of Henderson-Brown with Hendrix is
taken from Robert W. Meriwether, "The Merger with Henderson- Brown and the Proposed
Move to Little Rock," Hendrix (Fall 1981), pp. 5-6.
 
83In 1927-28, the enrollment and endowment of the three schools was as follows: Hendrix,
317, $560,000; Henderson-Brown, 222, $205,000; and Galloway, 206, $146,000.
 
84B. Warren Brown, "A Survey of the Educational Problem of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South in Arkansas" (1928). Hendrix College Archives.
 
85Log Cabin Democrat (November 15,1928).
 
86Ibid. (June 10, 1924). A Conway fire truck, while racing to the fire, narrowly missed being
hit by a train.
 
87Robert W. Meriwether, “The Hendrix Administration Buildings” 1891-1982. Hendrix
(Winter 1982), pp. 6-7.
 
88Arkansas Gazette (December 7,1928).
 
89Log Cabin Democrat (January 16, 1929).
 
90In July, 1929, former Governor and Mrs. George Donaghey donated real estate
in Little Rock worth over $1.5 million to Little Rock Junior College, which at that time was
operated by the Little Rock Public School District. It was assumed by many Hendrix
supporters that the Donagheys would have made the gift to Hendrix if the institution had
been moved to the capital city. The junior college would later become Little Rock
University and is now the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
 
91Arkansas Gazette (February 23,1929).
 
92For a detailed history of Henderson-Brown College, and the events of 1927-29 from an
Arkadelphia perspective, see John Gladden Hall, Henderson State College: The Methodist
Years, 1890-1929 (Arkadelphia: Henderson State College Alumni Association, 1974).
 
93Log Cabin Democrat (March 13 and 14,1929).
 
94See the article by Roger Q. Mills on the formation of the Conway Corporation submitted in
1984 for the Faulkner County history.
 
95Log Cabin Democrat (April 23 and 24,1929).
 
96Robert Gatewood, "Centennial History of Faulkner County ," Log Cabin Democrat (April
21,1973), p. 25 of special historical supplement.
 
97 Faculty members were eventually reimbursed for the deducted amounts. Interview with
emeritus Professor Robert Campbell (November, 1983).
 
98John Hugh Reynolds, Report of the President to the Board (April 18, 1933). Hendrix
College Archives.
 
99College Profile (September 21,1931).
 
100Elmer Smith, This Really Happened, p. 64. Log Cabin Democrat (April 30,1928).
 
102Erma Guice, who would later marry Hendrix history professor W. C. Buthman,
taught French at the college in 1929.
 
103Log Cabin Democrat (February 6 and April14, 1932).
 
104Ibid. (February 18,1931).
 
105Hendrix facilities which in 1984 occupy the McCulloch farm property include Couch Hall,
Grove Gymnasium, the T. J. Raney Building, the Mabee Center, the outdoor tennis courts,
the soccer field, the baseball field, and the pine grove with its physical fitness trail.
 
106Unless otherwise noted, the material on the merger of Galloway with Hendrix and the
Trinity System are taken from Robert W. Meriwether, "The Merger with Galloway and the
Effort to Change the Name to Trinity College," Hendrix (Spring 1982), pp. 10-11.
 
107Log Cabin Democrat (September 18, 1931).
 
108Ibido (March 21, 1931).
 
109J. H. Reynolds explained that the name Henderson was dropped at the request of the
widow of Charles C. Henderson, who wanted her husband's name borne only by an
Arkadelphia institution. By then it was also obvious that Henderson-Brown alumni were
not mollified by the name Hendrix-Henderson.
 
110Appropriately, the reunion was held in Galloway Hall, a women's dormitory named for the
college. Around 135 Galloway alumnae attended.
 
111Virginia Sue Hickman, 'The Enactment of the Arkansas Anti-Evolution Law." Hendrix
College senior honors paper (1967), p. 29. Hendrix College Archives.
 
112Arkansas Democrat (December 6, 1931).
 
 *The first president of the Pack n' Grid club was Melvin Thompson of Mayflower.
 
113Robert W. Meriwether, “Social Fraternities and Sororities, 1932-1945." Hendrix (Winter
1981), pp. 6-7.
 
114Social dancing would not be permitted on the Hendrix campus until1936.
 
115Out-of-town students were not allowed to keep automobiles on campus or in Conway
until after World War II.
 
116Log Cabin Democrat (ApriI5, 1933).
 
117Ibid. (July 27, 1933). As related earlier in this article, Conway had gone "dry" in 1888.
Local legislation prohibiting the sale of intoxicants in Faulkner County had been passed
during the 1890s.
 
1180ne of the workmen was Henry Firestone, who had been a water boy for the crew which
constructed Tabor Hall in 1890 and who had laid bricks for every Hendrix building since
that time. Mr. Firestone would continue this tradition to 1949, when he was a brickmason
on the construction of Hulen Hall. Hendrix College Bulletin (April1949), p. 11.
 
119Simmons, "Hendrix College," p. 50.
 
120Robert W. Meriwether, "Galloway Hall," Hendrix (Winter 1983), pp. 2-4. In 1983,
Galloway Hall, Martin Hall, and the President's Home, all designed by the
Arkansas architects Charles L. Thompson and Associates, were listed in the National
Register of Historic Places.
 
121In both instances, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville was the other Arkansas school
to be accredited.
 
122Log Cabin Democrat (August 15,1932).
   
Hendrix College and Its Relationship to Conway and Faulkner County, 1890-1934
Robert W. Meriwether
Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings
Volume XXVI Summer, 1984, Number 2, pages 1-45