Bible Training School
The institution was known as "Bible Training School" from 1918 to 1941
and as "Bible Training School and College" from 1941 to 1947.
and as "Bible Training School and College" from 1941 to 1947.
Lee University began in 1918 as the Church of God Bible Training School with the focus on ministerial preparation for pastors, evangelists, and missionaries, as well as others engaged in local church ministry as Sunday school teachers. More commonly referred to as BTS, the school had a humble beginning and struggled financially in the early years, despite significant growth in the residential and correspondence courses. Well into the 1930's the students, aware of the limited resources often joked that BTS stood for "Beans, Taters, and Soup", which were common dishes at meal times. Despite the humble beginnings, the school carried on through the dedication and determination of its leaders and teachers and the commitment of students. It attained its goal in training ministers who then helped equip and prepare others for Christian service and ministry at various places throughout the world.
In addition to the original ministry training program, two new programs were added in 1930-- a Commercial (business) program and a music program. The Academy (high school division) began in 1932. With a relocation to a new campus in Sevierville, Tennessee, in 1938, the school expanded its course offerings and and grew rapidly. In 1941 a two-year junior college program was added and the name changed to Bible Training School and College. A period of academic advancement began in the 1940's and, by the time the school returned to Cleveland, Tennessee, in 1947, a larger percentage of students were enrolled in the junior college division than in the school's original ministry training program. That same year, the school was renamed Lee College.
First Day of Class for BTS
At 9:30 a.m. on January 1, 1918, the first class began in the upper room of Evangel Publishing Company located at 2524 Gaut Street in Cleveland, Tennessee. The Reverend Nora Chambers was the teacher for this new Bible Training School and twelve students attended that first term. Only six of those students remained when the term ended in April, and at no time were all twelve present together. Housing was limited, and out-of-town students found lodging across the street from that publishing house at the home of A. J. and Mary Tomlinson.
Twelve students enrolled for that first term. Those present on the first day were: Earl Hamilton of Sobel, Tennessee, Avery Evans of North Carolina, Bertha Hilbun of Kentwood, Louisiana, Lillie Mae Wilcox of Broxton, Georgia, and Willie Mae Barrett, Stella Champion, Maude Ellis, and Arthur White of Cleveland, Tennessee. Other students in that first term who arrived later were Horace Payne from near Sparta, Tennessee, Jesse Danehower from Haynes, Arkansas, Nannie Ruth Hagewood from Southside, Tennessee, and Jessie Capshaw from Gastonia, North Carolina.
When those students gathered for that first term, their aim was to learn the Bible so they could better serve God and the church. They were preparing themselves to become more effective pastors, evangelists, Sunday school teachers, missionaries, and in other roles of ministry. Nora Chambers stated the objective of Bible Training School was “to train young men and women for Christian service; and to understand the plan of salvation as revealed in the Scriptures, it is necessary to study and search the Scriptures.” In fact, the key reason for which the school was founded was to help young ministers correctly handle the Word of God. One of the early articles published to support the need of the school explained, “The Scriptures are read much more extensive than at any time since they were written, and people are becoming more emboldened to act as their own expositors. People who have never read the whole Bible through are free to express their belief as to the meaning of certain passages…. Many of these wiseacres are able to quote Scripture and say, ‘It is written’ as did Satan, but how many people are able, as was Jesus, to say, ‘It is also written?’ No Scripture is of any private interpretation, but every part is dependent upon some other part for a correct exposition.” F. J. Lee, a respected church leader and for whom the school eventually would be named, was an early advocate for the need of the school. He noted ministers “could shout and talk in tongues a great deal, but as being able to reason… and convince… they could not do it.” He emphasized ministers should be aware at how the public will notice their incompetence and he was deeply concerned that the credentialed ministry be “a fair representation of the Church of God.” He concluded that ministers should “study and better equip ourselves for the ministry, that we may do more efficient service.”
And so, when those first students gathered in January 1918, they helped set into motion a continuing educational legacy that over time (and through much sacrifice, dedication, hard work, visionary leadership, and prayer) has evolved and developed into one of the South’s most respected institutions for Christ-centered learning. That first term tuition was one dollar per week and their curriculum was the Bible as the main textbook, geography, spelling, English, music, and Hurlbut’s Teacher-Training Lessons. Of that most significant first day, Nora Chambers later reflected, “I felt such a load settle over me that first morning we opened school. I didn’t think I could carry it, but as the students prepared their lessons, I prayed. Soon I felt the presence of an unseen guest. He assured me that He would be with us and help us, and He did!"
/ L.F. Morgan
The following historical sketch of the institution focuses on the years it was named Bible Training School and was written by Dr. Charles W. Conn, former President and President Emeritus of Lee.
A Bold Purpose
Church of God entrance into the field of higher education was paradoxical in several ways: it was both bold and tentative, daring and cautious, timely, and ill-timed.
The church began the school that would become Lee University at a time when some of its fellow Pentecostal bodies felt such an endeavor to be questionable and inadvisable. Behind that view was a prevalent conviction that Jesus would soon return to the earth. That over-arching belief put all emphases on the immediate rather than the distant future. It was considered by many to be pointless to commence a process designed for distant benefits.
In 1911 the effort was made to found a preparatory school for the training of workers. A committee of five was appointed “to locate a place and erect a building for this school.” A seven man “board of education” was also appointed, which indicates the church’s earnestness about a school. And yet, seven years would pass before that desire was realized.
The Shaky Beginning
In November, 1917, the final plans were laid at the General Assembly: A school, to be called Bible Training School, was instituted, “for the training of young men and women for efficient service on the field.” The classes were to meet in the upstairs of the new publishing house, in the room where the recently instituted Council of Twelve held its meetings. The first class of 12 students from four states met on January 1, 1918. Mrs. Nora Chambers, a lady evangelist and publishing house proofreader, was the only teacher.
It was a desperate time for the country and the church. World War I was being fought, and a deadly influenza epidemic gripped the entire country. It was a severe winter, and the accommodations were at times insufficient protection from the bitter cold. Several students withdrew from school, and only six stayed the course until the three-month term closed on April 5, 1918. A student died of influenza during the second three-month term.
Despite the shaky start, there was no discouragement at the school. By the end of 1918, World War I was over and things began to look brighter for everyone. On April 4, 1919, the first two graduates of the three-term B.T.S. course, A.D. Evans and R. Earl Hamilton were awarded their diplomas.
When the fourth term began in September, 1919, the deadly flu epidemic had passed and hopes for the fledgling school soared. A correspondence course was introduced for those who wanted to continue their education but were unable to become resident students of B.T.S. This had been planned from the beginning of the school, and it was an immediate success. Within one year 788 persons enrolled as correspondence students.
The Earliest Leaders
The first superintendent of the Bible Training School was A.J. Tomlinson, general overseer of the Church of God. He was more than a titular leader, but he brought to the school an admirable academic preparation and gave active and capable guidance to the young institution.
Nora Chambers, the first teacher, was a woman of courage and ability, rare intelligence and considerable education. As a pioneer evangelist she had met and overcome many hardships. She worked for the Lord under physical duress, and faced frequent threats of bodily harm or death. As a teacher, she imbued her students with the same sense of dedication to a worthy cause, and persistent effort in the face of obstacles.
Among her students were numerous persons who would later become distinguished in the work of the church. Such early pupils as Paul H. Walker, John C. Jernigan, H.L. Chesser and Zeno C. Tharp became outstanding leaders of the Church of God.
In 1922, F.J. Lee became the superintendent (or president) of the school. That proved to be a blessing because Tomlinson was separated from the church in 1923 and new leadership salvaged the good work that was begun. When Lee was elected general overseer in 1923, J.B. Ellis was selected to head the school. He, like Lee, served the school for only one year. The school, moved during Ellis’ tenure from the publishing house to the newly-constructed Assembly Auditorium in Cleveland. In 1924, T.S. Payne became B.T.S. president, a post he would hold for six years.
A Progressive Era
From 1930 to 1934, the school took a decided upward turn. Under the leadership of its youthful president, J.H. Walker, programs of music (under Otis McCoy), a high school division (under R.R. Walker), and commercial studies were added to the curricula. Enrollment rose from 87 to 131, with an additional 123 students in a music normal or other special subjects. Walker remained at B.T.S. until 1935, when he was elected, at age 35, general overseer of the Church of God.
The Spartan Code
The life of the students was sturdy business in those days. The serious pursuit of learning was first, foremost and virtually altogether, the activity of the student body. There was little or no time for the recreational and social interests of other schools. Some aspects of the rules and regulations would make today’s students blanch in disbelief. There was simply no time for fun and games during that first generation of the school. Most of the students had to work at some job to help with their expenses. There was kitchen work, dormitory work, boiler room work, campus work and a myriad of others. Saturdays were usually given to some en masse project, such as cleaning the campus, repairing buildings or other needy improvements.
There was little or no intermingling of the sexes. Girls had their part of the campus and boys had theirs. That usually carried over into seating assignments in classrooms, dining rooms and worship services. Violators could expect to be chastened with demerits, which then had to be worked off. Of course, there were those special occasions when fraternization was allowed, but all under the watchful eye of chaperons. Those cherished times were rare and well-anticipated Sunday afternoons or holidays. Still, romances did develop; and, as is attested by a generation of older alumni, successful, happy marriages resulted.
What the students may have missed in social exchanges was made up in spiritual activity. Chapel services were almost daily, and there were revivals, gospel music concerts and all-night prayer meetings. The administration shared the needs of the school, spiritual and otherwise, with the students and sought their prayers and supplications. The spiritual side of student life had a wonderful bonding effect: student-with-student and student-with-teacher. The Spartan way of life created a collegiality that was real and lasting.
Years of Challenge
The years 1935 to 1943 brought the school great opportunities and led it to the threshold of respectability as a serious academic institution. Zeno C. Tharp, who like Walker before him, was an alumnus of the school. Tharp was superintendent for nine years, 1935 to 1944. He guided the school through years of financial difficulty, and the restrictive days of World War II. Growth demanded larger facilities. This need was eased temporarily by the purchase, in 1938, of the old Murphy Collegiate Institute in the picturesque town of Sevierville, Tennessee. Enrollment grew steadily past 200, and the faculty was enhanced by such teachers as Avis Swiger, who would become the grande damme of missions and evangelism instructors.
There was impressive physical expansion, but the greater growth was in academic mood and purpose. Dreams of accreditation were born, and the high school was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges in 1941. B.T.S., which had been much like a cozy family of learners, now began a steady march toward becoming a college in the finest sense. In 1942 the church opted to elevate B.T.S. to Bible Training School and College. Now the erstwhile office of superintendent of education would become that of president. A long-dreamed-of student yearbook was finally launched in 1942, under the imposing name of Vindagua, which meant “window” or “place of vista.”
In 1943, the first 25 years of the school ended on an opportunistic level. Among the 450 students enrolled that year were many sons and daughters of those who had been there before them. A full generation had passed through the halls of academia in the Church of God. It was a milestone from which the future was as promising as the past was memorable.
Between Two Wars
The second 25 years of Lee College (University) history was as persistent as the first 25 had been tentative. Both generations knew the stress of a world locked in global war; World War I in 1918 and World War II in 1943. The lessons learned between the two were beneficial to the cause of higher education.
By 1943 the simplicity of an earlier time had given way to the complexities of the new; it was recognized that the church as well as the world that a college education was no longer a luxury for a privileged few, but a necessity for all who wished to be effective in life. That was especially true for those who wanted to be acceptable workmen for the Lord. The mandate to “show thyself approved unto God” became very real. Uncertainties toward education held by the earlier generation were absent, or at least quieter, in the second.
An unprecedented boon for military veterans who wanted an education came with the end of World War II: The G.I. Bill of Rights provided college grants for those who had been in military service. This act moved college education form a privilege of the rich and gifted to an opportunity for ordinary, working-class would-be scholars. It was a wonderful time to advance the cause of Christian education, and Lee College was poised for a remarkable advancement.
Post War Leadership
Zeno C. Tharp. B.T.S. president since 1935, continued at the post until 1944, at which time he concluded a nine-year stint at the school’s helm. In concern for its future, the board looked to its past by naming J.H. Walker, who was elected General Overseer from the presidency in1935, had served the school with distinction. It was hoped that he could resume the leadership he had once given, but, however attractive the past may seem, time and circumstance do not stand still for any man. That was the case in this instance.
Although the student enrollment set a record of 630 in 1944-45, in the eyes of some, things had not gone well otherwise. So Walker’s return to the school was terminated after only one year. It is with some irony that World War II ended that year, which enhanced prospects for the school’s future, and the General Assembly of 1945 convened on the B.T.S. campus in Sevierville. Tennessee. Walker retired to a local pastorate.
The college then looked to another veteran of the Church of God, E.L. Simmons, to lead it forward. Under his leadership there was notable property enlargement, with the completion of a new dormitory and extensive improvements of other facilities. The greater advancement, however, was made in academics. Earl M. Tapley, with degrees in education from Vanderbilt University and Peabody College, was added to the faculty and named Dean of the College. Under the guidance of Simmons and Tapley, the school began to be noticed in the academic world.
/ C.W. Conn and L.F. Morgan
In addition to the original ministry training program, two new programs were added in 1930-- a Commercial (business) program and a music program. The Academy (high school division) began in 1932. With a relocation to a new campus in Sevierville, Tennessee, in 1938, the school expanded its course offerings and and grew rapidly. In 1941 a two-year junior college program was added and the name changed to Bible Training School and College. A period of academic advancement began in the 1940's and, by the time the school returned to Cleveland, Tennessee, in 1947, a larger percentage of students were enrolled in the junior college division than in the school's original ministry training program. That same year, the school was renamed Lee College.
First Day of Class for BTS
At 9:30 a.m. on January 1, 1918, the first class began in the upper room of Evangel Publishing Company located at 2524 Gaut Street in Cleveland, Tennessee. The Reverend Nora Chambers was the teacher for this new Bible Training School and twelve students attended that first term. Only six of those students remained when the term ended in April, and at no time were all twelve present together. Housing was limited, and out-of-town students found lodging across the street from that publishing house at the home of A. J. and Mary Tomlinson.
Twelve students enrolled for that first term. Those present on the first day were: Earl Hamilton of Sobel, Tennessee, Avery Evans of North Carolina, Bertha Hilbun of Kentwood, Louisiana, Lillie Mae Wilcox of Broxton, Georgia, and Willie Mae Barrett, Stella Champion, Maude Ellis, and Arthur White of Cleveland, Tennessee. Other students in that first term who arrived later were Horace Payne from near Sparta, Tennessee, Jesse Danehower from Haynes, Arkansas, Nannie Ruth Hagewood from Southside, Tennessee, and Jessie Capshaw from Gastonia, North Carolina.
When those students gathered for that first term, their aim was to learn the Bible so they could better serve God and the church. They were preparing themselves to become more effective pastors, evangelists, Sunday school teachers, missionaries, and in other roles of ministry. Nora Chambers stated the objective of Bible Training School was “to train young men and women for Christian service; and to understand the plan of salvation as revealed in the Scriptures, it is necessary to study and search the Scriptures.” In fact, the key reason for which the school was founded was to help young ministers correctly handle the Word of God. One of the early articles published to support the need of the school explained, “The Scriptures are read much more extensive than at any time since they were written, and people are becoming more emboldened to act as their own expositors. People who have never read the whole Bible through are free to express their belief as to the meaning of certain passages…. Many of these wiseacres are able to quote Scripture and say, ‘It is written’ as did Satan, but how many people are able, as was Jesus, to say, ‘It is also written?’ No Scripture is of any private interpretation, but every part is dependent upon some other part for a correct exposition.” F. J. Lee, a respected church leader and for whom the school eventually would be named, was an early advocate for the need of the school. He noted ministers “could shout and talk in tongues a great deal, but as being able to reason… and convince… they could not do it.” He emphasized ministers should be aware at how the public will notice their incompetence and he was deeply concerned that the credentialed ministry be “a fair representation of the Church of God.” He concluded that ministers should “study and better equip ourselves for the ministry, that we may do more efficient service.”
And so, when those first students gathered in January 1918, they helped set into motion a continuing educational legacy that over time (and through much sacrifice, dedication, hard work, visionary leadership, and prayer) has evolved and developed into one of the South’s most respected institutions for Christ-centered learning. That first term tuition was one dollar per week and their curriculum was the Bible as the main textbook, geography, spelling, English, music, and Hurlbut’s Teacher-Training Lessons. Of that most significant first day, Nora Chambers later reflected, “I felt such a load settle over me that first morning we opened school. I didn’t think I could carry it, but as the students prepared their lessons, I prayed. Soon I felt the presence of an unseen guest. He assured me that He would be with us and help us, and He did!"
/ L.F. Morgan
The following historical sketch of the institution focuses on the years it was named Bible Training School and was written by Dr. Charles W. Conn, former President and President Emeritus of Lee.
A Bold Purpose
Church of God entrance into the field of higher education was paradoxical in several ways: it was both bold and tentative, daring and cautious, timely, and ill-timed.
The church began the school that would become Lee University at a time when some of its fellow Pentecostal bodies felt such an endeavor to be questionable and inadvisable. Behind that view was a prevalent conviction that Jesus would soon return to the earth. That over-arching belief put all emphases on the immediate rather than the distant future. It was considered by many to be pointless to commence a process designed for distant benefits.
In 1911 the effort was made to found a preparatory school for the training of workers. A committee of five was appointed “to locate a place and erect a building for this school.” A seven man “board of education” was also appointed, which indicates the church’s earnestness about a school. And yet, seven years would pass before that desire was realized.
The Shaky Beginning
In November, 1917, the final plans were laid at the General Assembly: A school, to be called Bible Training School, was instituted, “for the training of young men and women for efficient service on the field.” The classes were to meet in the upstairs of the new publishing house, in the room where the recently instituted Council of Twelve held its meetings. The first class of 12 students from four states met on January 1, 1918. Mrs. Nora Chambers, a lady evangelist and publishing house proofreader, was the only teacher.
It was a desperate time for the country and the church. World War I was being fought, and a deadly influenza epidemic gripped the entire country. It was a severe winter, and the accommodations were at times insufficient protection from the bitter cold. Several students withdrew from school, and only six stayed the course until the three-month term closed on April 5, 1918. A student died of influenza during the second three-month term.
Despite the shaky start, there was no discouragement at the school. By the end of 1918, World War I was over and things began to look brighter for everyone. On April 4, 1919, the first two graduates of the three-term B.T.S. course, A.D. Evans and R. Earl Hamilton were awarded their diplomas.
When the fourth term began in September, 1919, the deadly flu epidemic had passed and hopes for the fledgling school soared. A correspondence course was introduced for those who wanted to continue their education but were unable to become resident students of B.T.S. This had been planned from the beginning of the school, and it was an immediate success. Within one year 788 persons enrolled as correspondence students.
The Earliest Leaders
The first superintendent of the Bible Training School was A.J. Tomlinson, general overseer of the Church of God. He was more than a titular leader, but he brought to the school an admirable academic preparation and gave active and capable guidance to the young institution.
Nora Chambers, the first teacher, was a woman of courage and ability, rare intelligence and considerable education. As a pioneer evangelist she had met and overcome many hardships. She worked for the Lord under physical duress, and faced frequent threats of bodily harm or death. As a teacher, she imbued her students with the same sense of dedication to a worthy cause, and persistent effort in the face of obstacles.
Among her students were numerous persons who would later become distinguished in the work of the church. Such early pupils as Paul H. Walker, John C. Jernigan, H.L. Chesser and Zeno C. Tharp became outstanding leaders of the Church of God.
In 1922, F.J. Lee became the superintendent (or president) of the school. That proved to be a blessing because Tomlinson was separated from the church in 1923 and new leadership salvaged the good work that was begun. When Lee was elected general overseer in 1923, J.B. Ellis was selected to head the school. He, like Lee, served the school for only one year. The school, moved during Ellis’ tenure from the publishing house to the newly-constructed Assembly Auditorium in Cleveland. In 1924, T.S. Payne became B.T.S. president, a post he would hold for six years.
A Progressive Era
From 1930 to 1934, the school took a decided upward turn. Under the leadership of its youthful president, J.H. Walker, programs of music (under Otis McCoy), a high school division (under R.R. Walker), and commercial studies were added to the curricula. Enrollment rose from 87 to 131, with an additional 123 students in a music normal or other special subjects. Walker remained at B.T.S. until 1935, when he was elected, at age 35, general overseer of the Church of God.
The Spartan Code
The life of the students was sturdy business in those days. The serious pursuit of learning was first, foremost and virtually altogether, the activity of the student body. There was little or no time for the recreational and social interests of other schools. Some aspects of the rules and regulations would make today’s students blanch in disbelief. There was simply no time for fun and games during that first generation of the school. Most of the students had to work at some job to help with their expenses. There was kitchen work, dormitory work, boiler room work, campus work and a myriad of others. Saturdays were usually given to some en masse project, such as cleaning the campus, repairing buildings or other needy improvements.
There was little or no intermingling of the sexes. Girls had their part of the campus and boys had theirs. That usually carried over into seating assignments in classrooms, dining rooms and worship services. Violators could expect to be chastened with demerits, which then had to be worked off. Of course, there were those special occasions when fraternization was allowed, but all under the watchful eye of chaperons. Those cherished times were rare and well-anticipated Sunday afternoons or holidays. Still, romances did develop; and, as is attested by a generation of older alumni, successful, happy marriages resulted.
What the students may have missed in social exchanges was made up in spiritual activity. Chapel services were almost daily, and there were revivals, gospel music concerts and all-night prayer meetings. The administration shared the needs of the school, spiritual and otherwise, with the students and sought their prayers and supplications. The spiritual side of student life had a wonderful bonding effect: student-with-student and student-with-teacher. The Spartan way of life created a collegiality that was real and lasting.
Years of Challenge
The years 1935 to 1943 brought the school great opportunities and led it to the threshold of respectability as a serious academic institution. Zeno C. Tharp, who like Walker before him, was an alumnus of the school. Tharp was superintendent for nine years, 1935 to 1944. He guided the school through years of financial difficulty, and the restrictive days of World War II. Growth demanded larger facilities. This need was eased temporarily by the purchase, in 1938, of the old Murphy Collegiate Institute in the picturesque town of Sevierville, Tennessee. Enrollment grew steadily past 200, and the faculty was enhanced by such teachers as Avis Swiger, who would become the grande damme of missions and evangelism instructors.
There was impressive physical expansion, but the greater growth was in academic mood and purpose. Dreams of accreditation were born, and the high school was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges in 1941. B.T.S., which had been much like a cozy family of learners, now began a steady march toward becoming a college in the finest sense. In 1942 the church opted to elevate B.T.S. to Bible Training School and College. Now the erstwhile office of superintendent of education would become that of president. A long-dreamed-of student yearbook was finally launched in 1942, under the imposing name of Vindagua, which meant “window” or “place of vista.”
In 1943, the first 25 years of the school ended on an opportunistic level. Among the 450 students enrolled that year were many sons and daughters of those who had been there before them. A full generation had passed through the halls of academia in the Church of God. It was a milestone from which the future was as promising as the past was memorable.
Between Two Wars
The second 25 years of Lee College (University) history was as persistent as the first 25 had been tentative. Both generations knew the stress of a world locked in global war; World War I in 1918 and World War II in 1943. The lessons learned between the two were beneficial to the cause of higher education.
By 1943 the simplicity of an earlier time had given way to the complexities of the new; it was recognized that the church as well as the world that a college education was no longer a luxury for a privileged few, but a necessity for all who wished to be effective in life. That was especially true for those who wanted to be acceptable workmen for the Lord. The mandate to “show thyself approved unto God” became very real. Uncertainties toward education held by the earlier generation were absent, or at least quieter, in the second.
An unprecedented boon for military veterans who wanted an education came with the end of World War II: The G.I. Bill of Rights provided college grants for those who had been in military service. This act moved college education form a privilege of the rich and gifted to an opportunity for ordinary, working-class would-be scholars. It was a wonderful time to advance the cause of Christian education, and Lee College was poised for a remarkable advancement.
Post War Leadership
Zeno C. Tharp. B.T.S. president since 1935, continued at the post until 1944, at which time he concluded a nine-year stint at the school’s helm. In concern for its future, the board looked to its past by naming J.H. Walker, who was elected General Overseer from the presidency in1935, had served the school with distinction. It was hoped that he could resume the leadership he had once given, but, however attractive the past may seem, time and circumstance do not stand still for any man. That was the case in this instance.
Although the student enrollment set a record of 630 in 1944-45, in the eyes of some, things had not gone well otherwise. So Walker’s return to the school was terminated after only one year. It is with some irony that World War II ended that year, which enhanced prospects for the school’s future, and the General Assembly of 1945 convened on the B.T.S. campus in Sevierville. Tennessee. Walker retired to a local pastorate.
The college then looked to another veteran of the Church of God, E.L. Simmons, to lead it forward. Under his leadership there was notable property enlargement, with the completion of a new dormitory and extensive improvements of other facilities. The greater advancement, however, was made in academics. Earl M. Tapley, with degrees in education from Vanderbilt University and Peabody College, was added to the faculty and named Dean of the College. Under the guidance of Simmons and Tapley, the school began to be noticed in the academic world.
/ C.W. Conn and L.F. Morgan