A Brief History of Hereford College (2)

Note: This post picks up a series I began with A Brief History of Hereford College (1).

As they planned for the future college, members of the board, although some of them had connections to the Christian church, determined that the school should not belong to any church, but to the town.

More than one donor provided land for the school. However, the cash needed to construct facilities on that land was harder to acquire. The board established a goal of raising $5,000 (approximately $160,000 in 2019 values) before construction could begin. But by January of 1902, they had collected barely $4,000.[1]

Nevertheless, later that year the local newspaper announced that classes would begin in September and that Randolph Clark, the veteran schoolmaster, had agreed to become the first president of the college. When September arrived, the school was still without a facility. So the inaugural session of what was called Hereford College and Industrial School met in the Deaf Smith County Courthouse.[2]

The lack of funds and slow progress toward their goals demoralized many people who had been early promoters of the college. In early 1903, some people in Hereford were ready to give up on the idea. Someone suggested that the school would have a better chance of surviving if it became affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. Soon, the board unanimously voted to turn the college over to the Disciples, also known as the Christian Church.

Around the same time, the name of the school was changed to Add-Ran College. This had been the name of a well-known college in Hood County, Texas, that later merged with Texas Christian University. The leaders at Hereford thought that using this name might draw students from outside the county. At any rate, soon the girls' dormitory was in use, and by November of 1903, about 100 students, from kindergarten up, were attending classes in the newly finished administration building. Always proud of the college, the local newspaper asked, "Might not we call Hereford the Athens of the Panhandle?"[3]

But the good feelings were not to last. In the spring and summer of 1904, locals held town meetings and sent out appeals designed to relieve the school's embarrassing financial status. By then, Randolph Clark, who had apparently exhausted himself recruiting students and raising funds, resigned the presidency.[4]

Under its new president, W. T. Noblitt, the school took on its third name in as many years: Panhandle Christian College. Although one of the board's original conditions was that the school would never borrow money, in August of 1904 reports indicate that it had recently borrowed $5,000. Under that cloud, the college began classes in September with 50 students.

Around this time, Hereford received a visit from T. E. Shirley, a leader among the Disciples of Christ in Texas. Shirley saw great potential in the school and upon his recommendation at the state convention that year, the Christian Church in Texas voted to adopt the college.[5] In January 1905, the reorganized Panhandle Christian College opened as a branch of Texas Christian University under chief executive Jesse B. Haston. (W. T. Noblitt's presidency had lasted one semester!) It appears that the new arrangement meant that Panhandle Christian would serve as a feeder school for TCU, and that TCU would be responsible for Panhandle's debt. E. V. Zollars, the president of TCU, underscored the new relationship between the two schools when he visited Hereford in March 1905. One can only imagine how it sounded to locals when Zollars announced that he had already raised $500 for the school, and that the parent institution would be spending $2,500 to improve the main building there at Hereford.

If Zollars meant for his visit to revive the spirit of the town and its college, he succeeded. In the fall of 1905, a new school year began under the leadership of a new president, Charles Q. Barton. Soon, the college hosted a series of events attended by townspeople as well as students. It organized an orchestra, started a theater program, and even began to field a few sports teams. Perhaps the most significant development in 1905 was that the aforementioned T. E. Shirley decided for health reasons to move to Hereford on the high plains. A man of considerable wealth and influence, Shirley was the one most responsible for the school being adopted by TCU. He would remain its most stalwart supporter until the end.[6]

Notes

[1] W. M. (Fred) Stoker, History of Hereford College (Canyon, TX: West Texas State University, 1971), 2-3.

[2] Ibid., 3-4.

[3] Ibid., 5-8.

[4] Ibid., 9-11.

[5] Ibid., 11-13.

[6] Ibid., 13-16. For more on Zollars, see Charles R. Gresham, "Zollars, Ely Vaughan (1847-1916)" in Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, 799.