Catholic Higher Education in the American South, 1830-1930

Kathryn Mary Wrightson's 2003 Ph.D. dissertation for the University of Georgia, Toward a History of Catholic Higher Education in the American South:  Essays on Sources and Context, is available for those interested in the history of southern colleges.  The author identified fifty-five Catholic institutions that opened during the period between 1830-1930.  Ten of these are still operating and the others tended to close after brief periods due to the isolation and poverty of the areas served.

Wrightson begins with an overview of 19th century religious life in the region.  The third chapter provides brief historical sketches of the Catholic colleges founded in nine states.  The fourth and fifth chapters focus respectively on the structures and "souls" of Catholic colleges.  She concludes by analyzing institutional success and closure in a variety of ways.  Wrightson also includes comments on the state of available sources for information and offers useful suggestions for additional research.

Preserving The Sponsoring Tradition...A Dissertation

John M. Pressimone's dissertation, Preserving the Sponsoring Tradition: A Study of Catholic Colleges and Universities Founded by Religious Orders, is available on the Benedictine University web site.  Completed in 2013, the study seeks to identify best practices in preserving identity of the religious community sponsor.  Pressimone's first chapter includes a good historical overview of Catholic higher education in the U.S. The conclusions he draws from his study are certainly applicable to a wider audience across the higher education community.

Liberal Arts Colleges in the South: Case Study Analysis of Recent Strategic Decisions

The September 2014 issue of Business Officer includes an interesting article by Michael Horan, "The Upside of Strategic Discipline."  The article focuses on issues faced by Sewanee: The University of the South and Oglethorpe University during the past decade.  The September issue is not currently visible on the NACUBO web site so you will need to find a campus business officer or other administrator who has a subscription.

Horan uses a case study approach and identifies a number of key lessons.  I particularly appreciate his conclusion that the "...lack of an 'endless good argument' between all of the stakeholders can spell disaster..."

The article refers to Horan's more extensive research in his 2013 dissertation from the University of Georgia where he focused on Sewanee and two other institutions, Birmingham-Southern and Greensboro College.

Study of Factors Leading to Closure of 40 Colleges

Terry Province studied early indicators linked to college closure and the dissertation is available.  His review of literature in Chapter 2 does a nice job of highlighting early indicators from previous studies.  The statistical analysis of 40 institutions led to identification of the most significant indicators for the study period between 1965-2005.  

Storer College (WV)

Storer College was founded October 2, 1867 as Storer Normal School and closed in 1955, one year after the landmark school desegregation decision handed down by the Supreme Court in Brown v. The Board of Education. Today the campus is maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park.

A collection of historic photos of Storer College developed by Beth Jane Toren and Alisha Myers is also available.



See also Dawne R. Burke's dissertation, Storer College: A Hope for Redemption in the Shadow of Slavery, 1865-1955.

Identity and Mission in Jesuit Higher Education

 

R. Eric Platt’s Ph.D. dissertation, Sacrifice and Survival: The Historiographic Role of Identity and Mission in Jesuit Higher Education of the New Orleans Province, submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, August 2011, is available through the LSU Electronic Thesis & Dissertation Collection.

The fascinating work uses historiographically-constructed case studies to address whether institutional identity and mission of colleges and universities affect their ability to survive. Platt further explores whether social environments contributed to the survival of particular institutions of higher education and how the relationship between a college or university and the surrounding social environment contributed to its ability to persist.

Anyone interested in Jesuit colleges of the New Orleans Province will enjoy reading the dissertation. Institutions included for study include: the College of the Immaculate Conception, New Orleans, Louisiana; Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama; St. Charles College, Grand Coteau, Louisiana; St. Mary’s College, Galveston, Texas; College of the Sacred Heart, Augusta, Georgia; Loyola College, New Orleans, Louisiana; and Loyola University New Orleans.

Philomath College and the College of Philomath (Oregon)

The Benton County (Oregon) Historical Society and Museum offers information on two colleges that operated in the community, Philomath College and the College of Philomath. Philomath College was built in 1867 and now serves the Benton County Historical Society and Museum. In 1889, a second college, named the College of Philomath, opened and operated for 23 years, with a 3-year recess from 1906 to 1909.

C.G Springer's M.A. thesis, "A History of Philomath College," was presented in 1929 to the School of Education and the Graduate School at the University of Oregon.  Copies are available in a variety of formats through the Internet Archive.