John Wesley Beeson and The Beeson Colleges

I stumbled across a reference to James T. Dawson's hardcover history of John Wesley Beeson several days ago and am delighted to learn more about the Beeson family's involvement with higher education in the South.

The book will certainly interest anyone who seeks specific information on East Mississippi Female College, Meridian Male College, or Meridian Woman's College.  Dawson weaves together a narrative with numerous photographs, architectural sketches of campus buildings, and selections from various yearbooks.

Dawson is also successful on another level in describing some of the approaches used by J.W. Beeson and other members of his family involved in the management of the institutions.  A brother, Malcolm Alfred Beason, served as president of Meridan Male College until 1914, later serving as a faculty member and dean of agriculture at Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical College, Stillwater, OK.  J.W. initially focused his energy on Meridian Women's College and ultimately moved from Meridian, MS.  He pursued other successful ventures after 1919, particularly with insurance, though he and his heirs continue to have a significant impact on higher education as reflected in major gifts to support Beeson Divinity School of Samford University and the Beeson International Center at Asbury Theological Seminary.

The book can be purchased from the Lauderdale County (MS) Department of Archives and History in Meridian, MS for $20 plus shipping/handling.

Penn Hall Preparatory School and Junior College

The Penn Hall Alumnae Association maintains a web site with brief history of the institution and links to photographs and other items.  Penn Hall Preparatory School in Chambersburg, PA, was founded in 1906 and a junior college was added in 1927.  The institution ultimately closed in 1973.

Brevard Community College changes name to become Eastern Florida State College

Bob Stover's FLORIDATODAY.com article focuses on a new name and mission for Brevard Community College as it becomes a baccaleaureate institution on July 1st with a new name, Eastern Florida State College.  The institution was founded in 1960 as Brevard Junior College and adopted the name of Brevard Community College following a merger in 1963 with Carver Junior College.

Colleges of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1907 and 1913

Two publications are available in .pdf and other formats through Google Books....Our Presbyterian Colleges published in 1907 and Presbyterian Colleges published in 1913.  Both books were published by The College Board of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and include two or three page sketches for various institutions with campus images and descriptive text.

Grahm Junior College (MA)

There is an interesting new/updated web site for Grahm Junior College.  The site offers a historical sketch and a variety of other information.  The institution was initially founded in Boston in 1950 as the Cambridge School, a for-profit proprietary school.  It was later reorganized as a non-profit school and changed its name to Grahm Junior College in 1968.  Enrollment grew to exceed a thousand students before financial issues arose and the institution filed for bankruptcy liquidation in 1979.

The site includes a link to several albums of images on Picasa.

Georgia Piedmont Technical College

Georgia Piedmont Technical College offers a commemorative book as a .pdf with a timeline of key events over the past fifty years.  The institution was established as DeKalb Area Vocational School in 1961 and was initially organized in cooperation with the Vocational Division of the State Department of Education and the DeKalb County Board of Education.  From 1972-1986 the institution operated as a division and campus of Georgia Perimeter College and as the post-secondary unit of DeKalb County School System until June 30, 1996.  On July 1, 1996, it became a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.  In 2000, the name was officially changed to DeKalb Technical College and in 2011 the name was changed to Georgia Piedmont Technical College.

Newcomb College

Several boards devoted to the Newcomb College Institute of Tulane University are available on Pinterest.  The History of Newcomb Women offers a number of images of students attending the the institution.

An earlier post offers links with historical information on the institution, founded in 1886 as H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College.