Board of Trustees Minutes
The ultimate authority for LaGrange College is vested in a Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees establishes the basic policies of the College, but does not participate in administrative management. It sets the budget and provides funds for capital development by gifts and solicitations, planning for long-range campus development and administering investments.
The oldest minutes of the Board of Trustees of LaGrange Female College, now LaGrange College, begin in 1857 and provide an amazing history of the College. The fire of 1860 which destroyed the Administration Building and heavily damaged College Home, is documented in the minutes and describes how the citizens of LaGrange and Methodists as far away as Baltimore sent funds to help rebuild the College. The daily life of the College is chronicled as well as other historic events, although the Civil War is not directly mentioned. The first ledger of the LaGrange Female College Board of Trustees minutes (1857-1889) is available by clicking on the links below. More recent minutes are not available due to access restrictions.
Presidential Collection
The Presidential Collection dates back to the 1800s. The fire of 1860 destroyed most College records but a considerable amount of early correspondence from President Thompson exists from the time he succeeded President Daisy Davies in 1920 until his resignation in 1938. All of his correspondence is available to researchers. The Archives also has a collection of presidential Commencement speeches, presidential Christmas cards and the academic robes of our most recent presidents. Please see the Policies page for access and copyright restrictions.
Rufus Wright Smith began his thirty-year presidency in 1885. He oversaw expansion of the facilities, including annexes to College Home (now Smith Hall) and construction of Harriet Hawkes Hall. He also improved and expanded the curriculum and faculty. His spouse Oreon Smith was the Lady Principal and many of his children taught at the college. Very little of his correspondence remains although the Bulletins and other college histories provide information about his tenure as do the Board of Trustees minutes.
His successor, Daisy Davies, worked to have the school set up endowments and was the first female President. There is little of her correspondence, however there are receipts for college purchases which offer insight, such as prices and the identification of vendors, into the daily life of the college during her tenure. When Daisy Davies resigned in 1920, she moved to Atlanta and continued her activities in the Methodist church. Her Sunday school journals are currently in the Archives.
William E. Thompson (1920-1938) and Hubert T. Quillian (1938-1948) guided the college through the lean years of the Great Depression and World War II, though the music and drama programs were expanded. LaGrange Female College became LaGrange College in 1934. Suber Archives is the repository for Mr. Thompson's papers which date from 1920-1922, and the entire collection is available for research. Hubert Quillian died unexpectedly in 1948. There is no known surviving correspondence for his tenure.
Waights G. Henry, Jr. served for thirty years, from 1948 until 1978, during which time the school became coeducational (1953), and experienced extensive building programs and the institution of new programs, including nursing. The College also integrated and graduated the first African-American student in 1969. Dr. Henry's correspondence is extensive and early portions are available for research detailing the expansion of LaGrange College. A series of lectures given by Dr. Henry is also available as hardbound books and is in the Archives.
During Walter Y. Murphy's administration, from 1980 until 1996, the College doubled in size with the addition of the Callaway Campus donated by the Callaway Foundation. During this time efforts to increase the areas of Music, Art, Drama, and Business degrees were renewed. Dr. Murphy's correspondence is available for research and documents additional building projects and campus expansions.
F. Stuart Gulley became president of LaGrange College in July 1996 and was succeeded by Dr. Dan McAlexader in 2009. Dr. Gulley's inauguration is documented and contains memorabilia produced for this event. Dr. McAlexander is the first LaGrange College president who did not come from a Methodist ministerial background.
See Irene Birdsong's thesis "History of LaGrange College 1831- 1955," available at the LaGrange College Library.
LaGrange College 1948-1978, the Waights G. Henry, Jr. Years, by W. Malcolm Shackleford offers additional historical information on LaGrange College.
Special Events
This collection includes building dedication programs and other special events such as Presidential inaugurations and commencement programs, several of which date back to the 1880s. Our collection also includes many commencement speeches dating back to the the same period.
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