Historical Society Explores Harding History
By HOLLY LATIMER
Searcy Daily Citizen, September 24, 2002
Dr. Jack Wood Sears, retired long-time head of Harding’s biology department and a grandson of Harding University’s first president, J.N. Armstrong, told the White County Historical Society [September 23, 2002] about the university’s early years in Morrilton and Searcy. Harding, which was rated by a national publication recently as the number one university in Arkansas, was formed when Harper College, in Harper, Kansas, and Arkansas Christian College in Morrilton merged in 1924. They had been junior colleges prior to the merger. Sears told the audience [in the dining hall at Harding Place retirement community] that he was relating his memories of the university’s founding and the move from Morrilton to Searcy. “If I make mistakes, I apologize,” Sears said.
When Harper College and Arkansas Christian College merged, Armstrong was named president and Sears’ father L.C. Sears was the fist dean. The newly merged school was named Harding College in honor of James A. Harding, Sears’ great-grandfather. Sears said that he did not know his great-grandfather, but that he understood that Harding used to swing him. The name of the school was dubbed because of some money which had been raised for a boys dormitory at Harper College. The dormitory was to have been named in Harding’s honor. Donors were asked if they minded the money to be used for the merged college, and none dissented. “There were 288 students the first year,” Sears said. Soon another financial campaign began to build a new boys dormitory at the Morrilton location. Sears told the audience that a foundation was poured for that building, but the construction was stopped by the onset of the Great Depression. It was also because of the Great Depression that the school was able to move to Searcy.
What is now the campus of Harding University had once been Galloway College, a Methodist women’s college. Sears said that because of the Depression, Galloway and a Methodist college in Arkadelphia were being merged with Hendrix College in Conway. The Galloway location became available for purchase. “There was a lot more space than at Morrilton,” he said, noting that the purchase of the Searcy college seemed to be answer to the problem. The property was purchased for $75,000. After the purchase was made, Sears said he drove to Searcy with some upperclassmen to sell ads in the yearbook and newspaper for the coming school year.
However, before the college could move, trouble struck in Morrilton as citizens there brought a lawsuit against the college, trying to make it stay in the town. However, according to Sears, the judge in the case told the citizens that they had done nothing to help them keep the college, and they didn’t deserve to have the college. Sears said the summer of 1934 was a hard one as the college was moved to Searcy and the campus was cleaned up prior to the start of the school year.
Godden Hall housed the library, the home of the apartment manager, the high school classes, the auditorium and boys dorm rooms. The girls were housed in Patty Cobb, where the Armstrong and Sears families also lived. A small brick building housed the primary school and the Olen Hendrix building was home to a piano practice area, among other subjects. A small gymnasium provided a basketball court, where Sears said many a player had burns on his legs from a steam pipe which heated the building.
After Harding College had been established in Searcy for two years, Dr. Armstrong retired and a missionary in China, George Benson, was brought to Searcy as the second president. Sears said that Benson raised enough money to pay off the mortgage on the university in 1938 and even brought in enough money to pay teachers. Sears added that Dr. Armstrong had never been paid for his services as president, but preached at gospel meetings during the summer to bring in money for the winter months. Mrs. Armstrong and Mrs. Sears brought in some money through their positions, as did Dr. Sears, who also preached some during the summer months. Following Benson’s tenure as president from 1936 to 1965, Dr. Clifton Ganus took the reins until 1987 when Dr. David Burks took over as president of the university. vvv