Truett McConnell College: A Light in the Mountains, part 2
THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of Union
County, Georgia
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Through
mountains mists a
light in the mountains, part 2
Truett McConnell College,
1946-2006
Holding Forth The Flame of Knowledge For
Six Decades
We continue the exciting story
of how Truett
McConnell College, Cleveland, Ga.,
grew from the foundations of the Hiawassee Academy
(1886-1930) and
the Blairsville Collegiate Institute (1904-1930). In this 60th year of
the
college’s founding, we celebrate the fanning of the flame of knowledge
that
sprang up and kept growing because people nourished the vision.
The
George
Truett Junior College, Inc.
From 1930 through 1944, the
flame of an
institution of higher learning lay dormant. But many people remembered
the Hiawassee
Academy and the
Blairsville Collegiate
Institute. The flame was there, awaiting another ignition.
Another Mountain Preachers’
School was held
at Blairsville in July 1944.
Who preached the sermon that
ignited the flame
as Rev. Ferdinand C. McConnell had done in 1886? The person’s name is
not known
to this writer, but several factors were present to remind the gathered
preachers that the time was right to propose a new Christian college in
the
mountains.
Dr. George Washington Truett
died July 7, 1944.
He had become
a model for visionary ministers who set aggressive goals and worked to
reach
them. The ministers talked about establishing a college in his memory.
The Great Depression was past. America’s
involvement in World War II, although taking a toll on young lives, had
brought
a raise in economic levels through work associated with the war effort.
Many of
the young men who would be returning from war when it ended would
desire an
education.
The vision was born in the
hearts of
several men. Among them were the Rev. Claud C. Boynton, Rev. L. Clinton
Cutts,
Dr. W. A. Taliaferro, John B. Payne (layman), Dr. Leslie S. Williams,
Dr. James
M. Nicholson, Mr. Frank Shuler (Union County Superintendent of Schools
and a
layman), and Rev. Clarence Voyles. Mountain preachers and mountain
laymen
seized the vision, fanned the flame.
After the Preachers’ School had
ended, the
above-named men met for prayer and discussion in the basement of First Baptist Church,
Blairsville,
where Rev. Claud C. Boynton was pastor. The dream was turned into a
plan. The
flame of knowledge was again ignited.
After several meetings, a
committee drew up
a charter and the men approved it.
The charter named the new school
the George
Truett Junior College, Inc. It was legally filed in Superior Court of Union County,
Ga.,
on September 15,
1944.
A Firm
Foundation and Founding
Desiring that the college have a
firm
foundation and adequate sponsorship, the next step was to present the
plan to
the Georgia Baptist Convention. Dr. Leslie S. Williams, professor at Tift College,
Forsyth, gave the resolution at the Georgia Convention on November 13, 1944.
The recommendation
was referred to the Convention’s Executive Committee for study. Rev.
Claud
Boynton and others spoke in favor of the resolution.
At the 1945 Georgia Baptist
Convention, the
resolution to establish Truett
Junior College
passed and
an appropriation of $25,000 was designated from the convention’s
educational
funds. A committee was appointed to “recommend…the best location and
plans for
securing additional financial support.” (from Georgia Baptist
Convention
Minutes, 1945, pages 80-81).
A “Committee of Ten” was
appointed by the
Convention’s Executive Committee to do preliminary work relative to
site and
fundraising. From November, 1945, through March, 1946, various north Georgia
towns
vied for the college’s location and pledged land, money and endowment.
Blairsville was among the towns vying for the location.
At the March 12, 1946 meeting of the
Georgia Baptist
Convention’s Executive Committee, the announcement was made that Cleveland, Georgia
would be the site.
Several factors entered in. The
location
was still within a mountain county. The college would draw students
from a
broad area of Georgia
and elsewhere, and having the college south of high mountains such as
Unicoi
Gap and Neel Gap would facilitate access at a time when the state and
nation
were still recovering from effects of World War II, scarcities in tires
and
transportation. Citizens of Cleveland
had pledged more in acreage, building materials, money and utility
services.
The Christian Index,
newspaper of
the Georgia Baptist Convention, announced in its July 11, 1947 issue that the
new college to
honor the late Dr. George W. Truett and Dr. Fernando C. McConnell would
be
located at Cleveland,
Georgia.
A massive area-wide rally was
held in Cleveland,
Georgia
on July 23, 1946,
the official founding date of Truett-McConnell Junior
College. Rev. L.
Clinton Cutts, then pastor of First Baptist
Church,
McCaysville, Ga., temporary chairman of the
Interim Board
of Trustees, presided. A large crowd of Convention officers, ministers,
and
citizens of a broad area attended the rally. Five persons who had
attended the Hiawassee
Academy when the
Rev. George W. Truett
taught there were present. They were Mrs. J. Miles (Maggie) Berrong of
Hiawassee; Mr. B. R. Dillard of Dillard; Mr. and Mrs. Andrew P. Ritchie
of
Clayton; and Mr. John A. Earl of Lakemont.
Sixty years had passed since the
Rev. F. C.
McConnell had ignited the spark for education on the courthouse steps
in
Hiawassee. From Cleveland,
Ga., the flame was kindled
and the vision
was stirring toward reality.
A New
College
Opens Its Doors
Much work ensued from the July 23, 1946
founding date
until the college opened doors to students on September 15, 1947. Facilities
for classes and
administrative offices had to be arranged. A curriculum and faculty had
to be
assembled. Plans for accreditation had to be drawn up. Arrangements for
boarding students to live with citizens in the town were made.
Fifty-four charter students and
eleven
faculty and staff met in convocation with the first president, the Rev.
Dr.
Loomis Clinton Cutts leading the processional. In a little more than a
year,
Dr. Cutts and others had formulated plans and the word was “Go!” Much
cooperation had brought about a miracle in little more than a year.
I was in that first group of
students
meeting on September
15, 1947. We had a vision. I had a distinct sense of mission
and
calling to be in that place at that time in a brand new college. It was
exhilarating and motivating. And so has it been in the sixty years
since to
remain closely associated with the “light in the mountains.” In this
sixtieth
anniversary year, the vision continues. The flame still glows brightly,
has
taken on a new aura. “Veritas liberat” is the motto, “Truth liberates.”
c2006 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published Mar. 2, 2006 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville,
GA.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
Updated August 4,
2009
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