13 The History of Harding University The Root – Bible School Movement Our story began near the turn of the 20th century. James A. Harding was a preacher and debater who attended Bethany College in West Virginia. Bethany College was started by Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Restoration Movement in the United States. Together with David Lipscomb, Harding opened the Nashville Bible School in Nashville, Tennessee, Oct. 5, 1891. The initial cohort of students was nine young men, all intent on becoming preachers. Nashville Bible School continued under the leadership of Lipscomb and Harding and is now known as Lipscomb University. In 1901, Harding left Nashville to assume the presidency of Potter Bible College in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Harding stated that the move was “simply a division of the forces of the Nashville School that twice as much good may be done.” John Nelson (J.N.) Armstrong, a graduate of the Nashville Bible School, followed Harding to Potter Bible College as a professor of Greek after he married Harding’s daughter — Woodson Harding Armstrong. J.N. Armstrong, along with a cohort of faculty from Potter Bible College, was heavily influenced by Harding’s leadership and desire to spread the Bible School Movement further westward. Richard Atterbury documented the history of Harding University in his book, “The Story of Harding College.” Atterbury wrote about the passion of Harding and Lipscomb: “The zeal of these two great teachers, Lipscomb and Harding, was contagious; and many of their associates went out from them deeply committed to the principles of Christian education and eager to establish schools in other areas.” Harding College directly resulted from Harding’s and Armstrong’s influence in the Bible School Movement. Armstrong, Benjamin Franklin Rhodes Sr., Robert Clark Bell and R. N. Garner left Potter to establish the Western Bible and Literary College (WBLC) in Odessa, Missouri, in 1905. The city of Odessa donated a building for the school and offered to provide financial support should they set up there. WBLC opened Sept. 1905 with Armstrong as their president. Over 100 students enrolled on the first day, and around the same stayed and attended classes for the first year. Their statement of purpose read: “The purpose of the school shall be to teach the Bible as the revealed will of God to man and as the only and sufficient rule of faith and practice, and to train in pure Bible Christianity those who attend, excluding from the faith all opinions and philosophies of men and from the work and worship of the Church of God all human inventions and devices. Such other branches of learning may be added as will aid in the understanding and teaching of the scriptures and as will promote usefulness and good citizenship among men.” In 1907, Armstrong withdrew from the presidency of WHBC due to his health, and Gardner succeeded him. After Armstrong withdrew, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Cordell Christian College & Harper College The president of Cordell Christian College in Cordell, Oklahoma, resigned and offered the president position to Bell or Rhodes — but neither was willing to accept. Bell and Rhodes reached out to Armstrong in Las Vegas and brought him to Cordell. There, Armstrong accepted the role of president at Cordell Christian College. The school flourished until the mid1910s when influences of the war and problems within the Cordell community led to the college’s decision not to return for the 191819 school year. The decision was made to consolidate Cordell with Harper College — another Christian university in Harper, Kansas. In 1919, Armstrong announced to become the president of Harper College. He accepted the position with an enrollment of 250 and — due to the generosity of the community — an endowment of $130,000. The Merge Five years later, in 1924, Harper College’s enrollment steadily increased, and despite expansion plans, the idea arose of consolidating with 3-year-old Arkansas Christian College (ACC) in Morrilton, Arkansas. Ultimately, the decision was made to merge, and the three schools became what would later be called Harding College. The merger into one institution would then have both the facilities and faculty to qualify as a senior college. “Thus Harding College began her struggle for excellence. The consolidation of Harper College and Arkansas Christian College provided the barest justification for senior college status. But the road which would lead a small, unknown college in Arkansas to a position of national prominence was to prove long and arduous.” (Attebury, 8) ACC was connected to the movement of Lipscomb and Harding through Gus Hill, a Nashville Bible School alum and a major character in the opening of ACC, who pushed for the establishment of a Christian school in Arkansas. ACC was built in 1922 in Morriton, Arkansas, with A.S. Croom as the establishing president. Upon the merger of Harper College and ACC, the college was renamed in honor of James A. Harding as “it was considered a fitting tribute to the life of a great man, who had probably done more for Christian education, and given more enthusiasm and impetus to the work than any other man of the century.” Although Croom was the president of ACC, Armstrong was appointed president of Harding College with Croom as vice president. Armstrong would remain in this position until 1936. Campus life in Morrilton Many issues plagued the 1924 school year. The buildings on the Harding College campus were in a near-constant state of construction and would not be completed before the term began. There was a dormitory called Scoggin Hall that was used as makeshift housing for female students until the new dormitory — James A. Harding Students at the Nashville Bible School. A young J.N. Armstrong.
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