Centenary College; E. Feliciana, then Caddo Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Mike Miller ************************************************* Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** . Centenary College, which in 1907 was removed to Shreveport and is the crown of the educational facilities of that commercial city, celebrates the centennial of its founding in 1925. Centenary College, under the control of the Louisiana Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has been one of the great educational institutions of the South throughout the hundred years. It was founded and conducted during the greater part of this period at Jackson, Louisiana. Up to 1860 it has for years been regarded as one of the largest educational institutions in the country and had produced men of eminence in all the walks of life. Jefferson Davis was at one time a student in the Spanish department of the college. Judah P. Benjamin, secretary of state under Jefferson Davis, and who shares the oratorical honors of the South with Henry W. Grady, was also a student, and another was Judge W. B. Spencer, a great orator and jurist. Many prominent men of more recent times owe their education and character building to Centenary College. The doors of the college were closed during the Civil war and all the students answered the call of duty. There were no graduates from 1861 to 1868. The college is proud of its illustrious war record. Every member of the senior class of 1861 died in action on the battle field. Many others were also killed. When Jackson was taken by the Union forces the buildings and grounds of the schools were commandeered and used only the Federal troops. The only things spared were the furnishings and rooms of the Union Literary Society, due to the fact that the word "Union" was painted in hold letters above the door leading to the Society Hall. The institution opened its doors immediately after the close of hostilities. Much of the success of the school after the war was due to the devoted work of the late Bishop John C. Keener, of the Methodist Church. For several years after the college removed to Shreveport, in 1907, there was a hard struggle to establish the institution on a firm basis. Many men sacrificed themselves for its upbuilding. In Shreveport the old traditions and ideals of old Centenary are conserved and perpetuated, while the school has adapted itself to the conditions and demands of the modem world. Since 1921 the growth in every branch of college activities has been remarkable, its assets increasing in two years' time from $434,000 to $1,180,000, in productive endowments from $90,000 to $653,000, while the number of students have more than trebled, and the building program has been rapidly carried out, though at the present time the group of buildings represent only a fraction of those planned. The faculty has been greatly enlarged, not only in number but in scholarship and ability represented. Centenary is now one of the modern institutions offering a broad curriculum not only in the humanities, but in many of the special departments of instruction. The school has made a notable record in the public appearances of its students, in oratory, music, debating and, athletics. Centenary has the strongest allege Young Men's Christian Association in the state, and Sam R. Carter, a student of Centenary College, is chairman of the Southern Field Council of the young Men's Christian Association. A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 204-205, by Henry E. Chambers. Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.