Exploring the 150 Year History of Freed-Hardeman University
In the
1940s, Freed-Hardeman College continued to produce more
preachers for churches of Christ than any other college associated with the
fellowship. Its influence also grew as a result of the special sessions held in
January for preachers who couldn’t attend school full-time.
It was
also a time of celebration and of mourning. Celebration came as a result
of Ulyss Brock’s college basketball scoring
record. In a game against Bethel College on the FHC campus with the
opponent triple-teaming him, Brock scored 83 points. Like Jim Murdaugh before
him, Brock received national attention including in “Ripley’s Believe It or
Not.” In 1938, Murdaugh had set the record with a 78-point performance, also
against Bethel.
The
death of Miss Joe Hardeman in 1940 brought a season of mourning to the campus.
The “First Lady of FHC” had been an important presence during most of the years
since 1908. Miss Joe had taught piano and directed the school orchestra. Her
loss was felt not only by her family, but also by the college community.
By
1940, Freed-Hardeman, along with the rest of the world, had turned its
attention to a global war. The pacifist views common on campus earlier were
changing. Self-defense became a national priority. War became a reality with
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor December
7, 1941.
The
Freed-Hardeman family: alumni, students, faculty members and sons and daughters
of the faculty joined the fight. Charles P. Roland, oldest son of C.P. Roland,
entered the Army as a private, completed officer training school, fought in the
Battle of the Bulge and won a Bronze
Star. Geneva Hall, daughter of W.C. Hall, was an officer in the Women’s Army
Auxiliary. Dorsey Hardeman, son of N.B. Hardeman and an attorney, left his
practice and his office as a Texas state representative to enlist
in the Army Air Force. Professor of mathematics S.C. Hastings left his position
to serve as a senior draftsman developing construction projects.
Students
also received draft notices. Identical twin brothers Wayne and Wendell
Bloomingburg attended FHC one year before they were drafted. Entering the army
as conscientious objectors, they performed noncombatant service as army medics.
“Noncombatant service,” they discovered, was a “very misleading misnomer.” As
medics treating the wounded on the front lines, they were “very much in
combat.” Both received a Silver Star for bravery under fire. When the war
ended, they returned to FHC to finish junior college. Young women were also a part of the fight.
For example, Natalie Powers, joined the Cadet Nurses Corps in 1943.
Like
the rest of America, life continued at FHC, but it
was not life as usual. Army and Navy officers appeared in chapel to recruit
students for the reserves. Enrollment declined as students received draft
notices or they did not return because they expected to be drafted. Students
from distant states found “it inconvenient, inadvisable, or even impossible to
get home and back” for the Christmas break. They spent the holiday on campus
and celebrated around Christmas trees in the dorms. “Wartime austerity and
travel difficulties” resulted in a suspension of men’s basketball. When a
report circulated that fuel supplies for the winter would be reduced by 25
percent, the Homemakers Club mounted a campaign “to practice energy efficiency in
the dorms.”
Following
a government mandate, students were required to participate in 30 minutes of
calisthenics daily. “From the appearance of some of the students after the
first day of these exercises,” the student newspaper reported, “it would seem
that there is a great deal of good to be accomplished.”
It
would be years before life at FHC returned to “life as usual.”
Information
and quotations are taken from Dr. Greg Massey’s recently published “By the
Grace of God: The Story of Freed-Hardeman University.” It is available for
purchase for $30 plus tax in the FHU Office of Academics, which is located in
Loyd 107.
