Marion Military Institute Archives

Chapel Windows

2012-01-17T09:47:00.005-06:00

Last week I had the pleasure of showing Rear Admiral S Stosz around MMI's historic Chapel building. I thought I'd share some excerpts from the pamphlet "Providing Windows of Character". (c) 1968 MMI

E. Jones
MMI Archivist
334 302 1038
ejones@marionmilitary.edu

1931 Advantages of Military Education Pamphlet

2011-11-29T11:19:00.004-06:00

While going through some recent donations, I found this little gem tucked into the pages of another book.

October 2011

2011-10-26T08:33:00.006-05:00

I'd like to share with you some of the photos that are currently on my plate.

Col. Sheffield teaching.

Cadet Smith, 1962

(A different) Cadet Smith

Delta Company, 1992

Cadet Williams, 1962

Things are busy here in the Archives as I continue to process a large donation of files and photos. As with all photos, any details you have, please feel free to share them with us. The more we know, the more we can share.

E. Jones
MMI Archivist
ejones@marionmilitary.edu
334 302 1038

2011-10-04T08:16:00.002-05:00

Going through some files here in the Archives, I've found some photos I'd like to share.

J. R. Coleman

Sara Clements, Secretary

Timothy Chambers and Group

The Archives will be open the Friday of Parents Weekend, but closed on Saturday. Images from the 1919 student photo album will be on display in the Auditorium. I hope to see you there!

E. Jones
MMI Archivist
ejones@marionmilitary.edu
334 302 1038

September 2011 - 1919 Photo Album

2011-09-07T11:57:00.007-05:00

Today, while doing research on early 1900's Cadet classes, I stumbled upon a most fascinating of finds: a personal Cadet photo album from 1919. So, of course, I put everything on hold so I could scan and preserve this amazing piece of MMI history. I can't resist sharing some of those images with you here.

Page 3

Page 5

Page 6

Page 15

Page 22

Page 29

Page 33

Back to research!
Erin Jones
MMI Archivist
334 302 1038
ejones@marionmilitary.edu

August 2011: Old and New

2011-08-30T09:40:00.006-05:00

Congratulations to all the Cadets who were Crested on Friday.

Photos: MMI Archives

You can watch a video taken by Kelly Griffiths, Library Director here.

To celebrate the newest Cadets, allow me to share some more photos in the Unlabeled Photo Project: the oldest yet, from 1933-34.

August, 2011 - Chapel Stones

2011-08-25T15:13:00.005-05:00

Exciting news! The original stones from the MMI Chapel walls have been moved to the Archives for display and preservation. They are breathtaking. Come check them out!

Wilkerson stone

Lovelace stone

Armstrong & Murfee stones

Moore stone

August 2011, Part 2

2011-08-17T12:14:00.004-05:00

I was moving boxes in the Archives this morning and came across two large boxes of unidentified photos that, so far, stretch back as far as 1950. I'll be working through them, and sharing them here with you, in the next few months. Any help identifying people ,places and events in these photos is welcome. So far, there are some great additions to the ongoing Swamp Fox Collection project. On the top of the pile today:

August 2011

2011-08-02T10:24:00.005-05:00

Summer is almost over and students are arriving on campus again. It's an exciting time.

I received a generous donation in the mail today, including these fantastic additions to the collection. Recognize them? Have stories about them? I'd love to hear them!

Snorter Cover, Dated: 17 May XX, Vol. 1

White Knights Show for Pensacola, 13 May 1954

-------------------------------

August 2011 Archives Schedule

Tuesday, Aug. 2nd
Thursday, Aug. 4th

Tuesday, Aug. 9th
Thursday, Aug. 11th

Tuesday, Aug. 16th
Wednesday, Aug. 17th
Thursday, Aug. 18th

Tuesday, Aug. 23rd
Thursday, Aug. 25th
Friday, Aug. 26th

Tuesday, Aug. 30th
Wednesday, Aug. 31st

Any questions or thoughts you'd like to share,
Erin Jones
MMI Archivist
ejones@marionmilitary.edu
334 302 1038

July 2011

2011-06-30T11:07:00.003-05:00

I've been in the Archives preserving everything from the program for the 1968 Stadium Dedication to 1980's Football Uniforms and Cheerleading Skirts donated back from Marion Academy. I've put the call out for memorabilia and so many generous alumni and community members have stopped by to share their memories. It's exciting!

The school year starts again in August and throughout July, I'll be in the Archives:

Thursday, 14 July
Thursday, 28 July

I'll be checking my email in the meantime.

Have a wonderful July!
Erin Jones
ejones@marionmilitary.edu
334 302 1038

2011-06-14T11:18:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, 12 June 2011, Alabama lost one of her great storytellers as Kathryn Tucker Windham died at the age of 93. A detailed description of her influential and amazing life can be found here and here. While I personally never had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Windham, her stories have filled in the gaps of my Alabama life since I moved back here 15 years ago; and she’s become a celebrated part of the MMI Archives. One of my first tasks as a Special Collections Assistant for the Bounds Law Library in Tuscaloosa was to transcribe an interview with her.

So, celebrate Mrs. Windham's contribution to Alabama and the Black Belt by reading a bit of "13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey" or carry on the tradition and share a story of your own.

Images courtesy of the MMI Foundation Archives.

Thank you, Mrs. Windham. You will be missed.

Erin Jones

MMI Archivist

334 302 1038

ejones@marionmilitary.edu

June 2011

2011-06-02T11:46:00.002-05:00

It's been an exciting month in the Archives with much to preserve and exciting projects in the wings. The Oral History Project is getting on its feet and I'll soon have updated information for it. In the meantime, the Archives will be open the following days in June, 2011

Thursday, 2 June
Tuesday, 14 June
Thursday, 16 June
Tuesday, 21 June
Thursday, 23 June
Tuesday, 28 June
Thursday 30 June

Please feel free to call or email me anytime.
Erin Jones, Archivist
ejones@marionmilitary.edu
334 302 1038

2011 Alumni Weekend

2011-04-12T13:19:00.002-05:00

Thank you to everyone who introduced themselves throughout my first Alumni Weekend. It was an absolute pleasure to speak with you all. Please think of the Archives when you're looking for a special place for your MMI memories.

I'm swamped with reference questions and preservation right now - lots of exciting things to share in the coming weeks. Until then enjoy the videos of the Swamp Fox and White Knight demonstrations from this weekend (thanks to the Library Director, Kelly Griffiths) HERE!!

More to come,
Erin Jones
MMI Archivist
ejones@marionmilitary.edu
334 302 1038

April 2011

2011-03-29T12:31:00.006-05:00

There's a lot going on here in the Archives. I'm gearing up for Alumni Weekend, where I will kick off the first push for the Oral History Project. [If you're interested in sharing your memories of MMI while you're here for Alumni Weekend - or any other time - contact me to schedule a time!] We received a wonderful donation of memorabilia from 1954-55. A gracious 'thank you' to Mr. Jack Starnes for his generosity.

Here's a little bit of it:

April Hours: **Please note there are some digressions from the norm**

Alumni Weekend, 7-9 April [Thursday - Saturday]

*The Archives will be open Thursday and Friday. The Archives will not be open the Saturday of Alumni Weekend due to the building being used for ACT testing. There will be a small Archives display in the Ireland Center.*

12,14 April [Tuesday & Thursday]

19,20 April [Tuesday & Wednesday]

26,27 April [Tuesday & Wednesday]

Back to preserving,

Erin Jones

Archivist

MMI

ejones@marionmilitary.edu

330 302 1038

Turning to Spring and Oral History

2011-02-24T09:03:00.005-06:00

Hello and Howdy! As we come to the end of February, I'm looking to Spring and all the amazing things that MMI has planned. This weekend's Knight-Fox Challenge will kick off with a parade this afternoon. [Pictures to follow] Alumni Weekend is set for April; and before you know it, Cadets will be graduating and Summer will sweep through the town. If you have a chance to stop in the Archives, please do. There's always something changing!

The Oral History Project is kicking off this week when I sit down with my first interviewee. I'll share details in March - and give you information about how you can be involved in preserving the stories of MMI! Any questions are welcome.

March Schedule

Tuesday, 1 March
Thursday, 3 March

Wednesday, 9 March
Thursday, 10 March

CLOSED SPRING BREAK

Tuesday, 22 March
Wednesday, 23 March

Tuesday, 29 March
Wednesday, 30 March

Hope to see you soon!

Erin Jones
MMI Archivist
334 302 1038
ejones@marionmilitary.edu

Congratulations are in Order!

2011-02-08T11:32:00.005-06:00

Congratulations to Cadet Dawit Solomon for receiving the Albert Cesarine Scholarship! The Perry County Herald says:

"The Albert Cesarine, Sr. Memorial Scholarship was established in memory of Mr. Albert Cesarine, Sr. by Mr. and Mrs. Albert Cesarine, III, of New Castle, Delaware. Albert T. Cesarine, III is an alumnus of Marion Military Institute's class of 1984. Cadet Dawit Solomon is a 2007 graduate of the MMI Preparatory School. A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he returned to MMI in 2009 and enrolled in the Early Commissioning Program to receive his commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, which he will do this spring. Cadet Solomon is the son of Amy Techale and Aman Yohanes of Altanta, Ga." (PCH: Volume VI, Number 24, 3 Feb, 2011 - http://perrycountyherald.com)

Congratulations, Cadet Solomon!

------------------------------------------------
On the Archives. February 2011 Schedule, continued, is every Tuesday and Thursday until the end of the month. I'm working diligently on interesting and exciting projects and Alumni Weekend's festivities. There is much to catalog. I am, as always, looking for information about MMI, Marion and Perry County in general, to enrich the information resources already archived by the MMI Foundation. Let me know if you find something amazing!

Stop in and see what's new in what's old!
Erin Jones
--
MMI Archivist
Baer Memorial Library, Second Floor
1101 Washington Street
Marion, Al. 36756
334 302 1038
ejones@marionmilitary.edu

Turn of the Year

2010-12-16T09:39:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone! I've been busy with some interesting finds here in the Archives that I'll be sure to share with you in January. Until then, the Archives will be closed for the holidays 17 December - 3 January. Then, finally, I think things have settled down enough to be consistent.

4 & 6 January

11 & 13 January

18 & 20 January

25 & 27 January

Congratulations to all those that graduated and were commissioned today. Best of luck to you!

Have a safe and memorable holiday season.

Erin Jones

MMI Archivist

ejones@marionmilitary.edu

334 302 1038

1924 Barracks Fire

2010-12-02T10:16:00.014-06:00

This morning a Cadet asked for information on the 1924 Barracks Fire. I thought I would share the answer with everyone.

Courtesy, Perry County Herald, Travis Vaughn. Originally published, 15 Oct, 2009.

"The deadly MMI fire occurred in 1924 in a white frame structure called South College Barracks and claimed two victims, Jefferson Bryant Meharg of Pensacola, Fla., and Lawrence Christopher Olsen of Waukegan, Ill. The monument on the honor ground recalls this event:

'Erected By The Cadet Corps 1923-24

Cadets Jefferson Bryant Meharg And Lawrence Christopher Olsen Who Lost Their Lives In the Burning of College Barracks March 17, 1924...'"

Courtesy of Travis Vaughn, http://perrycountyherald.com/

From “History of Marion Institute” Speech in Chapel by Cadet J. W. Matthews; Fall, 1959

“The two cadets shared a room in South College Barracks, a two-story white fame building a short distance south of the present campus area. About 5:30 on the morning of March 17^th, 1924, South College Barracks caught fire. Fire call was sounded, the entire battalion formed in front of the chapel and everyone was reported preset. The tragedy occurred after dismissal from this formation. One of the boys (it’s not known which) had left his watch in the building and decided to return for it. Smoke was pouring from the building at this time, but there was no sign of flames. He apparently could see no danger. His roommate discovered that he was missing and guessing that he went back into the building, went to find him. The building suddenly exploded and burned swiftly. Meherg was killed instantly. Olsen somehow managed to get out, but he was fatally burned and died six hours later in Selma Hospital.

The following year, the Cadet Corps erected a monument to their memory. This monument is the cannon overlooking the drill field and the plaque on the monument bears the inscription:

“Greater love hath no man than this,

That he lay down his life for his friends”

Courtesy of MMI Foundation Archives.

Courtesy of MMI Foundation Archives, Page 5, 1925 MMI Yearbook

Courtesy of MMI Foundation Archives, Jefferson Bryant Meherg’s Attendance Card [Address removed for privacy].

Courtesy of MMI Foundation Archives, Lawrence Christopher Olsen’s Attendance Card

Until Next Time,
Erin Jones
MMI Archivist
334 302 1038
ejones@marionmilitary.edu

Images of America: Perry County

2010-11-30T12:02:00.005-06:00

Wonderful news! Eleanor Drake's _Images of America: Perry County_ has hit the shelves and it's filled with amazing photos and information about MMI and Marion; with supporting aide by previous MMI Archivist, Terry Barkley. A kind donor presented a copy to the Archives today; and I have thoroughly enjoyed it, cover to cover.
Take the opportunity to grab your own copy from Arcadia Publishing or stop in the Archives to have a gander at those photos held here and the artifacts with which they live.

December Archive Schedule

Thursday, 2 December

Tuesday, 7 December
Thursday, 9 December

Tuesday, 14 December
Thursday, 16 December

The Archives will be closed for the Holiday season 17 December until 4 January, 2011. I will be checking my email.

Have a safe and memorable holidays,
Erin Jones
MMI Archivist
334 302 1038
ejones@marionmilitary.edu

It is an Honor

2010-10-29T13:10:00.006-05:00

The annual Hall of Honor induction was today; and I enjoyed seeing the ceremony. The respect flows here like wine - and for good reason. This year's induction honors Col. Robert L. Howard and BG James R. Owen.

Photos taken by Kelly Griffiths, Library Director

I collected the program from the ceremony for future generations of MMI Cadets and Alumni to remember this important day. Anyone who has pictures they would like to share with the Archives, please feel free: ejones@marionmilitary.edu

If you'd rather stop in, the November schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, Nov 2nd
Thursday, Nov 4th

Tuesday, Nov 9th
Wednesday, Nov 10th

Tuesday, Nov 16th
Thursday, Nov 18th

Monday, Nov 22nd
Tuesday, Nov 23rd

Tuesday, Nov 30th
Thursday, Dec 2nd

I'm working diligently on new displays and exhibits. Stop in and see what's new. Also, keep an eye out for tidbits 'From the Archive' the next edition of the Pass in Review.

Looking forward to the next parade,
Erin Jones
MMI Archivist
334 302 1038
ejones@marionmilitary.edu

2 Weeks

2010-10-14T13:27:00.011-05:00

Hello! It's been a busy couple of weeks for me as I grow more and more familiar with the MMI collections. I've found many interesting things in my exploring.

This scrapbook, along with several others, make up a set of articles on MMI that range from 1968 to the early 80's. Unfortunately, I can't be more specific than that. Until my supplies arrive in early November, I'm holding off on opening some of the more damaged pages. Those I have been able to open speak of community service performers by MMI Cadets and Faculty and some of the amazing awards won by individual and Company, alike. They are displayed in the Archives. I'll turn the pace once a week until we see them all.

Relief Template

I also found the Bas Relief templates for the Lynn M. and Sherwood C. Middlebrooks, Jr. Hall of Fine Arts external walls. I'm currently in the process of writing a description for them.

We received a wonderful package that contained a pair of corduroy pants with S. McCollum written inside the waistband. They're being preserved and combined with the Shivers McCollum collection.

Kelly Griffiths, Library Director, found this photo leaned against a book truck last week - apparently left by someone. It seems as though it was pressed in a book. The edges are worn and frayed. Identity to be confirmed. Speculation gives me James T. Murfee...location? I'm on the hunt for that answer, too.

Many of the Cadets are taking the opportunity to stop into the Archives and take a peek. They have many questions about MMI history and the many Alumni that have come before them.

There are exciting things afoot as I will soon welcome new efficient shelving that will offer more storage and display space. I am beginning to organize the artifacts into relevant collections to allow maximum display with maximum protection. Please feel welcome to stop in and see me when you're on campus.

This weekend is Parents' Weekend at MMI. The Archives will not be open. There is still much work to do. I am here on Tuesdays and Thursdays to be of service. Please, stop in and see what's on display!

I'll share the ongoing progress as it happens.

Erin Jones
MMI Archivist
ejones@marionmilitary.edu
334 302 1038

Hey, Hi, Hello

2010-10-04T14:33:00.006-05:00

Hello! It is my pleasure to introduce myself as the new Archivist for MMI. I am excited to jump in and learn all the nuances of the collection. I will also be walking the campus in the coming weeks to learn the history and people. Please feel free to stop me and say hello.

Thank you to Terry Barkley for welcoming me and helping me settle into the Archives. Best of luck to him in his new position.

I will be in the Archives on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00am-4:30pm.

This month's Schedule of Hours is a bit off the regular.

Tuesday, 5 Oct, 8:00am-4:30pm
Wednesday, 6 Oct, 8:00am-4:30pm

Wednesday, 13 Oct, 8:00am-4:30pm
Thursday, 14 Oct, 8:00am-4:30pm

Tuesday, 19 Oct, 8:00am-4:30pm
Thursday, 21 Oct, 8:00am-4:30pm

Thursday, 28 Oct, 8:00am-4:30pm

I look forward to meeting more of you and getting to know you all.
Erin Jones
MMI Archivist
334.302.1038
ejones@marionmilitary.edu

Hail and Farewell

2010-09-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

Hi Folks,
This will be my last MMI Archives Blog as I will be leaving MMI as of Thursday, September 30th. I have accepted the position of Director of the Brethren Historical Library and Archives (BHLA) at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Illinois.

A current logo of the Church of the Brethren (Dunkers). (Credit: http://www.brethren.org/site/PageServer?pagename=office_general_secretary_logos)

A member of the Church of the Brethren (Dunkers) since 1980, I am a Brethren historian and a contributor to the four-volume Brethren Encyclopedia. I have also served the Brethren at both the congregational and district levels over the past thirty years including attending the Brethren seminary in Indiana, Bethany Theological Seminary. From 1993-2005, I served as the archivist/museum curator at Bridgewater College in Virginia, one of the Brethren-related colleges. My book, One Who Served: Brethren Elder Charles Nesselrodt of Shenandoah County, Virginia (3rd ed., 2004), is the story of a typical Brethren elder serving in the free ministry in the Shenandoah Valley around the turn of the twentieth century.

The front and back covers of my little book. (Credit: http://www.lotswifepublishing.com/)

My new position at the BHLA allows me the opportunity to serve my denomination at its national headquarters in Elgin, Illinois, a fast-growing city of over 100,000 residents some 40 miles northwest of Chicago.

While many of you have probably never heard of the Church of the Brethren, military history buffs may recognize us via the little Dunker Church of Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland (September 17, 1862), and the famous images taken of it after the Civil War battle by Alexander Gardner, an employee of Matthew Brady.

One of the Gardner images of the Dunker Church taken shortly after the battle. (Credit: US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle, PA)

The restored Dunker Church today on the Antietam battlefield. (Credit: http://www.philkearnycwrt.org/then_n_now.html)

Finally, I have enjoyed my three-plus years serving MMI ("The Land of Many Bugles"), and I leave with a certain sense of pride at what we have been able to accomplish to date. I thank the entire MMI Family for your friendship, kindness, and for the many courtesies extended me during my tenure.

Blessings to one and all and to Marion Military Institute!

Terry Barkley

Search Extended

2010-09-13T11:54:00.001-05:00

The search for a new Archivist has been extended until 21 September. Information can be found in my post from 7 September, located here.

Thomas Edison's Mucker: Miller Reese Hutchison, MMI Class of 1890

2010-09-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

Described in his obituary as “one of the nation’s greatest inventors and scientists,” Dr. Miller Reese Hutchison, MMI Class of 1890, served as Thomas Edison’s right-hand man (Edison called his assistants “muckers”) for a number of years in the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. An electrical and acoustical engineer who was born, raised, and largely educated in Alabama, Dr. Hutchison had several hundred inventions to his credit. He worked as Chief Engineer for all of Thomas Edison’s interests and representations during his tenure.

Dr. Miller Reese Hutchison with Thomas Edison c. 1910-1918. (Credit: http://www.corbisimages.com/images/67/7AA65778-FC9C-4329-B167-E81ACD6610A2/IH044426.jpg )

Thomas Edison’s original Menlo Park (NJ) Laboratory. (Credit: http://0.tqn.com/d/inventors/1/0/i/L/edisonmenlopark.jpg )

Born in Montrose, Alabama (Baldwin County), near Mobile, on August 6, 1876, Miller Reese Hutchison was educated in the Mobile public schools, Spring Hill College, Marion Military Institute (1889-1890), and graduated in electrical engineering from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University). Upon graduation, he worked as an engineer for the U.S. Light House Service and, during the Spanish-American War, helped lay submarine cables in the Gulf of Mexico. Hutchison later moved to New York City where he established his own laboratory and developed a number of inventions including the Klaxon auto horn and hearing aid. In 1902, he traveled to London and Paris to test his hearing aid; Hutchison also presented the device to Queen Alexandra of Great Britain.

The Klaxon. (Credit: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/179/443965457_80787a811f.jpg )

The Horn, a Hutchison invention. (Credit: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/126405288_4b42fdc929_s.jpg )

Attracting the attention of Thomas Edison, Dr. Miller Reese Hutchison worked for Edison from 1910 to 1918 at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. While in his mid-30s, Hutchison became Edison’s Chief Engineer, working as a consultant and promoter of the Edison Storage Battery, and negotiating the use of these storage batteries in US Navy submarines. Dr. Hutchison also worked to get Thomas Edison appointed president of the Naval Consulting Board, a civilian board of inventors and businessmen who reviewed inventions from the public which might help the military.

Dr. Hutchison resigned as Chief Engineer for Edison’s Laboratory in 1918, and started he own firm (Miller Reese Hutchison Corporation) to distribute the Edison batteries and to market his latest inventions. In addition to the Klaxon horn, he is noted for inventing the Acousticon, the first electrical hearing aid for the deaf (1902); the dictograph, one of the first eavesdropping devices; and the Moto-Vita, a forerunner of today’s Oxygen Sensor. Dr. Hutchison received a number of international honorary degrees, medals and awards during his career.

The Acousticon hearing aid. (Credit: http://www.medicalindexing.co.uk/rob/hearing/hacarbo2.gif )

Dr. Miller Reese Hutchison, MMI Class of 1890, died in New York City on February 16, 1944.

The Beginning of an Era

2010-09-07T14:02:00.004-05:00

Hello, Blog Followers! This is KellyAnn Griffiths, the Library Director at MMI.

I have hijacked the Archivist Blog to give you some news. Mr. Barkley will be leaving us at the end of the month to pursue a wonderful opportunity at another Archives. Please join me in wishing him the best -- he has done some amazing things for the Archives at MMI and he will be missed.

We are working on this end to fill Mr. Barkley's position. I am, therefore, announcing the beginning of an era instead of focusing on the end of Mr. Barkley's time here. Please pass the following along to interested parties:

General Statement

The Archivist at Marion Military Institute is responsible for the organization and maintenance of the Marion Military Institute Archives. S/he is responsible for determining the value of the collection as it relates to Marion Military Institute and for providing access to historically significant documents.

The archivist is employed by the MMI Foundation Board of Trustees. The Foundation is responsible for archival, digitization, cataloging and the preservation of materials. The Foundation will not be required to reimburse Marion Military Institute for office space, routine office supplies or telephone expenses.

The Archivist reports to and will be reviewed annually by the Director of Baer Memorial Library.

Duties and Responsibilities

Arrange and describe collections in the Archives.
Research and implement proper cataloging software for the Archives.
Explore and implement digitization and preservation options.
Implement/direct appraisal, data, box listings, and collection control information for materials received.
Develop/maintain content in inventories, finding aids and Web pages.
Perform preservation duties.
Conducts reference interviews with researchers and provide access to archival materials.
Retrieve archival records and manuscript materials for users.
Duplicate unrestricted materials at public request, i.e. photocopying, photo-duplication, digitizing, etc. in accordance with policies.
Provide instructional services both within and outside the Archives (including the classroom) to archival users and others including students, faculty, staff, community members, and outside researchers.
Develop, follow, implement, and consistently apply policies and procedures.
Work to increase public knowledge of materials in Archives through public programming and development of exhibits and web content.
Prepare exhibits for Archives and Library and provide public relations materials and photographs for exhibits and historical information for publication.
Assist in identifying appropriate grant sources for archival projects. Manage archive-related grant workflow including budget oversight and report preparation.
Monitor, control, and manage budget needs/funds assigned to position, and work with Foundation to request funding as necessary to ensure effective development of the collection and records.
Provide business and clerical functions for the Archives.
Performs related work as apparent or assigned.

Knowledge/Skill/Ability

Knowledge of effective management and decision-making skills.
Knowledge of archival procedures and protocol.
Ability to assess problems and seek practical solutions.
Ability to prioritize.
Ability to work effectively with others, both as a leader and as a team member, as well as on her/his own.
Ability to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing, and to use electronic means (MS Office Suite, e-mail, blogs, etc.) to do so.
Willingness to participate in continuing education activities (conferences, workshops, journals) to stay abreast of trends within the profession and technological developments.

Training/Education/Experience

Master of Library Service, Archiving, or Museum Studies from an accredited institution or two (2) years experience in archive operation and management (preferred).
Experience with new and emerging technologies.
Willingness to explore technical options for organization, digitization and preservation.

Schedule

The Archives is to be open two (2) days per week, eight (8) hours per day during the regularly scheduled hours of Baer Memorial Library through the school year. Over the summer, the Archives will be open one (1) day per week, eight (8) hours per day. The Archives will not be open over the winter holidays or spring break.
The archivist will be expected to attend special events, including but not limited to Alumni Weekend, Parents’ Weekend, Graduation & Commissioning, and the Military Hall of Honor Induction.

Compensation

Compensation for this part-time position is $14.00 per hour.

To Apply

Application packets consist of:

Resume
Names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of three (3) professional references
Unofficial Transcripts (official transcripts will be required of the selected candidate)
MMI Application (available at http://www.marionmilitary.edu/skins/userfiles/file/Systemwide_Uniform_Application%281%29.pdf)

All items need to be sent to:

Human Resources
Marion Military Institute
1101 Washington St.
Marion, AL 36756

Or e-mailed to:

kgriffiths@marionmilitary.edu

Feel free to contact me (kgriffiths@marionmilitary.edu) with any questions.

Partial applications will not be accepted and application deadline is 12 September 2010.

This information is also available via the MMI web site at http://www.marionmilitary.edu/about-mmi/mmiemployment.da.

RADM Harold A. Houser '16: Governor of American Samoa

2010-09-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

RADM Harold A. Houser, MMI 1916, served as the 35th Governor of American Samoa from 1945-1947. A native of Georgia, Houser attended Marion Military Institute from 1915-1916.

Harold Alexander Houser was born in Fort Valley, Georgia, on March 31, 1897, the son of Emmett and Mary Mathews Houser. Appointed to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, on May 26, 1917, he graduated in the Class of 1921. Houser then embarked upon a distinguished career as a Naval officer which included posts in Panama, France, serving as a gunnery officer (Commander) aboard the USS Omaha (CL-4), and commanding (Captain) the Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida.

Naval Air Station, Key West, Florida. (Credit: eddiemorris.com/blue_angels.htm)

With the end of World War II, Harold Houser was appointed the 35th Governor of American Samoa in 1945, serving from September 10, 1945 - April 27, 1947. While governor, he represented the United States at a meeting of the major powers in the Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand. Houser became a Rear admiral following his governorship, and served on the staff of the U. S. Secretary of Defense. In 1949, he was appointed Director of the Office of Legislative Liaison at the Office of Legislative Affairs. Houser also served as legislative liaison of the Retired Officers Association (ROA).

American Samoa. (Credit: www.sindhtoday.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/)

RADM Harold A. Houser died of natural causes at the age of 84 on September 3, 1981, at the National Naval Medical Center. He is buried in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland. His wife, Vera Allen Houser, is buried beside him.

Graves of Harold and Vera Houser in the USNA Cemetery, Annapolis, MD. (Credit: USNA)

MMI in the early 1890s

2010-08-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

Here are five images of Marion Military Institute in the early 1890s. All images are from the MMI Archives, the two of the campus taken from the 1892 MMI catalogue.

The MMI campus c. 1892: (L-R) South Barracks, The Chapel, North Barracks (burned in the 1940s), and the Dining Hall.

The MMI Cadet Battalion (looking rather Confederate) drawn up in front of The Chapel c. 1892. Note the flag atop The Chapel.

Members of the Franklin Literary Society at MMI c. 1891. Their counterpart on campus was the Jefferson Literary Society. Each society had a special room in the wings of The Chapel.

This unidentified MMI Cadet had his image taken in Selma, Alabama, in 1891.

The MMI Football Team of 1894-1895.

The Morgan's Raiders: A Heritage Reclaimed

2010-08-11T07:00:00.003-05:00

Living as we do in this age of political correctness, the alumni of the Morgan’s Raiders - one of the oldest and most celebrated organizations at MMI - maintain a low profile but are very active behind the scenes in supporting both the Institute and the community.

Founded in 1947-1948 by cadets who had served in World War II and who were attending MMI on the GI Bill, this service organization was named for famed Confederate cavalry commander, General John Hunt Morgan (1825-1864), who was born in Huntsville, Alabama. Captain John Miklos is credited with founding the Morgan’s Raiders which held its first initiation on January 9, 1948.

General John Hunt Morgan, CSA (1825-1864). (Credit: MMI Archives)

The birthplace and boyhood home of General Morgan in Huntsville, Alabama. (Credit: Flickr.com)

The first group of Morgan’s Raiders at MMI, 1947-1948. (Credit: 1948 Orange and Black, MMI Archives)

The Morgan’s Raiders goals were to advance high standards of truth, honor, and service; to work for the betterment of MMI; to strive for and maintain a high level of esprit de corps; and to provide a social group for outstanding cadets of like interests and standards.

A 1966 announcement for Morgan’s Raiders’ Day at MMI. (Credit: MMI Archives)

From the start, the Morgan’s Raiders included some of the top cadet leadership on campus, members who were also leaders in other MMI organizations. For example, over a 39 year period, 33 cadet commanders – the highest ranking cadet in the Corps of Cadets – were members of the Morgan’s Raiders. Membership was by invitation only, and included top cadets from both the high school and junior college.

The Morgan’s Raiders sponsored two of the highlight events of the annual MMI social calendar – the Christmas Military Ball in December, and the spring Old South Ball, a colorful event straight out of Gone With The Wind! The Raiders also provided the cadet sword arch for the annual Selma (AL) Pilgrimage Court lead out. On campus, among other activities, they were responsible for cleaning the US Air Force F-84F aircraft, and for painting the base for the 75mm cannon in front of the flagpole. The Morgan’s Raiders also assisted with the Alabama Military Hall of Honor, and with various service events in the wider community.

Here are four images of the annual Old South Ball at MMI – Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara would be proud! (Credit: All images, MMI Archives)

Finally, the alumni of the Morgan’s Raiders have established the John Hunt Morgan Leadership Award and Endowed Scholarship at MMI. The award recognizes and encourages cadet leadership, and the scholarship promotes the education of deserving college cadets.

The Hale County Murfees

2010-08-03T07:00:00.002-05:00

Last spring, I had the opportunity to accompany Murfee Gewin (of the Murfee Family) and John Anderson, MMI Class of 1969, to the old Murfee Family cemetery over in Hale County, Alabama. Murfee and John do an annual trek over there to spray chemicals in the cemetery and cut weeds, etc. I was just along for the ride and toting my camera.

Note: All images are courtesy of the MMI Archives.

The Murfee Family cemetery is located to the right of the road just below the tall, single tree (you can barely make out the fence). John had to cut us a path to the cemetery! The remains of the Murfee home, by the way, are totally engulfed in the woods, kudzu, and other over and under growth to the right and in front of the cemetery!

John Anderson and Murfee Gewin (background with sprayer) working in the cemetery. I’m the photographer!

Believe it or not, the remains of the Murfee house are in there!

The father of James Thomas Murfee, MMI’s founder and first president, is buried in this Hale County cemetery just off Alabama/County Route 21 not far from Havana and the site of the Green Springs School, Henry and Julia Tutwiler’s famed institution. Coming from Virginia, James Wilson Murfee (1808-1889), a long-time school teacher in Hale County, is buried next to his fourth wife, Elizabeth S. Edwards Murfee, who died in 1906. Our James T. Murfee was born to his second wife, Ann Parker Murfee.

Two images of the graves of James Wilson and Elizabeth S. Edwards Murfee in the Murfee Family cemetery in Hale County.

Finally, I have included several new images of the graves of James Thomas and Laura Owen Murfee in the Marion City Cemetery. Someone (I assume a Murfee Family member) has recently cleaned the tombstone and it is much more readable than it was.

The Good Doctor: Tinsley R. Harrison, MMI 1916

2010-04-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Dr. Tinsley Randolph Harrison (1900-1978), MMI 1916, is described by the Encyclopedia of Alabama as “one of the most influential physicians of the twentieth century.” His textbook, Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine (1950), or simply, Harrisons, is the “single-most-used and best-selling internal medicine text in the world.” It has been reprinted 16 times and translated into 14 languages.

Dr. Tinsley R. Harrison as a young physician. (Credit: www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/.../tharrison.html)

Born in Talladega, Alabama, on March 18, 1900, Tinsley was the son of Groce Harrison, a sixth-generation physician. The family moved to Birmingham, Alabama, in 1906, where a precocious Tinsley was able to advance three grades and graduate from high school at age 15. He attended Marion Military Institute for one year, 1915-1916 (ages 15 to 16), and then spent three years at the University of Michigan, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1919 at age 19. Harrison completed medical school at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and his internship and first-year residency at what are now Harvard University hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Harrison as a rising star in the medical field. (Credit: www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/.../tharrison.html)

Following additional study at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Harrison joined the new Vanderbilt Hospital and Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1925. However, before assuming his duties as Chief Resident in Medicine at Vanderbilt, Harrison and his wife, Elizabeth (Woodward) of Massachusetts, enjoyed a year-long study and research tour of Europe (Austria, England, and Germany). The Harrisons stayed at Vanderbilt for some 16 years (1925-1941), and their family grew to include five children.

Both a practitioner, teacher, researcher, and author of numerous scholarly publications, Dr. Harrison published Failure of the Circulation in 1935, a work which has become a standard text.

The good doctor. (Credit: www.proyectomedico.com/2007/10/)

From 1941 to 1944, Dr. Harrison served as the founding chair of medicine at the new Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University. He left in 1944 to serve as dean of medicine and chair of medicine at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas, his third new medical school. In 1950, Dr. Harrison moved to his fourth new medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, staying until his retirement in 1970. His efforts at UAB led to the medical school’s national and international prominence.

Dr. Harrison teaching his students in 1964. (Credit: UAB Archives, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Dr. Harrison published his seminal textbook, Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine in 1950. Harrisons remains a standard in the field of internal medicine.

Upon his retirement at UAB, Dr. Tinsley R. Harrison was appointed Distinguished Physician of the U. S. Veterans Administration, serving until his death on August 4, 1978, in Birmingham, Alabama, following a prolonged illness. He died in his own bed surrounded by his family.

Sculpture of Dr. Tinsley Randolph Harrison at UAB in Birmingham, Alabama. Cordray Parker was the sculptor. (Credit: Robin McDonald)

A Gift From Heroes/Images

2010-04-21T07:00:00.001-05:00

1LT Anthony C. Clemons, IN, ALARNG, MMI JC Class of 2006, donated to MMI an American flag which flew over his unit in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in 2009-2010. That flag is now housed in the MMI Archives and is on display. Below are copies of the letter sent to Carrie Williams in the MMI Alumni Office, and a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the Commanding Officer and the Command Sergeant Major, Combined Task Force Builder, 877th Engineer Battalion, FOB Sharana:

Letter from 1LT Clemons, MMI JC 2006, to Carrie Williams in the MMI Alumni Office. Note Clemons’ sincere appreciation for what he learned at MMI. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Certificate of Authenticity signed by the Commanding Officer and the Command Sergeant Major, Combined Task Force Builder, 877th Engineer Battalion, FOB Sharana. (Credit: MMI Archives)

The following images were received recently from the MMI Alumni Office (Carrie Williams, Marietta Holmes, and Aaron Calvert), and they are a fine addition to the MMI Archives:

Cadets on the steps of The Chapel, c. 1900. The Commandant, Abner D. Whipple, stands at far left. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Cadets wearing kepis (caps), c. 1900. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Cadet Company “A” in front of North Barracks, March, 1918. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Army-Navy cadets in front of The Chapel, c. 1930s. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Elvis Presley & The Blue Moon Boys

2010-04-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by a long-lost friend from more than 40 years ago! Dan Griffin was one of my percussion students at the Sardis (AL) High School Band Camps, held at Guntersville Lake, from 1969-1971. At that time, I was an undergraduate at Jacksonville State University playing in the drumline of the famed Marching Southerners. Dan and I connected due to our interest in rock music, and my band at that time, The Barkley-Almon Band, played for a couple of functions at his school.

After high school, Dan plunged headlong into the world of rock ‘n roll and has amassed a career most rockers would envy. From touring musician to manager, promoter, producer, and even filmmaker, Dan has done a little bit of everything in the music business including touring with the Rolling Stones and Elton John, and working with former Beatles George Harrison and Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant), and a host of other rock luminaries.

Dan is also the co-author a wonderful book entitled The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley’s Band, the story of Scotty Moore (guitar), D. J. Fontana (drums), and Bill Black (bass – Bill Black Combo), Elvis’ original band and reputedly the world’s first rock ‘n roll band. They helped Presley forge his early rockabilly sound on Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley’s Band by Ken Burke and Dan Griffin (Chicago Review Press, 2006).

Dan’s bio from the jacket cover.

In 1965, my very first band, The Shandells, recorded our first single in Nashville, Tennessee, at the old Music City Recorders, a studio owned by Scott Moore and including D. J. Fontana. We were very green (I was 15), and while we certainly knew of Elvis Presley and The Beatles, etc., we did not know who Moore and Fontana were. In fact, D. J. wanted me to use his old, battered drum set (complete with a brown and white calfskin bass drum head) already set up in the recording booth; but, after viewing the remains and judging it a piece of crap, I opted for my new Ludwig set. Later, when we were in the control room listening to the playback, I noticed a picture of Elvis on the wall with Scotty on guitar and D.J. playing that very same drum set with the brown and white calfskin bass drum head! Also, during a break, Scotty, D.J., and others sat down and played some really nice jazz. And, D. J. made those beat-up old drums sing!

The Shandells in 1965, the year we met Scotty Moore and D. J. Fontana in Nashville. (Credit: Terry Barkley)

All of the images below are from The Blue Moon Boys. I have included the captions and credits. I hope you will enjoy looking at these images:

D3A

D9A

D4A

D5A

D6A

D7A

D8A

A Little This, A Little That

2010-04-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

This newspaper clipping, provided by Madelon Murfee David of Destin, Florida, shows her brother, Hopson Owen Murfee III, graduating in the MMI High School Class of 1967, the 10th such Murfee to do so (the first four presidents of MMI were all Murfees).

H. O. Murfee, III, MMI High School Class of 1967, the 10th Murfee to graduate from MMI. (Credit: Madelon Murfee David, MMI Archives)

In 1965, MMI cadets in the Army ROTC aviation program completing their first solo flights, celebrated by memorializing their shirttails via their instructor, Paul J. Holsen II, MMI JC 1962.

The MMI Archives has a small collection of these shirttails from c. 1965. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Want to know why The Chapel has never had a steeple? It is not unfinished! Read on from the Alabama Historical Commission:

L1 (Credit: MMI Archives)

L2 (Credit: MMI Archives)

This is a grade report for honor student Philip H. Hammond (1884-1956), dated December 16, 1899. He was a 1907 graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.

COL James T. Murfee was still the superintendent in 1899. (Credit: MMI Archives)

The Old Stagecoach Inn on the Hamburg Road near Marion, Alabama, finally collapsed about 1975. Located just across the road from the old Gus Mitchell’s Store (now closed), the Inn dated from antebellum days.

The Old Stagecoach Inn probably prior to 1975. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office, MMI Archives)

Bruce Beveridge, Jr., president of the MMI JC Class of 1950, was one of four MMI alums killed in the Korean War (1950-1953). Commander of “D” Company, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army at his graduation. His name is listed on our Korean War Memorial (he is first alphabetically) in front of the Alabama Military Hall of Honor at MMI.

B1 (Credit: 1950 Orange and Black, MMI’s yearbook; MMI Archives)

B2 (Credit: 1950 Orange and Black, MMI’s yearbook; MMI Archives

New Murfee Family Images, Part Two

2010-03-29T07:00:00.001-05:00

Here is the second installment of new Murfee Family images courtesy of Madelon Murfee David of Destin, Florida. Again, she is the great granddaughter of James T. Murfee, MMI’s founder and first president, and the granddaughter of Hopson O. Murfee, son of James T. and the second president of MMI. All images are credited to Mrs. David, and I thank her sincerely for sharing them with the MMI Archives.

Here is the James T. and Laura O. Murfee home in Tuscaloosa in 1998. Now located at 815 17th Avenue, it was on Queen City Avenue before the streets were replated and the original property became filled with housing. Built in 1838 by Marmaduke Williams, the Owen-Murfee-Caples home has been altered and cut up into apartments to provide student housing, etc. The Murfees were married in the parlor in 1861. They lived here until 1871, when J. T. became president of Howard College in Marion. Later, they retired here.

The Prattville, Alabama, retirement home of Hopson O. and Mary McQueen Smith Murfee (“Queenie”) and their children – “the Home Place.” The house was built in 1894, and this image is from 1911. Queenie grew up here.

“The Home Place” in Prattville in 1981, showing renovations and additions done by the Sanfords, who are related to the Murfees.

Hopson Owen Murfee as a cadet officer at MMI, c. 1890 (second from left, standing).

Formal portrait of H. O. Murfee while a student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

And, finally –

H. O. and “Queenie” Murfee with some of their children and grandchildren at “the Home Place” in Prattville, Alabama, 1936.

New Murfee Family Images, Part One

2010-03-22T07:00:00.003-05:00

I have recently begun corresponding with Madelon Murfee David of Destin, Florida. She is the great granddaughter of James Thomas Murfee, founder and first president of MMI, and the granddaughter of Hopson Owen Murfee, son of James T. and Laura (Owen), and the second president of MMI. Madelon has provided some wonderful Murfee Family data to the MMI Archives - including images - and she is placing me in contact with Murfee-related folks in Prattville, Alabama, where she grew up and where the H. O. Murfee Family lived in retirement, and where H. O. and his wife, Queenie (Mary McQueen Smith), are buried along with other family members.

Madelon and I also agree that the uniformed officer in the back of our image, “Company B., Howard Cadet Corps,” is probably James T. Murfee, then president of Howard College (MMI’s predecessor) and former commandant of the Alabama Corps of Cadets at the University of Alabama during the Civil War. If correct, this would be the youngest-looking image of J. T. we have, plus the only one of him in uniform. J. T. Murfee began the military program at Howard College in the early 1870s (again, there was no cadet corps at the college during the Civil War), emulating his alma mater, Virginia Military Institute, and the Alabama Corps of Cadets at Alabama.

“Company B., Howard Cadet Corps,” c. late 1870s or early 1880s. (Credit: MMI Archives)

A detail of the officer who is probably James T. Murfee, president of Howard College and creator of its Corps of Cadets. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Mrs. David also sent a copy of a Murfee Family image taken on J. T. and Laura’s 50th Wedding Anniversary on the steps of their retirement home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They were married in the parlor of that house (the Judge Hopson Owen home, Laura’s father) on July 11, 1861. Thus, the date of this image is probably July 11, 1911, the year before J. T. died. A remarkable image, J. T. and Laura are sitting together at the top of the stairs, H. O. is in the immediate left foreground holding the boy, and Walter Lee (W. L.) Murfee, younger son of J. T. and Laura, and the third president of MMI, sits at the right holding another child.

The 50th Anniversary of James T. and Laura O. Murfee in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1911. They are surrounded by some of their children and grandchildren. This house is still standing in Tuscaloosa. (Credit: Madelon Murfee David, Destin, Florida)

J. T. and Laura Murfee are buried in the Marion City Cemetery along with several of their infant children who died in the 1860s and 1870s. Of their eight children, only four lived to maturity.

The graves of James T. and Laura O. Murfee in the Marion (AL) City Cemetery. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Finally, I am also indebted to LTC Walter (Lee) Murfee, II, MMI H ’63, USMA ’67, who teaches physics at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

With The Old Breed: Dr. Eugene B. Sledge, MMI 1943

2010-03-08T07:00:00.002-06:00

This month, beginning March 14th, HBO will air the 10-part miniseries, The Pacific, about the U. S. Marines fighting in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Based in part on the book With The Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (1981), a memoir written by Dr. Eugene B. Sledge, MMI 1943, the series will present a first-hand account of the hell that was the Pacific Theater during World War II. Sledge’s book was highlighted earlier in Ken Burn’s PBS documentary on World War II. My own father, now 90 years-old, served in the Army in the Pacific during World War II, fighting in New Guinea and in the Philippines. His experiences in that horrific fighting and destruction have shaped his life as no other event.

Dr. Eugene B. Sledge of the University of Montevallo, Montevallo, Alabama. (Credit: www.montevallo.edu/.../features.shtm)

Eugene Bondurant Sledge was born in Mobile, Alabama, in 1923. After graduating from Murphy High School in Mobile in May, 1942, he entered Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama, preparing to become an officer. Fearing that the war might end before he got the chance to experience it, Sledge enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps in December, 1942, but he remained at MMI to complete the academic year. He was eventually assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. Private First Class Eugene Sledge served as a mortarman in the Pacific Theater at Peleliu and Okinawa, where his unit sustained nearly 100% casualties. Incredibly, Sledge did not receive a scratch. When the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Japan ended the war in 1945, Sledge was posted to Peiping (Beijing), China. He was later discharged from the Marines in February, 1946, with the rank of Corporal. His book, China Marine: An Infantryman’s Life After World War II, was published posthumously in 2002. It records his China experience, his return home to Mobile, Alabama, and his eventual recovery from the psychological trauma of warfare.

E. B. Sledge of Alabama is listed on the roster of the 1942-1943 MMI Corps of Cadets. (Credit: 1942-1943 MMI Catalogue, MMI Archives)

Private First Class Sledge following 82 days of fighting in Okinawa. (Credit: www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Multimedia...)

Corporal Sledge about the time of his discharge from the Marines in 1946. (Credit: www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5206.htm)

Returning home to Alabama, Eugene Sledge graduated from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) with the B. S. degree in 1949. He later returned to Auburn as a research assistant from 1953-1955, completing his M.S. degree in botany in 1955. From 1955 to 1960, he attended the University of Florida, Gainesville, where he again served as a research assistant, and where he received his Ph.D. degree in biology in 1960. Dr. Sledge was employed by the Division of Plant Industries for the Florida State Department of Agriculture from 1959 to 1962.

Dr. Sledge was appointed an assistant professor of biology at Alabama College (now the University of Montevallo) in 1962. Becoming a full professor in 1970, Sledge taught at Montevallo until his retirement in 1990. He taught zoology, ornithology, and comparative vertebrate anatomy, among other courses, completing nearly 30 years in the classroom at Montevallo. Dr. Eugene B. Sledge died in Montevallo, Alabama, on March 3, 2001, at the age of 77.

Dr. Sledge’s best-selling book, With The Old Breed (1981). (Credit: Tower Books, Tower.com)

Dr. Eugene B. Sledge (1923-2001). (Credit: www.warofourfathers.com/war/peleliu_sledge057)

MMI Archives: More Good Stuff!

2010-03-01T07:00:00.008-06:00

Here are three images of Cadet Captain Paul J. Holsen, MMI Class of 1922, from Allendale, Illinois. They are courtesy of his son, Paul J. Holsen, II. Commander of “D” Company in 1921-22, Holsen was already a veteran of the American Expeditionary Force (A.E.F.) in World War I, having served for eleven months and having participated in five major battles. At MMI he was “an old man” who was reportedly very popular with the young ladies!

While president of Howard College prior to 1887, James T. Murfee, later founder and first president of Marion Military Institute, designed a distinctive button for the Howard College Cadet Corps featuring a cross and crown and a halo “irradiating... light and glory.” These images are from Sean Flynt’s 160 Years of Samford University: For God, For Learning, Forever (2001). We also have one of these buttons in the MMI Archives. COL John Gibler pointed out to me that the button design is similar to the emblem of the Knights Templar, a Masonic organization, and asked me if J. T. Murfee was a member? After exhaustive research – plus asking a knowledgeable Murfee Family member – I have only found evidence that Walter Lee Murfee, J. T.’s son and MMI’s third president, was a Knights Templar, a Mason, and a Shriner. Also, we have two Knights Templar swords on loan in the MMI Archives from Anita Johnson of Marion (my landlady), one of which bears a similar emblem to the Howard College button design.

Note also the elaborate uniform below of a Howard College cadet officer in 1893, after Howard moved to Birmingham, Alabama.

Finally, here is a newspaper image of our LTC David Bauer and West Point First Classman Greg Pearson standing in front of a painting of CPT Colin P. Kelly, Jr., MMI’33, USMA ’37, the first American hero of World War II and the first West Point graduate to die in the war. LTC Bauer, USMA ’60, and Cadet Pearson, USMA ’01, are also MMI alums. There is a move on to posthumously award the Congressional Medal of Honor to Colin Kelly for his actions in 1941, just days after Pearl Harbor, which saved his flight crew but which cost Kelly his life. Keep your fingers crossed that Colin Kelly gets the Medal of Honor. As far as I know, he would be the first MMI cadet to receive this top honor for heroism. By the way, Colin P. Kelly, Sr., was an honor graduate of the MMI Class of 1902.

A painting of Colin Kelly in the West Point Club at the USMA. (Credit: The Marion Times-Standard, July 11, 2001)

Colin Kelly from an advertisement.

Black History Month: Remembering "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965

2010-01-29T07:00:00.001-06:00

The first time I stopped for lunch at The Glass House Restaurant in Selma, Alabama, I was surprised to discover that patrons write all over the interior walls of that establishment (something like the way folks throw their peanut hulls on the floor at The Shack in Marion!). If, as Simon and Garfunkel sang in The Sound of Silence, “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls,” then, there may be some profound stuff on the walls of The Glass House.

What really struck me, however, was the fact that “Bloody Sunday” took place literally right out in front of the restaurant, and that The Glass House was witness to it all. It felt surreal sitting there eating my hamburger while reflecting on the brutal scenes I had witnessed as a kid unfolding on my television screen back in Huntsville, Alabama.

“Bloody Sunday,” March 7, 1965, was the first of three Selma marches in 1965 which marked the political and emotional peak of the U. S. Civil Rights Movement. The first march had its origins here in Marion, Alabama, when Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot by an Alabama State Trooper during a nighttime civil rights demonstration which erupted in violence near the Perry County Courthouse. Taken to Selma’s Good Samaritan Hospital, Jackson died eight days later from an infection resulting from the gunshot wound .

Grave of Jimmie Lee Jackson outside Marion, AL, on Highway 14 East. (Credit: MMI Archives)

In response, Civil Rights leaders in Selma called for a nonviolent protest march from Selma to Montgomery to confront Governor George C. Wallace. On March 7th, some 600 civil rights marchers, lead by John Lewis and Hosea Williams, and followed by Bob Mants and Albert Turner, Sr., of Marion, proceeded peaceably across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge en route to Montgomery, only to find a wall of state troopers and local police awaiting them on the other side. The demonstrators were ordered to disband at once and go home. They stood quietly and awaited being arrested. Instead, donning gas masks and welding billy clubs, the state troopers moved in pushing the demonstrators backward and slashing at them with their clubs. Other troopers fired tear gas into the marchers, and mounted troopers charged into the melee which eventually pushed the demonstrators back across the bridge and back into the African American neighborhoods, the demonstrators being beaten and harassed along the way. Some seventeen demonstrators were hospitalized.

The Edmund Pettus Bridge (named for a Confederate general and later U. S. Senator) spanning the Alabama River at Selma, AL (third march, March 21, 1965). (Credit: New York World-Telegram and Sun Collection, Library of Congress)

The marchers, led by Hosea Williams and John Lewis, descending the bridge. (Credit: www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Multimedia.js...)

The troopers advance on the halted marchers. (Credit: www.artsjournal.com/man/2008/11/)

The police riot begins. John Lewis is being clubbed in the foreground. Haisten’s Mattress & Awning Company appears in the background. (Credit: www.wenjaz2.blogspot.com/)

The Haisten’s Mattress & Awning Company building today. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Tear gas is fired into the marchers. (Credit: Federal Bureau of Investigation photo)

Helping the injured. The Glass House Restaurant appears in the background. Credit: http://medic.wikia.com/wiki/File:Selma6.jpg)

The Glass House today. The building in the right background is a former hamburger place that advertised 15-cent hamburgers in 1965. (Credit: MMI Archives)

John Lewis and other marchers being clubbed. In the background is the “15-cent Hamburgers” sign. (Credit: Encyclopedia of Alabama at http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1114)

The Glass House. To the lower rear of The Glass House sign is a square open metal sign atop a larger sign that read “15-cent Hamburgers” in 1965. To the right of that sign is the Edmund Pettus Bridge. (Credit: MMI Archives)

A close-up of the “15-cent Hamburgers” sign today (now Sammy’s Paint & Body Shop). (Credit: MMI Archives)

The horrifying scenes played out “live” on national and state-wide television, arousing mass support for the U. S. Civil Rights Movement, and naming the brutal day “Bloody Sunday.” A second march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 9th, was largely a “ceremonial “ demonstration as it was pre-planned to halt on the other side due to a temporary restraining order issued by Federal District Court Judge Frank Johnson. The third march – the famous “Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March” – began on March 21, 1965, and lasted five days and four nights covering a 54-mile route along U. S. Highway 80 (the “Jefferson Davis Highway” in Alabama) from Selma to the steps of the State Capitol Building in Montgomery. Here Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his noted “How Long, Not Long” speech. President Lyndon B. Johnson, having witnessed “Bloody Sunday” on television - as millions of us did – enacted legislation which would become the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In a speech before Congress, Johnson even used the U. S. Civil Rights Movement’s most famous slogan, “We shall overcome.”

The third march: “The Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March,” March 21 – 25, 1965. (Credit: James Karales/Duke University Special Collections Library)

Barack Obama, John Lewis, and Hillary and Bill Clinton crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the March 4, 2007, commemoration of the historic Selma marches. (Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Photographs of “Bloody Sunday” reveal certain buildings in the background on U. S. Highway 80: The Glass House, Haisten’s Mattress and Awning to its right, and a hamburger place (“15-cent Hamburgers”) to the left of The Glass House - all three beside each other and facing the highway.

U. S. Highway 80 from Selma to Montgomery, AL, has been designated the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights Trail, a U. S. National Historic Trail.

Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail sign. (Credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches)

Finally, should you wish to watch scenes of “Bloody Sunday” on YouTube (from a special program on Alabama Governor George C. Wallace), check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s00-OoZAWno.

Meet Mr. Jefferson and General Lee

2010-01-22T07:00:00.001-06:00

The MMI Archives includes two large, unique busts of Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee, both of which were formerly housed in the MMI Library, both past and present. Both sculptures sat on the floor of the MMI Archives until recently when Mr. John L. Hunter, MMI JC 1971, graciously purchased two beautiful cherry wood pedestals on which to display them. Both Mr. Jefferson and “Marse Robert” have seen better days as both were subject to various cadet pranks and vandalism over the years (General Lee reportedly hung from the Marion water tower across from the Institute!).

Entitled “The Beloved General,” the original solid wood bust of Robert E. Lee was sculpted by Bruno Louis Zimm (1876-1943), and was presented to MMI on January 19, 1960, by Mrs. Louise Hasbrouck Zimm and Dr. Bruno H. Zimm, donors.

Here are three images of our Lee bust taken by Kelly Griffiths, director of our library:

Among other notable works, Bruno Louis Zimm sculpted three panels entitled “The Struggle for the Beautiful” for the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA. (Credit: http://www.pbase.com/andrys/image/87748221)

If you are a Virginian – and, especially if you attended Jefferson’s University of Virginia in Charlottesville – Thomas Jefferson is always referred to as Mr. Jefferson and he is spoken of as if he were just around the corner. You’ll hear the term “Jeffersonian” a lot! Monticello (the “Big House”), Jefferson’s home, overlooks Charlottesville and his University.

Our bust of Mr. Jefferson probably came to MMI via Hopson Owen Murfee, son of our founder, James T. Murfee, and MMI’s second president. H. O. and his younger brother, Walter Lee Murfee (MMI’s third president), both graduated from the University of Virginia. The sculpture adorned the room of the Jefferson Literary Society in The Chapel here at MMI, the counterpart to the (Benjamin) Franklin Literary Society which also had a room in The Chapel.

Responding to my inquiry, Elizabeth Chew, Curator, Monticello, Thomas Jefferson Foundation in Charlottesville, VA, informed me that our Jefferson bust was done by sculptor Sidney H. Morse (1833-1903), probably around the time of the Centennial of 1876. Obviously, this is not a “life portrait” as Jefferson died in 1826, before Morse was born. The bust was mass-produced and sold through the catalogues of the various companies that produced them. We have a plaster copy.

Here are three images of our Jefferson bust taken by Kelly Griffiths. The first one highlights one of the beautiful pedestals purchased by John L. Hunter, MMI JC 1971, of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Thank you, Mr. Hunter!

Sidney Morse also sculpted busts of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Paine. A New England Transcendentalist like Emerson, Morse was the editor of a periodical called The Radical.

In addition to sending images of our Jefferson bust to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello in Virginia, I also sent images of our Lee sculpture to the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, VA, and to the Lee Chapel Museum at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. I wanted these venerable institutions to know that these busts were on display in the MMI Archives.

Marion Institute in 1914

2010-01-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

This MMI Archives Blog contains only one image – a 1914 Marion Institute letter on school letterhead – but, it speaks volumes as to the organization of the Institute.

Letter to N. Y. Quarles from H. O. Murfee, dated July 6, 1914. (Credit: H. O. Murfee Papers, MMI Archives)

Headed by Hopson Owen Murfee and his brother, Walter Lee Murfee, as president and vice president respectively, both were sons of the founder and first president of Marion Military Institute, James Thomas Murfee, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute. The sons were graduates of the University of Virginia.

Examining the letterhead, coursework at Marion Institute (“Military” had been eliminated from the name during H. O. Murfee’s “American Eton” period) included a commercial (business) program, a regular college academic program for university preparation, and the unique Army-Navy Course preparing students for West Point and Annapolis (the forerunner of our Service Academy Program today - SAP).

From the letters of this period (H. O. Murfee Papers), it appears that a number of students entered MI in the fall specifically to prepare for the West Point (and Annapolis?) examinations in March for entrance to the academies the following academic year.

We talk a lot about the college and former high school programs at MMI, but note that MI in 1914 also included an Elementary Department (ages 8-12) “for Marion children.” The Secondary Department (high school) included ages 12-16, while the College Department enrolled ages 16 to 20. MI had a summer session, and young ladies were admitted, the female boarders staying in “homes of culture.” Music and art were taught by “artists of talent and experience,” the music director at Judson College serving as “Head of Music” during the Summer Session.

In the letter itself – to N. Y. Quarles of R. F. D. (Rural Free Delivery) Akron, Alabama – H. O. Murfee is offering Quarles a position as an Aid in the College, helping him to meet the $50 tuition charges for the summer (also room and board), and allowing him to continue at MI in the fall with advanced standing and with his “preference in the appointments for the fall term.” There’s no rush, but “please come by the next train if you can do so[!]”

Finally, the MI Summer Session was headed by Frank McCutchan of “Washington and Lee and Princeton,” and the regular year College faculty included teachers who prepared at “Princeton, Yale, Chicago, Virginia, and Washington and Lee.”

Hopson Owen Murfee: A Pictorial Journey

2010-01-06T07:00:00.003-06:00

I have written a good deal about the first two presidents of Marion Military Institute – James Thomas Murfee and his son, Hopson Owen Murfee. Another son, Walter Lee Murfee, served as MMI’s third president.

The idea for this MMI Archives Blog is to present a pictorial journey of H. O. Murfee who served MMI until his retirement in 1918 due to ill health. H. O. Murfee, educator, author, humanitarian, and public servant, then embarked upon a second career serving Alabama and the nation in numerous ways until his death in 1942 in Prattville, Alabama, where he and his family moved after leaving Marion. H. O. was married to Mary McQueen Smith Murfee – Queenie – and they were the parents of eight children.

(Note: All images are from the MMI Archives, except for the three images of the Murfee monuments in Prattville, Alabama, which are from Find A Grave. Com.)

The 1900 MMI Football Team with a dapper H. O. Murfee as coach.

H. O. Murfee in 1905, the year he became the second president of MMI following his father’s retirement.

Biographical sketches of the first three MMI presidents, c. 1905.

Walter Lee Murfee, the third president of MMI.

Commemorating Woodrow Wilson’s visit to MMI in 1905. Wilson was then president of Princeton University.

President William Howard Taft’s letter to H. O. Murfee accepting a position on MMI’s new Board of Directors, 1909.

Alabama Governor Bibb Graves’ letter to Albert Einstein referencing H. O. Murfee and inviting Einstein to visit Alabama, 1935.

Notice of Eleanor Roosevelt’s visit and dinner with the Murfees in their country home (McQueen Smith Farms) near Prattville, Alabama, in 1939.

The Murfee Family monument in Oak Hill Cemetery in Prattville, Alabama.

Headstone for H. O. Murfee, Oak Hill Cemetery, Prattville, Alabama.

Headstone for Queenie Murfee, Oak Hill Cemetery, Prattville, Alabama.

"The Horse Soldiers" (1959)

2009-12-09T07:00:00.002-06:00

(Note: All stills from the movie are courtesy of United Artists, an MGM company, Hollywood, California)

A scene from The Horse Soldiers movie (1959).

Mississippi state historical marker for Jefferson Military College in Washington. It served as Jefferson Military Academy in The Horse Soldiers. (Credit: www.ssrc.msstate.edu/grr/adamshm.html)

Besides being a classic John Ford-John Wayne motion picture, many Civil War enthusiasts consider The Horse Soldiers (1959) to be the quintessential Hollywood movie depicting the epic struggle between the North and South. Directed by John Ford, and starring John Wayne, William Holden, and Constance Towers, the screenplay is loosely based on both Colonel Benjamin Grierson’s raid in 1863 through Mississippi, and on the novel, The Horse Soldiers, by Harold Sinclair.

Merry Christmas 1958 from some of the cast/crew of The Horse Soldiers. With cadets at JMA are Hollywood actors/director (L-R, sitting/kneeling) Anna Lee, director John Ford, and Constance Towers. Standing (L-R) are William Holden and John Wayne. (Credit: John Oye and United Artists)

On the set (L-R): William Holden, John Ford, and John Wayne.

A poignant and entertaining scene in the movie is the charge of the cadet corps of Jefferson Military Academy in Washington, Mississippi, a scene inspired by the charge of the Virginia Military Institute cadets at New Market, Virginia, on May 15, 1864. The Jefferson cadets, ranging in age from nine to sixteen, are led by their aged, lame, Reverend-Superintendent, played by veteran actor Basil Ruysdael, who walks with a cane in one hand and the Holy Bible in the other. The charge never actually happened, however; the school was closed in 1863, when occupied by Union forces. Jefferson Military Academy is not even mentioned in the novel. Scenes for the movie were embellished: for example, while Grierson’s raiders actually destroyed the railroad and supply depot at Newton Station, Mississippi, the scene where the Confederates detrain and charge down the street to their total destruction, never occurred. The producers decided to include the cadet sequence as a tribute to the Virginia Military Institute, and the scenes provide both a humorous and heartrending diversion for the movie viewer. The charge of the Jefferson Military Academy cadets was filmed on a farm outside of Natchez.

Marching off to war at Jefferson Military Academy.

Advancing for the charge on the Union cavalry.

Another image with some cadets. (L-R, center, standing) William Holden, Constance Towers, and John Wayne.

Scene after taking the Confederate battery at the bridge.

Incorporated by an act of the General Assembly of the Mississippi Territory in 1802, Jefferson College, named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, was the first institution of higher learning in Mississippi. Despite years of financial difficulties, Jefferson College opened its doors as a preparatory school in 1811, and became a full-fledged college in 1817, although it maintained its primary and secondary classes. Ten year-old Jefferson Davis, later president of the Confederacy, attended in 1818. Naturalist John James Audubon, who painted in the Natchez area, sent his sons to Jefferson College. The two most prominent buildings on campus, both built in the Federal architectural style, included the East Wing (1819) and the West Wing (1839). These were multi-purpose facilities which housed offices, classrooms and living space for both faculty and students. In 1830, the college purchased the nearby Methodist Church, site of the 1817 Mississippi statehood convention, for additional space. At the end of the Civil War, the Freedmen’s Bureau utilized the campus during the summer of 1865. By the fall of that year, the college’s Board of Trustees regained control of the school and managed to reopen Jefferson College in 1866. Becoming Jefferson Military College in 1893, the school was actually a military preparatory school. As was true with other American military preparatory schools, JMC attracted a number of cadets from Latin American countries. Jefferson Military College served the state and region well until declining enrollment closed its doors for good in 1964 - just six years after the filming of The Horse Soldiers in the fall of 1958. Jefferson College had operated as an educational institution from 1811 until 1964. It is now incorporated as Historic Jefferson College, an official Mississippi state historic site.

In addition to The Horse Soldiers (1959), several Hollywood movies and television programs have been filmed at Historic Jefferson College: Huckleberry Finn (1973), Mistress of Paradise (1981), North and South (the 1985 television mini-series whereby Jefferson College became the United States Military Academy at West Point), and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1992).

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Historic Jefferson College is administered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Restoration projects, completed in 1977 and 1984, have returned the college’s façade to its antebellum appearance. These projects were partially funded by Friends of Jefferson College, a nonprofit corporation. Alumni, former faculty and staff, and friends of the school are organized as The Jefferson Military College Foundation.

Historic Jefferson College today in Washington, Mississippi. The campus has been restored to its antebellum appearance. (Credit: www.flickr.com)

MMI Family traveling in the area are encouraged to visit the historic campus on fabled US Highway 61 in Washington, Mississippi, just outside of Natchez. Also, check out their web site at http://www.jeffersonmilitarycollege.com/. Historic Jefferson College is truly an inspiring step back in time.

Two Old School Alums

2009-12-02T07:00:00.004-06:00

My friend, Ward Calhoun, Records Manager of the Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History in Meridian, Mississippi, has just published a new book through the Lauderdale County Archives: THE CARTER AND CRUMPTON FAMILIES OF MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA: A Narrative and Photographic History.

The 194-page spiral-bound volume highlights two remarkable families with Marion, MMI & Judson College connections. The photographic collection of the families pictured in the book is truly outstanding, providing a wonderful look at two white upper class families in Mississippi and Alabama around the turn of the Twentieth Century.

Two notable MMI alumni highlighted in the book are Thomas Clay (T. C.) Carter, Jr., MMI 1908, and William Cochran Crumpton, MMI 1889. Yes, I’ve written about Carter before. You’ll remember that he attended MMI (1906-1908) and the University of Virginia before enlisting for service in World War I. As acting company commander of the 320th Machine Gun Battalion, 1LT Carter was killed in 1918 in the Argonne Forest while checking for enemy gun emplacements. He was buried nearby. In 1921, his remains were removed to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. T. C. Carter never married. The American Legion Post # 21 in Meridian, Mississippi, is named in his honor. They also have the American flag which covered his casket at Arlington.

(Note: All images courtesy of Ward Calhoun and the Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History, Meridian, Mississippi.)

Thomas Clay (T. C.) Carter, Jr.

Carter’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery.

William C. Crumpton attended MMI prior to T. C. Carter, serving as a cadet company commander in 1889. He then went to Howard College in Birmingham, and finally graduated from Cornell University in 1896. Crumpton married T. C. Carter’s sister, Mamie, a 1893 graduate of Judson College in Marion. A prominent lawyer, staunch prohibitionist, State Senator, member of the State Democratic Executive Committee, and Governor B. B. Comer’s Judge Advocate General, Will Crumpton and Mamie Carter Crumpton lived out their lives together in Evergreen, Alabama. Will died of a heart attack at age 43 in 1915, and Mamie lived to be 102 as a matriarch of the Carter-Crumpton Families, passing in 1978. Will Crumpton is buried with the Crumpton family in the Marion City Cemetery across from Judson College, and Mamie is buried with the Carters in Magnolia Cemetery in Meridian, Mississippi.

Will Crumpton as Judge Advocate General on Alabama Governor B. B. Comer’s staff.

The Crumpton home in Evergreen, Alabama.

Grave of Will Crumpton in the Marion (AL) Cemetery.

This very interesting book by Ward Calhoun is for sale by the Lauderdale County Archives in Meridian, Mississippi. We thank Ward for donating copies of his book to the Alabama Military Hall of Honor, MMI Archives, and Judson College.

This is SPARTA!

2009-11-17T08:37:00.002-06:00

Yes, I borrowed that line from the graphic novel/movie, 300, the way-over-the-top and fanciful depiction of King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae, Greece, in 480BC. Marion Military Institute has always prided itself on providing a Spartan-like existence based upon the Greek ideal that an active mind functions best in a sound body, so I thought you might like to travel to the source via a wonderful website on the Internet.

This famous bronze of a Spartan warrior is in the J. P. Morgan Collection at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT. (Credit: Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT, and the photographer, Joseph Szaszfai)

As a historian, I have long been fascinated by the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, chief rival to Athens. No, I’ve never been to Greece including Sparta and Thermopylae, but it’s high on my future travel list.

I was thrilled to come upon a wonderful website for everything Sparta and Thermopylae at http://www.300spartanwarriors.com/. Created and maintained by John Trikeriotis, it is a splendid tour-de-force from a knowledgeable Spartan buff. John and I have recently become friends, and I look forward to further updates on his website.

Modern Sparta, on the River Eurotas, surrounds the few ancient ruins and is enclosed by the Taygetos range and Mt. Parnon on the Peloponnese. (Credit: www.transferingreece.com/uploads/sparta.jpg)

John is in contact with all the major scholars on Spartan history. They have formed what is known as the “Leonidas Expeditions” which make periodic research trips to Sparta and Thermopylae to investigate and explore new leads and discoveries at the sites.

A painting by Louis S. Glanzman in National Geographic’s Greece and Rome depicting Leonidas and his Spartans at Thermopylae. (Credit: National Geographic Society and the artist, Louis S. Glanzman)

Thermopylae today with the modern highway built on the ancient shoreline of the Gulf of Malia. (Credit: lis566webquest.wordpress.com/.../lis56webquest/)

Again, a great site if you have an interest in ancient Sparta and the Battle of Thermopylae where King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans – supported by other allied troops – died to the last man protecting this crucial pass and buying time for the Greeks to mobilize against Xerxes and the Persians.

MMI Archives: More This and That

2009-11-12T07:00:00.003-06:00

When Shivers McCollum, Jr., H’45, JC ’46, attended the Board of Advisors meeting here at MMI in September, he donated a couple of items to the MMI Archives:

A Western Union message stating that MI has been selected as an Honor Military School for 1942. (Credit: Shivers McCollum and the MMI Archives)

The MI Cadet Band in 1922-1923 included Shivers’ father, O. Shivers McCollum, Sr., H ‘21, JC ‘23. He is playing baritone behind the trombone player in the first column on the left. That baritone, lovingly restored and donated by Shivers, is on display in the MMI Archives. (Credit: Shivers McCollum, the 1923-1924 MI catalogue, and the MMI Archives).

The MI Cadet Band in 1923. (Credit: Shivers McCollum, the 1923-1924 MI catalogue, and the MMI Archives)

Here is a page from the H. O. Murfee Papers entitled “Aid to Howard College and Marion Institute From Citizens of Marion.” A good “Town and Gown” relationship has always been crucial to the survival of the Institute:

A good “Town and Gown” relationship has always been crucial to the survival of the Institute. (Credit: H. O. Murfee Papers, MMI Archives)

Check out Physical Training (PT) in the Army-Navy Course at Marion Institute during the 1920s-30s. (Credit: MMI Archives)

PT in the Army-Navy Course at Marion Institute during the 1920s-30s. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Finally, as a follow-up to my blog on The White Knights, here are two images of them in performance:

The White Knights on Alumni Weekend, April 18-19, 1997. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office, MMI Archives)

The White Knights perform on Parents’ Weekend, October 16-17, 2009. (Credit: SCPO Robert Duke, MMI)

Hal Kemp and his Orchestra: The Sweet Sound of Success

2009-11-02T07:00:00.003-06:00

During the 1920s and 1930s, Hal Kemp and his Orchestra reigned supreme both at home and abroad in live performances, on the radio, and in the movies. Read on about this Marion boy who scaled the heights of popular music, and whose premature death silenced “the sweetest sound this side of Heaven" (apology to Guy Lombardo).

Born James Hal Kemp in Marion, Alabama, on March 21, 1904, the future orchestra and band leader was the son of T. D. Kemp, Sr., and Leila Rush Kemp, a poet. Hal began his musical training playing piano at the Bonita Theater in Marion. He probably attended Marion Institute (MMI) for at least one year, 1917-1918, as a Cadet Kemp is listed as playing clarinet in the Cadet Band. Hal’s family then moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he enrolled in Central High School, graduating in 1921. While at Central, Hal formed a five-piece band, The Merrymakers. In addition to piano and clarinet, he also studied trumpet and alto sax.

The MI Cadet Band, c. 1918. (Credit: 1918-1919 MI Catalogue, MMI Archives)

Roster for the MI Cadet Band, 1917-1918. A Cadet Kemp played clarinet. (Credit: 1917-1918 MI Catalogue, MMI Archives)

Entering the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1922, Hal Kemp immersed himself in extracurricular activities including forming a jazz group, The Carolina Club Orchestra, which recorded for Okeh Records and which toured Europe during the summers. Kemp also formed a smaller seven-man combo which became the forerunner of his later professional orchestra.

Hal Kemp’s Carolina Club Orchestra at UNC-Chapel Hill. (Credit: Chapel Hill Memories, www.chapelhillmemories.com)

Turning the Carolina Club Orchestra over to fellow UNC student, Kay Kyser, later another top band leader, Kemp (who didn’t graduate from UNC) based his new orchestra in New York City and toured Europe and the United States. The band gained the attention and support of band leader Fred Waring and Prince George of England, later King George VI.

Two publicity shots of Hal Kemp:

Shot One. (Credit: songbook1.wordpress.com)

Shot Two. (Credit: nfo.net/usa/kemp1.jpg)

In 1932, Kemp’s jazz orchestra settled in at the Blackhawk Restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, where they changed styles and perfected their sound as a “sweet orchestra.” Their new sound was a hit both at the Blackhawk and on the radio and, by 1934, Hal Kemp was ready to take the band back on the road. He again turned over the bandstand at the Blackhawk to Kay Kyser.

Kemp’s orchestra had a sweet, smooth, and sensuous sound with interesting musical arrangements which captivated audiences both at home and abroad. The male and female vocalists – from Skinnay Ennis and Bob Allen to Maxine Gray and Janet Blair - were quite popular both with live audiences and on their RCA Victor recordings.

Hal Kemp with vocalist Maxine Gray (later, Lawrence Welk’s first “champagne lady.”) (Credit: Old-Time Radio, www.otrsite.com)

Hal Kemp’s last vocalist, Janet Blair, later a popular movie and television star. (Credit: New York Times, www.nytimes.com)

The Hal Kemp Orchestra scored a number of hit songs including four No. 1 tunes – “There’s a Small Hotel,” “When I’m With You,” “This Year’s Kisses,” and “Where or When.” Other popular tunes included “Got a Date With an Angel,” “Lamplight,” “Heart of Stone,” and “Three Little Fishes.”

Kemp’s orchestra was also the first band featured in a motion picture, Radio City Revels (1938).

In 1932, Hal Kemp married Texas debutante, Betsy Slaughter. They had two children. The couple divorced in 1938, Kemp later marrying Martha Stephenson in 1939.

In 1939, also, Kemp served as guest conductor of The Chicago Symphony. Tragically, on December 19, 1940, while driving from Los Angeles to a gig in San Francisco, Hal Kemp hit a car head-on. He died two days later from his injuries in Madera, California. He was 36. Attempts were made to keep his orchestra going, but it just wasn’t to be and the Hal Kemp Orchestra passed into history forever.

The Best of Hal Kemp and his Orchestra. (Credit: www.amazon.com)

Hal Kemp was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1992, and he is also in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. His papers are housed in the Southern Historical Collection in the Wilson Special Collections Library at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Mary Ward Brown: Keeper of the Flame

2009-10-21T07:00:00.006-05:00

Mary Ward Brown – known locally as “Mary T.” (Thomas is her middle name, after her father) – is recognized as one of Alabama’s finest writers of fiction. In fact, at age 92, she is probably the state’s most distinguished working writer today. Her latest work was published this year!

Mary Ward Brown. (Credit: Jerry Siegel)

Born (1917)and raised in Hamburg, Alabama, near Marion in Perry County, Mary Ward Brown did not taste success as a modern fiction writer until she was in her sixties. By any standard, she is a major writer of fiction, her works having garnered some of the top national and state literary awards: the PEN/Hemingway Award, Harper Lee Award, Lillian Smith Book Award, Hillsdale Award for Fiction, and two Alabama Author Awards, among others.

Mary T. (Credit: Mississippi Public Broadcasting/Alabama Arts Council)

With the exception of a short sojourn in Auburn, Alabama, Mary T. has lived on her parents’ farm in Hamburg all of her life. She graduated from Perry County High School in Marion, where she edited the school newspaper, and from Judson College (1938), where she again edited the school newspaper, and where she studied English and Journalism. In 1939, she married Charles Kirtley Brown and moved to Auburn, Alabama, where her husband worked in public relations at Auburn University. Their son, Kirtley Ward Brown, MMI H'61, a prominent Marion/Perry County lawyer and law instructor here at MMI, was born in Auburn in 1942. When Mary’s father died some years later, the Browns moved back to Hamburg to manage the large family farm. Mary T. still lives and writes there today.

Although she had a few short stories published in the 1950s, Mary T. stopped writing to concentrate on her family and running the farm. Following her husband’s death in 1970 from lung cancer, she began writing again, publishing in various national magazines.

In 1986, Tongues of Flame (E. P. Dutton), a collection of short stories, was published to wide literary and public acclaim.

In the mid-1980s, one of her short stories, “The Cure,” was included in an anthology of American and Russian writers. Traveling with this project, Mary T. toured the Soviet Union.

A second collection of stories was published in 2002. It Wasn’t All Dancing and other Stories was published by the University of Alabama Press some twenty-three years after her initial literary success. Her third work, Fanning the Spark: A Memoir, was published by Alabama in 2009.

Mary T.’s third book , Fanning the Spark: A Memoir (Alabama, 2009).
(Credit: The University of Alabama Press)

Mary Ward Brown’s literary themes and interests are usually set in the South during the 1950s to the early 1970s. They reflect the impact of societal changes on ordinary individuals including the persistence of racism and the unique role of religion in the South.

Mary T. signing her book. (Credit: Alabama Libraries)

A point of reference: All of the Brown Family have worked at MMI. Kirtley, MMI H'61, of course, teaches law at the Institute. His late father, Charles Kirtley Brown, worked with student publications including The Skirmisher, the cadet newspaper. Mary T. worked with John Moore (Ms. Woody’s husband) in the guidance and counseling office. Kirtley Brown’s wife, Susannah, also worked in the MMI Library with Ms. Woody. Finally, Mary T.'s nephew, Sheldon "Buzzie" Fitts, is a former MMI instructor.

In March, 2010, The Lyceum Council at MMI will host a celebration of the works of Mary Ward Brown with the presentation of the play, Ashes of Roses, in the MMI Chapel. Working in concert with the Marion Chamber of Commerce, Perry County Historical and Preservation Society, and other local organizations, a significant Arts Event highlighting Literature, Theater, Art and Music will be presented.

Stylin' With The White Knights

2009-10-12T07:00:00.002-05:00

In the fall of 1950, William “Bill” Walker, a veteran of the U. S. Army, enrolled at Marion Military Institute. During the occupation of Berlin, Germany, after World War II, Walker had served in the “Berlin Honor Guard,” a crack U. S. Army drill team under General Lucius D. Clay’s command. With Berlin partitioned by the Allied countries of the United Kingdom, France, and the United States (West Berlin), and the Soviets in East Berlin, “The Berlin Honor Guard” had to be the “best of the best,” the “elite” among all the international military units present. The unit worked diligently every day toward achieving that goal.

When Bill Walker arrived at MMI and was assigned to Old South Barracks (now Lovelace Hall), he told his cadet company commander and platoon leader – Cadets Steve Finch and Gene Hyche - about his drill team experience in Germany. He also offered to assist with the company’s drill. Following protracted discussions, the idea gelled with these three cadets to organize and develop a similar crack precision drill team at MMI, one that would also strive to be the “best of the best” among the nation’s military colleges and schools.

After circulating the idea throughout the Corps of Cadets for interest, Cadets Finch and Hyche approached the Commandant, COL Paul B. Robinson (later, MMI president) with their plan. Robinson told them that Finch was going to be the Cadet Battalion Commander, thus, he would not have time to participate in the drill team. Finally, after refining their plan, COL Robinson approved it.

When tryouts were held, some 50-60 cadets were expected to participate. However, nearly a third of the Corps showed up, each cadet vying to prove that he was the best. During tryouts, they drilled 3-5 days a week, 2-4 hours a day for more than two weeks. When the smoke finally cleared, more than 40 cadets were selected for the first unit which took the name, “The White Knights.” Cadets Gene Hyche and Bill Walker became the co-founders in 1950, with Hyche serving as the first White Knights Commander. The White Knights were intent on stylin,’ as Cadet Hyche called it.

COL Ellis Marsh of the ROTC Department assigned Sgt. Ralph Glendening, a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division and of the Normandy Invasion airborne assault, to oversee the White Knights. Army Sgt. Tom Hamilton, a Canadian and a former British Commando in World War II, was assigned to assist Glendening. Later, CPT Ben Marshall, an Infantry officer who had been a fighter pilot in World War II, was appointed advisor.

The first White Knights unit from the 1951 Orange and Black, MMI’s yearbook. (Credit: MMI Archives)

Uniforms for the White Knights included white helmets, white ascots, white gloves, and white leggings. The standard M-1 rifle, assigned to the Corps, was the first rifle used. However, when COL James T. Mufee II, MMI’s president, was approached for $1,000 to outfit the unit, he denied the request because Murfee doubted the longevity of the White Knights past more than a couple of years or so. Gradually, however, he warmed to the unit and became a proud supporter.

Cover photograph from the “Alabama Sunday Magazine” of The Montgomery Advertiser-Journal, Sunday, May 31, 1970.

The first performance of the White Knights took place at a football game in Bessemer, Alabama, but their first real test came when they performed at an Air Show at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery - right after the performance of the crack Air Force Drill Team from Washington, D. C.! Having added taps to their boots, the White Knights performed a stunning silent drill which, by all accounts, “smoked” the Air Force Drill Team, a fact even acknowledged by their advisor! The White Knights were stylin’ now!

A White Knights parade performance in Montgomery, Alabama (no date). (Credit: MMI Archives)

Over the years, the White Knights established an enviable state and national reputation as a precision drill team of the first order. Among their numerous appearances representing Marion Military Institute and the State of Alabama, the White Knights performed at the Indianapolis 500, the Sugar Bowl, and in the United States Air Force Academy Drill Competition. They also make frequent instate appearances at the annual Veterans Day Parade in Birmingham, and at the Mardi Gras in Mobile.

Performing in front of The Chapel at MMI (no date). (Credit: MMI Archives)

The White Knights celebrated their 50th Anniversary at MMI on Alumni Day, April 24, 1999. By then, some 900 cadets had participated in the White Knights saga. By Proclamation of the then MMI Board of Trustees, “each White Knight, past and present, is hereby designated ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR, 1999.”

The 60th Anniversary of the White Knights is coming up, and a fund-raising campaign to assist the unit is currently underway.

It's Only a Paper Moon, Addie Pray!

2009-10-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

The Wednesday, September 9th edition of The Marion Times-Standard ran this image and caption of a gentleman from Surrey, England, who was visiting briefly in Marion and the area. Enthralled by the 1973 Hollywood movie, Paper Moon, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and starring the father-daughter team of Ryan and Tatum O’Neil, Madeline Kahn, and Randy Quaid, this Englishman was traveling the country visiting sites depicted in the movie, including Marion!

From The Marion Times-Standard, Wednesday, September 9, 2009.

Now, like many of you, I saw Paper Moon (filmed in black and white) when it first came out and I loved it. But, the movie was set on the Great Plains of Kansas and western Missouri, not in Alabama!

DVD cover for Paper Moon, originally released by Paramount Pictures in 1973.

Turns out, the movie was adapted from the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown of Birmingham, Alabama. The novel is initially set in Alabama, but expands – via the main character’s travels – into Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. Alabama towns reportedly mentioned in this area include Selma, Hamburg, Marion, Brent, and Centreville. Supposedly, a scam scene at a Marion bank is included.

Addie Pray was first published in 1971, was adapted for the movie Paper Moon in 1973, and was reprinted in 2002 as Paper Moon: A Novel.
Narrated by 11 year-old con-artist Addie Pray, an orphan, who travels with scam/confidence man “Long Boy” Moses (he is one of three possible fathers of Addie), the pair strike out across the Deep South during the Depression-era 1930s trying their “luck” in every town, nook and cranny.

”Long Boy” Moses and Addie Pray (Ryan and Tatum O’Neil). (Credit: Paramount Pictures)

Tatum O’Neil (actually, only 9 years-old when she played the part of Addie Pray) won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1974, and she remains the youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy Award. Her father, veteran actor Ryan O’Neil, played the part of “Long Boy” Moses. Miss Trixie Delight was played by Madeline Kahn, and Randy Quaid played Leroy.

Ten years-old in 1974, Tatum O’Neil remains the youngest person to win a competitive Academy Award. (Credit: Wikipedia)

Madeline Kahn as Miss Trixie Delight. (Credit: Paramount Pictures)

The author, Joe David Brown, who died in 1976, was born in Birmingam, Alabama. He worked initially for The Birmingam Post, later the New York Daily News, and finally for Time and Life magazines, being stationed in New Delhi, Paris, London, and Moscow. Two of his other books, Stars in My Crown (1947) and Kings Go Forth (1956), were also made into movies.

During World War II, Brown served in the Army Air Corps, and as a member of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, was one of the first Americans to parachute into Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He received a battlefield commission to second lieutenant, and was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and the French Croix de Guerre with palm.

Author Joe David Brown in uniform. (Credit: 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team website)

So, the next time we watch Paper Moon, a classic movie, we’ll know the story behind the story. And, like the song says, “It’s Only a Paper Moon.”

Supporting 1LT Dan Berschinski, MMI 2003

2009-09-25T12:36:00.003-05:00

In August, 2009, 1LT Dan Berschinski, an AOG (West Point’s Association of Graduates) scholar at MMI from 2002-2003, was seriously wounded in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device while his men were securing a village. Dan lost both of his legs, and his left arm was shattered. A member of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, 1st Battalion, 17th Regiment, Dan is convalescing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Army 1LT Dan Berschinski in Afghanistan. (Credit: Dan Berschinski’s website)

A native of Peachtree City, Georgia, where he graduated from McIntosh High School in 2002, Dan spent a year at MMI preparing for the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He graduated in the Class of 2007.

Dan as an AOG scholar here at MMI. (Credit: 2003 Orange and Black, MMI’s yearbook, MMI Archives)

Two more images from the 2003 yearbook:

Friends in Peachtree City and Fayette County, Georgia, have set up a website to support Dan. Please access from http://danberschinski.blogspot.com.

This blog indicates that Dan Berschinski’s brigade has been taking horrific casualties outside of Kandahar, Afghanistan, and that a number of these men are with Dan at Walter Reed, some even more seriously wounded than Dan. The blog also mentions another Peachtree City resident, SGT Shawn P. McCloskey, a Green Beret in the Special Forces, who was killed in September.

Undaunted, the blog states that Dan is upbeat and positive, that he has charmed his nurses, and that he greets visitors to his hospital room with a friendly, “Hey, what’s up?”

My thanks to LTC David Bauer for bringing Dan's story/plight to my attention.

Nicola Marschall and the First Confederate Flag

2009-09-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

Nicola Marschall (1829-1917) of Marion, Alabama, a German-American artist, is generally credited with designing both the first official Confederate flag and the grey Confederate army uniform.

An 1867 self-portrait of Nicola Marschall. (Credit: Alabama Department of Archives and History)

Born into a wealthy Prussian family of tobacco merchants in 1829, Nicola Marschall, a budding artist, decided to mark his mark in the United States. In 1849, he emigrated to America landing first in New Orleans, Louisiana, and then moving on to Mobile, Alabama. Nicola Marshall relocated to Marion, Alabama, in 1851, where he opened a portrait studio and also taught art. Joining the faculty and staff of Marion Female Seminary, Marshall – a man of many talents - taught art (he studied at the celebrated Dusseldorf Academy), languages, and also instructed and performed on guitar, violin, piano, and harp.

Marion Female Seminary, Marion, Alabama. (Credit: Alabama Department of Archives and History)

With the coming Civil War in 1861, Nicola Marschall was approached in February by Mary Clay Lockett, wife of prominent attorney Napoleon Lockett of Marion, and her daughter, Fannie Lockett Moore, daughter-in-law of Alabama Governor Andrew B. Moore of Marion, to design a flag for the new Confederacy. Marschall offered three designs, one of which became the “Stars and Bars,” the first official flag of the Confederate States of America (C.S.A.), and which was first raised in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 4, 1861. He also is credited with designing the first “official” Confederate uniform.

Pattern of the seven-star “Stars and Bars” flag designed by Nicola Marshall in 1861.

Nicola Marschall monument on the grounds of the Perry County Courthouse, Marion, Alabama. (Credit: Deep Fried Kudzu)

Shivers McCollum, MMI H’45, JC’46, of Highland, Maryland, and a member of the MMI Board of Advisors, sent me a copy of a letter written by his great-great grandmother, Juila Anne Cocke, wife of State Senator Jack Fleming Cocke (a trustee of Howard College when our Chapel was built in 1857), regarding the making of the first Confederate flag in Marion. The original letter is preserved in the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery. Here is a photocopy and the transcription, both provided by Shivers:

Photocopy of the original letter in the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery (Page one).

Page two.

Transcription of the letter. (Credit: Shivers McCollum, Highland, MD)

Nicola Marschall served in the Confederate army during the war, rising in rank from private to second lieutenant, and working primarily has chief draftsman of maps and fortifications in the Mobile, Alabama, area. When the war ended in 1865, he returned to Marion and married Martha Eliza Marschall (1846-1919) of Perry County. She bore him three children. Nicola Marschall painted portraits of both he and his wife which now reside in the First White House of the Confederacy in Montgomery, Alabama.

Primarily a portrait artist, Marschall painted literally hundreds of subjects including Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, and Otto von Bismarck. He even got famed Confederate cavalry commander, General Nathan Bedford Forrest, to sit still long enough to have his portrait painted in 1867. Nicola Marschall was awarded a medal for his portraits at the Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia, PA, in 1876.

Portrait of General Forrest painted by Nicola Marschall in 1867. (Credit: General Nathan Bedford Forrest Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy)

Disillusioned with the economic devastation in the Reconstruction South, Nicola Marshall and his family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1873, where he continued to support his family as a portrait artist until his death on February 24, 1917. Nicola Marshall was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

Another self-portrait of Nicola Marschall in 1893. (Credit: Alabama Department of Archives and History)

John Pelham Update/Colin Kelly, Jr.

2009-09-15T07:00:00.002-05:00

The blog about the “Gallant” Major John Pelham generated a buzz, so here are three more related images – the state historical marker pointing to the site of Pelham’s birthplace near Alexandria, Alabama (the house is now gone, but there is a small marker); the Virginia state marker at Fredericksburg, scene of Pelham’s finest hour; and the marker at the site of his mortal wounding at Kelly’s Ford, Virginia. Major Pelham died in a house in nearby Culpeper, VA (this house is also gone, but there is a small marker). John Pelham’s promotion to LTC came through after his death.

Alabama state marker to John Pelham’s birthplace. (Credit: John Pelham Historical Association)

Virginia state marker near Fredericksburg, scene of Major Pelham’s finest hour. (Credit: John Pelham Historical Association)

Marker at the site of Pelham’s mortal wounding at Kelly’s Ford, VA. (Credit: John Pelham Historical Association)

Some more John Pelham tidbits:
-When Pelham died, his body lay in state in the Confederate capitol building in Richmond, VA. At least three young women went into mourning for him.

-Jeb Stuart and his wife named their daughter Virginia Pelham Stuart.

-Famed Confederate spy, Belle Boyd, gave Pelham a Bible with the inscription: “I know thou art loved by another; I know thy wilt never be mine.”

-The “other” was Sally Dandridge of “The Bower” in West Virginia, Jeb Stuart’s sometime headquarters and scene of festive parties featuring the music of banjoist Sam Sweeney. Heroes von Brocke, of Stuart’s staff, a former Prussian officer and soldier-of-fortune, added to the overall splendor and gaiety of the parties.

-Like John Pelham, neither Jeb Stuart nor Sam Sweeney survived the war. Von Brocke was seriously wounded and, after the war, returned to his castle in Prussia where he flew the Confederate flag from the ramparts until his death.

-Several Southern towns are named for Pelham, including Pelham, Alabama. There is a John Pelham Memorial Parkway in Georgia, a Lake Pelham in Virginia, and, of course, Pelham Range at Fort McClellan, Alabama, reportedly built on Pelham Family property along Cane Creek.

Finally, here is an advertisement (given to me by Myra Jean Hopkins) for a VHS/DVD regarding the truth and myth of America’s first hero of World War II, Colin Kelly, Jr., MMI’33, USMA ’37, who was also the first West Pointer killed in the war. For those interested, the order information is included. However, this is all I have, so order at your own risk!

Ad for the Colin Kelly, Jr., VHS/DVD. (Credit: Myra Jean Hopkins and the MMI Archives)

Arthur Stewart, MMI JC '35, World-Renowned Artist, Part Two

2009-09-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

When I posted the blog on Arthur Stewart, MMI JC ’35, I realized that I needed more images both of the artist and his work.

Rusty (Lewis M., Jr.) Stewart, MMI ’61, of Birmingham, Alabama, sent these two images of his famous uncle:

Joel R. Hillhouse, MMI H ’59, also from Birmingham, of the MMI Board of Advisors, contributed these color snapshots of his wonderful collection of Arthur Stewart paintings:

Arthur Stewart, MMI JC '35, World-Renowned Artist

2009-08-31T08:39:00.005-05:00

With the recent death of COL Lewis Stewart, MMI Class of 1939, we were reminded that he was the brother of the late Arthur Walter Stewart, Jr., MMI JC Class of 1935, a world-renowned portrait and landscape artist from Birmingham.

From a large family of brothers and sisters - the children of Arthur and Jean Stewart - Arthur Walter Stewart, Jr., was born in Marion and received his A.A. degree from Marion Military Institute in 1935. He continued his education at Auburn University and at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he presented his first one-man show at the age of 23. Stewart had begun painting when he was six years old.

The MMI Corps of Cadets when Arthur Stewart (“A” Company) was a cadet. (Credit: 1934-1935 MMI Catalogue, MMI Archives)

Following a four and a half year stint in the Army during World War II, where he served as a painter in the ordnance department, Arthur Stewart traveled extensively in Mexico and Europe for several years, painting as he went. He finally settled in San Francisco in 1947, although he made annual trips to Alabama to paint portraits. In 1952, Stewart moved to Birmingham, Alabama, permanently.

Arthur Stewart taught at the Birmingham Museum of Art School, served as president of the Alabama Watercolor Society, and was inducted into the Portrait Painters Hall of Fame in 1985. During his career, he won over 30 national awards, and presented over 35 one-man shows from New York to California. Along the way, he painted literally thousands of works – oil portraits, watercolor flowers, and scenic landscapes – which today hang in more than 1,000 public and private collections worldwide.

When Arthur Stewart first moved to Birmingham, he lived in a small house on the property of the grandparents of Joel R. Hillhouse, MMI Board of Advisors member. Joel’s parents first lived on the property after their marriage, and Arthur Stewart taught Joel’s mother art and even painted her portrait. Joel Hillhouse, MMI H Class of 1959, who owns a number of Stewart paintings, has one particular favorite, “The Studio” (below), which depicts that small house.

"The Studio" by Arthur Stewart. (Credit: Collection of Joel R. Hillhouse)

Stewart later purchased the 40-acre “Glocca Morra Farm” (named after a song in Finian’s Rainbow) in Cahaba Heights near Birmingham. There he lived the rest of his life, while continuing to produce works both in the United States and Europe. When his health failed, he was cared for by his sister, Hannah Stewart. Arthur Stewart painted up until his last days, dying on September 6, 2001, at the age of 86.

Arthur Stewart’s works can be found in collections ranging from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, II, the La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the Lyndon Bains Johnson Library in Texas, and the Birmingham (AL) Museum of Art. Reportedly, his works sell from $400 to $35,000 each.

On September 1, 1993, Arthur Stewart’s portrait of William R. Ireland was unveiled at the William R. Ireland Athletic Center at Marion Military Institute (dedicated April 3, 1993). In the image below – from the 1994 MMI Orange and Black yearbook – the group flanking the painting include from left to right: MG Joseph Fant, MMI president, Arthur Stewart, the artist, Mr. and Mrs. William R. Ireland, and Alva Caine, Chairman of the MMI Board of Trustees.

At the unveiling of Arthur Stewart’s painting of William R. Ireland at MMI’s Ireland Center on September 1, 1993. (Credit: 1994 MMI yearbook, MMI Archives)

Credit: I am indebted to Joel Hillhouse and James Murray of Birmingham for providing the bulk of this material. We know Joel, of course. He also provided the color image posted here from his collection of Arthur Stewart paintings. Jim Murray is head of Social Sciences at the Birmingham Public Library.

Wearing of the Gray: The Gallant Pelham

2009-08-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

I’ve spent this summer adding some 1500 books in the General Collection of the MMI Archives to the MMI Archives Inventory. Among the numerous gems in this collection, one book that caught my personal interest is an 1867 (just two years after the Civil War) edition of John Esten Cooke’s Wearing of the Gray, one of the classic contemporary accounts of Confederate military history, and specifically centering on famed cavalry commander, General “Jeb” Stuart, a relative of John Esten Cooke. Through Stuart, Cooke, a writer more than a soldier, gained access to the top Confederate leadership in the Army of Northern Virginia, from General Robert E. Lee on down.

A lifelong Civil War buff, one of my favorite personalities is Major John Pelham, C.S.A. – “The Gallant Pelham” (1838-1863) from Alexandria, Alabama. Pelham, commander of the Stuart Horse Artillery, revolutionized the use of light artillery as a mobile arm of the cavalry. He was inducted into the Alabama Hall of Fame in 1955, and was among the first inductees into the Alabama Military Hall of Honor here at MMI in 1976.

John Pelham in his West Point furlough coat. Pelham left the Academy in 1861, just before graduating, to offer his services to Alabama and the Confederacy. (Credit: Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA, and the National Park Service)

The youthful Pelham was the darling of Stuart’s cavalry and a personal favorite of John Esten Cooke. The women loved him, the men admired him, and he displayed all the combat skills of a genuine battlefield hero. John Pelham fought in over 60 battles and skirmishes from 1861 to 1863 – never receiving a scratch – until that fatal day (St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1863) when a shell exploded in a cornfield at Kelly’s Ford, Virginia, mortally wounding him. He was 24 years-old when he died.

The title page of the 1867 edition of Wearing of the Gray includes the faded image of General “Jeb” Stuart from the facing page. (Credit: MMI Archives)

This illustration on page 17 of the book places Major John Pelham in rather high company! (Credit: MMI Archives)

One of my Virginia Civil War friends always refers to John Pelham as the “Robert Redford of the South!” In short, he had it all.

Here are a couple of quotes about Pelham:

Stonewall Jackson at Antietam: “With a Pelham on each flank, I believe I could whip the world!”

Robert E. Lee at Fredericksburg: “It is glorious to see such courage in one so young.” Lee called him “the gallant Pelham” in his official report.

Our edition of the Wearing of the Gray includes an illustration of Major Pelham receiving his mortal wound that I have never seen before – or, at least, it is not now attributed to John Pelham. I checked the images of Pelham on Google and Yahoo, plus the site of the John Pelham Historical Association. No one seems to have this image, so, I hope this is a revelation, something that got misplaced/omitted over the years in successive editions of the book.

The illustration of Major Pelham receiving his mortal wound at Kelly’s Ford, VA, March 17, 1863. (Credit: MMI Archives)

The “Gallant” John Pelham is buried in the City Cemetery in Jacksonville, Alabama, in his home county of Calhoun County.

John Pelham’s grave and monument in Jacksonville, Alabama. (Credit: Findagrave.com)

MMI Archives: New Donations

2009-08-17T08:22:00.002-05:00

Ward Calhoun, Records Manager at the Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History in Meridian, Mississippi, recently donated two early MI brochures to the MMI Archives. “First Consider the Cost” and “Expert Coaching” were both produced circa 1909. I thought you would enjoy seeing some highlights.

A detail from “Officers and Faculty” of Marion Institute in the “Expert Coaching” brochure lists the father and his two sons who would become the first three presidents (superintendents) of the Institute: James T. Murfee, H. O. Murfee, and W. L. Murfee:

J. T. Murfee was the top graduate in his class at Virginia Military Institute. His two sons went to the University of Virginia. Note W. L. Murfee’s tour of the English public schools supporting MI’s “Eton of the South” plan.

This detail from the first page of “Expert Coaching” tells the story.

The list is of comparative costs to attend these top American military and preparatory schools, a number of which are closed today. It is curious that VMI, a military college, is included with the preparatory schools. J. T. Murfee?

Finally, here is the architect’s drawing of the Proposed Plan to develop the Marion Military Institute campus in 1925-1926:

South side plan.

North side plan.

Credit: All images, MMI Archives.

MMI Archives: More Bits and Pieces

2009-08-10T07:00:00.002-05:00

The Summer 2009 issue of Alabama Heritage magazine, published by the University of Alabama, includes an interesting article entitled “Where the Dead Speak: Black Belt Cemeteries and Their Stories” by Thomas C. Ware. The piece is blessed with stunning photographs by Robin McDonald of Alabama Heritage. Here are a couple of images relating to Marion, both taken by Robin McDonald:

Harry’s Monument in the Marion City Cemetery. Remember, Harry was the slave who lost his life saving Howard College students in the tragic fire of 1854, which also destroyed the college building.

“Confederate Rest” in the cemetery of St. Wilfrid’s Episcopal Church in Marion. Most of these dead were from the Confederate Breckinridge Military Hospital on the Howard College/MMI campus, 1863-1865.

In another Alabama Heritage article about Blues legend W. C. Handy, there is this image of W.C. Handy as the director of the Alabama A & M Band in Normal (Huntsville), Alabama. No, this has nothing to do with MMI, but I was the Special Collections Librarian/Archivist (Assistant Professor) at Alabama A & M University in the early 1990s, and I know this story well:

W. C. Handy (standing at left holding a trumpet and baton) as bandmaster of the Alabama A & M Band, 1901-1903. (Credit: W. C. Handy Home, Museum, and Library, Florence, Alabama)

While doing a little research for the Alabama Military Hall of Honor, I took this image from the 1974 Orange and Black, MMI’s yearbook. It’s of Captain Max Powell Bailey, USN (Ret.), MMI ’37, the Commandant, who served as Interim President of MMI from 1973-1974. Now 91 and living in Florida, four sons also attended MMI.

Captain Maxwell Powell Bailey, Jr., USN (Ret.), MMI ’37, Interim President, MMI, 1973-1974.

Last, but certainly not least, I heard back from the good folks at AMCSUS, the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States. Here is my report to Susan Stevenson on 9 July:

Hi Susan,
Rudy Ehrenberg, Executive Director of AMCSUS, just called me re: the blog. After checking with the past historian of AMCSUS, Spike Holman (?), it appears that two of the military preparatory schools – St. Catherine’s in Anaheim, California, and Benedictine High School in Richmond, Virginia – both Catholic schools – have had/have female leadership via their religious order’s organization.

However, neither gentleman knew of a female heading a military college (although, they both point back to Brenda Bryant of VWIL at Mary Baldwin College). Again, VWIL is a military program for women within a civilian women’s college.

So, it appears to me that you are, in fact, the first female head of a military college! That remains my story, and I’m sticking with it!

Susan Stevenson, Interim President, MMI (Summer, 2009). (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)

Remembering Thomas C. Carter, MMI Class of 1908

2009-08-03T14:25:00.004-05:00

Lieutenant Thomas Clay Carter, Jr., MMI Class of 1908. (Credit: “Letters of a Hero,” edited by Ed Shields)

Thomas Clay Carter, Jr., MMI Class of 1908, was born in Meridian, Mississippi, on February 16, 1889. An outstanding cadet at Marion Military Institute, he served as the editor of The Assembly (then, MMI’s annual), Vice- Speaker of The Commons, a cadet second lieutenant in “B” Company, he played varsity football and baseball, and he was an honored member of the Jefferson Literary Society, one of two literary societies on campus (the other being the Franklin Literary Society).

T. C. Carter was an all-around cadet at MMI.

“B” Company’s cadet officers and Sponsors.

MMI’s Football Team and Sponsors.

(Credit: The above three images are from The Assembly for 1907, MMI’s annual. MMI Archives.)

After attending the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, T. C. Carter returned to MMI as a faculty member and as the athletic director. He was later associated with his brother, Eugene Carter, in the cotton brokerage business before enlisting for service in World War I. Commissioned at Ft. Oglethorpe, GA, and assigned to Camp Gordon in Georgia, Carter went to France in early 1918, where he served as acting commander of the 320th Machine Gun Battalion, 82nd Division, A.E.F. While reconnoitering the enemy’s gun emplacements in the Argonne Forest on October 13, 1918, First Lieutenant Carter was killed. His unit buried him and their other fallen soldiers near the Forest. In 1921, Thomas Carter’s remains were removed to Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D. C. His grave is located in the Southern Division, Officer’s Section, western half of lot #4000.

Thomas C. Carter’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery (photocopy). (Credit: “Letters of a Hero,” p. 52, edited by Ed Shields)

T. C. Carter, Jr., never married. His mother had died in January, 1918, and, upon learning of his youngest child’s death (T. C., Jr., was one of nine children), his father had a stroke late in 1918. He remained an invalid for the rest of his four years, dying in 1922. Two of T.C.’s sisters, Mamie and Hattie, attended Judson College in Marion, Alabama. Mamie married one of T.C.’s MMI classmates, William C. Crumpton, in 1908. A distinguished lawyer and former state senator, William Crumpton died in 1915 and is buried in the Marion (AL) City Cemetery.

American Legion Post #21 in Meridian, Mississippi, is named in honor of Thomas Clay Carter, Jr. The Post also has the American flag which covered Carter’s casket during his Arlington burial.

I am indebted to Ward Calhoun and Ed Shields of Meridian, Mississippi, for providing the bulk of this information on T. C. Carter, Jr. Ward is the Records Manager of the Lauderdale County Department of Archives & History in Meridian, and is completing a book on the Carter Family. Ed is the editor of “Letters of a Hero” about T. C. Carter, Jr. I enjoyed hosting these gentlemen when they visited MMI last Spring. They have also donated various materials regarding the Carter Family, etc., to the MMI Archives.

Susan Stevenson: First Female Head of a Military College?

2009-07-07T08:03:00.002-05:00

When COL James Benson resigned as president and departed MMI (he now heads Riverside Military Academy in Georgia), Susan G. Stevenson, our Vice President and Dean of Academics, was appointed Interim President of MMI effective 1 June. She will lead the Institute until a new president is selected and assumes the office.

Susan G. Stevenson, Interim President, MMI (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)

A native of Churchill, Tennessee, Susan completed both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at East Tennessee State University. A doctoral candidate at The George Washington University in Washington, D. C., she is completing her dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration. Her topic focuses on motives and reasons why students attend a military junior college.

Before coming to MMI, Susan served at Northeast State Technical Community College in Tennessee, Mary Washington University in Virginia, and at Marymount University in Washington, D.C. Usually, her positions included that of registrar and director of admissions.

Susan is married to CDR Sam Stevenson, Ph.D., who heads the Chemistry Department here at MMI.

Susan Stevenson as Vice President and Dean of Academics at MMI (Credit: MMI Alumni Office).

The question arises: Is Susan Stevenson the first woman to head a military college in the U.S.? The world? After doing an Internet search on my own, I posed that question to the leadership of AMCSUS, the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States, the umbrella organization for military colleges, junior colleges, and preparatory schools in the country. The five national service academies are not members of AMCSUS.

Rudy Ehrenberg, Executive Director of AMCSUS, responded to my query stating that they were checking into the matter and would get back to me. I have not heard from them, to date.

By personal experience, I remembered that Susan J. Johnson, serves as the assistant superintendent at Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia. Founded in 1879, FMS is a private preparatory boarding school for boys, Grades 8-12. I contacted her and asked if she knew of any other women heading military educational institutions in the U.S. or the world? She referred me to Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal, Virginia, for additional assistance. I contacted MG Henry Hobgood, RMA’s head. He referred me to The Virginia Women’s Institute for Leadership (VWIL) at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia.

VWIL at Mary Baldwin (a fine civilian women’s college) claims to have the only all-female cadet corps in the world.
It was begun originally as an alternative program for women during the Virginia Military Institute’s long fight to stay all-male while remaining a state institution. In the end, of course, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that VMI must go co-ed (like The Citadel did earlier), but VWIL not only remained at Mary Baldwin, the program has thrived over the years. VMI is still instrumental in assisting the VWIL program.

Dr. Brenda L. Bryant, Vice President and Dean of Students at Mary Baldwin College, served as the first director of the VWIL program and has served as head of AMCSUS. Clearly, Dr. Bryant is at the forefront of military education for women in the United States. General Mike Bissell, formerly of VMI (he’s VMI ’61), who has been involved with VWIL from the beginning, currently heads that program. We had a very nice telephone conversation. He and our COL John Gibler are old friends!

Now, in my view, VWIL is a strong military program for women within a larger civilian women’s college, just as the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech and Texas A & M, for example, are fine military programs within larger universities boasting many thousands of civilian students. Virginia Tech, Texas A & M, Clemson University, Auburn University, and even the University of Alabama, were once all-male military institutions at some point in their histories.

Which brings us back to Susan Stevenson as Interim President of Marion Military Institute, a full-fledged military junior college – in fact, the oldest military junior college in the nation.

Employing the old adage, “Unless there is evidence to the contrary, always assume that you have the upper hand,” I will assume that – unless evidence to the contrary appears – Susan Stevenson is indeed the first female to head a military college, perhaps, not only in the United States, but, maybe, in the world! At least, that’s my story (for now) and I’m sticking with it!

Farewell to the MMI High School, 1887-2009

2009-05-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Since its founding in 1887, Marion Military Institute has always included high school-aged students. In fact, MMI was founded as an academy and as a college preparatory institution. Originally, high school students were incorporated into the overall academic, military, and extracurricular structure of the Institute, with no official designation being given to the high school program. These students were not even singled out in the cadet rosters found in the MMI catalogues and annuals.

Founded in 1842, Howard College, MMI’s predecessor, included high school-aged students.

MMI was founded in 1887 as an academy and as a college preparatory institution.

MMI’s predecessor, Howard College, founded in Marion in 1842, had also included high school through college-aged students. In the late 19th Century, Marion Military Institute even awarded the bachelor’s degree to honor graduates, plus, the occasional master’s degree!

It was not until the 1920s that The Miana, MMI’s yearbook, separated the high school and junior college programs. The High School included freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, but these students remained incorporated into both the overall military structure of the Corps of Cadets, and in the extracurricular activities of the Institute including athletics. Later, the High School organized its own varsity athletic teams – football, baseball, and basketball - at first; plus, it had its own cheerleaders, Homecoming Court members, Senior Prom, etc., just as would be expected at a civilian high school.

MMI football in the early 1940s.

Prep Baseball in 1958-1959.

Prep Football in 1964-1965.

Prep Basketball in 1973.

Prep Cheerleaders in 1987. Camie (Salter) Jones, MMI faculty member, stands at far right.

The 1995 Senior Prom.

2004 Prep Girls Basketball.

2004 Prep Wrestling.

On May 23, 2009, the High School of Marion Military Institute will graduate its final class of ten cadets, marking an end to an era. For some 122 years, high school students have graced the MMI campus, and it is with a heavy heart that the Institute bids the High School department “farewell.”

(All images credit: Marion Military Institute and the MMI Archives)

Red Wilkins, JC '60, All-American

2009-05-19T15:03:00.002-05:00

Red Wilkins (Taylor Dovention Wilkins, Jr.), A.A. 1960, serves as president of the MMI Board of Advisors. He is a principal in the law firm of Wilkins, Bankester, Biles, and Wynn, P.A., with offices in his hometown of Bay Minette, Alabama, plus in nearby Fairhope and Robertsdale. A man of many talents, Red is especially noted for being an outstanding athlete in high school, at MMI, at Alabama, and with the Denver Broncos.

Red Wilkins at the May 1, 2009, MMI Board Meeting on campus. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)

Born and raised in Bay Minette, Red graduated from Baldwin County High School in 1958. An all-around athlete, he earned a total of ten letters in football, basketball, and baseball. An All-State football player, Red also co-captained the team.

Entering MMI in 1958, Red graduated with the A.A. degree in 1960. While at the Institute, he served as a cadet master sergeant (first sergeant) for “C” Company, was a member of Morgan’s Raiders and the Monogram Club, made the Commandant’s List, and earned two letters each in football and basketball, and one in baseball. Playing both offensive and defensive end in football, Red was selected as a Junior College All-American.

On the basketball court, the six foot-plus Wilkins played a key role in MMI earning a trip to the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchison, Kansas. He was also selected for the 1959-1960 NJCAA All-Region Basketball Team.

In 1992, Red Wilkins was inducted into the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) Hall of Fame.

Cadet Master Sergeant Wilkins of “Charlie” Company. (Credit: 1960 Orange and Black, MMI yearbook)

Wilkins played football for two years for Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama. He again played both offensive and defensive end. Red was a member of the 1961 national championship team which played in the Sugar Bowl in 1962. He also played for the Denver Broncos.

Graduating from Alabama in 1963 with the B.A. degree, Red entered the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, where he completed his J.D. degree in 1966, and was admitted to the Alabama Bar. Red was President of his Senior Law Class. He then spent two years as an Army captain, including one year in Vietnam as an advisor to a Vietnamese infantry battalion.

Returning from the war to Bay Minette, Red Wilkins served as County Attorney for Baldwin County, plus began his own law firm – what is today Wilkins, Bankester, Biles, and Wynn, P.A. He is a past president of the Baldwin County Bar Association (among other legal honors), and has served as a scoutmaster and as an elder and Sunday school teacher in the First Presbyterian Church of Bay Minette.

Red Wilkins is married to the former Judy Richardson of Bogalusa, LA, and they have three children.

Red Wilkins and COL Jim Benson at the 2007 MMI Golf Classic, sponsored by Red Wilkins at Steelwood, in Loxley, AL. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)

Red Wilkins and Chancellor Bradley Byrne at the 2008 Veterans Day Celebration in Birmingham. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)

Finally, Jim Benson once remarked to me that before he even met Red Wilkins, he had a long telephone conversation with him. Remembering Red’s deep Southern drawl and Good Ole Boy persona, Jim was surprised to meet a tall, rather distinguished-looking gentleman, elegant in a Hart, Schaffner & Marx tailored suit complete with silk tie with dimple! Red Wilkins has what the military calls “Command Presence.” He is also one of MMI’s finest graduates.

COL James Benson: A Ceremony of Lessons

2009-05-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

On June 1, 2009, after serving as president of MMI for five years, COL James Benson, USMC Ret., will assume the presidency of Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia. Many of us here will be sad to see Jim and Mary leave.

Jim and Mary Benson. (Credit: Marion Military Institute)

The Bensons at the 2008 MMI Christmas Party. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)

I’ve known Jim Benson since the mid-1990s when we were both on the staff at Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia. I served BC as their archivist and museum curator. Upon his retirement from the USMC in 1995, COL Benson returned to BC, his alma mater (Class of 1965) to serve as assistant to the president (also, Class of 1965). Working his way through several responsible positions to become a vice president, Benson’s no-nonsense, can-do, attitude both impressed and scared some of the less productive members of the faculty and staff.

Founded in 1880, and affiliated with the Church of the Brethren, a pacifist denomination which is one of the Historic Peace Churches along with the Quakers and the Mennonites, Bridgewater College was not ready for a retired Marine colonel in a high leadership position – even if he was one of their graduates! Jim Benson came to kick butt and take names and everyone knew when he was walking the campus – a silent alarm would shoot around from building to building. Folks would quickly get their acts together – men would literally stand straighter, taller, as he passed by – and the College would suddenly become even more productive. Much of what Jim was involved in at Bridgewater was behind the scenes, and I never heard him take credit for a lot things that he was at least partially responsible for accomplishing. For example, BC’s football team (Division III), once in danger of becoming the worst team in division history, suddenly, in a just a few years time, shot up to No. 2 in the nation in Division III, losing by only three points (30-27) to perennial powerhouse Mount Union College of Ohio in the nationally-televised championship game in 2001. (Mount Union has won 10 NCAA Division III National Championships!)

The “miracle” of the BC football team’s turn-around can be attributed to a number of factors, of course (their great coach, Mike Clark), but Jim Benson was a prime mover and shaker behind the scenes from start to finish, and I firmly believe that he helped to give BC one of the truly great moments in its history. When I first came to Bridgewater College in 1993, the most exciting thing about the football games (the stadium was always sparsely filled) was when the cheerleaders put down their pom-poms, picked up a microphone, and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” in two-part harmony. When I left BC in 2005, the stadium was packed for every home game and the team was imbued with a “winning” attitude. (From 2001-2005, BC won five consecutive Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championships! Mike Clark remains the head football coach)

From Dr. Phillip C. Stone, President of Bridgewater College: “Col. Jim Benson is the epitome of a leader. Watching him and serving with him constitute a leadership lesson at the highest level. His impeccable integrity, his commitment to excellence in all things, and his selfless sense of duty and service make him a remarkable leader.”

The Bensons in The MMI Chapel. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)

From Nick Picerno, Chief of Police and Director of Campus Safety at Bridgewater College: “Colonel Jim Benson’s persona reflects the very essence of the word ‘leadership.’ His service to our nation is a shining example of his strength of character and patriotism. Mediocrity has no place in his vernacular. His commitment to achieving excellence serves as an inspiration for others to emulate.”

COL James Benson takes the Review. (Credit: MMI Alumni Office)

From Mike Clark, Bridgewater College’s greatest football coach: “When athletics answered to Colonel Benson you knew you could count on two things, accountability and support. There were times when the first part of the equation could be harsh, but even after the difficult conversations you left his office knowing he just wanted you to be better. On a college campus there are many competing voices. With Jim, when the administrative door was shut, you knew you had a man who was fighting for your interests. I always felt Dr. Stone had the football vision, but Jim had the tactical skills from an administrative sense to get things changed here with football. I enjoyed many a conversation with Jim out back on his porch overlooking the college. He was a great leadership consultant.”

“As An Officer of Marines.” (Credit: USMC; Anthony Edgeworth, photographer)

Jim Benson will do well at Riverside, and they are lucky to get him. Life can be “a ceremony of lessons” (Josiah Bunting). COL Benson – whose father was killed in the Pacific during World War II – has gone from commanding Marines to working at his alma mater with its then core Brethren leadership, to helping MMI become a viable state institution.

And, yes, the lovely Mary – Jim’s better half - will “wow” them in Gainesville, just as she has in Bridgewater and in Marion.

When MI played the University of Alabama in football!

2009-04-27T15:15:00.003-05:00

In the fall of 1943 – the height of World War II – neither Marion Institute or the University of Alabama fielded varsity football teams. Both institutions had club teams, the Cadets of MMI actually being the best of the school’s intramural champions, “D” Company, plus the top players from the other companies. The Alabama Informals, under Coach Mitchell Olenski, were not sanctioned by the University, but they were allowed to use school equipment and to have access to the school’s medical supplies. The 1943 season is listed as “unrated” for Alabama.

The 1943 Marion Institute football team, The Cadets. (Credit: Jimmy Scruggs, MMI HS 1944)

It appears that the Alabama Informals played three games during the 1943 football season. They were crushed by Howard College of Birmingham (Samford University) 42-6 in a charity game played in Tuscaloosa which drew 7,000 people to Denny Stadium. The other two games were played against the Cadets of Marion [Military] Institute, coached by “Bull” Spicer!

In the first game, played at the Perry County High School stadium, the Informals traveled to Marion where they defeated the Cadets 31-12 on Friday evening, November 12th . The Cadets played the Informals tough the first half.

The next week, the Cadets went to Tuscaloosa on the school’s rickety bus to play the Informals in a 3PM game in Denny Stadium on November 20th. This time, MMI fielded a better team and made a game of it; MMI scored two quick touchdowns, missing an extra point, and led the Informals early, 13-0. The Informals bounced back, and the score was 13-12 at the half. The Informals took control during the second half, defeating the Cadets 19-13.

Running back Jimmy Scruggs, H 1944, HSD, a current member of the MMI Board, was one of the star players for the Cadets, being mentioned twice in the article about the Denny Stadium game in The Tuscaloosa News for November 21, 1943. Jimmy remembers being knocked out “two or three times” during the game (“We didn’t know what a concussion was!”). The last time, flat on his back, he was looking up at his father who had run out on the field! Jimmy Scruggs also remembered that it wasn’t cold for late November, and that a couple of thousand people had attended the game.

A MMI high school student, Jimmy was in “D” Company, the champions of MMI’s intramural football. He graduated in December 1943, and, in January, 1944, was on his way to the Navy’s V-12 Program, an early commissioning program for Navy ensigns. Jimmy Scruggs later graduated from Auburn University and enjoyed a highly successful career as a pharmacist.

Another high school player for MMI was Robert L. “Bob” Harrington ‘45, the famed “Chaplain of Bourbon Street.” The Sweetwater, Alabama, native would attend the University of Alabama on a football scholarship.

The Rev. Robert L. “Bob” Harrington, MMI HS 1945, the “Chaplain of Bourbon Street.” (Credit: Bob Harrington, “Chaplain of Bourbon Street”)

Finally, the proceeds from the two games were used to pay the traveling expenses for both the Alabama Informals and the Cadets of Marion Institute.

Special thanks to Jimmy Scruggs ’44 for everything!

General Bruce K. Holloway '33, USAF

2009-04-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

The Service Academy Program (SAP) at Marion Military Institute is named for the late General Bruce Keener Holloway ’33, USAF, former head of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), and commander of the U. S. Air Forces in Europe.

General Bruce Keener Holloway ’33, USAF. (Credit: Official U. S. Air Force photograph)

LTC Gerry Lewis, Director of the Service Academy Program (SAP), and Faculty Advisor, Air Force Academy Preparation Cadets, at Marion Military Institute. (Credit: Marion Military Institute)

A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, General Bruce K. Holloway completed two years in engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He attended MMI in 1932-33 as one of 190 members of the Corps of Cadets. Entering the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, Holloway graduated in the Class of 1937 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. He received his pilot wings in 1938 at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas, and then spent two years with the Sixth Pursuit Squadron and the 18th Pursuit Group in Hawaii. Holloway then pursued postgraduate work in aeronautical engineering at the California Institute of Technology.

Once the United States entered World War II, Bruce Holloway was sent to Chungking, China, when he joined Claire Chennault’s American Volunteer Group – the famed “Flying Tigers.” Later activated as the Army Air Force’s 23rd Fighter Group, Holloway rose to command that unit after earning his status as a fighter ace, shooting down some 13 Japanese planes and becoming a national hero in China. Considered one of air power’s finest tacticians, he obtained a 10:1 victory ratio over the Japanese.

In 1946, Holloway commanded the Air Force’s first jet-equipped fighter group, pioneering jet air operational tactics. Following graduation from the National War College in 1951, Holloway quickly rose through key staff assignments in both the operations and development fields at Headquarters, U. S. Air Force, later directing operational requirements.

Bruce Holloway served as deputy commander of the 9th and 12th Air Forces (Tactical Air Command) for four years, and was named deputy commander of the U.S. Strike Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, in 1961. As part of that assignment, he later served as deputy commander in chief of the Middle East/Southern Asia and Africa South of the Sahara Command.

Emblem of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), 1946 – 1992. (Credit: U.S. Air Force)

General Holloway took command of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe in July, 1965, serving in that capacity until August 1, 1966, when he was appointed vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force.

General Bruce K. Holloway ‘33 retired from the Air Force in 1972, having served since 1937. He was an Associate Administrator for NASA in 1973-74, and served as president of the U.S. Strategic Institute in 1981. The General died at the age of 87 in Orlando, Florida, on September 30, 1999.

His military decorations included, among others, the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal.

Another image of General Bruce K. Holloway ’33, USAF. (Credit: Official U.S. Air Force photograph)

Alumni Weekend, 4 April 2009

2009-04-04T20:44:00.002-05:00