MMI Archives: New Donations

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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.