A History of Southland College: The Society of Friends and Black Education in Arkansas

9. The Wolford Era

Chapter 9 The Wolford Era – I. Laconic Pragmatism In his doctoral dissertation on Indiana Friends, John William Buys gave the impression that Southland’s enrollment of a mere hundred students in  marked the beginning of a downhill slide from which the school never recovered.1 In fact, during the – school year, Southland began a renaissance that was sustained for a generation under the leadership of Harry C. and Anna B. Wolford, who in their own, very different , way proved worthy successors to Calvin and Alida Clark. Little information about the Wolfords’ background or their qualifications to become Southland’s new superintendent and matron has survived. At a meeting of the missionary board convened to interview potential candidates for the Southland position, one member, Charles Parker, who had to leave before the prospects were vetted, announced his support for this Westville, Ohio, couple.2 After the Wolfords were interviewed, the remainder of the board confirmed their absent colleague’s choice, with the proviso that Mrs. Wolford, who had a musical background, could not take over the music program that was “already in the hands of a competent teacher.”3 The following September the minutes of Southland Monthly Meeting recorded acceptance of a certificate of removal from Whitewater Monthly Meeting for Harry C. and Anna B. Wolford. The Wolford’s began with certain advantages in that the entire teaching staff from the previous year had been retained and a new hot water heating plant had been recently  installed. The staff was naturally delighted by the later development, but, according to Barclay Johnson, the students, “who seemed not to be able to keep warm without seeing fire,” were not similarly impressed. In any case, this new creature comfort seemed an excellent investment as nearly all the  cords of wood needed to operate the plant could be gathered from college land.4 The Wolfords’ first year at Southland was mercifully devoid of crises, other than the fact that both the new superintendent and matron contacted malaria, “so prevalent in that section of country,” requiring that Anna return to her parents home to recover. Enrollment () was up over  percent from the low mark in , the budget deficit was under $, and, perhaps most significantly, Harry Wolford reported “very pleasant” relations with local people, white and black, a harbinger of future developments as regards Southland’s interaction with Phillips County neighbors under the Wolfords’ leadership.5 Despite the closing down of the preparative meeting at Marvel (Hickory Ridge) and the sale of Friends’ property there,6 reports from Southland Meeting seemed encouraging. Harry Wolford reported that members from a number of local land-owning families—the Billingsleys, the Busbys, the Burkes, the Freelands, the Paschals, and others—were “very faithful in the performance of their religious duties . . . and the meetings were all sources of blessing.”7 A series of revivals brought new converts from the surrounding area, and, as Superintendent Wolford noted with pride, “all the students in the dormitories, with the exception of one girl, professed Christianity.” Around this same time, however, the general tenor of religious observation within the school took on a more ecumenical flavor as reflected in a minute from  encouraging students “to present statements of their standing in the Church of which they are members” in the hope this “would promote a unity in Christian Fellowship in the school.”8 From this time students who claimed to be Christians and attended Southland Meeting but subsequently moved away were no longer claimed as members unless they actually continued to attend local meetings for worship. Obviously, this practice provided a more realistic assessment of the size and power of Southland Meeting. Indeed, from about , the Catalogue of Southland College and Normal Institute was at pains to note that while “under denominational control, Southland is not a sectarian school . . . [but] does what it can to encourage practical Christianity.”  The Wolford Era Of course, church services and sabbath school gatherings were regularly held in the college chapel with the staff, boarding students, and local Friends in attendance. These consisted of what Quakers call a “programmed meeting,” with Bible reading, hymn singing, and a prepared sermon , under the direction of a faculty member or visiting preacher. The minutes of the Southland Monthly Meetings for Business intermittently exhibited flashes of earlier fervor, as under the brief Clerkship of a local black farmer, J. B. Freeland. Responding to the inspiration infused...