Date of Award

6-19-2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Thomas Barrett

Abstract

Henderson State Teachers College (HSTC) began operations on the former campus of Henderson-Brown College (HBC) in September, 1929. Founded as a publicly supported teacher training college, the first thirty years of operation of HSTC proved to be full of crises with the institution lurching from one to another while working to establish an institutional identity distinct from the liberal arts focus of HBC. By examining these crises, including the impact of both the Great Depression and World War II on the college, as well as events related to the addition of graduate programs and the integration of the institution, this study examines how HSTC responded to crises and adapted in the face of uncertainty. Faced with opposition within the Arkansas General Assembly from the very beginning of state support, multiple efforts to discontinue this support took much of the energy and resources of the administration during the early years of the college. Coupled with the continued focus on liberal arts fields, the institutional identity of the college was slow to evolve. Ultimately, driven by overwhelming enrollment after the conclusion of the Second World War, HSTC evolved into a regional public college preparing graduates for positions in teaching while also educating students to fill various roles across the state or preparing them for further education in graduate and professional school.

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