The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-02
THE A. CT. HAS
ENDED CAREER
It WIlRise With Wo-
mans College.
RA1Hos al TusKEGEE
Board Issues a Farewell State
ment.
DR.. John Massey Retires After q Long
and Honorable Career As An
Edacator--Transfer of In
terest of woman's
Education.

Tuskegee. June 1-(Special.) THE
| commandment exercises of the Ala
bama Conference College which clos
ed here today was tinged with pathos
| and sadness. 1t was historic com.
mencement for with 1t closeo the
doors of the Alabama Conference Ea
| male College, which viii rise again
! next fall with the Methoaist Womans
College at Montgomery.
There was additional sadness in the
occasion because II marked the retire.
ment Of the venerable and distinguish
ed educator, DIR. John Massey, who for
so long and who SO well shaped the at
fairs of the college. For fifty-three
years the Alabama Conference Coll
lege has been the pride of Tuskesee,
as well as the pride of Alabama Meth
odists. For thirty-three years Dr..
Massey has been at the head of the ia
nous college, and under his charge 1t
grew until each year there was not
room for the students who applied for
admission.
DR.. Massey Declines.
The presidency of the new college at
Montgomery has been offered DR.. Mas
sey. 1t has been urged upon him sew
eral times. But he has steadily de-
clined. He will retire and spend In
well-earned leisure the remainder of
his days beloved as but few men have
been.
The Board of Trustees held their last
meeting today. And like all others.
the occasion. Their position, their
hopes for the future in the new insti-
tuition, were voiced in an able state
ment presented by q committee and
endorsed by the entire board.
The statement of the board follows:
With the closing of the exercises of
the day, the Alabama Conference Fee
male College merges into the Womans'
College, thereby entering upon lar
ger and ever-broadening field of ilse-
fulness It's location will change and
its corporate name will give place to
another, but its life, its spirit, and Its
work will remain and constitute the
foundation upon which the institution
at Montgomery will be built. The
past of the Alabama Conference Fee
male College presents long and unin-
terrupted career of unselhsh service.
noble endeavor and high achievement
in behalf of the young womanhood OF
the state and the church we all love
SO well. For fifty-three years 1t has
borne the stress and strain of adver-
sity, and stood through calm and
storm, but has lived. gloriously lived,
through 1t all, and. faithfully and sue
cessfully has done its work, continu-
ousy sending forth from its great heart
life-currents Of purity. knowledge and
culture which have helped to make so
splendid and so beautiful the Christian
womanhootd OF Alabama. Its history
is inseparably interviewer with that
of the church and State. its monument
is firmly built in thousand OF Christian
homes, and it's future Is secure in the
reincarnation of its principles and life
as these shall undergrad ana strength
nd
ton soon to be opened In our Capital
City.
In obedience to the authority of the
Alabama Conference. we transfer to IT
the important interests of female edu-
cation within our borders, and feel sure
that that institution will ever hold ana
guard as sacred. the trust that Is Its
Inheritance from the life and labors Of
the Alabama Conference Female Col
lege.
Committees IL Named.
We have appointed Judge s. L. Brewer
d. e. Laslie and Rev. H. Trawick a
committee to transfer the books, his
toricaI and other valuable papers Of
the college to the trustees of the Wo-
mans College, that they may be per-
manently deposited in it's archives; and
request them to incorporate In its roll
of aIumnae those of this college, not
ing the fact that they were graduates
lege prior to its mergence into the said
Womans' College.
In taking leave of Tuskegee as the
home of this institution, we would be
ungrateful- and untrue to the prompt
ings of our hearts were we not to give
voice and to our high appreciation Of
the loyalty, devotion and faithfulness
of the citizenship of this hospitable
and cultured community to the college
during its entire career. They have
merited, and they have the tenderest
regard of all Alabama Methodism. We
leave Tuskegee with a pang of sad
ness and regret, and assure her people
that this step has been taken only that
we might enter the broader field that
is presented in the union of the two
conferences at Montgomery. and that
we may thus fulfill the larger mission
we owe to our generation and our
church. All Alabama Methodism loves
Tuskegee; her past is to us precious
inheritance, and we pray -Jehovah's