Huntingdon College
Office of Community Relations
| February 7, 2006 For immediate release: |
Huntingdon College NEWS RELEASE |
Portrait Commemorates Lipscomb Presidency at HuntingdonPortrait, painted by Ronald Bayens, to be presented during Huntingdon Founders DayMontgomery, AL - Andrew Adgate Lipscomb took the helm as the first president of Tuskegee Female College when the institution opened its doors on February 11, 1856. The United Methodist college moved to Montgomery in 1909 and, after several name changes, is now known as Huntingdon College. Huntingdon College will celebrate its 150th year of operation and 152nd year after receiving its charter during Founders Day, Friday, February 10. Lipscomb's presidency, which lasted three years, was marked by both joys and hardships. He was known as a gentle, inspiring man. One student, Isolene Minter, wrote of him, "With the eye of faith he saw and taught others [...] to glorify God." But the hardships that Lipscomb faced were both personal and public. Just seven months into his presidency, his wife, Henrietta, died after a brief illness, leaving him a widower with two rising teenagers. A year later, measles caused hundreds of illnesses and claimed 39 lives in Tuskegee, forcing the College to close temporarily. On September 23, 1857, the College reopened, and on that same day Lipscomb married Susan Dowdell, his former student and a member of one of the most prosperous families in East Alabama. Lipscomb, who had long suffered from tuberculosis, resigned his presidency at TFC in 1859 because of ill health and remained a member of the College's faculty. The following spring, his first child with Susan, Carrie Dowdell Lipscomb, died at the age of 18 months. Lipscomb and his family moved to Georgia when he accepted the offer to serve as the first chancellor of the University of Georgia, where he remained from 1860 until 1874. During this time, the country was torn apart by the Civil War, and Lipscomb celebrated the birth of a son, Andrew "Lan" Lipscomb; mourned the death of his young wife, Susan, after a miscarriage in 1862; and lost his oldest son, Frank, to tuberculosis in 1873. After leaving the University of Georgia, Lipscomb served as a professor at Vanderbilt University until 1884 and died in 1890 at the age of 74. Andrew Adgate Lipscomb's great-great-grandson, Andrew "Lan" Lipscomb, of Montgomery, who shares the name and nickname of his great-grandfather, will make a brief presentation on Lipscomb's life and service during the annual Founders Day Luncheon at Huntingdon College at noon, February 10. He and other members of the Lipscomb family have commissioned a portrait of the College's first president. The portrait, painted by Ronald Bayens, will be unveiled and dedicated during the luncheon. Artist Ron Bayens is a sought-after portrait painter whose subjects include Auburn University President William Muse, astronaut Jim Voss, and figure skater Elvis Stojko. Other events during Huntingdon Founders Day, Friday, February 10, include a college-wide birthday celebration at 10:00 a.m. in Flowers Hall, when participants may "bring a present to the party" to be donated to either the Family Sunshine Center or Kate's Closet. The party will be followed by the annual Founders Day Convocation at 11:00 a.m. in Ligon Chapel, Flowers Hall, featuring guest speaker Dr. Frances Lucas, president of Millsaps College, on the topic "Lives of Consequence." The Convocation is free and open to the public. Huntingdon College is a community of faith, wisdom, and service preparing skilled leaders to serve a complex world. For more informationM on Huntingdon Founders Day, contact Martie McEnerney, director of alumni advancement, at (334) 833-4564. ### Su Ofe | |
