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Lambuth History and Archives

This guide includes information about The University of Memphis Lambuth Campus history, links to digitized Lambuth archive collections, and information about historical items located in the Lambuth Archives.

1980 - 1990

1980 

The Marion V. Creekmore, Sr. Scholarship Fund is established.

March 1980 

The Dr. Carl M. Robbins Scholarship Fund is established for the education of pre-ministerial students of promise and ability from the Memphis Conference who demonstrate financial need.

April 18-19, 1980 

The Fourth Annual West Tennessee Undergraduate Sociological Symposium is held at Lambuth College.

July 1980 

The Varsity Gymnasium in the athletic center is dedicated as the John A. Parsons Gymnasium; the Victoria W. Hill Biology Laboratory is established in the Oxley Biological Field Station in memory of the late Mrs. Lee G. Hill.

December 1980 

The Lambuth Alumni Office hosts a coffee with MCFI alumnae in the Wisdom Parlor in Jones Hall.

February 1981 

The International Center opens in the basement of the Student Union Building – the International Education Committee will use the center for their monthly meetings and to plan their future programming.

Summer 1981 

Computers are installed in the basement of Hyde Hall.

July 13-August 21, 1981 

Lambuth College holds an extensive orientation program for 150 Japanese students, who will receive intensive education on the English language, U.S. culture, and college life in the U.S. – the program is sponsored by the East-West Foundation.

1982 

The Robert Donaldson Henley Scholarship, the R. A. Bivens Family Scholarship, the Frank and Ellen G. Thompson Scholarship Fund, the Emma A. Ramer and Earl M. Ramer Scholarship Fund, and the Thomas Boston Moffatt, III Scholarship Fund are established.

March 26-27, 1982 

The Annual Seminar for the Laity is held at Lambuth College.

October 1982 

Lambuth College receives a Title III grant in support of specifically designated activities.

1983

The V. H. Burnette is established in memory of the late Reverend Burnette for the education of worthy students; the Lucille Harris Kuhn Scholarship is established to provide financial assistance for students; the Mr. and Mrs. Harold L. Simpson Scholarship is established as part of the Sesquicentennial Capital Funds Campaign for a deserving student in need of financial assistance.

Spring 1983

The Hubert and Lorain Clayton Scholarship Fund is established for students in need and who provide evidence of earnest desire for higher education; the William Slaton and Helen Mann Evans Scholarship Fund is established for deserving students; the Heaberg-Leather-Williams Scholarship Fund is establishing for deserving students; the Laura Russell Men’s Bible Class Scholarship Fund is established for a deserving student.

June 19-24, 1983

The first Annual Conference on Reading takes place at Lambuth College with forty-seven teachers in attendance – the theme of the first conference was “Reading—A Potpourri of Delights.” 

June 1983

Lambuth College announces that it will receive a $100,000 gift over a ten-year period thanks to a fund established through the will of the late Judge C. S. Carney, former Chairman of the Lambuth Board of Trustees, to be used for student scholarships.

September 1, 1983

The Lambuth College Children’s Center opens through the Adult Learner Office and the Department of Education to respond to the emerging needs of the new generation of adult learners and their children.

November 19, 1983

The West Hall women dormitory is renamed Carney-Johnston Hall.

January 1984

Lambuth College receives an unrestricted $15,000 grant from Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Co. to be paid in over five years. 

January 13, 1984

Former Lambuth College Coach Joseph Larent Johnson is inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. 

Summer 1984

The Lambuth College Summer Collegian begins for high school students who will sample college courses at reduced tuition.

June 1984

Lambuth College alumnus John Noble Wilford, Jr., receives Pulitzer Prize for science and space articles he wrote for The New York Times.

August 1984

Lambuth College announces that it has received a $1 million gift from an anonymous member of its Board of Trustees to honor former Lambuth College president Dr. James S. Wilder and his wife, Louise.

January 24, 1985

The Symposium on Life and Work is held at Lambuth College.

February 1985

The student union is dedicated as the Wilder College Union.

May 1985

Lambuth College begins offering a May Term to offer courses for students who encounter difficulties scheduling those classes during regular terms. 

Fall 1985

Lambuth College sees an increase in enrollment. The Center for Life and Work opens at Lambuth College, which combines the Adult Learner and Evening Programs.

Spring 1986

Lambuth College sees an increase in enrollment; Lambuth College receives $25,000 in a bequest from the estate of Louise Robbins Yopp to be used for student scholarships and library improvement – Mrs. Yopp’s niece, Ann Robbins Phillips, assistant professor of library science, is a catalogue librarian archivist for the school’s historical collection. Lambuth College President Dr. Harry W. Gilmer announces that the school will receive $250,000 from the estate of Mrs. Bernice Stockton Marrs in aid of worthy students; Lambuth College establishes a special scholarship fund in honor and memory of Dr. Billie P. Exum, who worked at Lambuth College for roughly 37 years, through contributions from more than 70 friends and former students; the Maddox family gives $100,000 for an endowed scholarship fund.  

March 11, 1986

The Lambuth College Board of Trustees approves the construction of a cooperative retirement home complex to be called The Village at Lambuth, the first cooperative retirement housing in Jackson, TN.

May 3, 1986

A Zero Year Alumni Part is organized at Lambuth College to welcome the 1986 Class graduates into the Lambuth Alumni Association.

Summer 1986

Clifford C. Isbell establishes a $50,000 trust with Lambuth College; the Winston C. “Wink” Martindale Broadcast Communications Scholarship is established at Lambuth College to recognize an outstanding student in the broadcast communications field through a $3,000 award; Lambuth College launches a Speaker’s Bureau.

Fall 1986

A special Task Force on Long Range and Short Range Planning for Institutional Advancement is formed at Lambuth College to work with the school’s advancement staff and Board of Trustees to meet its financial needs; Lambuth College launches and eight-point fundraising effort; Austin and Patricia Lewis, Lambuth College graduates, donate a satellite earth station to the school.

February 1987 

The Campus Congregation Council organizes a Peace Awareness Day.

Spring 1987

Lambuth College receives an unrestricted $700 grant from the Sears-Roebuck Foundation; Lambuth College receives $1,916 from the Charles Lucien Burnley Testamentary Trust and I. B. Tigrett Memorial Trust Fund.

April 27, 1987

Lambuth College is presented with the “Jackson’s Coming Clean Award” by Jackson Commissioner of Streets and Public Utilities, Johnny Parham, for “individual endeavors to improve our community.” 

Summer 1987

Lambuth College Coach Andy Rushing is named Coach of the Year by The Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference.

1988 

Lambuth College President Thomas F. Boyd presents a 5-year restructuring plan for the school.

Fall 1988

The 21st Century Club is established at Lambuth College to recognize those who donate $5,000 of more every fiscal year; Lambuth College sees an increase in enrollment; Lambuth College enters its 145th year of history.

October 22, 1988

A conference on the Holocaust titles “Shoah: Remembering the Past to Protect the Future is held at Lambuth College.”  

Spring 1989

Lambuth College receives a $9,500 grant from The Council of Independent Colleges to integrate technology and the liberal arts. 

December 11, 1988

Lambuth College first Black sorority, the Omicron Omicron chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., is established.

1990 

Creation of the Jane Hyde Scott Center for Christian Studies.