The Junior Historian, Volume 28, Number 6, May 1968 Page: 1
32 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE CLEBURNE INSTITUTE
by JOYCE SULLIVAN
Cleburne High SchoolTHROUGHOUT HISTORY, civili-
zation has depended heavily on the
church for human, social, and cul-
tural advancement. Various religions have
had and do hold control over groups, na-
tions, continents, and the world. The
church needs no recognition because
the beneficial things of our world are
monuments to the men of Hope and
Charity. The church provides the inspira-
tion and encouragement that men need for
living by giving them, the incentive to step
beyond regular bounds into the void gov-
erned by great men and great ideas. It
was with this inspiration that the "Cle-
burne Institute" was established.
Almost immediately after W. A. Ma-
son's founding of the Alvarado Baptist
Association in 1864, the association en-
deavored to boost the Christian educa-
tion in the county. For some time Mason
had a burning desire to see a college es-
tablished in this part of the state that
would mean as much to the Cleburne
area as Baylor University at Independ-
ence meant to that part of the state.
There is no doubt that one of his pur-
poses in organizing and establishing the
Alvarado Baptist Association was the
fostering of Christian education as well
as being a missionary endeavor.
During the 1867 meeting of the Alva-
rado Association at Acton, Texas, a res-
olution was passed to establish a high
school somewhere within the bounds of
the association. During the meeting, a
committee was appointed to select a site
and make all detailed arrangements.
The citizens of Cleburne always had
been progressive in their educational at-
titude, and took full advantage of the
situation. Cleburne citizens held a meet-
ing and promised vigorous support to the
school if it would be situated in Cleburne.
Not stopping with promises, the leading
citizens of the community got up a sub-
scription of about $1,400, and also ob-tained a pledge from the county court to
deed to the association all lots in Cle-
burne that had been set aside for school
purposes. Cleburne further pledged to
abrogate the law pemitting the sale of
intoxicating liquor and would also assist
in securing the charter for the school.
Judge James Hines was sent to present
these pledges to the committee with the
additional pledge that the subscription
would be doubled if necessary. The tem-
porary committee, which had been set up
until the board of trustees was appoint-
ed, accepted Cleburne as the school site
because of the pledges made and to
the ardent interest shown by Cleburne's
leaders. The fourth annual meeting of
the association adopted the recommenda-
tion to establish the school in Cleburne,
and stated that the land used would be
that which had been donated previously
by Colonel B. J. Chambers. According
to the minutes of the meeting, Chambers
and several others gave rousing speeches
for Christian education and for financial
support of the new establishment. Also,
at this meeting the name was officially
changed from a high school to the "Cle-
burne Institute." The Institute was com-
monly referred to as the "Baptist Col-
lege" and as the "Cleburne Institute,
Male and Female."The board of trustees was appointed
by the Alvarado Baptist Association dur-
ing the fourth annual meeting on Sep-
tember 18, 1868. A board of twenty-two
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 28, Number 6, May 1968, periodical, May 1968; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391564/m1/3/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.