History of Lamar University

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Lamar University is a state university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar is a Carnegie Doctoral Research University, one of only 27 so designated universities in the United States.

Founding and Establishment

The idea for a public junior college in Beaumont's South Park was formed by Louis R. Pietzsch. Pietzsch had become intensely interested in the junior college movement while enrolled in summer school at the University of Chicago in 1918, and by 1921, was convinced that South Park should have a junior college. Lamar University started on September 17, 1923 as South Park Junior College, operating on the unused third floor of the new

In 1932, recognizing that the junior college was now serving the region, the college held a public contest to rename itself and would award a $100 scholarship to the winner. Otho Plummer a recent graduate was one of 25 to suggest the name Lamar College, after Mirabeau B. Lamar, but he won by virtue of the 100-word essay he wrote in support of the idea. On August 20, 1932 the board voted to change South Park Junior College into Lamar College. In honor of this change head coach and athletic director John E. Gray dropped the old athletic nickname "Brahmas" in favor of "Cardinals." By 1932, no faculty member was scheduled to teach in both the college and high school. The next year, 1933, the separation of the college from South Park High School began with construction of new facilities. These changes occurred during the troubled days of the Great Depression, a time when many institutions faltered, but Lamar continued to grow. College authorities did what they could to help students during this difficult period. In 1938, about half of the students were employed by the college at wages that enabled them to earn all or part of their tuition, fees and textbooks.^[4] In 1938, realizing that Lamar College's continued growth would place significant burden on the rest of the South Park School District an enlarged union junior college district was proposed.

A committee of the Young Men's Business League, working closely with officials of Lamar College and the school board of South Park, spearheaded the task of creating a union junior college district. Early plans called for a district comprising the Beaumont, South Park, French, Nederland and Port Neches school districts, but opposition in the latter two districts caused them to be dropped. In an election Sept. 21, 1940, voters approved the creation of a Lamar Union Junior College District, the issuance of bonds to construct an entirely new college facility, a new tax for support and maintenance and the election of trustees to govern the college. A previous decision, in 1938, by the South Park board of trustees to buy a 58-acre tract of land on Port Arthur Highway, just three blocks east of what was then the Lamar campus, predestined the location of Lamar's Campus. The tract was most unattractive, having been used as a tank farm for oil storage, but the

In the 21 months between the election of September 1940 and June 8, the day classes would begin at the new campus, significant changes were undertaken. The newly elected board of trustees secured agreement from the old board to continue operation of the school until June 2, 1941. On that day, although the college still inhabited its original buildings, the new board would take control of operations of Lamar College. Other than the shared facilities, the cord tying Lamar College to the South Park School District had been cut. On June 1, 1942 as the college was moving into its new facilities John E. Gray became president of the college.

By 1942, the college was completely independent of the South Park school district, and operations moved to the current campus.

Lamar State College of Technology

With the end of

Desegregation

Desegregation - 1950s and 1960s

Efforts to Gain Admission

In 1962, Anthony Guillory blazed the trail for an integrated athletics department at Lamar. Guillory transferred from Nebraska.^[7][8]

Path to university status

Enrollment continued to grow throughout the 1950s and 1960s, reaching 10,000 students. Graduate work was authorized in 1960, when master's degrees were offered in several fields.^[9] The enrollment plateaued in the 1970s as the baby boomers generation reached adulthood. In 1969, Lamar State College opened its first branch in Orange, Texas. In 1970, Lamar State College began offering its first doctoral program, the Doctor of Engineering, and in 1971 the college's name was officially changed to Lamar University.^{[citation needed]}

In 1975, the university merged with Port Arthur College in Port Arthur, Texas, creating Lamar University-Port Arthur. In 1983, Senator Carl A. Parker sponsored a bill creating the Lamar University System, and in 1986, Lamar University-Orange and Lamar University-Port Arthur were granted accreditation separate from the main campus. Lamar Institute of Technology was created in 1990 to provide technical, business, health and industrial education through programs two years or fewer in length.

Recent history

In 1995, the Lamar University System was incorporated into the

• C-SPAN3 videos: ^[11] Includes video report by Lamar University History Professor, Dr. Robert Robertson of Lamar State College of Technology desegregation as well as desegregation of public parks and golf courses in Beaumont.
• "My grandmother is a warrior" - Integration of Lamar University in Texas:^[12] Includes video interview with Versie Jackson, one of the lead plaintiffs in the Jackson v. McDonald class action lawsuit.

References