The Records of the President's Office, Virginia Union University 1934-1999

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Union University
L. Douglas Wilder Library
Virginia Union University
1500 North Lombardy Street
Richmond, VA 23220
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Selicia Allen
Phone: (804) 278-4117
Fax: (804) 257-5818

Summary

Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

These records reflect the administration of the university as well as the president's outreach activities such as alumni relations and speaking engagements.

The presidents of the University have been as follows:
Dr. Malcolm MacVicar (1899-1904)
Dr. George R. Hovey (1905-1918)
Dr. William J. Clark (1919-1941)
Dr. John M. Ellison (1941-1955)
Dr. Samuel D. Proctor (1955-1960)
Dr. Thomas H. Henderson (1960-1970)
Dr. Allix B. James (1970-1979)
Dr. Dorothy N. Cowling, (acting 1979)
Dr. David T. Shannon(1979-1985)
Dr. S. Dallas Simmons (1985-1999)
Dr. Bernard W. Franklin (1999- )

Much of the collection consists of memos and letters to and from the president.

Arrangement:
Arrangement

The files are arranged alphabetically by subject.

Organization

Series I Administration of Dr. Allix B. James 1970-1979: James started working at Virginia Union University in 1947 as a Bible instructor. He was promoted to Dean of Students, then Dean of the Graduate School of Religion. He was Vice President under Dr. Henderson before being appointed President when Henderson died in 1970.

During his tenure, James oversaw many accomplishments, including the establishment of a vigorous corporate gift program, the most notable being a $2 million donation from Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Lewis matched by the Ford Foundation on a challenge from Lewis. Other corporate donors included Rockefeller, Lilly, Mellon, Phillip Morris and Kellogg. These gifts allowed renovations to the aging campus facilities among other things. The old Department of Commerce was upgraded and named the Sydney Lewis School of Business Administration, achieving full accreditation in the process.

Coburn Hall burned in James' first year as President; it wouldn't get rebuilt until Dr. Simmons' administration. Dave Robbins was appointed basketball coach under James, creating some controversy because he was not African-American. This contention was set aside, however, when Robbins coached the Panthers to a record number of championship wins.

Two Homecoming programs in the James years featured actors Bill Cosby, Sidney Poitier and TV "Mission Impossible's" Greg Morris. Community Learning Week was established as a city-wide celebration after beginning as a university holiday to mark the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Upward Bound, a preparatory program for college-bound youths, was started on campus during James' administration.

Dr. James stepped down from the presidency in 1979 and took a year's sabbatical leave. He returned as a full professor of theology and retired completely from Virginia Union University in 1993.

Series II Administration of Dr. S. Dallas Simmons 1985-1999: Simmons was known as a businessman credited with turning around the university's $6 million deficit and eliminating it within 6 years. He was only the second president of Virginia Union University who was not a clergyman. The first was Dr. Henderson. Before coming to Virginia Union University in 1985, Simmons was president of St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville. He had taught business at North Carolina Central University previously, and holds a Ph.D. from Duke University.

Besides pulling the university from the brink of bankruptcy, Simmons is most notably credited with the construction of the university's first library building. The L. Douglas Wilder Library was opened in 1997.

Other accomplishments, according to a full-color brochure "A Decade of Achievement," include reinstating 11 endowed scholarships and establishing 57 new ones, rebuilding Coburn Hall finally after it burned in 1970, bringing a police academy to campus in a cooperative effort with the Richmond police, bringing the headquarters of the Baptist General Convention to campus, tripling the university's overall endowment, and earning the highest auditors' ratings after establishing a strict internal accounting system and hiring 4 CPAs to staff the university accounting office

Simmons resigned in 1999.

Series III Administration of Dr. William J. Clark 1919-1941: Clark was the third president of Virginia Union University and the president of the longest tenure. He was a professor of church history and theological instruction at Virginia Union University before becoming president. During his administration, the university merged with Hartshorn Memorial College, a sister college adjacent to the Virginia Union University campus. The Hartshorn property was sold to balance the Virginia Union University books which suffered during the Depression. See Virginia Union Bulletin, Centennial Issue, June 1965, "A Century of Service to Education and Religion" for overview of Clark's administration.