Wildcat
Dreams is Fort Valley State University President Ivelaw Lloyd
Griffith’s tri-weekly e-newsletter. As an additional resource to stay
connected to FVSU, Wildcat Dreams highlights various campus activities
and updates about new initiatives and programs. Readers are encouraged
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feedback. Please send comments to fvsu_pr@fvsu.edu. Thank you and happy reading!
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FVSU
President Dr. Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith shares highlights of campus
activities related to the recognition of the 2015 Black History Month
celebration at Fort Valley State University. To view the video, click here.
 Wildcat Dreams Special Edition:Black History Month
In this special edition of the Wildcat Dreams, Fort Valley State University celebrates Black History Month.
Since 1976, the nation has officially marked the month of February as Black History Month. The month-long celebration started from Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson's "Negro History Week," which was launched in 1915, fifty years after slavery was abolished in the U.S.
Similar month-long events are now celebrated in other countries including Canada and the United Kingdom. 
Fort Valley High and Industrial School faculty in 1908.
Thank you to our contributors
Marketing and Communications would like to give a special thanks to
the individuals that have written articles for this Black History Month
edition.
 How Black History Month Began
by
Dr. Christine Lutz,
associate professor of history
Black History Month, as Americans call it today, may have begun with a
woman’s proposal for a Day of Prayer. It would take a self-made man,
Carter G. Woodson, to re-create the Day of Prayer to be the moment at
which all Americans honor the contributions to America by peoples of the
African Diaspora.
Frances Harper, abolitionist
In 1903, Frances Harper, author and
elocutionist, wrote to the Rev. Francis Grimke and suggested that he
join her in promoting the idea of African Americans coming together
across the country to pray. Black congregations and denominations had
conducted days of prayer for decades since the Negro Day of Prayer on
the White House lawn in March, 1863.
However, Harper wanted Grimke to work with her to establish a Negro National Day of Prayer upon which all could agree. The prayers, she suggested, would promote racial unity, good character and courage.
Read more here.
John W. Davison, Fort Valley High and Industrial School's first principal
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A Brief History of Fort Valley State University
by
Dr. Peter Dumbuya
FVSU professor of history
Two pieces of federal legislation gave rise to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the 19th century. The first was an act of the United States Congress in July 1862, a year after the outbreak of the Civil War. Popularly known as the Morrill Act or the Morrill Land Grant Act, the act empowered the federal government to donate public lands in “a quantity equal to thirty thousand acres for each senator and representative in Congress to which the States are respectively entitled by the apportionment under the census of eighteen hundred and sixty.” The lands and any proceeds from the sale thereof were to be used to support “agriculture and the mechanic arts,” among other subjects, in state colleges and universities. States in rebellion or insurrection against the United States government were not eligible to receive the benefits of this act.
Building upon the act of 1862, the second Morrill Act of 1890 provided annual appropriations in the amount of $15,000 to each state and territory “for the more complete endowment and maintenance of colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts.” The act also provided for an annual increase of $1,000 over the preceding year for the next ten years. Thereafter, Congress appropriated to each state and territory the sum of $50,000 for instruction in food and agricultural sciences and to prepare instructors to teach what it described as the elements of agriculture and the mechanic arts.
Read more here.
Florence Johnson Hunt, wife of Fort Valley High and Industrial School principal Henry A. Hunt.
Florence Johnson Hunt
by
Fred R. van Hartesveldt
Fred R. van Hartesveldt
Department of History, Geography, Political Science, and Criminal Justice
Florence Johnson Hunt is one of the unsung heroes of Fort Valley State University (Fort Valley High and Industrial School when she arrived). The wife of Henry Alexander Hunt, second principal and a key leader in the growth of the institution, Florence Hunt arrived in Fort Valley in early 1904. At the time, FVH&I had an annual budget of $840 and an enrollment of 145.
Although it offered virtually the only possibility of secondary education for blacks in Middle Georgia, the school was on the edge of financial collapse. It was also struggling for intellectual identity. Some supporters, white and black, favored an academic model--pre-college courses such as Latin and Greek, for instance. More were inclined to the vocational model pioneered at Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes. The first principal, John W. Davison, favored the former and had been forced out. Although the Hunts’ were academic graduates of Atlanta University, they believed that the vocational approach was the best for the day. With their cooperation, the advocates of the academic curriculum were removed and vocational programs, primarily agriculture and manual labor, established.
The Hunts, college sweethearts, left middle-class circumstances in Raleigh, N.C., where he was on the faculty of Biddle (later Johnson C. Smith) University, for the considerably more primitive Fort Valley. The change had more impact on Florence than on Henry. The couple had three young children, and as was the custom, running the household and raising the children were largely the responsibilities of the mother. She lamented the lack of amenities such as running water and comforts such as flower gardens. In addition, she was never without formal and informal duties at Fort Valley High and Industrial School.
The Hunts, college sweethearts, left middle-class circumstances in Raleigh, N.C., where he was on the faculty of Biddle (later Johnson C. Smith) University, for the considerably more primitive Fort Valley. The change had more impact on Florence than on Henry. The couple had three young children, and as was the custom, running the household and raising the children were largely the responsibilities of the mother. She lamented the lack of amenities such as running water and comforts such as flower gardens. In addition, she was never without formal and informal duties at Fort Valley High and Industrial School.
Read more here.
Horace Mann Bond, first president of Fort Valley State University.
FVSU's first president: Horace Mann Bond, father of Civil Rights champion Julian Bond
by
Christina D. Milton
public relations specialist
Horace Mann Bond, the first president of Fort Valley State University, had a distinguished career as a historian and college administrator. He was the father of civil rights activist and Georgia lawmaker Julian Bond.
FVSU's first president was born in Nashville, Tenn. on Nov. 8, 1904 to Jane Alice Browne and James Bond. His parents were children of former slaves that valued education. Both were college-educated and graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio.
Bond graduated from Lincoln Institute. In 1919, he attended Lincoln University, a prestigious HBCU in Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1923. The next year, he began his graduate work at the University of Chicago in Illinois. He married Julia Agnes Washington, and the couple had three children, Jane Marguerite, Horace Julian and James George.
Bond worked for twelve years to complete his doctorate degree. Between 1924 and 1939 he taught at Langston University in Oklahoma, and served as the school's chairman of education. He also was appointed the first academic dean of the newly formed Dillard University in New Orleans, La. Bond produced his best known work "The Education of the Negro in the American Social Order," and completed his doctoral dissertation published in 1939 as "Negro Education in Alabama: A Study in Cotton and Steel."
In 1939, he accepted the presidency at Fort Valley State College (which later became FVSU).
Julian Bond, civil rights leader, is the son of Horace Mann Bond, Fort Valley State University's first president. Bond spent his first two years on campus.
During his presidency, his son Julian Bond spent his first two years on campus. He spent the next five years improving the school's curriculum and finances. The college's income doubled during his reign, and the state appropriation more than triple. He oversaw the school's transition from a four-year baccalaureate granting institution.
Read more here.
Austin
T. Walden, an alum of Fort Valley High and Industrial School (which
would later become Fort Valley State University), was sworn in as the
state of Georgia's first African-American judge.
FVSU alum Austin T. Walden: Georgia's first African-American judge since Reconstruction
by
Christina D. Milton
public relations specialist
Austin
T. Walden, a graduate of Fort Valley High and Industrial School, was a
renowned attorney, political broker and civil right champion that was
sworn in as Georgia's first African-American judge since the
Reconstruction period.
As
an attorney, Walden argued court cases to help attain equal pay for
black educators in the state of Georgia. He also litigated lawsuits that
helped to desegregate the Atlanta public school system and the
University of Georgia.
Walden,
a Fort Valley native, was born on April 12, 1885 to former slaves
Jennie Tomlin and Jeff Walden. As a teen, he attended FVHIS and was the
sole graduate of the class of 1902. He matriculated to Atlanta
University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1907. Later, he
received a L.L.B. degree from the University of Michigan's Law School in
1911.
The
civil rights attorney began practicing law in Macon the next year. He
joined the Army in June 1917, and served as a captain and assistant
judge advocate. He married Mary Ellen Denney of Baltimore, Md. on May
18, 1918, and had two daughters Jenelsie and Austella.
Read more here.
FVSU alum Josiah Phelps is a Georgia Agriculture Education Hall of Fame member. He earned his bachelor's degree from Fort Valley State University and a Master's of Science Degree from Ohio State University. Phelps served in vocational agriculture for 32 years, and served Georgia's youth through the FFA Alumni.
He helped to desegregate the Future Farmers of America organization, when he became the FFA Executive Secretary in 1980.
Read more about his life here.
FVSU alum Josiah Phelps - Former FFA Secretary
He helped to desegregate the Future Farmers of America organization, when he became the FFA Executive Secretary in 1980.
Read more about his life here.
A newly refinished Huntington Hall during its ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Restoring FVSU's historical landmarks: Huntington Hall
by
Christina D. Milton
public relations specialist
Fort Valley State University's Huntington Hall, one of the oldest buildings on campus, underwent a massive face lift. In the old days, the stately structure served as a dormitory for female students. Thanks to the help of $4.2 million in state and federal funding, the majestic 13,500-square-foot red brick building re-opened as the new home of FVSU's External Affairs Division.
"Huntington is a signature building on FVSU's campus," says Stanley Jennings, principal architect of J.W. Robinson and Associates, the architectural firm overseeing Huntington's renovations.
The original construction of Huntington Hall was a labor of love. In 1907, leaders at Fort Valley High and Industrial School, which later became FVSU, secured a $25,000 donation from railroad financier Collis P. Huntington to construct the dormitory. They named the building in honor of the businessman. Student labor hand-fired each brick used in the building's outer masonry and helped erect the structure in 1908. The National Historical Society recently designated the 103 year old facility a historic landmark.
"Because Huntington Hall is designated as a national historic building, we had to follow strict guidelines," says Jennings. "Our company wanted to retain the original fabric and feel of the building as much as possible."
FVSU's historical buildings: Ohio and Miller Halls
by
Christina D. Milton
public relations specialist
For Elizabeth
Miller, her best memories were made at Fort Valley State University. As
a teen, she fondly recalls attending fraternity-sponsored events
inside Ohio Hall, which started as a male dormitory in 1930. Later, she
witnessed the construction of the Miller Science Building, the
university's former science building named in honor of her grandfather,
James Isaac Miller, one of the institution's original founders.
"I
just wanted to say thank you so much for preserving these buildings,"
said Miller during an August 6, 2012 ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the
reopening of Ohio Hall and the Miller Building. The brief program that
preceded the ribbon-cutting ceremony drew a large crowd of faculty and
staff inside Ohio Hall's newly redesigned lobby.
"Ohio Hall was a gift to FVSU
from the Ohio Women's Episcopal Church," she said. "We learned [from
their gift] that you could do more than just garnish wealth. All the
fraternities did their [events] there. In the past, you could walk out
and see the Florence J. Hunt Memorial Infirmary standing across from
Ohio Hall. It offered medical care, not only to Fort Valley students,
but to the community, too." Miller briefly moved to Massachusetts then
returned to Fort Valley, only to find out that the campus infirmary had
been demolished to make way for new facilities. "To tear [the
infirmary] down, was to tear down our history and the foundation that
Florence J. Hunt built in this community," she said.
Read the entire story here.
"A Light in the Valley" is a historical overview Fort Valley State University's beginnings.
A Light in the Valley: A Pictorial History of Fort Valley State since 1895
Historian
Donnie D. Bellamy wrote the essential facts of Fort Valley State,
including the State Teachers and Agricultural College of Forsyth.
See
WMAZ's video interview with interim library director Frank Mahitab
about Bellamy's celebrated historical account of our university.
Watch the video here.
Watch the video here.
Dr. Cornelius Vanderbelt Troup, Fort Valley State University's second president.
Past FVSU Presidents
- Dr. Horace Mann Bond (1939-1945)
- Dr. Cornelius Vanderbelt Troup (1945-1966)
- Dr. Waldo William Emerson Blanchet (1966-1973)
- Dr. Cleveland W. Pettigrew'43 (1973-1982)
- Dr. Walter W. Sullivan (Acting President) 1983
- Dr. Luther Burse (1988-1990)
- Dr. Melvin E. Walker (Acting President) 1988-1990
- Dr. Oscar Prater (1990-2001)
- Dr. Kofi Lomotey (2001-2005)
- Dr. William Harris (2005-2006)
- Dr. Larry E. Rivers '73 (2006-2013)
- Atty. Kimberly Ballard-Washington (Interim President) 1939-1945 (2013)
For pictures of past presidents, visit FVSU's Presidential Gallery.
George Washington Carver, botanist and inventor is renowned for his work his research into peanuts.
Dr. Charles Drew, an African-American doctor, created storage methods for blood and blood plasma for transplanting into patients.
Famous African-American scientists and inventors
Learn about the lives of 14 African-American scientists and inventors that have broken barriers and changed lives.
Benjamin Banneker (astronomer and scientist)
Bernard A. Harris Jr. - (first African-American to walk on the moon)
Dr. Mae C. Jemison (astronaut, doctor and chemical engineer)
Dr. Charles Drew (doctor that created storage methods for blood)
George Carruthers physicist, inventor of the ultraviolet camera
Percy Julian - chemist, Civil Rights Activist
Daniel Hale Williams - performed the first open-heart surgery
George Washington Carver - botanist, scientist
Garrett Morgan - inventor
Otis Boykin - inventor of the pacemaker
James West - inventor of the electric transducer in microphones
Ernest Everett Just - biologist
Neil deGrasse Tyson - astrophysicist
Ben Carson - neurosurgeon
Ralph Bunche, the first Black person in the world to win the Nobel Prize.
Black Nobel Laureates
Learn about individuals of African descent from around the world who have received the Nobel Prizes.
Nobel Prize Winners
Ralph Bunche 1950 (United States, Peace 1st Black Person to win.)
Albert John Luthuli 1960 (South Africa, Peace, 1st Black African to win.)
Martin Luther King Jr. 1964 (United States, Peace)
Anwar El Sadat 1978 (Egypt, Peace)
Sir William Arthur Lewis 1979 (Saint Lucia, Economics)
Desmond Tutu 1984 (South Africa, Peace)
Wole Soyinka 1986 (Nigeria, Literature)
Derek Walcott 1992 (Saint Lucia, Literature)
Toni Morrison 1993 (United States, Literature, 1st Black woman to win prize.)
Nelson Mandela 1993 (South Africa, Peace)
Kofi Annan 2001 (Ghana, Peace)
Wangari Maathi 2004 (Kenya, 1st Black African woman to win prize.)
Barack Obama 2009 (United States, Peace)
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 2011 (Liberia, Peace)
Leymah Gwobee 2011 (Liberia, Peace)
Author and activist W.E.B. DuBois
W.E.B. DuBois: FVSU's first Founders Day Speaker
Fort Valley State University's Founders Day honors the 18 men that helped to found our campus.
The very first speaker was W.E.B. DuBois, a historian, civil rights activist, Pan Africanist, sociologist, author and editor. He was born in Barrington, Massachusetts.
Learn more about DuBois' life as a scholar and activist here.
See the very first Founders Day program in the University of Massachusetts-Amherst's special collection of W.E.B. DuBois' papers online here.
Read FVSU associate professor of history, Dr. Christine Lutz's article about W.E.B. DuBois' participation in the Pan African Congress here.
Odessa Hardison McNair: FVSU's Living Legend
by
Christina D. Milton
public relations specialist
Dr. Odessa Hardison McNair is a living legend on the campus
of Fort Valley State University. Every time a special occasion like
Founders Day takes place on campus, students, faculty and staff members sing the
university's alma mater, written in part by McNair. This month, the
university is honoring McNair as one of its featured alums.
McNair
grew up in the city of Fort Valley. After graduating from high school,
she matriculated onto Fort Valley State College's campus to pursue a
degree in business education. At the time, Dr. Cornelius V. Troup was the president of the school.
"It
was a beautiful campus then," said McNair. "We also had a good
president. We had good instructors who were very strict. We didn't have
the technology that students have now. Our instructors were serious,
and they were hard. We knew that we were coming here for a reason: we
were coming here to get an education. That's what they emphasized. We
had to follow the rules of the campus, and we had what they called a
scope chart. If we weren't in our seats during chapel, then they would
take the roll, and if you were absent, then everyone would know. They
were very sincere about education at that time."
McNair graduated from FVSC in 1954. She taught in Fort Valley for two years, before she was hired by President Troup to work as a secretary for his administrative dean, Waldo W. E. Blanchet.
Read more here.
Read more here.
Black History Month Wall of Wisdom
FVSU to show Selma film on Feb. 24
Fort Valley State University will show the movie Selma, along with hosting a panel discussion at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24 in the C.W. Pettigrew Center.
FVSU poised for enrollment climb
Here is a snapshot of where FVSU's applications and admissions were at this time (February 13) during previous years compared to now.
- Applications for Fall 2013 as of Feb. 13 - 1068
- Applications for Fall 2014 as of Feb. 13 - 458
- Applications for Fall 2015 as of Feb. 13 - 3556
- Admissions for Fall 2013 as of Feb. 13 - 246
- Admissions for Fall 2014 as of Feb. 13 - 126
- Admissions for Fall 2015 as of Feb. 13 - 502
* Source: FVSU Office of Enrollment Management
English as a Second Language Program coming soon
In
an effort to fulfill community and workforce needs related to the
improvement in English language proficiency, Fort Valley State
University is planning to establish a Second Language (ESL) program.
The program, which begins this semester in Mini-Mester II, will offer instruction in reading, writing and speaking to individuals whose native language is not English.
The program, which begins this semester in Mini-Mester II, will offer instruction in reading, writing and speaking to individuals whose native language is not English.
FVSU's Living in the Valley radio show
Fort Valley State University has a radio show called Living in the Valley. Catch up on past episodes online.
Interview with Cynthia Parks, director of Financial Aid
Interview with FVSU alum Geneva West - Real I.M.P.A.C.T.
Interview with Lisa Wilson, Office of Sponsored Programs
Interview with Dr. Isaac Crumbly, CDEP director
Interview with Dr. Dwayne Daniels, FVSU's Chemistry Chair
Interview with Terrence Wolfork and Yolanda Surrency - Mobile Technology
Interview with FVSU's Adult Learning Consortium
FVSU Living in the Valley featuring Mayor Barbara Williams
Who is FVSU
Living in the Valley featuring Dr. Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith
Living in the Valley Featuring Calandra Wright
Fort Valley State University's Latest Ad
Watch Fort Valley State University's latest commercial on YouTube. To apply for admission at FVSU visit our admissions page.
COMING SOON - The FVSU Mobile App AND the new Website
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OTHER UPCOMING FVSU EVENTS
Feb. 16, 2015 - FVSU Scholarship LuncheonMarch 6-7 - Farm, Home & Ministers' Conference
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