Lon Morris College (LMC) was a private

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

located in

Jacksonville, Texas Jacksonville is a city located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,997 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is the principal city of the Jacksonville micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Cherokee County. Ja ...

, United States, and was the only school affiliated with the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

that was owned by an individual conference and not the denomination as a whole. Lon Morris was an accredited two-year institute of higher learning, which provided instruction in the

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

and

sciences Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

with a core curriculum emphasizing

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

. While Lon Morris taught as many as 350 students in a semester, enrollment reached more than 1,000, a new record, in the fall of 2009. The school was south of Tyler. The person who last held the title of college president was Dr. Miles McCall; he resigned effective May 24, 2012. Lon Morris College filed for bankruptcy on July 2, 2012. The 112-acre campus was auctioned on January 14, 2013, in Dallas, Texas; the primary purchasers were a local school district and an office supply company.

History

Founded in 1854 as the New Danville Masonic Female Academy near

Kilgore, Texas Kilgore, officially the City of Kilgore, is a city in Gregg County, Texas, Gregg and Rusk County, Texas, Rusk counties in Texas, United States. Located where Interstate 20 and US 259 converge just south of the Sabine River (Texas–Louisiana), ...

, Lon Morris College was the oldest existing two-year college in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

until its closure in 2012. In 1873, the academy moved to Kilgore and became property of the Kilgore Methodist Church, changing its name to the Alexander Institute in honor of its president Isaac Alexander, an early Texas educator. The Texas Annual Conference acquired the Alexander Institute in 1875. Chartered on January 15, 1887, the Institute moved to

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

in 1894 and to its final location in 1909. After R.A. "Lon" Morris of Pittsburg, Texas, gave his estate to the school, and with approval of the Texas Annual Conference, the name of the institution was changed again, in 1924, to Lon Morris College. When it closed, Lon Morris was the only two-year

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

college west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, and it had held membership in the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees ap ...

longer than any other two-year college in Texas. It was the only surviving pre-

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

school in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

. One of Lon Morris' presidents was John E. Fellers, a Christian writer and Methodist minister, primarily in the

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

area, but also in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. In 2009, the campus of Lon Morris grew to the west, with a gift from the city of Jacksonville of a municipal activity center (formerly a

Texas National Guard The Texas Military Forces (TXMF) are the principal instrument through which the Texas Military Department (TMD) executes security policy for Texas, which has the second-largest population and border in the United States. The Texas Military Forc ...

armory), a rodeo arena, and land surrounding both. The college allowed annual events for the Tops-in-Texas Rodeo at the rodeo arena without any financial outlays from the city. Students participated in a variety of sports including men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's golf, volleyball, cheer leading and dance. In 2009, football was added as a varsity sport in an attempt to increase revenue, but this effort was unsuccessful and all athletics programs were disbanded in 2012. In February 2010, Lon Morris announced a new agriculture curriculum, begun in the fall of 2010. In March 2010, the college acquired a downtown Jacksonville building that originally had housed the city post office for many decades. A local family had owned and operated the building for a time as a hotel and restaurant under the name The Landmark. Lon Morris announced it would use the acquired property for its new hospitality administration program, for which classes would start in the fall of 2010. By March 2010, a new dormitory, Cooper House, opened on the campus, with room for thirty-two students. Another new dormitory was called The Lodge. On May 23, 2012, all college employees, with the exception of 11 core employees, were furloughed indefinitely.Valencia, Nick.
Oldest 2-year college in Texas furloughs staff
" ''

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

''. Wednesday May 23, 2012. Retrieved on May 23, 2012. Over 100 individuals were furloughed. The furlough occurred after the school missed three pay periods. Miles McCall, the president, submitted his resignation notice via e-mail. McCall's resignation was effective May 24, 2012. The affected individuals were notified via email. The decision to furlough was made by the Bridge Point Consulting Company. On May 5, 2012, the board of trustees had asked Bridge Point Consulting Company to make recommendations on how to proceed with a planned restructuring of the school. Later that month Tyler Junior College sent an outreach team to help Lon Morris students register for summer classes at Tyler Junior College. It also allowed LMC students to live at the junior college residence halls at discounted rates.

Campus

Residence halls included Brown Hall, Clark Hall, Craven-Wilson Hall, and Fair Hall. Other student housing facilities included Cooper House, LMC Cottages, and LMC Lodge.

Notable alumni

Alumni of the Lon Morris College Theatre Arts Department include: *

Sandy Duncan Sandra Kay Duncan (born February 20, 1946) is an American actress, comedian, dancer and singer. She is known for her performances in the Broadway revival of ''Peter Pan'', the sitcom '' The Hogan Family'', and the Disney films '' The Million D ...

, stage, TV, and movie actress, singer, and dancerAll planned out
, ''Jacksonville Daily Progress'', August 12, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-24. *

Margo Martindale Margo Martindale (born July 18, 1951) is an American character actress who has appeared on television, film, and stage. In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for her recurring role as Mags Bennett on '' ...

, film and TV actress * K. T. Oslin, country music singer *

Tommy Tune Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...

, stage actor, dancer, performer, choreographer, director, and producer *

Christopher Ayres Christopher Owen Ayres (May 16, 1965 – October 18, 2021) was an American actor, director and scriptwriter. He worked on voice acting and ADR directing on a number of English dubs of Japanese anime shows. In anime, he was best known as th ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

voice-actor *

Amanda McBroom Amanda McBroom (born August 9, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Notable among the songs she has written is " The Rose", which Bette Midler sang in the film of the same name, and which has been sung by many other recording art ...

, Golden Globe-winning songwriter ("The Rose") * Edwin Neal, actor *

Alan Tudyk Alan Wray Tudyk ( ; born March 16, 1971) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in '' 28 Days'' (2000), '' A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' (2004), voice and motion capture for Sonny in '' I, Robot'' (2 ...

, stage, film, and television actor *William Johnson ka Bill Johnson (XI) on IMDB stage, film, television, author, performance coach. Other Lon Morris alumni include: * Dexter Cambridge, Bahamian professional basketball player * John Wesley Hardt, bishop in the

* Micah Hoffpauir,

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

first baseman *

Johnny Horton John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American country, honky tonk, and rockabilly musician during the 1950s. He is best known for a series of history-inspired narrative country saga songs that became international ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer *

Neal McCoy Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. (born July 30, 1958), known professionally as Neal McCoy and previously as Neal McGoy, is an American country music singer. He has released 10 studio albums on various labels, and has released 34 singles to country radio ...

, country music artist * Dee Ann McWilliams, Major General, US ArmyDee Ann McWilliams
Facebook page listing, retrieved 2010-03-28. *

Cindy Pickett Cindy Pickett (born April 18, 1947) is an American actress. She is known for her 1970s role as Jackie Marler-Spaulding on the CBS soap ''Guiding Light'' and Dr. Carol Novino on the television drama ''St. Elsewhere'' in the 1980s. Pickett, however, ...

, actress *

Carl Reynolds Carl Nettles Reynolds (February 1, 1903 – May 29, 1978) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox (1927–1931), Washington Senators (1932, 1936), St. Louis Browns (1933), Boston Red Sox (1934–1 ...

, major league baseball player and member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame * Chris Sampson, major league baseball player * Shaquille Murray-Lawrence, Professional football player, Team Canada Bobsled

References

Bibliography

Lon Morris College, a storied academic history
''Jacksonville Daily Progress'', August 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-24. * John Wesley Hardt, "Cecil Peeples: a twentieth century giant: the story of Cecil Peeples, and his years at Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas", UMR Communications, 1999. Retrieved 2009-10-24. * Glendell A. Jones, "Mid the pine hills of East Texas: the Methodist centennial history of Lon Morris College", Progress Publishing Co., 1973. Retrieved 2009-10-24.

External links

Lon Morris CollegeLMC information site
including processes for acquiring transcripts *
Online tour of Lon Morris campus (mainly interiors)NJCAA records/rosters for Lon Morris sports
- artwork of Lon Morris campus buildings/icons and lineage of College presidents {{coord, 31.95501, -95.27703, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-TX, display=title Defunct private universities and colleges in Texas Two-year colleges in the United States Educational institutions disestablished in 2012 Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Education in Cherokee County, Texas Buildings and structures in Cherokee County, Texas NJCAA schools 1854 establishments in Texas Universities and colleges established in 1854 2012 disestablishments in Texas