Emory College President 1875-1884
Class of 1859

• Serves as a Confederate army chaplain during the Civil War
• Progressive in his views about education, race, and philosophy
• Gains national attention with his 1880 Thanksgiving sermon titled "The New South"
• Sermon wins support of Brooklyn banker named George Seney, a Methodist minister's son, which helps eliminate Emory's debt and pays for a building that bears Seney's name on the Oxford campus
• Builds up the college library, introduces modern language instruction, launches a law department, and requires a thesis for the master of arts degree
• First Emory faculty member elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Leaves to lead the Slater Fund, a philanthropy to support schools and colleges for African Americans
• Motto chiseled into Atlanta campus gate: "Let us stand by what is good and make it better if we can."

Learn more

• Emory Makers of History profile