Dr. Rhoads was the first black president of Bishop. In 1929 he moved to Marshall to assume the presidency and remained there until his death in 1951. He was an astute dresser, and he had a sharp mind. He thoroughly integrated the faculty from predominantly white to an equal number of white and black staff members.

President Rhoads brought in some great preachers to develop a theological school. It was just outstanding. Out of that setting, Bishop College produced so many great, great souls ---- especially in religion. We produced teachers and preachers at Bishop. Also, the L.K. Williams Ministers Annual Institute was a big time for us.

Our most popular teacher was Dr. Melvin J. Banks. Everyone wanted to go to his class and he stayed with Bishop over fifty years. He was a good historian and a good storyteller. He could paint a picture with words and make you think you were at the place of action in whatever historical event you were studying.

If everyone wanted to be in Dr. Banks¹ class, the most feared class was Miss Augusta McSwain¹s humanities course covering topics ranging from arias to architecture. She had many failing students each semester.

Miss McSwain was also a musician and the choir director. During my freshman year in 1946, we were in the chapel and all stood for the choir to perform the Hallelujah Chorus at Christmas time. It was the first time I heard it, and I will never forget that. I play it every year now.

I was proud to be a part of the staff. I started teaching classes in my sophomore year. I was a mature student who had been in the Army. I taught Social Studies, some education courses, and a humanities course that dealt with the fine arts. Later I served as Bishop College¹s Registrar.

We never had enough money. When payday came, instead of getting all of our money, we¹d get half of our salary and that happened frequently even before we moved to Dallas. We decided to move to Dallas because of this in September of 1961. Things were rosy for a while until 1986. We lost accreditation then and things went downhill. Some say the deterioration was due to the management style of Dr. Milton K. Curry who overbuilt the college.

We just worked out of love. If you love something you stick with it. I wasn¹t the only one who stayed there for many years, but I¹m the one left standing. The bankruptcy court hired me to be in charge of Bishop College student records which I¹m still doing. Otherwise, records would have been stored away. Fortunately, no student has suffered.



J. D. Hurd
P.O. Box 411238
Dallas, Texas 75241
Bishop College

BA, May 27, 1949
Major: Social Studies

1947, Bishop College faculty member
1952-present• Director, Bishop College Registrar¹s Office

•Mr. Hurd currently serves as Registrar in charge of Bishop College records at Paul Quinn College. To request a Bishop College transcript, send money order ($5 per copy) to P.O. Box 411238, Dallas, Texas 75241.