Hendrix College began as a primary school called Central Institute, founded in 1876 in Altus, Arkansas, by Rev. Isham L. Burrow. In 1881, it was renamed Central Collegiate Institute when it expanded to include secondary and collegiate departments. The following year, the first collegiate graduating class, consisting of three women, received Mistress of English Literature degrees. In 1884, three conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South purchased the school, marking the beginning of its long association with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, later the Methodist Church, and eventually the United Methodist Church. In 1889, the school was renamed Hendrix College in honor of Rev. Eugene Russell Hendrix, a presiding bishop over three Arkansas Methodist conferences. That same year, the primary school was discontinued.
Originally designated as a male college, Hendrix College began enrolling women interested in its courses by the time of the name change in 1889. In 1890, after considering bids from seven other Arkansas towns, the Hendrix Board of Trustees selected Conway as the new location for the college. In 1930, the name was briefly changed to Trinity College but reverted to Hendrix College due to opposition from students, alumni, and townspeople. In 1933, during the Great Depression, the financially troubled Galloway Woman’s College in Searcy, Arkansas, was absorbed by Hendrix.
You can browse or download the following Hendrix College yearbooks for free. They cover various years from 1934 to 1972, although not every year within that range is included.
Hendrix College Yearbooks
- 1934 The troubadour
- 1936The troubadour
- 1937The troubadour
- 1938The troubadour
- 1939The troubadour
- 1952The troubadour
- 1954The troubadour
- 1964The troubadour
- 1971 The troubadour
- 1972 The troubadour