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Dissertation Information for Ralph Eugene Reed Jr.

NAME:
- Ralph Eugene Reed Jr.

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- History

SCHOOL:
- Emory University (USA) (1991)

ADVISORS:
- Dan T. Carter

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Inspected

Title: Fortresses of faith: Design and experience at Southern Evangelical colleges, 1830-1900

Abstract: This dissertation studies the founding and development of Evangelical colleges in the South between 1830 and 1900. Evangelical institutions of higher learning were important during the nineteenth century not only because of the prominent role they played in higher education in the South, but also because their growth and development reflected the changing social aspirations and motivations of Southern Evangelicals.

Evangelicals founded colleges in the antebellum era that bolstered group pride and fostered intense piety among students and faculty. The mission of these institutions was both the preservation of the faith and the permeation of the culture. During the antebellum period, the impulse for Evangelical community and mutuality led to the establishment of isolated college communities and the construction of asylum-like buildings that encouraged Evangelicals to come out of a world they found wicked and wanton. The Civil War destroyed these idyllic collegiate villages. After 1870, Evangelicals reformed their colleges to match their desire for a more influential role in society. The post-Civil War changes in architecture, geographic location, student population, and curriculum of the church colleges transformed Evangelical higher education, and reflected a dramatic shift in the social status of Evangelicals in the South during the nineteenth century.

This dissertation explores this metamorphosis of Southern Evangelical higher education by examining student correspondence, religious periodicals, trustee minutes, faculty proceedings, and the records of denominational governing bodies. The approach is comparative, contrasting the church college of the antebellum period with its counterpart in the New South, while also casting a sideward glance at Southern state universities. In addition, this study analyzes collegiate architecture, student dress, social dramas such as revivals and initiation rites, and other aspects of material culture of the colleges that affected behavior and mediated social relationships.

Denominational colleges educated more students and boasted more alumni than state-sponsored universities throughout the nineteenth century, yet their influence on religion and culture in the South has not been fully understood. This study offers a corrective to this problem by tracing the origins and rise to power and prestige of the Southern church college and its Evangelical sponsors.

MPACT Scores for Ralph Eugene Reed Jr.

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C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
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TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-05-31 15:55:21

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Students under Ralph Eugene Reed Jr.

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None