DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Bishop College, up in Harrison County. Pull over if you need to — this one's worth your full attention. In 1881, something took root in Marshall, Texas.
The Baptist Home Mission Society founded Bishop College, and just like that, Marshall had itself a second historically Black college. Now the name on that school didn't come from thin air — it came from a man named Nathan Bishop, a New York native who'd served as superintendent of several Northeastern school systems. He and his wife, Caroline Caldwell Bishop, sat down with several local Baptist ministers, and they combined their funds.
That's how a college gets built — not by waiting on someone else, but by pooling what you have and putting it toward something bigger than yourself. What they built was no small operation. Bishop College offered instruction in twenty-two disciplines — literature, science, art, religion, and more.
Twenty-two. That's a full life of the mind right there on the Texas side of the Louisiana border. Then in 1925, the school began a two-year ministerial training program.
That program would later be renamed to honor the college's first African American president, a man named Joseph J. Rhoads. The marker doesn't rush past that detail, and neither will I.
Bishop College had a competitive spirit too. Its athletes brought home championships in the Southwest Athletic Conference and later in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. On the field and on the court, Bishop College was not to be trifled with.
Now here's where the story leans forward in its chair. It's 1960. Martin Luther King Jr. stands at the commencement ceremony at Bishop College and speaks to those graduates.
Let that land. And then, all through the 1960s, Bishop College students were stepping into local Marshall restaurants and sitting down — sit-ins, right there in their own town. They were doing the work of the Civil Rights era, and they were doing it with the name of their college behind them.
The 1960s also brought a wrenching change. The Bishop College campus relocated from Marshall to Dallas. And back in Marshall, the Administration Building — which had also served as the former Holcomb family home on the Wyalucing Plantation — was demolished.
With it gone, all traces of Bishop College in Marshall slowly disappeared. Slowly. That word does a lot of heavy lifting.
The college carried on in Dallas, producing notable alumni — professional athletes, politicians, ministers — before it officially closed its doors in 1988. Over a century after those founders combined their funds, the doors went quiet. But here's the thing about what Bishop College was.
Twenty-two disciplines. Championships. A president honored by name.
Martin Luther King Jr. at the podium. Students at the lunch counter. That's not a footnote — that's a legacy.
And the marker puts it plainly: Bishop College stands as a testament to the success and perseverance of African American institutions of higher learning. Some things disappear from a landscape and still refuse to disappear from history.
What the marker says
Founded by the Baptist Home Mission Society in 1881, Bishop College became the second historically Black college in Marshall. Nathan Bishop, a New York native and superintendent of several Northeastern school systems, his wife, Caroline Caldwell Bishop, and several local Baptist ministers combined their funds to begin the college. Throughout its existence, Bishop College offered instruction in 22 disciplines including literature, science, art and religion, In 1925, the school began a two-year ministerial training program, which was later renamed to honor its first African American president, Joseph J. Rhoads. In athletics, Bishop College achieved championships in the Southwest Athletic Conference and later in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. In 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the commencement ceremony at Bishop College and during the 1960s Civil Rights era, Bishop College students participated in sit-ins at local Marshall restaurants. The 1960s also marked the relocation of the Bishop College campus from Marshall to Dallas. With the 1960s demolition of Bishop College's Administration Building and former Holcomb family home on the Wyalucing Plantation, all traces of Bishop College in Marshall slowly disappeared. Notable alumni include professional athletes, politicians and ministers. Although Bishop College officially closed its doors in 1988, Bishop College's legacy stands as testament to the success and perseverance of African American institutions of higher learning. (2018)