Gainesville Junior College

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Gainesville Junior College. Now, every great institution has to start somewhere, and this one started with a man, an idea, and a couple of civic clubs willing to back him up. Randolph Lee Clark arrived in Gainesville in 1923 as superintendent of the public schools.

And he didn't come quietly. With the support of the Kiwanis Club and the Parent-Teacher Association, Clark began promoting a notion that some folks might have thought a little ambitious for a town school system: a junior college, right here, right now. The city council listened.

In May of 1924, they authorized the creation of a college as part of the school system. Just like that, it was official. The two-year institution opened the following September in the Newsome Dougherty Memorial High School Building.

Thirty-two students walked through those doors for that first enrollment. Thirty-two. You could fit them all in a decent-sized living room.

And yet, the first graduating class of 1926 sent ten students across a stage to collect their diplomas. Ten people who could say they were among the very first to finish something that had barely existed two years before. The curriculum started where you might expect: academic courses that would transfer to four-year universities.

But the college kept growing into itself. Vocational and agricultural training programs found their way into the catalog. A division of continuing education took shape.

Cultural enrichment courses were added. The school was figuring out that education doesn't come in just one flavor. Then came World War II, and the college bent itself to meet the moment.

An aeronautics program took root, stimulated by the war. And when the veterans came home, they came to class, taking advantage of the college's first night classes. Men who had seen the world, now sitting in the dark studying by lamplight.

There's something in that worth pausing on. In 1960, Cooke County voters made a decision that changed the college's trajectory. They approved the separation of the college from the independent school district, giving it room to grow into its own thing.

And grow it did. In the decade that followed, enrollment surpassed one thousand students, and the campus of Cooke County Junior College, as it was then known, expanded from one building to eight. By 1994, the school had stretched itself well beyond the boundaries of Cooke County, and so it took a new name to match: North Central Texas College.

And in the year 2000, it opened new campuses in the cities of Corinth and Bowie. From thirty-two students in a high school building to campuses across the region. The marker calls this institution the oldest, continuously operating, public two-year college in Texas.

Randolph Lee Clark showed up in 1923 with an idea and some allies. Turns out, that was enough.

What the marker says

With support from the Kiwanis Club and the Parent-Teacher Association, Randolph Lee Clark (1871-1941) began promoting the idea of a junior college upon his arrival in 1923 as superintendent of Gainesville's public schools. In May 1924, the city council authorized the creation of a college as part of the school system. The two-year institution opened the following September in the Newsome Dougherty Memorial High School Building. Initial enrollment at Gainesville Junior College was 32, with ten students in the first graduating class of 1926. World War II stimulated the development of an aeronautics program, and returning veterans took advantage of the college's first night classes. The curriculum initially consisted of academic courses that would transfer to four-year universities. Eventually, vocational and agricultural training programs, a division of continuing education, and cultural enrichment courses were added to expand the college's offerings. In 1960, Cooke County voters approved the separation of the college from the independent school district. In the ensuing decade, enrollment surpassed 1,000, and the campus of Cooke County Junior College (as it then was known) grew from one to eight buildings. Known as North Central Texas College since 1994 to reflect the school's presence beyond the boundaries of Cooke County, this institution is significant as the oldest, continuously operating, public two-year college in Texas. In 2000, it opened new campuses in the cities of Corinth and Bowie. (2001)