THE LIBBY YEARS
LEADERS OF THE PAST Glancing back at Stetson’s previous eight presidents B Y K E L LY L A R S O N
John F. Forbes, PhD, 1884-1904
William Sims Allen, PhD, 1934-1947
John F. Forbes, from Rochester, New York, was selected by Henry DeLand to be Stetson’s first president. During his tenure, the university’s enrollment grew from 88 students to almost 300. In 1885, the Florida Baptist Convention endowed Stetson with $10,000, and Forbes established an affiliation with the University of Chicago. He also oversaw the construction of Stetson Hall, Chaudoin Hall, Elizabeth Hall and Flagler Hall, as well as the establishment of Stetson’s Law School, which was Florida’s first law school. Forbes was passionate about education and an excellent judge of character, known for his erudition and sympathy for others. Forbes resigned in 1904 and returned to his home in Rochester.
Although William Sims Allen led Stetson through the difficult Depression and World War II years, his greatest challenge while in office was to manage the university’s rapid growth. The physical campus was expanded, and buildings were refurbished — with the introduction of Stetson’s first facilities maintenance programs. Also, academic standards grew increasingly rigorous, the first Commons was built, separate schools were established for business and music, and enrollment shot up from a few hundred students to approximately 2,000. He has been characterized as quick-witted, fast-talking, cheerful and sometimes impulsive. He resigned due to illness in September 1947.
Academy graduates from the class of 1912 stand in front of Flagler Hall. Louise Hulley, daughter of President Lincoln Hulley, has a bow in her hair.
J. Ollie Edmunds, LL.B., 1948-1967
Lincoln Hulley, PhD, 1904-1934 Lincoln Hulley had the longest tenure of all the presidents. During his 30 years at Stetson, the university was accredited, enrollments grew and the campus expanded. He oversaw the construction of Sampson Hall, Conrad Hall and Cummings Gymnasium, among other buildings. Under his watch, Academy classes were ended in 1925. A prolific poet, playwright and orator, Hulley was known to deliver powerful sermons. In addition, he served two terms in the Florida State Senate, starting in 1918. Frequently remembered as hot-tempered, autocratic and bombastic, Hulley was nonetheless widely regarded as an astute leader who devoted much of his life to Stetson. He died in office in 1934 and is interred, with his wife, Eloise, in the Hulley crypt on campus.
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STETSON | Spring 2020
President William Sims Allen, in academic regalia, in 1946 at the podium in the Elizabeth Hall chapel (later named Lee Chapel).
Dean Etter Turner and President J. Ollie Edmunds, in formal attire, prepare to light the Yule Log.
Triple alumnus J. Ollie Edmunds (bachelor’s degree in 1925, master’s in 1927 and law degree in 1928) served as Stetson’s president during the beginning of the American Civil Rights era, and he is known for registering the university’s first African American student, Cornelius Hunter. He was the first and only Stetson alumnus to become president and the first president who was not a professional educator. A lawyer by profession, Edmunds was a deft administrator who established Stetson’s first planning and development office, successfully securing funds to build the duPont-Ball Library, the Carlton Student Union Building, Allen Hall, Sage Hall, Davis Hall and several dormitories. Edmunds also oversaw the College of Law’s transition to its present site in Gulfport. Edmunds resigned in February 1967 to return to private business and was named the first chancellor of the university by the Board of Trustees.
