I
HISTORICAL SKETCH
In 1906 a young men's Bible class was organized in the Immanuel Presbyterian Church by Rev. T. C. Horton, Bible teacher of the church. This class soon took on larger proportions and was named "The Fishermen's Club." A short time later Mr. D. H. Steele, an elder of the same church and manager of a department store, re quested Mrs. Horton to open a Bible class for the young women of his store, offering a large room for the purpose. The class grew to large numbers by the coming in of young women from other stores, and was named "The Lyceum Club." From such young people the first students of the Bible Institute were recruited. In the Fall of 1907, Mr. Horton secured the cooperation of Rev. A. B. Pritchard, pastor of Central Presbyterian Church, and some day classes were held in the lecture room of that church. It soon became clear that a building was needed, and several weeks were spent in search of proper quarters. A locat ion was secured on South Main Street, not an ideal location, but the best then offered. On February 25, 1908, a meeting was called to effect a permanent organization . At this meeting the following persons were elected as officers: Lyman Stewart, Presi dent; A. B. Pritchard, Vice-President; T. C. Horton, Superintendent; R. A. Hadden, Associate Superintendent; B. C. Atterbury, Secretary; and Leon V. Shaw, Treasurer. There was a rapid development of the school. Messrs . Horton, Hadden, and Pritchard fo rmed the Faculty and took up the teaching work. From the beginning, the school was evangelistic in character. Shop meetings were taken over and conducted, Bible Women's work was organized, a work among Jews was commenced, as was also Spanish Mission work and work among the men of the oil fields, and Extension classes were organized in the city and surrounding towns. In 1911 the Board of Directors decided upon an advance movement and called Dr. R. A. Torrey as Dean. Dr. Torrey entered upon his duties in January, 1912. In order to meet the enlarging needs and to provide a more suitable and permanent home fo r the school, a new site was purchased at Sixth and Hope Streets and a building was put up, ground for which was broken on June 22, 1912, and the building was dedicated the following year. Dr. Torrey continued as Dean until 1924, when he again entered the evangelistic field. Owing to the growth of the school and the increase of responsibility thereby entailed, a reorganization was effected and the work divided: a President to care for the administ rative aspect, and a Dean to handle the educational phases, working under the Board of Trustees. Dr. Louis T. Talbot is the present President of the school and Dr. S. H. Sutherland, Dean. 7
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