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Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Opinion

Potter

Since March is Women's History Month I thought that it might be appropriate to devote the next four columns to some of the female professors who have made lasting contributions to the history of Lynchburg College. One of them made the arts a vital part of our curriculum, while three of them taught us to write with style as well as embrace the literature of the world as our own.

Georgia Morgan attended Randolph-Macon Woman's College, but her artistic skills were honed in the studios of Paris during the waning years of the Impressionist movement. She joined the faculty of Lynchburg College in 1915 and thirty years later she retired as a local legend. While Dr. Hopwood planted a number of the oak trees that shade the Knight-Capron Library, Miss Georgia planted the dogwoods. She was a law unto herself, holding forth on the third floor of Hopwood Hall that faces Carnegie Hall. Her students entered the work force, enriching their communities. Her paintings are everywhere on campus, reminding us of her legacy.

Miss Georgia's receptions were memorable events. She made punch that has never been equaled. The ingredients were typical, but the final touch left a lasting impression on all those who drank it. She stirred her libations with a paint brush, and there was always the faintest hint of turpentine in every cup. However it was not the drink that was important, it was the company. Miss Georgia introduced her students to the wider world, and made them citizens of that wonderful place.

The next time you are in the library take some time to browse through the copies of the Argonaut which is a priceless visual record of our history as a college. If you turn to the volumes for the 1920s you will find Miss Georgia's famous tableaux. Her regularly persuaded student leaders-and no one said no to Miss Georgia-to don historical costumes and pose for her. Hence John M. Turner Jr., who later became Dean of the College, was immortalized as Sir Galahad. He was star athlete, and he looked good in chain mail.

Despite all the fun and foolishness, there was a serious side to Miss Georgia. She was a first-rate craftswoman , and she trained her students to see everything as only an artist can. Delores Swanson, Class of 1937, fondly remembered Miss Georgia's classes, but they were not easy. She expected every student to work to their level of expertise; she did tolerate slackers. If you not leave a class a better artist than when you began it, then she had failed, and Miss Georgia did not fail. When one's work was not up to standard, it was time to begin again, and yet again until both artist and teacher were satisfied.

As her eyesight began to fail, Miss Georgia decided to retire. She was replaced by Pierre Daura, who only briefly taught at Lynchburg College. Her real successor was Don Evans who joined the faculty in 1948. Miss Georgia continued to paint until the end of her life. Each year the Lynchburg Art Club holds an show in her memory, and sometimes one of her works is offered for sale.

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