Six men who made highly significant contributions–tangible and intangible to realization of the Chapel of Memories will be memorialized at dedication ceremonies here Friday afternoon.
Portraits of the men will be unveiled in the chapel sanctuary by members of their family.
The four living contributors are expected to attend–Harry G. Carpenter of Rolling Fork; Cully A. Cobb of Atlanta, Ga.; George D. Perry of Tunica; and Charles S. Whittington of Greenwood. The others are the late Benjamin F. Hilbun, Mississippi State University’s 11th president; and the late Fred F. Mitchell of Louisville.
Preceding the unveiling, Dr. Frank A. Rose, president of the University of Alabama and a Meridian native, will deliver the dedicatory address. The chapel program will be concluded with a litany led by Roy C. Adams, president of the MSU Alumni Association, and a prayer of dedication by the Rev. D. C. Applegate, pastor of Starkville’s First Baptist Church.
Prior to the 3:30 program, John Klein of Schulmerich Carillons, Inc., one of the world’s foremost players of the modern multiple bell-tone instrument, will present a 2:45-3:30 concert on the chapel’s carillon.
Mr. Carpenter, who served for 17 years as a member of the Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning, is a longtime leader in agriculture, business, education, church and civic activities in the Mississippi Delta.
A member of Who’s Who in America, he has served as superintendent of the Baptist Sunday School for 32 years and as a deacon for 20 years. He earned the Silver Beaver award for outstanding service to Boy Scouts of America.
Mr. Cobb, a 1908 State graduate, served as superintendent of the state’s first agricultural high school–at Buena Vista. He also was head of the Boy’s Agriculture Club Division at State and assistant director of Agricultural Extension.
After becoming editor of the Southern Ruralist in Atlanta in 1918, he was elected president of the American Agricultural Editors Association three terms in succession. A former managing editor of “The Progressive Farmer” magazine and head of the Cotton Division of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration in Washington, D, C., he returned to Atlanta in 1937 to take charge of the Ruralist Press. It has grown into one of the largest printing concerns in the South.
The late Dr. Hilbun, 11th president of MSU, began a career of service to the University in 1925. He was director of the service bureau, registrar, and administrative assistant, before becoming president in 1953. He became president emeritus at expiration of his term in 1960. It was Dr. Hilbun who envisioned the chapel as a lasting memorial and began the movement which will be climaxed Friday,
A native of Ellisville and longtime Louisville resident, the late Mr. Mitchell served as president of Louisville Brick Company for 35 years. His company donated the bricks with which the chapel is partially constructed, being interspersed with bricks from Old Main dormitory.
A Mason, Shriner, Rotarian and member of Louisville’s First Methodist Church, Mr. Mitchell was a successful businessman and a dedicated civic and church worker. He promoted area industry through the Northeast Mississippi Development Council.
Mr. Perry became one of the most successful planters in the Delta before retiring in 1958. He was called out of retirement in 1961 to serve as president of the Tunica County Bank, which he helped establish. He has served as a director of several Mississippi industries.
Mr. Whittington, who was named 1964 Alumnus of the Year by the MSU Alumni Association, is presently serving as president of the University’s Development Foundation. He has enjoyed a successful career in both industry and agriculture.
Among the numerous honors he has received are: Leflore County’s Outstanding Citizen; Progressive Farmer’s Master Farmer; Mississippi’s OutstandIng Livestockman by State’s Block and Bridle Club; and the Distinguished Service Award from the New Orleans Bank of Cooperatives for many years of service in organizing and developing farmer cooperatives.
