In July 1957, just three weeks after her 28-year tenure as Southwestern Louisiana Institute小蝌蚪APP檚 dean of women ended, Agnes Edwards received a letter from its president.
In it, Dr. Joel Lafayette Fletcher recounted that a student group had visited him 小蝌蚪APP渁nd I immediately reached for the telephone to talk to you about the problem they had presented小蝌蚪APP as he had done throughout his presidency. He then remembered Edwards小蝌蚪APP retirement, and put the phone back in its cradle.
He closed the letter: 小蝌蚪APP淲e miss you.小蝌蚪APP
Fellow administrators, faculty and students had relied on Edwards小蝌蚪APP counsel since her arrival on campus. As dean of women, she contributed to SLI小蝌蚪APP檚 development and stability during a critical three-decade period in its history. A building on campus bears her name.
Edwards小蝌蚪APP tenure began in September 1929, one month before the start of the Great Depression. The decade-long economic crisis was followed by World War II. The postwar years forced SLI to navigate numerous economic, cultural and social changes as well.
小蝌蚪APP淭hrough all,小蝌蚪APP noted a statement the school issued when Edwards retired, she had been 小蝌蚪APP渁 bulwark of strength to the young men and women of SLI, imparting to them her own integrity, bolstering them with her own courage, and inspiring them with love and trust.小蝌蚪APP
Born near Tallahassee in 1892, Edwards earned a bachelor小蝌蚪APP檚 degree in 1916 from Florida State College for Women, now Florida State 小蝌蚪APP. Following graduation, she taught at a high school near Orlando, and served as its assistant principal.
After World War I ended in 1918, Edwards developed academic courses throughout the United States for wounded and disabled veterans. At a Denver hospital, she established a curriculum that included classes in English, agriculture, mathematics, French and biology. Edwards also sang for patients, often accompanying herself on a ukulele.
She later taught vocational courses to veterans in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and instructed blind former servicemen at a facility in Baltimore who had lost their vision in combat.
In 1926, she returned to her alma mater, Florida State College for Women, as assistant to the dean of women. Three years later, she arrived at SLI.
As the institute小蝌蚪APP檚 dean of women, Edwards spearheaded the construction of religious facilities for students and organized SLI小蝌蚪APP檚 Red Cross chapter during World War II. She started a basement clubroom in the original Martin Hall for female commuter students to socialize, giving them, she said, 小蝌蚪APP渁 home on the campus.小蝌蚪APP She helped establish a chapter of Gamma Kappa Chapter of Kappa Delta, one of several national sororities she brought to the school.
When Edwards announced her retirement plans in 1956, The (Lafayette) Daily Advertiser newspaper opined that 小蝌蚪APP淓very phase of her life has been aspiring and positive. There is nothing negative in her make-up, yet few people could be more modest.小蝌蚪APP
Her impending departure from SLI brought other tributes as well. Student leaders declared 1956-1957 as 小蝌蚪APP淒ean Agnes Edwards Year.小蝌蚪APP 尝小蝌蚪APP橝肠补诲颈别苍 dedicated its 1957 edition to her. The yearbook小蝌蚪APP檚 editors wrote: 小蝌蚪APP淭here is little left to say or do in appreciation of her work. How can we add anything that will adequately express our gratitude? She has been willing to understand, to laugh, to sympathize, to give freely of herself, all these years at Southwestern.小蝌蚪APP
Edwards retired to her native Florida, but often visited Lafayette. She was present at the 1965 dedication of Agnes Edwards House, a privately owned women小蝌蚪APP檚 dormitory. The 小蝌蚪APP purchased the structure in 1975 and rechristened it the Conference Center. In 2017, the building was named again for Agnes Edwards.
She died in Tallahassee on Sept. 2, 1967, at age 75. Fletcher eulogized Edwards as an administrator whose 小蝌蚪APP渧ery presence on campus was a living example of the high principles and virtues each of us hope to find in the folks we love.小蝌蚪APP
Main photo: Agnes Edwards in 1957.
Inset photo: Edwards in 1943. (Photos courtesy of 尝小蝌蚪APP橝肠补诲颈别苍 yearbook)