Galloway Women’s College was established when the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, decided to consolidate resources that funded small schools around Arkansas. Searcy won the location rights for the school by pledging twenty-five thousand dollars and it was dedicated in honor of Bishop Charles Betts Galloway on April 18, 1889.
The school was troubled by the death of its first president, failure of a bond issue for construction and equipment and a devastating fire, but still grew rapidly, enrolling 269 by 1926. The school’s curriculum included homemaking and secretarial training as well as music, art and speech.
As money grew tight, the Methodists unified Galloway, Hendrix College and Henderson College under a single administration. Galloway operated under a deficit for several years, and enrollment dropped to 75 in the 1932-33 school year. Galloway Women’s College held its final commencement in June 1933, with only nineteen students graduating.
You can read the full Encyclopedia of Arkansas entry at encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/galloway-womens-college-4593.
