Reinhardt Re-Dedicates Burgess Administration Building

From Reinhardt University:

WALESKA, GA – More than 70 years ago, World War II was underway, Franklin D. Roosevelt was president and Reinhardt was in trouble. Finances were not good and the United Methodist Conference was ready to shut down the institution. But in 1944, Reinhardt’s saving grace would be installed as the institution’s 15th president: Dr. James Rowland Burgess Jr.

Over the next almost 30 years, Dr. Burgess, would put Reinhardt on a path toward success.

The road to the Academy and College was dirt, leaving the convenience of paving back in the city. The land was littered with tree stumps, privet and honeysuckle, and Dobb’s Hall was closed in desperate need of repair, including 55 broken window panes, Dr. Ken Wheeler said, delivering his prepared history of Dr. Burgess’ presidency.

“When you become president, you learn to appreciate the ones who have gone before you,” said President Kina Mallard. “I have spent the last 15 months hearing a lot about Dr. Burgess. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t meet someone who tells me a Dr. Burgess story.”

When others wanted to see Reinhardt close, it was Dr. Burgess who cast the vote to keep it open.

Burgess saw something in Reinhardt, and now his legacy lives on with the installation of his name atop the administration building long bearing his name, and with the re-installation of his and Mrs. Burgess’ portraits hanging in the lobby.

When he was not sure that there was enough money in the bank for the checks to clear, it was Dr. Burgess who would visit a generous donor, Joe Baxter, in the nursing home in Jefferson, Ga., to ask for the money to keep the school going, past president Dr. Floyd Falany recalled. Billy Hasty, chairman of Reinhardt’s Board of Trustees, said Dr. and Mrs. Burgess were quiet leaders of integrity who were dedicated to seeing Reinhardt’s success.

"I’m so glad they were willing to do that for me and for the pictures to be back in the foyer area and that their photos are there together. It just means the world to me,” Ms. Blanton said, holding back tears.

“Thank you for your dedication and your persistence to get us to do what should have been done a long time ago here at Reinhardt,” Tim Norton, vice president for advancement and marketing said to Ms. Blanton and her brother, Jim Burgess.

During her re-dedication prayer, Dr. Mallard thanked God for those who came before like Dr. Burgess and asked for continued blessings over Reinhardt, its laborers and its students. “We pray you will continue to bless this college, that you will continue to bless those who labor here, and you will continue to bring us students whose lives will be transformed and that Reinhardt will have a long and bright prosperous future,” she said.

The administration is not the only area on campus that bears the Burgess name. The Burgess Arboretum is spread throughout the campus with signs that identify trees by both their scientific and common names. Dr. Burgess was known for bringing trees on campus and planting them one at a time.

His son recalls going out deep in the woods and digging up trees only to haul them back to the campus to replant them. “I planted many of those trees,” Jim Burgess said.

Dr. Burgess indexed more than 1,300 trees and planted more than 500 trees and shrub species across the camps. He labeled all of them and created an index map for the Arboretum, which is housed at the Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center. Reinhardt’s horticulturalist Zach White and the Cherokee County Master Gardeners began restoring the Arboretum in 2007. It officially celebrated its grand opening in 2009 on Alumni Day.

Commonly known as the Burgess Echo Garden, housed just down the hill from the administration building and library, the structure has a unique feature. Those who stand in the center of the structure can hear their voice echo no matter which direction they face.

Photos via Reinhardt University:

Photo 1: Martha Burgess Blanton and Jim Burgess, children of Dr. and Mrs. Burgess, stand near the newly re-hung portraits of their parents.

Photo 2: Reinhardt University dignitaries, faculty, staff and community members joined the Burgess family as the University re-dedicated the administration building as the Burgess Administration Building. Photos by Jeff Reed.