Commercial Class at Jarvis Christian Institute
Circa 1916
The present-day Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas is the only historically black college affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. It began in 1904 as Jarvis Christian Institute as a joint educational endeavor of the Negro Disciples of Christ in Texas and the Disciples’ Christian Woman’s Board of Missions. The Institute at first offered the elementary grades, and in 1914 high school subjects and a Bible program were added. Commercial courses were added to the curriculum in 1916, around the time this photograph was taken.
In 1928, Jarvis was incorporated as a college, and a Board of Trustees was appointed in 1929. Today, Jarvis Christian College is a nationally-recognized institution of higher education, “committed to the values and ideals of liberal arts education. As a Christian college, Jarvis instills in its students the value of faith, inclusion, service, responsibility and accountability.”