One of the newest additions to materials we are keeping for the Adams Archives is the November 13th, 2008 issue of The Dallas Examiner. On page one and continuing to page two, managing editor Gordon Jackson delivers thorough coverage of the inauguration service of Paul Quinn’s new President, Mr. Michael Sorrell. Especially appreciated is the inclusion of extensive quotes from the speakers’ remarks. Future Quinnites deserve to have a taste of what it was like on that day when a new era began, from the President’s proud but poignant statement that “we have always done so much with so little, and with so few” to his stark reflection on the fate of Bishop College and the fear that Dallas could become “the place where Black colleges go to die”.

Looking back, it is interesting to see events surrounding the inauguration of President A.S. Jackson (1933-1939) that parallel the present. Our knowledge of Paul Quinn’s history in this era comes again through the diligence of Black journalists, gleaned from the Adams Archives' holdings of the Waco Messenger. After Jackson’s selection in the summer of 1933—a time of widespread economic turmoil and overall gloomy prospects—we read of beautification efforts on the old Waco campus (Jun. 23rd, 1933), the need to tear down an unused building (Nov. 17th, 1933), and financial reforms to bring the school back into the black (Dec. 15th, 1933). There were even students planning to build their own off-campus housing (27 Oct. 1933), though certainly not with the kind of support that Paul Quinn is receiving from Habitat for Humanity!

When Jackson's Presidency ended, the editorial page of the July 28th, 1939 Waco Messenger summarized his tenure as follows:

"He took the presidency at a time when interest was at a low ebb, credit rating with a limit of zero, and the pendulum of public opinion was about to sound the death knell to a grand institution. In a few short years Dr. Jackson has revived interest, restored a high credit rating, and rekindled confidence. He has not permitted himself to be satisfied in snatching the school from beneath the pall of certain death and placing it on a sound footing, but he has carried the school to new heights."

As a new President takes the helm of Paul Quinn College, let’s all work together to see that in this regard, history does repeat itself.