Happy 50th birthday to the George County Center of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College!
Six women graduated the local campus’ first program in March 1973 earning certificates in secretarial science. They were Ruby Anderson, Gayle Eckhoff Lopez, Linda Murrah, the late Betty Hobby, the late Marilyn Ferguson and the late Marsha Mergenschroer Graham. The George County Center hosted a public party last week launching its 50th commemoration. MGCCC campus deans, vice-presidents and dignitaries, along with MGCCC President Dr. Mary Graham attended the celebration. Anderson, Lopez and Murrah, the three living first graduates, were recognized. Family members of the deceased first graduates were in attendance.
The celebratory event was the brainchild of William Overstreet, Evening and Weekend Academic Coordinator of the George County Center. Dr. Lisa Rhodes, Dean of the George County Center, acknowledged Overstreet for bringing the monumental occasion to her attention. Rhodes welcomed guests and presented a brief history of the center’s beginnings and biographical information about the first six graduates. Dr. Ladd Taylor, Vice-President of the Perkinston Campus and George County Center, welcomed guests and acknowledged figureheads in attendance. Dr. Graham recognized faculty, staffers and local present and past members of the Board of Trustees. Long-time serving George County Supervisor Larry Havard gave an accounting of the center’s history and its significance in educating and training community members.
Several city and county elected officials attended. Former Board of Trustees member Wilbur Ward and his wife Stella, former Board of Trustees member Bill Wilkerson and his wife Dixie and current Board of Trustees member Doyle Moody also attended.
In addition to the kick-off commemoration, the George County Center will be hosting a volunteer day in April for students to donate their time and talents in community projects. In early May another special event will involve this year’s graduates.
MGCCC’s origin dates to 1911 when the Harrison County School Board established the Harrison County Agricultural High School in Perkinston. At that time Perkinston sat in Harrison County. In 1916, when Stone County was formed from the northern part of Harrison County, Stone County joined the venture and the school continued. Jackson County joined the coalition in 1926. George County joined in 1941.
MGCCC’s Board of Trustees began discussing the addition of a campus in George County in 1968. At that time, it was known as Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College, and George County was the only entity in the four-county system without its own campus. The college’s governing board wanted to focus on vocational-technical skills, manpower development training, evening extension and adult education programs. Hurricane Camille delayed construction when the storm devasted the six coastal counties in 1969.
In 1970 college officials opened a small facility for manpower training in a rented building in Lucedale and bought 15 acres, at $1,000 per acre, on the southern end of town. The following spring the college board announced construction plans for the new branch which would be called George County Occupational Training Center.
The center was described as containing 32,000 square feet with four classrooms, administrative offices, a library, a practical nursing suite and shops for sheet metal work, welding, pipefitting, plumbing and machine shop trades. The reported cost was $500,000 using a combination of federal, state and local funding. Today that facility is known as the George County Center. Throughout the years, the center has grown with additional buildings, additional course offerings and an increasing student population. Its student population presently exceeds 500 each year.
