Bell

Donated early in 1920 by the First Methodist Church of Malvern, the bell replaced the smaller one used in the past. About 36 inches in diameter at its flared opening and about 26 inches high, the bell was mounted on a substantial iron framework. In December, 1920, the College placed the bell on a special four-poled scaffold, just east of the Dining Hall. With its deep tones, the bell sounded the various hours for classes, meals, rising, and retiring; it could be heard over most of Arkadelphia. Later, the bell was placed on top of the east wall of the Dining Hall.

Having campaigned for an electric bell to be installed in the fall of 1920, Crawford Greene, the editor of the Oracle, announced on January 25, 1921, that an electric bell had finally been installed for classrooms and the dormitory in College Hall. However, the College continued to rely on the large old bell for the benefit of students both on and off the campus who may not be able to hear the electric bell.

As its gift to the College, the Senior Class of 1954 decided in March to place the historic old bell on a "monument on the front of the campus," according to an announcement by Class President John Haggard. During its years of usefulness since 1920, the old bell had figured prominently in traditions of the College: to signal the beginning and ending of class periods; to summons diners to meals; and to celebrate special occasions.

As noted in the Oracle for May 19, 1954, the Student Senate voted on May 11 to cooperate with the Senior Class in restoring the bell. The restoration of the bell seemed "especially appropriate this year since it is the 25th Anniversary of the school as a teachers college and all of the organizations on the campus are participating in the year long celebration."

By September, 1954, construction had begun on the concrete base for the old bell mounted on its cast-iron frame. That fall it occupied its new place of honor on campus near the WWI memorial grove of six holly trees. After the bell was mounted on the base, it continued to be rung for special occasions on campus. It tolled for ten minutes in 1959 as the Lady in Black took her annual stroll. In time, however, quite often during the dead of night and for no apparent reason, the old bell also rang at the hands of mischief-makers wandering the campus. As a result, the college removed the bell's clapper.

After the razing of the old Dining Hall in the summer of 1964, the bell had more company. Around the base of the bell wrap two of the original entrance steps to Old Main. Before the steps is a section of the walk that was given by the Senior and Special Classes of 1913. On the base above the steps is a plaque presented to Henderson in the summer of 1965 by Farrar Newberry, as reported in Oracle, October 29, 1965. The plaque bears this inscription:

THE BELL RANG FOR CLASS PERIODS, MEALS, RISING AND RETIRING TIME AT OLD HENDERSON. THE TWO STEPS WERE AT THE FRONT ENTRANCE OF THE ORIGINAL BUILDING ERECTED IN 1890. THE HOLLY TREES WERE PLANTED IN 1920 AS MEMORIALS TO ONE TEACHER AND FIVE STUDENTS WHO WERE LOST IN WORLD WAR I. THE APPROACH IS A SECTION OF THE WALL PRESENTED THE COLLEGE BY THE CLASS OF 1913.

In 2024, the bell was briefly removed for repair and renovation, and returned as a part of homecoming celebrations.