1876-1884
Information Unknown
1885
Date: Wednesday, June 10, 1885
Time: Morning
Location: Unknown
Address: Rev. Augustus R. Winfield
1886-1888
Information Unknown
1889
Date: June 12, 1889
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Central Collegiate Institute, Altus, Ark.
Address: Rev. N. B. Fizer, Augusta, Ark.
1890
Information Unknown
1891
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 1891
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Tabor Hall
Address: Unknown
1892-1894
Information Unknown
1895
Date: June 19, 1895
Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown
Address: Hon. William Simonton McCain, Little Rock, Ark.
1896-1905
Information Unknown
1906
Date: Wednesday, June 6, 1906
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Auditorium
Address: Unknown
1907-1909
Information Unknown
1910
Date: Unknown
Time: Unknown
Location: Chapel in College Hall
Address: Unknown
1911
Date: Wednesday, June 14, 1911
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Unknown
Address: Dr. David Y. Thomas
1912-1914
Information Unknown
1915
Date: Wednesday, June 9, 1915
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Auditorium
Address: Bishop Elijah Embree Hoss
1916
Date: Wednesday, June 14, 1916
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Unknown
Address: Dr. E. B. Chappell, a prominent Methodist minister in
the St. Louis Conference
1917
Date: Monday, May 21, 1917
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Unknown
Address:
Wallace Townsend, "America's Responsibility
in the War"
1918
Date: Wednesday, June 12, 1918
Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown
Address: Unknown
1919
Date: Saturday, June 7, 1919
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Unknown
Address: Dr. Philip Cone Fletcher, pastor of First
Methodist Church in Little Rock, “The Man and the Hour Meet”
1920
Date: Tuesday, June 8, 1920
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Unknown
Address: Dr. Raymond A. Schwegler
1921
Date: Tuesday, June 7, 1921
Time: Unknown
Location: Main auditorium
Address: Dr. Edwin L. Earp
1922
Date: Tuesday, June 6, 1922
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Auditorium
Address: Dr. Ivan Lee Holt, pastor of St. John’s Methodist
Church, St. Louis, Missouri
1923
Date: Tuesday, June 12, 1923
Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown
Address: William Paul Davidson '12
1924
Date: Tuesday, June 10, 1924
Time: Unknown
Location: Auditorium
Address:
Dr. Alexander C. Millar, former president of
Hendrix College
1925
Date: Tuesday, June 9, 1925
Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown
Address:
Dr. Henry Nelson Snyder, "What Abides in
a Changing World?"
1926
Date: Tuesday, May 8, 1926
Time: Unknown
Location: Chapel Hall
Address: Dr. Gilbert T. Rowe
1927
Date: Tuesday, June 8, 1927
Time: Unknown
Location: Chapel auditorium
Address:
Bishop Hiram Abiff Boaz, "The Growing of
a Good Citizen"
1928
Date: Monday, June 4, 1928
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: On the campus
Address:
Dr. John H. Reynolds, president of Hendrix College
1929
Date: Monday, June 3, 1929
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: On the campus if weather conditions permit
Address: Dr. Walter W. Parker
1930
Date: Monday, June 2, 1930
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: On the campus
Address: Dr. Charles W. Pipkins
1931
Date: Monday, June 1, 1931
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Unknown
Address:
Henry Sloane Coffin, president
of
Union Theological Seminary, New York City
1932
Date: Monday, May 30, 1932
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: On the lawn between the Administration Building and
the Lily Pond
Address: Dr. Ivan Lee Holt, pastor of St. John’s Church,
St. Louis, Missouri
1933
Date: Tuesday, May 30, 1933
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: On the lawn between the Administration Building and
the Lily Pond
Address:
John N. Heiskell, editor of the Arkansas Gazette
1934
Date: Tuesday, May 29, 1934
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: On the lawn between the Administration Building and
the Lily Pond
Address:
John H. Finley, editor of the New York
Times
1935
Date: Tuesday, May 28, 1935
Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown
Address:
Dr. Emory Holloway '1906, author and winner
of Pulitzer Prize
1936
Date: May 25, 1936
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: On the lawn between the Administration Building and
the Lily Pond
Address: Dr. Roger W. Babson, entrepreneur and business
theorist, "Lessons I Have Learned from Hard Knocks."
Note: The College Profile, lists the
ceremony as May 25, at 4:30 p.m. on the lawn north of the Administration
Building, and the speaker as Dr. Roger W. Babson,
entrepreneur and business theorist, "Lessons I Have Learned from Hard Knocks." A
program stored in the Hendrix College Archives lists the ceremony as May 26,
1936 at 10:30 a.m. in the College Auditorium Archive photo Item 00964 shows Dr. Babson giving an address on the lawn north of the Administration Building.
1937
Date: Monday, May 31, 1937
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Axley Gymnasium
Address:
Charles G. Dawes, former U.S. Vice President
1938
Date: Sunday, May 29, 1938
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Unknown
Address:
Bishop Charles C. Selecman, president of
Southern Methodist University
1939
Date: Sunday, June 4, 1939
Time: Afternoon
Location: Axley Gymnasium
Address:
James A. Farley, U.S. Postmaster General
1940
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1940
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: In the grove (northeast corner of campus)
Address:
Clarence Dillon, head of Dillon, Read &
Co., an investment bank
1941
Date: Saturday, June 1, 1941
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: In the grove (northeast corner of campus)
Address:
Thomas J. Watson Sr., chairman and CEO
of International Business Machine (IBM) Corporation
1942
Date: Thursday, May 28, 1942
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Axley Gymnasium
Address:
Dr. Umphrey Lee, president
of Southern Methodist University
Note: The College
Profile volume 29, number 30, page 1 lists the location as Axley Gymnasium.
The program for the ceremony lists the location as "College Campus."
1943
Date: Wednesday, May 26, 1943
Time: Unknown
Location: Axley Gymnasium
Address: Ed W. McCuistion '1917, Arkansas State Director
of Negro Education
Note: The College Profile, volume 30, number 30, page
1 lists the location
as Axley Gymnasium. The program for the ceremony lists the location as "College
Campus."
1944
Date: Sunday, June 4, 1944
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: College Campus
Address: G. C. Hardin '1905, lawyer of Fort Smith
1945
Date: Sunday, June 3, 1945
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: College Campus
Address:
Benjamin Travis Laney Jr., Governor of Arkansas
1946
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1946
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: College Campus
Address:
Farrar
C. Newberry, president of the Woodmen
of the World
1947
Date: Sunday, June 1, 1947
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: College Campus
Address:
Wilbur D. Mills '30,
member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's second district
1948
Date: Sunday, May 30, 1948
Time: Afternoon
Location: Axley Gymnasium
Address: Roger Hull, vice president of the Mutual
Life Insurance Company of New York
Note: The College Profile, volume 35, number 31, page
1 lists the location
as Axley Gymnasium. The program for the ceremony lists the location as "College
Campus."
1949
Date: Sunday, May 29, 1949
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Axley Gymnasium
Address: Ben H. Wooten, vice president of the Republic
National Bank of Dallas, Texas.
Note: The College Profile, volume 36, number 31, page
1 lists the location
as Axley Gymnasium. The program for the ceremony lists the location as "College
Campus."
1950
Date: Sunday, May 28, 1950
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Axley Gymnasium
Address: Dr. Fred S. McCuistion, associate director
of the General Education Board
Note: The College Profile, volume 37, number 26, page
4 lists the location
as Axley Gymnasium. The program for the ceremony lists the location as "College
Campus."
1951
Date: June 3, 1951
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: College Campus
Address:
John R. Steelman, first Assistant to the
President of the United States (a position known as White House Chief of Staff beginning
in 1961), “The Citizen and Peace”
Note: The College Profile, volume 38, number 24, page
1 lists the location
as Axley Gymnasium. The program for the ceremony lists the location as "College
Campus."
1952
Date: June 1, 1952
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Auditorium (named Staples Auditorium in April 1958)
Address: Dr. Fletcher Nelson, president of Lees-McRae
College, “The Issues of Battle Lie within Men’s Souls”
Note: Baccalaureate services were held in the Auditorium this year, instead of at
the First Methodist church as they had been in the past.
1953
Date: May 31, 1953
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Auditorium (named Staples Auditorium in April 1958)
Address: Dr. Ralph W. McDonald, president of Bowling
Green University, “Threads of Gold”
1954
Date: Sunday, May 30, 1954
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Auditorium (named Staples Auditorium in April 1958)
Address: Reuben B. Hays '21, “The Next Chapter”
1955
Date: Sunday, June 5, 1955
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Auditorium (named Staples Auditorium in April 1958)
Address:
Winthrop Rockefeller, “Opportunities Ahead”
1956
Date: June 3, 1956
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Auditorium (named Staples Auditorium in April 1958)
Address: Eugene McElvaney, senior vice president of
First National Bank in Dallas
1957
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1957
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Auditorium (named Staples Auditorium in April 1958)
Address:
General Edwin W. Rawlings, commander of Air
Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
1958
Date: Sunday, June 1, 1958
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Unknown, likely Staples Auditorium
Address:
Wilbur D. Mills '30,
member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's second district
1959
Date: Sunday, May 31, 1959
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Staples Auditorium
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
1960
Date: Sunday, May 29, 1960
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Staples Auditorium
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
1961
Date: Sunday, May 28, 1961
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Unknown, likely Staples Auditorium
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
1962
Date: Sunday, June 3, 1962
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Staples Auditorium
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
1963
Date: Sunday, June 2, 1963
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Unknown, likely Staples Auditorium
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
1964
Date: Sunday, May 31, 1964
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Unknown, likely Staples Auditorium
Address: Unknown, likely
Dr. Marshall T. Steel,
president of Hendrix College
1965
Date: Sunday, May 30, 1965
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Staples Auditorium
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
1966
Date: Sunday, June 4, 1966
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Staples Auditorium
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
1967
Date: Sunday, June 4, 1967
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Staples Auditorium
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
1968
Date: May 31, 1968
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Staples Auditorium, due to “threatening weather.” It
was originally planned to be in the Brick Patio (listed then as the Lower Patio
of Bailey Library).
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
Note: The baccalaureate and commencement services were combined
for the first time this year. According to a newspaper clipping, “Since 1938 the
exercises have been held on Sunday. The patio area was chosen for this year’s exercise
after it was used for the dedication program of the Library last year and it proved
effective.”
1969
Date: Friday, June 6, 1969
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Marshall T. Steel, president of Hendrix
College
Platform Party: Dr. James Upton, Rev. James Major, Bishop
Paul V. Galloway, Registrar Victor Hill, Dean Francis Christie
Note: The baccalaureate and commencement services were combined
this year.
1970
Date: Friday, June 5, 1970
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Roy B. Shilling Jr., president of Hendrix
College
Note: The baccalaureate and commencement services were combined
this year.
1971
Date: June 4, 1971
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Roy B. Shilling Jr., president of Hendrix
College
Notes: The baccalaureate and commencement services were combined
this year.
1972
Date: Friday, June 2, 1967
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address: M. Francis Christie, dean of Hendrix College
1973
Date: June 1, 1973
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Roy B. Shilling Jr., president of Hendrix
College
1974
Date: May 31, 1974
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Roy B. Shilling Jr., president of Hendrix
College
1975
Date: May 30, 1975
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Roy B. Shilling Jr., president of Hendrix
College
1976
Date: June 4, 1976
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address: M. Francis Christie, dean of Hendrix College
1977
Date: June 3, 1977
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Roy B. Shilling Jr., president of Hendrix
College
1978
Date: June 2, 1978
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Bishop Kenneth W. Hicks
1979
Date: June 1, 1979
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Roy B. Shilling Jr., president of Hendrix
College
1980
Date: May 30, 1980
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. John R. Silber, president of Boston University
1981
Date: Unknown
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Roy B. Shilling Jr., president of Hendrix
College
1982
Date: June 5, 1982
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Joe B. Hatcher, president of Hendrix
College
1983
Date: June 4, 1983
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Joe B. Hatcher, president of Hendrix
College
1984
Date: June 2, 1984
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Lower Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Dr. Joe B. Hatcher, president of Hendrix
College
1985
Date: June 1, 1985
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey
Library)
Address:
Dr. Joe B. Hatcher, president of Hendrix
College
Note: The baccalaureate and commencement services were no
longer combined this year.
1986
Date: May 31, 1986
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey
Library)
Address: Robert D. Cabe
1987
Date: June 6, 1987
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey
Library)
Address:
Dr. Joe B. Hatcher, president of Hendrix
College
1988
Date: June 4, 1988
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey
Library)
Address:
Dr. Joe B. Hatcher, president of Hendrix
College
1989
Date: June 3, 1989
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey
Library)
Address:
James Charles “Jim” Lehrer, associate editor
and news anchor of MacNeil Lehrer NewsHour
1990
Date: June 2, 1990
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey
Library)
Address:
Dr. Joe B. Hatcher, president of Hendrix
College
1991
Date: June 1, 1991
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey
Library)
Address:
Dr. Joe B. Hatcher, president of Hendrix
College
1992
Date: May 30, 1992
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey
Library)
Address:
Hillary Rodham Clinton, first lady of Arkansas
1993
Date: Saturday, June 5, 1993
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (listed then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey
Library)
Address: Dr. George Mitchell, outgoing chairman of
the Board of Trustees
1994
Date: Saturday, June 4, 1994
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (known then as the Patio of the Olin C. Bailey Library)
Address: John S. Workman
1995
Date: Saturday, June 3, 1995
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (likely known then as the Patio of the Olin
C. Bailey Library)
Address:
Charles H. Murphy Jr.
1996
Date: Saturday, June 1, 1996
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Grove Physical Education Building, due to rain
Address: Dr. Paula P. Brownlee, president of the Association
of American Colleges and Universities
1997
Date: May 31, 1997
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (known then as the Brick Patio)
Address:
Joe H. Stroud, editor of The Detroit Free
Press, “A Peculiarly Blessed Country?”
1998
Date: Saturday, May 30, 1998
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (known then as the Brick Patio)
Address: Stephen M. Patterson ’72, vice chair of the
Board of Trustees and former president and CEO of Leisure Arts, Inc., “Three Gifts
from Hendrix”
1999
Date: Saturday, May 29, 1999
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Brick Pit (known then as the Brick Patio)
Address:
Dale L. Bumpers, former U.S. senator and
former Arkansas governor
2000
Date: Saturday, May 27, 2000
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Unknown
Address: Dr. Inis L. Claude, “A Lifetime of Education”
2001
Date: June 2, 2001
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Unknown
Address:
Dr. Ann Hayes Die, president of Hendrix College
2002
Date: June 1, 2002
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Unknown
Address: Dr. John Churchill, executive secretary of
The Phi Beta Kappa Society
2003
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2003
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Unknown
Address:
Jo Luck '63, president and CEO of Heifer
Project International
2004
Date: Saturday, May 15, 2004
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: On the lawn between Ellis Hall and Fausett Hall
Address:
Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, Arkansas area
bishop of The United Methodist Church
2005
Date: May 14, 2005
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Staples Auditorium, possibly due to rain
Address: Charles D. Morgan, company leader of Acxiom
Corporation
2006
Date: May 13, 2006
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: On the lawn between Fausett Hall and Ellis Hall
Address:
Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty III, former White
House Chief of Staff for U.S. President Bill Clinton
2007
Date: May 12, 2007
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: On the lawn between Fausett Hall and Ellis Hall
Address: Alan W. Eastham '73, U.S. Ambassador
2008
Date: Saturday, May 10, 2008
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: On the lawn between Fausett Hall and Ellis Hall
Address:
William R. "Bill" Wilson '62, U.S. District
Judge
2009
Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address:
Dr. Benjamin B. Dunlap, president of Wofford
College
2010
Date: Saturday, May 15, 2010
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address:
Vic Snyder, U.S. Representative from the
second district of Arkansas
2011
Date: Saturday, May 14, 2011
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address:
Blanche Lincoln, former U.S. Senator from
Arkansas
2012
Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address:
Doug Blackmon '86, writer and journalist
who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his book, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement
of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II.
2013
Date: Saturday, May 11, 2013
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address: Dr. Robert L. Entzminger, Hendrix Provost
and English professor
2014
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2014
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address: R. Madison Murphy '80
2015
Date: Saturday, May 16, 2015
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address: James L. "Skip" Rutherford III, Dean of the
University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service
2016
Date: Saturday, May 14, 2016
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address: Scott Shirey, Founder and Executive Director, KIPP Delta Public Schools
2017
Date: Saturday, May 13, 2017
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address: Dale Dawson, Founder and CEO, Bridge2Rwanda
2018
Date: Saturday, May 12, 2018
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Wellness and Athletics Center
Address: William M. Tsutsui, President of Hendrix College