Looking For Louie - The College Years

Louie Love Padgett
source: Emory Campus 1920 [yearbook]

Before his years teaching in China, Louie Love Padgett had amassed quite a college resume as evidenced by looking at his college yearbooks.  I am so grateful that in recent years Emory University's Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library has digitized almost all of the university's yearbooks and has them available for free searching online  Looking into the 1920 and 1921 yearbooks has provided us with more information about Louie.

Although Louie was reared on the family farm on North Georgia, he was in a family that valued education with several of his siblings educated to be teachers.  Louie's degree from Emory was a B. Ph, Bachelor of Philosophy, a degree that even today is considered to reflect the scholarship of those to whom it is awarded.

The 1920 yearbook provided us with important dates concerning Louie.  It states that he "entered college Fall of 1915, ... entered U.S. Army June '16, service in France, January, 1917, to August, 1919, discharged as Captain October, 1919, [and] re-entered School of Liberal Arts November 1919".(1)  These dates have been invaluable as we are tracking down information about Louie's time as an Army officer in World War One.

During his years at Emory University, Louie was involved in a number of campus activities and organizations.  Louie was a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and of the campus Ministerial Association.  He was also an active member of the YMCA organization at Emory, serving while a Junior as President of that organization in the Spring of 1920 as well as being a delegate to the Student Volunteer Convention of 1916.  This relationship may help to explain how Louie came to be hired through the International YMCA to teach in China.

Louie was also an outstanding college debater   Prior to his entering the Army, he had already been selected to be on the Debate Team for the following year.    Following his stint in the Army, Louie returned to Emory and was selected to the Champion Debate Team for 1920.  Furthermore, during his senior year as Emory, he served as the Editor of the 1921 yearbook.  Both of these activities suggest that Louie was a strong communicator.

Finally, Louie's time in the Army extended into two more campus activities.  He was a member of the American Legion Post at Emory University and served as the President of the Over Seas Club, an organization that included a number of international students from Asian countries.

No one could ever accuse Louie Love Padgett of coasting through his college years!

(1)  The Campus 1920 (Decatur, Georgia: Emory University, 1920), digital images, Emory Libraries MARBL, http://marbl.library.emory.edu/yearbooks : 2013.