Accounting’s Impact on a Historical Educator

• In Event: Tax, History, and Historical Tax

Abstract

Historical records reveal much about a man’s journey in life, especially when personal accounting records are over 100 years old. In reviewing John Massey’s accounting records, one can see the impact accounting concepts had on his life’s work. With Tuskegee Female College on the edge of collapse in 1872, the Alabama Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church seized control. In June 1876 with the college suffering from low enrollment and small endowments, John Massey was hired to be the President of the College. He would continue to serve for thirty-three years, which was the longest time anyone has ever served as President of the College (now known as Huntingdon College), even declining offers during his tenure from State University (aka University of Alabama), Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (aka Industrial College or Auburn University) and Alabama College (aka University of Montevallo.) His personal financial records for the years 1912 through 1917 are held in the Archives at Huntingdon College’s Houghton Library. Accounting’s influence on this prominent educator is evident in the way he kept those financial records. Massey is one of the most prominent educators in Alabama history from the middle 1800s to the early 1900s. His two life philosophies of 1) perseverance in whatever he undertook and 2) keeping his contracts is evident as one reviews those records.

Authors

• Barbara Sumrall White, University of West Florida - Pensacola

• Dale L Flesher, The University of Mississippi