Baylor to Memorialize Former Professor and Missionary
Baylor University will dedicate a plaque honoring the late Dr. Henry L. Hargrove, former chairman of the English department at Baylor who served as a missionary to China from 1912-27, at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in the first floor of the Carroll Science Building. Members of Hargrove's family, including his 96-year-old daughter and former missionary, Aurora Lee Hargrove Koon Morrow of Cleburne, will be honored at a luncheon prior to the plaque dedication at 11:45 a.m. in Barfield Drawing Room.
"Dr. Gerald Fielder and Britt Towery, former missionaries and members of our faculty and staff, visited with me about honoring Baylor people who have served as missionaries in various parts of the world," said Baylor Chancellor Dr. Herbert H. Reynolds. "We want to draw the attention of our students to Baylor's international involvement and the many individuals who have given their lives to missions. Maybe some of them will feel called as was Professor Hargrove."
Born in Hopkins County, Texas, in 1868, Hargrove attended Peabody College in the late 1800s where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees, and completed his doctorate in 1902 at Yale University. Hargrove taught English at Baylor from 1893-99 and 1903-12, and served as chairman of the English department at Baylor until he felt called to the mission field. Among his students at Baylor were Rev. George W. Truett, former longtime pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas; the late U.S. Senator Tom Connally; and many dedicated missionaries. Hargrove also directed the Baylor Glee Club and was instrumental in organizing the first Baylor Brass Band. He was choirmaster of the First Baptist Church of Waco, and it was his daughter who was the first person baptized in the newly completed sanctuary.
Hargrove served in China for 15 years, teaching English at Henan University in Kaifend, China. He returned to the U.S. in 1928 and began teaching at Hunter College in New York until he passed away in 1938.
For more information, contact the Chancellor's office at 710-1311.