James C. Jernigan and Frances William Jernigan
287 photographs and .25 linear feet
A1975-001
1890-1945 (unknown)
Dr. Jernigan was born December 20, 1914, in Sedalia, Texas, a small town north of Dallas and McKinney. His parents, Austin and Blanche Jernigan had three sons, Stewart, Jim, and Jack, Jim was the middle son. He grew up in Westminster, which was too small for a high school. To attend high school he lived with his maternal grandparents in McKinney, Texas. Dr. Jernigan earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from North Texas State College, now the University of North Texas. He received his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1949.
He had started his teaching degree in 1934 at the Rosemond Chapel, a one teacher school three miles east of Anna in Collins County. He then became principal and teacher at Whitewright High School, where in 1941 he met and married Frances Williams, a homemaking teacher at the school. The couple had two children, James William and Laura Frances Jernigan. James Jernigan was elected superintendent of Pilot Point Schools in 1939 and became deputy State Superintendent of Schools in Texas in 1941.
In 1942 he entered the U.S. Army and was discharged as Captain in 1946. As a combat officer in Europe in the 29th division he earned the bronze star and campaign stars for Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland and Central Europe. He returned home and joined the staff at Texas College of Arts and Industries in Kingsville as director of Men’s Activities. Jernigan was named Dean of Student Life in 1947. He took a leave of absence in 1947 to complete a Ph.D. in 1949 at the University of Chicago. He then returned to A&I And became Director of Student Personnel and Associate Professor of Education.
He was appointed Dean in 1950 and became President of the college in 1962 the year before the school became Texas A&I. In 1968, a new university library was named after Jernigan by the Texas A&I Board of Directors. In 1973 Jernigan was named the first chancellor of Texas A&I University System. After retirement as chancellor in 1975, he served as adjunct professor of Human Relations and consultant to the Center for Continuing Education at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Jernigan also worked as a part-time director and consultant in adult education for the Plano Independent School District.
In 1987 he was appointed professor emeritus of Texas A&I University. Dr. Jernigan was an active member of several professional and civic organizations such as the National Education Association, the Texas Education Association, the Texas State Teachers Association, the American Association of University Professors, the American College Personnel Association, the Kingsville Chamber of Commerce board of directors, the Gulf Coast Council of Boy Scouts executive board, the advisory board of the Kingsville chapter of the Salvation Army and the First Christian Church in Kingsville, where he served as an elder.
After retiring the Jernigans moved to Richardson, Texas. Frances Williams Jernigan passed away first in January of 1996. Dr. James C. Jernigan passed away that same year on August 15, 1996. A memorial service was held at the First Christian Church in Richardson, Texas.
Over 280 photographs of Dr. James C. Jernigan's life, along with Teacher Contracts, World War II correspondence, the dedication of the James C. Jernigan Library at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and many newspaper clippings tell the story of this remarkable leader in higher education.
Arranged in five series: Series I: Photographs Series II: Professional Documents Series III: Correspondence during WW II Series IV: Newspaper Clippings Series V: Memorial Program
South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Open for Research
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Dr. James C. Jernigan Collection, A1975-001.XXXX- South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
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A1970-001 was found in a box at South Texas Archives, no accession number could be found. The collection was four photo albums of Dr. Jernigan’s life from childhood to his Presidency at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville.) The first scrap book we kept intact and digitized as one pdf. Inside the front cover the caption read, “By Frances Williams Jernigan.” The other three scrapbooks were digitized one photo at a time. The box also contained newspaper clippings, documents and correspondence by Dr. Jernigan.
The collection was processed by Marcia Hutchinson and Lori Atkins. Photos were digitized by Prasanth Devarapalli. The finding aid was created by Lori Atkins and the EAD document was created by Daniel Thacker. All records were uploaded by Thacker in November 2017.