September 23, 1924

Harding College began operations as a four-year college in Morrilton (Conway County). It was a combination of two struggling two-year schools—Arkansas Christian Academy of Morrilton and Harper College of Harper, Kansas. Initial enrollment was 248 students, only seventy-five of whom were college level. The school, which has grown into the largest private educational institution in Arkansas, is now known as Harding University and has well over 4,000 students, in addition to maintaining campuses in Florence, Italy, and Athens, Greece, and providing programs in five other foreign countries.