
Shocking History: Centenary Professor Once Stabbed the School’s President in a Fight
In 2025, Shreveport's Centenary College is celebrating it's bicentennial, and any institution celebrating 200 years is bound to have some shocking stories in their past. But maybe not as shocking as one of the stories researchers uncovered while researching Centenary's first 200 years.
This story dates all the way back to the very early 1900s. Its a story that will require us to establish some facts before we dive into it.
First, Centenary College of Louisiana may have spent the majority of its existence in Shreveport, the school wasn't founded in the city. The Centenary College that we know today is actually the product of two institutions from the 1800s. College of Louisiana was established in the year 1825, and located in Jackson, Louisiana (which is the bicentennial we mark in 2025). The school then absorbed Centenary College from Brandon Springs, Mississippi...becoming Centenary College of Louisiana. It was still located in Jackson at that time.
This brings us to 1906, right before the school relocated to Shreveport. This is the year when one of the most shocking things to ever happen at Centenary College would take place.
The story of this fight is something that had been rumored around the school for a long time. But it wasn't until newspaper reports from that time period were uncovered that the exact situation came into focus. Painting a picture that is now able to be told with confidence during Centenary's bicentennial celebration.
Unveiled this week at the Meadows Museum of Art on Centenary's Shreveport campus, the story is told through the uncovered newspaper clippings. A plaque on the displays states:
"...A selection of newspaper articles tells the story. A few weeks into the 1906-1907 school year, Professor Moncrieff, who taught physics and oversaw the mess hall, did not receive the regular cafeteria meat delivery. Moncrieff purchased meat from a Black community barbecue and served it instead. The all-white student body wrote to the president in complaint, who raised the issue at a faculty meeting. Emotions ran high. President Miller cut the back of Professor Moncrieff’s hand with a chair, and Moncrieff used a knife to stab the president. Learning that Moncrieff would not be fired, the faculty resigned and the entire student body walked out. Miller also resigned, and Centenary shut its doors in Jackson.
Centenary’s trustees had already been in talks with the Shreveport Progressive League and the Rutherford-Atkins Realty Company. The company offered forty acres of land in Shreveport’s Gladstone Subdivision and $5,000 to relocate the school. Two years after closing in Jackson, Centenary College began classes in Shreveport on September 16, 1908"
The display includes images of those original newspaper clippings, and tells the tale of the time a professor stabbed the President of Centenary College.
But this entire bicentennial exhibit isn't just about a shocking piece of Centenary's history. The exhibit is called Centenary's Legacy: A Bicentennial Exhibition, and it covers much of the school's past. Including original artifacts that are over 100 years old.
These artifacts and stories will be on display in the museum for much of the school's 200th year. You can find details on the exhibit here.