George S. Benson

George Stuart Benson (September 26, 1898, Dewey County, Oklahoma – December 15, 1991, Searcy, Arkansas) was a missionary to China, 1925-36; founder and principal, Canton Bible School, 1933-36; president, Harding College, 1936-65; chancellor, Oklahoma Christian University, 1956-67. For other persons named George Benson, see Benson (surname).

Education

Graduated in first class of Harper College, 1923; B.A., Harding College, 1925; B.S., Oklahoma A&M University, 1925; M.A., University of Chicago, 1931. He received several honorary doctorates including those from Harding University, 1932 and Knox College, 1948.

Career

George S. Benson started his career of religious and political education as a missionary to China for eleven years, 1925-1936. The Communists forced him out of China in 1936, an experience which led him to adopt as his life's mission hated for socialism and communism. Early in his career as president of Harding College, he established on campus the National Education Program (NEP) to pursue these ends, working closely with Harding professor James D. Bales. Conducting a broad range of activities, including a film series, and both a nationally syndicated newspaper column and radio show by Benson, its activities reached many millions of Americans. As a result of these activities Harding and the NEP was widely known and association with patriotism and free-enterprise propaganda in America. Naturally, this nationalism resonated both with its proponents and its opponents. About this time, Harding College also received its first substantial national opposition and criticism in the news media, much of it in association criticism of the movement supporting the Goldwater campaign.

Benson exercised a great influence on patriotism at other Church of Christ-related institutions also. The American Studies Institute at Abilene Christian College and the American Citizenship Center at Oklahoma Christian College were among the programs initially modeled on his work at Harding with the NEP. Following his resignation from the presidency of Harding in 1965, he continued to assist in the development of several other , including Oklahoma Christian College, Lubbock Christian College, Alabama Christian College (Now Faulkner University), and George Pepperdine College. Benson also exerted a significant influence on the political culture of Churches of Christ. While Churches of Christ generally saw this as a favorable development, it also received substantial criticism beginning in the mid-60s.

Buildings are name in his honor at Harding University, Freed Hardeman University, Faulkner University and Oklahoma Christian University. The George Benson Christian College [http://www.zambiamission.org/schools.html] is located in Zambia, Africa.

Honors

Benson was a recipient of the Tax Foundation's Distinguished Service Award in 1941 [http://www.taxfoundation.org/events/printer/46.html] . Dr. Benson was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1972 [http://www.oklahomaheritage.com/HallofFame/ByName/tabid/89/Default.aspx] and to the Oklahoma State University Hall of Fame in 1976 [http://orangeconnection.org/s/860/index-blue.aspx?pgid=364&gid=1] .

External links

* Oklahoma University History Through The Ages - George Benson(http://www.oc.edu/ochistory/view.asp?ID=George_S._Benson)
* [http://www.archive.org/details/WarWeAre1962 "The War We Are In, Part 2"] - Televised speech by Dr. Benson

* Knox College Honorary Doctorate Recipients [http://www.knox.edu/x12330.xm]

* Burial site [http://www.therestorationmovement.com/benson.htm]

* Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3495]

Bibliography

"Missionary Experiences" (Edmond, OK 1987)

L. Edward Hicks, "Sometimes in the Wrong But Never in Doubt: George Benson and the Education of the New Religious Right" (Knoxville, 1994);

John C. Stevens, "Before Any Were Willing: The Story of George S. Benson" (Searcy AR, 1991);

"George S. Benson: Conservative, Anti-Communist, Pro-American Speaker" Ph.D dissertation, Wayne State University, 1963

Ted Altman, “The Contributions of George S. Benson to Christian Education, “ Ed.D dissertation, North Texas University, 1970.