A moment in history The Beginnings of Howard County Junior College

Editor’s Note: Each week the Heritage Mueum shares a piece of Big Spring and Howard County history with the Big Spring Herald readers. The history offered is only piece of the foundation that helped build Big Spring. To find out more visit the Heritage Museum during regular business hours, Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

August 15, 1945: WWII is over. The Japanese surrendered, and the Big Spring Bombardier School immediately suspended operations.

No one knew what the future held; however, millions of veterans were about to return to the United States and re-integrate into civilian life. To help this process, Congress passed the G.I. Bill of Rights.

In 1936, Dr. P.W. Malone had presented the idea and concept of higher education in Howard County to the Superintendent

of the Big Spring Independent School District, the City Manager, and the Chamber of Commerce. A small committee began investigating the possibilities of a local junior college, but the subject of a local college was tabled for a few years due to the state of the economy and the instability of the nation.

Big Spring was required to have a county-wide tax supported district. State laws required school districts to maintain an enrollment of 400 high school students and tax valuations over $12,000,000 to qualify for a junior college. Big Spring met the enrollment criteria but fell short on the tax valuation.

To fulfill the criteria for tax valuations, the group decided to change the proposal to include area communities