Dr. Spright Dowell
President of Mercer University, 1928-1953
This picture of Dr. Dowell is from the 1939 yearbook, The Cauldron.
Chapter 16 of Whisper of the River: "Dr. Wade Hampton Powell had been president of Willingham so long that his hair was a thick gray thatch and his purposeful stride had geared down to a shuffle. I t was a sure and quickfooted shuffle, however, and he had lost none of the regard he enjoyed from the potean Georgia Baptist Convention or from the proprietary mammonites in the business community." "He had a nose for money and an irresistible candor in asking for it. In addition, he had an unerring judgment about which millionaire would relish a bronze bust and which would be more tempted by an honorary degree. He was particularly ingratiating to those who desired and could afford both."