1914 Biography - Grover O. Huckaby

Huckaby, Grover O. (also spelled Huckabay), superintendent of the Louisiana State School for the Blind, at Baton Rouge, is a native of Louisiana. He was born on a farm in Red River parish, July 3, 1884, and is a son of Morgan Pinckney C. and Martha Ellen (Turnbow) Huckaby. His father was born in Florida, from which state he came with his parents to Louisiana when he was but 6 years of age. His father, Jackson Huckaby, settled in Red River parish and there Morgan Pinckney Huckaby grew to manhood, and there he has always resided, devoting his life to the pursuit of farming. He is now past 67 years of age. He married Martha Ellen Turnbow, who was born in Arkansas, and was the daughter of William Marion Turnbow a native of Georgia. She died in 1910. The name Huckaby is of Danish origin, but the progenitor of the family in America was English born, and came to this country many years ago, and settled in South Carolina. Representatives of the family removed to Georgia and thence to Florida. There were born unto the parents of Grover C. Huckaby 15 children, of whom 11 grew to maturity and the following survive: Mrs. Ida Huckaby Loftin, Charles Clement, Grover C., Glendon T., and Marion C. Grover C. Huckaby was reared on the farm in his native parish, and there learned the lessons of industry and resourcefulness, which have influenced his course in life, and characterized his endeavors both as a student and a teacher. He received his early scholastic training in the public schools. As beneficiary cadet from Red River parish, he entered the Louisiana State university, from which institution he graduated in 1907 with the degree of bachelor of arts. A short time previous to his graduation Mr. Huckaby became a member of the faculty of the Louisiana State university, and for 1 year taught mathematics. The winning of a Rhodes scholarship in Oxford university, England, enabled him to realize his ambition for a higher education. He left for England in Sept., 1908, and spent three years abroad. In Oxford university he specialized in social sciences making original studies of the race problem. During vacations he toured European and Oriental countries studying social problems and visiting historical places of note. Returning to the United States in 1911, Mr. Huckaby accepted the position of assistant principal of the Baton Rouge high school. A year later he became principal of the high school of Shreveport, La. This position he resigned to accept the superintendency of the Louisiana State School for the Blind, to which he was elected in the summer of 1913. As superintendent of this school, Mr. Huckaby has inaugurated many changes which have resulted in needed repairs and remodeling of the different buildings, making the institution thoroughly sanitary, and the surroundings conducive to the health, comfort and pleasure of the pupils. In addition to these material improvements resulting under his direction, the standard of educational work has been raised, the institution in general taking on new life, form and energy. Mr. Huckaby has also been identified with sociological movements and is a leader of thought and progress. He is one of the organizers of the Southern Sociological congress, and is a member of the race problem committee of this organization. He is a member of the International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, of the International Congress of School Hygiene, of the London Geological association, and of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason. In 1911 Mr. Huckaby married Miss Anita Dalton Jones, the daughter of Dr. Philip H. Jones, of Baton Rouge.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from Louisiana: Comprising Sketches, edited by Alcee Fortier, published in 1914, volume 3, pages 209-210.