Linus Arthur Sims was an educator and administrator who was the driving force behind the establishment of Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...

 in Hammond

Hammond, Louisiana

Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. In 1925, Sims created Hammond Junior College, which became the former Southeastern Louisiana College in 1928. In 1970, the institution was declared a university during the administration of Governor John J. McKeithen. During the 1990s, Southeastern was ranked as one of the fastest growing institutions of higher learning in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Background

Sims was born in Crossville

Crossville, Alabama

Crossville is a town in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,431. Crossville is located on top of Sand Mountain.-Geography:Crossville is located at ....

 in DeKalb County

DeKalb County, Alabama

As of the 2010 Census DeKalb County had a population of 71,109. The median age was 37.5. The racial and ethnic makeup of the population was 81.6% non-Hispanic white, 1.5% African American, 1.4% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander , 9.9% from some other race, 2.2% reporting two or...

 in northeastern Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 to the Methodist minister Levi Copedge Sims and the former Mary Emily Bussey. He was educated in public schools. He attended, first, Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, and then Methodist-affiliated Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College of Louisiana is a primarily undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is one of the founding members of the Associated Colleges of the South, a pedagogical organization consisting of sixteen Southern liberal arts colleges...

, then in Jackson

Jackson, Louisiana

Jackson is a town in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,130 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 in East Feliciana Parish. Centenary relocated to Shreveport

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 in 1908. Sims later procured a master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 from Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 in Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

.

Sims himself entered the Methodist ministry in 1907. In 1911, he became a teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

. He married the former Isabel Johnson of Monroe

Monroe, Louisiana

Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...

, the seat of Ouachita Parish, in northeastern Louisiana. They had two children, Joseph Arthur Sims, Sr.

Joseph A. Sims

Joseph Arthur Sims, Sr. , was a Democratic operative from Hammond, Louisiana, who was associated with his state's Long political faction. As the legal advisor to Governor Earl Kemp Long, he obtained Long's discharge from the Southeast Louisiana State Hospital in Mandeville in St...

, and Lydel Sims (born 1916). Joseph Sims was a prominent Hammond attorney

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 affiliated with the Long

Huey Long

Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...

 dynasty.

Career

Sims taught in Gonzales

Gonzales, Louisiana

Gonzales is a city in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,156 at the 2000 census. It has been called the "jambalaya capital of the world" and is famous for its annual Jambalaya Festival. Gonzales is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.State...

 in Ascension Parish, Cheneyville

Cheneyville, Louisiana

Cheneyville is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 901 at the 2000 census....

 in Rapides Parish, Ponchatoula

Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Ponchatoula is a city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,180 at the 2000 census. Ponchatoula calls itself the "Strawberry Capital of the World". It is part of the Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area. The current mayor is Bob Zabbia.-Geography:Ponchatoula is...

 in Tangipahoa Parish and Bogalusa

Bogalusa, Louisiana

Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 13,365 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Washington Parish and is also part of the larger New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa...

, the seat of Washington Parish. In 1923, he was appointed principal of Hammond High School

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

. Two years later, he established the junior college in one wing of the high school structure. He urged the purchase of a new campus in 1927 and moved the institution to northern Hammond.

In 1933, Sims relocated to Natchitoches

Natchitoches, Louisiana

Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...

 in north Louisiana to become the purchasing agent for Northwestern State College

Northwestern State University

Northwestern State University, known as NSU, is a four-year public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the University of Louisiana System.NSU was founded in 1884 as...

. After four years there, he returned to teaching. He was the Hammond postmaster

Postmaster

A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...

from 1944 until his death in 1949, one week before his 67th birthday.

Sims is interred at Greenlawn Cemetery in Hammond. The Linus A. Sims Memorial Library on the Southeastern campus is named in his honor.