seasons

UPDATE
Allen, Scroggins Named
To Journalism Wall of Fame
by William Nunnelley
Catherine B. Allen, a former Crimson editor who served Woman’s
Missionary Union (WMU) as a communicator and executive for 25
years, and Albert T. Scroggins Jr., who headed Samford’s journalism
and public relations departments for almost a decade, were inducted
as members of the Samford University Department of Journalism
and Mass Communication Wall of Fame during homecoming
Nov. 7.
Selection to the Wall of Fame is considered the highest honor the
department can bestow on an individual, said department chair
Bernie Ankney.
Allen, from Birmingham, edited the then–Howard Crimson for
two years in the early 1960s, when the newspaper won All American
ratings from the American Collegiate Press Association both years.
Allen worked her way through Samford on a work scholarship in
the college public relations office. She graduated cum laude in 1964.
Allen began her professional career with WMU in 1964 as editor
of Sunbeam Activities, a quarterly magazine with a circulation of
55,000. Later, she became news director of WMU before moving in
1974 to the business side of the organization. Between then and
1989, she held varying titles, ending as associate executive director.
She was responsible for a wide variety of areas, including
personnel for 165 employees. At the time, WMU had a periodical
circulation of about one million and an inventory of about 300
nonperiodical publications.
Later, she was president of the women’s department of the
Baptist World Alliance between 1990–95. She was a founding board
member of Associated Baptist Press, now Baptist News Global.
Allen holds an M.B.A. from Emory University, and is the author
of six books on religion and history. She and her husband, former
Samford history professor Lee Allen, cowrote Courage to Care: The
Story of Ida V. Moffett.
Scroggins joined then–Howard College in 1953 in his dual role
as journalism and public relations head. He led the journalism
department until 1959 and public relations until 1961. In his public
relations role, he helped tell the story of Samford’s move from East
Lake to its new Shades Valley campus in 1957, and of its early
progress on the new campus. At the same time, he taught a series of
award-winning young journalists the basics of the profession.
Scroggins held a doctorate in journalism from the University of
Missouri. He was named dean and professor of the College of
Journalism at the University of South Carolina in 1965, serving 20
years until his retirement as dean emeritus in 1985. He and his
faculty were honored by the
U.S. Secretary of the Army for
designing the Advanced Army
Public Affairs course.
He received South
Carolina’s Order of Palmetto
and was presented honorary
life membership in the South
Carolina Broadcasters
Association.
Scroggins also taught
at the University of South
Florida and Southern Illinois
University. He was a veteran
of the U.S. Navy who served
in the South Pacific during
World War II. Scroggins died
at the age of 89 in 2009.
Catherine Allen
Albert Scroggins
samford.edu • 15
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12/4/15 11:12 AM