James E. Mathis, Sr. 'celebrated' at GSC

OAKWOOD - Friends and family gathered Friday at Gainesville State College to celebrate the life and legacy of James Mathis Senior, the man GSC President Dr. Martha Nesbitt called the 'father of Gainesville State College'.

James Mathis Junior recalled his father’s priorities, priorities that included GSC, Chicopee Woods Park, and the Northeast Georgia History Center.

“Dad was very, very interested and his three priorities were education, the environment and history,” Mathis said. “Those three were celebrated today with the organizations that honored him.”

“He headed the task force that promoted the sale of bonds that provided the money to buy the land and construct the college,” Dr. Nesbitt recalled. “He worked very closely with James ‘Bubba’ Dunlap who was chairman of the Board of Regents.”

Dr. Nesbitt said it was a local initiative that fit in with statewide strategy to create higher education opportunity across the state.

“James Mathis was the local leader in terms getting this college started,” Dr. Nesbitt said.

Frank Armstrong, with the Chicopee Woods Area Parks Commission, said Mathis love of nature was behind his preservation efforts.

“Chicopee Woods would probably be a landfill and industry sites instead of a 1500 acre wilderness area and outdoor classroom for 50,000 students every year if not for James Mathis, Sr.,” Armstrong said.

Dr. John S. Burd, President Emeritus of Brenau University, now interim director of the Northeast Georgia History Center, recalled getting invited to lunch one day by Mathis at his home.
During that lunch Mathis unfolded his plan to start the History Center and move the cabin of Cherokee Indian Chief White Path onto the Brenau University campus.
Burd said Mathis contributed much of his personal collections to the Center to get it started.

Mathis was repeatedly called a man of vision, his son James Junior recalling that he did not like viewing the glass as half empty, for him it was always half full.