Mike Mahan, dean of the School of Education; Christy Crawford, Brantley Crawford, Cathy Crawford Sims and Max Burns, president of Gordon State College.

The children of the late Betty Smith Crawford gathered at Gordon State College Wednesday afternoon to sign a gift agreement to establish a scholarship in her name.

Recipients of the Betty Smith Crawford Scholarship must be students with need who have been accepted into the education program.

"Momma was a teacher before she married my dad," said Christy Crawford, a teacher herself, who joined her brother, Brantley and sister Cathy Crawford Sims for the campus visit. "And she was a teacher all her life. She taught Sunday school, Boy Scouts, and was always involved in education in one way or another. What better way to honor her than with a scholarship in her name."

A Lamar County native, Betty graduated from Gordon Military High School in 1943 and later served on the City of Barnesville's Board of Education. Her husband, the late Dr. John Crawford, served on Gordon Military College's Board of Directors as both a trustee and as chairman. When Gordon became a member of the University System of Georgia, he also served on the Gordon College Foundation.

There is also a scholarship in his name awarded annually to a deserving nursing student.

Dr. Crawford died in 2006 and Mrs. Crawford died in 2014.

The siblings gathered at a sun dial which had recently been moved to a location closer to Smith Hall, something Betty had wanted for some time thinking students might enjoy seeing it. The dial has been a part of the campus since 1919.

"Oh yea, this sun dial," said Christy. "It being here, close to Smith Hall, would have made momma happy."

The agreement was signed in Smith Hall which houses the Gordon State College School of Education. The building was named after Betty's great uncle, Walter Byron Smith, an 1882 Gordon graduate.