Well-known Alabama Baptist leader L. O. Dawson declined the offer of Howard's presidency after Frank Roof's departure in 1902, as did Furman University president Andrew Phillip Montague, initially. But former president A. D. Smith pressed Montague and finally persuaded him to accept Howard's offer.
Montague, a native Virginian, was by that time a respected classics scholar who had translated, edited and published letters of Cicero and Pliny. He also was a champion fundraiser, and preferred to leave to Howard's faculty much of the policymaking and daily operation of the college so he could travel the state on behalf of the college. This he did enthusiastically and with tremendous success.
Montague seems to have had an uncanny ability to not only envision large new projects, but also to quickly find money to complete them. When he recognized the need for a new library and a building to house it, he simply went out and raised the needed funds. Given the goal of raising $75,000 (equivalent to seven buildings the size of the new library) for Howard's endowment, he found the money seven months ahead of deadline.
