History
Coker College began in 1894 as Welsh Neck High School, founded by a local businessman and American Civil War veteran, Major James Lide Coker (1837–1918). In 1908, when South Carolina created a statewide public school system, Major Coker led the effort to convert the school to Coker College for Women.
From the 1920s until just after World War II, it was the only college between Columbia and Charleston accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Coker was once affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, but has been non-denominational since 1944. It officially became co-ed in 1969, although men had been attending since the end of World War II.
From 1988 to 2003, Coker students often interacted with students from South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics (SCGSSM) who lived and took their own courses on campus. In 2003, the SCGSSM moved to its own campus a few blocks away.
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—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
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“Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)