College of Charleston - History

History

Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, the College of Charleston is the oldest institution of higher education in South Carolina, and the 13th oldest in the United States. During the colonial period, wealthy families sent their sons abroad for higher education. By the mid-18th century, many leading citizens supported the idea of establishing an institution of higher learning within the state. On January 30, 1770, Lieutenant Governor William Bull recommended to the colony’s general assembly the establishment of a provincial college. However, internal disagreements, political rivalries and the American Revolution delayed its progress. After the war, South Carolinians returned their attention to establishing a college.

On March 19, 1785, the College of Charleston was chartered to “encourage and institute youth in the several branches of liberal education.” The Act of the statehouse provided for three colleges simultaneously: one in Charleston, one in Winnsboro and one in Cambridge. The Act also granted the College almost 9 acres (3.6 ha) of land bounded by present-day Calhoun, St. Philip, Coming and George streets; three-fourths of the land was soon sold to pay debts, but the College is still centered in that section of Charleston. Only the College of Charleston continues today as a college.

The College was rechartered in 1791 because of questions about the 1785 Act, and the trustees hired Rev. (later Bishop) Robert Smith as the first president of the College, and the first classes were held at his home on Glebe Street (the current home of the College of Charleston president). Robert Smith served as the College's first president. Educated in England, he was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church and relocated to Charleston, where he served as rector of St. Philip’s Church. During the American Revolution, he supported the Patriot cause and even served as a soldier during the siege of the city. He later became the first Episcopal bishop of South Carolina. He relocated the school to a brick range which had been constructed for use as quarters for soldiers during the Revolutionary War.

Dr. Smith continued as the president until 1797. It was during his term (1794) that the school graduated its first class with the degree of A.B., a class which consisted of six students. The oldest of the students was only 18, and the work for a degree was considered so easy that one of its first graduates said that "the whole thing was absurd."

Upon the resignation of Dr. Smith in 1797, the school became sporadic and eventually closed completely in 1811. It was revived in 1824 with the hiring of Rev. Jasper Adams from Brown University for a salary of $2500. Rev. Adams' plans for enlarging the school met opposition both locally and from the General Assembly which found his plans antagonistic to the interest of the South Carolina College (today known as the University of South Carolina).

Rev. Adams left the school in 1826, and the future of the College appeared bleak. In 1837, however, the City of Charleston decided that it would be in the city's interest to have a "home college." In 1837, the city council took over control of the school and assumed the responsibility for its finances and for electing its trustees. As such, it became the nation’s first municipal college. The city provided funds, for example, in 1850 to enlarge the main academic building (Randolph Hall), to construct Porters Lodge and to fence in the Cistern Yard, the block that is still the core of the campus. It remained a municipal college until the 1950s, when the College again became a private institution.

Several of the College’s founders played key roles in the American Revolution and in the creation of the new republic. Three were signers of the Declaration of Independence and another three were framers of the U.S. Constitution. Other founders were past, present and future federal and state lawmakers and judges, state governors, diplomats and Charleston councilmen and mayors.

During the Civil War, many students and faculty left to serve the Confederacy. Despite dwindling student numbers and a long-running siege of the city by Federal troops, there was no suspension of classes until December 19, 1864, two months before the city was evacuated. Classes resumed on February 1, 1866, and over the next four decades, the College weathered several financial crises, Reconstruction, hurricanes and the devastating earthquake of 1886. Until the 20th century, students who attended the College were primarily Charlestonians.

Harrison Randolph (president, 1897–1945) changed that by building residence halls and creating scholarships to attract students from other parts of the state. Under President Randolph, women were admitted to the College and the enrollment increased from just 68 students in 1905 to more than 400 in 1935. For many institutions of higher education across the South, integration took place in the late 1960s. For the College, the first black students enrolled in 1967.

The enrollment remained at about 500 until the College became a state institution in 1970. During Theodore Stern’s presidency (1968–1979), the number of students increased to about 5,000 and the physical facilities expanded from fewer than 10 buildings to more than 100. Between 1979 and 2001, the enrollment continued to increase, climbing to more than 10,000, and attracting students from across the country and around the world.

The College of Charleston Complex: Main Building, Library and Gate Lodge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and further declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971. According to a description by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, "The historic campus of the College of Charleston contains three structures, the Main Building, the Library and Gate Lodge, situated in an attractive setting of evergreen oaks, that achieve a certain degree of unity by means of the prevailing Pompeian red coloring of their stuccoed walls." The main building, as designed by William Strickland, was built in 1828-29 and was revised in 1850 by the work of Edward Brickell White which added "six giant Roman Ionic pillars" and otherwise developed a more "grandiose" vision. The Gate Lodge, designed by White and now known as Porters Lodge, was built in 1852 in a matching Roman Revival style. The College Library was designed by George E. Walker and was built in 1854-1856.

Under the leadership of President Lee Higdon (2001–2006), the College embarked on an ambitious, multi-year plan designed to enhance the overall student experience, increase the faculty and student support staff and upgrade and expand facilities. The College renovated many historic structures and opened several new buildings, including two new residence halls, the Beatty Center (School of Business and Economics), new facilities for the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance and the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library. The building boom continues today, with construction under way on the Carolina First Center and John Kresse Arena sports complex, the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts, a new science center, a new research and residence facility at the Grice Marine Laboratory and the first phase of construction at the Dixie Plantation site.

Recently, under the presidency of P. George Benson (2007–present), the College of Charleston embarked on a new strategic planning process designed to ensure the College retains its traditions in the liberal arts and sciences while responding to the needs of its evolving student population with cutting-edge academic programming and state-of-the-art facilities.