Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THURSDAY, SectionB AUGUST 28, 1975 FriEA('uerJ1rk FE Histc At a time when the people of this country are trying to understand the American Revolution and the development of the United States in preparation for our nation's Bicentennial, Susan Cate of the GAMECOCK staff has researched the history of the University of South Carolina. BY SUSAN CATE of The Gamecock staff PART 1: MOTIVES Amid the fire and fury raged by the colonies after Farmer George and his parliament's Stamp Act of 1765, a little bill proposing the charter of a South Carolina College was all but lost in the South Carolina Assembly. Soon after, another attempt was lost in the Assembly because of political disputes. Despite the failures, however, the idea of a college had been well impressed upon important minds and was not lost during the ravages of the Revolution. The dawn of a new century proved to be a time ripe for change. The state elections in 1800 ousted the Federalist. party and the chairs of the South Carolina Assembly were filled with Republicans. John Drayton, the new Governor, having been himself denied a college education because of the death of his father, saw the need for a local, state supported institution. On February 23, 1801, Drayton presented his proposal to the Legislature. Nurtured by a monetary surplus, a result of Alexander Hamilton's federal Assumption Program which returned the $5 million South Carolina had spent in the Revolution, the proposal was adopted. PART 2: BEGINNINGS On the 10th of January, 1805, a Board of Trustees, less than half of whom had gone to college, opened the doors of the South Carolina College to nine students. The College consisted of the land bordered by Bull, Pendleton, Sumter and Devine streets and had 1 buildingsand two faculty members. To welcome them was the first president of the college, Jonathan Maxcy, a former Rhode Island Baptist minister and New York college president. The roll increased to 56 students by August, 1806: 14 freshmen, 36 sophomores, 5 juniors and 1 senior. The graduation ceremony granting eight BA degrees was held in December, 1807. By 1810 South Carolina College was well on its way to becoming a noteworthy institution when an epidemic of turkey stealing shook its foundations. The faculty, had they foreseen the streakers of 1974 would have counted their blessings instead of levying a 7-month suspension on the pranksters. Afterall, the students were due a little frolicing for theirs was no easy life. Entrance requirements consisted of translating - Cornelius Nepos, Sallust, Caesar's Commentaries, and Virgil's Aeneid from Latin to English; passing a Latin and English grammar exam; translating a Greek passage from the Bible; and proof of legible handwriting, accurate spelling and some knowledge of mathematics. - Dormitories--South (Rutledge) and North (DeSaussure) Buildings--had been designed by the Board of Trustees in the form of tenements, with stqirways between every other two rooms so that any student disruption might be easily quenched. Professors were also housed in the dorms and classes were held in the larger rooms. A code of conduct dictated the students' lives from sunrise to sunrise. At 6 a.m. everyone convened in the chapel for The football team of 1896 which defeated Clemson twelve to six in the initial game of the 76 year-old rivnlry. ory Behinc prayers and then went back to their rooms to study. The rest of the day went as follows: 8 a.m.-breakfast. 9 a.m. noon--back to the dorm for study or recitation. 1 p.m. dinner. 2 p.m.-back to the dorm to study or recite. 5 p.m. -prayers followed by sipper. After the evening meal, the scholars had free time until 9 p.m. when they had to return to their rooms. This regimen flowed smoothly for three years until several students (who had downed a few too many at a local tavern) broke windows and destroyed furniture in the dining hall. Along with the increasing student body came shooting of firearms, drunken tirades, harassment of Congaree boatmen, and turkey thefts. PART 3: THOMAS COOPER'S REIGN As the novelty of turkey stealing wore off, students turned their attention to other aspects of campus life. Filthy buildings, wormy, ill-prepared food and harrassment by an overly-strict professor, caused many to don disguises and burn an effigy of the professor. They then marched in a drunken frenzy with a drum and fife to Worth Building where the Riot of 1814 ensued. The angry students broke down the doors, destroyed part of the library and battered the bell that awakened them each morning. Columbia's militia calmed the ruckus and ring leaders of the mob were expelled. But the air of diss-tisfaction remained. When a legislative committee investigated the com plaints, they found that President Maxcy's inability to act because of ill health was the cause of the unfavorable conditions. When 52-year-old Maxcy died in 1820, Thomas Cooper was named president of the College. Cooper was a 61 year-old New Englander whose controversial nature was well known in the North. He took control of the College, raised the weakened entrance requirements and restored Latin and Greek to the curriculum. Despite the rise in intellectual stimulation, the students still lacked discipline. Campus window breaking resulted in a $5 glass tax for each student. The tax did not curb the breaking of windows, however, and Columbians became infuriated by Cooper's lack of control over the students. Cooper was put under further attack for his religious and political antics. He declared himself a theist, yet denied the existence of the soul, the Trinity and hell. He proclaimed Christianity to be in error and worked diligently to overthrow its teachings. During the 1830's Cooper was put under investigation initiated by the legislature and carried out by the Board of Trustees. They charged him with several offenses related to his threats of established religion. Cooper combatted the accusations on the grounds that the Constitution allowed him to think and say what he pleased. Cooper was acquitted at the trial. PART 4: PRIOR TO WAR Unpopularity was the plague of President Robert Henry and rumors of impeachrment permeated the campus. A legislative investigation of S.C. College found Henry to be unsatisfactory as a president and the trustees tactfully gave him a professorship in return for the presidency. Under William Preston, Henry's successor, Harper and Legare Colleges were built, Greek fraternities were in troduced (Kappa Alpha and Phi Kappa Psi are the only two of the original six that remain), the college gained its first out-of-state students and lost almost the entire junior class. The presidency was left vacant once more as Thornwell was called back into the service of the church. A notable candidate for the position was Francis Lieber, a German who had fought against Napoleon, participated in the Greek revolution, spent many nights in Prussian jails for his outspoken nationalistic views, and had come to America, becoming editor of the Encyclopaedia Americana. He was waiting for an appointment to Harvard when an offer from the college in Columbia came to him in 1835i. Lieber accepted and became Professor of Political Economy. Throughout the 21 years Lieber remained, he made it clear in his writings that he disliked everything about the South--the climate, the "cultural and intellectual desert" and slavery, although he owned a few slaves himself. Francis Lieber's chances for becoming president were all but ruined by his non-support o f slavery and his ardent stand against secession. PART 5: TIHE CIVIL WAR ERA At the news of the fighting at Fort Sumter in the Spring of 1861, the cadets were eager to joir, in, but under faculty regulations they needed Longstreet's permission to go. He refused. At a secret meeting the students decidedinodisband the Old Corps ma frm. a..ew..--...t USC Jonathan Mazcy's fifteen-year adminlistratism laid the foundation for the building of the College their own rules. They left the College, marched down to the railway station and paid their own fares to Charleston. Gen. Pierre Beauregard placed the cadets on Sullivan's Island where they could drill and watch the battle and remain safe from actual fire. After three weeks they returned to Columbia as heroes and school life resumed for about a month until war fever overtook them once more. The gradual loss of men reduced the student body to 75 by the fall. Upon hearing the news of the Union's capture of Port Royal, the Cadets sought faculty permission to leave. They were given a firm "no," but they replied "yes" and left anyway. Entrance requirements were dropped to gather a class together for January 1862, but only 72 students came. Instead of risking the draft after Jeff Davis' call for more troops, the majority of these students signed up for service too. By the middle of June the College was comprised of six professors and no students, so the college was closed and rented to the Confederate army as a hospital. The professors were allowed to remain on campus until the College was officially closed in December, 1863. A little yellow flag signifying the presence of convalescing troops (Blue as well as Gray) was the only thing that saved the campus from the conflagration during Sher man's march through Columbia. On May 23, 1865, South Carolina College came into the hands of the United States Army. PART 6: RECONSTRUCTION The S.C. Legislature of 1865 convened in buildings on the S.C. College campus since the State House had been leveled by Sherman's troops earlier that year. Ie war was at an end and the hopes of re-establishing the College were being re-kindled by Gov. Perry's proposal to open the College in the form of a university. A university, he suggested, would draw in more pupils because degrees in specific fields would be offered; the higher enrollment would bring in more money. Perry also pointed out that the majority of the students would be veterans who had been away from school for a long time and who would need the versatility of a university curriculum. The legislature approved the Governor's proposal in the form of a bill establishing the University of South Carolina with eight colleges, giving the Truestees the right to establish schools of law and medicine, providing for a chaplain, and setting the entrance age at 15. The University opened on Jan. 10, 1866. In the preceding years the buildings had been used as hospitals, a prison, shelter for freed slaves and the freedman's bureau. Many refugees from the fire in 1865 remained housed on campus until 1869. In spite of the dilapidated condition, the old college buildings were in better shape than most of Columbia and the students came. By May, 1866 there were 48 on roll. The University was growing and its only academic set Please Tuns to Page .11