For whom was Leonard Auditorium named?
For whom was Leonard Auditorium named?
Posted at 03:52 PM in Alumni, Buildings, Methodist | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I've talked a lot in the past year about faculty of years past, of buildings on the campus, and about various student activities and ceremonies. I haven't written much about alumni. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to try to highlight some noteworthy alumni who have distinguished themselves - and the college - in their professions.
Posted at 02:18 PM in Alumni | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
My predecessor, Herbert Hucks Jr., of the class of 1934, served as a librarian and archivist at Wofford from 1947 to 1998, including 20 years as a part-time retired archivist. He compiled a list of various "little-known facts" about Wofford. I'll try to drop a few in every now and then, in the midst of various stories about Wofford people and events. Many of these facts come from the D. D. Wallace History of Wofford College, published in 1951.
On Wofford and the Civil War: "The first martyr in the Southern cause was William Maxwell Martin, a Wofford graduate of 1857, who had developed into a gifted poet as well as orator. His graduation speech, The Calico Flag, it was said, 'produced a sensation in its way beyond anything in the annals of the college.' He died February 21, 1861, of illness contracted from exposure on duty at Fort Moultrie, standing by his canon through the cold damp night."
Martin's father was a well-known South Carolina Methodist minister and Wofford trustee.
On the Confederate bonds: "The securities owned by the college at the close of the Civil War included $85,897 of Confederate bonds and certificates, $1,297 in Confederate money, and bank stocks of $17,525 par value, all of which was ruined by the war... It is correct, therefore, to say that the endowment was swept away by the war, although it was not all invested in Confederate bonds."
"At least 35 Wofford alumni died in the Civil War."
As Wofford is presently in a pattern of enrollment and faculty growth, it's interesting to note other times when the faculty grew. On the faculty's recommendation, in 1866, the trustees created a chair of history and Biblical literature, and elected A. H. Lester to serve as professor of history and Biblical Literature. They also voted to establish a divinity school to be conducted by Professors A. M. Shipp, Whitefoord Smith, and A. H. Lester. Apparently it continued only a few years and amounted to little except specializing in a few religious subjects. The point is interesting, however, that Wofford briefly had a divinity school.
Photo, above, of (left to right) Professors Whitefoord Smith, James Carlisle, David Duncan, A. H. Lester, Warren DuPre, and A. M. Shipp. This is the oldest faculty group photograph that I've found in the collection.
Posted at 02:31 PM in Academics, Alumni | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Homecoming is one of those rituals of the fall with which we are all familiar. Class reunions, football games, Homecoming queens, Homecoming dances, the ceremonies are similar from one college to another. Homecoming at Wofford has evolved through the years, with different traditions being dropped or added as times change. Before the 1960s, many class reunions actually happened at Commencement, and we've reverted to that in a small way in the past 5 years with the fifty-year class having its reunion at Commencement. Homecoming has been re-energized at Wofford in the past six years or so, with reunions, street parties, and all manner of events on campus and around Spartanburg.
Below are some accounts from earlier Homecomings. In 1958, fifty years ago this fall, the Terriers played Catawba at Homecoming, and the game was at 8:00 pm on Saturday night. The main Homecoming dance was on Friday night, in the arena of Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, and it featured Tony Torre of Columbia. The campus abandoned the tradition of a Homecoming parade that year, instead displaying floats around the fraternity houses. The article in the Old Gold and Black describing the change said that the students wanted the event to be more campus-centered.
The alumni council met on Saturday (as they still do) and fraternities had open house on Saturday afternoon. Following an alumni dinner and the football game, students sponsored an informal dance in the "little gym" in Andrews Fieldhouse at 10:30 PM. Without any women students, the homecoming queens generally came from other colleges, including Converse, Limestone, and Winthrop.
Whether in 1958, 1968, or 2008, Homecoming remains one of the highlights of the fall at Wofford.
Photo: Buddy Hammond '55 poses with the SAE Homecoming float in 1952, the program from Homecoming 1969
Posted at 04:29 PM in Alumni, Students | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
General James C. Dozier served his country throughout his life, and the South Carolina National Guard was his true love.
He joined the guard before he made it to college. Born in Horry County in February 1885 and
joined Company H of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the South Carolina
National Guard in 1905. Though much of
his time over the next ten years was spent in business, he took time to serve
in the guard. In 1915, he became a
Wofford freshman, and though thirty years old, spent a year at the
college. In 1916, his National Guard
unit was called into federal service and sent to the Mexican border. While there, Dozier became first sergeant of
his company. The unit returned to South
Carolina in December 1916, but in April 1917, with American entry into World
War I, his unit was called back into federal service. Commissioned a second lieutenant in the
summer of 1917 and promoted to first lieutenant in December, Dozier and his
unit arrived in France in May 1918.
Dozier was wounded in action near Montbrehain, Frnace, on
October 8, 1918, but despite his wounds, continued to command his two
platoons. With a soldier, and under
intense fire, he continued to move toward a German machine gun nest, where he
killed the entire machine gun crew with hand grenades and his pistol. For this act of gallantry, Dozier was awarded
the Medal of Honor on January 21, 1919, by General John J. Pershing. He was one of six South Carolinians to be
awarded the Medal of Honor in World War I.
Returning to South Carolina, he continued to serve in the National Guard. In 1926, Governor Thomas G. McLeod appointed Dozier, then a major, to be the state’s adjutant and inspector general. The position carried the rank of brigadier general. Dozier won the seat in the general election later in 1926 and was reelected every four years until he retired in 1958. In 1950, he was promoted to major general, and on his retirement, the South Carolina General Assembly promoted him to lieutenant general.
Last summer, members of General Dozier’s family presented
some of the general’s papers, photographs, and news clippings to the
archives. They’ve recently been
processed, and are available for researchers to view in the archives. These photos come from the collection, and
the collection itself reminds us both of the sacrifice of men and women in the
cause of freedom and also of Wofford’s contribution to the military.
Posted at 11:43 AM in Alumni | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Wofford’s first graduate set the bar high for all of the men and women who followed him
Samuel Dibble, who earned Wofford’s first bachelor’s degree
on July 16, 1856, later became the first of ten Wofford alumni to serve in the
United States Congress. A native of
After the excitement of
The weather has been pleasant for some time past. Several persons in the house have colds, but so far I am clear, and will try and keep so. Mr. Fripp and myself have a comfortable room... with the additional comfort of a fireplace. I am gradually getting over being foolishly homesick, and am tolerably well satisfied with my situation. I spoke in the chapel of the college on Thursday last. It is the custom to speak selected pieces. I gave them “The Future.”
I am getting used to the college, and like it very well, if
they would only have regularity in ringing the bells; but they vary from about
ten minutes before to ten minute after the proper hour in ringing the first
time, and ring the second at the right time, thus creating great
confusion… Add to this that college time
is different from every other in the place, and is changed every two or three
months as [Professor Herman] Baer’s watch is regulated, which is the college
time, there being no clock on the premises.
It was reported to have been a good speech, though the fact that many of
the other addresses that day were in Latin may have added to its impact. Dibble received his diploma and King James
Bible from the faculty and headed to Orangeburg, where he taught, read law, and
married. Dibble soon married Mary
Christiana Lewis of Orangeburg.
In 1878, Dibble was invited to give the annual address
before Wofford’s literary societies during Commencement week. His address, “The Duty of the State in Regard
to Education” was widely distributed in pamphlet form. The talk was an argument in favor of
compulsory public education, which was, at least in
With the rise of the Tillman movement in South Carolina, Dibble did not seek reelection in 1890 and retired from Congress in 1891. He returned to Orangeburg where he continued to work in his business interests, including banking, practicing law, and serving as president of the Bowman and Branchville Railroad. In 1894, he received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Wofford, becoming only the second layman to receive an honorary doctorate from the college.
There's a longer version of this biography on the Archives website. That article includes information about his service in the Civil War and his service in Congress.
Photos include a portrait of Samuel Dibble, a copy of his 1856 Wofford diploma, and a photo of part of his family.
Posted at 05:10 PM in Alumni | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Opened in 1912, the James H. Carlisle Memorial Hall was the college’s first large residence hall. Before Carlisle Hall, most students had to find places to live off campus. Fir the college’s first sixty years, students either lived in the village or they boarded with the professors who lived on campus (Imagine that – living with your professor!). Some students lived in unused rooms in Main Building, and some lived in Alumni Hall – the building that now houses the Admission and Financial Aid offices. Carlisle Hall was paid for by donations from Spartanburg citizens and cost about $55,000.
The following story from The Journal tells of the opening of the residence hall:
Every student in College is pleased with the new dormitory. Only Freshmen and Sophomores are accommodated, but the boys from the two upper classes were anxious to get rooms in it. Every convenience is furnished – electric lights, steam heat, bath rooms – everything is handy and comfortable. One hundred and fifty-five boys room in the building and one hundred and eighty take meals in the dining hall. There is no faculty restriction whatever over the boys. Each student is placed on his honor as a man to act as such. The dormitory students elected a president, Mr. G. H. Hodges, the only
Senior in the building. He is assisted by an executive committee and nine monitors.
The duty of each monitor is to report to the president any misconduct that happens on the floor assigned to him. The matter is then looked into by the president and the executive committee and turned over to the Faculty. So far this system of student government has been carried out with much better success than the Faculty management could ever attain. The boys are brought into closer touch with each other. They know and are known, which is one of the finest things of a dormitory life.
Mr. D. L. Betts, a graduate of 1910 who has been teaching in the Carlisle Fitting School since he finished college, superintends everything in connection with the dormitory. Mr. Betts is characterized by a business ability that will mean success in the affairs of the Carlisle Hall.
Carlisle Hall remained in use as a residence until the late 1960s. After the last students moved out, it served as a home for various campus offices. In its early years, the Wofford Theatre Workshop was housed there.
The college demolished Carlisle Hall in May 1981. A newspaper account of the building’s demolition included reminiscences from several alumni, including ninety-two year old George H. Hodges ‘13, a retired Methodist minister living in Spartanburg, the senior in 1912 who had been the first president of the dormitory.
Photos (click on each for a larger image in a pop-up window) George H. Hodges '13 as a senior; Carlisle Hall in the early 1950s; students with a banner on the roof of the residence hall's portico, the cornerstone being removed in 1981.
Posted at 01:24 PM in Alumni, Buildings, Photographs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Last month, an alum's basketball letter sweater came home.
Mrs. Ann Turner Bevalaque donated her father's 1917 black and gold sweater to the archives. Henry Grady Turner graduated from Wofford in 1917, and while at the college, he was a member of the Preston Literary Society and a three-year member of the basketball team. The Bohemian, the college's yearbook, said of his basketball skills, "there's none to equal him. His hands attract the ball as if they were magnets, then by some secret power, he thrusts the ball in the basket from any angle or distance."
A forward, Turner was chosen by the college basketball coaches in the state for the All-State team in 1916-17.
After graduation, Turner joined Southern Bell, where he retired forty-three years later as a vice president specializing in marketing and merchandising activities.
Click on the images for larger versions. The photo at left is Henry Grady Turner's 1917 Bohemian photo.
Posted at 09:52 AM in Alumni, Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

