Wofford College - From The Archives

Homecoming

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

James C. Dozier, Wofford’s Medal of Honor recipient

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 1^st 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. 

Samuel Dibble: Wofford's First Graduate

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 Charleston, Dibble was born on September 16, 1837. His father was a hat maker with Connecticut roots. Dibble received some of his early education in New England and the rest in Charleston. In 1853, he enrolled at the College of Charleston. Late in the spring of 1855, a disagreement between students and faculty members led a large number of students to leave the college. Dibble, who was a Methodist, transferred to Wofford in the fall of 1855. He entered the junior class, but took the senior coursework in addition to the junior courses.

After the excitement of  South Carolina’s largest city, Spartanburg likely was awfully quiet for the young Dibble. Perhaps the lack of diversions accounts for his ability to take two years’ worth of courses in one year.

In October 1855, he wrote his brother Virgil about life in Spartanburg, in the house where he was boarding, and about college:

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.

Dibble lamented the lack of news in  Spartanburg. “I saw the first Charleston paper I have seen since I left Charleston this morning. The papers here have hardly any news at all, and what they have [is] very uninteresting. I wish you would send me some paper with interesting news about once a week.”

About two weeks later, Dibble wrote to ask his brother to send him some books he needed for his courses. He asked for a copy of “Antigone of Sophocles” and “Cicero de Oratore” because he was using borrowed copies and they could not be found for purchase in Spartanburg.

Dibble did not make the trip to Charleston for Christmas, remaining in Spartanburg. The college likely did not take a lengthy Christmas break as they did in subsequent years. Also, the railroad had not reached Spartanburg in 1855, making the trip even harder. He wrote on Christmas Eve to tell his brother of his holiday plans:

I suppose you would like to know how I expect to spend Christmas. Well, in the morning I do not know exactly what I shall do. I suppose I will dine with Mrs. Choice’s mother, Mrs. Cleveland, as the family is invited, and myself too. I have been invited to go on a partridge hunt in the afternoon, but do not know whether I shall go or not. The party tomorrow afternoon will consist of from a dozen to twenty of the young ladies and gentlemen of the village, and will be a very pleasant one without doubt, and I would go with great willingness and eagerness if I were not ashamed of my horsemanship. I suppose you will be shooting crackers, and setting off wheel rockets, etc, as usual on Christmas. I have been trying to get some wheel-rockets or something of the kind, but even firecrackers are not to be got here. Tomorrow night I expect to go to a “candy-pulling” at Miss Bobo’s, and hope to have a great deal of enjoyment.

As the only graduate in July 1856, Dibble gave the valedictory address on the subject of “Genius.” 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 South Carolina, a position about 40 years ahead of its time.

Following his service in the General Assembly, Dibble won a special election for a seat in the U. S. Congress to replace the 1880 election winner, who had died. Dibble ran for the seat again in the fall of 1882, winning that and three subsequent elections.

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.

 The “Grand old man” of Orangeburg, as he was known, died on September 16,1913 and is buried in Orangeburg.

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. 

Carlisle Hall memories

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.

Basketball sweater

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.