The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1905-01-10
SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE !.
LUMINOUS IN ACHIEVEMENT,
Mr. VIM. A. Barber of New York Presents Some Facts
of Interest In Connection With the
Colleges History
Colleges History.

I
last night at tie State house by Mr.
VIM. A. Barber of New York. gradu
ate of the class of 1853 at the South
| Carolina college and subsequently at
torney general OF the State Of South
Carolina:
I can not proceed without first eX.
pressing to my fellow members: Of the
Clariosophic society my keen apprecia-
ton Of the invitation which calls me
from the busy scenes Of profeSslona
| life in a distant city TO participate lr
these pleasant exercises.
| To those bearing close relation to the
South Carolina college, whether as
! trustees, members Of the faculty, stu
dents or alumni, this celebration is OF
peculiar interest. To the trustees, it is
an inspiring reminder that they are
the successors in trust of John Dray-
| ton. Charles G.. Pinckney. Henry w
DeSaussure, the first Wade Hampton
and their associates OF the board under
whose direction the college was opened
| Upon members of the facult.', it must
| impress an ennobling sense Of the re-
sponsibility Of those who sit in the
places Of Jonathan Maxcv and Enoch
| Hanford. To her foster sons. it brings
memories Of tender associations. in the
! days Of our youth and we gladly gath
er on her centennial birthday TO lay
garlands Of affection in the lap of our
alma mater.
But the occasion has q broader and
more general significance. 1t COM
memorates the laying Of the corner
stone in a system Of intelligent public
instruction through which the State be-
1 frS. ,t~,1Sl S,orr Nf hoy
people.
Origin and Founding OF the College
Rolling back the curtain Of history
a little more than a century, We see
South Carolina divided into two dis
tinct sections, socially and politically
antagonistic.
In the lower country, the English
along the seacoast, the French Protest
ants on the Santee. the German Prv-
testants on the Edisto, the Irish in
Williamsburg and the Swiss on the
Savannah had in three generations
been moulded into one people, united
in purpose and harmonious in, SYM
pathy. Their planters had become veal
thy; their merchants were prosperous:
their homes were refined and their chill
dren were educated. Many Of their sons
had graduated from the leading uni
versities Of Europe and the colleges OF
the north.
The upper country, now the pride OF
the State, boaSted no such attainments
While lower Carolina was enjoying its
first century of civilization, the wood
clad hills and fertile valleys of the up
per country remained the habitation
and hunting ground of the Cherokees
and Catawbas. Save for q few
hunters, trappers and Indian traders
settlement of the region north OF
Columbia did not begin until about
1850. But in the years Immediately
following, the influx Of settlers was
great and population rapidly increased
From the southwark a colony Of HUI
guenots moved into the western section
while into all upper Carolina poured
trains Of immigrants, chiefly Scotch
Irish, but including some Quakers and
Germans moving from the north. Each
brought fixed, social, political and re-
ligious views, disagreeing among them,
selves, and all hostile to the views Of
the people in the lower section.
To assimilate all these different and
differing elements into a homogeneous
citizenship was the most serious prob
lem of that day. SaGaciouS statesmen
saw that not only the progress, but the
very safety Of the State, depended up
on educating and unifying the peo-
ple. The first effort in this direction
| was the establishment in 1855 Of three
| colleges, one at Charleston, one al
Cambridge, and one at Winnsboro. Oh
these, the first two signally failed anG
the progress made by the third scarce
| ly justified it's existence. But the re-
suit proved the futility Of several sepa'
rate institutions and suggested the
nn1n SN he
| controlled and supported by the State
! where young men from every section
and of every creed should be taught
to lay their prejuGices on the altar o1
patriotism and drown their differences
in a fount of common knowledge.
In 1901, Gov. John Drayton urged up.
! on the legislature the establishment o1
such college at Columbia. Chancel'
lor DeSaussure, then member of the
house, introduced the bill, which
though it met with strong opposition
was passed on December 19, 1901. 1r
| February Of the following year, the
board of trustees organized and begar
their work. Impressed with the i'm.
portance of their task, they gave earn.
est thought and constant attention tt
it. BY successive steps a site was
selected, suitable buildings were con-
| SlTuClGO, o. "OIhllS OlSdilAdlIOll wa
planned, a curriculum vas arranged
and on January 10, 1905, 100 years tonor-
row, the South Carolina college opened
her doors, over which was inscribed
that comprehensive and prophetic mot
! to "Emollit moreS nee Simit esse feros.'
The hope Of her founders was to be
speedily realized. Students from every
section carried home and spread the
seeds of patriotic impulse from which
| the State reaped a rich harvest. Edu'
Gated intelligence asserted itself. Con.
tention ceased. Dissention disappeared
Sectionalism subsided. The people were
united and the State prospered.
In h,s famous letter to Gov. Manning
in 1858, DR.. ThornWell said: Those
who have walked tog .ther in the same
paths Of science and taken sweet coun'
sci in the same halls of learning. who
went arm in arm in that halloWed sea-
son of life when the foundations of al
excellence are laid: who have Wept
with the same sorrows or laughed witt
the same joys; who have been fired
with the same ambition and lureo
with the same hopes and grieved witt
the same disappointmentS-th arc
not the men in future years to stir ur
animosity or foment intestine feuds
Would you make any commonwealth 6
unit? Educate it's sons together. This
| is the secret of the harmony which Sc
remarkably characterized our State
It was not the influence Of a single
mind, great as that mind was; it was
no tame submission to authoritative
dictation. It was the community OF
| thought, feeling and character achieved
| NV, these