page_title: Hampden–Sydney College
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Hampden–Sydney College / History / 19th century
caption_attribution_description: Hampden–Sydney College in 1894 Other information From H-SC yearbook, The Kaleidoscope (1894)
context_page_description: Hampden–Sydney College is a private men's liberal arts college in Hampden Sydney, Virginia. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest privately chartered college in the southern United States, the tenth-oldest college in the nation, the last college founded before the American Declaration of Independence, and the oldest of only three four-year, all-male liberal arts colleges remaining in the United States. Hampden–Sydney College is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The college was notably attended by William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States.
context_section_description: Hampden–Sydney became a thriving college while located in southside Virginia, which led to expansion. In 1812, the Union Theological Seminary was founded at Hampden–Sydney College. The seminary was later moved to Richmond, Virginia and is currently the Union Presbyterian Seminary. In 1838, the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College was founded—the Medical College of Virginia, which is now the MCV Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. Among the early nineteenth-century leaders were John Holt Rice, who founded the seminary, Jonathan P. Cushing, and Reverend James Marsh.  In those years the intellectual culture at HSC spanned from leading southern, anti-slavery writers like Jesse Burton Harrison and Lucian Minor to leading proslavery writers, such as George A. Baxter and Landon Garland. During this time, the college constructed new buildings using Federal-style architecture with Georgian accents. This is the style of architecture still used on the campus.
  At the onset of the American Civil War, Hampden–Sydney students formed a company in the Virginia Militia. The Hampden–Sydney students did not see much action but rather were "captured, and...paroled by General George B. McClellan on the condition that they return to their studies".
caption: Cushing and Memorial Halls, 1894
exif: {}