Clemson celebrates history, giving with Legacy Day

Published: October 28, 2009

CLEMSON — Clemson University will celebrate its roots and the people who have left their mark on the university with the first-ever Legacy Day from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at Fort Hill, the historic home of John C. Calhoun and Thomas Green Clemson.

Legacy Day will feature tours of Fort Hill, a scavenger hunt for historical facts and trivia in the house, food and music by the Clemson University String Quartet.

The event will include a book signing of the biography “Thomas Green Clemson.” Many of the books’ 13 authors, as well as editor Alma Bennett, a professor in the English department, will be on hand for the signing, and books will be available for purchase.

Written for general readers as well as scholars, history buffs and students, the 400-page book includes a 16-page color section of historical portraits and selections from Clemson’s own art collection. The book also features historic documents, maps and genealogy charts of the Clemson and Calhoun families dating from the 1600s to the 1970s. Books are $29.95, and cash and checks will be accepted.

At 4 p.m., there will be a special dedication ceremony for a new memorial on the grounds of Fort Hill, a set of seven bronze leaves that memorialize the members of the Fort Hill Legacy Society, which honors bequests of $1 million or more when the university receives them.

The first leaf is dedicated to Thomas Green Clemson and Anna Calhoun Clemson, whose gift of land led to the establishment of Clemson University.

Other names on the leaves are:

• Wofford Benjamin Camp Sr. and Louis P. Camp, whose gift helped establish and provides continuing support for the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts;

• Charles E. Daniel and Homozel Mickel Daniel, whose gift created endowments to support scholarships, fellowships and an endowed chair position in the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities;

• Clyde V. Madren Sr. and Mamie W. Madren, whose gift provided support for the Clyde V. Madren Sr. Continuing Education and Conference Center;

• William M. Ballenger and Florence Coles Ballenger, whose gift funded the Clemson National Scholars program;

• Mary Katherine Littlejohn, whose gift funded scholarships; and

• Ernest L. Corley Jr., whose gift funded a Trustees Chair and graduate student assistantship in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences.

Clemson students and faculty will make presentations about each donor and the legacy they have left at the university.

Legacy Day is sponsored by a committee of student leaders, the Division of Advancement and the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities.

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