The College Timeline
1770
College of Charleston founded.
1785
College of Charleston chartered.
1790
Classes begin at the College of Charleston.
1794
First graduating class (six students).
1828
The cornerstone is laid for Randolph Hall, the College’s main academic building.
1837
College of Charleston becomes the first municipal college in the United States.
1855
Construction begins on the first campus library (now known as Towell Library).
1857
The Cistern is constructed as a reservoir to provide water for fighting fires in the days before the city installed a water system. It was later filled in and covered with grass. Today a stage is built over the Cistern to seat the graduating class for May commencement.
1864
Charleston is under siege during the Civil War. College of Charleston closes.
1900
President Harrison Randolph introduces the Bachelor of Science degree.
1904
Pi Kappa Phi founded (now a national fraternity with more than 125 active chapters).
1917
Women are admitted to the College.
1922
Pierrine St. Claire Smith Byrd becomes the first female graduate.
1967
College of Charleston admits its first African-American students.
1970
College of Charleston is incorporated into the S.C. State College System.
1971
Robert Scott Small Library opens (holding capacity of 500,000 volumes).
1975
The College completes the Grice Marine Laboratory on James Island; the laboratory serves as the center for the marine biology curriculum.
1978
The Simons Center for the Arts, home to the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art and the School of the Arts, opens.
1985
The Avery Research Center for African-American History and Culture opens.
1990
College of Charleston is one of six colleges chosen to serve as a space research facility and partner with NASA.
1992
College of Charleston formally establishes The Graduate School of the College of Charleston.
2005
The College opens two new facilities: the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library, with a holding capacity of 1 million volumes; and the Beatty Center, home to the School of Business and Economics.
2007
1,553 students receive degrees at May Commencement.
