User:BTSLavenderButterfly/Spartanburg Methodist College

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Spartanburg Methodist College (SMC) is a private Methodist college in Saxon, South Carolina, with a Spartanburg postal address. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has approximately 1,000 students (2022-2023 academic year).

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Spartanburg Methodist College history dates back to its founding in 1911 as the Textile Industrial Institute (TII) by David English Camak. Camak was inspired by the challenges faced by southern cotton textile workers. With the support of Walter S. Montgomery, president of Spartan Mill, Camak established an elementary and secondary school in a vacant house near Duncan Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church. The school grew steadily, eventually becoming a mission of the South Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1913, the college acquired its present campus and began the construction of Charles P. Hammond Hall. Hammond Hall played a significant role in accommodating students and fostering a sense of community on the campus and serves as a residence hall to this day.

Even though the work and study schedules helped students be able to attend Textile Industrial Institute, the school needed additional income to operate and help realize Dr. Camak's dream. To obtain Camak’s dream into the real world, The TII Board of Trustees must recruit members from the South Carolina Methodist conferences, allow the land to be on sale, and pay off the debts to create new funds for the project. Camak's dream became a reality in 1919 with the opening of the Model Mill, providing TII the opportunity to combine education and work as Camak had envisioned. The Model Mill made pretty weaves, dyed and bleached materials, improved the threads to make them stronger, and perfected the art of depth in precise dying. The success of the Model Mill was short-lived. In 1921 the mill employed only TII students, but issues with financing led the Model Mill to close in 1922. Students once again returned to off-campus jobs to support them while enrolled at TII.

By 1927, TII expanded its offerings to include the first two years of college-level education, providing students with various pathways for their future. After initially providing high school level courses for young adults working in the textile mills of the area, TII later expanded its curriculum in 1927 to offer two years of college-level work, granting associate degrees in liberal arts. This allowed graduates to transfer to senior level colleges or enter the workforce with valuable skills.

The college continued expanding as students' work and study schedules coordinate with their jobs and more students get an education. The industrial mill jobs on campus created declines in health from working in rash conditions. Many students worked on the campus in the kitchen, laundry, or on the farm; other students worked in town. With the increased enrollment, the trustees soon realized that extra housing would be needed. Eliza Attleton Judd, wife of a local bank president, was interested in helping women gain access to education and offered a solution to the school's housing problem by donating money to create a building for girls on campus. The trustees believed that completing Hammond Hall was a more urgent priority than building a dormitory for girls. Mrs. Judd continued to support TII with a gift of timberland. In 1928, a decade after her death, the Textile Industrial Institute built Judd Hall, a women's dormitory, in her honor.

In 1940, TII discontinued its high school classes and in 1942, the institution changed its name to Spartanburg Junior College. In 1974, it changed its name to Spartanburg Methodist College.

In 2019, Spartanburg Methodist College further expanded its academic offerings by introducing bachelor's degree programs. Today, the college is a four-year institution.