Barnwell College; academic building dedicated to Robert Woodward Barnwell
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Memorial Structure
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Named Building
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Barnwell, Robert Woodward
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Barnwell College; academic building dedicated to Robert Woodward Barnwell
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Barnwell College was originally constructed as a science hall in 1910 and named LeConte, after science professors John and Joseph LeConte. When the LeConte name moved to a new science facility in 1952, the original building was renamed Barnwell on May 27, 1952, after South Carolina College’s third college president, Robert Woodward Barnwell (1801-1882). It was extensively renovated after a fire from 1978 to 1980. Any memorial marker from its original naming is no longer extant. A new marker was installed after the renovations were completed in 1980. The building was rededicated on March 6, 1981.
Robert Barnwell served as the third president of South Carolina College from 1835 to 1841, chairman of the faculty from 1865 to 1873, and librarian from 1877 to 1882. He was removed as faculty chairman in 1873 because he was viewed as an obstacle to the integration of the school. Barnwell owned over 100 enslaved persons and was a public defender of slavery and states’ rights. As a US Senator in 1850 he argued “there is nothing in the word of God which forbids or condemns this relation, but on the contrary, much that justifies and sustains” slavery; therefore, white Southerners could own slaves “with all good conscience.” He signed the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession and represented South Carolina in the Confederate Senate from 1861 to 1865.
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A small academic building with a portico and a stucco facade.
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Barnwell College
This building, originally designed as a science hall, was erected at a cost of $40,000, in 1910. It was first named in honor of the eminent scientists, John and Joseph LeConte, faculty members who were among the most renowned American scientists of their day. When the present LeConte College was opened in 1952, the structure was renamed for Robert W. Barnwell, Sr. (1801-1882), of Beaufort, SC., third president of South Carolina College, who in 1836, had become president at age 35. Barnwell, a Harvard graduate, had practiced law and been a member of the South Carolina legislature and of Congress. As president, he was popular with the general public and with the general assembly which funded his college generously. Under his leadership the South Caroliniana Library was constructed in 1839-40, its completion and contents adding to the lustre of the institution. Barnwell's short but brilliant administration was terminated in 1841, due to his illness. After his recovery, he served as a Confederate senator and, at the Civil Wars end, returned to the college, first as a trustee and then as chairman of the faculty. Removed by the Reconstruction board in 1873, he returned to Carolina in 1877 as librarian, treasurer and secretary of the university. He died five years later.
Barnwell College was extensively renovated in the early 1950s, housing for many years the Air Force ROTC and Philosophy departments. Its interior was also modified repeatedly to meet the science needs of the department of Psychology. In the mid-Seventies, the university sought funds for a much needed renovation. However, on January 19th, 1978, much of the interior was devastated by fire and on the recommendation of the board's buildings and grounds committee, chaired by the honorable Daniel S Henderson, the board of trustees authorized President Holderman's administration to proceed with a major renovation, including the construction of five floors where there had previously been four.
Board of Trustees
James B Edwards
Governor of South Carolina, ex officio presiding officer of the board
Cyril B Busbee
State Superintendent of Education
Harry A. Chapman
Chairman Senate Committee on Education
Nick A. Theodore
Chairman House Committee on Education
T. Eston Marchant
Chairman
James W. Cothran
Vice Chairman
T Luke Benson
William S. Brockington, MD
R. Markley Dennis Sr
Paul S. Goldsmith
William B. Hawkins
Dan S. Henderson
Michael J. Mungo
J. Robert Peters, Jr.
Frampton W. Toole, Jr.
Hugh H. Wells MD
William E. Whitney, Jr.
Othniel H. Wienges, Jr.
Hugh L. Willcox, Sr.
D. Glenn Yarborough
James B. Holderman
President
George Curry
Secretary
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University of South Carolina
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1910
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27 May 1952
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6 March 1981
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University of South Carolina
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