Clemson University

Front: Clemson University was founded in 1889 as the Clemson Agricultural College of S.C., with its origins in the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 creating public land-grant colleges. It was established by a bequest from Thomas Green Clemson (1807-1888), noted scientist, agriculturist, and son-in-law of John C. Calhoun, whose plantation at Fort Hill formed the core of the new college campus. Reverse: Clemson, intended to be “a high seminary of learning” to advance scientific agriculture and the mechanical arts, opened in 1893 as a military school and was sometimes improperly known as Clemson A&M College. It became a civilian co-educational institution in 1955, then became Clemson University, reflecting its modern and expanded mission, in 1964.