Spelman College
| Spelman College Logo | |
| Motto | "Our whole school for Christ" |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Established | 1881 |
| President | Beverly Daniel Tatum |
| Undergraduates | 2,318 |
| Location | , , |
| Website | spelman.edu |
Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1881 by Harriet E. Giles and Sophia B. Packard, the historically black institution began as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, was renamed Spelman Seminary in 1884 and Spelman College in 1924. Spelman enrolls about 2,318 students. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium of historically black colleges and universities in Atlanta. Spelman is considered to be the top female historically black college in the United States with Morehouse College filling this spot for men.
Spelman has amassed an endowment fund of over $258 million, and has been ranked in the top 75 of the nation's liberal arts colleges (currently the school is at 74, the only HBCU on this list) in the 2007 U.S. News and World Report. Bill Cosby is one of the school's highest-profile donors. For its prestige and importance in higher education, Spelman has been described as the Radcliffe College of historically black colleges.
Spelman's mascot is the Jaguar. The sports teams, including basketball, golf, cross-country, soccer, tennis, and volleyball compete in NCAA Division III athletics.
Campus
Spelman College is located on a 38 acre (153,000 m²) campus west of downtown Atlanta next to Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University. The campus has a total of 25 buildings, a mixture of historic constructions and modern buildings, encircled by an iron gate with two entrances. The oldest building still on campus, Rockefeller Hall, was built in 1886, named after John D. Rockefeller. The building, which was originally student classrooms and residences, housed the Office of Undergraduate Affairs, the Office of Alumnae Affairs and Annual Giving, the Office of Human Resources, the Provost's Office, and the Business Office until December 2005, when it was closed for renovations. The Rockefeller Hall is scheduled to re-open in spring 2007.
Other buildings on campus include:
Packard Hall, named for one of the founders, Sophia B. Packard. Packard was constructed in 1888 to contain extra residences for on-campus students. It remained a residence hall until 2003, when it was renovated as an administrative building. The building now houses the Office of Financial Aid, the Registrar, the Cashier, the Office of Student Accounts and the Office of Admissions and Enrollment Management.
Giles Hall, named for one of the founders, Harriet E. Giles. Giles Hall was renovated in 1996 and currently houses the Departments of Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, Education, Economics, and Art, as well as the Honors Program and the Learning Resources Center. It is also known amongst students for its "hellish staircase."
Morehouse-James Hall was completed in 1901, named for Henry L. Morehouse (the same Morehouse of Morehouse College. It serves as a student residence hall.
MacVivar Hall was completed in 1901 and was originally the nursing school and clinical training office. It now houses the Women's Health Center, the Office of Counseling and Disability Serivces, and a small residence hall for the students who participate in SHAPE, a women's health program on campus.
Reynolds Cottage, built in 1901 and remodeled in 1996, is the president's residence.
Bessie Strong Hall was constructed in 1917 and was renovated in 2003. It serves as a student residence for students in the WISDOM (Women In Spiritual Discernment of Ministry) program, and also houses the Dean of the Chapel's office and prayer rooms.
Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Building, completed in 1918, was originally intended as a facility to train home economics teachers. It is named after Laura Spelman Rockefeller, John D. Rockefeller's wife, who was a primary contributor to Spelman. It now houses the Marian Wright Edelman Child Development Center, and also provides a student residence hall.
Sisters Chapel, completed and dedicated in 1927, contains an auditorium with a seating capacity of 1,050 and the Harreld James Organ, a three-manual Holtkamp organ of 53 ranks. This organ was installed in April 1968. In 1942 the Alumnae Association donated chimes for the Chapel, and in the fall of 2005 renovations were completed.
Read Hall, built in 1936, contains the gymnasium, the Department of Physical Education, a swimming pool and bowling alleys and dance studios. It was named for Spelman's fourth president.
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Hall (nicknamed 'Abby' by students, after Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, the wife of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.) was built in 1952 and serves as a freshman residence hall.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Fine Arts Building was completed in 1964 and houses the Departments of Music and Drama.
Dorothy Shepard Manley Hall, was completed in 1964 and was named for the wife of one of the presidents of Spelman. It now serves as a freshman residence hall.
Howard-Harreld Hall was built in 1968 and was named to honor two alumnae.
Sally Sage McAlpin Hall serves as an upperclass residence hall and was named in honor of a former chair of the Board of Trustees.
Chadwick Hall served as a freshman resdidence hall but was ultimately demolished.
The Albert E. Manley College Center houses the Alma Upshaw Dining Room, the Lawrence J. MacGregor Board Room, administrative and student government offices, the snack shop, the commuter student lounge, and two concourses—Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. Adjacent are the bookstore and the mail center.
The Donald and Isabel Stewart Living-Learning Center opened in the fall of 1983. In addition to housing 198 students, the building includes a large meeting room and quarters for visiting lecturers, scholars, and artists.
The Johnetta B. Cole Living-Learning Center II opened September 1, 1989. The Center houses 200 students and provides conference facilities for on-campus and off-campus organizations, as well as houses the Offices of Housing and Residential Life and Continuing Education.
The Camille O. Hanks Cosby Academic Center, dedicated in February 1996, was made possible by a $20 million grant from Drs. Bill and Camille Cosby. This building houses the Departments of History, English, Religion & Philosophy, and Modern Foreign Language. The center also has a museum, the College Archives, an auditorium, the writing center, the Women's Research and Resource Center, reading rooms and a foreign language lab.
The Albro-Falconer-Manley Science Center is the newest building on Spelman's campus, as it was completed in 2000. This building houses the Departments of Biology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Environmental Science as well as the Dual-Degree Engineering Program and the Office of Science, Engineering, and Technology Careers. It has a large auditorium donated by NASA. The "Science Center" also is a general term used to encompass Tapley Hall and the Academic Computing Center, both which predate the actual Science Center but are now connected to it by a series of breezeways.
Other buildings no longer on campus: Chadwick Hall, originally a student residence hall (removed in 1986) Morgan Hall, the student center and dining hall (destroyed by fire in 1970) Upton Hall, an administrative building (removed in 2004)
Spelman also recently acquired the Millgan Building, an administrative building that previously housed the Atlanta University Center offices but now houses Spelman's Department of Career Services. It is not, however, considered "on-campus" as it is outside of Spelman's gate. Spelman also shares the Robert W. Woodruff Library with the other Atlanta University Center institutions. There are currently plans to construct a new residence hall on Spelman's campus behind the Living-Learning Center I.
History
Spelman was founded in 1881 in the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, by two Massachusetts teachers from the Oread Institute: Harriet E. Giles and Sophia B. Packard. The school was originally named Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary and then later, Spelman Seminary after Laura Spelman, an Oread student and wife of John D. Rockefeller who helped to fund Spelman [1].
Miss Giles and Miss Packard began the school with 11 black women and $100 given to them by a church congregation in Medford, Mass. In 1882 the two women returned to Massachusetts to bid for more money, and they were introduced to wealthy businessman John D. Rockefeller, who promised he would get in contact with the women again if they "stuck" with the mission they had set out on.
Giles and Packard indeed stuck. In 1883, the school relocated to a nine acre (36,000 m²) site in Atlanta relatively close to the church they began in, which originally had only five buildings to support classroom and residence hall needs. The school was able to survive on generous donations by the black community in Atlanta, the efforts of volunteer teachers, and gifts of supplies.
In April 1884 Rockefeller visited the school and decided that he liked what he saw, so he settled the debt on the property. The name of the school was changed to the Spelman Seminary, in honor of Rockefeller's in-laws the Spelmans, longtime activists in the anti-slavery movement. Rockefeller's gift precipitated a flurry of interest from other benefactors, and their investements allowed the school to flourish.
Rockefeller also donated the funds for what is currently the oldest building on campus, Rockefeller Hall; in 1887 Packard Hall was also established. Packard was appointed as Spelman's first president in 1888, after the charter for the seminary was granted. The first college degrees were awarded in 1901.
Spelman presidents
Since its inception Spelman has had nine presidents:
- Sophia B. Packard, followed by Harriet E. Giles, under whom the school gained a charter and granted its first college degrees
- Lucy Hale Tapley, under whom the school decided to focus on higher education, the school officially became Spelman College (1927), and Sisters Chapel, one of the main buildings on campus, was erected.
- Florence M. Read, a Mount Holyoke College graduate, under whom the school established an endowment fund of over $3 million, the school came into agreement with Atlanta University and Morehouse College to form the Atlanta University Center (later Clark-Atlanta University, Morris Brown College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and the Interdenominational Theological Center were added), the Arnett Library was built, and Spelman earned approval from the American Association of Universities;
- Dr. Albert E. Manley (the first black and first male president of Spelman), under whom study abroad programs were established, the fine arts center was built, and three new dormitories and several classroom buildings were renovated. According to Howard Zinn, Manley tried to suppress the student civil rights movement that was taking place on campus during his tenure.
- Dr. Donald M. Stewart, under which the departments of women's studies and chemistry were founded, and three strategic programs were formed: the Comprehensive Writing Program, the Women's Research and Resource Center, and the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program, and a continuing education department and a computer literacy program were established;
- Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole (the first black female president of Spelman), under whom the college received $20 million from Drs. William and Camille Cosby for the construction of the Cosby Academic Center and instituted the Cole Institute for Community Service;
- Dr. Audrey F. Manley (the first alumna president of Spelman), under which Spelman gained a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, Spelman was accepted as a provisional member of NCAA Division III athletics, a state-of-the-art Science Center was finished;
- Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, who was appointed in 2002 after teaching for a number of years at Mount Holyoke College, and under whom the renovation of Sisters Chapel was begun
Notable alumnae
- Marian Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children's Defense Fund
- Evelynn Hammonds, professor of the history of science and African and African American Studies & senior vice provost for Faculty Development and Diversity, Harvard University
- Keshia Knight Pulliam, Actress on The Cosby Show
- Esther Rolle, Actress
- Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist
- Audrey F. Manley, president emerita of Spelman College and former Acting Surgeon General
- Latanya Richardson, Actress on The Fighting Temptations
- Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock
- Pearl Cleage, novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and journalist
- Tina McElroy Ansa, writer
- Varnette Honeywood, creator of the Little Bill character
- Kathleen McGee-Anderson, television producer and playwright (Soul Food, Touched By An Angel, Any Day Now)
- Alberta Williams King, mother of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Rolonda Watts, journalist, actor, writer, talk show host
- Danica Tisdale, Miss Georgia 2004 (first African-American to hold the title)
- Marcelite J. Harris, first African-American woman general in the U.S. Air Force
- Tayari Jones, author of Leaving Atlanta and The Untelling
- Tanika Ray, Actress & television personality
- Beverly Guy-Sheftall, author, feminist scholar, founder of Women's Research and Resource Center at Spelman College
- Nikki Lee-Weldon, Educator
Notable faculty
- Toni Cade Bambara, Author
- Howard Zinn, historian and leftist leader (fired in 1963)
- Pearl Cleage, Author
- Gloria Wade Gayles, Author and Founder of SIS Oral History Project
- Gary L. Peterson, Author of Peterson's algorithm - a concurrent programming algorithm for mutual exclusion
- Beverly Guy-Sheftall, author, feminist scholar, founder of Women's Research and Resource Center at Spelman College
Trivia
- According to the Museum of Broadcast Communications, when Debbie Allen became the director-producer of Bill Cosby's television show, A Different World (which dealt with the life of students at the fictional historically Black college, Hillman, and ran for six seasons on NBC), Allen, "a graduate of historically black Howard University--drew from her college experiences in an effort to accurately reflect in the show the social and political life on black campuses. Moreover, Allen instituted a yearly spring trip to Atlanta where series writers visited two of the nation's leading black colleges, Morehouse and Spelman . During these visits, ideas for several of the episodes emerged from meetings with students and faculty." [2]