The World Needs Visionaries
The Claflin Story Claflin University, founded in 1869, was named in honor of Lee Claflin, a prominent Methodist layman of Boston, and his son William Claflin, the governor of Massachusetts. Ardent abolitionists, these men harbored a great concern for higher education and the uplift of African-Americans. Just one year earlier in July 1868, the Rev. Timothy Willard Lewis, the first missionary sent by the Methodist Church to the emancipated people of South Carolina, and Dr. Alonzo Webster, a prominent Methodist minister and teacher at the Baker Theological Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, had acquired the property of the old Orangeburg Female Institute for $5,000. With the substantial financial support of Lee and William Claflin, Lewis and Webster secured the foundation of what would become Claflin University. In the following months, a Board of Trustees was named, a charter was secured in December 1869, and Claflin University was opened with the promise to “make Claflin University, by the blessing of God and the aid of our friends, worthy of the patronage of all classes and an honor to the state.” Claflin’s founders made a commitment, which they stated in the charter, “to the effectual promotion of virtue, piety and learning.” With “the only admission requirements for prospective students being the possession of good moral character and a conscientious desire to learn,” Claflin University offered, for the first time in South Carolina, quality higher education for men and women “regardless of race, complexion, or religious opinion.”
Launching of a University Dr. Alonzo Webster, D.D., was appointed Claflin University’s first president at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Trustees on January 31, 1870. In that year, Claflin was successful in the incorporation of the Baker Theological Institute into the University. In his devout commitment to and belief in the Methodist mission, Dr. Webster welcomed the opportunity to lead the University. He possessed the enthusiasm and vision that were imperative to securing the successful future of the institution. An outstanding leader, Dr. Webster not only served as Claflin’s president, but also as a member of the Board of Trustees, professor of systematic theology and moral and mental philosophy, and chief fundraiser. In his efforts to raise funds for the institution, Dr. Webster traveled the state extensively, speaking on the virtues of Claflin and the contributions of the institution to the state and to the world. One of Dr. Webster’s most ambitious
Dr. Alonzo Webster D.D. plans for Claflin involved the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862. This act legislated the donation of public land to states and other territories to be sold, with the invested interest from the proceeds used to fund agricultural and mechanical colleges. In an effort to strengthen Claflin’s financial base, Dr. Webster was instrumental in establishing an agricultural and mechanical college at Claflin University on March 12, 1872, to assure state funding for the institution.
Agricultural and Mechanical Institute Under Section 2 of the Morrill Land Grant Act, Claflin University was given “supervision and control” of a consolidated board consisting of Claflin University and the South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical Institute. Dr. Webster maintained joint presidency of both Claflin University and the agricultural college. Although he remained steadfast in his pursuit of state funding for Claflin University, the government was not responsive to Webster’s requests, and the University was soon left without the support of the state government. Dr. Webster tirelessly solicited support for the University, seeking help from one of Claflin’s earliest benefactors, William Claflin, and eventually assumed responsibility for the debt himself. Although Dr. Webster’s term lasted only five years – he resigned as president of Claflin University on June 5, 1874 – his greatest contributions to the institution are his efforts
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