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Elizabeth College (Virginia)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elizabeth College
TypePrivate
Active1896–1922
Location,,
U.S.

Elizabeth Collegewas aprivateLutheranwomen's collegeinCharlotte,North Carolina,andSalem,Virginia,that operated between 1896 and 1922.

History

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An Elizabeth College art class in 1901.

Elizabeth, named after the wife of the earliest sponsor, was originally located in Charlotte where it operated alongside the Gerard Conservatory of Music. The college moved to Salem in 1915, when it absorbedRoanoke Women's College,a Lutheran women's college founded in Salem in 1912. The merger was arranged by Elizabeth's president, Dr. Charles B. King, who had fond memories of his education atRoanoke College,a Lutheranmen's college,in Salem.

Elizabeth College basketball club, 1901.

Although it was a generalliberal arts college,Elizabeth emphasizedmusic.The college wasVictorianin nature, though the women attending did have abasketballteam. The students socialized primarily with the students from nearbyRoanoke College,then all-male. It was known asDear Old Betsyby its students, some of whom came from as far asIndiana.

Destruction

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The campus burned under suspicious circumstances in December 1921. Elizabeth students finished the springtermat Roanoke College before their own institution closed for good in 1922. Even though it was all-male (Roanoke College did not becomecoeducationaluntil 1930), Roanoke adopted Elizabeth's alumnae and holds their records.

Subsequent use

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In Charlotte, the original college campus was used forPresbyterian Hospitaluntil 1980, when the buildings were razed. A placard outside the hospital recognized the land's former occupants. In Salem, the land was given to the Lutheran Children's Home of the South, an orphanage that operated from 1927 until the 1980s using several large brick buildings constructed after the Elizabeth fire. Roanoke College purchased the area in 1984; renamed "Elizabeth campus". Two miles (3.2 km) from Roanoke's main campus, it is the site of athletic fields and residence halls.

See also

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References

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