Since its birth as the Winthrop Training School in 1886, Winthrop University has built a proud tradition of serving South Carolina and its citizens. Its foundation reflected the need for teacher training as the state struggled to expand the public school system in the aftermath of the Civil War. David Bancroft Johnson, a gifted educator who was then superintendent of the Columbia, S.C., schools, was acutely aware of the power of education to help rebuild the South and also of the scarcity of well-trained teachers.

Johnson was convinced that an institution with the express purpose of preparing young women to educate children for the next century was necessary and would be of value to the state. He told state leaders, “The child of today is the man and woman of tomorrow. They are the greatest asset of the State. Are they not worth all our gold and silver and lands, if necessary, to expend all for their preparation for this life and the life to come?”

Johnson’s conviction led him to seek and secure the seed money to establish the institution. The $1,500 initial contribution of Massachusetts philanthropist and chair of the Peabody Fund, Robert C. Winthrop, was enough to open the doors of the Winthrop Training School in a borrowed one-room building in Columbia.

The 21 young women who gathered there 100 years ago were in the vanguard of the public education movement, inspiring generations of future teachers. Over time, there were additional achievements brought about by hard work. Winthrop grew to be regarded as one of the premier women’s colleges in the region. It expanded its mission to become a multipurpose institution offering degrees in an ever-growing variety of disciplines. Winthrop remained at the forefront of educational innovation and reached important milestones along the way. The institution diversified its class ranks by extending its educational offerings to minorities in 1964 and to men in 1972. It attained university status in 1992.

Winthrop has changed considerably since moving to its permanent Rock Hill home in 1895, growing from a single classroom to a comprehensive learning university of distinction. Winthrop’s total acreage now includes a historic, traditional central campus plus recreational east campus and growing west campus. Today, nearly 6,500 students take courses in arts and sciences, education, business administration and visual and performing arts, all of which are supported by Winthrop’s newest academic division, University College. What has not changed is a commitment to service, excellence, community and diversity that now characterizes the Winthrop experience.