Perhaps more than any institution in the state, Winthrop has a rich history of name changes.  The following information from the brochure, “On Becoming a University,” describes a bit of that history.

In his 1884-85 annual report, David Bancroft Johnson, superintendent of the Columbia, S.C., city school system, recommended that a training school for teachers be established in connection with the city’s high school. The board accepted Dr. Johnson’s recommendation in July 1886 and appointed him chairman of a committee responsible for requesting a grant from the Peabody Board, a northern-based philanthropic organization committed to assisting Southern education after the devastation of the Civil War.

Dr. Johnson went to Boston, Mass., to present his case for a grant to Robert C. Winthrop, Peabody Board chairman. Soon after, the Peabody Board agreed to give $1,500 to found the training school. In tribute to Mr. Winthrop, Dr. Edward Southey Joynes, a member of the Columbia public school system’s Board of Trustees, recommended that the institution be named Winthrop Training School. And so Winthrop was born.

The fledgling school grew quickly from 21 students in 1886 to more than a hundred in 1890. Winthrop outgrew its facilities, forcing the Board of Trustees to consider finding a new home for the school. In July 1890, Dr. Joynes advocated that Winthrop Training School be offered to the state for support. South Carolina Governor Benjamin Ryan Tillman was enthusiastic about the idea, and appointed a committee to investigate possible locations.

In November 1891, the committee “endorsed the union of industrial and normal training” and recommended that an act be passed providing for the founding of a “State Industrial and Normal College for Women.” On Dec. 23, 1891, the state ratified the act establishing the South Carolina Industrial and Winthrop Normal College. In 1894, the institution became The Winthrop Normal and Industrial College of South Carolina.

After moving to Rock Hill in 1894, the college began to grow rapidly. The curriculum expanded, and innovative programs were introduced. By 1920 enrollment topped 1,000. Winthrop became one of the country’s largest women’s colleges. To reflect more adequately Winthrop’s educational mission, the Board of Trustees decided in 1920 to amend its bylaws by “striking out the words ‘The Winthrop Normal and Industrial College of South Carolina’ and inserting ‘Winthrop College (The South Carolina College for Women).’”

For nearly five decades that was Winthrop’s official name. But the times changed and so did the college. By the early 1950s, Winthrop’s Board of Trustees began to discuss the feasibility of admitting men to the school. By the early 1970s, it had become evident that coeducation was in Winthrop’s best interest. On March 18, 1974, Governor John C. West signed into law a bill giving the Winthrop Board of Trustees the authority to decide the coeducation issue. The board immediately moved to amend the college’s charter to admit men and to change its name to Winthrop College.

After 1974, Winthrop continued to build upon the success of its past. It became a comprehensive institution, emphasizing classroom teaching, applied research, public service, and offering a wide variety of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. To reflect the changing educational mission and status of Winthrop, ninth president Dr. Anthony J. DiGiorgio launched a concerted campaign to have the institutional designation coincide with its mission.

On Feb. 12, 1992, the South Carolina State Legislature approved the change, and Winthrop College became Winthrop University, legally effective on July 1, 1992. An institution with a venerable tradition and distinctive vision had entered a new era.