Elizabeth College was a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male st ...

in Charlotte,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, and Salem,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, that operated between 1896 and 1922.

History

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 absorbed Roanoke 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 at

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers ...

, a Lutheran

men's college In higher education, a men's college is an undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institution whose students are exclusively men. Many are liberal arts colleges. Around the world In North America United States In the United States, co-educ ...

, in Salem. Although it was a general

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

, Elizabeth emphasized

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

. The college was

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in nature, though the women attending did have a

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team. The students socialized primarily with the students from nearby

, then all-male. It was known as ''Dear Old Betsy'' by its students, some of whom came from as far as

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Destruction

The campus burned under suspicious circumstances in December 1921. Elizabeth students finished the spring term at Roanoke College before their own institution closed for good in 1922. Even though it was all-male (Roanoke College did not become

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

until 1930), Roanoke adopted Elizabeth's alumnae and holds their records.

Subsequent use

In Charlotte, the original college campus was used for Presbyterian Hospital until 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". from Roanoke's main campus, it is the site of athletic fields and residence halls.

References

Driving Tours of Mecklenburg County

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081212225044/http://www.salemmuseum.org/hist_timeline.html Timeline of Salem, Virginia

External links

Elizabeth College Photo Gallery

Defunct private universities and colleges in North Carolina Defunct private universities and colleges in Virginia Lutheran universities and colleges in the United States Universities and colleges established in 1896 1922 disestablishments in Virginia Education in Charlotte, North Carolina Education in Salem, Virginia Women in Virginia 1896 establishments in Virginia {{NorthCarolina-university-stub

History

Destruction

Subsequent use

See also

References

External links