"E" is for Erskine College

"E" is for Erskine College. In 1836 the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church organized an academy in Due West. A professor of divinity was added the next year and the institution was incorporated as Clark and Erskine Seminary. With more faculty added in 1839, it became the first four-year denominational college in the state. About 1843 the name was shortened to Erskine College and the theological seminary became an adjunct of the college. The school took its name from the 18th century Scottish theologian and reformer, Ebenezer Erskine. While women began attending the college in 1894, their numbers were significantly increased when the Due West Female College merged with Erskine in 1927. From its founding, Erskine College played an important role in nurturing the social and cultural cohesion of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in the American South.