Legacy Day to celebrate Clemson University history

Clemson University will celebrate its history and honor its founders at Legacy Day from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16, at Fort Hill, the historic home of Thomas Green and Anna Calhoun Clemson.

Legacy Day will feature tours of Fort Hill, a scavenger hunt for historical facts and trivia in the house, food and music by the Clemson University String Quartet and the Clemson University Gospel Choir. Participants will be able to leave their own marks on Clemson’s legacy by signing the mat of a special Clemson print that will be displayed in the R.M. Cooper Library. Thomas Green Clemson’s will, which established Clemson University, will be on display for the day.

Clemson University historian Jerry Reel will be at the event signing copies of his book “The High Seminary: 1889-1964,” the first volume about the history of the university.

"Legacy Day is a time to celebrate the very beginning of the university, as Thomas Green Clemson signed his will in November of 1886 to set it all in motion," said Legacy Day chairman Steven Cox, a senior graphic communications major. "It is important for Clemson students today to learn about this history and start thinking how they can give back one day, just as Mr. Clemson gave the original gift of his Fort Hill home to establish a college.

“Legacy Day is a fun opportunity to cultivate this spirit of philanthropy that is so alive in the Clemson family,” he said.

Participants will receive a free T-shirt while supplies last and will have the opportunity to take photos with Thomas Green Clemson and Anna Calhoun Clemson re-enactors.

“Mr. and Mrs. Clemson” will be on campus earlier in the week to celebrate their 174^th wedding anniversary. They will hand out cake and invitations to Legacy Day on the bridge in front of the R.M. Cooper Library from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, marking the day they were married at Fort Hill in 1838.

At 4 p.m. on Nov. 16, there will be a special dedication ceremony for two new additions to the Fort Hill Legacy Society, which honors bequests of $1 million or more when the university receives them. Members of the society are memorialized in a set of bronze leaves on the grounds of Fort Hill. Leaves will be dedicated for the late Robert H. Brooks and the late Kenneth G. and Caroline Barton Caughman.

Brooks, who graduated from Clemson in 1960, left a legacy to support the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts and the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute.

Kenneth G. Caughman Jr. was a member of Clemson’s Class of 1948. He and his wife, Caroline, bequeathed money to support scholarships and the university libraries.

For more information about Legacy Day, visit the event page on Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/events/332124476886083/.