Before there was Clemson University or the University of South Carolina, before the word “united” was placed before the various colonies, or states, of America, College of Charleston was preparing to educate young Charlestonians.
The college was founded in 1770, though its first class didn’t begin for nearly two decades. But once young men and later women matriculated the school, they certainly left their marks in their respective fields.
The College of Charleston has a top-15 list of its most famous or most successful grads. One designed the Washington Monument, one breached racial boundaries, another shattered the glass ceiling for women trying to enter the vaulted institution. Still others saved lives in medicine and the sciences, smashed home runs in the major leagues, slam-dunked success in the NBA and found ways to feed the poor.
Here’s a look at these elite 15 grads from College of Charleston:
Robert Mills, Class of 1800 (1781–1855)
Mills graduated from the college when he was just 19 and followed his mentor, architect James Hoban, who was commissioned to design and construct the White House.
Mills went on to create blueprints for a prison in New Jersey and designed the nation’s first Washington Monument, this one in Baltimore. But he also designed many federal buildings in D.C., including the Department of Treasury building, the U.S….
