Some seven months
before the start of the American Civil War, the original cornerstone of the
University of the South was laid on the 10th
October 1860, in Sewanee, Tennessee. I know nothing of the University of
the South, but the school
was ranked 33rd in the annual US News
&World Report list of liberal arts colleges.
In 2011, Forbes ranked it 57th
on Forbes List of America's 650 Best Colleges. It is often referred to as
Sewanee and is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South. Oddly enough
it owes its continued existence to the Church of England and the estate of
Tennessee Williams.
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| Bishop Polk |
As to its founding, on the 4th
July 1857, delegates from ten dioceses of the Episcopal Church were led up
Monteagle Mountain by Bishop Leonidas Polk for the founding of their
denominational college for the region. The six-ton marble cornerstone, laid on 10th
October, 1860, and consecrated by Bishop Polk, was blown up in 1863 by Union
soldiers from an Illinois regiment; many of the pieces were collected and kept
as keepsakes by the soldiers. At least a few were donated back to the
university, and a large fragment was eventually installed in a wall of All
Saints' Chapel.
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| Rev. Quintard |
Because of the damage and disruptions of
the Civil War, construction came to a temporary halt in the 1860s. In 1866 the
process was resumed, and this date is sometimes given as the re-founding of the
university and the point from which it has maintained continuous operations
(though official materials and anniversary celebrations use 1857 as the founding
year). The university's first convocation was held on 18th September
1868, with nine students and four faculty members present. After the Civil War,
Robert E. Lee was offered the position of vice-chancellor but declined. The Rt.
Rev. Charles Todd Quintard, Vice Chancellor of the University (Second Bishop of
Tennessee and "Chaplain of the Confederacy") journeyed to the first
Lambeth Conference in England (1868) and received financial support from clergy
and laity of the Church of England which enabled the rebuilding of the school.
He is known as the "Re-Founder" of the University of the South.
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| Williams |
In 1983, playwright and Pulitzer Prize
winner Tennessee Williams left his literary rights to the University of the
South. Royalties have helped build the Tennessee Williams Center, a performance
venue and teaching facility, and to create the Tennessee Williams teaching
fellowships, which bring well-known figures in the arts to the campus.
The Sewanee Writers' Conference
is a writer’s conference held every summer on the campus of the University of
the South. The conference was founded in 1989 by director Wyatt Prunty and is
funded largely by an endowment from the estate Tennessee Williams. The
conference takes place over twelve days, during which participants attend
writing workshops, readings, panel presentations, lectures on the craft of
poetry, fiction, and playwriting, and numerous social gatherings.
 |
| Prunty |
Admission to the conference
is competitive and is decided through a formal application process. All
applicants who are accepted to the conference have a portion of their expenses
underwritten by the estate of Tennessee Williams.
Poets and fiction writers who have
published at least one full-length book, whether through a legitimate small
press or a major publishing house, are eligible to apply for a limited number
of fellowships to cover all tuition, room, and board for the conference. Poets
and fiction writers with a record of publication in periodicals are eligible to
apply for scholarships (also limited in number) to cover conference tuition.
Playwrights are also eligible for these awards if their work has seen
production, either professional or amateur. Publication or production is not
required for general admission to the conference.
Here is an 1871 poster for the University, explaining fees and requirements, worth a read I think:
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