The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Charles E. Daniel Building

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Charles E. Daniel Building (front facade, partial view), Wofford College

Charles E. Daniel Building (entrance), Wofford College

Institution Name: Wofford College
Original/Historic Place Name: Whiteford Smith Library
Location on Campus: College Dr. (429 N. Church St. Spartanburg, SC 29303-3663)
Date(s) of Construction:

1910	unknown
1947	expansion
1969	remodeled

Designer: unknown
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Beaux-Arts classicism, Modern/pre-WWII (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, education
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation:

Walls: red brick

Roof:

Function:

1910-1969	library
1969-present (2006)	classrooms
1969-present (2006)	administration

Narrative:
Until 1969, the Charles E. Daniel Building was the home of the Whiteford Smith Library, which opened in 1919 and was Wofford College's first separate library building. It was funded largely by a gift from a daughter of an original faculty member, an early resident of the Snyder House. The building was expanded several times until 1969, when the new Sandor Teszler Library opened across the campus drive. It was then re-modeled and re-named to honor Mr. Charles Daniel, an important South Carolina business and civic leader. Classes in philosophy, government, music, and art history are conducted in Daniel. The ROTC "Southern Guards" battalion is housed on the first floor. Wofford has offered its students the opportunity to earn a commission in the Army, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard since 1919, and was one of the first independent colleges in the nation to offer instruction in military science.

References:

Brabham, William H. Wofford College Historic District. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1974.

Wallace, David Duncan. The History of Wofford College, 1854-1949. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 1951.