University of South Carolina to name dorm for Black educator.

PositionCelia Dial Saxon

A residence hall at the University of South Carolina will be named for Celia Dial Saxon, a renowned Black educator and university graduate.

The residence hall, which houses 297 upperclassmen at 700 Lincoln St., will be the first building named for an African American on campus, according to a news release from the school.

Saxon, born Celia Emma Dial in 1857, was one of the first Black students to attend South Carolina College, later the University of South Carolina, during Reconstruction. After graduation, she taught at Columbia's Howard School for 57 years. She married Thomas A. Saxon, dean of Allen University's law school, in 1890.

"Celia Dial Saxon is one of the university's most remarkable alumni, a woman whose impact and reputation stretched across the nation," Harris Pastides, interim president of the University of South Carolina, said in the release. "Our university rightly honors her by naming this building for her. Not only was she a true education pioneer, but she embodied the spirit of equality and justice through her life's work. The Celia Dial Saxon Building will stand as a reminder to current and future generations of students of the high ideals she championed."

A dedication ceremony will be held soon, said Dorn Smith, university board of trustees chair. The residence hall is located near Colonial Life Arena and adjacent to the historic Ward One District, where Celia Dial Saxon Elementary School was located until it closed in 1968.

"As a great woman, peerless educator, and one of the most admired and respected citizens of South Carolina, Celia Dial Saxon is more than worthy of this honor," said Smith, who had identified naming a...

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