Over the Years: How the Clemson House's Roles Changed

Soon after its opening, the roles played by the Clemson House began to diversify, and it grew to become much more than a simple place of lodging.  Its accompanying restaurant and dining facility were exceptionally notable and commonly frequented by community members, faculty, and students alike.  Large buffets were held on Sundays after church, in which it was common for up to 800 patrons to attend.  Conga lines were known to break out at the ‘smorgasbord tables’ on which the food was laid upon (1). This unique setting and experience helped foster close relationships between the institution and members of the public. 

The Clemson House became the de facto meeting place and conference center for the University.  Board of Trustee meetings took place in the penthouse, and there was a reception area on the seventh floor frequented by the trustees before meetings. Rooms were available for the members of the board traveling from out of town, allowing students the chance to occasionally meet and chat with these individuals (1).  Another penthouse meeting that helped shape the Clemson that we know today took place in December of 1956 between President Poole, a South Carolina congressional delegation, and Gen. Emerson C. Itschner, chief of the U.S. Army Engineers.  It was here that these parties agreed to create the ubiquitous Clemson dykes to prevent portions of Clemson’s campus from submersion under the soon-to-be-formed Lake Hartwell (2).  The Clemson House’s reach even extended to the university’s fabled football program- longtime head coach Frank Howard announced his retirement here at the conclusion of the 1969 season(3). Clemson House would remain the primary meeting center up until the Madren Conference Center opened in the late 1990s.

In 1966, the role of the Clemson House changed yet again. In Reel’s “The High Seminary, Volume 2: A History of Clemson University, 1964-2000", he states “With that decision made, Edwards, on the advice of Walter Cox and Manning Lomax, director of housing, recommended that the Clemson House be turned into a dormitory. The trustees concurred but added that the permanent residents could stay as long as they wished. Campus humorists quipped, “as long as they can stand the racket”. To honor existing bookings and campus needs (the only hotel/motel with full service was twenty-two miles away), the seventh floor remained a hotel while the penthouse continued to be reserved and used only by permission of the president,”(3). 

Until 1982, the Clemson House housed only women, only becoming co-ed when the Calhoun Honors College moved to the sixth floor of the building. By 1989, the Honors College occupied two and a half floors and remained there until ‘94. The Clemson House served as a dormitory for 42 years (3).

1. Rodgers, Eric. Clemson House Remembered. Vimeo, Clemson University, May 2021, https://vimeo.com/637943607/2eb84a0948. Accessed 2 May 2022. 
2. Reel, Jerome V. The High Seminary, Volume 1: A History of the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, 1889-1964. Clemson University Digital Press, 2011.
3. Reel, Jerome V., "The High Seminary, Volume 2: A History of Clemson University, 1964-2000" (2013). Restricted Access Titles. 1.https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/restricted/1