Donella Brown Wilson

Nevertheless, this concept possesses some degree of political, economic, and social reality, for Columbia, Richland County, and their neighbors frequently charted a “middle” way between extremes advocated by other regions. And, because of the presence of state authority, they often are seen as spokesmen, especially on sectional and national matters, for virtually all South Carolinians.

The productive presidency of David Henry Sims, an Oberlin graduate and a future AME Church bishop, developed Allen University into a full fledged seat of learning.