Bowdon College

Bowdon Collegiate Institute was founded as a private institution in 1856 by Charles McDaniel and John Richardson. Starting in a two room log house in rural Bowdon, Georgia, the school was chartered the following year becoming Georgia's fifth chartered high-learning institution and first co-educational institution. With donated land, a new building was completed in 1859.{{Cite book |last=Bonner |first=James C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AiQQLTdjPv0C&q=%22Bowdon+Collegiate%22 |title=Georgia's Last Frontier: The Development of Caroll County |date=2010-04-01 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=978-0-8203-3525-4 |pages=54-56, 167-168 |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=1972-11-24 |title=College Studies Its Family Tree |pages=3 |work=The Macon Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-macon-telegraph-college-studies-its/132061153/ |access-date=2023-09-19}}

During the Civil War the school closed for a short time as most students and McDaniel joined the Confederate army. Of its 144 students, 128 and McDaniel died in the war.{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Rheta Grimsley |date=1998-07-27 |title=New school supplies mean a fresh start |pages=22 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-new-school-supp/132014311/ |access-date=2023-09-19}} After the war in 1866, the George legislature passed a bill providing free tuition at institutions including Bowden for maimed or indigent former soldiers under 30.{{Cite book |last=Conway |first=Alan |date=September 18, 1966 |title=Reconstruction of Georgia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gVkHeW45ELAC&dq=%22bowden+college%22+georgia&pg=PA97 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=9781452912653 |via=Google Books}}

In 1919, due to economic and financial issues, the state legislature passed a bill to place the school under University of Georgia's trustees and renamed it Bowden State Normal and Industrial College.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fxg4AAAAIAAJ&dq=State+Normal+and+Industrial+College.&pg=PA262|title=Acts Passed by the General Assembly of Georgia|date=September 18, 1919|publisher=J. Johnston|via=Google Books}}{{Cite news |date=1919-07-24 |title=Bowden Normal Bill Passes |pages=7 |work=The Macon Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-macon-telegraph-bowden-normal-bill-p/132062722/ |access-date=2023-09-19}} The school remained part of the state system until 1933 when it was returned to private status as part of a consolidation effort during The Great Depression. It became a junior college but closed in 1936.{{Cite web |title=Site of Bowdon College historical marker - Digital Library of Georgia |url=https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_ghm_site-of-bowdon-college |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=dlg.usg.edu}}

• John William Abercrombie served as its president from 1890-1891.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tck1AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22bowden+college%22+georgia&pg=PA1|title=The South in the Building of the Nation: Southern biography, ed. by W. L. Fleming|first1=Julian Alvin Carroll|last1=Chandler|first2=Franklin Lafayette|last2=Riley|first3=James Curtis|last3=Ballagh|first4=John Bell|last4=Henneman|first5=Edwin|last5=Mims|first6=Thomas Edward|last6=Watson|first7=Samuel Chiles|last7=Mitchell|first8=Walter Lynwood|last8=Fleming|first9=Joseph Walker|last9=McSpadden|date=September 18, 1909|publisher=Southern historical publication society|via=Google Books}}

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• {{Cite book |last1=Wessinger |first1=Mignon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0jg6AAAACAAJ |title=Bowdon College: A Glorious History |last2=Rowell |first2=Judy Copeland |date=2006 |publisher=University of West Georgia |isbn=978-1-883199-16-6 |language=en}}

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Category:1856 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:1936 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Education in Carroll County, Georgia

Category:Universities and colleges established in 1856

Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1936