LEES McRAE COLLEGE  - A BRIEF HISTORY*

More than a century old, Lees-McRae College’s distinctive history reveals a record of innovation and responsiveness to the evolving educational needs of the Southern Appalachian area it was first established to serve. More recently, the mission of Lees-McRae College has expanded beyond this mountain region, attracting students from across the nation and internationally and preparing them for a life well-lived.

Lees-McRae was founded by a Presbyterian minister, the Reverend Edgar Tufts. Edgar Tufts first arrived in Banner Elk in 1895, a young student from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, sent by the Concord Presbytery to organize a church and oversee two schools. In 1897, newly ordained, the Reverend Tufts returned to Banner Elk as pastor of the church and remained to serve the community until his death in 1923. Rev. Tufts was visionary and innovative, with a strong sense of justice and a great concern for the minds, bodies, and souls of mountain people. His commitment to the people of the North Carolina mountains is evidenced by his contributions to the people he served; during his lifetime, Rev. Tufts brought a college, a hospital, a home for children, churches, and even the first hydroelectric power to Banner Elk.

In the late 1890s, the Banner Elk area was populated by hardworking, independent people who lived off the land and who were geographically isolated and almost forgotten by the state’s educational system. Education outside the area was a privilege for a limited few; leaving the mountains was impractical and almost heretical. In the winter of 1899, concerned with the limited offerings of the district school that was supplemented only by summer school work conducted by the church, Rev. Tufts took some of the young people of the neighborhood into his study for further instruction. Rev. Tufts saw, however, that these efforts were not enough and that there was a need for a boarding school, especially for the young women of the mountain region.  With the endorsement of the Concord Presbytery, Rev. Tufts set out to build a dormitory and classrooms from land, lumber, cash, and labor obtained largely from local community members. The Elizabeth McRae Institute, named after a teacher who was dedicated to Christian service and was a promoter of women’s place in community service, opened in 1900, marking the beginning of Lees-McRae College.

The first boarding students were girls, with boys attending as day students. A few years later, after a boys' department was opened in the nearby community of Plumtree, Rev. Tufts honored the school’s foremost benefactor, Mrs. S. P. Lees of Kentucky and New York, by adding her name to the school.  The school was chartered by the state in 1907 as the Lees-McRae Institute.  In 1927 Lees-McRae became coeducational when the boys’ unit was moved to Banner Elk after the buildings at Plumtree were destroyed by fire.

Though enrollment was not limited to students from the mountains, the program and offerings of the Lees-McRae Institute was always geared to the needs of the mountains, thus its motto, “In the mountains, of the mountains, for the mountains.” The accepted liberal arts curriculum of the day was strengthened by the study of the Bible and accompanied by instruction in practical living skills. Rev. Tufts’ zest for mountain climbing, trout fishing, and wonder of the beauty and bounty of the mountains, led him to include outdoor experiences for students. From his desire to inspire appreciation of the world around them sprung the annual custom of Mountain Day, when the whole school climbed five miles from the campus to the top of Beech Mountain. The Mountain Day tradition has continued to present day, and includes a fall Mountain Day to enjoy the outdoors and a spring Mountain Day to provide service to the local community.

Prior to his death in 1923, Rev. Tufts made plans to replace school buildings with more permanent structures made of native materials. Using stone from local fields, three buildings were constructed in the 1920s on the ridge where the original building stood. Named in honor of the three states whose mountain corners formed the Appalachia synod, the North Carolina Building, Tennessee Building, and Virginia Building still stand today and are used for residence halls, classrooms, and faculty offices.

After the death of Rev. Edgar Tufts, the leadership of Lees-McRae was entrusted to Edgar H. Tufts, Rev. Tufts’ son, who served the school until his death in 1942. Responding to the growing accessibility and quality of public high school education, the Board of Trustees decided to gradually eliminate the high school department and form an accredited, coeducational junior college; Lees-McRae Institute became Lees-McRae College in 1929. The Depression years were survived by faculty, staff, and students cooperating, sacrificing, and developing innovative curricula and projects. The industrial arts curriculum was expanded and included weaving, basket making, cabinetmaking and wrought iron production. Training of medical secretaries and medical record librarians were also added to the curriculum. A game farm and a fish hatchery were established, providing revenue and learning opportunities. Summer ventures included a music camp and a school for creative writing. Students learned responsibility through a campus work program, including the operation of a farm. The College Exchange, a grocery and general supply store that operated on a barter system, was established; the College Exchange, over the years, transformed into today’s College bookstore. Other campus construction projects completed during Edgar H. Tufts’ tenure as president included a new gymnasium, small residential cottages, and new water and electric systems, including construction of a stone water tower and Wildcat Lake.

In 1987 the College’s Board of Trustees voted to seek senior college (four-year college) status.  In June of 1990 the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools granted Lees-McRae status as a senior college, and two-year programs were phased out. The 1990’s and the first years of the 21st century were a decade of change as the College expanded course offerings and upgraded facilities. Today’s programs in humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional studies in education, business, and performing arts are grounded in the liberal arts and are integrated with students’ co-curricular lives. Providing service to the community – locally, nationally, and internationally – is a hallmark of the Lees-McRae experience. The students’ living and learning environment has been enhanced through construction of new facilities and renovation of many original stone buildings.

After a hundred years of steady growth and under the leadership of its thirteenth president, Dr. David W. Bushman, the college currently enjoys local, state, and national recognition and has embarked on its second century of excellence. Reverend Tufts’ legacy remains a driving force in the College’s mission, values, and goals. Echoing Rev. Tufts original commitments, the College educates the total student – mind, body, and spirit – so that each may lead a life of meaning and purpose. Just as Rev. Tufts selflessly gave of himself to better the lives of the mountain people, today’s Lees-McRae College students are prepared to be responsible global citizens who advocate for fairness and justice.

*Much of Lees-McRae College’s history is chronicled in And Set Aglow, A Sacred Flame,  a book authored by Margaret Tufts Neal, daughter of Lees-McRae’s founder, the Rev. Edgar Tufts.