The University of Richmond began in 1830 as a men’s seminary
founded by a group of Virginia Baptists. It officially became
Richmond College ten years later when it incorporated a literary
studies program into its curriculum. The T.C. Williams School of
Law opened in 1870. During the Civil War, Richmond’s campus
served as both a hospital and barracks for Confederate and Union
soldiers. When the war ended, the school’s entire endowment of
$100,000 was invested in Confederate bonds and was worthless.
The school reopened in 1866 but struggled with severe financial
difficulties for several years. In 1914, Westhampton College for
women opened, made possible in part by donations from John D.
Rockefeller. The opening of the women’s college coincided with
the school’s relocation to the site of an abandoned amusement
park in Richmond’s West End, where it stands today. This
historic move marked the beginnings of the current coeducational
system. In this early period, the male and female students were
fully separated by