Papers of President Albert M. Shipp

Shipp, Albert Micajah, 1819-1887
Papers, 1859-1887
[some ephemera extending to the 1960s]
RG 202
.2 cubic feet in 1 box

Albert Micajah Shipp was born in Stokes County, NC on June 19, 1819, the son of John and Elizabeth Oglesby Shipp. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1840 at the top of his class, and that fall was admitted to membership in the South Carolina Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1847, he married Mary Jane Gillespie, the daughter of a prominent Marlboro county family. From 1840 to 1847, he served circuits in South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina, and was presiding elder of the Lincolnton District in 1848, when a failing voice led him to accept a call to the presidency of Greensboro College in North Carolina. Two years later, in 1850, he took a chair in literature and history at the University of North Carolina. Elected a member of the original Wofford College faculty in 1853, he declined the chair and remained in Chapel Hill. In 1859, Wofford called again; this time he accepted and became the second president of Wofford College. He remained at Wofford until 1875, when Bishop Holland McTyeire persuaded Shipp to join the faculty of the theology department at the new Vanderbilt University. He remained there for ten years, and was the dean of the theology department in his last three years. A disagreement with McTyeire led to Shipp’s departure, and he returned to Marlboro County. He spent his retirement years there, and died on June 27, 1887

Access: Unrestricted

Summary: The records consist largely of biographical material, information about the Shipp portrait by Albert Capers Guerry, some genealogical material, and published material about his departure from Vanderbilt and his son’s departure as head of the preparatory department at Wofford.


Citation: Cite as Papers of Albert M. Shipp, archives, Sandor Teszler Library, Wofford College.

Location: Archives, Sandor Teszler Library, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC 29303-3663

Accession note: Materials received from different sources.

Arranged on December 13, 2002 by Phillip Stone

Finding Aid: Folder Listing

Box 1

Shipp, Albert M., Biographies

Griffith, Robert Carl, “There Go the Shipps,” SC Methodist Advocate, Oct. 24, 1963

Shipp, Albert M., Obituaries

Shipp, Albert M., Portrait

Shipp, Albert M., letter, 1870

Shipp, Albert M., John Wesley Shipp testimony

Shipp, Albert M., Vanderbilt Dismissal

Shipp Hall dedication, 1963

Shipp, John Wesley, actor, 1956-

Reference correspondence