In 1893, the First Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina, decided to start a college for women.

[2] They selected the name Chicora the first Native American tribe that explorers met on the coast of South Carolina.

[3] The church contributed $1,000 to rent a house for the college and later purchase a property that was previously the home of Alexander McBee.

[5] Its students were not allowed to write letters or speak on Sundays and could not have visits or any communication from young men.

[7][8] The Bethel, Enoree, and South Carolina presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (P.C.U.S.)

[11] For $203, additional services included training in expanded elecution, musical instruments, or voice.

[12] The textile mills of Greenville began to decline in the early 20th century, negatively impacting the city's West End where the college was located.

[2] The renamed Chicora College for Women opened for students in 1915, with Byrd continuing as its president.

[2] The college's board of trustees started planning a new campus on 55 acres in Wales Garden in east Columbia.

[14] Instead of moving to the Wales Garden location, the college expanded to the former Columbia Seminary campus in 1927.

[14] In 1929, the presbyteries transferred ownership of Chicora College to the Presbyterian Synod of South Carolina which assumed its bonded debt.

[1] The campus expanded to include a dormitory, administrative buildings, a president's house, and a 1,200-seat domed octagonal auditorium.

[9] Students at Chicora College studied the liberal arts, modern and classical languages (French, Italian, German, and Spanish), Bible studies, the sciences (chemistry, natural sciences, and physics), photography, physical culture (gymnastics), domestic science/home economics, general elocution, and business skills such as bookkeeping and typing.

[1][4][3][21][11][22] Students could pay extra to study the "ornamental arts", including drawing, elocution, and music.

[3][22] The college's students published the Chicora Magazine and The Clarion yearbook, later called Nods and Becks.

[25] The Hampton-Preston House, former campus in Columbia, is now a history museum that includes a recreation of dormitory rooms as they existed in 1915.