This series contains issuances generated by the Office of the Commandant. The material in the collection covers the period 1927-1952, with most of the collection dating from 1940-1946.
Official bulletins, memorandums, and orders comprise the bulk of the series. Major correspondents include Commandants Herbert Marshall Pool and William Alexander Cunningham.
• Bulletins and Memorandums: Daily announcements issued by the Commandant of Cadets relating to cadets and the operations of the Corps of Cadets. Subject matter includes encampments, formations, drills, and instruction, guard duty, inspections, uniforms and supply requirements, rules and regulations, privileges, and personnel actions affecting individual cadets.
• General Orders: Announcements of interest to all or to a large group of cadets and faculty. They concern military and academic schedules, regulations, military and academic ranking, special events.
• Special Orders: Relate to individual officers and cadets and cover such matters as appointments, assignments, promotions, punishments, transfers, and leaves of absence.
There are no restrictions on access.
Military Science was established as an integral part of the academic curriculum of Clemson University beginning in 1893 with the institution’s first full time academic year of operation.
The following extracts from the Regulations for the Government of Cadets explain the organization and mode of government of the corps:
1. The President of the College shall have the general command and government of the institution, watching over its administration, discipline and instruction.
2. The Commandant of Cadets, under the President of the College, has immediate command and control of the Corps of Cadets in all that pertains to its organization, drill, military police, discipline and administration. He is charged with the instruction of the cadets in the theoretical military course and in all practical military exercises. He will prescribe the order in which the furniture, bedding, books, clothing, equipments, etc., shall be arranged throughout the barracks, and shall, in person, make a minute and thorough inspection of the rooms, furniture, arms and accoutrements, etc., of the cadets at least once each week, and make a report hereon to the President.
Commandants*
1894 – 1896 T.Q. Donaldson, Jr.
1896 – 1898 Ezra Bond Fuller
1898 – 1901 A.G. Shanklin, Acting Commandant
1902 – 1904 Edgar Alexander Sirmyer
1904 – 1907 Charles Donald Clay
1907 – 1909 Joseph C. Minus
1909 Andrew Bramlett, Acting Commandant
1909 – 1912 Marcus Butler Stokes
1912 – 1916 Joseph Michael Cummins
1916 – 1917 Ralph Allen Jones
1917 – 1919 Henry F. McFeeley
1919 – 1921 Joseph Michael Cummins
1921 – 1924 Madison Pearson
1924 – 1928 Otis Robert Cole
1928 – 1932 Fred L. Munson
1932 – 1936 R. John West
1936 T.S. Moorman
1936 – 1939 Charles Warren Weeks
1939 – 1943 Herbert Marshall Pool
1943 – 1946 William Alexander Cunningham
1946 May 1 Albert Jerome Thackston, Jr., Acting Commandant
1946(9)–1948(6/30) Albert Jerome Thackson, Jr.
1948 W. S. Morris
1949(9)–1954(2) Forrest Eugene Cookson
1954(3)–1955(1/18) Richard Joseph Werner
1955 (2/5) Lloyd H. Tull
In 1955, the trustees of Clemson College took steps toward becoming a full university resulting in the Corps of Cadets being abolished. The ROTC basic program remained mandatory for only freshmen and sophomore males until 1969. For those students who matriculated initially at Clemson after the spring semester 1970, ROTC was no longer a requirement for graduation.
*Sources consulted include Announcements, the college catalog, TAPS, the school yearbook, and minutes of the Board of Trustees.
In 1955, the trustees of Clemson College took steps toward becoming a full university resulting in the Corps of Cadets being abolished. The ROTC basic program remained mandatory for only freshmen and sophomore males until 1969. For those students who matriculated initially at Clemson after the spring semester 1970, ROTC was no longer a requirement for graduation.
*Sources consulted include Announcements, the college catalog, TAPS, the school yearbook, and minutes of the Board of Trustees.
0.45 Cubic Feet
English
This series contains material/records produced by the Office of the Commandant
The folders are arranged alphabetically by title and chronologically within each folder.
The provenance of this series consists of Accession 90-104 (partial) and Clemson University Unclassified Publications - Office of the Commandant.
Student assistants Anthony Hampton, Jeannie Nguyen, and Archivist III Linda L. Ferry processed this collection. The finding aid was completed January 5, 2006.
Part of the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository