South Caroliniana Library
The South Caroliniana Library is one of the premier research archives and special collections repositories in South Carolina and the Southeast region. The library's holdings are essential to the understanding of South Carolina and Southern culture over the past 300 years.
Learn more about the South Caroliniana Library.
J. Rion McKissick Grave
South Caroliniana Library (1840; 1927)
⭐ J. Rion McKissick Grave
University of South Carolina graduate J. Rion McKissick returned to the school in 1927 as Dean of the School of Journalism and later served as university president from 1936-1944. Upon his death in 1944, the student body petitioned the board of trustees to allow McKissick to be buried on campus. He is the only person to receive that honor.
📜 South Caroliniana Library (1840; 1927)
The South Caroliniana Library is the oldest freestanding academic library in the United States. The structure is based on plans submitted by Robert Mills, a South Carolinian, the nation’s first federal architect and the designer of the Washington Monument.
The second floor reading room is a replica of the original reading room of the Library of Congress. Wings designed by J. Carroll Johnson were added in 1927 to provide more storage and work space.
It served as the main college library for 100 years. The historic building became the South Caroliniana Library, a repository for published and unpublished materials relating to the history, literature and culture of South Carolina, and one of the nation’s top repositories of Southern manuscripts. The term “Caroliniana” means “things pertaining to Carolina.”
Campus Map
