Salem College

Located in the historic Moravian community of Old Salem, Salem College was originally a girls' school established by the Moravians, who believed strongly in equal education for men and women. The idea for the school began in 1766, when (at the age of 17) Sister Elisabeth Oesterlein walked from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to Salem. On April 22, 1772, the Little Girls' School [1] was founded. Her influence led the school to be among the first to accept non-white students. It became a boarding school in 1802 and in 1866 it changed its name to the Salem Female Academy. The school began giving college diplomas in 1890. In 1907 the name was officially changed to Salem Academy and College and to this day both Salem Academy and Salem College share the campus in adjacent Old Salem. During the summer, the Salem campus has, since 1963, housed one campus of the Governor's School of North Carolina, a state-run summer program for gifted high school students. The oldest building on Salem's campus is the Single Sisters' House. Originally constructed in 1785, an addition was added in 1819. The Single Sisters' House is the oldest building in the United States dedicated to the education of women. Renovation on the Single Sisters' House began in October 2005, and was completed for a re-opening ceremony on April 22, 2007 - marking the 235th anniversary of the founding of Salem.