Randolph-Macon College is a private, liberal arts college in Ashland, Virginia. A group of Methodist clergy founded Randolph-Macon College in Boydton, Virginia, in 1830 to educate young men for the Methodist ministry. The founders named their school after two congressional leaders of the time, John Randolph of Virginia and Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina. The college moved to Ashland after the railroads to Boydton were destroyed during the American Civil War (1861-1865).
In 1891, William Waugh Smith, the president of Randolph-Macon, tried to persuade his college trustees to admit women. After they refused, Smith founded Randolph-Macon Woman’s College (now Randolph College) in Lynchburg, Virginia. The college in Ashland did not admit women until 1971. Notable alumni include Hugh D. Scott, Jr., U.S. Senate minority leader during the 1970’s, and Walter H. Page, a journalist and diplomat who served as United States ambassador to the United Kingdom during the early 1900’s. The college’s athletic teams are called the Yellow Jackets.
The college’s website at https://www.rmc.edu/ offers additional information.
