Interviewer
Mildred Allen
Files
Date
6-17-1986
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Duration
38:12
Description
Mildred Allen, Mack Sarvis, Pat and David Parker, and Bill Edmonds visited James Blanton at his home in the Duford Community. A videotape was made with Mr. Blanton telling his involvement with Coastal Carolina College. He was one of the founding fathers and has supported the college from the beginning in July 1954 to present. He is a member of the Coastal Educational Foundation, Inc. and served as Chairman in 1962. - Mildred Holmes Allen Prince
Subject
Oral History--South Carolina;Coastal Carolina University--History;Horry County (S.C.)--History;Loris (S.C.);Blanton, James Paul, 1915-2004
Rights
Copyright © Coastal Carolina University. For more information contact University Archives and Special Collections at Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC 29526.
Extent
Additional files include a transcript (8.5x11in)
Recommended Citation
Blanton, James P. and Allen, Mildred, "James P. Blanton, oral history interview" (1986). Coastal Founders Oral History Interviews. 3.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/founders/3
Comments
James Blanton is interviewed by Mack Sarvis and Mildred Allen and talks about education in Horry County. He got involved when Thurman Anderson became Superintendent of Horry County Schools after the Peabody survey during the consolidation of schools until 1952. Previously, some students got less than $20 a year while others got $100, but now every student gets an equal amount. Jesse Lee and he selected laymen to help with the college. He calls Mildred Allen a guiding person in the early years of the college. He also names first chariman Cathcart Smith, the College of Charleston (George Grice, with whom Blanton served in the SC legislature). He names the first board members at the first meeting. In Anderson's opening remarks he stated we should have prayer for our purpose and was led in prayer. He wishes that was recorded. The idea of the college came from Thurman Anderson and Parks Coble. Blanton saw himself as the organizer of activities. Bob's Restaurant was the meeting place. Grice challenged the group early to buld a college building on land of its own. The Loris Sentinel stated three offers of land from Loris citizens. He credits E. Craig Wall, Sr. for convincing International Paper to give land. James Blanton cites Thurman Anderson and Jesse Lee as working most and first on this. He also mentions J.K. East as the third person of the team that created CCU. Many others undergirded the project. Blanton is one of nine farm children whose father died before he graduated high school. The farm was sold and later state owned. He now is proud to own it. His brother went to Clemson in 1938 for $500 tuition which was hard to raise. Early college donations were small amounts from small communities. He recalls the largest donation for that first building was less than $10K. His most exciting moment was breaking ground for the first building and the ceremony's large audience. Before CCU was built, he mentions a Baptist College in Duford that is now owned (1980s) by a California resident. James Blanton predicts Coastal will grow in numbers and quality and will be managed with the right motives. Blanton had pledged 10% of his business assets (with two partners) to Coastal that was $78K at that time of the first building. Funded in part by the Horry County Higher Education Commission.