Furman faculty, alumni pay tribute to Judy Bainbridge

The Post and Courier, The Greenville News and Greenville Journal have published tribute stories about beloved former Furman University professor and administrator Judy Bainbridge who died Sept. 18 just shy of her 90th birthday. Bainbridge came to Furman in 1976 and retired in 2007. She is the author of seven books and more than 500 biweekly articles appearing in The Greenville News about the city’s history.

Judy Bainbridge in 1994. Photo: Bob Bainbridge

In The Post and Courier, Furman’s Scott Henderson offered his take on Bainbridge who frequently dispelled commonly held myths about the city and its leaders. “That was one of the great public services she performed,” said Henderson, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Education.

In the same article, Furman’s William Montgomery Burnett Professor Emeritus of History Marian Strobel recounted the fierce support Bainbridge rendered on behalf of women in higher education. She told reporter Eric Connor that Bainbridge made it her mission to have students believe they could compete with the academic powerhouses of America.

Furman alum Letitia Hamilton Verdin ’92, Associate Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court, described how Bainbridge shaped her trajectory. Bainbridge was also instrumental in Furman students securing Rhodes, Truman and other prestigious scholarships. Alumni include a chief historian for the Department of Defense, and a dean of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Tomiko Brown-Nagin, who will serve as dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Education beginning in November 2026.

In an article by Baker Maultsby of The Greenville News, Henderson and Furman’s Courtney Tollison commented on Bainbridge’s depth of Greenville knowledge. She was “the people’s historian,” Henderson said. “She was like a human being version of AI regarding Greenville,” he added.

Tollison, Distinguished University Public Historian and Scholar, said, “She crafted our community’s collective identity and left behind a treasure trove of reading that reveals who we have been, which is of course directly linked to who we are now.”

Jay King of Greenville Journal also offered a remembrance of Bainbridge, “one of Greenville’s preeminent historians.”

A subscription may be required to view the content in The Greenville News and The Post and Courier. Furman ID holders may access the articles through databases housed at Furman University Libraries.