{"id":42806,"date":"2026-07-29T13:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=42806"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:40:14","slug":"greenville-county-square-exhibit-celebrates-furman-bicentennial-people-and-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/greenville-county-square-exhibit-celebrates-furman-bicentennial-people-and-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenville County Square exhibit celebrates Furman Bicentennial, people and places"},"content":{"rendered":"

An exhibit celebrating Furman University\u2019s Bicentennial<\/a> is on display at Greenville County Square<\/a> through mid-August. In \u201cThe Promised Land: A Bicentennial Celebration of Furman and Greenville,\u201d six dual-sided panels follow Furman\u2019s 1850 arrival to Greenville and highlight Furman figures who have impacted the city and the Greenville people who gave their resources, time and talents toward Furman\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

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Courtney Tollison ’99, Department of History. Photo by Dear Lissie Photography.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s obviously great overlap and synergy in that approach, but we tried to present it from both sides,\u201d Courtney Tollison<\/a> \u201999 said. Tollison, Distinguished University Public Historian and Scholar, said she hopes viewers will come away from the exhibit with a greater sense of Furman\u2019s early legacy as a downtown campus. She also wants to introduce the public to some lesser-known personalities who helped build the university\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

Sociologist Laura Ebaugh is one example. A faculty recruit of Furman President Bennette E. Geer in the 1930s, Ebaugh worked with future President Gordon W. Blackwell to create the Greenville County Council for Community Development, an initiative to help the Greenville community through programs addressing adult learning, public health and civic engagement, especially in rural areas.<\/p>\n

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Laura Ebaugh, Sociology. Photo: Special Collections and Archives.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the earliest example I\u2019ve seen of Furman students using Greenville as a learning lab in ways that contributed to improving the quality of life in various sectors \u2013 from health care to race relations,\u201d Tollison said. \u201cLaura Ebaugh implemented this type of very early engaged learning \u2013 getting students out into the community, taking them to hospitals and courtrooms, and having them advocate for Greenvillians in various capacities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibit sheds light on 32 other alumni, faculty and friends with deep Furman roots – Nick Theodore, Stewart Spinx, Susan Thompson Shi, Judy Bainbridge, Lillian Brock Flemming, Dick Riley, Virginia Uldrick, Vince Perone and C. Dan Joyner are just a few of the honorees.<\/p>\n

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Vintage photo of Furman’s bell tower at the downtown campus. Photo: Furman University Special Collections and Archives.<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s no coincidence the exhibit found a temporary home at University Ridge, once Furman\u2019s own stomping grounds. Like the Reedy River that ribbons through the heart of Greenville, Furman\u2019s traditions and student life were woven into the fabric of downtown for more than a century \u2013 from the university\u2019s former campus on the site now occupied by the South Carolina Governor\u2019s School for the Arts and Humanities to Heritage Green, where Greenville Woman\u2019s College once stood and merged with Furman in the 1930s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want us to lose an appreciation for that 100-year period in our history as a downtown campus,\u201d Tollison said. \u201cI hope this exhibit will serve as an interesting and compelling reminder of that, but will also emphasize, through the people represented, the ways Furman and Greenville have continued to shape each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibit was made possible through a grant from the Thriving Communities Advisory Team. It was curated by Tollison, Elizabeth Scott \u201926, Pender Raymond \u201927 and Bryant Garrison \u201925, with graphic design expertise from Rick Jones \u201990 of Furman University Libraries. Students in Tollison\u2019s public history class, \u201cMuseums, Movies, and Monuments,\u201d were integral to the exhibit\u2019s installation.<\/p>\n

First debuted in Timmons Arena in April for the 2026 Paladin Pitch Contest, Furman Engaged, and Bell Tower Ball, “The Promised Land” will move from Greenville County Square to the Crescent Startup Community<\/a> on Poinsett Highway in mid-August. Then, it will return to campus in time for Furman\u2019s Bicentennial Homecoming festivities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The exhibit honors 33 Furman alumni, faculty and friends who have impacted Furman and the City of Greenville more broadly. The traveling exhibit, “The Promised Land,” is on display at Greenville County Square through mid-August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":42807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,3404,42,52,22,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-bicentennial","category-history","category-library","category-sociology","category-undergraduate-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/257"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42806"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42815,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42806\/revisions\/42815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}