Salem College

Salem College is a private women's liberal arts college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1772 as a primary school, it later became an academy (high school) and ultimately added the college. It is the oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college and the oldest women's college in the Southern United States. Though Salem is regarded as a women's college, men 23 years of age and over are admitted into the continuing education program through the Martha H. Fleer Center for Adult Education and into graduate-degree programs. Salem College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. History and campus Located in the historic Moravian community of Salem, Salem College was originally a girls' school established by the Moravians, who believed strongly in equal education for men and women. On April 22, 1772, the Little Girls' School was founded. Sister Elisabeth Oesterlein, who travelled from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1766 at the age of 17, was hired as the first teacher. In its early years, the girls' school at Salem was led by the Single Sisters, the unmarried women of the Moravian community. The Single Sisters lived together and were economically self-sufficient, a rarity for women in the eighteenth century. 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 adjacent to Old Salem.