Lander University was founded by Methodist clergyman Samuel Lander in 1872 as Williamston Female College in Williamston, South Carolina. It was a private institution for 26 years. In 1898 the College gained the support of the South Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The college moved to Greenwood in 1904 and was renamed Lander College in honor of its founder who died in the same year. It continued as a women's college until 1943, when men were first admitted during World War II.