50th Anniversary for Francis Marion University

Francis Marion University is beginning a year long celebration of its founding in 1970.

FMU can trace its history a few years earlier to 1957 when, at the behest of local Florence citizens, the University of South Carolina established a “freshman center” at the Florence County Library.

In 1961, a permanent campus for what was then known as USC-Florence was established seven miles east of Florence on donated land and this campus is the current location of FMU.

Enrollment at USC-F grew steadily, reaching 350 by the mid-1960s. Francis Marion College was founded by special legislative act on July 1, 1970 as a part of South Carolina’s system of public colleges and universities. Francis Marion gained university status in 1992.