A New Day at De La Howe: Historic Institution to become School for Agriculture

The historic John de la Howe School is returning to its roots to become a School of Agriculture that will educate high school students for college programs and future careers in agribusiness – South Carolina’s leading industry.

The school, located in McCormick, will be open to 11th- and 12th-grade students who wish to pursue an agricultural-based education for careers in farming, agribusiness, food science, forestry and land management, landscaping and horticulture, animal care and other fields related to agriculture and food products.

The change in mission comes at a pivotal time for the school, said Hugh Bland, who led agricultural education programs at Strom Thurmond High School and Piedmont Technical College and recently was named chair of the JDLH Board of Trustees.

“Since our founding in 1797, agricultural education has been at the heart of our mission,” Bland said. “The school’s benefactor, Dr. John de la Howe established a school for ‘orphan children’ that would enable them to learn skills with which they could prosper. Over the years, the school has been the home and educational setting for thousands of young people.”

In recent years, however, the school’s mission focused on helping children who needed care and education away from the distractions of modern life, he said.

However, a Feasibility Study conducted by the school last year for the S.C. General Assembly found that the school could become an agriculture and mechanical school as authorized in the school’s enabling legislation, Bland said.

After that, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster reached out to examine the future of the school and appointed five new members to the school’s Board of Trustees which also includes a board member who was reappointed and two others whose terms are current. The JDLH board appointed Dr. Sharon Wall to be the interim president.

Wall, chairwoman of the State Board of Education, is the former superintendent of the Edgefield County School District and recently served as interim superintendent of the Abbeville County School District and the Greenwood County School District 52.

“The opportunity to develop a school that will educate students from throughout South Carolina on the beautiful and historic De La Howe campus is an exciting venture,” said Wall.

“It will take a tremendous commitment by everyone involved, but it will be worth our efforts. When established, this School of Agriculture will be the first statewide agricultural program of its kind in the nation,” she said.

Bland said the Palmetto State has the chance to be a leader and role model in agricultural education for the rest of the United States. “These efforts come as agribusiness has experienced a 23 percent increase over the past decade and brings in more than $42 billion in revenue for South Carolina,” he said.

“Now is the time for us to invest in the future of our state by investing in our students’ futures through agricultural education,” he said. “We believe that De La Howe students will have the foundation to study at our state’s two- and four-year colleges and become successful in their chosen fields.”

The original John de la Howe School, known as Lethe Agricultural Seminary, was established in 1797 through the will of Dr. John de la Howe, who immigrated to Charleston in 1760. While practicing medicine in the Lowcountry, Dr. de la Howe acquired land in the Upstate and later made his home in an area then known as the Abbeville District. Dr. de la Howe directed the executors of his estate to establish the “Lethe Agricultural Seminary” to ensure that orphan children could receive an agricultural and mechanical education while living on the farm.

Today, the school comprises more than 1,300 acres, including forests, farming areas, the main campus and the tomb of Dr. de la Howe, which includes 162 acres of protected land.