Throughout her life, Smith wrote numerous novels, including “Strange Fruit” and “One Hour.” The center currently serves as an outlet for artists in which the center offers “a place where gifted creative artists and scholars in various disciplines may find the conditions of quiet solitude and privacy in whic to pursue their work,” according to the Lillian E.

That would be our highest priority.”īefore her death, Lillian Smith spent time at Piedmont as a student before going to the Laurel Falls Camp for Girls, now the Lillian E. “But you can certainly envision the possibilities of having a recreational and retreat center for PC students and student organizations, faculty and staff. “There will undoubtedly be some small amount of development required in order to use this on a larger scale,” Mellichamp said. Piedmont has strong plans for the center, engaging with a private consultant to develop a strategic plan for the college’s use. The college has acknowledged its desire to keeping the historical nature of the site intact and maintained.” The actual site of the former camp is the site of the center and that will be under the management and development of Piedmont College.

“President Mellichamp has graciously asked the Foundation’s current Board of Trustees to continue on as part of his Advisory Council.

“The Foundation will not continue in the future,” she said. This merger has also brought the dissolution of the foundation of which Fichter was president. We are delighted that the mission will be in such good hands.” “Piedmont College has all the aspects we looked for it has a strong sense of social justice and a high regard for transformative education and the arts. Smith Center has been searching for a larger entity to which to transfer the Foundation/Center in order to preserve and develop it for the future,” Fichter said. Smith Foundation, discussed the need for the center to find a larger entity to run the center. Nancy Smith Fichter, former president of the Lillian E. “It was an outright gift to Piedmont with no cost involved other than for routine legal documents.” “Piedmont has received the property… as a result of discussion and negotiations between our two organizations,” said Mellichamp. President James Mellichamp said this merger was of no cost to the college. Smith, a noted author who lived there before she died in 1966.Īs a result of this merger, Piedmont will take on the operation of the center as a retreat for students, and the transfer will include an endowment fund along with the literary rights to Smith’s works. Recently, Piedmont College approved a merger between the college and the Lillian E.

Strange Fruit by Lillian E. Smith