First known as the
Female Orphan School, the institution was founded in 1870 in
Camden Point, Missouri, in response to the needs of girls who were orphaned during the American Civil War. During the late nineteenth century, the institution moved to Fulton and expanded its elementary and secondary programs to accommodate young women who aspired to become teachers. Known briefly at the beginning of the twentieth century as
Daughters College, it changed its name to
William Woods College in 1900 to honor a major benefactor (William S. Woods, president of the
National Bank of Commerce) and began offering a two-year college program. In 1962, anticipating dramatic changes in the role of American women in the labor force, William Woods became a four-year college. In 1952, future U.S. President
Ronald Reagan gave a commencement address at the college in which he said that he "always thought of America as a place in the divine scheme of things that was set aside as a promised land." This is also a notable speech by the future President as it is one of his oldest surviving speeches. In 1992, William Woods College changed its name to
William Woods University, and began offering a wide variety of graduate-level degree programs, geared toward the working adult. The university went co-education by accepting male students on campus in 1997. == Campus ==