by VICTORIA LONG
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College was named after one our nation's founding fathers, and important contributors to the Articles of Confederation. Born in Connecticut in 1754, Abraham Baldwin would later become an influential person in the sphere of higher education in Georgia. Born into a large family, Baldwin's father ensured that his children were provided with a proper education, even by going into debt to ensure this. Baldwin attended and graduated from Yale University, and later went on to study and practice law.
During the Revolutionary War, he served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary army. After the war, Baldwin was introduced and encouraged to create a plan for secondary and post-secondary education, by Georgia governor, and fellow founding father Lyman Hall. Believing that education was the key to developing the American frontier, Baldwin would use his position in the Georgia House of Representatives to introduce an educational plan for the creation of the University of Georgia.
The university was founded on the belief that even those who could not afford to go to school would be able to due to the fact that the school operated on state funds. Baldwin's experience in the war and during his childhood enabled him to mediate between both the lower and upper classes of society when it came to education. He would later go on to become President of the University of Georgia, and serve five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and two terms in the U.S. Senate. The major contributions that Abraham Baldwin made can still be felt today. Baldwin not only helped found the University of Georgia, which was the first state chartered public institution of higher learning in the country, but he also signed the U.S. Constitution with fellow Georgian William Few.
The Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College was formed in 1908 under the name of the 'Second District A&M School'. It would later undergo several name changes, until 1933 when it was admitted to the University System of Georgia, and changed its' name one last time to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, in honor of the founding president of the University of Georgia. ABAC's main campus is located in Tifton, Georgia, and offers students a variety of degrees in the agricultural field.
Not only will this consolidation with ABAC enable Bainbridge to serve more students in our agricultural region, it will also give our city and surrounding communities an invaluable academic and educational resource that will be utilized for many years to come. It’s a move that would be sure to make Abraham Baldwin proud.