Ashley Hall (Charleston, South Carolina)

Ashley Hall lore has it that on a rainy, August afternoon in Northampton, Massachusetts, after a grueling, albeit successful, three days of entrance exams for Smith College, Mary Vardrine McBee declared her intention to found a school for Southern girls that would afford them the same advantages for college preparation as certified Northern schools.

The James Nicholson House at 172 Rutledge Avenue, owned by the C.O. Witte estate was for sale and Vardrine thought it very suitable, but its asking price was far higher than the $16,000 she could put together at the time. Witte added many of the house’s unusual features including the grotto with a bear cave and the now iconic Shell House.

McBee was pleasantly surprised when Charles Sloan, a neighbor of the Guerry’s and son-in-law to the late Mr. Witte, personally requested that she submit a bid for the house. The Witte family favored its becoming a girls’ school as Mr. Witte had raised six daughters of his own and had thought the property a fit setting for just such an enterprise.

In the spring of 1909, eventually a deal was struck for $25,000 and Vardrine had her schoolhouse. After some consideration, she chose to name the new school Ashley Hall for the river that coursed to the west and because she felt the house was grand enough to be called a “hall.” She was 29.

During her forty-year tenure, the school grew from just 46 students in grades 10–12 to a much larger student body in Lower, Middle and Upper schools.

McBee set the tone for the school–holding it to the highest academic standards, establishing the Alumnae Association, instilling many of the traditions that still exist today, and acquiring facilities that would serve as the foundation for the institution for years to come. Her school included the McBee House (now so named) and surrounding grounds, an indoor swimming pool, the "Old Gym" (Burges auditorium), kitchen and dining room, the Headmistress House and faculty apartments across the street from Ashley Hall.

In 1948, in order for the school to continue to operate as a non-profit institution under a Board of Trustees, the Ashley Hall Foundation was established. The Foundation purchased Ashley Hall from McBee in 1949, the year of her retirement. The Foundation's first move was to appoint William Piper as Head of School. He served as Head from 1949–1954. He was an acknowledged fiscal expert and helped put the school in good economic standing.

Caroline Pardue joined Ashley Hall in 1950 as the Academic Head of the Upper School and teacher of history. She was appointed Headmistress in 1954 and continued to serve in that capacity for the next 25 years until 1978. Her many accomplishments include the establishment of Pardue, Lane and Jenkins Halls to officially house Lower, Middle and Upper school classrooms, the construction of Davies Auditorium, and the incorporation of a kindergarten for boys and girls. It was also during her leadership that the school shifted its student base, eliminating boarding opportunities to focus on providing local students with a superior education. In 1976 the school graduated its first African-American student.[1] Upon Pardue's retirement, Marian Bell Leland assumed the role of Headmistress from 1979 to 1984. Leland was instrumental in and created the Capital Campaign, “The Ashley Hall Fund,” which funded the construction of the school's gymnasium.

Margaret C. MacDonald led Ashley Hall from 1985 to 2004. She is credited for elevating the school's academic standards, expanding programs, and educating both her faculty and the community on the value of an education that addressed the specific learning needs of girls and young women. She established financial aid programs and additional scholarships, initiated the school's first campus master plan, developed teaching excellence awards, the aquatics and admissions departments, and added to the physical property of the school. MacDonald, along with the school's Board of Trustees, also helped create the 2003–2008 Strategic Plan. This comprehensive blueprint outlines the future goals of the school as they relate to academics, student and faculty recruitment and facilities enhancements.

Student publications

• Spiral – school yearbook
• Acanthus – Upper School literary magazine

Development publications

• Perspectives – official school magazine, distributed to all alumni, families, students and faculty[2]

Ashley Hall participates in the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA).

The school is famed for its excellent varsity volleyball and tennis teams.

It has rivalries with Porter-Gaud School and Bishop England High School.

• Fall sports:
  • Cross country (SCISA Class AAA State Champions 2010, 2015, 2016, and 2020)
  • Golf
  • Swimming
  • Tennis (SCISA Class AAA State Champions 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020)
  • Volleyball (SCISA Class AAA State Champions 2007, 2008, 2009, 2018)[3]
• Winter sports:
  • Basketball
• Spring sports:
  • Archery
  • Sailing
  • Soccer
  • Lacrosse
  • Equestrian
  • Track (SCISA Class AAA State Champions 2013, 2014)

The Shell House

• Madeleine L'Engle (Class of 1936), author[4]
• Barbara Bush (Class of 1943, née Pierce), former First Lady[5]
• Nancy Stevenson (Class of 1945, née Backer), Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina[6]
• Nancy Friday (Class of 1951), author[7]
• Alexandra Ripley (Class of 1951, née Braid), author[8]
• Harriet McDougal Rigney (Class of 1956, née Popham), editor[9]
• Josephine Humphreys (Class of 1963), author[10]
• D'Anna Fortunato (Class of 1963), mezzo-soprano[11]
• Martha Rivers Ingram, business leader, philanthropist
• Mena Suvari, actress
• Lisa Sanders (Class of 1973), physician, medical author, and journalist
• Frederica Mathewes-Green, Orthodox Christian author

Charleston legend has it that George Trenholm, a resident of the McBee House, the mansion on the school property, was the man on whom Margaret Mitchell based the character Rhett Butler in her novel, Gone with the Wind.

• Ashley Hall website
• Ashley Hall Summer Camp Registration
• Article about Ashley Hall from The State