Hugh S. Thompson
Class of 1856
Hometown: Greenville, SC
- After graduating from The Citadel in 1856, Thompson taught at the Arsenal and Citadel from 1858-1865.
- During the Battle of Tulifinny Creek, December 6-9, 1864, Thompson was in command of Company A of the Battalion of State Cadets (composed of the Citadel and Arsenal Academy Corps of Cadets) when the Battalion together with a small number of state militia, successfully defended a critical railroad trestle on the Charleston and Savanah Railroad, repulsing a much larger Union force during General Sherman's Savannah Campaign.
- Elected South Carolina State Superintendent of Education in 1876, and reelected 1878 and 1880, Thompson laid the foundation for development of the state's public school system. As Superintendent, he was responsible for creating the State Teachers Association, and gained public support for centralized management of the state's school system and equalizing expenditures for both white and black schools against a tradition of public hostility and prejudice.
- In 1882 Thompson was elected Governor of South Carolina and reelected in 1884. As a prominent member of the Association of Graduates, Thompson was instrumental in regaining control of The Citadel building and grounds from the US War Department and the revival of The Citadel as a military college in 1882.
- In 1886, Thompson was appointed Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury by President Grover Cleveland.
- In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison nominated Thompson as a member of the US Civil Service Commission, on which he served with Theodore Roosevelt.
- In 1892 Thompson resigned his post on the Civil Service Commission to become the Comptroller of the New York Life Insurance Company.