Piedmont College is an accredited, independent, coeducational liberal arts college open to all regardless of race, sex, or creed. Founded under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, it was chartered on September 6, 1897, by Habersham County as the J.S. Green Collegiate Institute and renamed J.S. Green College in 1899. Its founder and first president was Charles C. Spence. In 1903, the Congregational Christian Church, the church of the pilgrims, assumed sponsorship and changed the name to Piedmont College. Since then, the college has maintained a close relationship with Congregational churches across the nation. It has made significant contributions to education on regional, state, and national levels, and its graduates have served as teachers throughout the state, superintendents of many Georgia school systems, state superintendent of schools during the initial integration of public schools, presidents of five major universities, and state and national senators and representatives whose interest and work centered on education.