SMC President Scott Cochran (left) poses with Wade “Hamp” Lindsey, Jr. (second from right) and his children Wade Lindsey III and Anna Liles, in front of the new dining hall furniture the family donated. Photo courtesy of SMC/Wade's.
More than a century ago, two brothers from Alabama made their way to Spartanburg in search of opportunity and an education. Their decision would eventually influence not only another brother, but generations of their family and the story of one of Spartanburg's longtime family businesses.
In 1924, Jim and Drew Lindsey, brothers of Wade Lindsey, Sr., traveled from Alabama to attend what is today Spartanburg Methodist College. Their experience there led their younger brother Wade to follow in their footsteps approximately a decade later. Wade attended in 1935 and would eventually become the founder of Wade's Restaurant.
Now, more than 100 years after the Lindsey family's relationship with the school began, Wade's Restaurant has made a $30,000 contribution to Spartanburg Methodist College to help upgrade furnishings in the college's dining hall.
For the Lindsey family, the gift is about more than new furnishings. It is an expression of gratitude to an institution that provided educational opportunity to members of the family at a time when pursuing an education was not an easy path.
When Jim and Drew first arrived in Spartanburg, the school was known as the Textile Industrial Institute. Founded in 1911, the Institute was established as a work-study cooperative to serve young people working in the area's textile mills. Students alternated between a week of work and a week of classes, an arrangement intended to provide them both an education and the means to pursue it. That mission of making education accessible to working young people has particular meaning to Hamp Lindsey, son of Wade Lindsey Sr..
“My father came from a family where opportunities for education weren't something you could take for granted,” Lindsey said “Spartanburg Methodist College, then the Textile Industrial Institute, gave young people like my father and his brothers a path forward. The education my father received helped prepare him for what he would later accomplish and became part of the foundation that allowed our family to build Wade's Restaurant.”
That connection has now come full circle.
Hamp Lindsey recently agreed to serve on the Spartanburg Methodist College Board of Trustees, continuing a relationship with the institution that began with his uncles Jim and Drew in 1924.
For Lindsey, the decision to serve is rooted both in gratitude for what the college gave his father and in his belief in the mission SMC continues today.
“I have tremendous respect for the mission of Spartanburg Methodist College and the opportunities it provides students,” Lindsey said. “There are talented young people who, for any number of reasons, may not see one of the larger or more recognizable colleges as their path. They still deserve the opportunity to receive an excellent education, develop their abilities and build a successful future. I believe SMC provides that opportunity.”
His trusteeship also gives Lindsey an opportunity to honor the father whose experience at the college became an important part of the family's story.
“When I think about my father being here in 1935, and his brothers coming here even earlier, I realize how much can grow from simply giving someone an opportunity,” Lindsey said. “What this school gave my father helped him build a better life and ultimately helped make possible what our family was able to build at Wade's. Serving on the Board and being able to give something back is deeply meaningful to me.”
The contribution from Wade's Restaurant will be used to help upgrade furnishings in the college dining hall.
The purpose of the gift provides a particularly fitting connection between the two institutions. Wade's Restaurant built its reputation around food, hospitality and bringing people together. Today, the restaurant is helping improve another gathering place: the dining hall where Spartanburg Methodist College students come together as part of their own college experience.
More than a century separates Jim and Drew Lindsey's arrival in Spartanburg from the family's gift today. But the principle underlying both stories remains remarkably similar: an opportunity given to one generation can continue making a difference for generations to come.
