A private Lutheran women's college that operated in North Carolina and Virginia from 1896 to 1922.
Elizabeth College was established in 1896 as a private Lutheran women's college in Charlotte, North Carolina, where it operated alongside the Gerard Conservatory of Music. The institution moved to Salem, Virginia in 1915 following a merger with Roanoke Women's College, a Lutheran women's college founded in Salem in 1912. The merger was orchestrated by Elizabeth's president, Dr. Charles B. King, who had studied at Roanoke College, a Lutheran men's institution in the same city.
Elizabeth College was a general liberal arts institution with a notable emphasis on music education. Despite its Victorian character, the college maintained an active student body that included a basketball team—uncommon for women's colleges of that era. Students came from across the United States, including as far as Indiana. Social life centered on interactions with the nearby all-male Roanoke College, and the institution became affectionately known as 'Dear Old Betsy' among its students.
The college's campus burned under suspicious circumstances in December 1921. Elizabeth students completed the spring 1922 term at Roanoke College before the institution permanently closed. Roanoke College adopted Elizabeth's alumnae records and continues to honor their legacy. In Charlotte, the original campus was repurposed as Presbyterian Hospital until 1980; in Salem, the land eventually became part of Roanoke College's athletic and residential facilities.