History of the University of North Alabama
Encyclopedia
A comprehensive regional university today, the University of North Alabama
traces its beginnings to the first half of the 19th century, when the Methodist Episcopal Church
sought to bring learning and culture to an obscure mountain in a sparsely populated state known as Alabama.
From these humble beginnings, the university progressed from a poorly funded church-supported school, to a cash-strapped normal school
, to a teachers college and, finally, to the state university it has become.
in northeast Franklin County, Alabama
. LaGrange means "The Place" in French. Twenty-one local college trustees were listed in Acts of Alabama, Eleventh Annual Session.
Today only a nine-ton stone monument silently guards the ghosts of the once bustling little town of LaGrange and its vibrant college, both of which were sacked and burned by Union
troops in 1863. But by then, however, the college, as such, had moved north across the Tennessee River
to Florence. The section of Franklin County containing LaGrange Mountain is now Colbert County
. LaGrange College, which became Florence Wesleyan University in 1855, is now the University of North Alabama.
LaGrange College arose from the idea offered at a November 28, 1826 meeting of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
to establish a college which would not be “religious or theological." By January 1829, the selection of Lawrence Hill on LaGrange Mountain was made for the site of the school.
A year later, LaGrange College opened to students of all denominations in two three-story brick buildings. (This was slightly more than a year before the University of Alabama
would open in Tuscaloosa
.) Eight days after the opening of LaGrange College, the Alabama Legislature
issued a charter for the institution, making it the first state-chartered institution to begin operation in Alabama. Other colleges were in operation, but not chartered by the state.
The Rev. Robert Paine
was the first president. The North Carolina
native was also the professor of moral science and belles lettres and taught geography
and mineralogy
. He was assisted by two other professors. The first board of trustees had a total of 50 members, including two Native Americans, a Choctaw
politician and a Cherokee
leader. In 1830, Turner Saunders
, a native of Virginia, was the first President of the Board of Trustees. Saunders' mansion c1826 still stands in Lawrence County. Among the many distant trustees was John Coffee of Florence, friend of Andrew Jackson. Among the local trustees was Henry Stuart Foote of Tuscumbia, who would move to Mississippi and defeat Jefferson Davis in the 1850 Governor's race. J.D. Malone
, of Limestone County
, was the first graduate in 1833.
In 1850, a grammar
school was added to LaGrange College. (Today, UNA has the only university-owned and operated elementary laboratory school - Kilby Professional Laboratory School - in Alabama.)
Among LaGrange's alumni were several generals, Alabama governors Edward A. O'Neal and David P. Lewis
, Alabama Supreme Court
justice William M. Byrd and U.S. Senator
Jeremiah Clemens
, who wrote the first American Civil War
novel and the first western novel.
LaGrange graduate Dr. R.H. Rivers, after becoming president of the college, led most of the students and all but one faculty member from the mountain in late 1854 to relocate to Florence.
Those who accompanied the school across the Tennessee River to Florence fully expected that the institutional name, LaGrange College, would be carried over, too. However, Alabama Legislature referred to grant a charter to the new institution under its old name, so the school was re-incorporated as Wesleyan University.
Admission to Florence Wesleyan required an acquaintance with English grammar
, arithmetic
, geography
and the Latin
and Greek Grammar. Prospective students also were required to demonstrate an ability to translate four books of Caesar's
Gallic Wars
, six books of Virgil's
Aeneid
, Jacob's or Felton's Greek Reader, and at least one of Xenophon's
Anabasis
.
One hundred and 60 students enrolled in the first year of operation (1855) of Florence Wesleyan University. The school quickly attracted students from five states and two foreign countries. Among Florence Wesleyan’s graduates were Alabama governor Emmet O'Neal
and Texas governor Lawrence Sullivan “Sul” Ross
(the latter of whose tenure as president of Texas A&M University
was known as the 'golden age' of that institution). Ross also is the namesake of Sul Ross University in Alpine, Texas
.
Ironically, though the bloody four-year conflict between North and South loomed only months away, the years immediately preceding the outbreak of the Civil War are considered the best years of the institution during the 19th century. The fledgling university was entirely out of debt and even had amassed an endowment of $50,000. The faculty was considered first rate for the time and place.
bestowed much hardship on the institution. Following the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and President Lincoln’s subsequent call for 75,000 troops, four professors and more than one hundred students left the school to take up arms.
During the war, Wesleyan Hall, the university’s only building, was occupied by both Union and Confederate armies.
General William Tecumseh Sherman
is considered the most famous Union occupant of Wesleyan Hall during the war. In late 1864, shortly before his ill-fated involvement in the battles of Franklin
and Nashville
, Confederate General John Bell Hood
occupied the building. The surrounding grounds were occupied by his troops and served as a meeting place for military personnel and townspeople for parties, dances and concerts. Confederate Generals Pierre G.T. Beauregard and Stephen D. Lee
also occupied the adjoining grounds during the war and also may have used Wesleyan Hall as their headquarters.
Robert A. Young, president of Florence Wesleyan at the time, is credited with saving the institution from destruction.
In addition to Lawrence "Sul" Ross, who also served as a general in the Confederate States
Army, LaGrange College and Florence Wesleyan University produced three other Civil War
generals: Confederate Generals Edward A. O'Neal (later an Alabama governor) and John Gregg
and Union General Daniel McCook, Jr.
Following the war, Dr. Septimus Rice was the University's sole instructor, teaching classes in the Preparatory School and holding college-level courses in Wesleyan Hall. Despite a prolonged effort by the new Wesleyan University president, Dr. William H. Anderson, the institution continued to founder, and in 1871, the doors of Wesleyan Hall were closed.
Recognizing the need for trained teachers in the post-war South, the Methodist Episcopal Church turned over Wesleyan Hall and the surrounding 12 acres (48,562.3 m²) grounds to the state of Alabama
, which then chartered it as a state normal school
.
When the Methodist Church deeded Florence Wesleyan to the State of Alabama in 1872, the institution became the State Normal School
at Florence, the first state-supported teachers college south of the Ohio River
. Shortly thereafter, it became one of the first co-educational institutions in the nation. A year after its becoming a state school, the institution opened its doors to women; however, none attended until 1874, when 31 young women enrolled. The first woman joined the faculty in 1879.
Florence Normal School's Newton W. Bates, professor of language and literature, published his History of Civil Government of Alabama in 1892, the first textbook on the history of Alabama
.
native and Wesleyan University alumnus, became the fifth president.
At the beginning of Powers’ tenure, the college’s curriculum encompassed three courses of study: an elementary course to prepare aspiring teachers for primary and elementary education; an advanced course, involving an extra year’s academic work in academic and professional subjects; and a professional course for high school graduates and “cultured” individuals who had no previous training in the teaching arts.
By 1897, when Powers left to assume the presidency of the University of Alabama
and was replaced by Dr. Marshall Clark Wilson, the campus had changed little. Wesleyan Hall remained the only building owned by the college, and the campus still was confined to the original 12 acres (48,562.3 m²).
T.S. Stribling, one of the university's most noteworthy alumni, graduated from Florence State Normal School in 1903. He is recognized as one of the leaders of the Southern Renaissance
for his novels Birthright, The Forge, The Store
and the Unfinished Cathedral. The Pulitzer prize
-winning novelist and author also outsold contemporaries William Faulkner
and Ernest Hemingway
during the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s.
The institution functioned as a normal school for more than 50 years until 1929, when it became a state teachers college offering a four-year curriculum in elementary education.
The first bachelor’s degrees were awarded in 1931. Less than a decade later, the curriculum was expanded to include a four-year course of study in secondary education. In 1947, the curriculum was expanded again to include A.B. and B.S. degree programs in fields other than teacher training.
Progress continued apace toward the comprehensive university the institution ultimately would become. In 1956, the institution crossed another academic milestone with the formation of a graduate course of study in education leading to the Master of Arts degree. With the establishment of a new Graduate Division, the graduate program was launched in the summer of 1957. The same year, the Alabama Legislature voted to change the institution’s name to Florence State College to reflect its expanding academic mission.
In 1963, Wendell Wilkie Gunn was the African-American student to enroll successfully at the college. Gunn previously was denied admission, even though he had the support of the college's president and administration. Then-President E.B. Norton reluctantly sent Gunn a letter informing him that the Alabama Legislature
and Board of Education would not allow the college to accept his application. Speaking at UNA in 2005, famed civil rights attorney Fred Gray
, who defended Gunn, recalled that the hearing that ultimately integrated UNA lasted only ten minutes, after which Gunn returned to campus and enrolled successfully. Gray describes the episode as "the easiest case of my civil rights career."
Gunn, who subsequently earned degrees from Florence State College and the University of Chicago
, went on to a distinguished career and was appointed a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan
in 1982.
removed jurisdiction for the college from the State Board of Education and vested it in a Board of Trustees. Scarcely a year later, the new board voted for another name change to Florence State University, once again symbolizing the steady expansion of the institution’s academic offerings and mission.
Norton, who was serving as president at the time this name was adopted, is distinguished as the only president in the university's history to preside over three institutional name changes: Florence State Teachers College, followed by Florence State College in 1957, and, roughly a decade later, by Florence State University.
The change of name also occurred during the most significant physical plant expansion in the school’s history. More than 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) additional were added to the campus in the late 1960’s. Construction included the ten-story Rivers Hall dormitory for men and the eight-story Rice Hall for women. Other structures completed during this period included an addition to Collier Library, the Lurleen Burns Wallace Fine Arts Center, Lafayette and LaGrange Halls, Floyd Hall Science Building, the Planetarium/Observatory, apartments for married students, the Bennett Infirmary, physical education facilities and Flowers Hall
.
These changes also were accompanied by an extensive reorganization of the university’s academic and administrative structure, including the establishment of separate schools within the university.
Robert M. Guillot replaced outgoing President E.B. Norton on April 1, 1972, vowing to transform the small institution into a highly regarded regional university. What followed was one of the most significant periods of growth in the institution’s history. Enrollment grew from slightly more than 3,000 to more than 5,000 in fewer than five years.
Guillot also developed a Greek system on campus, confident that fraternities and sororities would enhance the academic and social environment and entice more students to remain on campus during weekends.
On August 15, 1974, the university underwent another change of name to the University of North Alabama, symbolizing its coming of age as a comprehensive, regional university. The following year, the graduate curriculum once again was expanded with the introduction of the master’s degree program in business administration.
Guillot also directed a substantial expansion of the university’s physical plant, including the construction of the Education and Nursing Building (now Stevens Hall), additions to Collier Library, Flowers Hall
, and the Student Union Building (later renamed Guillot University Center), and renovation of Braly Municipal Stadium
.
Following a reorganization in 1991, the university's administrative structure consists of four divisions: Academic Affairs, Business Affairs, Student Affairs and Advancement, each headed by a vice president. In 1993, the Board of Trustees, anticipating continued and steady enrollment growth, adopted a new master facilities plan to ensure that UNA ultimately will be equipped to accommodate 10,000 students.
Dr. Robert L. Potts, who succeeded Guillot following his resignation in 1989, undertook a series of measures to compensate for shortfalls in state funding, including the reactivation of the UNA Foundation as the university’s charitable arm. Two other measures included the reorganization of the alumni relations department and provision for an annual giving program.
Curriculum expansion continued with the establishment of new graduate programs in English and criminal justice. The university’s nationally renowned commercial music program was enhanced with the development of an Entertainment Development Center. UNA also emerged as an early leader of distance learning.
International student enrollment also underwent explosive growth. By 2004, international enrollment increasing to nearly 300 students representing 35 countries.
Dr. William G. Cale Jr., became president of the University of North Alabama on January 15, 2005, four days after the university marked the 175th anniversary of its founding as LaGrange College. A Philadelphia native, Cale came to UNA from Pennsylvania State University-Altoona, where he served as chief executive officer and dean. Previously, he was the executive vice president for Academic Affairs at Lamar University
in Beaumont
, Texas.
University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is a coeducational university located in Florence, Alabama, and the state's oldest four-year public university....
traces its beginnings to the first half of the 19th century, when the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
sought to bring learning and culture to an obscure mountain in a sparsely populated state known as Alabama.
From these humble beginnings, the university progressed from a poorly funded church-supported school, to a cash-strapped normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
, to a teachers college and, finally, to the state university it has become.
LaGrange College
The University of North Alabama first opened its doors as LaGrange College on January 11, 1830, in a mountain hamlet a few miles south of LeightonLeighton, Alabama
Leighton is a town in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Florence - Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Statistical Area known as "The Shoals". At the 2000 census the population was 849...
in northeast Franklin County, Alabama
Franklin County, Alabama
Franklin County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Benjamin Franklin, famous statesman, scientist, and printer. As of 2010, the population was 31,704...
. LaGrange means "The Place" in French. Twenty-one local college trustees were listed in Acts of Alabama, Eleventh Annual Session.
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
troops in 1863. But by then, however, the college, as such, had moved north across the Tennessee River
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
to Florence. The section of Franklin County containing LaGrange Mountain is now Colbert County
Colbert County, Alabama
Colbert County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of brothers George and Levi Colbert, Chickasaw Indian chiefs. George Colbert operated a ferry across the Tennessee River in 1790 near present day Cherokee....
. LaGrange College, which became Florence Wesleyan University in 1855, is now the University of North Alabama.
LaGrange College arose from the idea offered at a November 28, 1826 meeting of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
to establish a college which would not be “religious or theological." By January 1829, the selection of Lawrence Hill on LaGrange Mountain was made for the site of the school.
A year later, LaGrange College opened to students of all denominations in two three-story brick buildings. (This was slightly more than a year before the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
would open in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
.) Eight days after the opening of LaGrange College, the Alabama Legislature
Alabama Legislature
The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members...
issued a charter for the institution, making it the first state-chartered institution to begin operation in Alabama. Other colleges were in operation, but not chartered by the state.
The Rev. Robert Paine
Robert Paine
Robert Paine may refer to:* Rob Paine, American DJ*Robert Treat Paine , signer of the United States Declaration of Independence* Robert Treat Paine, Jr. , poet and son of the signer* Robert Treat Paine , U.S...
was the first president. The North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
native was also the professor of moral science and belles lettres and taught geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
and mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
. He was assisted by two other professors. The first board of trustees had a total of 50 members, including two Native Americans, a Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
politician and a Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
leader. In 1830, Turner Saunders
Turner Saunders
The Rev. Turner Saunders , a noted Methodist preacher, was born in Brunswick County, Virginia.In 1830 he was elected President of the Board of Trustees of an academy for young women. This was LaGrange College, near Leighton, Alabama, which was burned during the Civil War. He served in that...
, a native of Virginia, was the first President of the Board of Trustees. Saunders' mansion c1826 still stands in Lawrence County. Among the many distant trustees was John Coffee of Florence, friend of Andrew Jackson. Among the local trustees was Henry Stuart Foote of Tuscumbia, who would move to Mississippi and defeat Jefferson Davis in the 1850 Governor's race. J.D. Malone
J.D. Malone
John Dennis Maloney Jr. “J.D. Malone” is a singer and songwriter of life experiences. Born and raised in Bennington, Vermont USA.-Biography:J.D. Malone born in 1965, grew up in a small town of Bennington, Vermont, USA....
, of Limestone County
Limestone County, Alabama
Limestone County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is included in the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Metro Area. Its name comes from Limestone Creek, a local stream. In 2000, the population was 65,676. As of 2010 the county's...
, was the first graduate in 1833.
In 1850, a grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
school was added to LaGrange College. (Today, UNA has the only university-owned and operated elementary laboratory school - Kilby Professional Laboratory School - in Alabama.)
Among LaGrange's alumni were several generals, Alabama governors Edward A. O'Neal and David P. Lewis
David P. Lewis
David Peter Lewis was the 23rd Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1872 to 1874. After his term was over, a Republican would not be elected Governor of Alabama for 119 years.He had previously been a delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress in 1861. In 1868 he was a delegate to the...
, Alabama Supreme Court
Alabama Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of an elected Chief Justice and eight elected Associate Justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six year terms. The Governor of Alabama may fill vacancies when they occur...
justice William M. Byrd and U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Jeremiah Clemens
Jeremiah Clemens
Jeremiah Clemens was a U.S. senator and novelist from the state of Alabama. He was elected to fill the vacancy left by the death of Dixon Hall Lewis, and served from November 30, 1849 to March 3, 1853...
, who wrote the first American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
novel and the first western novel.
Florence Wesleyan University
Those who accompanied the school across the Tennessee River to Florence fully expected that the institutional name, LaGrange College, would be carried over, too. However, Alabama Legislature referred to grant a charter to the new institution under its old name, so the school was re-incorporated as Wesleyan University.
| 19th Century Presidents |
| Rev. Robert Paine, 1830-46 |
| Dr. Edward Wadsworth, 1847-52 |
| Rev. James Ward Hardy, 1852-53 |
| Smith W. Moore, (Acting), 1853 |
| Dr. R. H. Rivers, 1854-61 |
| Robert A. Young, 1862-65 |
| Septimus P. Rice, (Acting), 1865-68 |
| William H. Anderson, 1868-71 |
| Transition Period, 1872-73 |
| Septimus P. Rice, 1873-81 |
| Dr. Hardie A. Brown, 1881-85 |
| Dr. James A. Heard, 1885-86 |
| Dr. T. J. Mitchell, 1886-87 |
| James Knox Powers, 1887-97 |
Admission to Florence Wesleyan required an acquaintance with English grammar
English grammar
English grammar is the body of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses and sentences...
, arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
and the Latin
Latin grammar
The grammar of Latin, like that of other ancient Indo-European languages, is highly inflected; consequently, it allows for a large degree of flexibility in choosing word order...
and Greek Grammar. Prospective students also were required to demonstrate an ability to translate four books of Caesar's
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
Gallic Wars
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the...
, six books of Virgil's
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
, Jacob's or Felton's Greek Reader, and at least one of Xenophon's
Xenophon
Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
Anabasis
Anabasis (Xenophon)
Anabasis is the most famous work, in seven books, of the Greek professional soldier and writer Xenophon. The journey it narrates is his best known accomplishment and "one of the great adventures in human history," as Will Durant expressed the common assessment.- The account :Xenophon accompanied...
.
One hundred and 60 students enrolled in the first year of operation (1855) of Florence Wesleyan University. The school quickly attracted students from five states and two foreign countries. Among Florence Wesleyan’s graduates were Alabama governor Emmet O'Neal
Emmet O'Neal
Emmet O'Neal was an American Democratic politician and lawyer who was the 34th Governor of Alabama from 1911 to 1915....
and Texas governor Lawrence Sullivan “Sul” Ross
Lawrence Sullivan Ross
Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross was the 19th Governor of Texas , a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, and a president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now called Texas A&M University.Ross was raised in the Republic of Texas, which was later annexed to...
(the latter of whose tenure as president of Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
was known as the 'golden age' of that institution). Ross also is the namesake of Sul Ross University in Alpine, Texas
Alpine, Texas
Alpine is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,786 people at the 2000 census, and had increased to 5,905 by 2010.-History:...
.
Ironically, though the bloody four-year conflict between North and South loomed only months away, the years immediately preceding the outbreak of the Civil War are considered the best years of the institution during the 19th century. The fledgling university was entirely out of debt and even had amassed an endowment of $50,000. The faculty was considered first rate for the time and place.
The Civil War
The American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
bestowed much hardship on the institution. Following the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and President Lincoln’s subsequent call for 75,000 troops, four professors and more than one hundred students left the school to take up arms.
During the war, Wesleyan Hall, the university’s only building, was occupied by both Union and Confederate armies.
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
is considered the most famous Union occupant of Wesleyan Hall during the war. In late 1864, shortly before his ill-fated involvement in the battles of Franklin
Battle of Franklin II
The Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864, at Franklin, Tennessee, as part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War. It was one of the worst disasters of the war for the Confederate States Army. Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee conducted...
and Nashville
Battle of Nashville
The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Tennessee under...
, Confederate General John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood had a reputation for bravery and aggressiveness that sometimes bordered on recklessness...
occupied the building. The surrounding grounds were occupied by his troops and served as a meeting place for military personnel and townspeople for parties, dances and concerts. Confederate Generals Pierre G.T. Beauregard and Stephen D. Lee
Stephen D. Lee
Stephen Dill Lee was an American soldier, planter, legislator, and author. He was the youngest Confederate lieutenant general during the American Civil War, and later served as the first president of Mississippi A&M College...
also occupied the adjoining grounds during the war and also may have used Wesleyan Hall as their headquarters.
Robert A. Young, president of Florence Wesleyan at the time, is credited with saving the institution from destruction.
In addition to Lawrence "Sul" Ross, who also served as a general in the Confederate States
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
Army, LaGrange College and Florence Wesleyan University produced three other Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
generals: Confederate Generals Edward A. O'Neal (later an Alabama governor) and John Gregg
John Gregg (CSA)
John Gregg was an American judge, politician, and general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was killed in action during the Siege of Petersburg.-Early life and career:...
and Union General Daniel McCook, Jr.
Daniel McCook
Daniel McCook was an attorney and an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was one of two Ohio brothers who, along with 13 of their sons, became widely known as the “Fighting McCooks” for their contributions to the war effort.-Biography:McCook was born in Canonsburg,...
Following the war, Dr. Septimus Rice was the University's sole instructor, teaching classes in the Preparatory School and holding college-level courses in Wesleyan Hall. Despite a prolonged effort by the new Wesleyan University president, Dr. William H. Anderson, the institution continued to founder, and in 1871, the doors of Wesleyan Hall were closed.
Recognizing the need for trained teachers in the post-war South, the Methodist Episcopal Church turned over Wesleyan Hall and the surrounding 12 acres (48,562.3 m²) grounds to the state of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, which then chartered it as a state normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
.
State Normal School at Florence
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
at Florence, the first state-supported teachers college south of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. Shortly thereafter, it became one of the first co-educational institutions in the nation. A year after its becoming a state school, the institution opened its doors to women; however, none attended until 1874, when 31 young women enrolled. The first woman joined the faculty in 1879.
Florence Normal School's Newton W. Bates, professor of language and literature, published his History of Civil Government of Alabama in 1892, the first textbook on the history of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
State Normal College
In 1888, the school underwent a name change from State Normal School to State Normal College. That same year, Dr James Knox Powers, a FlorenceFlorence, Alabama
Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
native and Wesleyan University alumnus, became the fifth president.
At the beginning of Powers’ tenure, the college’s curriculum encompassed three courses of study: an elementary course to prepare aspiring teachers for primary and elementary education; an advanced course, involving an extra year’s academic work in academic and professional subjects; and a professional course for high school graduates and “cultured” individuals who had no previous training in the teaching arts.
By 1897, when Powers left to assume the presidency of the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
and was replaced by Dr. Marshall Clark Wilson, the campus had changed little. Wesleyan Hall remained the only building owned by the college, and the campus still was confined to the original 12 acres (48,562.3 m²).
T.S. Stribling, one of the university's most noteworthy alumni, graduated from Florence State Normal School in 1903. He is recognized as one of the leaders of the Southern Renaissance
Southern Renaissance
The Southern Renaissance was the reinvigoration of American Southern literature that began in the 1920s and 1930s with the appearance of writers such as William Faulkner, Caroline Gordon, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, Katherine Anne Porter, Allen Tate, Tennessee Williams, and Robert Penn Warren, among...
for his novels Birthright, The Forge, The Store
The Store
The Store is a 1932 novel by Thomas Sigismund Stribling. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1933. It is the second book of the Vaidan trilogy, comprising The Forge, The Store, and Unfinished Cathedral.-Introduction:...
and the Unfinished Cathedral. The Pulitzer prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning novelist and author also outsold contemporaries William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
and Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
during the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s.
Florence State Teachers College
| 20th Century Presidents |
| Marshall C. Wilson, 1897-1911 |
| Dr. James Knox Powers, 1911-13 |
| Robert Harrison, (Acting), 1913 |
| Dr. Henry J. Willingham, 1913-38 |
| Dr. James Albert Keller, 1938-48 |
| F. E. Lund, (Acting), 1948 |
| Dr. Ethelbert B. Norton, 1948-72 |
| Robert M. Guillot, 1972-89 |
| Robert L. Potts, (Acting), 1990 |
| Robert L. Potts, 1990-2004 |
| Dr. G. Garry Warren, (Acting), 2004-05 |
| Dr. William G. Cale, Jr., 2005–present |
The institution functioned as a normal school for more than 50 years until 1929, when it became a state teachers college offering a four-year curriculum in elementary education.
The first bachelor’s degrees were awarded in 1931. Less than a decade later, the curriculum was expanded to include a four-year course of study in secondary education. In 1947, the curriculum was expanded again to include A.B. and B.S. degree programs in fields other than teacher training.
Florence State College
Integration at Florence State College
Compared with other southern institutions of higher learning, particularly the universities of Alabama and Mississippi, integration occurred almost painlessly at Florence State College.In 1963, Wendell Wilkie Gunn was the African-American student to enroll successfully at the college. Gunn previously was denied admission, even though he had the support of the college's president and administration. Then-President E.B. Norton reluctantly sent Gunn a letter informing him that the Alabama Legislature
Alabama Legislature
The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members...
and Board of Education would not allow the college to accept his application. Speaking at UNA in 2005, famed civil rights attorney Fred Gray
Fred Gray
Fred Gray is a civil rights attorney and activist who practices law in Alabama . He served as the President of the National Bar Association in 1985 and the first African-American President of the Alabama State Bar....
, who defended Gunn, recalled that the hearing that ultimately integrated UNA lasted only ten minutes, after which Gunn returned to campus and enrolled successfully. Gray describes the episode as "the easiest case of my civil rights career."
Gunn, who subsequently earned degrees from Florence State College and the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, went on to a distinguished career and was appointed a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in 1982.
Florence State University
Yet another major milestone was crossed in 1967 when the Alabama LegislatureAlabama Legislature
The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members...
removed jurisdiction for the college from the State Board of Education and vested it in a Board of Trustees. Scarcely a year later, the new board voted for another name change to Florence State University, once again symbolizing the steady expansion of the institution’s academic offerings and mission.
Norton, who was serving as president at the time this name was adopted, is distinguished as the only president in the university's history to preside over three institutional name changes: Florence State Teachers College, followed by Florence State College in 1957, and, roughly a decade later, by Florence State University.
The change of name also occurred during the most significant physical plant expansion in the school’s history. More than 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) additional were added to the campus in the late 1960’s. Construction included the ten-story Rivers Hall dormitory for men and the eight-story Rice Hall for women. Other structures completed during this period included an addition to Collier Library, the Lurleen Burns Wallace Fine Arts Center, Lafayette and LaGrange Halls, Floyd Hall Science Building, the Planetarium/Observatory, apartments for married students, the Bennett Infirmary, physical education facilities and Flowers Hall
Flowers Hall
Flowers Hall, built in 1972, is a 4,000-seat multipurpose arena located in Florence, Alabama. It is used primarily for basketball and volleyball, and is the home of the University of North Alabama Lions basketball and volleyball teams....
.
These changes also were accompanied by an extensive reorganization of the university’s academic and administrative structure, including the establishment of separate schools within the university.
The University of North Alabama
| Institutional Names |
| LaGrange College, 1830 |
| Florence Wesleyan University, 1855 |
| State Normal School at Florence, 1872 |
| State Normal College, 1889 |
| State Normal School, 1913 |
| Florence State Teachers College, 1929 |
| Florence State College, 1957 |
| Florence State University, 1968 |
| University of North Alabama, 1974 |
Robert M. Guillot replaced outgoing President E.B. Norton on April 1, 1972, vowing to transform the small institution into a highly regarded regional university. What followed was one of the most significant periods of growth in the institution’s history. Enrollment grew from slightly more than 3,000 to more than 5,000 in fewer than five years.
Guillot also developed a Greek system on campus, confident that fraternities and sororities would enhance the academic and social environment and entice more students to remain on campus during weekends.
On August 15, 1974, the university underwent another change of name to the University of North Alabama, symbolizing its coming of age as a comprehensive, regional university. The following year, the graduate curriculum once again was expanded with the introduction of the master’s degree program in business administration.
Guillot also directed a substantial expansion of the university’s physical plant, including the construction of the Education and Nursing Building (now Stevens Hall), additions to Collier Library, Flowers Hall
Flowers Hall
Flowers Hall, built in 1972, is a 4,000-seat multipurpose arena located in Florence, Alabama. It is used primarily for basketball and volleyball, and is the home of the University of North Alabama Lions basketball and volleyball teams....
, and the Student Union Building (later renamed Guillot University Center), and renovation of Braly Municipal Stadium
Braly Municipal Stadium
Tom Braly Municipal Stadium is a stadium in Florence, Alabama. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the University of North Alabama Lions and the Florence High School Falcons...
.
Following a reorganization in 1991, the university's administrative structure consists of four divisions: Academic Affairs, Business Affairs, Student Affairs and Advancement, each headed by a vice president. In 1993, the Board of Trustees, anticipating continued and steady enrollment growth, adopted a new master facilities plan to ensure that UNA ultimately will be equipped to accommodate 10,000 students.
Dr. Robert L. Potts, who succeeded Guillot following his resignation in 1989, undertook a series of measures to compensate for shortfalls in state funding, including the reactivation of the UNA Foundation as the university’s charitable arm. Two other measures included the reorganization of the alumni relations department and provision for an annual giving program.
Curriculum expansion continued with the establishment of new graduate programs in English and criminal justice. The university’s nationally renowned commercial music program was enhanced with the development of an Entertainment Development Center. UNA also emerged as an early leader of distance learning.
International student enrollment also underwent explosive growth. By 2004, international enrollment increasing to nearly 300 students representing 35 countries.
Dr. William G. Cale Jr., became president of the University of North Alabama on January 15, 2005, four days after the university marked the 175th anniversary of its founding as LaGrange College. A Philadelphia native, Cale came to UNA from Pennsylvania State University-Altoona, where he served as chief executive officer and dean. Previously, he was the executive vice president for Academic Affairs at Lamar University
Lamar University
Lamar University, often referred to as Lamar or LU, is a comprehensive coeducational public research university located in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar confers bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees and is classified as a Doctoral Research University by the Carnegie Commission on Higher...
in Beaumont
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
, Texas.