Historical Timeline:
1818-1820
In 1818, the federal government authorized Alabama Territory to set aside
a township for the establishment of a "seminary of learning." Alabama
was admitted to the Union on March 2, 1819, and a second township added
to the grant. On December 18, 1820, the seminary was established officially
and named "The University of the State of Alabama."
1827
Tuscaloosa, then the state's capital, chosen as the University's home.
1831
On April 18, inaugural ceremonies held and the University opened. By
May 28, 52 students had enrolled. The campus consisted of seven buildings:
two faculty houses, two dormitories, the laboratory, the hotel (now Gorgas
House), and the Rotunda.
1837
The University of Alabama becomes the first in the state to offer engineering
classes. It was one of the first five in the nation to do so and one
of the few to have maintained accreditation continuously since national
accreditation began in 1936.
1841
President's Mansion completed. Its first occupant: Basil Manly, University
president from 1837 to 1855.
Total University enrollment: 63
1850
Alabama Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa established.
1851
Total University enrollment: 126
1859
Medical College branch of the University opened in Mobile.
1860
The University of Alabama became a military school — martial departmental
and disciplinary systems established.
1861
Total University enrollment: 154
1865
Union troops spared only seven of the buildings on the UA campus. Of
the principal buildings remaining today, the President's Mansion and
its outbuildings still serve as the president's on-campus residence.
The other buildings have new uses. Gorgas
House, at different times the dining hall, faculty residence, and
campus hotel, now serves as a museum. The Roundhouse, then a sentry
box for cadets, later a place for records storage, is a campus historical
landmark. The Observatory, now Maxwell Hall, is home to the Computer-Based
Honors Program.
1868
The Medical College reopens in Mobile.
1871
During the Reconstruction era, a reorganized University opened to students.
Total University enrollment: 107
1872
The School of Law established.
1881-82
Antecedents of the UA College of Engineering were established with the
offering of a formal, two-year course of study in civil engineering
under the aegis of applied mathematics in 1837. The College of Engineering
was established in 1909 with the opening of B. B. Comer Hall.
Total University enrollment: 154
1891
Total University enrollment: 167
1892
The University's first football team assembled — the "Thin
Red Line" that later became the "Crimson Tide."
1893
The first women students enrolled for the fall semester at the University.
This was due in large part to the successful lobbying of the UA board
of trustees by Julia
S. Tutwiler. Tutwiler, then president of the Livingston Normal
College for Girls, was a lifelong advocate of the right of women to
be self-supporting members of society.
1894
The student newspaper, the Crimson White, makes its first appearance.
1901
Total University enrollment: 396
1903
In March, the Alabama Legislature decreed that, after thirty years of
student protest, the military system of organization at the University
be abandoned.
1904
A summer school for teachers begun in response to a need for better public
education in Alabama, becoming the School of Education in 1909. The
College of Education was established in 1929.
1906
At the University's diamond jubilee celebration, President John William
Abercrombie presented to the board of trustees his plans for the Greater
University fund-raising campaign, thus ensuring that the state legislature
would no longer be the primary source for financing the University's
growth.
1909
To meet the demands for specific training in two professions, the College
of Engineering and the School of Education were established. Formerly
part of the liberal arts disciplines, these new offspring would function
independently of the now-reorganized College of Arts and Sciences.
1910
The Alabama Museum of Natural
History in Smith Hall dedicated. Smith Hall served as a geological
museum for the University's growing collections and still houses the
Museum today.
1911
Total University enrollment: 571
1912
Dr. George Denny became University president; the campus consisted of
652 students and nine principal buildings. His presidency began an
era of unprecedented physical and enrollment growth. When he retired
in 1936, there were more than 5,000 students and 23 major buildings,
which form the central core of the modern campus.
1914-15
University band organized.
1919
The School of Commerce founded. It became the College of Commerce and
Business Administration in 1929. It was renamed the Culverhouse College
of Commerce and Business Administration in 1997.
1920
The Medical College moved from Mobile to Tuscaloosa.
1921
Total University enrollment: 2134
1924
The Graduate School officially established.
1929
Denny Chimes dedicated. Named for Dr. George H. Denny, president of the
University from 1912 to 1936.
1931
The School of Home Economics officially established. It became the College
of Human Environmental Sciences in 1987.
Total University enrollment: 4,639
1939
Moundville Archaeological
Park and its museum opened to the public.
1941
Total University enrollment: 4,921
1945
The Medical College moved from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham.
The University Press was formed.
1948
Introduction of doctoral programs authorized; first doctorates awarded
in 1952.
1951
Total University enrollment: 5,269
1956
UA's first African-American student, Autherine J. Lucy, was admitted.
She was expelled three days later "for her own safety" in
response to threats from a mob. In 1992 Autherine Lucy Foster graduated
from the University with a master's degree in education. The same day,
her daughter, Grazia Foster, graduated with a bachelor's degree in
corporate finance.
1961
Total University enrollment: 8,257
1963
The first sustained enrollment of African-American students at UA — Vivian
J. Malone and James A. Hood — was achieved. Vivian Malone graduated
in 1965. James Hood returned to campus in 1995 and received a Ph.D. in
interdisciplinary studies in 1997.
1965
The School of Social Work established.
1968
The Computer-Based Honors Program, in which undergraduate students apply
computer technology to research in a wide range of fields, was established.
1969
The Graduate School of Library Service established by act of the Alabama
Legislature. It became the School of Library and Information Studies
in 1989. The School merged with the College of Communication in 1997
to become the College of Communication and Information Sciences.
1970
New College established to allow students to pursue individualized courses
of study while maintaining the academic standards of the University.
1971
The College of Community Health Sciences established.
Total University enrollment: 13,055
1973
The School of Communication established. It became the College of Communication
in 1988, and when it merged with the School of Information Sciences,
was renamed the College of Communication and Information Sciences in
1997.
1976
The Capstone College of Nursing established.
1981
The University celebrates its sesquicentennial.
Total University enrollment: 16,388
1983
The College of Continuing Studies established to provide "learning
opportunities that transcend the barriers of distance, time, and accessibility
... (and) education in the technology-based formats that non-traditional
learners need, offering courses by satellite, videotape, and the Internet." Its
roots reach back to the Summer School for teachers in 1904, becoming
the Extension Division in 1919. In the 1970s it was called Extended Services,
then the Division of Continuing Education.
1985
The M.F.A. Program in Book Arts, with specializations in printing and
binding, is established within the School of Library and Information
Studies. It is one of only three in the country to offer such an M.F.A.
and the only one do so within the context of a library school.
1986
University Honors Program established.
The University's computerized library card catalog, AMELIA, available for use.
1991
Total University enrollment: 19,366
1994
The Stallings Center opened as the new home of the RISE Program.
1996
Blount Undergraduate Initiative established. (First freshman class accepted
in 1999.)
1998
Second Capital Campaign concluded having raised a total amount $224 million
in gifts and pledges.
International Honors Program established.
Modeled on UA's RISE Program, the RISE School of Dallas, Texas, opened.
Renovation of Bryant-Denny Stadium completed, increasing capacity to 82,000.
1999
Student Services Center completed.
Renovation of Sewell-Thomas Baseball Field to a capacity of 6,000 seats begun.
First freshman class accepted in Blount Undergraduate Initiative. Parker Adams Hall serves as its temporary headquarters.
2000
English major Bradley Tuggle from Decatur, Ala., named UA's 15th Rhodes
Scholar.
Historic Barnard Hall rededicated as Oliver-Barnard Hall, the first of two Blount Undergraduate Initiative academic houses.
Construction of 1,500-seat UA Softball Complex completed.
Blount Living-Learning Center opens to its first resident class.
Construction of Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence (AIME) completed.
Morgan Auditorium reopens after $1 million renovation, the first since its construction in 1911.
2001
UA alumnus Lieutenant Colonel Jim Kelly pilots a Discovery space shuttle
mission.
For the third consecutive year, the UA School of Law ranked among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.
UA and Auburn University form the "Alabama-Auburn Alliance" to support fair funding of higher education.
Tide Navigator, a web-based registration system that is the first of its kind in the United States, debuts with incoming freshmen.
Enrollment: 19,633
2002
UA Alumni Association establishes FATE: Future Alumni for Tradition and
Excellence.
Crimson Tradition Fund established with $10 million gift by Paul Bryant Jr.
UA named one of the top 50 public universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 2003.
UA student Kana Ellis of Northport, Ala., selected as as the first recipient of the Honors Student of the Year Award by the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC)
College of Community Health Sciences breaks ground for its $12.6 million facility, designed to consolidate all services and operations of the Tuscaloosa medical campus.
2003
Greensboro East High School, in collaboration with UA, became the first
high school in Alabama to establish
a state-of-the-art Math Technology Learning Center.
Five students from UA named to the 2003 USA Today All-USA College Academic Team. UA students garnered the most awards of any college or university, claiming five of 83 spots on the list.
UA recognized 40 "pioneers" during three days of events to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Gov. George C. Wallace's "stand in the schoolhouse door." Opening Doors, 1963-2003
UA named one of the top 50 public universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 2004.
UA senior Rob Davis selected as one of three 2003 Portz Scholars in the National Collegiate Honors Council's competition for outstanding undergraduate Honors papers.
Enrollment: 20,333
2004
Four UA students named
to the 2004 USA Today All-USA College Academic Team. UA
came in second only to Harvard for 2004, and UA's two-year total of nine
leads the nation.
University Medical Center, UA's new multi-specialty clinic and home of the College of Community Health Sciences, opened on May 11.
Shelby Hall, UA's new 200,000-plus square foot interdisciplinary transportation and science complex, dedicated on May 14.
UA named one of the top 50 public universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 2005.
Enrollment: 20,969
2005
Five UA students named
to the 2005 USA Today All-USA College Academic Team, the
most of any school in the nation. UA's three-year total of 14 also tops
all other colleges and universities.
Based on documentation from the following sources:
History of the University of Alabama, volume I, 1818-1902 by James Benson Sellers, University of Alabama Press, 1953
History of the University of Alabama, volume II, 1902-1952 by James Benson Sellers, revised and edited by W. Stanley Hoole, unpublished manuscript in The William Stanley Hoole Papers, The W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library (Ready Reference Section)
The University of Alabama: A Pictorial History by Suzanne Rau Wolfe, University of Alabama Press, 1983
The University of Alabama Factbook, Office of Institutional Research
News releases from the UA News Center, Office of Media Relations