2005.36.135: Emma to Sister, 1859 March 25
1859; Transcription; Emma; Ed; Religion; Health; Tom; Caroline Chapman; Miss Hammond; Henry; Julia Farrow; Mary Farley; Lou; Charlie Boyd; Kate; Education; Weather; Hollywood; Family Affairs
This three-page handwritten letter is torn at the top. Written in Emma's hand. she details Ed's recovery from an unknown ailment. She mostly discusses family affairs and general news, including a recent birth, probably to entice her sister to visit in the summer.
Emma
P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
Bartow History Museum
Auburn University
1859 March 25
Heather M. Haley
Auburn University
JPEG
PDF
English
Manuscript
2005.36.157: P.M.B Young to Mother, 1857 June 23
1857; West Point; New York; United States Military Academy (USMA); Camp Putnam; Cadet life; Family relations; Emotions; Military life; George; Jim Lewis; Social Relations; Homesickness; Living conditions; Personal affairs; Camp-life; Soldier activities; transcriptions
Young is writing to his mother describing homesickness, his thoughts of resignation from the United States Military Academy, pertinent day-to-day activities for cadets, and his future. He expresses a desire to come home, but also the importance as a Southerner to remain committed to the USMA. There is mention of how Northerners are more prepared for the academy than Southerners because of their levels of education. He mentions the discussions cadets have concerning assignments. He also describes how New York City is a “fussy” place, but how his mother would enjoy the beautiful landscape, river, and academy parade ceremonies.
P.M.B. Young
P.M.B Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
Bartow History Museum
Auburn University
1857 June 23
Peter R. Thomas Jr.
Auburn University
Bartow History Museum
JPEG; PDF
English
Manuscript
2005.36.164: Letter to P.M.B. Young, 1859 March 31
1859; Savannah; Georgia; West Point; Military Training; Newspaper reports; Soldier duties; Religion; Social customs; Marietta
Letter to Pierce concerning his military attire. The sender comments on epaulets that are available. The letter mentions seeing Pierce's name in the local Savannah newspaper as a cadet at West Point. In the article, Pierce is described as excellent in "fortifications" and the sender compliments Pierce on this accolade.
Unknown
P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
Bartow History Museum
Auburn University
1859 March 31
Peter R. Thomas Jr.
Auburn University
Bartow History Museum
JPEG
English
Manuscript
2005.36.167: P.M.B Young to Mother, 1854 March 25
1854; Georgia Military Institute; Marietta; Georgia; mother; Elizabeth Caroline Young; Pierce M.B. Young; sickness; death; religion; transcriptions
A short letter from Young to his mother discussing the death of a “brother cadet” at the Georgia Military Institute. Young comments on the cause of death, which was pneumonia, and how symptoms such as pleurisy induced a very painful death. Young also expresses sadness toward the fact that no family members of the dead cadet were present before his death and that few are aware of his death. Young calls on God to have mercy on his soul despite the fact that the dead cadet is not a Christian.
P.M.B. Young
P.M.B Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
Bartow History Museum
Auburn University
1854 March 25
Peter R. Thomas Jr.
Auburn University
Bartow History Museum
JPEG; PDF
English
Manuscript
2005.36.394: Unknown to John, 1860 January 18
1860; Transcription; John; West Point; Education; Blunt; Holidays; Marriage; Duncan Friggs; Charles Omally; Frank Myers; Marietta; Hudson River; Weather; War
This is a two-page handwritten letter, presumably authored by P.M.B. Young himself judging by his account of the "frozen blue hell" and the frozen Hudson River. He compliments John on his engagement. On the eve of the outbreak of war, he offers a scathing commentary of how southerners should despoil the "hand of a northern oppressor." This section, in particular, is written in a grammatical style that is romantic, bordering fanatical.
Unknown
P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
Bartow History Museum
Auburn University
1860 January 18
Heather M. Haley
Auburn University
JPEG
PDF
English
Manuscript
Alumni Gymnasium
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College; Bragg, Tom; Alumni Gymnasium; Lockwood, Frank; Rogers, Will; Griffith, D.W.; The Birth of a Nation; Toomer's Corner; Donahue, Mike; James E. Foy Hall; Auburn, AL
Irritated by the state’s flat refusal to fund a gymnasium for Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College, Tom Bragg, the president of the Auburn Alumni Association, solicited funds from Auburn graduates all over the country. In February 1916, noted local architect Frank Lockwood finished the new facility, which contained a basketball court that occasionally doubled as a dance hall. Any entertainment booked by the college, including homecoming dance bands, performed in Alumni Gymnasium. The building hosted some of the most noteworthy entertainers and performing artists of the first half of the twentieth century, including Will Rogers. After a screening of D.W. Griffith’s 1915 silent film, The Birth of a Nation, a race riot almost broke out as agitated male college students gathered at Toomer’s Corner to harass local African Americans. Mike Donahue, Auburn’s football coach, calmed the angry mob and convinced them to disband, diffusing the potentially disastrous situation. In 1972, the college demolished Alumni Hall to make way for the expansion of the Student Union Building (Foy Hall). James E. Foy Hall occupies the site where Alumni Gymnasium formerly resided at 282 West Thach Avenue, Auburn University.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Sources: http://diglib.auburn.edu/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?e=d-000-00---0loguesms--00-0-0--0prompt-10---4------0-1l--1-en-50---20-about---00031-001-1-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=loguesms&cl=CL1.3&d=HASH015735d8cd342a37772edc22
Text Source: Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 29-30.
Alabama Cultural Resource Study
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Auburn and Opelika at the End of the Civil War
Lee County, AL; Civil War; Auburn, AL; Opelika, AL; East Alabama Male College
The emancipation of slaves, a widespread labor shortage, and the collapse of the Confederate financial system all coalesced to bring the cities of Auburn and Opelika to ruin at the end of the Civil War. It would be ten years before a new home would be constructed in Auburn and the area’s educational system was completely wrecked. What was once a bustling and growing village would soon fall into stagnation. Though the East Alabama Male College reopened in 1866, it did so with fewer students and many unpaid professors.
Joshua Shiver
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-12-5
Joshua Shiver
<a href="http://diglib.auburn.edu/150th/series/au_civil_war.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Auburn University Sesquicentennial Series: Auburn in the Civil War Era by Ralph Draughon Jr.</a><br /><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41680?msg=welcome_stranger" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Book: Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama by Walter L. Fleming<br /></a>Storey, Margaret M., <em>Loyalty and Loss: Alabama's Unionists in the Civil War and Reconstruction</em>. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004.
Text
English
Text
Auburn Female Institute
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn, AL; Auburn Female Institute; New South; Duncan, George W.; Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College
Auburn’s first post-Civil War public school, possibly founded as early as 1870, was actually a women’s school. Auburn Female Institute was located on Tichenor Avenue. Under Principal George W. Duncan, Auburn Female Institute offered instruction in English, Latin, history, science, literature, art, and drawing. The institution eventually became co-educational, and boys could enroll at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College as freshmen after completing primary and intermediate courses at Auburn Female Institute. In 1899, Auburn Female Institute closed and its students subsequently enrolled at the new Auburn Public School. In 1931, the city demolished the building, which resided on the site of Auburn’s current City Hall building at 144 Tichenor Avenue, Auburn.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auburn_High_School_1870.jpg
Text Source: Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 50-51.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-28
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Auburn Junior High School
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn Junior High School; Auburn, AL; Samford Middle School; Desegregation; Civil Rights Era
From 1931 to 1966, Auburn’s white middle (and elementary) school students operated under the aegis of Auburn High School at 332 East Samford Avenue. During this period, the sub-institution was known as Auburn Grammar School. When Auburn High School opened in 1966, the school on East Samford was renamed Samford Middle School. In 1969, the city school board again renamed the middle school, this time as Auburn Junior High School, the institution’s current title. After the 1970 influx of black high school students to Auburn High School, the newly integrated Samford Middle School took on ninth grade students for three years, and then reverted to serving the fifth through the eighth grades.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://www.realestateinauburn.com/auburn-info/auburn-city-schools-3/
Text Sources: Auburn Junior High School, http://www.auburnschools.org/ajhs/Faculty.html.
The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 71.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Auburn Masonic Female College
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn Masonic Female College; Auburn, AL; Freemasons; Scott, Nathaniel; Antebellum Era; Auburn Bank; Masons; Yancey, William Lowndes; Stephens, Alexander; Hill, Benjamin Harvey; Toombs, Robert; Auburn University Archives and Special Collections; Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College; Civil War; New South; William J. Samford Hall; Langdon, Charles; Langdon Hall; Historic American Buildings Survey; National Register of Historic Buildings; Secession
In the early 1850s, Colonel Nathaniel Scott petitioned Auburn’s local Masonic lodge (Auburn Lodge #76) to sponsor a female educational center in town. In 1853, Auburn Masonic Female College became the town’s first women’s educational institution. Colonel Scott served as president of the college’s board of directors. A spacious, two-story frame building located on the corner of North Gay Street and East Magnolia Avenue housed the female college. A plaque on a boulder a few yards west of Auburn Bank, 100 North Gay Street, Auburn, marks the original site of Auburn Masonic Female College. In its first year, the college enrolled 106 students, some of whom boarded. The Masons subsequently built a huge chapel adjacent to the school for the sum of $2,500. The chapel sat eight hundred people and was used by the female college for commencement ceremonies, plays, and concerts.
In 1860, the chapel hosted a famous secession debate involving prominent fire-eaters William Lowndes Yancey, Alexander Stephens, Benjamin Harvey Hill, and Robert Toombs. A plaque commemorating the debate now resides in Auburn University’s Archives and Special Collections on the bottom floor of Ralph Brown Draughon Library. Auburn Masonic Female College closed during the Civil War, and in 1883 Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College purchased the building and moved it to its present location next to William J. Samford Hall. In 1892, the college remodeled the building and named it after trustee Charles Langdon.
The college used Langdon Hall in many ways over the course of the next century, including classroom, theater, and student recreation center. Langdon Hall, which actually has no physical address, is located about a hundred feet north of William J. Samford Hall at 182 South College Street, Auburn University. The building is listed on the Historic American Buildings Survey and the National Register of Historic Places, and is the second oldest public building in Auburn.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langdon_Hall
Text Source: Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 48-49.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Auburn Methodist and Baptist Schools
Education; Lee County, AL; Antebellum Era; Harper, John; Auburn, AL; Methodist Church; Baptist Church; Yancey, Simeon; Flanagan; C.C.
Judge John Harper led a party of Methodists to the future site of Auburn, Alabama in late 1836. The next year, members the new community collaborated to erect a log Methodist church, located on the corner of modern-day East Magnolia Street and South Gay Street. The log church also functioned as a schoolhouse, where the town’s first teacher, Simeon Yancey, held class. Later in 1837, Baptists moved to the nascent community and built a stand-alone schoolhouse across the street from the log church. C.C. Flanagan became Auburn’s second schoolmaster. The Baptist log schoolhouse functioned as a primary school where Auburn’s youth learned reading, writing, and arithmetic. Flanagan became one of Lee County’s most highly regarded antebellum era educators, teaching primary and secondary school in the Auburn area for the following twenty years. Today Auburn United Methodist Church occupies the site of the original Methodist Church and School, and a historic marker notes the exact location of the original log structure.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/48984044
Text Source: Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 47.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-28
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Auburn University
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn, AL; Auburn University; East Alabama Male College; Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Glenn, John Bowles; Old Main Hall; American Civil War; Confederate Army; Morrill Act; Dowdell, James Ferguson; Hatch Act; Broun, William Leroy; Smith-Lever Act; Agricultural Extension; Duncan, Luther N.
Established by charter in 1856 as East Alabama Male College, the academic institution that would come to be known as Auburn University was founded ten years before Lee County’s inception. Local residents, such as John Bowles Glenn, the pastor of Loachapoka Methodist Church and president of East Alabama Male College’s first Board of Trustees, comprised much of the institution’s early leadership. Erected in 1859, Auburn’s original facility was a four-story building in which six faculty members serviced a student body of 80. This building, known as Old Main Hall, served as a convalescent hospital for Confederate veterans during the Civil War.
Most of the young men enrolled at the nascent institution enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861. Closed for the duration of the Civil War, East Alabama Male College reopened in 1866. In 1872, under the auspices of the Morrill Act, Auburn was named Alabama’s land-grant college and was renamed the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College. Also, during that year President James Ferguson Dowdell and the Board of Trustees voted to turn ownership of the college over to the State of Alabama. A state tax on fertilizer in 1883 and the 1887 Hatch Act provided President William Leroy Broun with funds to purchase land for institutional expansion and the foundation of a scientific research facility. In 1887, Main Hall burned down. The following year, private contractors rebuilt on the site of Main Hall, and Auburn’s administrative brass decided to name the new building Samford Hall, in honor of Governor William J. Samford, a resident of nearby Chambers County.
Alabama Agriculture and Mechanical College’s first female student matriculated in 1892, and the institution’s first football team also took the field that year. The institution was renamed Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1899 via a proposal by President Broun. In 1908, Smith Hall and several other buildings on campus were equipped with electric lighting. The 1914 passage of the Smith-Lever Act made API the headquarters of the agricultural extension system in Alabama. Under the leadership of future API President Luther N. Duncan, the extension system became a seminal educational tool. Extension agents at Auburn were instructed in the techniques of better farming through the implementation of scientific research, and in turn disseminated that knowledge to rural Alabama farmers. From 1941 to 1945, the university grounds served as a training area for the Army and Navy. In 1960, the board of trustees renamed the institution Auburn University, a nod to the sobriquet that generations of students had already bequeathed to the school.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://mikebozack.com/images/
Text Sources: Alexander Nunn, Lee County and Her Forebears (Montgomery, AL: Herff Jones, 1983) 62-70.
Auburn University, http://ocm.auburn.edu/presidential_installation/history_tradition.html.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-25
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Boykin Street Elementary School
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn, AL; Boykin Street Elementary School; African American Schools; Civil Rights Era; Desegregation
Auburn's first public elementary school that serviced only African-American students was founded in 1951, when it also briefly functioned as a junior high school. Boykin Street Elementary remained the institution for Auburn’s African-American grammar schoolchildren until integration in 1970. Boykin Street functioned as a middle school until the facility closed in 1983. The City of Auburn now uses the building, located at 400 Boykin Street, as a community center.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://www.alabamaasla.com/2011/05/boykin-community-center-auburn-al/
Text Sources: City of Auburn: Parks and Recreation, http://www.auburnalabama.org/parks/Default.aspx?PageID=659
The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 71.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Cherokee High School
Cherokee High School; Colbert County School System; Cherokee, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; High School; School; Education
Cherokee High School was founded in 1925 as Cherokee Vocational High School as it was the first designated vocational school in Colbert County. The original high school building was located where the current gymnasium stands. As the school expanded with the end of segregation in 1968 the old high school became the junior high school. That building burned on January 21, 1971.
Cherokee High School is located in Cherokee, Alabama and serves the western portion of Colbert County as part of the Colbert County School system. It is located along County Road 21 (North Pike) off of U.S. Highway 72.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“About the School”, Accessed on November 29, 2015, www.chsindians.org/?PageName='AboutTheSchool’
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Colbert County High School
Colbert County High School; Colbert County School System; Leighton, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; High School; School; Education
The history of Colbert County High School dates back to the year 1910. The school is located in the historic town of Leighton, Alabama, which is located in eastern Colbert County at the intersection of U.S. Highway 72 and Colbert County Highway 48.
In 1907 the State Legislature provided for one high school in each county of the state. Various communities competed with each other in a lively fashion, but the Leighton community was selected in preference to both Cherokee and Tuscumbia when an offer was made to put up a $12,000 building. The High School was opened in 1910.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“About the School: The History of Colbert County High School”, Accessed on November 29, 2015, http://www.colbertindians.org/?PageName=‘AboutTheSchool’ ; Article from “1976—The Bi-Centennial Year in Pictures Taken at CCHS”.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Colbert Heights Elementary School
Colbert Heights Elementary School; Colbert County School System; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; Elementary School; School; Education
In December of 1938 the small school of Melrose, at the foot of Colbert Mountain, burned. Interim classes were held at Colbert Heights Baptist Church while the new school located at the present site of Colbert Heights High School was built. The name was changed to Colbert Heights upon completion of the new facility. Beginning in 1964 a grade was added yearly until the school contained grades one through twelve. In 1980 a kindergarten was added.
The Colbert County Board of Education began building a separate elementary school at the present location on Sunset Drive in 1983. The school began serving grades K-6 in the fall of 1984. A gymnasium was build in 1987. Eight new classrooms were added in 1994 to accommodate students and faculty from the closing of Littleville School.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“About the School: School History”, Accessed on November 26, 2015, http://ches.colbert.k12.al.us/?PageName=‘AboutTheSchool’
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Colbert Heights High School
Colbert Heights High School; Colbert County School System; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; High School; School; Education
In December of 1938 the small school of Melrose at the foot of Colbert Mountain burned. Interim classes were held at Colbert Heights Baptist Church until construction was complete at the present site of Colbert Heights High School. The name was changed from Melrose to Colbert Heights upon completion of the new facility. Beginning in 1964, a grade was added yearly until the school contained grades one through twelve with the first class of seniors graduating in 1967.
Through the years, Colbert Heights High School has had a number of changes and additions. In 1974, a new gym was constructed. To accommodate continued growth, more classrooms were added to the existing school in 1978. Colbert Heights High School served as a kindergarten through twelfth grade school until 1984. A separate elementary school was built during this time allowing for the growth of the junior high and high school grades. In 1995, the school went through a transformation with the addition of a junior high annex and the demolition of the old sandstone building which was replaced with the construction of new offices and classrooms.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“About the School: School History”, Accessed on November 26, 2015, chhs.colbert.k12.al.us/?PageName=‘AboutTheSchool’
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Deshler Female Institute (1874-1918)
Deshler Female Institute; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colberty County, Alabama; School; Education; Historical
The Deshler Female Institute was named in memory of Brigadier General James Deshler. The land and building, previously a home, was donated on December 6, 1871 by James Deshler’s father, Major David Deshler. David wanted to donate the land and home in his will, as a tribute to the memory of his son. The original buildings were destroyed by a tornado on November 22, 1874. The buildings were rebuilt in 1875. The Institute closed in 1917 due to lack of funding.
The Institute remained predominantly empty until 1924, when the city tore down the old building to build a new one. The new building would become the Deshler High School. The Institute was centrally located in Tuscumbia and surrounded by Main Street, Dickson Street, Second and Third Streets.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
Richard C. Sheridan, Deshler Female Institute: An Example of Female Education In Alabama 1874-1918 (Birmingham: Birmingham Printing and Publishing Co., 1986).
Picture from University of North Alabama Archives; Photo Collection: File AA5: Architecture - Academic: Deshler Female Institute, Photo AA5.1.
Capt. Arthur Henley Keller, History of Tuscumbia, Alabama (Sheffield, Alabama: Tennessee Valley Historical Society, 1981; 1888), 14-15.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
Deshler High School (1950-Present)
Deshler High School; Tuscumbia School System; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; High School; School; Education
The current Deshler High School was opened in 1950 on the site of the antebellum Winston plantation located across the Commons from the Deshler Stadium. In 1954, Tuscumbia added a cafeteria, auditorium, and Junior High building. In 1966, work began on a new round gymnasium with surrounding vocational shops and a hexagonal library. The high school is located on N. Commons Street, near where the original stood.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“About the School: History of Deshler”, Accessed on November 20, 2015, www.deshlerhigh.org/?PageName='AboutTheSchool'
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Flowers Hall Gymnasium
Lauderdale County; Florence AL; Education; Recreation; University of North Alabama
Flowers Hall first opened in 1972 and still continues to be used today. It is the home court for the volleyball team and the men’s and women’s basketball teams. It was named after Hubert A. “Eddie” Flowers, who was a long time head of the physical education and athletic programs. He was also the basketball program’s first coach. Flowers Hall was a great addition to the university because it gave them a great athletic facility costing approximately three million dollars. It has a seating capacity of 4,000 with both floor and upper level seating. The Flowers Hall Annex renovation added 17,800 square feet and cost one and a half million dollars. Flowers hall is a four level structure with the gym being on the third floor. It includes more than just a site for athletic events. It contains offices, class rooms, locker rooms, and special facilities for athletic training. It is also used for educational and recreational purposes. Flowers Hall is located on 615 North Pine Street in Florence, Alabama.
Jackson Newton, University of North Alabama
Greer, Tyler. “Gymnasium not just used for basketball”, University of North Alabama Archives. (Newspaper Clipping)
Florence State University Yearbook 1972, University of North Alabama Archives.
Thomas, Ronald. “Flowers fought long and hard for athletics”, University of North Alabama Archives. (Newspaper Clipping)
University of North Alabama Basketball Guide 1974-75, University of North Alabama Archives
.
Images:
University of North Alabama Archives and Special Collections
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
December 4, 2015
Graves Center
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; New Deal; Graves, Bibb; Graves Center; Greek Revival; Agricultural Extension Service; Auburn University Special Collections and Archives; Montgomery, AL; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Auburn, AL
Alabama Polytechnic Institute built the Graves Center – actually a complex of thirty cottages, an amphitheatre, a large dining hall, and a brass bust of New Deal era governor Bibb Graves – piecemeal throughout the 1930s. The complex of 30 Greek Revival style white cottages were originally intended by the Agricultural Extension Service to accommodate agriculturalists in town for conventions, but served a variety of functions, including housing Auburn’s football team. The dining hall served as the university cafeteria and also served as a venue for dances, costume parties, and commencement exercises. The university relocated the brass bust of Bibb Graves to the Auburn University Special Collections and Archives on the bottom floor of Ralph Brown Draughon Library. Today, two remnants of the Graves Center remain on campus. The first is the amphitheatre, which was originally constructed from granite setts that once paved Commerce Street in downtown Montgomery. Graves Amphitheatre is located at the corner of Duncan Drive and Graves Drive on Auburn University’s campus. One of the Greek Revival cottages still stands approximately four hundred feet west of the intersection of Duncan Drive and West Samford Avenue.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source:http://s83.photobucket.com/user/randy4au/media/Auburn/au_webfinds/bibb_graves_amphitheatre.jpg.html
Text Source: Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 31-32.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-28
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Haley Center
Education; Lee County, AL; Haley Center; Auburn University; Auburn University College of Education; Auburn University College of Liberal Arts; Haley, Paul S.; Parker, Ray K.; Auburn, AL
The largest building on Auburn University’s campus, the Haley Center is capable of accommodating 8,000 students at any given moment. The labyrinthine, 357,000-square-foot structure includes four quadrants centered around a central ten-story tower, a floor plan that prompted Ray K. Parker, a construction inspector, to describe the Haley Center as “essentially five separate buildings.” The building serves as the headquarters for the College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts, and is also houses 142 classrooms and the Auburn University Bookstore. Completed in 1969, the Haley Center is named for Paul S. Haley, an Auburn trustee who served for 51 years. The Haley Center is located at 351 West Thach Concourse, Auburn University.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/09/au_seeks_new_batch_of_classrom.html
Text Sources: Auburn University: College of Education, http://www.education.auburn.edu/aboutus/facilities.html
“Haley Center Confuses Students for the First Time,” The War Eagle Reader, http://www.thewareaglereader.com/2012/06/haley-center-confuses-students-for-the-first-time/#.VHVANr7tJUQ
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Historic Deshler High School (1924-1950)
Deshler High School; Historic; Tuscumbia School System; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; High School; School; Education
Deshler High School was built in 1924 on the location of the former Deshler Female Institute. The school lasted until 1950 when the city opened the present Deshler High School on the site of the antebellum Winston plantation located across the Commons from the Deshler Stadium.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“About the School: History of Deshler”, Accessed on November 20, 2015, www.deshlerhigh.org/?PageName='AboutTheSchool'
Richard C. Sheridan, Deshler Female Institute: An Example of Female Education In Alabama 1874-1918 (Birmingham: Birmingham Printing and Publishing Co., 1986), 49.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Howell & Graves Junior High School (Historical)
Howell & Graves Junior High School; Colbert County School System; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; Muscle Shoals Board of Education; Junior High School; School; Education; Administration
The Howell & Graves Junior High School was designed by architect Harry J. Frahn and built in 1927 in the neoclassical style and the neo-Tudor Gothic tradition, symbolically associated with the Ivy League schools. Decorative brick work, which originally crowned the building, gave it a castle-like appearance. It was known as one of the finest buildings in the region and was often the scene of political rallies and other special events. The state-of-the-art auditorium, with a seating capacity of 500, had elevated floors and opera-style seating. The stage had hand-painted canvas backdrops and lighting. In 1959, for a sum of $300, this school was transferred from the Colbert County School System to the newly formed Muscle Shoals City Board of Education.
The building itself still exists, however, it is currently the Muscle Shoals Board of Education Building. The structure and historical marker are located on S. Wilson Dam Rd.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“Howell & Graves Junior High School” Historical Marker, Side 2; Erected 2006 by the City of Muscle Shoals and Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation Alabama Historical Association.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Ivy Green
Colbert County, Alabama; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Ivy Green; Helen Keller; Social History; Education; Communications; National Register of Historic Places; Historic American Buildings Survey
A one-and-a-half-story "Southern Viriginian" frame cottage located at 300 West North Commons in Tuscumbia, Ivy Green is significant for being the birthplace and childhood home of Helen Keller. It was during her infancy at Ivy Green that illness rendered Keller's blind and deaf; and it was there, in 1887, that Anne Sullivan taught the seven-year-old Keller to read, write, and speak, using a "finger language" devised by Samuel Gridley Howe of Boston's Perkins School for the Blind.
The Ivy Green complex consists of the main house and two additional structures of historical significance: another, smaller frame cottage built as an office for the Keller family plantation; and the still smaller structure housing the water well and pump which facilitated Keller's famous "communication breakthrough." The property was acquired by the City of Tuscumbia in 1954, and has been open to the public as a museum ever since.
Brian Corrigan, University of North Alabama
National Register of Historic Places, Ivy Green, Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Alabama, National Register #70000101.
Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS AL-317, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/al0093 (accessed November 7, 2015).
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 7, 2015
text, image
J.F. Drake High School
Education; Lee County, AL; J.F. Drake High School; Auburn, AL; Drake, Joseph Fanning; African American Schools; Desegregation; Johnson, Judge Frank; Brown v. Board of Education; Civil Rights Movement
Auburn’s last exclusively African-American public high school was founded in 1957. J.F. Drake High School was named after Dr. Joseph Fanning Drake, and Auburn native who went on to become the president of Alabama A&M College in Huntsville. In 1968, U.S. District Court Judge Frank Johnson compelled the Lee County school system to adhere to Brown v. Board of Education. Although students were given a choice of Auburn or Drake High School in 1969, Drake’s African-American student body moved to Auburn High School en masse during the 1970-1 school year. Drake has functioned as a sixth- through eighth-grade middle school since desegregation.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Sources: https://www.auburnschools2.org/course/view.php?id=627
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMKYXZ_J_F_Drake_High_School_Alma_Mater_Auburn_AL
Text Source: The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 71.
Committee for the Preservation of Auburn’s African American History, Lest We Forget: A History of African Americans of Auburn, Alabama (Auburn, AL: Committee for the Preservation of Auburn’s African American History, 2011, 119-120.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
LaGrange College (1830-1855)
LaGrange College; LaGrange, Alabama; Leighton, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; School; Education; Historical
LaGrange College was located on LaGrange Mountain. In 1830 it became the first State chartered college in Alabama. Within two months of its opening, there were seventy students enrolled at LaGrange College. The school year lasted for ten months. Tuition was $20 and board was $80, which covered students’ food, lodging, washing, and firewood for the ten months. At the peak of enrollment, LaGrange College had 230 students.
Dr. Richard H. Rivers became president of the college in 1854, when the college was facing financial problems. Dr. River’s solution, in response to an offer of better support, moved the college to Florence, Alabama in 1855. The Florence institution was denied permission to use the name of LaGrange College, thus being chartered as Florence Wesleyan University on February 14, 1856; today the college is the University of North Alabama.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
Autumn Owens, University of North Alabama
“LaGrange College 1830-1855”, Accessed on November 18, 2015, colbertcountytourism.org/index.php/lagrange-college
Bishop, Allison. “War doomed first state college, LaGrange.” University of North Alabama Archives. University History: LaGrange College (UH:LG2).
Potter, Nancy. “Remembering the Mountain.” University of North Alabama Archives. University History: LaGrange College (UH:LG2).
“LaGrange College.” The Florence Informer: Volume 1 Number 23 March 27 – April 2, 1989. University of North Alabama Archives. University History: LaGrange College (UH:LG2).
http://www.lagrangehistoricsite.com/
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
LaGrange Military Academy (1857-1862)
LaGrange Military Academy; LaGrange, Alabama; Leighton, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; School; Education; Historical
After LaGrange College moved to Florence in January 1856, a group of LaGrange citizens organized a college in the vacant buildings under the old name, LaGrange. To increase patronage, a military feature was introduced in 1857. The college reopened in February 1858. as LaGrange College and Military Academy. The Academy soon flourished and became known as the “West Point of the South”. In 1860, the name was changed to LaGrange Military Academy. During its existence, 259 cadets from 9 states attended the Academy. The Academy was forced to suspend classes on March 1, 1862, due to cadets leaving to join the Confederate Army. Major J.W. Robertson was authorized to organize the 35th Alabama Infantry Regiment, C.S.A.. Robertson was elected Colonel of the regiment and the remaining cadets of the Academy formed part of one company. On April 28, 1863, the 10th Missouri Calvary of the Union Army burned the Military Academy. The village of LaGrange dwindled away after this.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“LaGrange Military Academy 1857-1862”, Accessed on November 18, 2015, colbertcountytourism.org/index.php/lagrange-college
http://www.lagrangehistoricsite.com/
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Lee County Training School
Education; Lee County, AL; Lee County Training School; Auburn, AL; Rosenwald Schools; Rosenwald, Julius; African American Schools; J.F. Drake High School; Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, Auburn, Alabama; Great Depression; Player, Lamar; Jackson, Clarence
One of the largest Rosenwald schools erected in Alabama, the ten-room Lee County Training School served first- through twelfth-grade African-American students in the Auburn area starting in 1928. Lee County Training School became the first black public high school in Lee County’s segregated school system. When the school opened, it only serviced ten grades, but it quickly became a twelve-grade school. Clarence Jackson became Lee County Training School’s first principal. Erecting this facility proved quite expensive, as the entire endeavor cost $21,900. Philanthropist Julius Rosenwald contributed $2,350, Auburn’s white community donated $5,000, Auburn’s African-American community raised $5,000, and the state government allocated $9,500 to found the school. The ten-room facility consisted of four classrooms and a boiler room downstairs and four classrooms and an auditorium upstairs. Half of the boiler room functioned as the school cafeteria. The school closed during the Great Depression (for the 1932-3 school year), but reopened the following year under the leadership of new principal Lamar Player.
Although many of Lee County Training School’s students lived well below the poverty line, they conducted food drives every Thanksgiving to distribute food to the county’s truly impoverished. The school habitually struggled to secure proper funding for its daily operations and faculty salaries. Although the state made no budgetary provision for education in the arts at Lee County Training School, a devoted core of faculty used mandatory weekly meetings to facilitate the students’ comprehension of drama, music, and elocution. In 1949, Lee County Training School organized its first band. The school bought a bass drum, two snare drums, a tuba, and two French horns, and parents purchased the rest of the instruments. Teaching resources often consisted of a blackboard, chalk, and an eraser. Because the history textbooks selected (but not purchased) by the State of Alabama mentioned no African American achievements, many of the teachers used outside resource materials to teach history. In 1957, Lee County Training School, long since overburdened with too many students for its building to accommodate, closed to make way for the opening of J.F. Drake High School. The city demolished the building in 1963, and a historic marker resides on the former site of the school in Martin Luther King, Jr. Park at 190 Byrd Street, Auburn.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/?module=search.details&set_v=aWQ9MzEy&school_county=lee&school_state=AL&button=Search&o=0
Text Sources: “County Training School,” Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card Database, http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/?module=search.details&set_v=aWQ9MzEy&school_county=Lee&school_state=AL&button=Search&o=0
Committee for the Preservation of Auburn’s African American History, Lest We Forget: A History of African Americans of Auburn, Alabama (Auburn, AL: Committee for the Preservation of Auburn’s African American History, 2011, 109-116, 140.
Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 56-58.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Leon Vandiver Oral History Recording
Montgomery; Alabama; Trenholm Court; African American; black; education; Alabama State University; Booker T. Washington High School; church; segregation; food; marching band; oral history
Oral interview of Leon Vandiver recorded by Keith S. Hebert in December 2016 for the Montgomery County Historical Society as part of their Alabama Bicentennial commemorations. The interview was conducted at Vandiver's home in Montgomery, Alabama. To listen to the full interview, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-319206458/vandiver-leon-2016" target="_blank">click here to access the Soundcloud file.</a>
Keith S. Hebert
To listen to the full interview, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-319206458/vandiver-leon-2016" target="_blank">click here to access the Soundcloud file.</a>
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2016
1953-2016
Montgomery County Historical Society
MP3; audio recording
English
Oral History
Mary Martin Hall
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; Carnegie, Andrew; Carnegie Libraries; William J. Samford Hall; Curtis, Nathaniel C.; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Auburn, AL
The institution that would come to be known as Auburn University’s first library operated out of three rooms on the second floor of William J. Samford Hall. These rooms quickly became overcrowded with an excessive amount of volumes. In 1908, Andrew Carnegie provided an endowment of $30,000 to allow the institution to build a much-needed stand-alone library. Nathaniel C. Curtis, the chair of Alabama Polytechnic Institute’s Architectural Department, designed the new library, which opened on January 11, 1909, and boasted a 60,000-volume capacity. In 1940, Auburn’s Board of Trustees allocated funds to enlarge the Carnegie Library, effectively doubling its volume capacity and adding two new reading rooms. In the early 1960s, Auburn University began building a massive new library building. On November 5, 1963, the building was dedicated and the institution’s library officially moved from the Carnegie building to the new facility. Auburn University tapped the old Carnegie Library to house student financial services and redubbed the building Mary Martin Hall in honor of Auburn’s librarian from 1918 to 1949. Mary Martin Hall still stands at 211 West Thach Avenue, Auburn University.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://family.auburn.edu/profiles/blogs/the-best-free-services-auburn-students-should-be-taking-advantage
Text Sources: History of the Auburn Libraries, http://www.lib.auburn.edu/dean/history.php.
Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 12.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Muscle Shoals Career Academy/ Muscle Shoals Center for Technology
Muscle Shoals Career Academy; Muscle Shoals Center for Technology; Vocational School; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; School; Education
In 1975, The Muscle Shoals Board of Education conducted a needs assessment in conjunction with the Alabama State Department of Education to determine the business and industry employment needs in the Shoals area. As a result of the needs assessment survey the following occupational programs were initially implemented at the vocational school: Auto Body, Auto Mechanics, Business and Office Education, Carpentry, Distributive Education, Health Occupations, Horticulture, Industrial Electricity, Radio and TV repair, Trowel Trades, and Welding.
Since the original opening of the school in 1977, Cosmetology, Engineering Graphics, Electronics/Robotics, Principles of Technology, Technology Education, Family and Consumer Science, and Cisco Academy programs were approved by the Alabama Department of Education and implemented at the Muscle Shoals Area Vocational School. Due to economic shifts in the local economy Trowel Trades and Horticulture were eliminated from the vocational curriculum. The Industrial Electricity program was eliminated due to low student enrollment.
In 2000, the faculty and staff requested a school name change to reflect the curriculum changes that represented the technology and computer skills required for today's labor force. In October 2000, the name of the Muscle Shoals Area Vocational School changed to the Muscle Shoals Center for Technology.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“About the School: School History”, Accessed on November 26, 2015, http://muscleshoals.al.mst.schoolinsites.com/?PageName=‘AboutTheSchool’
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Muscle Shoals Middle School
Muscle Shoals Middle School; Muscle Shoals School System; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; Middle School; School; Education
At its opening in 1970, the current MSMS building housed grades nine through twelve. These grades remained in this building until 1999 when the new high school was built. Middle school students previously attended McBride Middle School (now McBride Elementary School). Muscle Shoals Middle School was created fall 1999 for grades six through eight. In 2008, a new ten room addition was added to house the sixth grade students.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“About the School: Facility”, Accessed on November 26, 2015, http://muscleshoals.al.msm.schoolinsites.com/?PageName=‘AboutTheSchool’
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
New Bethel Elementary
New Bethel Elementary; Colbert County School System; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; Elementary School; School; Education
New Bethel Elementary is part of the Colbert County School System. New Bethel was built on its present site in 1915. The original structure was a two room wood constructed building. The original building burned in February, 1924. A new building was constructed but again was destroyed by fire in the 1950's. The current school is located on New Bethel Road, Tuscumbia, Alabama.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“About the School: History of New Bethel”, Accessed on November 27, 2015, nbes.colbert.k12.al.us/?PageName=‘AboutTheSchool’
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Northeast Alabama Community College
Jackson County, Dekalb County, Rainsville, Sand Mountain, Education
Northeast Alabama Community College (NACC) is a comprehensive, public two-year college within the Alabama Community College System; it is one of 12 junior colleges created by the Alabama State Legislature during the administration of Gov. George C. Wallace. NACC is located on State Highway 35 approximately five miles from Rainsville, DeKalb County; its grounds straddle the county line between DeKalb and Jackson counties. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2611#sthash.adCiCsrn.dpuf
Blake Wilhelm
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2611#sthash.adCiCsrn.dpuf
Northeast Alabama Community College
1965-present
Northwest-Shoals Community College
Northwest-Shoals Community College; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; Two-Year College; Community College; Education
Northwest-Shoals Community College was formed in 1993 by the Alabama State Board of Education through the merger of Northwest Alabama Community College's Phil Campbell Campus and Shoals Community College. The merger was enacted in order to provide more effective and efficient educational services to residents of rural northwest Alabama and the Shoals area.
Northwest-Shoals Community College is a comprehensive two-year public institution of higher learning providing vocational, technical, academic and lifelong educational opportunities for the northwest Alabama Region. The College is part of the Alabama College System, a statewide system of post-secondary colleges, governed by the Alabama Board of Education. Northwest-Shoals derives its original charter from the Alabama legislature through the Alabama Trade School and Junior College Authority Act of 1963.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“NW-SCC History”, Accessed on November 29, 2015, http://www.nwscc.edu/history.shtml
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
Ralph Brown Draughon Library
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; Draughon, Ralph Brown; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Auburn, AL
By the late 1950s, Alabama Polytechnic Institute’s Carnegie Library exceeded its storage capacity. The Board of Trustees recognized the immediate need for a larger facility, and in the early 1960s the university planned the construction of a major new library building. Built throughout 1962 and 1963 and dedicated on November 5, 1963, the 172,000 square-foot building allowed for the housing of all university library resources under one roof. The new library boasted a million-volume capacity, carrels, furnished seating, special reading rooms, a 108-seat auditorium, and special music rooms. In 1965, Auburn University named the facility Ralph Brown Draughon Library after the university’s tenth president, who retired that year. In 1988, Auburn organized a major renovation project designed to double the library’s floor space to 380,000 square feet, increase its capacity to 2.5 million volumes, and add a 345-car parking deck. Ralph Brown Draughon Library is located at 231 Mell Street, Auburn University.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://www.lib.auburn.edu/about/
Text Sources: History of the Auburn Libraries, http://www.lib.auburn.edu/dean/history.php.
The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 74.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Simpson House-Irvine Place-Coby Hall
Education; University of North Alabama; Historic Marker; Florence, AL; Lauderdale County, AL
Coby Hall is located on North Court Street in Florence, Alabama.
Funds for its purchase in 1990 were provided by Mr. David Brubaker. Brubaker purchased what was then Irvine place for $375,000. At a ceremony on December 7, 1990 Brubaker donated the house to the University of North Alabama under the new name, Coby Hall, in honor of his late wife, Coby Stockard Brubaker. After many years of heavy use and lack of maintenance funding, Coby Hall had fallen into disrepair. Dissatisfied with the condition of the house, Brubaker donated a sum of money for repairs which sparked a “Campaign for Coby” which set out to raise money for more repairs. At the end of the campaign enough money had been raised for a total rehabilitation. Many repairs took place at this time but the most significant were the addition of a full copper roof, gutters, charger, and downspouts. The same was done for the carriage house. The result was a fully restored Coby Hall, which now houses the University of North Alabama Office of Admissions.
There is a historic marker is located on Court, Florence, Alabama.
The text on the marker reads: "Built by John Simpson in 1843, on the site of his earlier home, this residence was occupied at various times by both armies during the Civil War. Purchased in 1867 by George W. Foster, builder of Courtview, for his daughter, Virginia, and her husband, James B. Irvine. Their daughter, Virginia, left the home to her great-niece Harriett Rogers King in 1939. Mrs. King and her husband, Madding restored Irvine Place in 1948. Acquired in 1990 by David Brubaker, and donated to the University of North Alabama in memory of his wife, Coby Stockard Brubaker. Listed: National Register of Historical Places."
David Brubaker, in presenting his gift to the University of North Alabama, stated:
"Coby Stockard Brubaker was a giver, a lady who lived her life the same way she faced her death- with humor, honesty, courage, and the devout conviction that her experience was part of God’s plan. I wanted an omnipresent reminder to her family and the community of the love I have for Coby. The building will be a living memorial where our son, Jay, can always come and experience the warmth of the community, which his mother loved so much. I want him to remember that a big part of his heart is in Florence, Alabama.” (Howard 50-60).
Dylan Tucker, University of North Alabama
Brian Peden, University of North Alabama
“Simpson House-Irvine Place-Colby Hall Marker”. Accessed 11/06/2015. http://www.lat34north.com/historicmarkersal/
Prelude, History of Simpson House-Irvine House-Coby Hall On the Campus of the University of North Alabama, Archieves/Special Collection, Collier Library,University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
Section Four, Coby Hall- 1990-2005, History of Simpson House-Irvine House-Coby Hall On the Campus of the University of North Alabama, Archieves/Special Collection, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
11/09/2015
Text
Slaton's Academy
Education; Lee County, AL; Slaton's Academy; Antebellum Era; Auburn, AL; Oak Bowery Academy; Slaton, William F.; East Alabama Male College; Methodist Church; Religion
In 1857, this institution opened on the corner of what is now Tichenor Avenue and North Gay Street. Slaton’s Academy functioned as a preparatory school for young men pursuing admission to East Alabama Male College. William F. Slaton, a local Methodist, founded the school and served as its headmaster. Slaton was previously the headmaster of Oak Bowery Academy in Chambers County, but was persuaded by Auburn’s residents to relocate after plans for the men’s college were announced.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Lissoy/sandbox2
Text Source: Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 48.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
Southern Union State Community College
Education; Lee County, AL; Southern Union Community College; Bethlehem College; Hodge, John M.; Southern Christian Convention of Congregational Christian Churches; Piedmont Junior College; Southern Union College; Southern Union State Junior College; Opelika State Technical College; Alabama State Board of Education; Brown, Robert
Southern Union State Community College began its institutional life as Bethlehem College on June 2, 1922. John M. Hodge, a Wadley banker, donated forty acres to the Southern Christian Convention of Congregational Christian Churches as a site for the campus. From 1923 to 1964, Bethlehem College remained under religious auspices, operating as Piedmont Junior College (1928-1929), Southern Union College (1930-1933), and The Southern Union College (1933-1964). On October 1, 1964, the State of Alabama took possession of Southern Union State Junior College, which became part of a new organization of two-year colleges under the governance of the Alabama State Board of Education. The Alabama State Legislature created Opelika State Technical College in 1963 in order to fill a vocational and technical educational niche in one of Alabama’s heavily industrialized areas. The Lee County Commission donated 63 acres for Opelika State Technical College’s campus, and the college opened on January 10, 1966. Robert Brown served as its first president, heading the technical college until 1992. On August 11, 1994, the Alabama Board of Education decided to assimilate Southern Union State Junior Colleges three campuses in Wadley, Valley, and Opelika, with Opelika State Technical College in Opelika. The community college still operates on campuses in Wadley, Valley, and Opelika.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Union_State_Community_College
Text Sources: “Southern Union State Community College,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2946
The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 80.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text
The Communications Building, UNA
University of North Alabama; Education; Lauderdale County, Alabama; Florence, Alabama
The Communications building has been a part of the University of North Alabama since 1939. It is located on Pine Street. The building, designed by the Birmingham architecture firm Warren Knight and Davis, started off as a gymnasium that included a swimming pool in the basement. In 1972 the building was transformed into a media center that gradually became a Communications and Theater building. Today it is known only as the Communications Building. It cost $100,000 to construct the building.
Traci Adams, University of North Alabama
UNA School Journal (date unknown) and The Florence Times (November 22, 1938), University of North Alabama Archives
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 24, 2015
Tuscumbia Female Academy (1826-1868)
Tuscumbia Female Academy; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; School; Education; Historical
The Tuscumbia Female Academy was also known as the Tuscumbia Female Seminary. It was established around 1825-26, as a means of education for women. The Academy was destroyed by arson between 2 and 3 a.m. on the morning of September 13, 1868. It was burned due to civil turmoil during Reconstruction by members of the Loyal League of Tuscumbia, after being aroused by an agitator from Memphis.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
Richard C. Sheridan, Deshler Female Institute: An Example of Female Education In Alabama 1874-1918 (Birmingham: Birmingham Printing and Publishing Co., 1986), 7.
Nina Leftwich, Two Hundred Years at Muscle Shoals (Tuscumbia, 1935), 118-123.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
November 30, 2015
University of Montevallo
Shelby; Education; Montevallo, University of; Alabama Girls' Industrial School; Alabama State College for Women
In October of 1896, the Alabama Girls’ Industrial School opened its doors to some 150 young women from all parts of the state. They had come to participate in a great experiment, in an innovation in education for Alabama. They had come to be trained as teachers, bookkeepers, artists, musicians, dressmakers, telegraphers and milliners. In other words, at last, there was a school in Alabama whose purpose was to educate women to be self-supporting; at last, here was an opportunity to escape from the drudgery of field work, mill work, or from the ignominy of depending on a father or brother for lifelong support if there was no husband. At last, here was an opportunity for young women to expand their minds and dreams in a state, poverty-stricken by economic circumstances, that could provide little public education for its citizens. In 1911 AGIS became Alabama Girls’ Technical Institute. The phrase “and College for Women” was added in 1919. In 1923, the school became Alabama College, State College for Women, a degree-granting institution. Two men enrolled in January of 1956, and with 33 more arriving by September, a new era had begun for the school. In 1969, in order to reflect this changing atmosphere, the school changed its name to University of Montevallo, and its four distinct colleges (Arts and Sciences, Education, Business, and Fine Arts) were established. Today, UM holds fast to the principles that we were founded upon and the mission that we’ve always upheld. As Alabama’s only public liberal arts university, we take pride in knowing that our curriculum is both challenging and affordable. And while we offer degree programs in more than 70 academic disciplines, our student-to-faculty ratio is a mere 16-to-1, so you’ll know that you’re getting a tailor-made education. It’s no surprise that we’re continuing to ascend the ranks of U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Best Colleges when it comes to overall education and lack of student loan debt. <br /><br />Information above from <a href="http://www.montevallo.edu/about-um/um-at-a-glance/history-mission/" target="_blank">History of Montevallo University</a>
Liz Clayton, Shelby County Historical Society
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
Text, JPeg
English
Text
University of North Alabama, President's Home
Education; WPA; Great Depression; University of North Alabama; Lauderdale County, Alabama; Florence, Alabama
The President’s Home is located on the University of North Alabama campus. Ground was broken for this building in August 1939 when the university was under the name Florence State Teachers College. The Works Progress Administration completed the building in 1940. The original location was on Seminary Street and Morrison Street, facing Seminary. The home, a two-story brick building, was meant to correspond and compliment the surrounding campus architecture. In Shoals Magazine the interior of the house is described: “The front door enters into a central hall with a high ceiling, hardwood floors and a staircase with a U-shaped landing leading to the more private rooms. Branching from the hall are the dining room on the left and living room on the right-one complimenting the other […]” (Allen). The original pastel paint used for the walls was mixed by Mrs. Keller, the wife of President J.A. Keller. The university president, President J. A. Keller, stated that ‘it will be modest, but modern”. Though the internal décor has been changed and modified throughout the years that same concept has been kept.
Once the building was complete, the university president and his family occupied the residence. This tradition has been continued by most university presidents since. The President’s Home has also gained a great deal of attention throughout its many years of being a gracious host to many social functions. The first great event held by the house was in May 1940, as documented in a news paper article. It stated that the home was opened to the graduating sophomores and faculty of Florence State Teachers College. This Sophomore Tea lead the way for all the many parties and social gathering the house holds today.
Katherine Rickard, University of North Alabama
Allen, Sherhonda, "Stately Oasis of Color," Archives and Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
"Handsome New President’s Home at STC Thrown Open to Faculty and Students", Flor-Ala, Archives and Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
New Building at STC Ready for Fall Term, Flor-Ala, Archives and Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
"Presidents’ Home Open to Students, Faculty, Campus Social Events", Archives and Special Collection, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
Shoals Magazine 2006, Archives/Special Collection, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
December 4, 2015
William J. Samford Hall
Education; Lee County, AL; William J. Samford Hall; Auburn University; Old Main Hall; Carnegie, Andrew; Samford, William J.; Auburn, AL
Erected in 1888 on the foundation of Old Main Hall (which burned down in 1887), William J. Samford Hall is one of Auburn University’s most easily recognizable buildings. Bruce and Morgan Architectural Firm fashioned the four-story Italianate-style structure after Old Main Hall, with one distinguishing characteristic – a majestic clock tower that rose many feet above the building’s roof. Old Main Hall’s cornerstone is still visible at the base of the northeast corner of Samford Hall. During the late nineteenth century, Samford Hall housed Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College’s administration, classrooms, and library. In 1909, Samford Hall’s library, which operated out of three cramped rooms on the second floor, moved to the new Carnegie-endowed facility across campus. In 1929, the Board of Trustees officially named the building Samford Hall in honor of William J. Samford, Alabama’s thirty-first governor. Auburn University renovated the building in 1971 and replaced the original clock in 1995. Today the building functions solely as the headquarters of Auburn University’s administration. The building is located at 182 South College Street, Auburn University.
Taylor McGaughy
Image Source: http://family.auburn.edu/profiles/blogs/the-best-free-services-auburn-students-should-be-taking-advantage
Text Sources: Auburn University Libraries, http://www.lib.auburn.edu/arch/buildings/samford_hall1.htm
The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 74.
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
2014-11-26
Taylor McGaughy
JPEG and Text
English
Still Image and Text