Southern Union State Community College

Dublin Core

Title

Southern Union State Community College

Subject

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

Description

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.

Creator

Taylor McGaughy

Source

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.

Publisher

Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Date

2014-11-26

Contributor

Taylor McGaughy

Format

JPEG and Text

Language

English

Type

Still Image and Text