UNA Archives and Special Collections

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The UNA Archives and Special Collections is located on the third floor of Collier Library. Hours are subject to variation.

The purpose of the University of North Alabama Archives is to collect, preserve, index, and make available to researchers records of the history of the University of North Alabama and the northern Alabama region. The first priority of the collection is material directly relating to the University of North Alabama. The histories of the Quad-Cities (Florence, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals, and Tuscumbia) are the second priority of the collection. The third priority of the collection is historical material pertaining to Lauderdale and Colbert counties. Materials located in this area are generally unique and irreplaceable. Accordingly, items must be handled carefully and use is restricted to the Archives and Special Collections room. Please call for verification and appointments especially if you are travelling a long distance.

10/27/2026

As I stated last week, the year 1938-1939 was a very big one on Florence State Teachers College campus, as five buildings were constructed. Three of those buildings we touched on last week. Today, let's dive into the history of the fourth building, the first male dormitory for the campus. Journey back with me as we learn a little history on Willingham Hall in today's "Snippets from the Archives."

If you have ever been to campus here at UNA, you have passed by Willingham Hall. There, in the front "yard" beside the steps is a historical marker that references Locust Dell Academy. This was probably the first "academy" or school for females established in Florence. It opened in 1834 in the home of Nicholas and Caroline Lee Hentz and was very successful for the next nine years.

Arriving in the area on July 4, 1834, the Hentz bought a home in Florence. That same year, they decided to open up their third female academy, named Locust Dell Academy, in their home. As I have researched, I found that this "academy" would be the forerunner of the Florence Female Academy, which would open in 1847. The Hentz home was also a boarding house for the female students. Below is a sketch of the home and acreage outside. As I looked through some of the items related to this topic, I came across the diary of Charles A. Hentz, the second child of Nicholas and Caroline. In it, he writes about the school. He writes,
"Father and mother established the Locust Dell Academy here, and for a number of years maintained a flourishing, and widely patronized school-Scholars came from Northern Alabama & Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas &c &c-There were generally about 25 to 30 boarders,...Some pretty rude specimens were sent to the school, to be polished up."

After the female academy closed, Major Henry Wood purchased the home in 1871. The university purchased the home some years later, but the home caught fire and burned to the ground. (I am not sure the exact date of these two events-some reports say the early 1900s).

By the mid-1930s, the population of male students here at Florence State Teachers College had outgrown just "boarders" throughout town. It was time for a new male dormitory to be built for campus.

A write-up from the Flor-Ala in October 1939 stated, “The beginning of construction will depend upon action taken by Congress. At present there are no PWA (Public Works Administration) funds available, unless such funds are provided it will be necessary to turn to the WPA (Works Progress/Projects Administration) or NYA (National Youth Administration)aid for the first unit. Either course will be more economical for the college.”

Construction began in 1939 for the first men's dormitory for campus. It would be composed of three units and was designed very similar to the Women’s Apartment Dormitory built the same year. Each unit would accommodate sixty boys, and the completed dormitory would house 180. Funds and labor were provided by the WPA (Works Projects Administration).

After completion, rooms were rented out to Tennessee Valley Administration employees and other workers during World War II. Male students occupied the dormitory from 1945-1947 and then it was turned into a female dormitory beginning in 1948 until 1968. This 3-story fireproof building was named Willingham Hall November 5, 1949, in honor of Henry J. Willingham, president of State Normal College from 1913-1938.

Willingham Hall was designated as a fallout shelter in the 1950s by the U.S. Defense Department. It became an administrative building beginning in 1969 when the Office of Career Development and Placement, a commuter lounge, and Social Science Department of Faculty were placed here. By 2004, English, History, and Political Science faculty are housed here. Renovations occurred in Willingham Hall in 2008 with refurbishing the first and second floors and completely renovating the basement to accommodate space for 16 new offices. Flooring was replaced, a new central heating and air unit was replaced, windows were replaced to be more energy efficient, and the building was brought up to code with handicap accessibility added. Today, it continues to house the Departments of History, English, and Politics, Justice, Law, and Philosophy.

Here are a few pictures of Willingham Hall through the years. Also, check out a few pictures of the "W***y Cats" from Willingham Hall. These girls sure knew how to have fun!

Join me next week as we discuss the last building constructed during this big year for Florence State Teachers College.

Photo Credits: UNA Archives and Special Collection, the University Collection, the Diorama Yearbook (years 1954-1956, 1958-1958), and the Student Life Publication 1947

10/23/2026

Let's look back at a few Homecoming memories through the years!

Get out and enjoy the festivities this weekend, and, as always.....

Roar Lions!!! 💜💛

Photo Credits: UNA Archives and Special Collections and the University Collection

University of North Alabama University of North Alabama - Student Affairs University of North Alabama Bands University of North Alabama Alumni Association

10/20/2026

It is definitely feeling more like fall today and I wish I was outside enjoying every minute of this gorgeous day. Since I can't, journey with me as we take a look at the continuation of campus expansion during the year 1938-1939 on today's "Snippet from the Archives."

Since we began this history of campus, 9 structures have been constructed since 1855. After 1929, construction and improvements attempted to follow the General Plan of Florence State Teachers College. As I researched for today's post, I found a very interesting write-up in the Florence Times from 1935. It stated, "Various improvements of campus are ongoing. Two drives on Morrison Avenue, Wesleyan Hall and the walk approach in the rear of Bibb Graves Hall were made more attractive by the addition of large sandstone columns, which were equipped with lights. At the front of O’Neal Hall, below the terrace garden, a rendezvous spot with wading pool, fountain, waterfall, and rustic benches of sandstone were completed. The road behind O’Neal was covered with crushed slag and opened past the garden to intersect with Pine Street, where other stone columns were placed."

The year 1938-1939 was a very big one in terms of campus expansion. Five buildings were constructed within a year to a year and a half, with one more following closely behind in 1940. Today, we will learn about three of those buildings.

First up, the Women's Apartment Dormitory, located west of O’Neal Hall on Wesleyan Avenue. Construction began in November 1938 with the aid of the Federal Emergency Administration and was directly supervised by the Public Works Administration and was completed by June 1, 1939. This two-story dormitory would accommodate approximately 60 girls (four girls would occupy a suite of three rooms with electrical cooking and refrigerator equipment in each suite for light housekeeping). There was also a large social room and comfortable quarters for the social director on the first floor of the building. It was eventually named for Dr. James K. Powers, chair of Mathematics at State Normal College as well as president of the university from 1887-1897 and then again in 1911 until his death in 1913, although I do not know that precise year. Most of the Student Life publications from the 1940s show this building as still being called the Women's Apartment Dormitory.

By the early 1980s, Powers Hall became a dormitory for UNA athletes. In September 1985, the hall became the headquarters for four sororities on campus (Phi Mu, Alpha Delta Pi, Zeta Tau Alpha, and Alpha Gamma Delta) and home for 48 coeds. Renovations for this began in the Fall of 1984, updating the complete structure and converting the rooms to also make space for chapter rooms for each sorority. In March 2004, more renovations began to convert Powers Hall from a residence hall to a facility that housed International Student Services, the English as a Second Language Program, and offices for the National Collegiate Network support staff.

The second building, the Gymnasium, located behind O'Neal Hall and Pine Street. Construction began in November 1938 as the largest of the buildings built during this year. It was completed by June 1, 1939. In one wing, it housed a completely modern gymnasium with adequate space for major games and comfortable seating arrangements for approximately 3,000 people. There were also ample office space and classrooms that provided every facility for the physical education department. All physical education activities were transferred to this building and the section of the campus adjoining this building. In the other wing, it housed a modern swimming pool, including all necessary purifying, recirculating and heating facilities (which always insured the correct temperature for the building and the water). Locker facilities and showers were also provided, with the first floor designated for the boys and the second floor designated for the girls.

Discussing what this will do for his department, Mr. Flowers, head of the department of health and physical education stated: “It will bring about improvement and enlargement of the well-rounded health program now in progress.” The school had annual health examinations, required of all students, with the main objectives of discovering remediable physical defects; the detecting of communicable diseases and chronic diseases in early stages. These checkups also determine the physical exercise needed by each student and foster favorable attitudes concerning health, which will prompt the students to continue health examinations in adult life.

When football was cancelled in 1928, substitution of an intramural program in which all students could participate was introduced. These included (team games): baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, speedball, field hockey, and volleyball. Individual activities included: tennis, badminton, ping pong, bowling, boxing, stunts and tumbling.

The Gymnasium was not only used for health and physical education, but also for student recreation and decompression from classes. Saturday nights included parties of recreational games, hikes and picnics.

In 1974, the Gymnasium was renovated to house the new Media Center. The center became a major facility for the University’s new curriculum offerings in mass communications, including Commercial Art, Television-Radio, Music Industry, Journalism, and Photography. The pool area was redesigned to house three television studios. In the summer of 1988, the Media Center became the Communications Building and housed the department of speech communication and theater. The redesign of the radio/television/ film studio allowed the studio to be as much a teaching facility as it would be a production room. WAAY-TV of Huntsville, presented UNA with its old Eyewitness News set for the student studio.

Lastly, construction on the Student Lodge was completed by college boys under the supervision of the NYA (National Youth Administration), a New Deal Agency, in October 1939. This particular building actually shows up on the General Plan as a classroom.

The upper floor was fashioned after an old English Inn with the cross beams and a huge stone fireplace being typical. The basement was equipped with a modern kitchen where refreshments could be made and served. It served as a venue for student organization meetings and events for years. The Music department used this building for conferences and after school activities, including band practice in the 1950s (known as the Band Lodge during this time period).

In 1995, a call was made to renovate Stone Lodge for a place for students to go and hang out besides the GUC (it would stay open late nights) Remodeling occurred through the year and on January 24, 1996, Leo's opened in the Stone Lodge. Now it is utilized as a classroom, meeting room, and study room.

I leave you with one question? Can you name the other two buildings constructed during this year? Check back next week to see if you were correct!

Photo Credits: UNA Archives and Special Collections, University Collection, and the Mary Lancaster Collection

10/13/2026

What a beautiful day to write about one of my favorite places on campus, the Memorial Amphitheater! I love taking a break and looking out my window at what many would consider the "central part of campus." Journey with me today on "Snippets from the Archives" as we look at this beautiful memorial.

The natural “bowl shape” of what is now the Memorial Amphitheater was used well before the college even began in Florence. During the time of the Locust Dell Academy, the annual May Day program for the students was held across the street amongst the giant oak trees. May festivities continued in this area during the 1880s and 1890s, involving children in the Training School as well as the young females enrolled in physical education at State Normal School at Florence.

In 1919, a simple stage was built as a raised platform, semicircular in shape, using unpainted pine planks. The back of the stage consisted of eight columns connected by one long plank at the top. It was used that year for the Centennial celebration of Alabama's statehood.

In 1919, Mrs. Susan J. Price, one of the first female graduates of the State Normal School at Florence and among the initial female faculty members, recognized the need for a more permanent amphitheater stage at the institution. She also wanted to create a memorial for those students who attended State Normal College and had lost their lives during World War I. (Those men are as follows: Daniel Webster Barry (1912), John Wesley Hall (1915), Jacob Heupel (1912), John H. Oldham, (1915), Clyde Smith (1916), and Fran Leslie Yougn (1911)) Here, the idea of the Memorial Amphitheater was conceived. As secretary of the Alumni Association, she worked tirelessly to provide a gift from the Alumni Association dedicated to honor the students of State Normal School that lost their lives during World War I. It took fifteen years, but around $3000 was collected.

The original plans for the amphitheater consisted of a stage with a domed roof, with six columns supporting the dome. Each column would represent the students who perished during the war. A model of the amphitheater was created by R. W. Sharp, who taught manual training classes at the college. His students maintained the grounds and were even the ones who constructed the tiers down the hillside for the benches that were once there.

Official plans for the amphitheater were drawn up by the Olmstead Brothers in early February 1931. (President Willingham and the Olmsted Brothers actually had extensive correspondence about this project from May 1928 and the 1931) Construction of the Amphitheater began December 18, 1933, by the Civil Works Administration, a federal New Deal agency, and was completed by early February 1934. Reinforced concrete and limestone were used in the construction, as well as bricks salvaged from Locust Dell Academy. Ten columns were used instead of the eight first discussed, “with a connecting frieze bearing the inscription ‘To the War World Soldiers Who Went From This College.’” (UNA World War I Memorials-Steen). Later, this phrase was removed and changed to “Memorial Amphitheater.”

The dedication ceremony was held during the 60th commencement program on May 24, 1934. Montie Sandlin, President of the Alumni Association, presented the memorial to President Willingham and the college. At the time of the dedication, a memorial plaque was placed on the east side of the stage. It read:

“Dedicated as a memorial to the valor and patriotism of the men of this college who served in the World War” “Made possible by the vision of Mrs. Susan Jones Price and the generosity of the alumni-1934”

From 1934 until the opening of the Lurleen B. Wallace Fine Arts Center in 1969, the amphitheater served as the central feature of campus. Notable occasions have happened at the Memorial Amphitheater, including several speeches by Alabama governors, SGA campaigns speeches, three inaugurations for presidents of the university (Dr. J.A. Keller, Dr. E.B. Norton, and Dr. Robert Guillot), the memorial service for President and Mrs. Keller, many recognition and awards days, Veteran’s Day programs and much, much more.

Renovations to the stage occurred in 2002, as construction of the ROTC Commemorative Garden was ongoing. A rededication service occurred in November 2002 with a new plaque added to the west side of the stage, honoring all 288 students who volunteered to serve on World War I.

Today, the amphitheater continues to be one of the favorite spots on campus for students, both past and present.

Have a wonderful Tuesday and check back with me next week as we dive into the construction of 4 buildings that occurred in 1939.

Photo Credits: UNA Archives and Special Collections and University Collection

University of North Alabama - Student Affairs, University of North Alabama

10/06/2026

Welcome to another week of "Snippets from the Archives!" I found out last week that the month of October is American Archives Month, so I hope you will continue to enjoy these weekly blurbs about our artifacts throughout the month of October and every day after that! I find so much joy in bringing information, pictures, and facts to y'all each week-and the added stories, memories, and pictures y'all give back are amazing. Thank you!

So, where did we leave off last week? That's right, the Kilby Training School had just been completed as the 5th building for campus. As I stated in an earlier post, the year 1929 was a huge one for Florence State Teachers College. At the time, Wesleyan Hall was the only classroom/administrative building on campus. With a population of 800-1000 students, President Henry J. Willingham knew that an expansion was needed. Did you know that for a brief period of time during the late 1920s, President Willingham weighed the option of moving the school to an entirely new location on the edge of Florence? He said the school needed more acreage than it currently had (16 total at the time). A decision was made that an additional 10 acres of land should be purchased, bringing the total acreage for State Teachers College to around 26 acres.

With this additional acreage came a boom in construction of campus buildings beginning in the summer of 1929. A new administrative and general building was built at the intersection of Wesleyan and Morrison Avenue, and an auditorium was added to the seven-year-old Kilby Training School.

Construction for what became Bibb Graves Hall began in the summer of 1929, with the foundation of the future administrative and general building being poured July 30, 1929. This 3-story Collegiate Gothic style structure, designed by Warren, Davis, and Knight Architects of Birmingham, contained 21 classrooms, with 2 being used as the cooperative store and the post office and 2 others being used for club rooms for student organizations as well as executive offices. It also housed the college library starting in 1930. An estimated 18,000 volumes would be housed here, along with all the leading daily and weekly papers, and 168 magazines per month. The Southern Library, a city institution that had been started a few years before and was held by Florence State Teachers College, would also be housed in the new structure. It would add an additional 2, 600 volumes to the holdings. The college museum also was housed in this building. This museum was first established in the summer of 1928 by Professor J. Percy Dyer. Susan K. Vaughn became curator of the museum after her retirement from the History Department in 1932. Martha Porterfield became curator in 1944. This museum was eventually moved to Rogers Hall after FSTC purchased the home in 1948.

A formal dedication of the new building took place May 28, 1930, and was named for Governor Bibb Graves. Governor Graves stated during his speech, "I express my intense gratification that my name would be permanently associated with the college playing so important a part in preparing the teachers of Alabama." (Florence Times, 1930)

Executive offices for the President, the Dean of the Students, the Registrar, and the Financial Secretary were located on the first floor. In 1958, the Office of the President, Deans, Treasurer, Registrar, and Director of Extension were permanently housed in Bibb Graves Hall. At the same time, Bibb Graves had become home to several academic departments and housed all of the science laboratories of the school. Due to the rapid growth of interest in the science department, Bibb Graves was running out of adequate space. The next four years would see a brand-new science building constructed for Florence State College.

In 1980, renovations occurred. A new central air conditioning unit was placed, double windows and fire doors, and the entire electrical system was revamped. The plumbing was also worked on to ensure both hot and cold water throughout the building. Duncan Construction Company was the contractors for the renovations.

Today, it is known as Cramer Way.

At the same time, construction has also started on the new auditorium for Kilby Training School. This one-story structure, with an adequate basement for storing school supplies, could hold around 500 students comfortably. (It was also designed by Warren, Knight, and Davis Architects of Birmingham and was noted on the General Plan of FSTC in 1929). As Mrs. Susan Kirkman Vaughn stated in her History of Florence State Teachers College, “The auditorium has proved a source of delight to the children and is a valuable aid in developing their school spirit and social consciousness.”

Join me next week as we look at a very important addition to campus-The Memorial Amphitheater.

Photo credits: UNA Archives and Special Collections, the University Collection, Nolen Collection, and UNA SmugMug

University of North Alabama

09/29/2026

Welcome back to another "Snippet from the Archive." If you have been with me since I started this weekly post (almost a full year now), this one may look a bit familiar. Back in February, I decided to explore the history of the Kilby School. Today, I am doing just the same. So, travel back with me to the year 1871 and let's take a close look at the creation of what we now call The Kilby School.

For those that do not know, Kilby is the last laboratory school left in the state of Alabama. Laboratory schools (elementary or secondary schools) were created alongside Normal Schools for the purpose of serving as a training site for student teachers. As of April 2026, there are approximately 39 laboratory schools remaining in the United States and around 25 total in Europe, Canada, Asia, and Australia.

In 1871, the Methodist Conference offers the Florence Wesleyan University property to the state of Alabama to transition it to a Normal School for training teachers under the condition that the state would agree to fund the school annually for maintenance issues. The state accepts the offer. The following year, State Normal School at Florence is chartered-the first state supported Normal School south of the Ohio River. Thirteen years later, in 1885, the "Model Training School" is established along with the new Education Department at the State Normal School by Dr. T.J. Mitchell, president of the university, during the 1885/1886 school year.

The training school consisted of grades one through sixth and was limited to 60 individual slots. A small tuition fee was charged. The school was held in Wesleyan Hall and then in the Annex (after 1909). In 1889, Dr. James K. Powers, the new university president, became superintendent of the training school and Miss Jennie S. DeVoe became principal.

By approval of the Board of Directors that year, the training school was established as a secondary part of State Normal College. As stated in the catalogue for the school year, "Practice teaching does not include or is not confined to any one grade. It extends through several, including high school branches." The course of study for the training school "embraces all the branches usually taught in the public schools and leads up to the work of the first year in the curriculum of the Normal College."

The motto of the school was "a model in its organization, a model in its grading, a model in its methods, and a model in its discipline." Not only were the pupils of the training school receiving wonderful education from their teachers, they were also giving student teachers a chance to step into the classroom and get hands-on experience right here on campus.

By the turn of the 20th century, the course of study for the Training School for grades one through six included arithmetic, language, literature and history, geography, science, reading, and drawing. In 1904, Miss Carlotta F. Burns became principal of the training school. In 1916, an addition of a three-month term was established to help student teachers with their practice teaching. In the fall of 1921, a junior high department was added. This would be for grades 7-9 and its purpose was for "the development of the life motives of the pupils and the training of Junior High School teachers for the State of Alabama."

The university soon realized it was in need of many new buildings for its growing population. The fifth building constructed for campus was built just to the north of Wesleyan Hall in 1922. Named for then governor of Alabama, Thomas E. Kilby (1919-1923), this became the Kilby Training School. It was still composed of six grades; each grade being limited to 25 pupils. The "elementary department" as it was also referred to, "operates as a demonstration school for junior and senior students of the Normal School and as a laboratory school for senior students."

Additions to the school soon followed, including a new auditorium, a library, and a playground. By 1925, a senior high school department was added to the institution, limited to 30 students to the class (all of these students had to be locals). Once the students of this department completed the approved course of study of the senior high school, they would be awarded high school diplomas ("graduates of the senior high school will be accorded all the rights and privileges of graduates of an accredited high school"). It was incorporated into the public school system by 1929.

A side note-the auditorium referred to in the previous paragraph was actually noted on the General Plan for Florence State Teachers College (1929) by the Olmsted Brothers.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was a dire need for a specialized class for the care and training of handicapped children in the area. President E.B. Norton and the Muscle Shoals Service League took it upon themselves to provide every effort to create a class just for these children. A class was formed and for the first two years, had little to no state support. After seeing the success that the class had, the state rendered some support to it. This class, being housed in a home on North Wood Avenue, came under the supervision of the Kilby School. The director at the school, Mr. W. A. Graham, worked with the class and Miss Katherine Forney was the class instructor and supervisor. In the article below from The Flor-Ala, the reporter asked Miss Forney about her work with the children, to which she states, "I don't want praise, I get my kicks just being with them every day."

Another side note-I read somewhere that even after Dr. Norton retired and was moved into a nursing home facility, his favorite day of the week was when his "children" would come and visit him. President Norton loved to go down to Kilby and read to the children every chance he got!

A new school was constructed in 1964 located on Pine Street.The Kilby School, as the name changed once again, added a nursery and kindergarten class in 1975. Grades K-6 are taught here. It also has its own library, lunchroom, gymnasium/auditorium, and art room. Today, both college and elementary/secondary students continue the motto set forth over 141 years ago.

(The old Training School building began housing the Mathematics and Psychology departments. The east wing of this building housed the mathematics classrooms, and the west wing housed the mathematics labs and Psychology department offices. In 2021, the "old Math building" was demolished and today, the new Computer Science and Mathematics building stands in its place.)

Join me next week as we begin our deep dive into the first building constructed after the General Plan for FSTC was created in 1929.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Photo Credits: UNA Archives and Special Collections, the University Collection, the Kilby Collection, and UNA SmugMug
https://www.una.edu/kilby/about-our-school/index.html

University of North Alabama, University of North Alabama - Student Affairs

09/22/2026

Good morning and Happy Fall to each of you! As I promised last week, today we will learn about our first dormitory on campus and subsequent housing halls that became our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th buildings constructed for State Normal College and State Normal School. Let’s journey back to the years 1913-1917 on today’s “Snippets from the Archives.”

From its opening in 1855, the university had no dormitories for its students. Most students would take room and board in homes around the city. After women were admitted to the university in 1873, this measure continued. As the student population began to grow and more females were admitted, it became clear that something had to be done.

Plans for a new dormitory were approved April 20, 1911, by Governor Emmet O'Neal, thanks to a state appropriation of $50,000. An additional 8 acres would be added to the overall campus layout. Construction for this “Dormitory for Women” began in 1913. This 4-story Classical Revival or Gothic Revival style brick structure could accommodate 125 students and their belongings. It included a reception hall, lounge, office for matron/housekeeper, guest rooms, and a 36x72 foot exercise room. The college cafeteria was also located in this building on the first floor. For the next 27 years, this building would be known as Alumni Hall Girl’s Dormitory. In 1930, it was named O’Neal Hall by suggestion of Edward A. O’Neal, III, former governor Emmet O’Neal’s nephew and president of the Alabama Farm Bureau. By the 1950s, The Lion's Den (the student center) occupied the building and had television sets and laundering facilities. Commuter’s Lounge was also located here. Renovations took place in 1979, but continued problems surfaced. The building was demolished in the early 1980s to make room for an expanded Student Union Center building. Today, the Guillot University Center sits where the university’s first dormitory was constructed.

By 1917, there was a need for additional housing facilities for the students at State Normal School. At the time, there were no state funds available for colleges and universities to utilize in upgrades and improvements on campus. The City of Florence made the construction of two new dormitories, Striplin Hall and Florence Hall, possible for the school through a bond issue. Striplin Hall was a white-framed structure constructed on North Seminary Street. It served as housing for both students and faculty beginning in 1917. Florence Hall was a white-framed structure built on the corner of O'Neal Avenue and North Seminary Street. It served as a male dormitory. Both were purchased by Florence State Teachers College in 1941 and used as housing for students and faculty. During the years 1965-1967, Striplin Hall was home to freshmen and sophomore women only. I have really enjoyed reading "Striplin Hall Remembrances" by some of the girls who lived in Striplin between 1965-1967. As one of the girls stated in her journal, "...no one moved from Striplin Hall to other dorms on campus until they were forced to disperse to residence halls all across campus in the fall of 1967. They became a close-knit group of young women with high expectations of each other and equal willingness to support one another." (Faye C. Torstrick) By the fall of 1967, both structures were found unsafe and were closed. Today, this area is now a parking lot for campus.

A few months ago, I decided to piece together portions of a Sanborn Fire Insurance map from 1921 to get a better look (an aerial view if we can call it that) of how campus was beginning to grow by this time. The scan seen below shows Wesleyan Hall and the Wesleyan Hall Annex (labeled the Administrative Building), the Model Training school (coming next week) right behind it, the Alumni Hall Girl’s Dormitory across Wesleyan Avenue, and State Normal School Girls Dormitories on the corner of North Seminary Street and O’Neal Avenue (also labeled Irvine Avenue). I have read that even with the additional dormitories, the student housing crisis continued. There was no talk or plans of constructing a male dormitory on campus. During the summer session of 1923, it is stated that some male students slept in tents on campus, while others found rooms wherever they could around campus.

Join me next week as we look into the Model Training School and the construction of the Kilby Training School, our 5th building constructed on campus.

Photo credits: UNA Archives and Special Collections and the University Collection

University of North Alabama - Student Affairs, University of North Alabama

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35632

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(256) 765-4226

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