University of Alabama

The University of Alabama (UA) is the flagship public university of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa [1]. The legislature created it on December 18, 1820, and it opened its doors on April 18, 1831, making it the oldest public university in the state. It offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 200 fields, holds the top Carnegie research classification (R1), and enrolled 38,645 students in fall 2022 [3][5]. Its campus of about 1,000 acres is known for Greek Revival architecture, and its teams are known as the Crimson Tide. UA calls itself the Capstone of the state’s education system, a name popularized by President George H. Denny [1].

Founding and early years

Congress authorized a land grant for a seminary of learning in 1818, totaling 46,000 acres, and the state board of trustees first met in August 1819 to plan the institution [5][1]. After the legislature created the university in December 1820, Tuscaloosa was chosen as the location on December 29, 1827, out of a field of competing towns. The state bought land just outside the city limits in the spring of 1828, about a mile from the town, and state architect William Nichols designed the campus [1].

The university opened on April 18, 1831, with four faculty. The university reports 52 students on the first day, rising to nearly 100 by the end of the term, while the Encyclopedia of Alabama counts 94 students in the opening group [3][1]. Early students studied Latin, Greek, geography, English grammar, history, mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry, geology, mineralogy and moral philosophy. By 1863 the campus had six academic buildings and four residence halls [1].

The first presidents

The Reverend Alva Woods, the first president (1831 to 1837), struggled with student discipline, and in 1836 more than 40 students were suspended for attending a circus. Basil Manly, a Baptist minister, served from 1837 to 1855; his efforts to raise entrance standards and to create normal, medical and law schools failed, but the university built and equipped the second astronomical observatory west of the Appalachian Mountains [1].

Landon C. Garland (1855 to 1866) won legislative approval in 1860 to convert the school into a military institution. Students became a Corps of Cadets in uniforms similar to those at West Point, and the military system lasted until 1903 [1][5].

Civil War and rebuilding

Cadets drilled newly raised units during the Civil War. Cadets served at the Battle of Chehaw in Macon County in July 1864 and helped defend Mobile in December 1864. On April 3, 1865, United States troops under Gen. James H. Wilson entered Tuscaloosa and burned most of the campus. Four structures survived: the Gorgas House (built in 1829 and the oldest building on campus), Maxwell Hall, the Little Round House and the President’s Mansion (built in 1841) [1][5].

Only one student enrolled in the fall of 1866, and Garland resigned that year. Col. James Thomas Murfee oversaw the rebuilding, the University Building was completed in 1869, and classes resumed in the fall of 1869 with 54 students. Presidents came and went for several years under a politicized board of regents created by the 1867 constitution, until alumni helped save the school in the spring of 1871. In 1876 the board of trustees was reinstated, and in 1880 Congress granted 40,000 acres of coal land as partial compensation for $250,000 in war damages [1][5].

Law school and coeducation

President Nathaniel Lupton established the law school in 1872 [1]. The School of Law remains the only publicly supported law school in Alabama. In the 1880s improved finances funded five new buildings, and President Henry DeLamar Clayton Sr., who began in 1886, shifted the curriculum from the classics toward science, engineering and physical education [1].

The question of admitting women had been discussed since the 1870s. Julia Tutwiler petitioned the board in June 1892, the board authorized women’s enrollment in June 1893, and Anna B. Adams and Bessie Parker became the first women to enroll [1][3]. By 1896 there were five women, and in 1897 the experiment was judged a success and women could enter the freshman class.

The Capstone and the Denny era

John William Abercrombie (1902 to 1911) raised entrance requirements, created a summer school for teachers, reorganized the administration into schools and colleges, and ran the Greater University Campaign, which funded three new buildings and a residence hall. George H. Denny, president from 1912 to 1936 and again briefly in 1941, called UA the capstone of state education. During his tenure the university added 14 major buildings, 35 fraternity and sorority houses and a football stadium, and enrollment grew to almost 5,000, about eleven times its size when he arrived [1].

War, growth and the University of Alabama System

During World War II male enrollment fell and women’s enrollment rose, and Army and Navy training programs in 1943 and 1944 brought military personnel to campus. After the war the GI Bill brought returning veterans, the university added more than 160 instructors, acquired temporary housing for more than 600 families and converted the Northington General Hospital into veterans’ housing. It added eight doctoral programs and the Schools of Nursing and Dentistry in Birmingham [1].

The medical school moved to Birmingham in 1945, and in 1966 it merged with the Birmingham Extension Center to form the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 1969 the Huntsville Extension Center became the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and the University of Alabama System was established [1]. See Madison County. The university desegregated in the 1950s and 1960s, and in 2010 the university dedicated a plaza and clock tower outside Foster Auditorium to honor the students who desegregated the campus [1].

Academics and research

UA has 13 colleges and schools: Arts and Sciences (1909), Engineering (1909), Education (1928), Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration (1929), Community Health Sciences (1971), Nursing (1975), Human Environmental Sciences (1987), Communication and Information Sciences (1997), the Honors College (2003), the Graduate School (1924), the School of Law (1872), the School of Social Work (1965) and the College of Continuing Studies (1983). New College, founded in 1971 for flexible interdisciplinary study, merged into Arts and Sciences in 1996 [1][5].

Doctoral programs in anthropology, library and information studies, metallurgical and materials engineering, music, Romance languages and social work are offered only at UA in Alabama. The university has about 30 research institutes, houses the state’s first School of Data Science, and earned R1 status from the Carnegie Classification in 2019 [1][3]. It has had more students named to USA Today‘s All-USA College Academic Teams than any other school and ranks high among public universities for National Merit Scholars. The university also operates the University of Alabama Arboretum and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab [1][5].

Campus and landmarks

The campus is organized around the Quad, with landmarks including Denny Chimes and its 25-bell carillon, the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, Clark Hall, Foster Auditorium, the Round House and the President’s Mansion. The university museums include the Alabama Museum of Natural History, the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum, the Gorgas House Museum, the Paul R. Jones Museum and the Paul W. Bryant Museum. The university also administers Moundville Archaeological Park [1][5].

Athletics

Baseball was the first team sport, played in the 1870s against federal troop teams during Reconstruction, and football began in 1892 when student William G. Little introduced it; the first game was a 56 to 0 win over a team from Birmingham schools [1][2][3]. A sportswriter coined the name Crimson Tide after the Alabama-Auburn game in 1907, which was played on a muddy field. The marching band became the Million Dollar Band after a 1919 remark by Gen. John J. Pershing, and the Big Al elephant mascot first appeared at the Sugar Bowl in 1979 [1].

Wallace Wade coached from 1923 to 1931 with a 61-13-3 record and three national championships. On January 1, 1926, Alabama beat Washington 20 to 19 in the Rose Bowl, the first Southern team to play in the game. Bear Bryant won 232 games and six national titles (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978 and 1979) before retiring after the 1982 season, and Nick Saban won six national titles and nine Southeastern Conference titles from 2007 to 2024. Alabama claims 18 national football titles and a record 30 SEC titles, and UA has won 16 NCAA championships across sports [2][1]. See American football.

Notable people

Alumni include writer Gay Talese, actor Sela Ward, artist William Christenberry and former governor Bob Riley. Law graduates include Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, Senator Howell Heflin and senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions. Earlier lecturers and faculty included John A. Campbell, William Gilmore Simms and F. A. P. Barnard. Stuart R. Bell became president in 2015, and Judy Bonner was the university’s first woman president [5][1][3].

FAQs

When was the University of Alabama founded? The legislature created it on December 18, 1820, and classes began on April 18, 1831.

How many students attend UA? Enrollment was 38,645 in fall 2022.

Why is it called the Capstone? President George H. Denny described the university as the capstone of the state’s education system.

What survived the 1865 burning? The Gorgas House, Maxwell Hall, the Little Round House and the President’s Mansion.

What is the University of Alabama System? The three-campus system of UA in Tuscaloosa, UAB in Birmingham and UAH in Huntsville, established in 1969.

Sources

1. Encyclopedia of Alabama: University of Alabama
2. Encyclopedia of Alabama: University of Alabama Football
3. University of Alabama: About UA and historical highlights
4. Britannica Kids: University of Alabama
5. BhamWiki: University of Alabama

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 10, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue