The University of North Alabama

(or Florence State Teacher's College as We Called It in 1964)

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

Earlier this month the University of Memphis Tigers played football against The University of North Alabama. Later this week they will play the same school in basketball. When I saw the schedules it made me think back to the graduates of Lee who selected "Florence State Teacher's College" as their choice of a school of higher education. Although I don't know who all eventually attended there, I do recall at least one person who did. I also decided to research the history of the school as well. Here is what I found.

  The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, the University of North Alabama was founded as LaGrange College in 1830. In 1858, following the death of the school's president and the loss of most of its students to nearby Florence, the college was suspended and re-established as the LaGrange College and Military Academy.

The state of Alabama made provision for two cadets from each county to be enrolled, and by 1861, 47 of its 171 students were state cadets. The school suffered a loss of enrollment again when Alabama seceded, and in March 1862 Robertson received approval from the Alabama governor to enroll the 35th Alabama Infantry from faculty, cadets, and enlistees from surrounding counties.

On April 28, 1863, the buildings were destroyed by Union soldiers of the 10th Missouri Cavalry, including a library of 4,000 volumes.

LaGrange graduate Dr. Richard H. Rivers, after becoming president of the college, led most of the students and all but one faculty member from the mountain in late 1854 to relocate to Florence. The school was re-incorporated as Florence Wesleyan University. When the Methodist Church deeded Florence Wesleyan to the State of Alabama in 1872, the institution became the State Normal School at Florence, the first state-supported teachers' college south of the Ohio River. A year later, it became one of the nation's first coeducational colleges.

The institution functioned as a normal school for more than 50 years until 1929, when it became a state teachers' college offering a four-year curriculum in elementary education. In 1957 the Alabama Legislature voted to change the institution's name to Florence State College to reflect its expanding academic mission. In 1967 the Alabama Legislature removed jurisdiction for the college from the State Board of Education and vested it in a board of trustees. A year later, the new board voted for another name change to Florence State University. Less than a decade later, on August 15, 1974, the university underwent another change of name to the University of North Alabama, symbolizing its coming of age as a comprehensive, regional university.

I found the following information in a list posted on the web. I am not sure if these records still hold true today, but are still impressive stats done by one of our Lee classmates. Don is a doctor currently living in Birmingham.

UNA FOOTBALL INDIVIDUAL RECORDS Through the 2018 Season

Most Touchdowns in a Game: 5 by Don Cornelius vs. West Alabama in 1965; Anthony Merritt vs. Delta State, Sept. 17, 2005

Most Rushing Touchdowns in a Game: 5 by Don Cornelius vs. West Alabama in 1965

Here's a little song to share a little school spirit.

Apparently, no one ever got in trouble at Lee for cussing in school, since no one submitted any report of having done so.

If any of you have anything to add or say about attending that college in Florence, please use the following for now. We would love to hear your stories.  

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