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Purple Stunt Staging Plan (College Night 1942)
For 1942's College Night, each side performed both a dramatic adaptation and a humorous stunt. "Flying Flossie's Flight," the Purple stunt, was the story of a trapeze artist and the psychiatrist called in to help her overcome the complex that…
Purple Slow Song
College Night is the Homecoming tradition of the University of Montevallo. It began in 1919 as a competition between the classes. It evolved into two sides represented by the school colors, purple and gold. In the early years of the competition each…
President Reynolds with his Faculty
The Alabama Girls’ Industrial School opened in 1896 with a faculty of six (five women and one man) and a student body of 145. During Reynolds' three years as president, he acquired 25,000 acres of public land from Congress and built the first…
President Palmer Improves Campus Safety
One important thing President Palmer did during his tenure as president was to address several safety issues that acquired a sense of urgency in the wake of a 1908 fire in Main Hall that tragically killed a student named Condie Cunningham. This…
Picture of the Sophomore class
The story of Condie Cunningham has captivated students at the University of Montevallo for generations. There are no known images of Condie Cunningham, but many believe that one of the young women pictured is Miss Cunningham. Interestingly enough…
Peterson Hall
Peterson Hall, originally built as an infirmary, was named for the university’s second president, Dr. Francis Marion Peterson. Construction for the building began in May 1913, and it was ready to house patients less than a year later in April 1914.…
Permission to Leave Campus
The independent freedoms that students enjoy today at the University of Montevallo are quite different than the freedoms during the 1904 era. The school, then called the Alabama Girls Industrial School, required students to remain on campus unless…
Palmer Hall
Constructed in 1929, Thomas Waverly Palmer Hall (named after the university's third president) serves a variety of functions. It houses several of the University of Montevallo's administrative offices, most notably the registrar's office, and is…
Not an Armchair Scholar
John Steelman grew at a time when mob violence directed at African Americans frequently erupted in the deep south. The issue deeply concerned Steelman and he made it the subject of his doctoral dissertation at the University of North Carolina, Chapel…
New Name, New Catalogs, New Costs
In 1923, upon completing the transition from Alabama Girls' Technical Institute to Alabama College, State College for Women, a new academic catalog was released. The catalogs looked very similar to previous volumes although it displayed the new…
Mr. Pluto - Purple Stunt Character
In 1945, the Homecoming tradition included a Stunt (comedy) and a Dramatization (drama) skit. For 1945 the Purple Stunt was called "Speak of the Devil" or "Ye Gods!", and was written by The Purple Writing Committee. Since Alabama College was still a…
Moving the Herd
This letter written in 1929 about Alabama College’s first dairy had been around for about 20 years at this point, but it had not been updated since it was first built. The letter is written by a building coordinator pleading with the board of…
Moo Manor
The Alabama College Dairy was shut down in 1960, after fifty years of operation. The herd and the dairy equipment were sold. The Dairy barn was then converted into an apartment house. The five two-bedroom and two three-bedroom apartment became…
Milking Machine Letter
The Correspondence between President Thomas Palmer, of the Alabama Girls’ Technical Institute, and the Empire Cream Separator Company in Bloomfield, New Jersey began on January 15, 1918. On February 18 he confirmed in a letter that he had purchased…
Mercury - Purple Stunt Character
In 1945, the Homecoming tradition included a stunt (comedy) and a dramatization (drama) skit. For 1945 the Purple stunt was called "Speak of the Devil" or "Ye Gods!", and was written by The Purple Writing Committee. In the play, Mr. Pluto tries to…
Matador Segis Walker
Matador Segis Walker was one of the many cows owned by the dairy farm at Alabama College. He was born December 18, 1926, a Pure Bread Holstein-Friesian. The registry traces the cow’s lineage back 3 generations. Its father, called a sire, was…
Making a Four-Year College
This letter to the "Honorable Board of Trustees" from their chosen Executive Committee outlines important factors to the transition of Alabama Technical Institute and College for Women to Alabama College.
The Executive Committe notices some of…
The Executive Committe notices some of…
Main Hall, 1902-1907
This photograph of the students in front of Main Hall at the Alabama Girls Industrial School was taken between 1902 and 1907. It is possible that Condie Cunningham would have been in her freshman year in this photograph.
Cunningham died in 1908…
Cunningham died in 1908…
Main Hall
In 1896 the president of Alabama’s Girls’ Industrial School managed to board students with local families, but growing enrollments demanded the rapid construction of a dormitory. Remarkably, the west wing of Main Hall, with the capacity to…
Main Hall
This photograph shows unfinished construction on Main Hall. A basement, dining hall, and two more residential wings would be completed in 1908.
Letter to the Alabama Governor regarding the transition to Alabama College
A letter to the Governor of Alabama, William W. Brandon from the Alabama College Board of Trustees. This is the first page of the full letter from the Board which outlines the completion of the transition to the new name of Alabama College as well as…
Letter Regarding the Cleanliness of Milk Cans
A handwritten letter from U.D. Franklin to future president and current business manager E.H. Wills regarding milk cans being returned to the dairy without being cleaned thoroughly. During 1927 tuberculosis was at an all time high, and the first…
King House
King House was originally built in 1823 by Edmund King and was later sold to the University in 1908. This photo of students in front of the King House in 1905 demonstrates that although the university did not actually own the King House yet…
King House
The oldest structure on campus is King House, built in 1823 by a Virginian planter named Edmund King who owned a large portion of land in Montevallo. King’s slaves used clay from the nearby river to make the bricks while imported glass windows…
King House
The King House was built in 1823 by Mr. King who owned a large portion of land in the town of Montevallo A.L. The House was built by slaves who took clay from a nearby river to build the bricks and glass windows were imported to add to the effect of…
King Graveyard
This small plot is the family cemetery of the King family. This graveyard is located just behind Hill House and near Harmon Hall. The cemetery houses Edmund King and his family. The tall white obelisk headstone is that of Edmund King's. It is also…
Kenney Flushometer System
In the December 1899, University of Montevallo (then called Alabama Girls Industrial School) President Francis Peterson received a letter from the Ahrens and Ott manufacturing company. This company sent a brochure to Peterson of the items that they…
Kathryn Tucker Windham
The 81/82 student yearbook mentioned Kathryn Tucker Windham's visit to the campus. In 1982 Windham published "Jeffrey's Latest 13: More Alabama Ghosts", which helped make the ghost lore surrounding the King Mansion known to the wider public. In 1993…
John Steelman with his pet wolf
The son of a farmer and logger, John Steelman grew up in Arkansas. He paid for college by picking crops and working a variety of jobs. For the duration of his life he felt comfortable in rugged backwoods areas. At Alabama College Steelman taught…
John R. Steelman, man behind the White House
During President Harry S. Truman’s administration, Dr. Steelman served as the nation's first Assistant to the President of the United States. He served in President Truman’s administration from 1946 to 1953. Writer Vivan Meik of The Desert News, a…