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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…
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…
Frances Perkins
Frances Caroline Perkins was the United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945. A tireless advocate for the country's working class, she helped Franklin Delano Roosevelt bring the labor movement into the New Deal coalition. John Steelman invited…
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…
Red Bricks
The University of Montevallo's red brick streets are not as new as some people might think. The impetus for this change came from the Olmsted Brothers, a landscape architect firm, that recommended brick streets in 1930 as a way to unify the entire…
The General Plan for Alabama College
The Board of Trustees hired the Olmsted Brothers, Landscape Architects of Brookline, Massachusetts to layout the growing campus in the nineteen twenties. This is the same firm that designed the Biltmore House grounds in Asheville North Carolina as…
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…
Tribute to Steelman by the Senior Class
In 1934, the same year Professor Steelman departed for Washington DC, the school yearbook wrote about his role as advisor to the senior class: “he has so loyally filled this position that he has earned a love and admiration equaled by few. His quick…
John R. Steelman
John R. Steelman came to Montevallo in 1928 where he taught sociology and economics for six years until 1934. During that time he distinguished himself as an educator and gained a reputation for friendliness. Few could have imagined that Steelman…
Delores "Dolly" Brumfield White
Delores "Dolly" Brumfield White grew up in Prichard, Mobile County Alabama, where she played baseball before and after school with shipyard workers. At the age of 14 her principal gave her permission to quit school and attend spring training with the…
Calkins Hall
Calkins Hall was built to house the Department of Music and it served that purpose from 1917 to 1971. Renovated for administrative offices, it opened for that purpose in 1973. Calkins remains, along with Main Hall, and Reynolds, one of the campus’s…
Main Hall
This photograph shows unfinished construction on Main Hall. A basement, dining hall, and two more residential wings would be completed in 1908.
Reynolds Hall
Reynolds Hall is the second oldest structure on campus. It was built in 1851 using locally fired bricks and slave labor. The town agreed to give the building to the Alabama Girls’ Industrial School so long as the state located the school in the city…
Fort Wayne Daisies
In her final year as a professional baseball player Dolly batted .332 in 211 at bats over 66 games. Remarkably, she drew 51 walks, scored 48 runs, and struck out just 15 times. By the end of her professional career Brumfield had matured into a very…
Senior Elite
Each year the graduating class at Alabama College would elect a group of elites in different fields such as art, science, home economics, and athletics. The Class of 1954 voted Dolly elite sportswoman.
Yearbook Photo
At Alabama College Dolly was active in campus life, participating in College Night, a Speech Tournament, and the Pi Epsilon Delta sorority. Unsurprisingly, she served as the softball team counselor. The yearbook misspelled her surname"Brunfield".
1943 College Night Program
Pages 3 through 6 of the 1943 College Night program frequently mention World War Two in some way whether directly or indirectly. Three out of the four songs contained lyrics that either explicitly mentioned the war or greatly implied it. Three out of…
1943 College Night Program Cover and Greetings
World War Two affected College Night and the Alabama College campus in general. The greeting on the first page of the program for the 1943 College Night discussed the importance of celebrating the art of peace during a time of war.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Johnson - Gold Side Character Sketch
This costume sketch comes from the dramatization “Lay Down dat Chicken Boy” by the gold side in 1943. The name of this character comes from US president Franklin D. Roosevelt. The costume and character obviously play on racial stereotypes and the…
Gen'l Stonewall Bunker Hill - Gold Side Character Sketch
This costume sketch comes from the dramatization “Lay Down dat Chicken Boy” by the gold side in 1943. The name of this character comes from both General Stonewall Jackson and the Battle of Bunker Hill. This character reflects the influence of…
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…
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…
John R. Steelman letter to McCleery
A letter from John Steelman to Dr. E. H. McCleery concerning wolves. John Steelman corresponded with various people in the early thirties about wolves, McCleery being one of them. Steelman asked if Mcleery still had any wolves and indicated an…
Wills Hall
Photograph of Wills Hall which served as the campus library at the University of Montevallo from 1923-1968. During the 1940s, Alabama College, the state college for women, was a four-year degree-granting institution for women. Wills Hall was built in…
Jeter Hall
This photo depicts a 1938 art class receiving instruction in clay modeling. Jeter hall was built in 1915 as an elementary school. It contained six classrooms, an auditorium, a music room, two storage rooms, a cafeteria, and one toilet. It functioned…
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…
Flowerhill, the University of Montevallo's Presidential Home
Since its construction in 1926, Flowerhill has served as the home of the presidents of Alabama College and the University of Montevallo. Prior to the construction of Flowerhill, the presidents of the Alabama Girls' Industrial School and the Alabama…
The Tower
The Tower, pictured above, is one of the most recognizable and historic structures on the University of Montevallo's campus. Erected in 1910, the Tower provided the Alabama Girls' Industrial School, the name by which the University of Montevallo was…
The Ghost of College Night
This article, published in The Alabamian, describes the College Night tradition. The author concludes with a final reference to the ghost of Palmer Hall.
Dr. John R. Steelman, Director of the US Conciliation Service
In 1944, during World War II, Dr. Steelman served as Director of the Conciliation Service. The file is a pamphlet that his office published for Labor Day 1944. The document reflects how he felt Americans should celebrate Labor Day, not as a festive…