University of Alabama

The University had been planned before Alabama even became a state. Since 1818 work had been ongoing to raise funds and choose a site for the first state-initiated public “seminary of learning” as it was called. Alabama was still very much part of the frontier. Travel by road was difficult, and malaria, typhoid and the like were common. The first students, children of wealthy planters, would need some of the niceties of civilization, but should not be too near temptations that would hurt their moral development. Tuscaloosa, then the state capital, was selected, and land around Marr’s Spring was purchased. During the ensuing decades, the University changed and grew. New colleges, programs and buildings were added. ROLL TIDE