Alabama State University: A Legacy of Perseverance, Progress, and Promise

Introduction

Alabama State University (ASU), a historically black university (HBCU) located in Montgomery, Alabama, stands as a testament to the enduring power of perseverance, progress, and promise. From its humble beginnings as the Lincoln Normal School in 1867 to its current status as a comprehensive university, ASU has played a pivotal role in shaping the educational landscape for African Americans in Alabama and beyond.

The Genesis of a Vision: Lincoln Normal School

The story of Alabama State University begins in 1867, during the Reconstruction era, with the founding of the Lincoln Normal School at Marion in Perry County, Alabama. This initiative was spearheaded by African-American leaders who recognized the transformative power of education in the lives of newly freed slaves. As a descendant of Lincoln Normal School, ASU is one of the oldest institutions of higher education founded for black Americans.

The Marion Nine

The establishment of Lincoln Normal School was largely made possible by the efforts of nine former slaves, known as the "Marion Nine": Alexander H. Curtis, Joey Pinch, Thomas Speed, Thomas Lee, Nickolas Dale, James Childs, John Freeman, Nathan Levert, and David Harris. These men recognized that the way to improve the race was through education. They raised $500 and purchased a suitable site on which a school building was constructed.

Early Support and Curriculum

Initially, the American Missionary Association (AMA), an interracial organization founded in 1846 by political abolitionists, operated and financed the school. In 1868, the AMA leased a building in Marion and began operating the Lincoln Normal School. In 1869, the AMA, with financial support from the Freedman’s Bureau and the Colored People of Alabama, raised $4,200 to construct a new building. The curriculum initially focused on basic literacy and a classical education for more advanced students, including Greek, Latin, mathematics, English, history, philosophy, biology, political science, and chemistry.

State Recognition and Reorganization

In 1870, the state began its support of the institution with a small legislative appropriation of $486. The state’s support increased to $1,250 the next year. In 1871, Peyton Finley, the first black member of the Alabama State Board of Education, petitioned the Legislature to establish a university for colored people. Though rebuffed, Finley persisted. In 1873, the Alabama Legislature established a “State Normal School and University for the Education of Colored Teachers and Students.” In 1874, the institution’s first president, George N. Card, led the effort in reorganizing Lincoln Normal School in Marion as America’s first state-supported educational institution for blacks.

Relocation to Montgomery: A New Chapter

Despite its initial success in Marion, the Lincoln Normal School faced challenges. In late 1886, a group of local whites petitioned to have the school removed after an altercation between white students from Howard College and Black Lincoln students. The petition was received favorably by the legislature, which agreed in 1887 to fund an African American college or university anywhere but Marion.

The Move to Montgomery

In 1887, the state legislature authorized the establishment of the Alabama Colored People's University and allotted $10,000 for the purchase of land and the construction of buildings and an additional $7,500 annually for operating expenses. The Alabama Colored People's University replaced the State Normal School after officials found a suitable location in Montgomery that was acceptable to whites. Black citizens who wanted the university in Montgomery pledged $5,000, donated land, and arranged for the temporary use of some buildings.

Overcoming Opposition

Under the leadership of President William Burns Paterson, Black citizens who wanted the university in Montgomery pledged cash and land and temporarily donated the use of buildings. Opposition to the university arose from local whites and ironically from prominent African American leader and president of Tuskegee Institute, Booker T. Washington, who was concerned about the proximity of the new competitor to his school in Tuskegee. Paterson helped the school overcome the opposition of whites in Montgomery through networking, community organizing, and meetings with various influential black and white groups in Montgomery at Old Ship AME Zion Church and Dexter Avenue Baptist Church to build interest in the school. As a result of his efforts, the school began its first classes on October 3, 1887.

Early Years in Montgomery

Months after the legislation, the university opened in Montgomery at Beulah Baptist Church. In 1887, The university taught its first classes in Montgomery, AL. The university erected Tullibody Hall in 1890 as its first permanent building. That building burned in 1904 and was replaced in 1906 by the university’s first brick structure.

Legal Challenges and Name Changes

Individuals who opposed state support of higher education for blacks successfully filed a suit in state court to impede the establishment of a college for blacks. In response, the Alabama Supreme Court repealed the legislation establishing support for a black university. For two years, the school operated on meager tuition fees, volunteers, and donations until the legislature reinstated its support in 1889. As a result of the lawsuit's ruling, a hostile political atmosphere toward blacks, and the repeal of its college status, the school was renamed the Normal School for Colored Students and was thus stripped of its higher-education status.

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Growth and Transformation: From Normal School to University

Despite the challenges, the institution continued to evolve and expand its offerings. In the following decade, John William Beverly, the institution's third leader and first African American president, and George W. Trenholm, the institution's fourth president, organized the institution as a four-year teacher-training high school and added a junior college department.

Academic Expansion

The school was officially converted from a junior college to a four-year institution in 1928, and three years later it offered its first baccalaureate degrees in teacher education. Under the leadership of the school's fifth president, Harper Councill Trenholm, the school petitioned the State Board of Education for a name change to reflect its growing mission.

Name Changes and Accreditation

The state allowed the change, and in 1929 it became the State Teachers College, Alabama State College for Negroes. In 1935, the school was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, but it is important to note that at the time the accrediting organization accredited black and white schools separately. Despite these positive changes, years of operating on meager funds and systemic racism made it difficult for ASU and other black schools to compete with their white counterparts and obtain accreditation. The school initially received a class "B" rating but in 1943 was raised to class "A," the highest rating.

Graduate Programs and Physical Expansion

In 1940, Trenholm initiated a graduate degree program, and State Teachers College awarded its first master’s degree in 1943. During H.C. Trenholm’s tenure, the university constructed eight brick buildings, a swimming pool, and a stadium for sporting events.

The Civil Rights Era: A Crucible of Change

The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) awakened a new consciousness among the students and faculty at Alabama State. They paid a heavy toll for their involvement in the movement. In a state that committed to segregation, state funding dried up and they lost accreditation by SACS.

Involvement in the Civil Rights Movement

The Montgomery Bus Boycott, the first direct action campaign of the modern Civil Rights Movement, awakened a new consciousness within the University and the community responded to the call for participants. The school's professors and students were a formidable force in challenging the city of Montgomery's segregation laws by playing a major role in the city's famous bus boycott and sit-in movement that sparked the civil rights movement in America.

Repercussions and Reaccreditation

During the 1960s, the school experienced repercussions from the involvement of its students and faculty in the civil rights movement, notably in a sit-in at the Montgomery County Courthouse and subsequent related protests. State officials committed to segregation cut appropriations to the school, resulting in the loss of accreditation in 1961. The school regained its accreditation in 1966, however.

Achieving University Status: A Comprehensive Institution

In 1969, the State Board of Education approved the school for university status, and it became a comprehensive university. In 1975, the state legislature established an independent board of trustees for Alabama State University.

Modern Era and Academic Offerings

Today, ASU is a state-supported comprehensive university located on an urban 172-acre campus. It offers associate's, bachelor's, master's, doctoral degrees, and post-master's certificates. Alabama State University boasts an enrollment of more than 6,000 students and seven degree-granting colleges, schools, and divisions: College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business Administration, College of Education, College of Health Sciences, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Division of Aerospace Studies (Air Force ROTC), and School of Graduate Studies. Alabama State offers 47 degree programs including 31 bachelor's, 11 master's, 2 Education Specialist, and 3 doctoral programs. In addition, the university offers the W.E.B.

Campus and Facilities

ASU's urban, 172-acre (0.70 km2) campus has Georgian-style red-brick classroom buildings and architecturally contemporary structures. ASU is home to the state-of-the-art 7,400-seat academic and sports facility the ASU Acadome; the Levi Watkins Learning Center, a five-story brick structure with more than 267,000 volumes; the state-of-the-art John L.

Athletics and the Mighty Marching Hornets

The school's sports teams are affiliated with the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and the school's team name is the Hornets. The Alabama State University Department of Athletics currently sponsors men's intercollegiate football, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, track and cheerleading, along with women's intercollegiate basketball, soccer, softball, bowling, tennis, track, volleyball, golf and cheerleading. Alabama State's marching band is officially known as "The Mighty Marching Hornets". The band has been nationally recognized. The Mighty Marching Hornets were featured in the documentary series, Bama State Style, which followed the lives of the students in the band. In 2016, The Mighty Marching Hornets made an appearance in Ang Lee's film Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. In 2023, Alabama State became the first HBCU to host the annual Honda Battle of the Bands.

Presidents of Alabama State University

The following individuals have served as president of Alabama State University:

1874-1878: George N. Card
1981-1983: Robert L. Randolph
1991-1994: Clifford C. Baker
2001-2008: Joe A. Lee
2012: Joseph H. Silver Sr.
2017-present: Quinton T. Ross Jr.

Notable Alumni

Numerous distinguished individuals have graduated from or been associated with Alabama State University, including:

Clarence Carter: American blues and soul singer, musician and record producer.
Dorothy E. Browder: civil rights activist and plaintiff in the case Browder v. Gayle.
Erskine Hawkins: jazz trumpeter and bandleader.
Ethel Hall: educator and politician.
Tarvaris Jackson: Former NFL quarterback.
Eugene Sawyer Jr: American politician who served as the 37th mayor of Chicago, Illinois.
Alvin Holmes: American politician.
Tonea Stewart: Actress and educator.

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