A Look Back: Meet the First Howard College Class of Coeds in 1913-1914

This picture of ten of the new class of co-eds was published in the Entre Nous in 1914.

In the 1913-1914 school year, Howard College (now Samford) became a co-educational institution by allowing women to attend regularly. There were earlier female graduates, the first of which was Anna Judge in 19895-1896, but co-education was quickly suspended. It wasn’t until 1913 that coeducation began, once more, to be seriously discussed on campus. 

In the 1913-194 school year, seventeen women are listed as students at Howard College. Their names were Louise McCoy, Geraldine Armstrong, Mary Swindall, Lois Hendricks, Mrs. L. L Stillwell, Menona Alford, Anna Fay Barnhardt, Mrs. G.W. Bouldin, Nell Gray Ellis, Mrs. J.C Hockett, Lucy Jones, Olivia Massey, Lula Mehaffey, Anna Montgomery, Susan Norment, Miriam Tyler and Miriam Waltersdorf. 

The Entre Nous of 1914 features photographs of ten of the co-eds, as they were known. 
In 1916, the first female graduate from this group was Lula Mehaffey. Her photo was published in the Howard College Bulletin. 

Lula Mehaffey graduated Howard College in 1916.

Special thanks to Rachel Cohen and the Special Collection for text and photographs.

What's Your AVL Story? Enter to win!

The Alabama Virtual Library Executive Council announces the “My

AVL Story” video contest! Library patrons of all ages and from all 

geographic locations within the state are invited to participate in this 

simple campaign, in which we gather brief video stories about how 

the AVL has impacted Alabamians. 

Prizes for winners include GoPro 

cameras, Chromebooks, gift certificates, and more! 

See http://www.avl.lib.al.us/video_contest/ for all details. 

The deadline for entries is March 13, 2015 at midnight.

The deadline has been extended to March 27th!

The Alabama Virtual Library provides access to important databases and information resources for FREE to all of Alabama, including many of the resources that you use today in school for research.  You may not even know the scope of the importance of these resources for you and for Alabama.

Check out the AVL here (http://avl.lib.al.us) to see what you've been using already!

A Look Back: Samford from a bird's eye view

For the blog this week, we're sharing some campus aerial photogtaphs.

Howard College, now Samford University, moved from Brimingham's East Lake area to Homewood in 1957. Before the campus could be moved, however, facilities had to be constructed to house students and classes.

The lot was cleared and seems awfully small in this early aerial photo of the future home of Samford University.

Campus opened in 1957. Two decades or so later, this aerial photograph shows how much the campus had grown.  Of course, there is still no Healing Arts Building or Beeson Woods. Those buildings, among others, wouldn't be added for a few decades yet.

By the mid-1990s, campus starts to look more like it does today. Beeson Woods was opened in the late-1980s and the School of Nursing moved to their new Healing Arts building in 1988. The Law Library opened on March 1, 1995.

As new buildings are built around campus, like the new School of Business building behind the library, it is fun to look back on what our campus looked like in the past and imagine what it might look like in the future.

Text and Photographs provided by Rachel Cohen and the Special Collection.

Closed March 5, 2015 - Library & Einstein Bros

Samford University Library & Einstein Bros are closed today, March 5, 2015 due to forecasts for hazardous weather.

Samford students get a snow day in the 80s

 

Einstein Bros open for business

Come get some delicious treats!