Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University - History

History

Alabama A&M was originally established by an act of the Alabama State Legislature in 1873 as the State Normal School and University for the Education of the Colored Teachers and Students.

Peyton Finley introduced twin bills in the State Board of Education for the establishment of four "normal" schools for whites and four for blacks in 1875. In that same year, William Hooper Councill became founder of Alabama A&M University.

By 1878, the state appropriation increased to $2,000 and the school changed its name to the State Normal and Industrial School. Industrial training began in 1883. In 1885, the name was changed to State Normal and Industrial School of Huntsville.

By 1890, the students numbered 300, with 11 teachers, the school site became known as Normal, Alabama, and a post office was established. Students were called "Normalites." In 1891, the school was designated as a land-grant college through legislative enactment February 13 and received funds as a land-grant college under the terms of the Morrill Act of 1890. The name was changed to the State Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes. In 1896 the name changed to The State Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes.

In 1919, the school became the State Agricultural and Mechanical Institute for Negroes, and in 1948 it was renamed the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1939, the State Board of Education granted authority to offer course work on the senior college level.

In 1949, the name changed to Alabama A&M College. AAMU became fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1963. Finally, in June 1969, the school adopted its current name.

In July 1996, the Board of Trustees appointed Dr. John T. Gibson as the university’s ninth president and the one who would ultimately lead the institution into the new millennium. A native of Montgomery, Ala., and a graduate of Tuskegee University and the University of Colorado-Boulder, Gibson immediately began implementation of his ambitious "eight-step plan". The Gibson administration saw the construction of the huge, visionary West Campus Complex, the erection of the 21,000-seat Louis Crews Stadium, the renovations and re-roofing of key buildings and the moving of athletic programs to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The long-awaited School of Engineering and Technology was built in 2002, and the Ph.D. program in Reading/Literacy was established.

In its publication, "Past Presidents," AAMU notes that the tenth president, Dr. Robert R. Jennings, began his duties in January 2006 and launched a mission to restore the University’s community engagement and focus more on its students. Throughout his brief tenure, Jennings developed a number of programs aimed at making ‘The Hill’ a place more in tune with the quality of student life, including a VIP student dining facility, graduate student convenience store/lounge, improved campus lighting, stream-lined processes for business and finance, and the implementation of a campus wide operational system.