History
Samford was founded in 1841 at Marion, Alabama, when members of Siloam Baptist Church acquired land in the town and invited the Alabama Baptist Convention to build a new Baptist school there. They named it Howard College in honor of John Howard, known for his work in prison reform in England. Among the charter trustees in 1841 was lawyer William Parish Chilton of Talladega. The new college opened its doors to students on January 3, 1842. In 1887 the school relocated to the East Lake community of Birmingham. It also ran Howard College Academy as a preparatory school at the time.
Women were first admitted to Howard College in 1895, and the college officially became coeducational in 1913. One year later the school established its Teacher Education Division. In 1920 the school joined the Southern Association of Colleges. In 1927 it added its pharmacy school.
In 1961, the school acquired the Cumberland School of Law from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee.
Under the leadership of President Harwell Goodwin Davis, the college relocated. On June 11, 1953 Howard College broke ground on its third campus in the Shades Valley just south of Birmingham. The school occupied its new campus in 1957.
In 1965 Howard reinstituted its master's degree program. This led to the college's elevation to university status on November 9, 1965. The school was renamed in honor of Frank Park Samford, chairman of the Board of Trustees and up to that time, the institution's most generous individual benefactor. (In addition, there is also a Howard University in Washington, D.C..)
The Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, owned by the Baptist Medical Center of Birmingham, was added to the University in 1973. In 1988, the Beeson Divinity School was established through donations from Ralph W. Beeson.
The University consists of the Howard College of Arts and Sciences, Brock School of Business, Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education and Professional Studies, School of Performing Arts, Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Beeson School of Divinity, and Cumberland School of Law.
On January 29, 2004, in his Founder's Day Address, then-President Thomas E. Corts announced a multi-year improvement plan called, "The Promise." He said, "Samford University will be an academically vigorous Christian university that coordinates a strong, effective educational program and encouragement of Christian belief and service, within a community that respects its individual members and encourages each to highest and best levels of performance and conduct -- academically, socially, spiritually, physically."
The plan calls for Samford to invest some $200 million to "enrich and enhance the educational experience of its students." Since June 1, 2003 more than $37 million has been contributed in philanthropic gifts toward the campaign.
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