History of the University of Alabama ─ 1818-1902

The University of Alabama, established in 1831, has survived poverty, riots, political interference, wartime destruction, attacks by clergy and laymen, and internal feuds to develop from a boarding school for planters’ sons to a modern and thriving state university. Using official records and state newspapers as well as letters and diaries of presidents, students, teachers, and alumni, this comprehensive volume that covers 1818 to 1902 reveals the hardships and achievements of the men and women who made the university during its early years.

The History of the University of Alabama, first published in 1953, details the educational progress in spite of meager funds, primitive buildings and equipment, unruly students, and interruption by the Civil War. Interwoven with the accounts of campus life, extracurricular activities, early intercollegiate athletics, and building programs is the history of a long-sustained effort by many devoted presidents, faculty, and citizens to raise educational standards and to improve the instruction provided for the youth of the state.

James B. Sellers received his B.A. and M.S. from the University of Alabama, M.A. from the University of Chicago, and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. After holding several teaching positions in the Alabama public school system he joined the University of Alabama faculty in 1943. He is the author of The Prohibition Movement in Alabama, The Sixteenth Section of Mobile County Lands, and Slavery in Alabama.