Samford University
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Samford University is an private, coeducational, Baptist-affliated university located in Birmingham, Alabama.
History
Samford University was founded as Howard College on January 3, 1842, in Marion, Alabama. In 1887 the school relocated to the East Lake community of Birmingham, Alabama.
Women were first admitted to Howard College in 1895 and it 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 and in 1927 it added its pharmacy school.
In 1951, the school acquired the Cumberland School of Law from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee.
Under the leadership of President Harwell Goodwin Davis the college looked to relocate again and 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 shool was renamed as well because there was already a Howard University in Washington, D.C..
The university was named for Frank Park Samford, chairman of the Howard College Board of Trustees, and, to that time, the institution's most generous individual benefactor.
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 School of Divinity was established through donations from Ralph W. Beeson.
The University now consists of the Howard College of Arts and Sciences, 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.
External links
- Samford University (http://www.samford.edu/)
- City of Birmingham (http://www.informationbirmingham.com/)