University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama, United States. It is the state's oldest university. Occupying a 130-acre (0.5 km²) campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. The four cities compose a metropolitan area with a combined population of 140,000 people.

The University of North Alabama was one of about 180 "normal schools" founded by state governments in the 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing public common schools. Some closed but most steadily expanded their role and became state colleges in the early 20th century and state universities in the late 20th century. It was founded as LaGrange College in 1830. It was reestablished in 1872 as the first state-supported teachers college south of the Ohio River. A year later, it became one of the nation's first coeducational colleges.

UNA's earliest predecessor was LaGrange College, which arose from the idea offered at an 1826 meeting of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church to establish a college which would not be "religious or theological". By January 1829, the selection of Lawrence Hill on LaGrange Mountain, about 15 miles south of Florence, was made for the site of the school, and the college opened on January 11, 1830, to students of all denominations in two three-story brick buildings.

LaGrange graduate Richard H. Rivers, after becoming president of the college, led most of the students and all but one faculty member from the mountain in late 1854 to relocate to Florence and re-incorporate it as Florence Wesleyan University, with 160 students enrolled in its first year of operation.^{[better source needed]} In 1858, the remnant of the original LaGrange College was re-established as LaGrange College and Military Academy, which continued to operate until 1863, when the buildings were destroyed by Union soldiers of the 10th Missouri Cavalry. However, Florence Wesleyan was saved from destruction during the Civil War.

When the Methodist Church deeded Florence Wesleyan to the State of Alabama in 1872, the institution became the State Normal School at Florence, the first state-supported teachers college south of the Ohio River. Shortly thereafter, it became one of the first co-educational institutions in the nation; in 1874, 31 young women enrolled. In 1929, it became a state teachers college offering a four-year curriculum in elementary education. In 1947, the curriculum was expanded again to include A.B. and B.S. degree programs in fields other than teacher training. In 1956, the institution formed a graduate course of study, and the following year, the Alabama Legislature voted to change the institution's name to Florence State College. In 1963, Wendell Wilkie Gunn became the first African-American student to enroll at the college, after a hearing that lasted only ten minutes.

In 1967 the Alabama Legislature removed jurisdiction for the college from the State Board of Education and vested it in a board of trustees. A year later, the new board voted for another name change to Florence State University, accompanied by the establishment of separate schools within the university. Less than a decade later, on August 15, 1974, the university underwent another change of name to the University of North Alabama, symbolizing its coming of age as a comprehensive, regional university.

Following a reorganization in 1991, the university's administrative structure consists of four divisions. In 1993, the Board of Trustees, anticipating continued and steady enrollment growth, adopted a new master facilities plan to ensure that UNA will be equipped to accommodate 10,000 students. Kenneth D. Kitts became the 20th president of the University of North Alabama in March 2015.

UNA's campus facilities master plan was developed by the Olmsted Brothers, the sons of the architect who designed New York City's Central Park. The campus has three antebellum structures: Wesleyan Hall; Rogers Hall; and Coby Hall. All three are listed in the National Historic Register. The University of North Alabama encompasses two campuses, following a decision in June 2006, by the university's board of trustees to purchase J.W. Powell School from the Florence City Schools. The East Campus houses several academic units, including the Office of Continuing Studies and Outreach and the Human Environmental Sciences' state-of-the-art Culinary Facility