University of Tennessee
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University of Tennessee - Aaron D. Purcell
laughter.
INTRODUCTION
The University of Tennessee’s roots stretch back to 1794. That year, two years prior to Tennessee’s statehood, the legislature of the Southwest Territory chartered Blount College as one of the first three colleges established west of the Appalachian Mountains. In its first downtown Knoxville building, the non-sectarian Blount College was little more than a preparatory school for children of the wealthy. For 13 years, the school’s president, Samuel Carrick, taught literature and philosophy to a few dozen students. Barbara Blount, the daughter of the school’s namesake, William Blount, was one of these early students.
After changing provisions of the school’s charter, in 1807, the board of trustees of Blount College renamed the school East Tennessee College. Two years later, in 1809, Carrick’s sudden death and the college’s increasing debts led the trustees to close the school. Several failed attempts at fund-raising, including a lottery, led to a more extended closure of the school. East Tennessee College’s doors stayed shut for the next decade, opening again in 1820 after a merger with the nearby Hampden-Sydney Academy.
On October 7, 1826, the trustees of East Tennessee College dissolved their six-year union with Hampden-Sydney Academy. Two weeks later, the school began a search for a president and approved moving the school to a site just west of downtown Knoxville. The school paid $600 for a 40-acre tract then known as Barbara Hill,
named after Barbara Blount, and now known as the Hill.
The board of trustees hired Charles Coffin as president in 1827. While teaching full-time, Coffin ordered the construction of Center College (later known as Old College) on the summit of the Hill. Local criticism that the school catered to the wealthy and that building Center College had cost too much ($13,000) led to Coffin’s resignation in 1832.
The presidency of Joseph Estabrook, from 1834 until 1850, ushered in a new era for the school. He relaxed discipline, hired scholarly faculty, constructed several campus buildings, reorganized courses of study, and made military training part of the curriculum. In 1840, he successfully petitioned the Tennessee legislature to change the name of the institution to East Tennessee University. This period also saw the founding of additional literary societies, an alumni association, and student publications. During the 1840s, however, a bitter debate over sectarian teachings at the school led to Estabrook’s frustration and resignation in 1850.
The 1850s were a difficult decade for East Tennessee University. Religious disagreements, short and ineffective presidencies, financial woes, and the growing debate over slavery plagued the university. On the eve of the Civil War, the school organized a military department, which would distribute arms and equipment to students in the event of a war.
The attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861 silenced the academic life at East Tennessee University. Within a matter of days, a majority of the eligible students and professors enlisted. The school continued to function in a limited capacity until January 1862, when Confederate armies occupied Knoxville and converted the campus buildings into barracks and hospitals for wounded men. In September 1863, Union troops drove the Confederates out of Knoxville and reoccupied the abandoned campus buildings. Two months later, the Confederate armies returned to reclaim Knoxville during the Battle of Fort Sanders. After a 17-day standoff between Union general Ambrose Burnside and Confederate general James Longstreet in November and December 1863, the Confederates made a final withdrawal from Knoxville. The Civil War left East Tennessee University in shambles; campus buildings were uninhabitable if not destroyed, trenches and earthworks gouged the slopes of the Hill, and the library, scientific equipment, and geological collections had been damaged.
Beginning in 1865, Pres. Thomas Humes guided East Tennessee University during the difficult postwar period. In the spring of 1866, with repairs to the Hill and buildings under way, the university held classes at the Deaf and Dumb School in downtown Knoxville. Courses resumed on the Hill in the fall of 1866. Three years later, the Tennessee legislature designated East Tennessee University as the state’s land grant institution under the auspices of the 1862 Morrill Act. This important legislation created land grant colleges to emphasize agricultural and mechanical arts. Each state received federal land based on its population, and the income generated from the sale of that land supported designated land grant schools. In 1871, East Tennessee University created an agricultural department and mechanical arts program to support the land grant program.
The university grew into a modern institution during the last three decades of the 19th century. The institution added a graduate school, an Agricultural Experiment Station, a pharmacy program, a medical and dental program in Nashville, a weather station, and a law school. In 1879, the Tennessee legislature renamed the school the University of Tennessee. The school reinitiated required military training, but by the 1890s, the university relaxed the requirement, allowing for coeducation.
In 1887, Charles Dabney accepted the presidency, and during his 17-year tenure, he brought the school into the modern era of higher education. During his administration, the university hired nationally known faculty, admitted women, hosted teacher institutes called the Summer School of the South, doubled enrollment, and constructed new buildings. Athletic teams, literary societies, and other student groups flourished during this period.
During the first part of the 20th century, the University of Tennessee expanded its programs and mission. With support from the legislature, the university established campuses and programs across the state. In 1911, the university moved its medical, dental, and pharmacy programs to Memphis and in 1927 established a campus at Martin. On the Knoxville campus, students organized events such as the Nahheeyayli Dances, Carnicus, and the Aloha Oe and Torch Night Ceremonies. This period also saw the rise of Gen. Robert Neyland and his wildly successful and popular Volunteers