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Birmingham-Southern College is the result of a merger of Southern University,
founded in Greensboro, Alabama, in 1856, with Birmingham College, opened
in 1898 in Birmingham, Alabama. These two institutions were consolidated
on May 30, 1918, under the name of Birmingham-Southern College.
In 1824, the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church recommended that each conference establish a seminary
of learning under its regulation
and patronage. Not until 1854 did the Alabama Conference undertake to
carry out this recommendation of the superior body. In that year, a committee
was appointed to select a site for the proposed college and to procure
funds for its establishment and maintenance. The charter was granted
by the State of Alabama on January 25, 1856, and the first meeting of
the Board of Trustees was held on March 17, 1856; January 25 is therefore
known as Charter Day for the College, and March 17 has been designated
as Founder’s Day.
After the State was divided into two Methodist conferences, the North
Alabama Conference, in 1883, joined with the Alabama Conference in the
support of Southern University.
At the session of the North Alabama Conference held at Tuscaloosa in
November 1896, work was begun toward establishing a college within the
bounds of this conference. In the fall of 1897, the foundation for the
first building was laid in Birmingham. In April 1898, a president was
elected and a faculty was chosen and organized. The Conference then surrendered
its interest in Southern University and, in September 1898, the North
Alabama Conference College (later named Birmingham College) opened its
doors to students.
For twenty years the two colleges were maintained by the Methodists
of Alabama. Finally, on May 30, 1918, through their appointed commissioners,
the two conferences consolidated these institutions under the name of
Birmingham-Southern College. With no loss of time from the regular work
at either place, the consolidation was effected, and the new institution
opened its doors in Birmingham on September 11, 1918. Since that time,
Birmingham-Southern College has grown rapidly and is now a fully accredited
institution in every way.
Birmingham-Southern has consistently sought academic
distinction. In 1937, its standards were recognized by the nation’s
leading academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, which granted the College
a charter to
establish Alabama Beta.
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