Auburn University was founded in 1856 in Auburn, Alabama. Did you know that the original name of our school wasn’t actually “Auburn University”? Our school has gone through three different name changes since we opened our doors in the mid-19th century. Auburn University was originally named the East Alabama Male College and held that name until our first name change in 1872. Auburn then became the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama and operated under this namesake for close to 30 years. In 1899, our university was renamed a second time to boast the name of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. Finally, in the year 1960, Auburn University became the official name of our beloved university, keeping with its location, size, and mission. Let’s take a closer look at each one of these names.
East Alabama Male College (1856 – 1872)
The beginning talks of establishing a college in Auburn took place at the Methodist church annual conference in Autaugaville, Alabama in the year 1853. Local residents called on the Alabama Methodists to support the construction of a college in their hometown of Auburn. Auburn was outbid by Greensboro, Alabama for the location of the newly promised school in December of 1854. The Auburn citizens would not go down without a fight, making sure the Alabama legislature heard their plea. In 1856, the Alabama legislature pulled through for the citizens of Auburn and overturned the governor’s veto in favor of incorporating the East Alabama Male College in Auburn.
The new school in Auburn consisted of a preparatory division that opened in January of 1857 with an enrollment of one hundred students. When the East Alabama Male College officially opened in 1859, the preparatory division now had 113 students, with the entire college supervised under the leadership of our first president Reverend William Jeremiah Sasnett. The East Alabama Male College had to close its doors during the Civil War to operate as a hospital, although the preparatory school remained open. After the college reopened, the East Alabama Male College fell on hard times financially and was unable to recover. This is when the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama was introduced and officially opened in 1872.
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (1872 – 1899)
In the year 1857, a congressman from Vermont, Justin S. Morrill, introduced a bill that we now know as the Land-Grant Act. This bill was eventually signed into law in 1862, granting each state 30,000 acres of public land for a college to be built. With the Morrill Act and the benefits that came along with its passing, the state of Alabama was awarded 240,000 acres of land to establish a college. Where would this college be located in Alabama? This was a lively discussion had by the citizens of Alabama for a few years, many people proposing different ideas. People wanted this land-grant college to be added to the University of Alabama, B.F. Taylor of Lauderdale County proposed Florence, and Auburn’s very own Sheldon Toomer and J.L. Pennington proposed a bill for their hometown.
The Alabama Legislature formed special committees to choose a location for the land-grant college in December of 1871. Florence, already home to the Florence Wesleyan College, seemed the most viable option for the land-grant school to be established. Auburn, the long-shot in this case, was still hoping for a chance to host the new college. On February 13, 1872, the minority report of the selection committee was read over the majority report and Auburn was announced as the proposed location. Eleven days later on February 24th, this bill was read for the third time and passed. Auburn would be the new home of Alabama’s land-grant college.
Alabama Polytechnic Institute (1899 – 1960)
William Leroy Broun became the president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama in 1882. He was then unanimously welcomed back as president in 1884, after a one-year stint. One of the recommendations he made as president was to change the name of the college to be called the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, to encompass the “enlarged sphere of educational work”, said Broun. Near the end of his tenure as president, the Alabama legislature successfully renamed the land-grant college, bearing the namesake of Alabama Polytechnic Institute or API as students have come to refer to the old name.
Auburn University (1960 – Present)
No president’s tenure was more foundational to how Auburn University functions today than that of Ralph Brown Draughon’s. Draughon became President of Auburn University in 1948, making him the school’s eleventh president. The GI Bill caused enrollment at API to double from the year 1944 to 1948, putting strain on the structure and mission of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. This new president oversaw the expansion of API from the land-grant role to providing both undergraduate and graduate coursework for our complex world. To align itself closer to the central mission of the college, the Alabama legislature approved the final name change of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, officially becoming Auburn University in the year 1960.
Our beloved school has now borne the name Auburn University for over 60 years. Being ranked as a top 50 public university year after year, holding the title of the #1 university in the state of Alabama, and having some of the happiest’s students in the nation, much is owed to the people who have gone before us. I can’t think of a more eloquent phrase than that of Ralph Brown Draughon who states, “Owing much to the past, Auburn’s mission makes its greater debt ever to the future.” Come be a part of fulfilling that mission here at Auburn University.
*A big thanks to The Auburn University Digital Library and the articles provided detailing the History of Auburn University. – http://diglib.auburn.edu/auburnhistory/index.html.*