Huntingdon College is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

college in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. It was founded in 1854 as a women's college.

History

Huntingdon College was chartered on February 2, 1854, as " Tuskegee Female College" by the

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

State Legislature and Governor John A. Winston. The first president was Andrew Adgate Lipscomb. Lipscomb laid the foundation of the college as a teaching college rather than a research institution. In 1872 the name was changed to "Alabama Conference Female College", as the college came under the auspices of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

. As the college and the South struggled to rebuild following the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, college leaders believed they needed to relocate the institution to a more populous city, and they chose the state's capital, Montgomery. In 1908, they purchased a parcel of land on what was then the outskirts of town; it is now part of the Old Cloverdale neighborhood of Montgomery. The campus landscaping was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., who had also planned the

Biltmore Estate Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. The main residence, Biltmore House (or Biltmore Mansion), is a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II ...

and Central Park. The college moved all of its furniture, lab chemicals, and records into Hamner Hall in Montgomery on August 24, 1909. The building burned to the ground that night, destroying the records of the college's first 50 years and all of its furnishings. The students and President William Martin moved to Sullins College in Virginia for that school year, and construction continued on the college's first building, John Jefferson Flowers Memorial Hall. In 1910, the school was renamed as the "Woman's College of Alabama". Completed that same year and designed by Harvard architect H. Langford Warren, Flowers Hall was designed to emulate the collegiate Gothic architecture of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

universities in England, and of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It set the tone that was followed for the architectural style of the campus. The college admitted its first male students in the aftermath of World War I, graduating the first male student in 1934. Realizing that the name Woman's College of Alabama no longer fit its student body, the college was renamed in 1935 as Huntingdon College in honor of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, a notable supporter of John Wesley and of

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. In the early 21st century, Huntingdon offers more than 50 undergraduate programs of study and 18 NCAA-III intercollegiate athletic teams that participate in the USA South Athletic Conference. Between 2002 and 2012, enrollment increased by 53% in the traditional day program and 88% overall (594 to 1118). The ''

Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is an American newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals, including staff members and administrators. A subscriptio ...

'' listed Huntingdon in 2014 among the "Fastest Growing Colleges in America."

Campus

Huntingdon's campus is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as the Huntingdon College Campus Historic District. The district contains thirteen

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

, built in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

and

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

styles, and one site. The district was placed on the NRHP on February 24, 2000. The college expanded across Fairview Avenue, adding the Cloverdale Campus in 2001. Huntingdon College Houghton Library

Athletics

Huntingdon College teams participate as a member of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Division III. The Hawks are members of the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS), formed in July 2022 by an amicable split of the

USA South Athletic Conference The USA South Athletic Conference (formerly the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or the Dixie Conference) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolin ...

. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball. Huntingdon is the only four-year college in the state of Alabama to offer collegiate wrestling. With the CCS not sponsoring football, women's golf, or lacrosse for either sex, Huntingdon remains in the USA South for those sports.

The "Red Lady"

Huntingdon College is the home of the " Red Lady." She is alleged to be the

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

of a female student from the early twentieth century who took her life inside her room in Pratt Hall.

Notable alumni

Notable Huntingdon alumni include: * Leura Canary (1978), former U.S. Attorney * Kristi Dubose (1986), U.S. District Court Judge * Joe Durant (1987), professional golfer * Leila Herbert, author * Elizabeth Hight (1977), career US Navy, Rear admiral *

Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016) was an American novelist whose 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American literature. She assisted her close friend Truman ...

(1944-1945), Novelist * Emily Hendree Stewart Park (1848-1910), president of the Washington Seminary (Atlanta) *

Bob Zellner John Robert Zellner (born April 5, 1939) is an American civil rights activist. He graduated from Huntingdon College in 1961 and that year became a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as its first white field secretary. ...

(1957-1961), Civil Rights activist * Jeff Sessions (1969), attorney and politician, U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General * Maria Howard Weeden, painter and poet * Kathryn Tucker Windham (1939), writer

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{Authority control Universities and colleges established in 1854 1854 establishments in Alabama Universities and colleges in Montgomery, Alabama Methodism in Alabama Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Reportedly haunted locations in Alabama National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery, Alabama Historic districts in Montgomery, Alabama Gothic Revival architecture in Alabama Tudor Revival architecture in Alabama Private universities and colleges in Alabama