Talladega College

Talladega College
Savery Library
Latin: Collegium Talladegense
Motto	An Education of Distinction
Type	Private, HBCU
Established	1867
Affiliation	United Church of Christ
President	Dr. Billy C. Hawkins
Students	1,500
Location	Talladega, Alabama, United States 33°25′56″N 86°6′47″W / 33.43222°N 86.11306°W / 33.43222; -86.11306Coordinates: 33°25′56″N 86°6′47″W / 33.43222°N 86.11306°W / 33.43222; -86.11306
Campus	Rural 50 acres (20.2 ha) main campus
Colors	Crimson and Blue
Nickname	Dear Ole' Dega, Dega, TC
Mascot	Tornadoes
Affiliations	UNCF
Website	www.talladega.edu

Talladega College, located in Talladega, Alabama, is a private, liberal arts college. It holds the distinction as Alabama's oldest private historically black college. As of 2009 the school received full SACS accreditation.^[1]

History

The history of Talladega College began on November 20, 1865, when two former slaves William Savery and Thomas Tarrant, both of Talladega, met in convention with a group of new freedmen in Mobile, Alabama. From this meeting came the commitment, "...We regard the education of our children and youth as vital to the preservation of our liberties, and true religion as the foundation of all real virtue, and shall use our utmost endeavors to promote these blessings in our common country."

With this as their pledge, Savery and Tarrant, aided by General Wager Swayne of the Freedmen's Bureau, began in earnest to provide a school for the children of former slaves of the community. Their leadership resulted in the construction of a one-room school house using lumber salvaged from an abandoned carpenter's shop. The school overflowed with pupils from its opening and soon it was necessary to move into larger quarters.

Meanwhile, the nearby Baptist Academy was about to be sold under mortgage default. This building had been built in 1852-53 with the help of slaves - including Savery and Tarrant. A speedy plea was sent to General Swayne for its purchase. General Swayne in turn persuaded the American Missionary Association to buy the building and some 20 acres (81,000 m²) of land for $23,000.

The grateful parents renamed the building Swayne School and it opened in November 1867 with about 140 pupils. A building constructed before the war with slave labor for white students became the home of the state's first college dedicated to serving the educational needs of blacks. In 1869, Swayne School was issued a charter as Talladega College by the Judge of Probate of Talladega County.

The former Baptists Academy building, now known as Swayne Hall, has remained in service as the symbol and spirit of the beginning of the college.

Campus

Built in 1857, Swayne Hall is the oldest building on campus. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 2, 1974

Talladega College is located on the outskirts of the city of Talladega. The campus consists of 50 acres (200,000 m²) with 17 primary buildings. A collection of 32 campus buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Talladega College Historic District.^[2] The Savery Library, completed in 1939, was built to replace a 1907 structure built with a donation from Andrew Carnegie. The Library houses hundreds of thousands of serials, a record Room, a fully equipped computer laboratory, a unique Archives Room, and the historic Amistad murals painted by Hale Woodruff. Embedded in the floor of the library is a mural of La Amistad, which school tradition says must never be stepped upon. The mutiny by slaves, who took control of the ship and later won their freedom. I Jerel Lee Palmer did this from South Carolina State University in a United States court, is depicted upon the surrounding walls. The mezzanine floor of the library houses the Galangue Room. This room contains an extensive collection of Angolan and Nigerian artifacts.

Andrews Hall, built in 1910, houses the Music Department and the Education Department. It is named for George Whitfield Andrews, D.D., Dean of Theological Department from 1875 to 1908.

Arthur D. Shores Hall, constructed in 1974, is named for the late Attorney Arthur D. Shores, Class of 1927, who served for many years as a member and chairman of the College Board of Trustees.

De Forest Chapel, built in 1903 in commemoration of the life and service of the Rev. Henry Swift De Forest, D.D., President of the College from 1879 to 1896. DeForest Chapel was renovated in 1996 and rededicated November 1996. De Forest was the father of inventor Lee De Forest.

Fanning Refectory, built in 1928 from a legacy of Dr. David H. Fanning of Worcester, Massachusetts. The building contains the student and faculty dining rooms.

Juliette Derricotte House, built in 1940-41, was the gift of the Harkness Foundation and named for Juliette Derricotte, Class of 1918, who at the time of her death in 1932 was a member of the Board of Trustees. Formerly a staff residence and guest house, it was converted into a women's honors dormitory in 1988.

Silsby Science Hall, constructed in 1926, was named for Dr. E. C. Silsby,^[3] who was a member of the College faculty for 37 years. The building was a gift of the General Education Board and friends and alumni of the College. It contains the laboratories and classrooms for the Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Athletics

Talladega College teams, nicknamed athletically as the Tornadoes, are part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II level, primarily competing in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Men's sports include baseball, basketball, golf and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, softball and volleyball.

Marching band

The Talladega College Tornado Marching Band (The Great Tornado) was established in 2012. The marching band is the largest organization on campus with over 200 members. The band is led by 5 drum majors and is accompanied by a dance line called the "Dega Diamonds." The marching band made their debut appearance at the annual Honda Battle of the Bands in 2015.^[4]

Notable alumni

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
George Williamson Crawford		Lawyer, city official, and judge in New Haven, Connecticut	^[5]
Dr. Herman H. Long	1935	educator who served as president of Talladega College and president of the United Negro College Fund
Jewel Plummer Cobb	1947	biologist, cancer researcher, college dean, California State University, Fullerton president
Nikky Finney		author who won 2011 National Book Award for Poetry, "Head Off & Split"
Dr. Theodore K. Lawless		dermatologist, medical researcher, and philanthropist
Wynona Lipman		first African-American woman elected to the New Jersey Senate
William Pickens	1902	orator, educator, journalist, and essayist. He wrote two autobiographies, first The Heir of Slaves, in 1911 and second Bursting Bonds in 1923
Arthur Shores		civil rights attorney who was considered Alabama's drum major for justice
Rev. Dr. Paul Smith	1957	First African American minister at historic First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York; multicultural consultant, civil rights activist, educator, author
Hank Sanders		civil rights attorney and current Alabama State Senator
Margaret Bush Wilson	1939	attorney, civil rights advocate, first African American woman to Chair National NAACP Board of Directors (1975-1983)
Gladys McCoy		first African American elected to public office in Oregon

Sources

↑ "TC gets full SACS accreditation". The Daily Home. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
↑ Bowman, Camille; Melanie A. Betz (March 1, 1990). "Talladega College Historic District" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service. Archived from the original on May 4, 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2014. See also: "Accompanying photos" (PDF). Archived from the original on May 4, 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
↑ Dr. Edwin C. Silsby at Find A Grave
↑ http://www.talladega.edu/release/showrelease.asp?ReleaseID=50
↑ "George Crawford Black Bar Association". Retrieved 8 January 2013.

External links

Wikisource has the text of an 1879 American Cyclopædia article about Talladega College.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Talladega College.

Colleges and universities in Alabama

Public institutions	Alabama Alabama A&M Alabama State Auburn Auburn Montgomery Jacksonville State Montevallo North Alabama South Alabama Troy UAB UAHuntsville West Alabama

Private institutions	Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine Amridge Birmingham–Southern Concordia Faulkner Heritage Christian Huntingdon Judson Miles Mobile Oakwood Samford Selma Southeastern Bible College Spring Hill Stillman Talladega Tuskegee United States Sports Academy Virginia College

Community/junior colleges	Alabama Southern CC Bevil State CC Bishop State CC Calhoun CC Central Alabama CC Chattahoochee Valley CC Enterprise State CC Gadsden State CC H. Council Trenholm State TC J. F. Drake State TC J. F. Ingram State TC Faulkner State CC Jefferson Davis CC Jefferson State CC Lawson State CC Lurleen B. Wallace CC Marion Military Institute Northeast Alabama CC Northwest Shoals CC Reid State TC Shelton State CC Snead State CC Southern Union State CC Wallace CC Wallace State CC Hanceville Wallace State CC Selma

Upper level colleges	Athens State University

Universities, colleges, and seminaries of the United Church of Christ

Historically black colleges and universities

Public institutions	Alabama A&M Alabama State Albany State Alcorn State Arkansas–Pine Bluff Bishop State CC Bluefield State Bowie State Central State Cheyney Coahoma CC Coppin State Delaware State Elizabeth City State Fayetteville State Florida A&M Fort Valley State Gadsden State CC Grambling State Harris–Stowe Hinds CC Jackson State Kentucky State Langston Lincoln, Missouri Lincoln, Pennsylvania Maryland, Eastern Shore Mississippi Valley State Morgan State Norfolk State North Carolina A&T North Carolina Central Prairie View A&M Savannah State Shelton State CC South Carolina State Southern Southern–New Orleans Southern–Shreveport Tennessee State Texas Southern UDC UVI Virginia State West Virginia State Winston-Salem State

Private institutions	Allen Arkansas Baptist Barber–Scotia Benedict Bennett Bethune-Cookman Claflin Clark Atlanta Concordia Alabama Dillard Edward Waters Fisk Florida Memorial University Hampton Howard Huston–Tillotson Interdenominational Theological Center Jarvis Christian Johnson C. Smith Knoxville Lane LeMoyne–Owen Livingstone Meharry Miles Morehouse Morehouse School of Medicine Morris Brown Morris Oakwood Paine Paul Quinn Philander Smith Rust Selma Shaw Simmons College (Ky.) Southwestern Christian Spelman Stillman St. Augustine's Talladega Texas College Tougaloo Tuskegee Virginia Union Virginia University Voorhees Wilberforce Wiley Xavier (La.)

Defunct institutions	Bishop Daniel Payne Guadalupe Kittrell Lewis College of Business Mississippi Industrial College Morristown College Mount Hermon Female Seminary Saint Paul's Storer Straight Western

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