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Groundbreaking ceremony for an addition to University Hospital, August 1, 1974.

University officials use a backhoe to break ground -- and the concrete of a parking lot and sidewalk -- for a nine-story addition to the hospital complex, the Monday Morning Quarterback Club Tower.  UAB's new facility would be named in honor of the local civic organization, the Monday Morning Quarterback Club, which supports children's medical needs through charitable activities and contributions.  The club provided funding for the building.  "Quarterback Tower" would be opened in July 1977.

Image ID: P7.3.3, #0007

No Exit, the first student production, 1970

The first all-student theatre production at UAB was Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit in the fall of 1970.  The show was mounted as a theater-in-the-round production on the stage of the university's Clark Memorial Theatre off Highland Avenue.  It was directed by faculty member Ward Haarbauer and featured UAB students Jim Hethcox, Rosa Melton, Pat Purcell, and Julie Templin.  No Exit predates the establishment of a formal academic department, which was first created in 1973 as the Department of Performing Arts.  It became the Department of Theatre and Dance in 1980 and was renamed as the Department of Theatre in 1995.  Dr. Haarbauer was the inaugural departmental chair, serving from 1973 until 1981.

UAB Archives announces the opening of a major archival collection from the UAB Department of Theatre.  Record Group 50 contains over 1,600 photographs, hundreds of playbills and event programs, and administrative files from the department dated 1970 until the present.  Contact the UAB Archives for additional information.

Image ID: P50.2, #0967