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A series of images from the UAB Archives

1980s

  • Hulsey Fine Arts Center, circa 1982

    Exterior of Hulsey Center
    April 2012 Image of the Month

    The Hulsey Center for the Arts and Humanities, more commonly known as the Hulsey Fine Arts Center, was completed in 1981 and was officially opened on April 30, 1982. A renovation project completed in 2004 gave the center a new main entrance along South 13th Street. The Center is named in honor of UAB benefactors William Hansell and Susan Mabry Hulsey.

    Image ID: P7.3.3, #70

  • Ceremonial first pitch for the Jerry D. Young Memorial Field, April 18, 1985

    Brooks Robinson throws a baseball towards the catcher
    April 2011 Image of the Month

    Brooks Robinson, a Hall of Famer and former Baltimore Oriole, threw out the first pitch at the dedicatory game at the Young Memorial Field.  The UAB Blazers defeated Ole Miss 8 to 2.  UAB’s first on-campus home for baseball had been in use for just over a year when it was formally dedicated in honor of the founding dean of the School of Business and the Vice President for Finance at the time of his death in 1983.

    Image ID:  P6.1, #0698

  • A mummy is scanned in University Hospital, 1988

    A mummy enters a cat scan machine as three people watch
    March 2011 Image of the Month

    Prior to being displayed at the Birmingham Museum of Art as part of the Birmingham Festival of Arts, the mummy of an Egyptian female was brought to UAB for examination.  Officials used a CAT scan to examine the remains of the 2,000-year old woman, who became the “oldest patient” ever examined at University Hospital.

    Image ID:  P23.3, #572

  • The Woodward House is decorated for the holidays, ca. 1984

    Exterior of Woodward House with a Christmas tree and wreath
    December 2010 Image of the Month

    The 23-room building atop Red Mountain was completed in 1926 as a home for the Woodward family.  In 1969 the mansion became the official home of the President of UAB.

    Image ID:  7.1.1

  • UAB celebrates $100 Million Dollar Day, April 27, 1989

    A crowd gathers in the courtyard at Volker Hall
    April 2009 Image of the Month

    In the courtyard by Volker Hall, School of Optometry, and Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences, UAB hosted a picnic to celebrate reaching $100 million in active research grants and contracts. Twenty years after reaching this major milestone, UAB currently has over $473 million in active extramural funding.

    Image ID: P7.4.2, #0138

  • Members of UAB's Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils decorate a Christmas tree in the new University Center, December 1983

    Four students stand in front a Christmas tree, reaching up
    December 2008 Image of the Month

    Standing around the tree are (left to right) Chuck Dinsmore, Bonita Seaborn, Mark Stephens, and Darryl Cunningham. The University Center opened in October 1983 and on May 17, 1991, would be renamed the Hill University Center in honor of Dr. S. Richardson Hill, Jr., second president of UAB.

    Image ID: P7.4.1, #2555

  • A class in the UAB School of Education, 1980

    A professor lectures in front of a classroom
    November 2008 Image of the Month

    Attendees in a summer course listen as Dr. Kevin P. Walsh, a member of the education faculty, lectures. The School of Education was formally created in August 1971, but a Division of Education had been established in 1968 as part of the university's College of General Studies.

    Image ID: P7.3.3, #0638

  • UAB officials work the barbecue pit, circa 1980

    Three men in aprons tend to a bbq pit
    July 2008 Image of the Month

    Preparing the day's meal for a university office picnic are (left to right): Dr. Jerry D. Young, vice president for Finance; Ray Boothe, head of UAB facilities; and Stanley L. Chesser, director of Campus Services and Grounds. The barbecue pit was located on the western edge of campus near South 11th Street and adjacent to the Special Studies and Facilities Management buildings.

    Image ID: P16.1.7, #0490

  • Kidney transplant surgery, circa 1981

    Close-up of surgeons hands in an abdomen
    May 2008 Image of the Month

    The first kidney transplant in the state of Alabama was conducted at the Medical Center in Birmingham on May 8, 1968. Dr. Arnold G. Diethelm performed the surgery and headed the transplant team. In the 40 years since that first surgery, UAB has grown to be one of America's top transplant centers with patients arriving from around the globe for treatment. Currently, the university has active programs in kidney, heart, liver, lung, bone marrow, pancreas, cornea and retina transplantation.

    Image ID: P7.3.3, #0310

  • The School of Public Health, circa 1982

    Outside entrance of the School of Public Health
    March 2007 Image of the Month

    The medical center's youngest academic school, the UAB School of Public Health, was approved by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in May 1981. Until its move to the Ryals Building in 1996, the school was located in Tidwell Hall on South 20th Street (on the site currently occupied by the Kaul Human Genetics Building). At the time of this photo, the building's facade carried the university's official name, the "University of Alabama in Birmingham." In November 1984 the name was changed to the current "University of Alabama at Birmingham.

    Image ID: P7.3.1, #219

  • Welcoming the Sun Belt Conference Championship to Birmingham, February 1982

    Two men hold a banner
    February 2007 Image of the Month

    UAB Athletic Director and Head Basketball Coach Gene Bartow (right) and Ferd Weil (left) of the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce hang green and gold welcome banners along UAB streets. The UAB Blazer Men's Team won the conference championship, gaining the school's first Sun Belt title. Bartow was named conference Coach of the Year and UAB player Oliver Robinson was named conference Player of the Year.

    Image ID: P7.4.1, #2023

  • The UAB mascot entertains fans at a Blazer basketball game, circa 1981

    A rooster mascot shows an eye chart to the crowd at a basketball game
    November 2006 Image of the Month

    On November 24, 1978 the men's basketball team played its first NCAA-level game in front of more than 14,000 fans at the BJCC. The Blazers lost the game to Nebraska. Four days later, the Lady Blazers lost their first game against North Alabama. "Beauregard T. Rooster," the second mascot of UAB, debuted in 1979 and remained the University’s mascot throughout the 1980s.

    Image ID: P6, #001

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Mervyn H. Sterne Library

917 13th St S
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-6364

Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences

1700 University Blvd
Birmingham, AL

(205) 975-4821

Reynolds-Finley Historical Library

1700 University Blvd - 3rd Floor
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-4475

Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences

1700 University Blvd - 3rd Floor
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-4475

Lister Hill Library at University Hospital

615 18th Street S - P235 West Pavilion
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-2275

801 Building

801 5th Ave South
Room 1111
Birmingham, AL

(205) 934-5432

J. Ellis Sparks Medical Library

301 Governors Drive SE - 3rd Floor
Huntsville, AL 35801

(256) 551-4405

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