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A series of images from the UAB Archives

Image of the Month (2008)

  • 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

  • Dental students in the laboratory, circa 1952

    Three dental students examine a large model of the mouth
    October 2008 Image of the Month

    The three students here, (left to right) Randall O. Laffre, Jr., Robert J. Eustice, and Gerald R. Rowe, were members of the first class to graduate from the School of Dentistry. Fifty-two men, all veterans of World War II, matriculated on October 18, 1948, and fifty would graduate on May 31, 1952.

    Image ID: P1, #0221

  • Art class offered in the Division of Humanities, circa 1970

    A professor points to a painting while a student looks on
    September 2008 Image of the Month

    In 1968 two people were hired to teach art classes part-time. In 1969 the two became full-time instructors within the Division of Humanities. In 1972 UAB began a major in art, and in 1973 the Department of Art was formally organized within the new School of Humanities.

    Image ID: P7.2.7, #1923

  • University College students relax outside of class, August 1970

    Three women and a man sit on a bench talking
    August 2008 Image of the Month

    These students are seated outside of Tidwell Hall on South 20th Street, on the site currently occupied by the Kaul Human Genetics Building.

    Image ID: P7.3.1, #1023

  • 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

  • Urban Renewal area, 1958

    Rundown shack in a field with high rise buildings behind it
    June 2008 Image of the Month

    On June 10, 1958 university officials obtained 10 ½ blocks of land adjacent to the Medical Center. The Urban Renewal Project allowed the campus to grow west from its original four blocks. This photograph of the 800 block of South 17th Street – the site currently occupied by the Learning Resources Center – clearly illustrates the substandard conditions found immediately west of the campus. University Hospital and the Veterans Administration Hospital are visible in the background.

    Image ID: P7.2.7, #0571

  • 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

  • Construction of the optometry building, circa 1974

    Construction site for the optometry building
    April 2008 Image of the Month

    The steel structure of a building to house the School of Optometry rises on the UAB campus. The optometry building was dedicated on September 12, 1975 ; it would be renamed the Henry B. Peters Building in 1994 in honor the school's founding dean. In this view looking east from Volker Hall, the Statue of Hippocrates is visible in the original courtyard that was located in front of the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences.

    Photo ID:  P21.2, #0023

  • The Engineering Building gets a new sign, December 1966

    Two men stand outside the engineering building
    March 2008 Image of the Month

    Pictured are (left to right) Don Bowermann, president of the Birmingham Chapter of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers, and Dr. Joseph H. Appleton, professor of Civil Engineering. The AIIE chapter provided funding for the lettering on the building. Dr. Appleton later served as director of the Engineering Division from 1967 until 1971 and as first dean of the School of Engineering from 1971 until 1978. The engineering program began in the 1940s and was the first non-health related program at UAB where students could complete all of their coursework in Birmingham.

    Image ID: P7.2.7, #0305

  • Lawrence Reynolds, MD, at the opening reception of the Lawrence Reynolds Library, 1958

    A woman shakes had with a man while another man looks on
    February 2008 Image of the Month

    Dr. Reynolds, an Alabama native, selected the medical school in Birmingham as home for his collection of over 6,000 books, manuscripts and artifacts. The Lawrence Reynolds Library was dedicated on February 2, 1958. Since 1974 the Reynolds Historical Library has been housed within UAB's Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences. The library collection has grown to over 13,000 items and the library is one of three units that comprise UAB Historical Collections.

    Image ID: P7.2.7, #1521

  • Gladys McQueen becomes the university's first "Employee of the Month," January 1978

    A woman sits in front of a computer and looks to the side at the camera
    January 2008 Image of the Month

    McQueen, who had 25 years of service with the university, was a keypunch supervisor in the Central Computing Facility. In January of 1979 she would also be selected as UAB's first "Employee of the Year."

    Image ID: P7.2.1, #0574

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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