Explore UAB

A series of images from the UAB Archives

Image of the Month (2019)

  • Tree decorating at the Friendship House, December 1976

    Tree decorating at the Friendship House, 1976
    December 2019 Image of the Month
    Members of UAB's international community decorate a holiday tree with ornaments representing their native lands, including Columbia, Denmark, Guatemala, Japan, and Wales.  The Friendship House was located on the side of Red Mountain on 28th Street South and was adjacent to UAB's Smolian House.  The Friendship House served as a hospitality center for UAB from 1965 until 1988.  The garden located between the Smolian and Friendship houses was dedicated in 1977 as UAB's International Friendship and Peace Garden.

    Image ID: P7.4.1, #0086

  • Students in front of Tidwell Hall, 1969

    Students in front of Tidwell Hall, 1969
    November 2019 Image of the Month
    During the first term of the new university, there were 5,381 students enrolled at UAB in the fall of 1969.  Tidwell was the campus home to all non-health science classes offered by UAB as part of the College of General Studies.  The old apartments in the background, which housed various university administrative and academic offices, were located at the corner of 20th Street and 8th Avenue South -- the site of today's Hilton Birmingham at UAB.

    Image ID: Annual Report yearbook

  • Vietnam Moratorium Protest at UAB, October 15, 1969

    Vietnam Moratorium Protest, 1969
    October 2019 Image of the Month
    One month after becoming its own independent university, a protest was held on the UAB campus to support a moratorium on the Vietnam War, part of protests and demonstrations held nationwide on that same day.  The UAB protest was held in front of Tidwell Hall, the home of the College of General Studies.  Tidwell was located on South 20th Street where the Hugh Kaul Human Genetics Building is currently located.

    Image ID: P7.2.2, #2073

  • President Joseph F. Volker speaks at dinner held in his honor, September 5, 1969

    Volker speaks at testimonial dinner, September 5, 1969
    September 2019 Image of the Month
    On September 5, 1969, Dr. Volker officially became the first president of UAB, a new university within the three-campus University of Alabama System.  Volker had been named president-elect of the new university the previous June.  On his first day in office, the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Action Committee, and Operation New Birmingham hosted a testimonial dinner to honor and celebrate the new university and its inaugural president.  Several hundred civic, business, academic, and political leaders attended the black-tie dinner at the Municipal Auditorium [today's Boutwell Auditorium].

    Image ID: A90-01

  • Clinical instruction in the dental clinic, 1969

    Clinical instruction in the dental clinic, 1969
    August 2019 Image of the Month
    Students enrolled in the dental school and in the dental assistant and hygienist programs receive clinical training experiences in the school's clinic.

    Image ID: P7.2.7, #0271a

  • Groundbreaking ceremony for UAB's next advance in health care, July 14, 2000

    Groundbreaking ceremony for UAB's next advance in health care, July 14, 2000
    July 2019 Image of the Month
    Breaking ground for the North Pavilion, a major expansion for University Hospital, were numerous university and system officials including (front row, second from left) Dr. W. Ann Reynolds, UAB president, and (front row, second from right) Dr. Thomas C. Meredith, chancellor of the three-campus University of Alabama System.  The 11-story North Pavilion, which occupies almost an entire city block, was completed in 2004.  The facility's emergency department is the size of a football field.

    Image ID: A2018-13P

  • Joseph and Juanita Volker chat with David and Mary Mathews, June 16, 1969

    Joseph and Juanita Volker chat with David and Mary Mathews, June 16, 1969
    June 2019 Image of the Month

    At a press conference in Montgomery, Governor Albert P. Brewer and members of the Board of Trustees announced a new three-campus University of Alabama System with separate universities located in Tuscaloosa (UA), Huntsville (UAH), and Birmingham (UAB).  The Board named F. David Mathews as the new president of the University of Alabama and Joseph F. Volker as president-elect of the new UAB; a search would later be held for the first president of UAH.  Dr. Volker officially assumed office as the first president of UAB on September 5, 1969.  Dr. and Mrs. Volker (left) and Dr. and Mrs. Mathews (right) chat across the table at the announcement press conference.


    Image ID: P1, #0380

  • Clark Memorial Theater Building, circa 1990

    Clark Memorial Theater Building, circa 1990
    May 2019 Image of the Month

    Prior to the start of the 1998-1999 season, UAB announced that the season would be the final one for its long-running Town and Gown Theater program.  Six shows were produced as part of that final season:  The Glass Menagerie, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Red Hot & Cole, You Can’t Take it With You, and Cabaret.  The production of Cabaret closed on May 16, 1999, ending the 49-year run of Town and Gown Theater and ending the university’s use of the Clark building on Hatcher Place in Caldwell Park.  In 2000 the Metropolitan Arts Council acquired the old theater building and a renovated and newly renamed Virginia Samford Theatre was reopened in 2002.


    Image ID: P45.2

  • Into the Streets Day, 1999

    Into the Streets Day, 1999
    April 2019 Image of the Month

    UAB sponsored the inaugural Into the Streets volunteer event day on Saturday, April 10, 1999.  Over 300 students participated in a wide variety of sponsored events, such as planting flowers and trees, painting houses, and picking up litter around the city and along the Cahaba River.  Dr. Virginia Gauld, Vice President for Student Affairs (far left), joined students from UAB Greek organizations as they spent time doing some urban farming.


    Image ID: P7.3.13

  • UAB Honors House, circa 1999

    UAB Honors House, circa 1999
    March 2019 Image of the Month

    The former home of the Second Presbyterian Church was acquired by UAB in 1970 and soon afterward became the home of the UAB-affiliated Alabama Ballet; the building became known as the Ballet House.  In 1985 the building was renamed as the Honors House when it became home to UAB's new Honors Program.  The old church building was renovated with funding provided by William and Virginia Spencer, and the newly renamed Spencer Honors House reopened on March 18, 2002.


    Image ID: P7.3.13

  • College of General Studies Senate, circa 1971

    College of General Studies Senate, circa 1971
    February 2019 Image of the Month

    In January 1970 UAB employees and students approved by campus vote a referendum to create a Senate that would be comprised of faculty, staff, and student representatives.  The first meeting of the new College of General Studies Senate was held February 11, 1970.  The 39-member Senate included elected faculty, staff, and students and administrators appointed by the dean of the College of General Studies.  During the fall term of 1971, the Senate was renamed as the University College Senate following the creation of the new administrative entity University College.  In 1980 the Senate was reconstituted as a faculty-only body to serve as an advisory voice for the faculty in the various units within University College.  After a multi-year process, in 1995 President J. Claude Bennett approved a campus-wide UAB Faculty Senate and this Senate first met on June 30, 1995.


    Image ID: Annual Report yearbook

  • Homecoming Bonfire, 1979

    Homecoming Bonfire, 1979
    January 2019 Image of the Month

    UAB instituted a homecoming celebration to coincide with its new NCAA-level basketball program, which had debuted in the fall of 1978.  The festivities in January of 1979 included basketball games for the new men's and women's teams, an on-campus bonfire, and a homecoming dance for students.  Homecoming would remain a part of the basketball season until 1994 when the celebration was moved to the fall to coincide with football season.


    Image ID: Phoenix yearbook

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

Back to Top