JSU Celebrates 140 Years - The Friendliest Campus in the South

About the Photos in the Collage

1. The crest of Jacksonville State University was created in the 1930s at the request of President Clarence W. Daugette, who served from 1899 to 1942. It was designed by artist Grace Stevenson McAbee. The crest exhibits the Lamp of Knowledge above Seven Strands of Rope, surmounting a shield-encased Griffin, emblazoned with a combination of laurel and oak leaves, under which is a Latin inscription "EXEGI MONUMENTUM AERE PERENNIUS," which means "I have reared a monument more enduring than Bronze."

2. President Theron Montgomery (1981-1986) and his wife, Ada, cut the university's "centennial cake," made in the shape of the university's main administration building, in 1983.

3. President Bill Meehan (1999-2015) congratulates Jade Wagner at her December 2014 graduation.

4. The Marching Southerners perform before the Gamecocks take on the Bison of North Dakota State in the 2015 FCS National Championship game in Frisco, TX.

5. Alumni and guests mingle on the grounds of the Alumni House at homecoming. The cherished gathering spot was heavily damaged during the 2018 tornado that hit campus and was razed shortly thereafter.

6. State Teachers College graduates and their guests pose for a momentous photo opportunity- the college’s Semi-Centennial Celebration. The photo was taken on August 10, 1934. See the full-sized, uncropped photo (3.9 MB)

7. Students and the school mascot on the lawn of Bibb Graves Hall (now Angle Hall) in the 1940s.

8. Students in class in the early 1900s.

9. JSU's current and 13th president, Dr. Don C. Killingsworth, Jr., at a commencement.

10. Students exercise in front of Atkins Hall, the State Normal School Main Building, circa 1903.

11. The 1905 Football Squad at the State Normal School in Jacksonville.

12. “When the telegram came announcing Jacksonville State College had become Jacksonville State University, President Cole was called at home. He dressed hastily so he could make the announcement at the pep rally. Finally, he got the megaphone away from Coach Blevins. The dressed-up football players were ready for the challenge." (source: "The First Hundred Years" by Effie White Sawyer)

13. SNS Faculty group in 1894: Prof. Jacob Forney, President; Prof. C.W. Daugette, Assistant; Miss Mary C. Forney; and Miss Clara Lund.

(Special thanks to the JSU Digital Commons at the Houston Cole Library for their assistance)

Happy 140th Birthday, JSU

(From the "Red and White" newsletter)

On February 22, 1883, Gov. Edward O’Neal signed a bill establishing the State Normal School in Jacksonville, Ala. With a state appropriation of $2,500, $200 in donations, one president, three faculty, one janitor, 12 acres of land, one brick building and 272 students, Jacksonville State University was born.

Before there was a Statue of Liberty, a Washington Monument, Yosemite National Park, General Electric, automobiles and 12 US states, there was JSU. Over the past 14 decades, we have survived the Great Depression, two World Wars, multiple pandemics and at least two tornados. But there’s been good moments, too – the kind that, in the words of Pulitzer Prize winning alumnus Rick Bragg, we wish we could “press between the pages of a book" so we "could touch them again.”

Relive all of JSU's best memories through the Houston Cole Library's digital archives, where you will find a historical image collection, searchable PDFs of old "Teacola" and "Mimosa" yearbooks, every copy of The Chanticleer dating back to 1934, and much more.