Documents pertaining to student life at the University of North Alabama, including The Normal Gem Newspapers. The Normal Gem: A Monthly Journal Devoted to the Interest of Education in Alabama existed as one of the University of North Alabama’s earliest student news publications. The publication derives its name from the university’s designation as the Florence State Normal School, the first state-supported teachers' college south of the Ohio River, which existed from 1872 through 1928 until the name was once again changed to Florence State College. The newspapers within the collection feature reflections on student life and education from October of 1889 through November of 1891.
Submissions from 2026
Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Florence Wesleyan University For 1856-1857, C.P. Bynum
Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Florence Wesleyan University for 1859-1860, A.A. Stitt
Fifty-Third Commencement: State Normal School, State Normal School
Florence Normal College Quarterly, Faculty of Florence Normal College
Florence Normal College Quarterly, Faculty of Florence Normal College
Florence Normal College Quarterly, Faculty of Florence Normal College
Florence Normal College Quarterly, Faculty of Florence Normal College
Florence Normal College Quarterly, Faculty of Florence Normal College
Florence Normal College Quarterly, Faculty of Florence Normal College
Florence Normal College Quarterly, Faculty of Florence Normal College
Florence Normal College Quarterly, Faculty of Florence Normal College
Stepping to the Music, Gary Cosby Jr.
The Normal Gem, December 1889, Vol. II, No.3, Florence State Normal School
The Normal Gem, n.d., 1889, Florence State Normal School
The Normal Gem, November 1889, Vol. II, No. 2, Florence State Normal School
The Normal Gem, November 1891, Vol. IV, No. 2, Florence State Normal School
The Normal Gem, October 1889, Vol. II, No. 1, Florence State Normal School
The Purple Owl, December 1923, The Florence Herald
The Purple Owl, February 1922, Times Print, Florence, Ala.
The Purple Owl, January 1923, The Florence Times
The Purple Owl, June 1925, The Florence Herald
The Purple Owl, March 1922, The Times Print, Florence, Ala.
The Purple Owl, March 1923, The Florence Times
The Purple Owl, March 1924, The Florence Herald
The Purple Owl, March 1925, The Florence Herald
The Purple Owl, May 1922, State Normal School
The Purple Owl, November 1922, State Normal School
The Purple Owl Pictorial Edition, May 1923, The Florence Times
