The collection is comprised of documents pertaining to student life at the University of North Alabama and its predecessors: Florence Wesleyan College (1855-1872), State Normal School of Florence (1872–1929), Florence State Teacher's College (1929–1957), Florence State College (1957–1967), and Florence State University (1967–1974). Information on LaGrange College, its earliest predecessor (1830-1855), is located in a separate digital archival collection, which can be accessed here .
Documents in the collection include The Normal Gem Newspaper, the Florence Normal College Quarterly , The Purple Owl , key selections from the Diorama (the student yearbook) and The Flor-Ala (the student newspaper), university catalogues, and various commencement materials.
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. The newspapers within the collection feature reflections on student life and education from October of 1889 through November of 1891.
The Florence Normal College Quarterly was the faculty quarterly publication of the college when it was still Florence Normal College in the 1910s.
The Purple Owl is an early publication from the State Normal School in the 1920s.
University catalogues include information on course offerings, faculty members, and students enrolled within a given term.
Commencement information and other associated graduation information may provide the names of graduates, commencement speakers, and other information pertinent to the graduation ceremony of a given year.
Submissions from 2026
Catalogue of the State Normal School, Florence, Ala (1873-1886), State Normal School
The Flor-Ala Alumni Edition, Florence State Teachers College
1891 State Normal College General Program, State Normal College
Florence Wesleyan University Exhibition of Junor Class, Florence Wesleyan University-Printed at the American Democrat Office
Florence Wesleyan University Exhibition of the Junior Class, Geo. Beck, Printer, Florence, Ala.
Florence Wesleyan University Oratorical Exhibition by the Second Division of the Junior Class, 1860, Barr Brothers, "Gazette," Office
Florence Wesleyan University Sophomore Prize Declamation, Florence Gazette Print
Florence Wesleyan University Sophomore Prize Declamation, 1859, Florence Gazette Office
Nineteenth Commencement State Normal College, 1892, State Normal College
Seventeenth Commencement State Normal College, 1890, State Normal College
State Normal School Graduates' Day, State Normal School
Thirty-Second Commencement State Normal College, 1905, State Normal College
Twenty-Third Commencement State Normal College, 1896, State Normal College
Wesleyan University Commencement, 1857, Wesleyan University, Florence, Ala.
1890 State Normal College Essays and Orations of Graduates, State Normal College
1892 State Normal College Essays and Orations of Graduates, State Normal College
1893 State Normal College Essays and Orations of Graduates, State Normal College
1894 State Normal College Commencement Week Program, State Normal College
1901 28th Commencement State Normal College, State Normal College
State Normal School Second Section of the Class in Declamation, 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
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
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.
Fifty-Third Commencement: State Normal School, State Normal School
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
