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
1890 State Normal College Essays and Orations of Graduates, State Normal College
1891 State Normal College General Program, 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
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
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
State Normal School Second Section of the Class in Declamation, State Normal School
Stepping to the Music, Gary Cosby Jr.
The Flor-Ala Alumni Edition, Florence State Teachers College
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
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.
