TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Historic Tuomey Hall on The University of Alabama campus will be rededicated as an Academic House in UA’s Blount Undergraduate Initiative Saturday, April 27 at noon at Tuomey Hall on UA’s main Quadrangle. The ceremony will also dedicate the new Danford-Yarbrough Library, housed within Tuomey.
Tuomey Hall has undergone a $1 million renovation to serve as one of two Academic Houses in the Blount Undergraduate Initiative in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. It contains seminar rooms, a computer lab, faculty offices, and the Danford-Yarbrough Library, the reference and reading room for students in the Initiative.
Built in 1888 and named in honor of state geologist and UA professor Michael Tuomey, the building originally housed chemistry laboratories and offices for the Geological Survey of Alabama. Tuomey served as state geologist in the 1840s, and his work led to the formation of the Geological Survey.
“With this renovation, this beautiful and historic building in the heart of the University campus has been preserved and brought back to active academic service in the Blount Initiative. But we have two reasons to celebrate. As we rededicate Tuomey Hall, we will also commemorate the opening of the new Danford-Yarbrough Library within Tuomey, which honors two individuals who were instrumental in establishing the Blount Undergraduate Initiative program,” said Dr. Robert F. Olin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Mrs. Becky Danford of Dothan established the library with a gift in honor of her late husband, UA alumnus John Granger Danford, Sr., and Dr. James D. Yarbrough, dean emeritus of the College of Arts and Sciences
In 1996, Danford, a mechanical engineer, was one of the first individuals to support the then-proposed Blount Undergraduate Initiative with an unrestricted gift, enabling plans for the Initiative to begin. The Initiative was formally established a short time later with a $7 million gift from Montgomery businessman Winton Blount, his wife, Carolyn Blount, and the Blount Foundation. The Blount gift was one of the largest single gifts ever received by The University of Alabama.
Danford graduated from the University of California-Los Angles with a bachelor’s degree in biology and earned a master’s degree in mathematics at The University of Alabama. He died in 2000.
Yarbrough served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1989 to 2001 and successfully worked to establish, with a private endowment, the Initiative, a special four-year liberal arts program in the College of Arts and Sciences designed to create a community of undergraduate scholars at The University of Alabama. The Initiative now has a private endowment of approximately $14 million.
Yarbrough also oversaw the construction of the $8 million Blount Living-Learning Center, the residence for freshmen in the program, and obtained $1 million in private funding for the renovation of Oliver-Barnard Hall, a sister building to Tuomey Hall. Oliver-Barnard Hall was dedicated as the first Blount Undergraduate Initiative Academic House in August 2001. Yarbrough is also a professor emeritus of biological sciences at UA.
Begun in 1999 with a freshmen class of 100, the Blount Undergraduate Initiative is a program dedicated to creating an intensive learning environment for highly motivated students.
The program enables students to live in a close-knit community of undergraduate teachers and students. Students are taught through a series of foundation classes and interdisciplinary seminars where they explore classic academic disciplines and learn to be self-reliant thinkers.
The College of Arts and Sciences is the state’s largest liberal arts college and the University’s largest division with 6,000 students, 340 faculty, and more than 26 departments and programs.
Photo Descriptions
An 1890s photograph of Tuomey Hall on the University of Alabama campus, which was built in 1888. The building housed chemistry classrooms and office for the Alabama Geological Survey. It has undergone a $1 million renovation and will be rededicated Saturday, April 27 as an Academic House in the Blount Undergraduate Initiative, a liberal arts program in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. (Photo: W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama)
An 1890s photograph of the chemistry classroom in Tuomey Hall on The University of Alabama campus shows a massive bookcase that has now been restored as part of a $1 million renovation of the historic 1888s building. The bookcase contains two peepholes and small hinged doors that were likely used by legendary UA chemistry and geology professor Eugene Allen Smith to check on students in class from his adjacent office. The baldachin or wooden canopy was removed in earlier years and has not been found. (Photo: W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama)
An 1890s photo of the first floor chemistry lab in Tuomey Hall on the University of Alabama campus. Built in 1888, Tuomey Hall has undergone a $1 million renovation and will be rededicated Saturday, April 27 as an Academic House in the Blount Undergraduate Initiative, a liberal arts program in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. This room will now house the Danford-Yarbrough Library. (Photo: W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama)
Alex Neville a senior art major in the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama spent over 40 hours finishing this massive bookcase as part of a $1 million renovation of historic Tuomey Hall on the UA campus. The bookcase, an original feature of the building, is now part of the Danford-Yarbrough Library in Tuomey Hall. The building will be rededicated as an Academic House in UA’s Blount Undergraduate Initiative during ceremonies April 27 on the UA campus.
Contact
Rebecca Paul Florence or Ashli Chaffin, 205/348-8663