The University of North Texas was founded in 1890 as a private teacher training institution. In 1899 the Texas legislature passed a bill to make North Texas a state institution. The money to fund the college was appropriated in 1901. The last president of the private normal school was President Menter Bradley Terrill (1868-1931), who… Read more »
Valentine’s Day has been part of the college experience for decades. Both faculty and staff were part of the celebrations over the years at UNT. In 1920, the Woman’s Faculty Club met for a club meeting, conducted the club’s business, and then made cards for students in the Normal Hospital. In 1926, the Women’s Faculty… Read more »
“I think it’s important to get involved in things on campus to promote school spirit. It’s not just a dance group. You’re a representative of the school.” -Sherry Nowell, Mean Green Dollies member, 1976 In 1974, the university launched a new spirit organization, a dance team named the Mean Green Dollies. The idea for this… Read more »
The University of North Texas is known for the beauty of its campus. In part this is due to the long pedestrian malls on campus that allow students to walk from one building to another without having to cross busy streets. This was not always so. Talk to alumni who were on campus before the… Read more »
Larry Jobe, chairman of the President’s Council and 1961 alumnus, wanted the UNT campus to have monuments. He wanted to have a symbol of university pride, something the students could gather around. He found a partner for this quest in Tony Alterman, a 1965 alumnus and gallery owner in Dallas and Houston. A proposal was… Read more »
In 1947 a Student Government Committee was formed at North Texas. Its mission was to create a formal way for students to participate in college affairs. They needed to write a constitution for the type of system they agreed on, and the chair of the committee was Malcolm Richard Barnebey, who was known as Dick… Read more »
From the 1920s to the 1960s the Stage Band provided a reliable source of entertainment on Saturday nights on the North Texas campus. They were also known across Texas and in surrounding states. The Stage Band was formed in 1927-1928 and led by band director Floyd Graham. Graham, who grew up in Denton, was the… Read more »
In the 1950s and early 1960s, freshmen (known as frosh) started their college experience with a series of gatherings. These were “get acquainted” events aimed at making students aware of campus options and encouraging the frosh to make new friends. Students were entertained at the theatre party where movies, such as “Pal Joey” and “Love… Read more »
The Fourth of July has long been celebrated on UNT’s campus. In the 1910s and 20s, the faculty, staff and students frequently celebrated with the citizens of Denton. Here are some examples we found of how North Texas students celebrated Independence Day roughly a century ago. In 1913, students and the community gathered to watch… Read more »
Mrs. Pearl McCracken was the first college librarian at UNT and was responsible for building the foundations of a growing and vibrant library system at the University of North Texas. The library started as a room in the Normal Building, next to President Kendall’s office, which housed a small collection of books. In 1903, Pearl… Read more »
