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 »
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 »
UNT first developed a health service center in response to the 1918-1919 flu pandemic. The campus had no health clinic or hospital for students when the influenza pandemic broke out. There was a hospital on campus, operated by the United States government, but it only served the student soldiers in the Student Army Training Corps…. Read more »
The student body at the University of North Texas grew to a whopping 37,000 during the 2015-2016 school year. Considering our humble beginnings offering courses to 70 students in a rented space above a hardware store in downtown Denton over a hundred years ago, our journey from the Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute to the… Read more »
On September 16,1890, as the doors opened to the Texas Normal College and Teacher training Institute, President Joshua C. Chilton stated that it was the school’s aim “[…] to become leaders in the education of the young men and women of Texas […].” With the president’s words, a seed of loyalty and spirit was planted… Read more »
Over the 125 year history of North Texas many buildings have served the needs of the faculty and students. A few, such as Curry Hall and the Power Plant, have stood on campus since the 1900s. Others are remembered by alumni and faculty, but they ceased to grace the campus as new and larger structures took their place. Below… Read more »
In November 1901 the first North Texas student publication, the North Texas State Normal Journal, was published. From 1901 – 1905, the Normal Journal served as North Texas State Normal College’s literary journal and yearbook, as well as the student newspaper. Short stories, poems, and literary criticism were published on a monthly basis alongside coverage… Read more »
Beulah Harriss, moved from Nebraska to Texas to join the faculty of the North Texas State Normal College (now the University of North Texas) in 1914. She was the first woman hired as a member of the athletic faculty. Ms. Harriss supervised the women’s athletic program, including coaching women’s basketball. The women’s team played three… Read more »
When Annie Webb Blanton, an early twentieth-century Texas feminist and educational reformer, moved to Denton in 1901 to join the faculty of North Texas State Normal College (a predecessor to the University of North Texas), the town had 4,000 residents. Over the next seventeen years Blanton witnessed Denton’s population double in response to the opportunities… Read more »
Celebrate with us as we look at some memorable people, events and traditions spanning from 1890 to the current day. Each week we'll post historical photographs, documents and memorabilia from the Archive of the University of North Texas.
The student body at the University of North Texas grew to a whopping 37,000 during the 2015-2016 school year. Considering our humble beginnings offering courses to 70 students in a rented space above a hardware store in downtown Denton over a hundred years ago, our journey from the Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute to the… Read more »
On September 16,1890, as the doors opened to the Texas Normal College and Teacher training Institute, President Joshua C. Chilton stated that it was the school’s aim “[…] to become leaders in the education of the young men and women of Texas […].” With the president’s words, a seed of loyalty and spirit was planted… Read more »
Over the 125 year history of North Texas many buildings have served the needs of the faculty and students. A few, such as Curry Hall and the Power Plant, have stood on campus since the 1900s. Others are remembered by alumni and faculty, but they ceased to grace the campus as new and larger structures took their place. Below… Read more »
In November 1901 the first North Texas student publication, the North Texas State Normal Journal, was published. From 1901 – 1905, the Normal Journal served as North Texas State Normal College’s literary journal and yearbook, as well as the student newspaper. Short stories, poems, and literary criticism were published on a monthly basis alongside coverage… Read more »
Beulah Harriss, moved from Nebraska to Texas to join the faculty of the North Texas State Normal College (now the University of North Texas) in 1914. She was the first woman hired as a member of the athletic faculty. Ms. Harriss supervised the women’s athletic program, including coaching women’s basketball. The women’s team played three… Read more »
When Annie Webb Blanton, an early twentieth-century Texas feminist and educational reformer, moved to Denton in 1901 to join the faculty of North Texas State Normal College (a predecessor to the University of North Texas), the town had 4,000 residents. Over the next seventeen years Blanton witnessed Denton’s population double in response to the opportunities… Read more »
