Talladega College
Talladega College is a private, historically-black liberal arts college in Talladega. The college offers majors in social sciences, education, business administration, and in the humanities and fine arts, natural sciences and mathematics. The college's president is Oscar Prater.
The college started as a one-room school for African Americans founded in 1865 by freed slaves William Savery and Thomas Tarrant with help from the Freedmen's Bureau and Alabama's military governor Wager Swayne. In 1867 the school moved into the former Baptist Academy building nearby. Because of Swayne's help in securing the purchase, it was named the Swayne School in his honor. In 1869 the school was chartered as Talladega College.
That original main building, Swayne Hall has been granted National Historic Landmark status and has been stabilized and restored using funds from the Historic Black Colleges and Universities Program administered by the National Park Service. The 1939 Savery Library replaced a Carnegie-built library from 1907. Its Hale Woodruff murals of the Amistad revolt are treasured works of art. Interior renovations to Swayne Hall, the Savery Library, Silsby Science Hall and DeForest Chapel were underway as of July 20007.
The school was listed as one of the "Best Colleges in the Southeast" in the 2005 edition of the Princeton Review's "Best 357 Colleges."
Notable alumni
- Lydia Lewis Alexander, 1958, educator
- Henry Drewry, 1948, educator
- John Rhoden, sculptor (did not finish)
- Antonio Spurling, 1994, attorney, developer, and entrepreneur
- Margaret Bush Wilson, attorney
References
- Thornton, William (July 9, 2007) "Talladega College renewing campus." Birmingham News.
External links
- Talladega College website