UWG begins 88th year of serving region and state

The school had its origins in 1906, as an agricultural and mechanical school. But when the state established a new junior college on the site in 1933, West Georgia College was born, offering two-year degree programs. When West Georgia became a four-year school in 1957, there were a total of 576 students and approximately 30 faculty and staff on campus.

With a state supported budget of less than $100,000 in 1957, the budget for the current fiscal year that began July 1 for the University of West Georgia budget is $189 million. Primary sources of funding come from the State of Georgia and tuition fees.

That’s growth by any standard.

Academically, UWG has evolved from offering agricultural courses and classes in mechanical skills of the early 1900s to a handful of students to offering bachelors, masters, specialist, and doctoral degrees in more than 80 different major areas of study that are available today.

The following timeline shows how the current university on Maple Street has grown, beginning in 1908 when its “great-great-grandfather,” —

the Fourth District A&M School — opened its handful of doors in three buildings and to less than 100 students, to a major institution of higher learning with numerous buildings scattered across a 695-acre campus that serves more than 13,000 students:

1906 — General Assembly of Georgia passes the Perry Act, creating an agricultural and mechanical school in each of the 11 (increased to 12 in 1919) congressional districts in the state. These A&M schools were secondary schools designed

to prepare rural youth for farm

life.

1907 — The 275-acre farm of Bluford A. Sharp, located west of Carrollton (the north side of what is now Maple Street), was selected as the site of the Fourth Congressional District A&M School and purchased by the trustees for $9,625.

1907, July 9 — The cornerstone on the academic building was laid. The event attracted the largest group ever assembled in the county (estimated at 12,000), including then-Gov. Joseph M. Terrell.

1907, Dec. 6 — The family of John H. Melson, the first principal of the A&M school, arrived on the campus. Snow and ice covered the ground. The water was frozen and there were no electric lights or walkways and driveways.

1908, January — The Fourth District A&M School opened its doors under the leadership of Principal Melson. “We Learn to Do by Doing” was adopted as the motto for the school. When the school opened there were only two automobiles in Carrollton. Records show than less than 100 students enrolled for the initial term.

1908, January 27- Penelope Stevens Melson, wife of the principal, became the de facto librarian when she conducted a “book shower.” This provided

the nucleus of a library when

325 volumes of nondescript

books and bound volumes of magazines were contributed by local citizens. The books were placed on a single shelf in the

linen closet on the East side of

the dormitory lobby.

1908, Feb. 19 — A newly-organized baseball team defeated Carrollton High School 16-4. The following day this team chose its official colors — dark blue and red. These became the school’s colors and they remain so today.

1916, Summer — The stone horse-mounting block belonging to Creek Indian leader General William McIntosh was moved to the grounds of the A&M School from McIntosh’s plantation on the Chattahoochee River. McIntosh, who signed a treaty ceding Creek (Muscogee) lands to Georgia without the permission of other Creek leaders was ordered assassinated by those leaders in 1825.

1919 — Principal Melson asked the governors of 13 states for the gift of an oak tree variety native to their particular state to be planted on the front campus. Until that time, the land had been a cotton field.

1929, May — Then-Gov. of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt and later U.S. president, was commencement speaker at the Fourth District A&M School.

1932, Jan. 1 — A state law became effective that organized Georgia’s public institutions of higher learning into a unified system under a chancellor and a Board of Regents. The Board of Regents took the position that high school education was not an appropriate function of the state to perform, but should be left to local authorities such as municipalities and school districts.

1933, March — The Board of Regents announced plans to cease the operation of Bowdon College (which had begun in 1856) and all remaining A&M schools. Instead, a new junior college would be established on one of three campuses in west Georgia: Carrollton, Bowdon, or Powder Springs. The Regents invited presentations from each city for their meeting set for April 15, 1933. City leaders gathered at the Carrollton City Hall to plan the community’s procedure to win approval for the Carrollton site.

1933, April 15 — The Board of Regents chose Carrollton’s A&M School as the campus and Irvine S. Ingram as the new President of the college, which they named West Georgia College.

1933, April 24 — Final commencement exercises were held for the A&M School.

COMING UP NEXT: The Junior College Years: 19333-57