Stillman College officially recognized as "Historic Place"

Photo Courtesy: Alabama Historical Commission

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) Fellow Alumnus and Stillmanites, it must be a great feeling to see Stillman College recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.

Stillman College, a private Presbyterian and HBCU located in Tuscaloosa, AL, was officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 2021.

“The Stillman College Historic District was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places for its local significance in African American education and heritage for its ability to illustrate broader trends in the history of higher education for African Americans, particularly the evolution from a white led to an African American led institution and from a ministerial training school to a four-year liberal arts college. It is also locally significant for the theme of social history due to its important role as a Civil Rights Movement strategy and planning site and the involvement of its faculty and students in Civil Rights activities in Tuscaloosa,” according to a NRHP Facebook post.

The original concept of Tuscaloosa Institute, brought forth by Dr. Charles Allen Stillman, was to train black men to become ministers. The institute held its first class in 1876 and upon being chartered as a legal corporation in 1895 they changed their name to Stillman Institute in honor of Dr. Charles A. Stillman. In 1948 Stillman College became a 4year liberal arts institute.

With their enlistment in the NRHP, Stillman will have a chance at receiving federal grants for rehabilitation and they are being considered “worthy of preservation,” according to the National

Register of Historic Places with notable buildings such as Winsborough Hall built in 1922, and Snedecor Hall built in 1929, which are just a couple of sights to see on this 105 acre campus graced with beautiful magnolias trees across its campus.