UT Martin nearly closed twice during its first quarter-century. Hall-Moody closed for the last time on June 1, and the new UT Junior College began operations on September 2 with 120 students. On March 29, it was officially approved by Governor Austin Peay. On February 10, 1927, Senate Bill Number 301 established the University of Tennessee Junior College in Martin. The City of Martin and Weakley County sold bonds to purchase the campus and some surrounding land. University of Tennessee president Harcourt Morgan agreed to accept the proposition on the condition that the Martin community would acquire the property as well as space for expansion. Upon hearing of the impending closure of the Hall-Moody campus, area civic and political leaders asked the state of Tennessee to step in and take over the former Hall-Moody facilities under the auspices of the University of Tennessee. In 1927, the Tennessee Baptist Convention made the decision to consolidate Hall-Moody with a similar institution, Union University, in nearby Jackson. Due to declining enrollment and financial difficulties in the mid-1920s, Hall-Moody Junior College was in danger of closing. Five years later, Hall-Moody changed its name again to Hall-Moody Junior College. The institute changed its name to Hall-Moody Normal School in 1917, as teacher training became its primary focus. It originally offered 13 years of study, from elementary grades to the equivalent of the first years of collegiate work. The school opened as the Hall-Moody Institute, named for two locally prominent Baptist ministers - John Newton Hall and Joseph Burnley Moody. In 1900, Ada Gardner Brooks donated a site on what was then the outskirts of Martin to the Tennessee Baptist Convention for the purposes of opening a school. UTM operates a large experimental farm and several satellite centers in West Tennessee.Īlthough UT Martin dates from 1927, it is not the first educational institution to use the current site. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outside of Memphis. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. The University of Tennessee at Martin ( UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee. NCAA Division I FCS – Ohio Valley Conference
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |