Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
President George Washington Trenholm Collection |
Collection |
President George Washington Trenholm Collection |
Catalog Number |
1925.001 |
Object Name |
Papers, Personal |
Level of description |
Fonds/Coll |
Scope & Content |
President George Washington Trenholm Collection, 1920-1925 3 1/4 boxes, 1 small box, 1 medium box; 2 cubic feet. This collection consists of documents, correspondences, and photos of George Washington Trenholm's tenure as president of Alabama State College in Montgomery, Alabama from 1920-1925. Educator George Washington Trenholm was born in Shelby County, Alabama to George Trenholm and Maria on December 14, 1871. He attended the rural county schools, Marion Baptist Academy, Alabama A&M Institute-now a university, Fenton Normal and Commercial College in Michigan (receiving a bachelor degree in philosophy), and the University of Chicago. During Alabama's rigid racial segregation, his educational career began in Shelby County. From 1896 to 1916, he was principal of the Tuscumbia Colored Public School, named in his honor in 1921. Next, he was State Supervisor of Teachers' Institutes; then, in 1918, State Supervisor of Teacher Training for Colored Teachers. In 1920 until his death, Trenholm headed the State Normal School for Negroes in Montgomery, now Alabama State University. In 1921, the State Board of Education recognized the institution as a Class "A" normal school because it offered two years beyond high school. But it was only in 1924-25 that the school fielded a twelfth grade class. A zealous, fund-raising Trenholm oversaw major improvements: a reorganization of course offerings, a quarter system, junior college graduating classes, library, band, and physical plant expansion. Also, in 1924 under him, the school celebrated a fiftieth anniversary in grand style, rationalizing that 1874 was its founding year, since that was when the state of Alabama acquired the Lincoln Normal School that had begun under private auspices in 1867. G.W. Trenholm received an honorary Master of Science from Alabama A&M in 1900; and honorary Master of Arts and Doctor of Laws from Selma University in 1915 and 1925 respectively. He married Ellen Brown in 1899. They had one child, Harper Councill Trenholm, who succeeded his father as the Montgomery Normal School Principal. The elder Trenholm died on August 3, 1925. |
Search Terms |
ASU Presidents Trenholm, George Washington Education, Higher Universities and colleges Administration College presidents |
People |
Trenholm, George Washington |
Child Records |
Box 01 - Outgoing Correspondences: 1916-1918 Box 02 - Correspondences: 1916-1923 Box 03 - Correspondences, Photos, State Normal School Song, Tuscumbia School, Memorial Tribute to G.W. Trenholm Box 04 - Scrapbook: Correspondences, Newspaper Clippings, and Programs from G.W. Trenholm's Tenure Box 05 - Incoming Correspondence: 1916-1930 Box 06 - Photo Collection of G.W. Trenholm Box 07 - Portrait, Certificates, & Diploma |