History

GCSU Archival Collections

Frequently Asked Questions

• 1889 The new college is named Georgia Normal & Industrial College (GN&IC). Its Early Mission is to educate women in Georgia so that they may earn their own living.
  
• 1890 All of Georgia celebrates the groundbreaking of the Main Building on the Georgia Normal & Industrial College campus.
• 1891 The first president of the college, Dr. J. Harris Chappell, takes office. He serves as college president until 1905.
  
• 1891 An early description of Milledgeville from the college catalog.
• 1891 (September 30th) The first classes begin. There are 88 students representing 52 Georgia counties.
  
• 1891 Peabody Model School opens as a training school for student teachers.
  
• 1892 (June 19th) The first commencement is held.
  
• 1894 A dormitory annex is added to the Governor's Mansion.
  
• 1896 Atkinson Hall is built.
  
• 1905 Dr. Marvin McTyeire Parks becomes president and serves as president of the college until 1926.
  
• 1907 Chappell Hall is dedicated.
  
• 1908 Terrell Hall Dormitory (formerly Lamar Hall) is constructed.
  
• 1911 Parks Hall is completed.
  

• 1920 View of Campus

• 1921 The first Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees are conferred.
  
• 1922 The college is renamed Georgia State College for Women (GSCW).
  
• 1924 (December) Main Building burns. All of the official records housed in the Main Building are destroyed in the fire.
  
• 1926 Lanier Hall is completed.
  
• 1926 - December. College President Marvin Parks is struck by a car while walking downtown in Tampa, Florida. He later died on January 2, 1927.
  
• 1927 Dr. J. Luther Beeson becomes president and serves until 1934.
  

• 1926 View of Campus

• 1932 Georgia State College for Women becomes part of the University System of Georgia as did the other 26 state-supported colleges and universities.
  
• 1932 Russell Library is built.
  
• 1934 Mr. Guy Herbert Wells begins his tenure as college president. He is president until 1953.
  
• 1934 Wearing uniforms becomes optional.
  
• 1935 The first Golden Slipper pageant is held to help freshmen who are homesick.
  
• 1938 Beeson Hall is dedicated to former president Dr. Beeson.
• 1938 Sanford Hall is built and dedicated in December.
• 1939 Efforts begin toward writing an Honor Code and electing an Honor Council.
  
• 1942 Mary Flannery O'Connor is a student at Georgia State College for Women.
  
• 1943 The Naval Training School for WAVES is located on campus in support of the war effort.
  

• 1951 Student Life.

• 1953 Dr. Henry King Stanford is named president and is at the college until 1956.
  
• 1954 Herty Hall is built.
  
• 1956 Dr. Robert E. ("Buzz") Lee is the college president. He remains at the college until 1967.
  
• 1958 (summer) The Master of Education degree program becomes the first graduate degree program offered.
  
• 1961 The college gets a new name: The Woman's College of Georgia (WCG).
  
• 1963 New Chappell Hall is opened.
  
• 1964 The first African-American student enters WCG.
  
• 1965 Wells Hall is built.
  
• 1966 Adams Hall is completed.
  
• 1967 (Spring) The college becomes co-educational.
  
• 1967 The college is renamed: Georgia College at Milledgeville (GCM).
  
• 1968 Dr. J. Whitney Bunting becomes president of the college and serves in the office until 1981.
  

• 1970's Student Life.

• 1971 The college is named Georgia College (GC).
  
• 1972 Napier Hall is built.
  
• 1972 Maxwell Student Union is dedicated.
  
• 1981 Dr. Edwin G. Speir, Jr. becomes president and serves for fifteen years, 1981-1996.
  
• 1989 Centennial Center is opened.
  
• 1996 The university is renamed Georgia College & State University (GCSU).
  
• 1996 The new Arts & Sciences Building is dedicated.
• January 1997-July 1997 Dr. Ralph W. Hemphill serves as acting president.
  
• August 1997 Dr. Rosemary DePaolo becomes the first woman president of the university.
  
• June 2001 Georgia College & State University becomes 18th member of Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges(COPLAC).
  
• January 2004 Dr. Dorothy Leland becomes president of the university.
• October 2005
The newly expanded and renovated Library & Instructional Technology Building is dedicated.

Sources of Information: GCSU Archives and A Centennial History of Georgia College by William Ivy Hair with James C. Bonner, Edward B. Dawson, and Robert J. Wilson III. Milledgeville: Georgia College, 1989.