Historic Memphis West Tennessee State Normal College

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West Tennessee State Normal School was born during a rare moment of educational reform and it's first mission was to train teachers for West Tennessee elementary and high schools.  Memphis obtained the school after strong competition with other regional cities of the state. Although the state-funded institution's potential for Memphis was obvious, its origins were quite humble: three red brick buildings on an eighty-acre campus just outside the city. The initial enrollment of 200 eventually reached three hundred students, many of whom required a high school diploma before obtaining their  teacher's certificate.

The law establishing the school provided that it would be open to white residents of Tennessee who were a minimum of 16 years of age and had completed at least the elementary school course prescribed for the public schools of the state. Applicants had to present a certificate of good moral character from a responsible person, and furnish evidence of being strong physically and free from chronic defects that would prevent satisfactory work as a student.

The school was tuition-free to all Tennessee students. The only monies collected were a $2 registration fee for each term and $1 for summer terms. Non-Tennessee residents were charged a tuition of $12 per term and the regular $2 registration fee.

In its first official publication, the purposes of the school were established in the following statement:  "...for the education and professional training of the teachers for the public schools of the state".  And three general principles were established  for the basic preparation of teachers for service in Tennessee schools:  Principle 1.  Thorough scholarship.  Principle 2.  The study of education as a science.  Principle 3.  Observation and teaching by students under expert supervision.  It's clear that the founders had in mind no other function for the State Normal School other than the training of teachers.  In fact, no one was admitted to the early classes who didn't sign a pledge to teach in the public or private schools of Tennessee within the next six years after leaving the Normal School.

Constructed in 1912, Mynders Hall is a residence hall for female students.  In the early years, it also housed an infirmary and, until 1923, included a dining area.   Because of the unique architectural design of Mynders Hall, the building isn't air conditioned.   The location is in the center of  the campus making all other buildings very accessible.  In the early days female students living on campus were required to sign out of the dorm and had to explain to the “house mother” where they were going and exactly what time they would return. They couldn’t travel to town alone and weren’t allowed in automobiles on campus. But they did have their wild side, and occasionally climbed the water tower. 

During WWII Mynders Hall served as a dormitory for U.S. soldiers, and is the one building on campus that has a history of ghostly encounters.  The spirit is generally characterized as friendly and  provides a protective watch over the women who reside at Mynders.   The spirit is linked to Elizabeth Mynders, the daughter of the first President, who died shortly after her 21st birthday. 

The three Bulletins below, will be of interest to the historian.  The first one is the 1912 Opening Bulletin.  The second is essentially a tour of the campus with photos.  The 1923 bulletin lists all courses and descriptions,  including the teacher and the text that is used for the course.  To see all pages of three bulletins, click on any cover below.

Update:  In October 2024, Glinda Rhodes sent additional history of the school which needed to be included.   We are pleased to post it in this section.

As a graduate of the University of Memphis, I was completely absorbed by your history of the school.  Thank you for this labor of love.  I did have a correction to offer however.  When I was a docent at the Memphis Botanic Garden a year ago, we learned that the University of Memphis  was built on the land awarded to Geraldus Buntyn in a land grant from the government of the United States.  Buntyn was a veteran of the War of 1812, not the Civil War, and he moved to the Memphis area in the 1830s.  This was not long after the city of Memphis was founded by Andrew Jackson, John Overton and John Winchester, also with land grant support.

Some years later, the Southern Railroad built a track running through Buntyn's property.  He built a train station there and it was around the train station that the Tennessee Normal Teacher's College was constructed.  The surrounding neighborhood still bears his name, "East Buntyn". 

Thank you Glinda Rhodes

West Tennessee State Teachers College  1925

The three covers below, will be of interest to the historian.  The first one is the 1926 DeSoto Yearbook - the first one under the name West Tennessee State Teachers College.  The second is the first Bulletin issued for the 1925-26 Fall Quarter.  The third one is for the 14th Commencement - the first from the West Tennessee State Teacher's College.  To see all pages of  any of the three publications, click on any cover below.

      Memphis State College  1941

Enrollment had climbed to about 1,000 students by 1941, and during the same year the college changed names again becoming Memphis State College.  In 1946, J. Millard "Jack" Smith became president - the first alumnus to hold the position. In 1950 graduate studies were initiated, and in 1954 the school switched from a quarter to a semester system.

Memphis State University  1957

By 1957, enrollment had doubled to about 2,000 students, when a proposal to make the school a branch of the University of Tennessee was shot down. Instead, then-governor Frank Clement endorsed a bill to grant the college “university” status. It was renamed once again, becoming Memphis State University (MSU). The institution admitted its first black students in 1959. Doctoral programs were offered beginning in 1966.

President Cecil C. Humphreys oversaw an expansion across the  campus, during the 1960s and ’70s, including the building of the University Center and a 12-story library. MSU’s entire curriculum was accredited in 1983 — the first public university in Tennessee to gain that distinction.

In 1972, the new Student Newspaper "Daily Helmsman" will debut.

University of Memphis   1994

The last name change came in 1994: the University of Memphis. The Ned R. McWherter Library opened the same year. Two distinguished brands lent their names to major educational centers at the beginning of the twenty-first century: the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and the FedEx Institute of Technology.

Today, the university now stretches over 1,600 acres and has 237 buildings on eight sites and is one of six universities in the Tennessee system. It has an annual budget of $439 million and a local economic impact estimated at $1.43 billion. Total enrollment for the Fall 2011 semester was 22,725. 

The University of Memphis is one of Tennessee's three comprehensive doctoral-extensive institutions of higher learning and is the flagship of the Tennessee system.  It awards more than 3,000 degrees annually, has 24 Chairs of Excellence (more than any other Tennessee University), and five state-approved Centers of Excellence.