Valdosta State University was established in 1906 in Valdosta, Georgia. South Georgia State Normal College began as a two-year teaching college in 1913 and was an all-female school until 1950 when the name was changed to Valdosta State College. VSC experienced rapid growth in the 1960s and 70s in student population and in construction on campus. In 1993 Valdosta State achieved university status and became the second regional university in the state of Georgia.Davis, Deborah. "Valdosta State University". College History Series. Arcadia Publishing. Charleston, SC. 2001 Since its founding VSU has grown into a co-educational regional university with over 12,000 students.

Foundation and development

The idea of establishing a state college in the Valdosta area originated with local citizens. In 1906 State Representative C.R. Ashley and State Senator William Stanley West presented bills proposing the establishment of a college in Valdosta to the Georgia House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively. By an act of the Georgia State Legislature that year the establishment of an agricultural, industrial, or normal college in South Georgia, as a branch of the University of Georgia (UGA), was approved. Similar to the Georgia Normal and Industrial College for Girls established in Milledgeville in 1889, now Georgia College & State University, the Valdosta branch school was intended to serve females who were not permitted admission to UGA.

Location Despite the legislation, no funding was granted until the summer of 1911 when the State appropriated $30,000 for construction. In October of that year, the Trustees of the college met with UGA Chancellor David C. Barrow Jr. and began the physical planning of the school. According to the terms of the 1906 legislation, the city of Valdosta agreed to furnish the land for the college. George Varn offered two tracts on the east side of Ashley Street, T.M. Ray offered forty-five acres along the Dixie Highway at the western edge of town, Col. West Offered between Patterson and Oak Streets, and J. A. dasher offered on the Burrows place adjacent to the Atlantic Coast Line railroad. The West site's combination of acreage and proximity to downtown was determined the most suitable for campus development.

Construction After securing the finances and the land the trustees hired Richard Holmes Powell as the school president. Powell's background included work as a principal, college English professor, department head, and State Superintendent of Rural Schools in Georgia. A building Committee was established to contract for design of the school buildings. The architect chosen for the initial building was William Augustus Edwards of the firm Edwards and Sayward. Edwards was one of the primary architects of educational buildings in the Southeastern United States in the early 20th century. During their work in Valdosta, the firm was also designing academic buildings for the University of Florida, Gainesville, the Florida State College for Women and Florida A& M College in Tallahassee, and the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine, Florida.

The first building on the campus, constructed between 1912 and 1913, was named in honor of William Lorraine Converse Sr. who, as a State Representative, helped expedite the establishment of the college in Valdosta. On December 19, 1912, Dr. Powell moved into office his in the new building and the first pieces of furniture were installed in preparation if the school's opening."Everything in Readiness for Opening", article - Valdosta Daily Times - December 20, 1912 Converse Hall served a variety of purposes for the new institution. The structure provided classrooms, administration offices, double-occupancy dormitory rooms, a dining hall, an infirmary, and a chapel. The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture of college in Valdosta was based on the popular style of the era, as well as Powell's personal experiences in the American Southwest. The school opened in January 1913, but the surrounding landscape was primarily undeveloped There were no driveways or sidewalks, and the predominant wetlands at the south were only crossable at Patterson Street.

South Georgia State Normal College

South Georgia State Normal College (SGSNC) opened as a 2-year college with three college freshmen and 15 sub-freshmen. The sub-freshmen were enrolled in a training school, which also provided instruction to Valdosta elementary school-age students. The elementary school classes soon filled to capacity and was the most successful part in the first few years of the college's existence. Early students were required to wear a school uniform, and each paid $10 per year for tuition and $12 per month for food and board. Most came to be teachers and studied subjects from literature to physics to agriculture.

May Day festival

One of the most colorful and anticipated events was the annual May Day celebration. The first May Day occurred in the Spring of 1913. Every student took part in the event, and visitors came to the campus to be entertained by the festivities. The first celebrations were held on the front lawn of Converse Hall and were later moved to the outdoor theater at Drexel Park. The events of May Day were often based on the Old English May Day ceremonies that celebrated Spring, but it was common for each year to have a theme. The event had a carnival-like atmosphere with student dressed in elaborate costumes performing skits and dances and the winding of the brightly colored May pole. Each festival had a May Queen, selected from the senior class to preside over the events, and a May Court.

West and Ashley Halls In 1916 the legislature made an appropriation of $50,000 to build an Administration building designed by Edwards and Sayward, to which the city of Valdosta donated an additional $25,000. Upon the building's completion in 1917 it was named West Hall to honor Senator W.S. West, who died in 1914.

In the summer of 1919, the college received another appropriation for $75,000 for construction of a new dormitory also designed by Edwards and Sayward, for which the city and Mr. A.J. Strickland contributed an additional $50,000. The building was completed in 1922.Georgia State Women's College, Pinecone 1925

Georgia State Woman's College In 1922, the school transitioned from a junior college to a four-year college. At the same time, the legislature changed the school's name to Georgia State Woman's College (GSWC) at Valdosta. By that year, the school had grown to 402 undergraduates and the training school to 108 students. The 1920s saw a loosening of the uniform restrictions, until finally only freshmen and sophomores were required to wear them. The upper class students could choose their fashions, but were still monitored for their behavior and proper etiquette. As the decade progressed, GSWC's academic program was expanded and extracurricular activities were broadened. Of the earlier SGSNC traditions, the May Day festival became an annual event, featuring elaborate skits, dances, and sports exhibitions. The schools May Queen and her court paraded in procession across the school grounds before a large campus and community audience and concluded with dancing around the Maypole. Another Victorian tradition honored at the school was the Old English Christmas Feast, which also included period costumes and role playing events.

In 1923 a brick gymnasium was constructed to the west of Building One, and a nearby pre-existing wood structure was converted by students for use as a clubhouse. The “House in the Woods” became a domestic refuge for the female students. At the celebration of the schools tenth anniversary in 1923 Building One was named Converse Hall, in honor of W.L. Converse, and the dormitory was named Ashley Hall for C.R. Ashley, the Treasurer of the board of trustees.

Great Depression era The establishment of a statewide Board of Regents in 1931 and the Great Depression brought major changes to GSWC. In 1933, the Board of Regents system-wide reorganization focused the college's mission on the liberal arts and downsized the department of education, and the training school was closed. Also, President Powell, head of the college for 22 years, was made dean of the Coordinate College in Athens, Georgia. Dr. Jere M Pound, president of the Georgia Teachers College, was sent to Valdosta. However, Pound's tenure at GSWC lasted less than a year before illness removed him from his post. Dr. Frank Robertson Reade assumed the job of acting president in 1934, and on Dr. Pound's death in 1935 became president. In addition to strengthening the school's liberal arts departments, Dr. Reade's administration paralleled a period of federally funded campus growth. During his tenure, New Deal programs enabled the school to expand physically from three to seven buildings and provided many improvements to the grounds. The New Deal had also provided for paving of the campus roads and the campus grounds were significantly improved. In 1931, two gray stone fireplaces were constructed by faculty members at the northern and southern edges of the campus. The southern portion of the campus was used for playing fields and the western portion was developed as a golf course. In 1935 the school purchased a two-story wood-frame house on Oak Street for use as a music studio. In 1936, a dormitory, known as Senior Hall, was constructed with state and WPA funds. The building provided housing for 28 student rooms and an auditorium located on the entire south half of the second floor. Also in 1936, construction began on a collegiate-sized pool with underwater lighting and an adjacent bath house. In 1939, the WPA funded construction of the Student Activities Log Cabin, which included offices for campus publications and the Young Women's Christian Association. This building replaced the former "House in Woods" and included a vaulted hall and two fireplaces.

At the beginning of the 1940s, construction began on a new school library and represented the fifth project designed for the campus by the firm of Edwards and Sawyard. Later, the completed building was dedicated by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1941, owing to a personal friendship between the Roosevelt's and President Reade's family. Upon former President Powell's death, the library was named in his honor in June 1947.

World War II years

Further planning for development was halted upon America's entrance into World War II. During the war, GSWC strengthened its nursing program, while emphasizing politics and science in the curriculum. In 1943, the B.S. degree was added. Meanwhile, the Emory Junior College several blocks north of the college closed temporarily, and a few young men from Valdosta attended GSWC. Extracurricular activities were redirected to aid the war effort such as scrap metal drives, USO dances, a War Bond scholarship campaign, and Red Cross activities.Georgia State Woman's College "Pinecone" 1941 Beginning in 1942, Moody Airfield's presence from campus, provided the male participants for many patriotic parties, dances and dates, and the girls supported morale with USA parties held up until 1944. Notably in 1945 a beautification project was initiated by a neighbor of the school. At the wooded northwest portion of the campus along Georgia Avenue, a landscape known as the "Camellia Trail" was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Roy Whitehead. The forested garden included 200 plants representing 96 varieties of camellias.

After the war, tradition re-asserted itself on the GSWC campus. Traditional events such as the Christmas Fest and May Day were re-instituted Meanwhile, Emory Junior College was reopened in 1946. In the vicinity of the Camellia Trail on Georgia Avenue, the school acquired a stately southern colonial residence in 1948 for use as a new Music Studio.