We’re celebrating this month by sharing some favorite images and resources to tell the story of how campus was established and how it’s grown for over 100 years. How It Started, 1913-1915 In January 1913, Maryland bought five farms outside the town of Towson. These five farms were sold to the state by John J.
While looking for ways to incorporate more art in everyday places for the students of Towson State College [TSC], President James Fisher and Vice President Paul Wisdom approached a local businessman, Frank G. Roberts, about donating his collection of ivory to the school in 1971. This donation and a matching grant the same year from
Allyn Lawrence is a Student Researcher for the Unearthing Towson’s History Project, a collaboration between the History Department and the Special Collections and University Archives. A senior History major, Allyn worked over the summer of 2021 to research and investigate Towson’s history of diversity. Her research focuses on the African American Studies Major that once
Have you ever Googled your own name? Of course you have, what a silly question. When I search my name in Google it usually only spits back my own life at me, but sometimes I glimpse another Felicity Knox, living my alternate life in Australia. For Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg who teaches at UMBC, a
When you think about college students in the United States during the 1960s or 1970s, what comes to mind? Perhaps you envision students filling campus sidewalks in protest of the Vietnam War or in support of the civil rights movement. Perhaps these students are members of organizations such as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS),
The November 17, 1961 edition of the Tower Light included a letter to the editor written by a student named Bettina V. Monroe. This letter, entitled “Agitation Necessary Before Integration,” outlines Monroe’s assessment of social agitation and its ability to bring about legislative reform during the civil rights movement. In her writing, Monroe argued that
The history page of the Towson University Marching Band (TUMB) begins “In 1979, Dr. Marchand, the Towson State Music Department, and the Towson State administration brought Mr. Robert Doster to Towson State to create a marching band.” Prior to establishing the band that would become known as TUMB, the school often hired high school bands
In 2016, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Towson University, the book Towson University: The First 150 Years was created. This blog post is based on the section about the history of school colors as well as the alma mater from that publication. The first official school song, or alma mater, drew its inspiration from
Updates from the Fall of 2020 to the present day were contributed by Ani Allen, student worker, Fall 2023. A lot has changed since the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019. In just a few months, the virus has dramatically altered daily life for those around the world – including students. This timeline
While COVID-19 is certainly one of the most extreme health crises that have affected Towson University, it is by no means the first. In its almost 155-year history, Towson University has witnessed a number of pandemics¹. When we look back at past pandemics that affected Maryland and the school that would become Towson University, there