Ante-bellum observatory used by Frederick A.P. Barnard
Ante-bellum observatory used by Frederick A.P. Barnard
Barnard later taught at the University of Mississippi and,
after the war, became president of Columbia University.
Ironically,
Barnard College in New York City was named after him in honor
of his early advocacy of co-education.
Boyhood home of Robert Jemison Van de Graaff, inventor of the
electrostatic accelerator.
Van de Graaff received two degrees from the University of
Alabama.
By providing the first intense beams of subatomic particles of
precisely controllable energy, Robert Van de Graaff became one of
the founders of modern high energy physics.
The mansion, built in the Italianate style was completed during
the civil war.
The University was the scene of a brief skirmish in the civil war which led to the destruction of the campus by federal troops in April of 1865.
The futile attempt by UA students to repel the US army is commemorated by
the placque shown here in front of the library.
We are now meeting annually with agents from Washington
and there are hopes that relations between
the government and the University of Alabama will be normalized soon.
Gallalee Hall, home of physics and astronomy.
Our graduate program was begun here after WWII under the leadership of Arthur Ruark.
Ruark designed the building to include a three-story shaft for a
Van de Graaff accelerator. The accelerator, however, was never
built since
Ruark left to become head of the controlled fusion program
at the Atomic Energy Commission.
Ironically, Van de Graaff institutes have been built at many
universities including one in Holland from which country
Robert Van de Graaff's forefathers emigrated.
It was not until circa 1970 that subatomic physics was
re-established at the University of Alabama. The university
is now home to a particle theory group working at several of
the frontier areas of subatomic physics and of an experimental
group participating in the world-wide effort to explore neutrino
properties.
Under the presidency of Joab Thomas plans were drawn up to
establish a Van de Graaff Institute for High Energy Physics
in Tuscaloosa although these plans have not yet been brought to fruition.
UA College of Commerce and Business Ad.
The rich side of campus
The grass is greener over there.
Temple to Business Maximus
Icarus and the guardian angels
A sculpture by Be Gardiner
located at the corner of University and Hackberry
Apparently he flew too close to the sun.