Phi Alpha Theta's Commemoration of the Anniversary of the Burning of The University of Alabama

This collection documents Phi Alpha Theta’s commemoration of the burning of The University of Alabama in April 1865, an event carried out by Union forces just weeks before General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Included is a newspaper article titled "Yankee colonel wavered that terrible day, but orders were to burn U of A to ground", which recounts the historical destruction of the campus. A carbon copy of a letter from Professor Charles G. Summersell to C.E. Williams discusses Phi Theta Kappa’s presentation, Vocata, a dramatic tribute to the event. The collection also contains a bound script titled "Destroyed By Fire...the University", with donor and bindery stickers from H.D. Jordan and Tuscaloosa Library Bindery, respectively. Four photographs accompany the Vocata text, along with a page identifying individuals in the images, including Harriet Chappel Owsley (Mrs. Frank L.), Professor Bernard C. Weber, Charles C. Cantrell, Professor John Frazier Ramsey, Professor John F. Pancake, Professor Frank Lawrence Owsley (Sr.), Professor Charles Grayson Summersell, and Mrs. Charles G. Summersell. A handwritten note reflects on the versions of Vocata, the sale of its final edition, and a burial mound near the Gorgas House believed to contain remnants of earlier university buildings.