The University of Tennessee was established in 1794 as Blount College in Knoxville, making it one of the oldest public universities in the United States. It has remained nondenominational since its inception. In the 19th century, the university changed names multiple times before becoming the University of Tennessee in 1869. It has since expanded to include campuses in Memphis, Martin, and Chattanooga.

1. University of Tennessee by: Emma Flaming -

2. UT History Blount College, the University of Tennessee’s forerunner, was established in Knoxville in 1794, two years before Tennessee became a state. The university has remained nondenominational since it’s inception is supposedly the oldest such institution west of the Appalachian Divide. In the beginning Blount College was all-male. This ended in 1892 when the first women students were admitted. And since then the University of Tennessee has been coeducational.

3. Changing Names In 1807 the state legislature changed the name to East Tennessee College, and in 1826 the present site at Knoxville, the 40-acre tract known as “The Hill,” was acquired. The college’s name changed again in 1840 – to East Tennessee University.

5. UT’s role in history During the Civil War the institution closed, and its buildings were used as a hospital for Confederate troops and later occupied by Union troops. East Tennessee University reopened and in 1869 the state legislature selected the university as the state’s federal land-grant institution, under terms of the Morrill Act. This enabled the university to broaden its offerings: adding agricultural, engineering, and military science courses to the curriculum.

6. Growing Ties The medical campus, founded in Nashville and acquired by the university in 1879, moved to Memphis in 1911. The University of Tennessee at Martin, was established in 1900 as a private institution then became part of the University of Tennessee in 1927. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was established in 1969 when the private University of Chattanooga merged with the University of Tennessee.