High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The History of The University of Alabama begins with an act of United States Congress in 1818 authorizing the newly formed Alabama Territory to set aside a township for the establishment of a "seminary of learning." Alabama was admitted to the Union on March 20, 1819 and a second township added to the land grant. The seminary was established by the General Assembly on December 18, 1820 and named The University of the State of Alabama. The legislature appointed a Board of Trustees to handle the building and opening of the campus, and its operation once complete. The Board selected Tuscaloosa, then capital of the Alabama, as the site of The University in 1827, and opened its doors to students on April 18, 1831.