First White Rats for Research
The 1925 Purnell Bill authorized federal funds for research in home economics. In 1932 the Home Economics Department was the first on campus to utilize white rats for its studies of vitamins.
First Tweet
The first tweet was posted to UT News, the official Twitter of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on January 30, 2009, at 12:21 p.m. The tweet was “New Tennessee Today launched last night.”
First Women’s Athletics Association
In 1896 physical culture classes for women students were instituted, and in 1899 the first organized Women’s Athletics Association was formed, with Miss Curtis as president.
First Typewritten Letter
The first piece of typewritten material found among the records of the institution is the letter written to the chairman of the board of trustees by the future president, Charles W. Dabney Jr., on July 11, 1887.
First Women’s Athletics Director
Gloria Ray was named Women’s Athletics Director in 1976.
First Udall Scholarship Winner
UT’s first Udall Scholarship winner was John R. Evans from Chattanooga in 2003. Congress established the Udall Foundation in 1992.
First Undergraduate Winner of the James I. Brown Student Award for Research Excellence
In 1994 Dean Rice, senior in speech communication, along with 18 master’s and doctoral students, presented his research at the International Listening Association conference. The conference presents the Brown Award jointly with the Institute for Study of Interpersonal Processes. Rice was the award winner and the first undergraduate to receive the award. His research looked … Continued
First Thanksgiving Holiday
In 1890 the faculty, after three days of vigorous debate, voted to give a holiday on Thanksgiving Day.
First Underground Campus Newspapers
In 1883, a time at which UT was embroiled in an acrimonious conflict about censorship and propriety in the campus press, two “underground” publications appeared. The Weekly Bulletin, hand lettered and nailed to the wall of the chapel, was “An Illustrated Magazine of Literature and Art” devoted to “the reformation of abuses in the U … Continued
First Theatre Performances
Groups of faculty and students had, from time to time, formed dramatic clubs and produced plays—the first as early as 1840. In 1875 UT cadets organized a dramatic association that included townspeople in its membership. The first theatrical production was for the benefit of Knoxville’s Industrial Home.