The following was copied from the history of Union College that is listed on the school's website at https://www.unionky.edu/about/why-choose-union/rich-history/timeline
1879-1896
• October 18, 1879 "Articles of Incorporation" launch Union College
• 1879 - Abraham H. Harritt named 1st President (1879-1882)
• 1880 - Construction begins on Union's first building (Administration Building)
• 1882 - Thomas Clay Poynter named 2nd President (1882-1884)
• 1884 - Hartford P. Grider named 3rd President (1884-1886)
• 1886 - George H. Dains named Acting President
• October 25, 1886 - Daniel Stevenson orchestrates purchase of Union College for the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
• September 17, 1888 - Daniel Stevenson (1887-1897) officially became 5th President
• 1890 - The Main College building is completed
• 1892 - President Stevenson purchases land to erect a home on campus
• June 8, 1893 - First A.B. degrees awarded to James Perry Faulkner (later president) and John Elbert Thomas; President Stevenson delivered the Commencement address in the classic tradition: in Latin!
• 1894 - First Alumni Association established
• 1894 - First "Honorary Degree" awarded to Mr. Charles W. Sutten
• 1896 – The president’s home, a 5-room dwelling known as Stevenson Cottage, is completed (later called Music Hall and Campus Cottage)
1897-1904
• March 22, 1897 - James P. Faulkner named 6th President (1897-1905); Union grad of 1893, had served as assistant to president Stevenson
• June 7, 1897 - President Faulkner starts the process of building a women's dormitory (Speed Hall)
• 1898 - James P. Faulkner organizes the first college library (called the Speed-Stevenson Library)
• 1900 - Academic caps and gowns first used at Commencement; Total enrollment reaches184
1905-1914
• May 5,1905 - James W. Easley named 7th President (1905-1910)
• Fall semester 1905 - Speed Hall is completed and ready for occupancy; President Easley moves family into Speed Hall, the former Stevenson Cottage now renamed "Music Hall"
• 1905-1906 – Two baccalaureate degrees, Ph.B. and B.S., are offered in addition to the classical A.B.
• 1905- 1906 – Athletic teams are established: football (first game 10/16/05), women’s basketball, men’s basketball and baseball
• 1905 - Heating plant is completed; 3rd story of Administration Building completely refurbished
• January 1906 -- Plans announced for Stevenson Hall, men’s dormitory
• August 24, 1906 – Great fire destroys the Administration Building; "Music Hall" needed for a classroom facility called "Campus Cottage"
• 1907-1908 – College curriculum is discontinued and Union reverts to a college preparatory school
• June 29, 1907 – Cornerstone is laid for new Administration Building
• Fall 1907 - Stevenson Hall, although not fully completed, houses male students
• 1908 - "Campus Cottage" reverts back to "Music Hall," Union's first true Fine Arts facility serving also for art classes
• March 11, 1910 - James D. Black named 8th President (1910-1912)
• 1910 - Union's first band is established; concrete walks installed to connect all campus buildings
• 1911-1912 – The field of domestic science is introduced, with the understanding that it would continue only if tuition could sufficiently maintain it
• 1911- First athletic team goes “on the road” when the baseball team begins travelling
• 1912 - Percy L. Ports named 9th President (1912-1914)
• September 3, 1913 - The Methodist Board tries to close the school, but citizens of Barbourville vow to keep it open for one more year
• 1914-1915 - The Methodist Board resumes responsibility of the school
• 1914 - Emery R. Overley (Nominal Head) and B.C. Lewis (Vice President & Business Manager) Joint Management (1914-1915); 10th "Presidency"
1915-1928
• June 1915 - Ezra T. Franklin named 11th President (1915-1928); inaugurated Feb. 1917
• 1917- Academy grades 1 through 6 are eliminated
• May 28, 1918 – Union secures its first athletic field
• May 28, 1919 – Ground is broken for Union's first gymnasium
• 1918 - Union's first "Conservatory of Music" opens
• Spring 1919 - Union confers its first degree since 1908 to Samuel P. Franklin
• 1920 - Union's first annual, the "Fledgling," published; name changed next year
• May 1920 - Abigail E. Weeks organizes the first Alumni meeting and banquet
• Fall 1920 - Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Gymnasium completed late fall
• February 22, 1921 - 1st issue of the "Orange and Black" published
• 1921 - First "Stespean" yearbook is issued
• 1922 - Union Academy wins first state tournament in basketball
• April 26,1922 – First Board of Trustees is organized
• 1923 – Academy grades 7 and 8 are dropped
• 1924-1925 - Semester system first used
• 1925 -- New residence for president opens (named Baldwin Place in 1934)
• 1925 – Union becomes fully accredited to issue teaching certificates for all grade levels
• 1926 – Academy grade 9 is dropped, and Union admits only college students
• 1928 – Union College gained admission to membership in the Association of Colleges and Universities of Kentucky
1929-1937
• January 31,1929 - John Owen Gross named 12th President (1929-1938)
• May 25-May 29, 1929 – Union hosts a 50th Anniversary Jubilee Celebration
• 1929-1930 – Physical education courses are first offered
• 1929 – The tennis team defeats University of Kentucky and wins the Sutcliffe Cup for the third straight year
• Spring 1930 - Last "Academy" class graduates
• 1930 – Union’s baseball team goes undefeated
• 1931 – The baseball team is dropped from Union athletics
• Fall 1931 – lights are installed and a fence is erected around the football field; Union drops its first night football game on Sept. 25, 1931 to Lincoln Memorial University, 13-12
• 1931-1932 - Latin is dropped from Union's curriculum
• November 7, 1931 – Founders Memorial Gateway is dedicated
• 1932 – First Bachelor of Science in Education degree is conferred
• December 1, 1932 – Union joins the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States
• December 1932 – Union is admitted into the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
• 1934 – Union defeats University of Louisville in football, 32-6, and goes undefeated in conference play
• October 23, 1933 - Founders’ Week is established, to be celebrated every year in October
• 1934 -- President's home named "Baldwin Place" in honor of donors: Francis and Anna G. Baldwin
• 1934 – Biology labs are newly equipped
• 1935 – Five new clubs are formed: History, Journalism, Science, Education and Vocational Guidance
• May 26, 1936 – Honorary scholastic fraternity Iota Sigma Nu is established
• Fall 1936 - First professorial ranks established for faculty
• 1936-1937 -- new Maintenance Building constructed with gift from the estate of Robert Norton of Indiana
• 1935-1937 - Union joins the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC)
• March 6, 1937 – Alpha Psi Omega, a national honorary dramatic society, presents a charter to the new Zeta Chi cast at Union
1938-1958
• 1938 - First "History of Union College" written
• 1938 - Conway Boatman named 13th President (1938-1959); inaugurated March 24, 1939
• November 9, 1940 – Abigail E. Weeks Memorial Library is dedicated in conjunction with Founders’ Day and Homecoming
• January 13, 1941 – Abigail E. Weeks Memorial Library officially opens
• 1942 -- Football is discontinued after 1941 season
• January 30, 1943 – Pfeiffer Hall officially opens as the new women’s dormitory, replacing Speed Hall
• September 1944 – “Union College News” is published for the first time
• November 1944 – Mrs. Catherine Faulkner Singer edits the first "Union College Alumni Newsletter," which is four pages long
• 1945 - Tye House is purchased
• June 1945 – Only nine of the original 113 students enrolled in the class of ’45 earn their degrees due to World War II
• May 1948 – Union establishes the first Daniel Boone Festival jointly with city
• May 16, 1948 – Union College initiates a new $28,000 Track & Field facility by winning a tri-college meet against Berea and Georgetown
• May 31, 1949 – a new Chapel building, constructed at a cost of $381,000, is first used in an unfinished state for commencement exercises
• October 14, 1949 -- The Boatman Chapel-Fine Arts Building is dedicated (the Trustees named it in honor of President Conway Boatman-a surprise to him!)
• 1952 – “Union College Alumni Newsletter” becomes the “Union College Alumnus”
• February 16, 1953 - the "Snack Shack" opens as a small student center
• Spring of 1952- The Union College acappella choir makes its debut on television over WKRC-TV, Cincinnati, Ohio
• February 16, 1954 – Board of trustees declares “…that negroes should [be] and are now permitted to enter Union College as day students…”
• 1954 – Union College celebrates its 75th anniversary with the Diamond Jubilee
• 1954 -- a clock and a set of chimes are installed in the Chapel steeple
• October 1954 - College Courts, married housing, opens
• May 1956 - 'B' and 'C' wings of Stevenson Hall were occupied
• September 1956 - Swimming pool is completed
• November 1956 - a constitution for s Student Government is published in the Orange and Black and ratified; the organization is accepted on a trial basis with H.G. Pratt as president; given full recognition in 1958, Patsy Patton, president
1959-1982
• 1959 - Mahlon A. Miller named 14th President (1959-1982)
• March 1960 - Renovations to Baldwin Place, the President's residence, completed
• 1960 - Additional wing to Pfeiffer Hall added
• 1960 - College Park, faculty/staff residential housing area created
• 1960 - Graduate Program launched: M.A. in Education degree
• Fall 1960 -- A Faculty Lecture Series was established
• 1961-62 - Basketball great, Ron Brack, is the first African-American student to wear a Union jersey
• Spring 1962 - Langford Apartments, built with the bequest from Mr. and Mrs. George Langford of Louisville, is ready for occupancy
• May 29, 1962 - first graduate degrees (MA in Education) awarded to 7 recipients
• June 1963 - Jim Denham of New Jersey is the 3000th student to receive a UC diploma
• 1963 - Twelve-lane bowling alley built next to what would become Lakeside Hall
• 1964 - Addition to College Courts completed
• 1964 - Lakeside Hall, mens residence hall, is occupied
• 1964 - Student Center opened
• Fall 1964 -- Saturday classes, long a standard at Union, are discontinued
• November 1964 - Physical Education Building completed
• 1965 - Old "Soldiers & Sailors" gym converted into a Dramatic Arts Center (DAC)
• Fall 1968 -- Faculty teaching load reduced to 12 credit hours per semester
• 1969 - "Appalachian Semester" program instituted
• 1970 - Environmental Education Center maintained by Union
• 1970 - The "Maze" coffee house opens in the basement of the DAC (Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Gymnasium)
• May 27,1973 - Mahlon Miller Science Center is dedicated
• 1975 - "Religious Life Center" established in former Data Processing Center building behind Pfeiffer Hall
• 1975 - Classroom Building (currently Centennial Hall) listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• May 1977 - First "Fifth Year Certificate" in Education awarded
• September 1978 - First ROTC program instituted
• February 3, 1979 - Colonel Harlan Sanders recognized as the "Centennial Honoree" at the Centennial banquet
• October 5, 1978 - Lowell Thomas gives "Founders Day" address and is awarded honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree
• 1982 - Speed Hall listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• May 2, 1982, first female Commencement speaker, Martha Layne Collins, the Lieutenant Governor of KY
1983-2002
• 1983 - Jack C. Phillips named 15th President (1983-1996)
• 1983 - Last edition of the "Orange and Black"
• 1984 - Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Gymnasium listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• September 28,1984 - First edition of "The Union Express" published
• Fall1984 - Football returns, September 29, 1984, after a 43-year absence; venue called "Union Stadium"
• 1986 - ROTC is reinstituted
• 1987 - Milton H. Townsend Memorial Annex addition to the Weeks Library is completed
• 1990 - Soldiers and Sailors (fomerly the DAC) is reopend as an intramural center
• 1990 - a new 18-rank pipe organ is installed replacing the original Chapel instrument
• 1991 - Myrtle Cole Minton Cafeteria and Francis Patridge Student Center is dedicated, April 5, 1991
• Nov. 2,1991, Homecoming - Phillips Athletic Fields and Sports Complex is dedicated; football/soccer field named "Burch/Nau Field"
• 1993 - Dr. Phillip Sharp, class of 1966, receives the Nobel Prize in Medicine
• 1996 - David Joyce named 16th President (1996-2003)
• 1996-1997 - Baldwin Place is completely remodeled at a cost of $321,000
• 1997 - Turner Outdoor Center established
• 1998 - Bonner Scholars Program initiated
• May 1999 - William and Lou Lyttle Stewart Apartments completed
• 1999 - Ramsey Carriageway and Legacy Walk established
• 2000 - Speed Hall renovation completed; Sharp Academic Center completed, dedicated October 14, 2000
• October 20, 2001 - Ground is broken for the Edward H.Black Technology Center; completed in 2002; dedicated April 25, 2003
2003-2014
• 2003 - Edward D. deRosset named 17th President (2003-2011)
• April 2004 - Dedication of the David & Donna Jones Learning Resource Center (recognizes the combining of the Weeks-Townsend Memorial Library and the Black Technology Center into one collaborative unit)
• 2007 - Geothermal energy conservation project completed
• November 12, 2010 - rededication of the remodeled Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Gymnasium
• August 8, 2011 - Dr. Thomas J. McFarland, 18th President (2011-2012)
• December 2011 - Stivers Wellness Center is dedicated
• December 22, 2011 - Union acquires former Knox Co. Hospital
• Spring 2012 - Renovations of former Knox County Hospital and exterior of Miller Science Center (now Miller Hall) begin
• April 14, 2012 - Dr. Marcia Hawkins named Union's 19th President (2012- )
• July 1, 2012 - Dr. Hawkins begins presidential duties
• October 19, 2012 - Edna Jenkins Mann School of Nursing is established
• October 31, 2013 - grand opening of Center for Health & Natural Science (former Knox County Hospital)
• April 22, 2014 - dedication of the Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey Center for Health and Natural Sciences (former Knox County Hospital), including the Edna Jenkins Mann School of Nursing and the Phillip and Ann Sharp Science Wing
• September 20, 2014 -- night football returns after 83 years; first home game under lights was Sept. 25,1931; venue renamed "Williamson Stadium" (former "Union Stadium")
• October 18, 2014 - Union celebrates its 135th Anniversary (1879-2014)