For the next sixteen years the University of Georgia existed only on paper, its first president, Abraham Baldwin, spent his entire term of office gathering enough money for classes to open.
Classes began in a 633 acre tract of land near the Oconee Rover in Athens, Georgia in 1801
In 1834 University of Georgia Alumni Society organized.
Law school was established in 1859 in Athens by Joseph Henry Lumpkin and Thomas R. Cobb, leading attorneys. It was connected with the University of Georgia from the first, but did not become an integral part of it until after the Civil War.
The name of the university changed to Georgia State University in 1859 and the University of Georgia in 1931.
In 1932 the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia was established as part of the reorganization of state government under Governor Richard B, Russell.
During most of its first century, the University offered a traditional liberal-arts curriculum to a student body numbering fewer than one hundred students.
By the early 1950s, more than 4000 students attended the University and by 1970 enrollment has risen to 21 000.
University of Georgia: one of the oldest universities in United States
