Julia Strudwick Tutwiler

Born January 1, 1841, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Julia Strudwick Tutwiler (1841–1916), born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was as a staunch advocate for educational and prison reforms in Alabama.

Tutwiler was herself educated at Vassar College, the year that it opened (1861). She furthered her education in Germany, France and at Washington and Lee University. She served as president of Livingston State Normal School, which later became the University of West Alabama. In 1892, 10 Livingston-educated students became the first women admitted to the University of Alabama, at Tutwiler's insistence. She thus earned the title of the "mother of co-education in Alabama."

She was also a key figure in the creation of the Alabama Girls' Industrial School, in October 1896. This institution eventually evolved into the University of Montevallo.

Known as the "angel of the prisons," Tutwiler pushed for many reforms of the Alabama penal system. Most significantly, she fought to separate female prisoners from male ones and to separate juveniles from hardened adult criminals – resulting in the first Boys' Industrial School.

In addition, she demanded better prison sanitation and helped institute educational and religious opportunities for prisoners. As a consequence of her good works, Alabama's Julia Tutwiler Woman's Prison was named in her honor.

Tutwiler was known as a poet and wrote the lyrics for "Alabama," the state song, which was officially adopted in 1931. According to the Alabama Department of Archives and History, "The inspiration for writing the poem 'Alabama' came to Julia Tutwiler after she returned to her native state from Germany where she had been studying new educational methods for girls and women."

In addition to the Woman's Prison named in her honor, there is also a large women's dormitory at the University of Alabama and a library at the University of West Alabama that bear her name.

When Judson College in Marion, Alabama, established the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1970, Tutwiler was among the first group of inductees. Tutwiler Hall on the University of Alabama's campus is named in Julia Tutwiler's honor.