Opened on the same day that the Queen Mary was launched on Clydeside, Stow College takes its name from David Stow (1793-1864), a Victorian philanthropist and one of the greatest pioneers in the history of Scottish education. Stow founded an infant school in the Drygait area of Glasgow in 1828 and introduced revolutionary teaching methods such as visual aids and the concept of a 'playground'.

Later in 1836 he established the 'Normal Training Seminary' at Dundas Vale in Cowcaddens. This building still stands today (just along the road from the college) and was the first purpose-built teacher training college in Britain.

The seminary was run as a private concern until 1841 when the government decreed that ownership had to be transferred to the Church of Scotland as a condition of the award of a government grant. The Church of Scotland had, at that time, a major role in the provision of education.    

Negotiations regarding this transfer were still in progress in 1843 when the great Disruption of the Church of Scotland took place, following which the church refused to continue in employment those who adhered to the Free Church. David Stow and most of the staff and students of the seminary were members of the Free Church.  Ultimately in 1845, this resulted in all the staff and students having to leave the Dundas Vale seminary.

Seemingly, however, Stow made the most of the occasion and orchestrated a solemn procession of all the staff and students as they vacated the building. The procession made its way along Cowcaddens Street and halted at what is now the McConnell building at the top of the present day Hope Street. 

A series of tents had been erected on the site and there, under canvas, the Normal Seminary staff resumed their teacher training work. The gesture made its point and barely a month after the procession, Stow was laying the foundation stone of the Free Church Normal Seminary on the site occupied by the tents. The new building was completed the following year and was open to students of any denomination.

After 1900 and the merger of the Free Church with the United Presbyterians, the Cowcaddens Street seminary became known as the United Free Church Training College. In 1907 responsibility for both institutions was passed to the Glasgow Provincial Committee for the Training of Teachers. The combined college was known as the Glasgow Provincial Training College.

Both of the buildings operated as teacher training facilities until the opening of the Jordanhill College of Education (opened in 1921 as Jordanhill Training College).

Consequently, in September 1934 when Glasgow Corporation opened Glasgow's first purpose-built college in Shamrock Street, Cowcaddens, just a stone's throw away from the site of Stow's original training seminary, they decided to name it after David Stow.

75 years later and former Stow students are to be found all over the world not just in the college's original specialist area of engineering but also in the more diverse curriculum areas of music, creative industries, science, computing, trade union studies and management.

The college is currently planning various events to mark its 75th anniversary and we are delighted that Homecoming Scotland 2009 coincides with our celebrations. In particular, a major celebratory event is being planned on or around the anniversary of the opening date of the college, 26th September. Former students of the college, both at home and abroad, will be targeted for this event which will complement and add to Scotland's first-ever Homecoming year.