The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) was founded in 1876 as the Iowa State Normal School. It was established to fill the need for qualified public school teachers in Iowa.

The School originally occupied the former Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home building (later "Central Hall"). which stood to the southwest of the present Lang Hall (also known as the Auditorium, built in 1905). Other buildings on the early campus included South Hall (1883), later "old" Gilchrist Hall, the Old Administration Building (1895) and the President's Cottage (1890), now the Ethnic Minorities Cultural and Educational Center. Of these, only the President's Cottage and Lang Hall survive.