Johnson County, Missouri - Chapter 10: - State Normal School, 1918

Chapter 10: - State Normal School

KFFOUTS TO ESTABMSH NORMAL SCHOOLS IN MISSOURI - ORIGIN OF THE WARRENSBURG STATE NORMAL SCHOOL - HOW THE NORMAL SCHOOL OPENED - THE NORMAL SCHOOL SINCE THE FIRE - OUTLINE OF COURSE IN DIDACTICS BY PRESIDENT BEARD: CULTURE, INSTRUCTION, MANAGEMENT - TRAINING SCHOOL - SUMMER SCHOOL - ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT - TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT.

It is said that the first normal scliool in tlie countr)- was opened July 3, 18.'>9, at Lexington, Massachusetts, upon a joint undertakinj;- of tile state and Timothy Dwiglit, a "merchant prince"; that by 1854, four normal schools were endowed by Massachusetts and that she was followed by New York, Maine, Vermont, and by 1869 by a dozen other states.

In 1842, State Superintendent of Schools James L. Minor called attention In normal schools abroad, esi)ccially Holland and Prussia, and urged their establishment here as the best single agencv towards efficiency in the common schools.

November 16, 1846, Superintendent Faidkland M. Martin called attention to "the prevalent opinion that a school for the education of young men to be employed hereafter as teachers would l)e of almost incalculable benefit to our common school system."

December 30. 1850, Supcrinlcndent b.phraim 1',. b.wing (grandfather of the writer) called attention to ;i provision made in 184'', to establisi) ;i professorship of "Theory and Practice of Teaching" :it the State riii\ersil)-, and expressed the o])imon that the ]ilan would fail because prospective teachers would not go so far, uov ])Ut in as much time as was rciinired and urged that norm;ds be established nearer the people.

e.x-ollicio superintendents. In 1854, a sejiarrite school .superintendent w-as again established, .-nid from that time on ;dl the superintendents urged the establishment of the normals.

[Editor's Note: Captain Grover is a son of Col. Benj. W. Grover, who settled in Warrensburg in 1844 and who was one of the county's leaders till his death in 1861 at the Battle of Lexington. Captain Grover is one of the few now living of tlie leaders in the fight to establish the normal school in Warrenslturg. and wliat he writes is of his own knowledge.]

The public school systeni of \\'arrenslnn-g was reorganized immediately after the Civil ^^'ar. In 1869, a school board was elected, pledged to introduce modern methods of instruction, 'i'he new memliers were : Dr. A. W. Reese, president : Col. A. W. Rogers, Gen. Warren Shedd, and Capt. George S. Grover, secretary and treasurer. All these men were college graduates and Ci\il War veterans. Messrs. Rogers and Shedd were enthusiastic achocates of normal school training for teachers in the public schools.

The new school board elected jMadison Baljcock superintendent of the public schools of Warrensburg. Mr. Babcock was a graduate of the Oswego, New York. Normal School. He secured as far as then possible normal school graduates for teachers in the Warrensburg public schools, and very soon introduced modern methods of teaching in them.

At that time Capt. M. U. Foster and Col. Wells H. Blodgett were living in W'arrensburg. Captain Foster was then circuit clerk of Johnson county and was a leading member of the Republican party, then in control of the state. Colonel Blodgett was also a prominent Republican and was then a state senator from Johnson and Henry counties.

At the earnest request of Messrs. Reese, Rogers, Shedd and Babcock, Messrs. Foster and Blodgett, after a careful study of the subject, prepared, and secured, the passage through the Legislature of Missouri of an act, approved March 20, 1870, authorizing the location and operation of normal schools in Missouri as state institutions.

This excellent statute is the law in Missouri, at this time, practically unchanged, .^t that time (1870) a great and controlling sentiment was created in Johnson county in favor of state normal schools by active missionary work by Messrs. Reese, Rogers, Shedd, Babcock, Foster, and Blodgett. The question soon became non-partisan, and Capt. H. C. Fike, Major R. Baldwin, then editor and part proprietor of the "War-

A state board of normal school regents was then appointed by the go\ernor to locate a normal school in central Missouri. Sedalia and Warrensburg became active competitors. Both offered substantial bond issues for the new school. The regents first decided in favor of Sedalia. Then Captain Foster made a thorough examination of the Sedalia offer and convinced the state board that there was a fatal defect in such offer. The board, therefore, rescinded its action, and located the school at \Varrensburg. Capt. M. U. Foster executed a deed to the new school of the land, twenty acres in extent, his chief possession, for a nominal sum, and on it the present normal school in Warrensburg now stands.

Captain Foster, Messrs. Beard, Johonnot, Babcock, Reese, Rogers, Shedd, Baldwin, Ridings, Cruce, Cockrell, and Crittenden are no longer living. They have gone to their reward, and "their good works do follow them." Captain Fike, John W. Brown, H. T. Clark, and Maj. E. A. Nickerson are still living in \\'arrensburg. Col. W. H. Blodgett lives in St. Louis.

May the future years be successful and prosperous for the State Normal School at Warrensburg, as well as for the beautiful city of that name, is the earnest wish and hope of the writer.

[Editor's Note: Mrs. Williams, with her husband, \. Martin Williams, came to Johnson count}' in 1869. Her husliantl was prominent in the newspaper field and politics of that time. Mrs. Williams, of unusual natural ability, became especially conversant with public .ilTairs. She was matron of the normal school from 1882 to 1886, and liijrarian and reference teacher from 1882 to 1897.]

.\])ril 27, 1871, the normal school was finally located at Warrensburg. \\';irrcnsburg received the news late nne evening. 'i"hc church bells were rung all night, bands played, bonfires were lightetl. and people, hundreds of them, beat tinpans or anxlhing they could find to beat that would make a noise. Fourteen davs after this the school was

Opened in the Foster public school liuihling. May 10, 1870. The grounds upon which this building stands was also given by M. U. Foster, so let us always remember that, whatever his faults, Warrensburg is eternally indebted to him for its educational progress. Miss Sally Land, afterwards Mrs. Isaac Markward, paid $250 for the first incidental ticket. There were forty students in attendance the first day. George P. Beard was the president the first year. James Johonnot was elected the next year and ser\ed for three years.

During the second year occurred the great grasshopper invasion of this part of the state and almost broke up the school. Professor Johonnot, out of his own purse, and with private help, established club rooms and cheap eating places to help the enterprise along. John the Baptist was said to have relished locusts, and the school gave a grasshopper soup supper at fifty cents a plate in the old Fads Hotel, where Cohn's store now stands. The grasshopper soup was made by pulling the legs oS the hoppers and breaking the feet off at the knee, using only the hams of the hoppers for the soup. Roasted grasshoppers were also served. The proceeds of this supper went to help the students in the school until later in the summer the hoppers took their flight and good crops were raised.

Professor Johonnot was in many respects a remarkable man. He brought the best methods of the East and organized the entire workings of the school, building for it a sure foundation.

In June, 1872, the school moved into the new building, with only the lower floor finished, the rest not being completed for ten years. In 1875, George L. Osborne was elected president. He came as a Christian gentleman, an experienced educator, and won success where few could have succeeded. He was president twenty-four years, and to him belongs the honor of making the best normal school in the state.

On Tuesday, May 16, 1871, the grounds for the building were surveyed and work soon began. August 16, 1871, the corner stone of the first building was laid. The occasion was celebrated with a big meeting, four bands, a long procession and impressive ceremonies. Among the speakers were William T. Harris, afterward United States superintendent of Education, and Norman J. Coleman, afterward the first secretary of agriculture, both Missourians.

now living, was treasurer of the first board of regents. On June 22, 1871, Beard was re-elected for the ensuing year. 1871-72. Among the early teachers from 1872 to 1876 were Mrs. Mary V. Neet, Capt. W. F. Bahlman and Miss Ida M. Carhart, all now living. During the first ten years tlie school labored under great difficulties.

The appropriations made by the Legislature were inadequate for the completion and proper equipment of the building and for the employment of the needed teachers for a number of years. Yet in spite of tliese conditions, the attendance was good and steadily increased. The average attendance has been as follows: 1871 to 1881, three hundred and eighty-one: 1881 to 1891. five hundred and forty-two; 1891 to 1901. eight Inmdred and sixtv-five : 1901 to 1911, one thousand four hundred sixty: 1915-1916, one thousand eight hundred forty-eight. The faculty has grown from three members, in 1871, to fifty-three, and has constantly increased in standard of scholarship and ability. It is now a member of the North Central Association of Colleges in the United States, and gives the degree of Bachelor of Pedagogy for four years' college work, which is recognized as the equivalent of the Bachelor's degrees of Chicago. Wisconsin, and the other colleges in the association.

Seventy-two hundred and fifty men and women have been licensed bv the normal to teach in the public schools of Missouri. Of this number, forty-one hundred and seventy-three have received their regents' certificate, a two-years' license to teach in Missouri. Twenty-nine hundred and eight have received diplomas, which give a life license to teach in tlie public schools of Missouri, and one hundred and sixty-nine have recei\c(l the rural school certificate.

In Tune. 1872, tlie first story of the main Imilding was ready for occupancv. However, the building as at first planned was completed in 1881. in 1885 and 1886 a wing was erected south of the center of the main l)nilding and connected with it by a corridor. .\ppro])rialions were made in 1S''5 for a Science building, in 10(1.> for a g-ynmasium and a new healing pl.-mt with a second story for the manual training department, and in l'.i()7 for a training school building, 'i'he gynmasium and training sclioi,! were built of \\'arrensbnrg sandstone.

The Normal School Since the Fire. - On March 6. 1915, occurred an event that showed what the normal school was really made of. Early that morning every building was destroyed by fire, except the gymnasium and power plant. The following clipping from the "Normal Student" of March 9, 1918, on the third anniversary of the fire, tells what happened:

"The enrollment of the normal school at this time was about 650. This mass of people, young men antl women, just as we are, were here for educational purposes and had no buildings to shelter them. What were the)' to do?

"Bills were strewn throughout the town. Daily editions of newspapers were gotten out to arouse everybody. There were great mass meetings held for students, faculty, men and women and conferences of business and professional men of the city. A board of regents" meeting was called and held on the shortest of notice.

"At these \arious meetings it was decided not to let the loss of buildings hinder or in anyway interfere with the progress of anyone concerned. Arrangements were made for all classes by Monday morning at the beginning of the first hour and the fire was only Saturday morning.

"Some predicted that the majority of students would leave and go home in a dav or two, that Warrensburg would be dead, and that some other town would raise a subscription toward the rebuilding of the buildings and get them there. They predicted that everything in general would lose its pep. These were the pessimists, a very small percentage.

"The optimists who were large in number were the ones who did things. A student mass meeting was held at 2:30 p. m. the same day of the fire at which the students made resolutions to the effect that they were willing to help do their part, that they were not discouraged, and they s3'mpathized with the faculty, board of regents and people of Warrensburg. They recognized that the buildings did not make the school and that they were a small part of it. The students did help. They did their part conscientiously and energetically in keeping Normal No. 2 and Warrensburg alive. That is the reason the cause was won and that we students are here now."

$305,000 at once for new buildings, and work began at once. The Training ScItooI building was rebuilt at once at a cost of $53,964.61. It is of stone and concrete throughout, has forced ventilation, hardwood floors, slate blackboards, and sanitary drinking fountains on each floor.

Science Hall was completed July 20. 1916, at a cost of $69,120.24. This building, like the new training school building, represents the best that is known to modern school architecture in construction, heating, lighting and ventilation. It is devoted to agriculture, physical and biological science and home economics. The main, or Administration building, was ready for the opening of the school year. 1917-18. It is built of Carthage limestone and Warrensburg sandstone, at a cost of $168,042.72. The entire building is equipped with a modern combined heating and ventilating system. This building is occupied by the administrative offices, the Academic Department and the Library. The literary societies also have commodious quarters here.

The Revised Statutes of 1899 declare the normal schools to be esta])lished to fit young men and young women to be 'competent teachers in the public schools of the state' (elementary schools and high schools). The dominant interest centers in that training which the school afifords to those preparing to be teachers. This school is especially organized for a professional work in its departments of psychology, pedagogy and the training school.

"Academic and technical preparations must of a necessity, proceed along with or before professional instruction. The academic instruction of a normal school must be exact, though broad. The student of normal school is thoroughly grounded in the subjects he is to teach, and inore, his course must extend beyond the public school subjects, to give the broader outlook for sources of material and clearer insight into methods and means of investigation."

The course of study when the school was first established was: Natural science, mathematics, elocution, vocal nui<ic, instrumental music, didactics. The latter was given by President Beard .-md constituted the professional course and was outlined in detail as follows:

Methods of Culture - Classification of mental powers: nature and office of each faculty: laws of development and discipline: methods of cultivating each faculty: normal science: methods of cultivating our moral nature: domestic and social culture.

History Ok .Founsox Col'Nty 149

Methods of Instruction - Principles of instruction; forms of instruction: classification of knowledge; order of studying the branches; methods of teaching; history of methods antl biography of educators.

School Management - Preparatory work ; school organization ; class management; school government; school authorities; science of government and ^Missouri school laws; school hygiene; teachers' institutes.

Training School. - The training school, first designated as "Model Department," and commonly called "practice school," first embraced in Warrensburg public schools and was under Prof. J- J. Campbell, for many years the beloved head of the English department. This did not prove satisfactory and was discontinued, a training school in connection with the normal established and it also discontinued, and the school finally established in 1881-82.

Summer School. - The summer school was organized in 1896. as a sort of private enterprise until 1901. when an appropriation was made for it. Since then, it has grown until now its enrollment much exceeds that of any other period of the year. It is composed of the highest class students, chiefly teachers of experience taking ad\anced work. In 1916-17, tliere were 300 students taking senior college work.

The present departments of the school are grouped as two, the Academic and Dei)artment of Technical Subjects. The following is a complete list of the subjects in each department with the amount of college courses given under them, measured in hours. A course of five hours means a course in wdiich five hours of lecture or class-room instruction is given for a period of half a school year. After a student has graduated from a first-class high school. 120 hours of such college work is required in the leading unixersities and in the normal for the Bachelor's degree; 60 hours is rec|uired for the diploma, conferring life-time license to teach in the Missouri public schools:

The Agricultural Department emphasizes the raising of dairy stock, hogs and poultry. I'his department is well equipped in the class room and on the farm. There is close co-operation with the State College of Agriculture in carrying on co-operati\'e demonstration i)lats of alfalfa, corn, wheat, oats, forage crops for hogs and ornamental and fruit planting.

The normal demonstration farm, which is located within a short distance from the campus, consists of thirty-six acres, which are owned liy the state, hesides sixty acres which the state rents. This farm is well adai)ted to experimental and demonstration work and it is fairly equipped with farm machinery for crop production. The general fields are used to illustrate the methods of crop production that shouhl exist in the vicinity of Warrensburg,