Normal School PaHern

CHAPTER VI Growth, 1865-1890 The period from 1865 to 1890 in the history of the Illinois State Normal University was one of steady and continuous growth, educationally and physically. It was the coming to maturity of the ideas of Richard Edwards, and their realization justified the proud boast he had made on the day he accepted the presidency of the young institution. He lived to see it recognized as the "best normal school on the continent." In it were worked out practically all the ideas which were generally accepted as pertaining to teacher training institutions. It was as complete and perfect as its lead­ ers knew how to make it. Of course, conditions were never en­ tirely satisfactory and support was sometimes niggardly given by the legislature; yet on the whole, the school represented reasonably accurately, just about what its presidents and faculty thought it should be. It was an outstanding success. The steady increase in attendance is noticeable. It seemed very little influenced by war, depression, panic, or the creation of a <: econd normal in Illinois, the Southern Illinois State Normal Uni­ versity. Glance through the following table:

NORMAL DEPARTMENT Year Ending Model June Men Women Total School Graduates 1858 53 74 127 . 30 1859 50 81 131 . 39 1860 61 61 122 41 10 1861 84 77 161 123 8 1862 80 72 152 133 8 1863 78 127 205 226 7 1864 104 200 304 279 8 1865 78 204 282 411 18 1866 101 169 270 . 502 15 1867 121 206 327 580 13 1868 169 244 413 630 20 1869 187 268 455 317 20 1870 160 269 429 328 32 1871 208 256 464 255 22 1872 220 240 460 287 36 1873 205 232 437 293 24 1874 208 242 450 316 23 1875 216 251 467 312 23 GROWTH 1865-1890 91

NORMAL DEPARTMENT Year Ending Model June Men Women Total School Graduates 1876 181 223 404 260 20 1877 191 235 436 229 27 1878 166 281 447 235 25 1879 150 237 397 252 22 1880 133 299 432 300 19 1881 179 302 481 295 23 1882 172 312 484 288 23 1883 166 345 511 362 45 1884 161 328 489 349 24 1885 156 346 502 352 30 1886 166 321 487 348 32 1887 187 392 579 387 38 1888 202 378 580 390 40 1889 192 443 635 445 29 1890 224 453 677 503 441 It was expected by many that the opening of the Southern Illi­ nois Normal University in 1874-75 would materially diminish the attendance. It did not because the larger percentage of the pupils in the Illinois State Normal University came from counties in the middle and northern parts of the State. However, in 1875 there were 42 out of 467 from the southern counties, tributary to the Southern Normal. This represented an actual increase of 3 over the 1874 enrollment from . those counties closest to the Southern Normal. These counties were Cumberland, Effingham, Fayette, Jefferson, Jersey, Marion, Massac, Perry, Pope, Randolph, Rich­ land, St. Clair, Union, White and Williamson.2 T e contrast between the table just given, and a similar one for the Massachusetts normal schools i~ striking. In the latter the stationary character of the enrollment is marked. The Bridge­ water enrollment averages, by trienniums in the same period, 1858- 1890, are 78, 136, 123, 109, 177, 189, 207. 3 We must also note that the Bridgewater school was nearly twenty years old in 1858. The per capita cost of instruction at Normal was always low and came to be a matter of some pride to the administration. In 1867 President Edwards reports that the cost of instruction per scholar was $32.00 as compared with $87.00 at Platteville, Wis­ consin, $84.00 at Emporia, Kansas, $70.00 at St. Louis Normal, $58.00 at Westfield, Massachusetts and $57.00 at Winona, Minne-

I Semi-Centennial Hiatorv 0/ the JUinoia Stat. Nonnal Univer8it1l. pp. 47. 52 'Pro,eedi1tg. 0/ the Board 0/ Educati"." 0/ the State 0/ JUinoi •. June 1875. p . 8 • Msngun. V. L .• The American NMmal School. JtIJ Riae and Development in Massachusetts. p. 304 92 THE TEACHERS COLLEGE sota.4 Thirty-two dollars represents the median cost per student in the Massachusetts' normals from 1839-1841, but the Civil War had about doubled that figure. i", Another interesting study, which was much quoted by the sup­ porters of the Illinois State Normal University before the legislature was published by The Normal School Board of the State of Minne­ sota in 1873. The figures are given for comparison. School No. of Pupils Expenses Cost per Pupil Fredonia, N. Y...... 141 $24,000 $170.00 Toronto, Ontario ...... 172 23,645 187,00 Buffalo, N. Y...... 164 18,000 110.00 Framingham, Mass ...... 100 10,296 102.00 Oshkosh, Wis...... 158 15,910 100.00 Platteville, Wis...... 125 12,240 !l8.00 New Britain, Conn...... 133 12,000 90.00 Westfield, Mass...... 140 12,548 89.00 Peru, Neb...... 90 7,500 83.00 Englewood, Cook Co., Illinois .... 147 12,000 82.00 Bridgewater, Mass...... 150 12,091 80.00 Ypsilanti, Mich...... 250 20,000 80.00 Whitewater, Wis...... 186 13,695 '74.00 Providence, R. I...... 140 10,000 '11.00 Oswego, N. Y...... 160 10,894 15 8.00 Salem, Mass...... 160 10,894 68.00 Normal, Ill...... 460 31,369 168.00 By this tabulation Normal ranks eighteenth in per capita costs and first in number of pupils and total expenditure. However President Edwards was not satisfied with this estimate of Normal Uni­ versity's per capita cost. He pointed out that it was secured by 'ividing the total expenses of the institution, model school and all, by the number of students in the normal only. He insisted that in most instances this total expense had been divided by the number in both normal and training school. By this method the average per capita for Normal was not $68.00, but $40.37!' The support from the State was rather generous. The annual revenue had grown to $29,550 by 1875, but this included rents $3,500 and tuition $4,500. By 1890 it had reached the $40,000 mark. I do not intend to convey the notion that the sailing was always smooth in the legislature for the Normal appropriations. Far from

~ Seventh Ilienrliul Hcpori of the SU}Je r i1'ltf'ndc?lt of J'uh/ic Inst1-uctio1l. of the S tate 0/ Illinois. 1867-8. p. 34

,-, Mangun, V. L. t Th e American Nor-mal. /t.'I. U isc a n d D'~ vt:l ollm en t. in MU8xa(' husf.: tI.s p . 343 ,: J'roccedi'tlUH of the H oard of r.;(/u('(Lf i u'u of t /J <. State 0/ Illinoi.'i. Dcce mlJer l S7:i, p. 7. B eUe ­ vill.e Ad tl o( ·( l t~~ . J a n. 18, 1875. Th e Ninth AWl'l uai Rf:port of the M innesota S tate Normat' School lioard. '; Edwa rds. Richa r d, Fads COtl('crllin!} t he S tatf' Nonnal U1 I itl(~ T.'iit.1J (l tl 73) . p. 6 GROWTH 1865-1890 93 it! There was many a crisis in which it looked dark indeed for the fut re of the institution. The attacks' were made on various grounds, viz., that its students did not teach ; that its teachings were radical; that it was a home for broken down New Englanders; that it was aristocratic, and in general, that normal schools were not needed. In 1873 and again in 1875 the situation appeared quite serious. In 1873 Senator Burke of Macoupin County made a long speech upon the subject and many others appeared to sympathize with him. The point of the speech was that the institution did not "render an equivalent"; that the number of graduates who taught waH small. He advocated making the Normal a pay school and self supporting. Another senator proposed giving the building and grounds to McLean County.B But public opinion and not the organized forces of the school saved the day. A quotation from a current editorial will show how deeply entrenched the school was in the regard of the people and also exhibits an interesting criticism of its methods before the legislature. "The appropriation for the Normal University came within an ace of being lost. Had it failed of passage the State would have had the mortification of seeing its most successful insti­ tution, the finest normal school, not only in the United States, but probably in the world, closed for want of a few thousand dollars, the buildings and lands reverting back to the donors and the prop­ erty lost to the State forever. That the Legislature should have voted away hundreds of thousands of dollars to Insane and Blind Asylums, that it should be lavish of its bounty to an Industrial University, and vote cheerfully a second Normal University almost a hundred thousand dollars, and yet begrudge the sum necessary to carryon the one now in full tide of success is a problem that will bear investigation.------The State Board of Education has come to be regarded as a good place for aspiring politicians or fossilized old ones. It is never heard of, and has about as much influence in shaping legislation as the Board of Foreign Missions. In the next plaee the State Superintendent is a feeble old man, useful in his day but long since gone to seed. His glory consists in making out re­ ports.---And the Normal must do a little more outside talk. It has plodded along within the institution so to speak; it must pay more attention to letting the people know what it is doing, just how efficient it is and what especial public need it fills." n Such attacks and support led the president of the Normal and the State Board to Btart a publicity campaign in which the whole argument for

8 Frede H . Urnes, of the State Board of Public Charities. to Richard Edwards . Mar. 22, 1873 ; Edwards MSS. • EI Paso, Illinois Journal, May 8, 1873 94 THE TEACHERS COLLEGE normal schools was reopened and all specific charges were answer,ed with· statistical material. In 1875 the fight was even more serious and the opposition more bitter. Bills were introduced to abolish the State Normals at CIj,r­ bondale and Normal, converting one building into a refuge for the hopelessly insane, and the other into a home for feeble minded chil­ dren. There was a certain degree of sarcasm in these proposed changes. But they were taken up with a vengeance by all dis­ gruntled individuals and factions. The Chicago Times which had opposed the introduction of Edwards' Readers into the Chicago schools, led the attack. It held itself to be a champion in exposing frauds in education. It asserted that the public schools had long been so enveloped in a panoply of humanitarian sentiment that they had come to be regarded somewhat in the light of sacred institu­ tions, and the growth of abuse had therefore been almost un­ checked. The Normal University, it maintained, had shared this immunity in even a greater degree than the lower schools. "Being farther removed from public scrutiny, it has incurred little danger of criticism, and in this seclusion it has developed into a school of invention, and the energy and talent of those in charge have been employed in devising new 'methods,' in order to create a demand for new appliances in the shape of textbooks, charts, etc. invented by its president. Nearly all the faults and wrongs of the school system have originated in, or have been intensified by normal schools. In all essentials where they differ from an ordinary school, they are worse than useless." 10 But by 1875 the Normal University was ready and was able to launch such an aggressive campaign, and to 8how so conclusively its services to the State, that never again was there such direct attack upon it in the State legislature. To what extent was the Illinois State Normal University a local institution in this period? The Normal University Act had planned for students to be drawn from all quarters of the State. It provi ed that each county within the State should be entitled to gratuitous instruction for one pupil in the said Normal University, and that each representative district should be entitled to gratuitous instruc­ tion for a number of pupils equal to the number of representatives in said districtY The system of appointment was extremely com­ plicated and never functioned well. No student was ever refused entrance because the quota had been reached from his district or county. But there was considerable criticism from some quarters that the school was too crowded because there were too many stu­ dents attending from McLean County. For the first seven years

\0 Chicago Times, Jan. 17, 187, " Catalogue of the State Normal University, 1860, p. 22 "Fifth Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of IUi1toi8, p. 47 GROWTH 1865-1890 95

(18158-1865) the ratio of McLean County students to total attend­ ance was a little less than 17 ro ;12 and during the next twenty-five years the average was close to 11 ro o In 1880 the Board adopted a resolution to the effect that after the present term, no pupil be re­ ceived from McLean County in addition to the regular number to which said county is entitled by law, except such as exhibit superior scholarship, at least to the extent of receiving a standing of 85 ro upon their entering examinations.13 Since the standard for ad­ mission had been placed at 60 ro on examination, this regulation mea.nt that over 50 ro of the members from McLean County were required to pay tuition. In 1886 there were fewer McLean County . students in the entering class receiving free tuition than there were from DeKalb, Jo Daviess, LaSalle, Montgomery, Shelby, Stephenson, Tazewell or Woodford counties.14 This regulation discriminating against students from this lo­ cality continued in effect for twenty years and did, without doubt, serve to limit the number of students from the home county. In most of the normals in their younger days, as many as fifty per cent of their students were drawn from the county in which the school was located. Beginning in 1874 Normal, in its catalog and annual r eports, published in detail the roll of students by counties. In that year seventy-seven counties were represented and eight states other tha:n Illinois,15 and in 1890, seventy-nine counties and seven states were represented. I 6 The instituticn for the first forty years of its existence served fairly well the entire State. At least it was in no sense a local school. The Normal building remained fairly adequate to the needs of the school until about 1880. From that time it was quite crowded. By 1887 the administration was agitating for a new building. More than nine hundred different names appeared in the catalog for that year. While a part of the one hundred increase over the previous year was in the Model School, yet the largest problem was the first year of the Normal department. Students were seated on the plat­ form in the large assembly hall, and classrooms designed for not more than forty students, often held from sixty to eighty.17 Long before that date, the teaching force was found to be inadequate. The faculty increased from ten to eighteen in the period 1858-1890; yet by 1873 the president reported a Psychology class of fifty-five and! a class in the Theory and Art of Teaching, of ninety-eight pupils.l8

II Proceedings of the Board of EducatiO'n of the S tate of JUinois. J a n . 1880, p. 21 .. P roceedings of the Board of Education of the S tate of lUi nois. 1886, p. 7 " Proceedings of the Board of Education of the S tate of Illinoi., Apr. 25. 1874. p . 7 '" Proceedings of the Board of Education of the S tate of lUin ois, June 25, 1890, p p. 6-7 " Proceedings of the Board of EducatiO'n of the State of IUinoi• . June 1887. pp. 9-10 I. Proceedings of the Board of Education of the State of JUinois. Dec. 1873. p . 4 96 THE TEACHERS COLLEGE

But work was a grim joy to this faculty, and no standardizing agency protected them from themselves. A student of those days writes, "Work was almost a religion with that faculty. They not only taught five or six hours per day, five days in the week, but they examined the papers of students by the hundreds, acted as critics in literary societies, and lectured over the State. Once when

ORIGINAL TRAINING SCHOOL BUILDING (Now Used as a Library) I was visiting with President Cook he asked me how many hours per week I taught at Teachers College. When I replied eight hours per week, he held his hand over his face to hide a blush of shame on my account." 10 The general policy of the presidents had been to add full professors to the staff at maximum salaries, but by 1888 it was seen to be necessary to add assistants; "bright young men and women who could well afford to work for a year or two at moderate salaries, but whose strength and enthusiasm could be used to ex­ cellent purpose." 20 In general, however, there seemed to be a feeling of satisfaction and realized ambition when the institution had developed to its full extent around the skeleton planned by Edwards. As we shall ,see ,. F. M. McMurry to T. J. Lancaster, April 7, 1932 20 Seventeenth Biennial R eport 0/ the SU1)eTi1 I t'~ ndent of Pu.l>lic Instruction of the State: 0/ Illinois, 1886- 1888, LXIII GROWTH 1865-1890 97 later, the administration was very well disposed toward the creation of other normals, both county and state, to handle the increasing number of young people who were demanding normal school educa­ tion. The faculty list of this period is rather impressive from the standpoint of degrees. In the catalog of 1866 we find six Masters degrees, or better. However we must remember that half of these were honorary and that the most important and influential members of the faculty had enjoyed only the very limited educational ad­ vantages of graduation from the Bridgewater Normal. The fact that the school was regarded as an institution of higher education however, is attested by the fact that degrees, titles, departments, etc. were listed in a conspicuous place in the catalog. In this year, 1866, by vote of the Board, the principal of the Normal University was to be known thereafter as "President" and the principal male teachers thereof were to be known and called "Professors." 2 1 This action was somewhat against the wish of the president and the professors. Although the school was legally known as the Normal University, the faculty obstinately resisted being called "profes­ s rs." This is probably because the word "professor" had in fron­ tier Illinois, a connotation of quackery and cheap publicity. In fact t he school had been infested by one "professor" in 1860. He was Professor Washington Irving Vescellius, the great American card writer who was employed by the Board to give writing lessons, and was very careful to let the world know that he was a live "profes­ sor." He proudly gave a convulsed school a very carefully prepared lesson on the "shyrographic curve" and the general subject of "Bhyrography." The salaries of president and teachers were, at this time, much a ove the average for normal schools and compared quite favorably with those of the best colleges and universities in the country. In 1868 the salaries were exactly the same as those paid in the newly founded State Industrial University of Illinois. They were $4,000 for the presidents and $2,000 for the professors.~~ The Normal University in those days could tempt the best men in the field of Education in the whole United States. These salaries remained substantially the same for a generation save that President Hewett, who followed Edwards, received at first $3,150 and later $3,500.~:\ Long before the expiration of this generation, the faculty realized that the cost of living was constantly advancing while salaries were stationary. Petitions to this effect were rather constantly before

:1 J 'Toc ee di""{J~ of the Roard of Rclucation of the State 0/ IU inois. June 1866, p. 3 :!:! SC1'enth B iennial R eport of the SU 1)crint.cndent of l'u Mic f n!1tructio'll of th e State of l/Ii .... oi8. 1 ~67-8. p. 347 ~ :i /'roccedi11!J8 of th e Hoard of Edu('ution of the State of 11I i "nois. June 1 ~7X. p . 29 and or May 1 ~82. pp. 20-21 98 THE TEACHERS COLLEGE the Board of Education. In fact the petition of 1867 brought the increase of professors' salaries from $1,500 to $2,000. The other petitions were of less avail. This petition of 1867 is worth quoting as it shows what the faculty thought of themselves. "We ask for an increase in salaries: First, because our present salaries are not equal to our current family expenses; second, be­ cause the cost of living has increased fully 100

,. Proceedings of the Board of Education of " te S tate of lUino;", Dec. 1867, pp. 14-15 ", Ibid, p . 7 '" Richard Edwa rds to Nathaniel Allen, Feb. 5, 1872, Edwa rds MSS. GROWTH 1865-1890 99 as a majority of the students attending the Normal Univer­ sity are female students; and whereas women have demonstrated their ability to compete with men in the schoolroom; therefore, be it Resolved; That in the judgment of the Board, the interests of the University would be promoted by filling at least three of the nine regular professorships with female teachers, at as early a date as is practicable." 27 In 1876 there first appears in the University catalog, the name of a woman, with the title professor, adjoined. It was: "Mrs. Martha D. L. Haynie, Professor of Modern Lan­ guages." 28 On the whole, there was a feeling and spirit about the institution of orderly, steady, planned growth. There was the atmosphere of permanency and stability. There was nothing hurried or pre­ mature. The generation of Richard Edwards built with self-con­ scious pride for the future. This feeling is perhaps best voiced by President Edwards in his Decennial Address delivered in June, 18'l2. It follows in part: "Since the graduation of the first class, there has been but one president of the Board of education-a period of thirteen years. Two members of the faculty have served almost from the beginning, and three more have served for teD years each. On the Board are two members of eleven years' standing each. Four more have al­ rea.dy entered upon a second term of six years. Reappointment has been the rule, and single terms the exception. And even the Secre­ tary, who is dependent upon the suffrage of the people, has been continuous to a degree seldom reached by an elective officer. The Normal University has sometimes been outshown by more dazzling luminaries, but its milder light has been liable to no sudden extinc- tion or obscuration. . These evidences of permanency are cheering, for they indicate the deep purpose of the people of Illinois to carry forward success­ fully the enterprise of popular Jducation. The legislature has had seven or eight opportunities of closing this school; either by direct legislative provision or by withholding the needed supplies. It has done neither. We have not only been suffered to exist, but we have also been cherished and sustained." 29

'" Proceedings 0/ the Board 0/ Education 0/ the State 0/ Illinois. June 1874. p . 14 "" Catalogue 0/ the Illinois S tate Norm