Slippery Rock University - Saxigena Yearbook (Slippery Rock, PA)

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by the State, the students being required to pay their own tuition. In consideration of the adoption of a course of study covering th1'ee years of work, which was put into full effect in 1903, the State agreed to pay the entire tuition of all who expressed their intention of becoming teachers. The purpose of the writer in presenting this brief sketch of' the early history of the school is that those who know it only in its present condition may appreciate, in some measure at least, thc difliculties through which the institution has passed in order to reach its present state oi' prosperity. Wg , fwfr f ff , V Av, , fl, , I V . If M. A , , . ff! . - j t V If 'I ' ' -, . f fi' . 1 ' ' ,f' . Ti: - ' Z' ,fji ,. ., 'i X NEW BUILDING

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History of the School Slippery Rock State Normal School began its first term on March 26, 1889, with seven teachers and one hundred sixty-eight students. The grounds were without grass, trees, or walks and presented a desolate ap- pearance as compared with their present condition. A wooden building on the site of the present Chapel con- tained, on the second floor, the chapel room, and on the first floor, the Principal's office and seven recitation rooms. The Model School was, in these early days, held in a building on New Castle Street. At the beginning of the Spring Term of' 1893 the present Main Building was first used for classes, and the first floor of the Chapel was taken for the use of the Model School. On the morning ol' May 13, 1895, the boys' dormitory, a frame building which stood on the same site as the present structure, caught fire and was entirely destroyed. The people of the town opened their houses and rooms were found for all. On the twenty-sixth day of June, 1896, the Chapel was destroyed by fire and on that year and the next, Commencement exercises were held in the grove below the School. During the rebuilding of the Chapel the morning exercises of the School were held in the room now used f'or'the library. A During these troublous times, in spite of the many obstacles, the school underwent a steady growth in numbers as well as in influence, owing largely to the loyalty of the student body to the best interests of the institution. The State was not then so liberal in its encouragement of those who attended the Normal schools, as the State Aid granted the student was only fifty cents per week and the student was required to pay a tuition fee of' one dollar per week. However, those who completed the course were given fifty dollars each on graduation. About twelve years ago this allowance on graduation was cut OH and, in fact, for one year no aid was given Th ft l

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