Chicago State University - Emblem Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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The Alumni The Chicago Xormal Alumni Association is old enough to have witnessed great changes and tremendous development in the field of its activity. It was in existence before I ' ort Sumter fell; it saw the great civil war; it took part in the phenomenal growth that followed; and its members were the greatest of factors in the educational revival in the west — the struggle to mediate between an educational theory just finding itself in scientific self- analysis and the inarticulate but imperious demands of shifting modern conditions. The provincial prairie city on which the Alumni Association first opened its eyes is now a metropolis. In those days Chicago was too busy to be cultured. To-day one no longer awakens a smile by ranking this city as a center of art, of learning and literature. Who shall say how large a part of this development is due to the silent, unobtrusive influence of the Xormal School through its thousands of graduates. Surely no other factor has been so effective in penetrating the masses of the people with the refining forces of education and culture, and in laying deep those foundations on which the city ' s greatness must rest. Nor has its influence been confined to Chicago, for the Alumni Association has spread its membership through every state in the Union, and even to the Philippines and the con- tinent of Europe. The association numbers on its roll the graduates of four schools. The old Chicago Normal School, established in 1859, was for nearly twenty years the source from which the Chic ago schools drew their best talent. Many of these graduates are still in the service. It was from this school that the association gained the brightest name in its long roll of members, that of the brilliant woman who afterwards returned to the present Chicago Normal School as its principal, and who is now the superintendent of the Chicago schools. The Cook County Normal School came into existence in 1868. In the words of its second principal, Colonel Francis V. Parker, It was born in the travail of a bitter fight, and had lived only by the persistent energy and indomitable love of its principal, Dr. D. S. Wentworth. Its graduates number thousands who are yet in education or in other professions, many in Chicago, but many more scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and beyond the seas. In the fall of 1893 the North Side Teachers ' Training Class was organized, from which classes were regularly graduated until the spring of 1896. A large proportion of its 700 graduates are still teaching, and reflecting credit on their Alma Alater. The present Normal is the outgrowth and legitimate heir of all three of these earlier schools, and to realize how well it has sustained their best traditions it is only neces- sary to name the successive principals to whom its destinies have been entrusted. Colonel Parker, Arnold Tompkins, Ella Flagg Young, and William B. Owen. Perhaps there is no name better or more widely known to the teachers of America who are interested in music for children than that of Eleanor Smith, whose exquisite compositions are studied and loved wherever school children sing. She is a member of the Alumni Association. So is Dr. Alembert Brayton, of Indianapolis, scientist and physician, but a teacher still, for he is also engaged in college instruction. In woman ' s club circles what name is better known or stands for more pure achievment than that of Mrs. . S. Hefferan. ' Her devotion to civic betterment is at once a monument and an inspiration to the Association. And Zonia Baber, traveler, geographer, teacher, whose inspiring work, begun in the Normal School, is continued in the School of Education of Chicago University; several district superintendents; scores of principals; and thousands of teachers; men and women in all professions and in private life — all these are found in the long list of the Alumni ' s membership. The breadth of the distribution of the Associa- tion was forcibly brought home to me only a few months ago. I had learned that there

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the library under the Dewey Decimal Classification system, make a modern and practical one. The students find the bound volumes of magazines most helpful, since there are complete sets of most of the more useful; and with the aid of Poole ' s Index to Periodical Literature some very valuable reference work is done in the school. Another special collection of which we are justly proud is the one small section of books on the Drama, the Stage, and Stage-folk, which are being donated by the S. D. C. Thirty books have been added to this collection during the past year. But our library is more then a book room; for the bulletin board is made very attractive by the arrangement of pictures of some sort, and by special pictures for special days. An apt quotation or a short biographical sketch of the artist sometimes accompanies the pictures. In short, we all agree with some one who said that Next to knowing a thing is knowing where to find it. Nellie M. Day. Why Practice Teachers Go Mad Yes, John is such a nervous child. No one understands him. I don ' t see why it ' s necessary to make so much of such a little thing. He never had a bit of trouble in the other school. I didn ' t put it there. Oh, you ' re going too fast. I didn ' t hear what you said. Oh, look, there ' s a mouse. Do we have to do that again to-day. Can I pass the papers. ' You said you ' d let me do that and now he ' s doing it. I don ' t know. I wasn ' t here yesterday. I can ' t write, I ' ve got a sore finger. Teacher, may I get a drink. ' I can ' t sing soprano, my voice is changing. Let me be leader. ' I had to stay home, my mother was sick. I can ' t take gymnasium. The doctor said it wasn ' t good for me. Make him stop poking me. I can ' t sing, I ' ve got a bad cold. Aww! I saw a man in the nickel show — No, he isn ' t sick, I saw him outside. She ' s always pickin ' on me. I don ' t care, I didn ' t copy it! Irene Frank. WHO. ' One misty, moisty morning When cloudy was the weather, I met a supervisor With a face like patent leather. In the misty, moisty morning. His voice quite cut me through: How did you do it. ' How did you do it? Bluffing the way you do! — Pauline B. Rosair 10

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was recently an organization in Boston of the Chicago Normal Alumni, and only a few days later at the San Francisco meeting, I met two classmates, James and Arthur Chamber- lain, who are leaders in education in different California cities, and both of them authors of series of excellent books which are already standards in their respective subjects. The alumni are everywhere, and what is better, they are everywhere distinguished by a forceful and earnest professional attitude — what may be called the true missionary spirit. What has the association accomplished. ' ' It has always been a strong support to the school, even where it has not found it necessary to act as an organization. Its members are present everywhere that opinions are being molded and discussed, and their influence has always been a factor in shaping policies and averting hostility to the school. The days of active opposition are fortunately past, but in the stirring fight in 1894, and many a time before, it can be safely said that the Alumni had a great share in bringing victory to the side of old Normal. The beautiful memorial window to Colonel Parker in the Normal School is due to the devotion of the Association, under the able leadership of Mr. O. T. Bright, and the mag- nificent portrait of Mrs. Ella Flagg Young, presented to the Art Institute last year, is another monument of which the Alumni may be proud. The present officers of the Association are: President — Henry W. Sumner Vice-President — Melva Latham Secretary — George A. Beers Treasurer — Lillian G. Baldwin New graduates should keep in touch with the Association and give it active support, to keep alive the old memories, to preserve the traditions, to establish a feeling of solidarity, and above all to knit closely together all the strength of the Alumni for the undertaking of desirable projects, when needed, for the support, of the old school. James E. McDade. Words and Their Meaning Assignryient Bedlam Bubbling Fountain Critic .... Court . Dome . Emblem Havoc . Labyrinth . Practice Practice Teacher Penmanship . Recess . Special Method Special Topic . Singing Alone Theme . Warning . A call to do or die. See Havoc. A place of waiting. An awful fear that turns out to be a perfectly lovely, grand, sweet dream. Oasis. Observation tower. What no school should be without. State of room when critic departs. Room on first day of practice. Period of sophistication. The observed of all observers. That which brings about overdevelopment of the right arm. Boon for tired teachers. First aid to the injured. • Scylla and Charybdis. The vale of tears. A cause of heart failure. Irene Frank.