East Stroudsburg University - Stroud Yearbook (East Stroudsburg, PA)

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NE cannot write a history. One must 0 live it. To help the reader live again the bygone days of East Stroudsburg State Teachers College is what the writers are trying to do. To relate how and why there was ever a wish for a school in East Stroudsburg and how this school came about is our purpose. We cannot give you all the details, but we shall try to give you enough to enable you to better understand the life and growth of your Alma Mater. Elwood Chester Kemp, Jr. Gilbert Everts Dunning EAST STROUDSBURG 01- YESTERYEAB 10

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FIRST BOARD OF TRUSTEES Seeley Rosenkrans, President, East Stroudsburg T. Y. Hoffman, Vice'President, East I. A. Gardner, Secretary . . .East H. M. Mutchler, Treasurer, East Milton Yetter .......... . .East Morton Deckef . . . . . . . . . .East J. W. Eilenberger ...... ..East Philip Ruster ............East; George E. Stauffer . . . . . . . .East L.H. Burnett ........East Hon.J.B. Storm J. K. Fenner .. ........... East J. I. Miller .................. . Stroudsburg Stroudsburg Stroudsburg Stroudsburg Stroudsburg Stroudsburg Stroudsburg Stroudsburg Stroudsburg Stroudsburg Stroudsburg . . .Portland

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HISTORY Millions of years ago there were no men, no women, no children, n0 schools. Ice had the lead ing role. The ice floe, moving southward, finally collapsed, leaving Monroe County covered with glacier deposits. It gradually melted away, leaving its remnants strewn across the countryside. The scarred rock which now stands on the front campus near the auditorium is visible evidence of Naturels defeat of the glacier. The first scene of our past has been played. Years go by, the stage is set, and Indians assume the lead. They move quietly across the scene, leaving behind them their homes along the Dela! ware and in the surrounding hills. A white man follows. He stops and, seeming satisfied, settles down to make his home. Others follow; among them is Daniel Broadhead, who, in 1737, buys a section of land east of the creek which now bears his name. He builds his home on a knoll rising from swampland, at approximately the present site of the General Hospital of Monroe County. His Stockade was later attacked by Indians who camped near by. But the cause of the Redman was lost, and we move on. Years pass. Now we see two adjoining towns developing economically and culturally. A few local people felt the need of an institution for advanced work beyond the schools of that time. The Reverend Chandler A. Oakes, pastor of pa pd the East Stroudsburg Presbyterian Church, enI Visioned a state normal school, which would raise the standard and character of our public schools. Late in 1891 he conferred with Mr. Seeley Rosen' krans, father of Dr. Edna L. Rosenkrans, and convinced him of the possibilities of establishing a state normal school in East Stroudsburg. T0, gether, the two men interested a small group of people. However, with few exceptions, it was very difficult to sell the idea to others of the community. In time there were enough interested people to invest money in a stock company to found the school. In all there were one hundred and ten subscribers, and the number of shares sold was three hundred and fifteen and oneehalf. The original charter reads as follows: ill. The name of the Corporation shall be the East Stroudsburg State Normal School. 2. The purpose for which the Corporation is formed is to erect a Normal School for the professional training of young men and women as teachers for the Common Schools of the State in accordance with the provisions of an act of Assembly, ap proved the 20th day of May, A.D. 1857, and its supplements in the Fourth Normal School District composed of the counties of Luzerne, Northampton, Pike, Monroe, Carbon, Lackawanna, and Wayne on a