Framingham State University - Dial Yearbook (Framingham, MA)

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10 SOME people are of the opinion that education is merely going to school and learning lessons. This is the limited sense of the Word. It has a more enlarged meaning. It means the develop- ment of all our faculties, the broadening of our minds, the forma- tion of character. VVe should learn not for school but for life. Education is something We must acquire by ourselves and it can only be gained by Work. These are some of the truths we may carry away with us from the Framingham Normal School. Chronology of the Framingham Normal School Dec. 28, 1838. Voted by Board of Education to establish a Normal School at Lexington. Sept., 1839. First Normal School in America opened by Mr. Peirce. Three pupils. Oct., 1839. Model school opened. 1842. Resignation of Mr. Peirce. Succeeded by Rev. Samuel J. May. Legislature appropriates to Normal Schools 86,000 a year for three years. 1844. Mr. Peirce returns. School removed to Fuller Academy, West Newton. 1849 adopted. 1852 1855 1866 enlarged. 1875 1886 1887 1888 1889 1898. Rev. Eben S. Stearns succeeds Mr. Peirce. Three years' course School removed to Framingham Center. Practice school discontinued. Mr. Geo. M. Bigelow succeeds Mr. Stearns. Mr. Stearns succeeded by Miss Annie E. Johnson. School building Normal Hall dormitory built. Practice school re-established. Miss Johnson succeeded by Miss Ellen Hyde. Crocker Hall built. Crocker Hall partially destroyed by fire. May Hall built. Semi-centennial of school celebrated. Mr. Henry Whittemore succeeds Miss Hyde. Household Arts course established.

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9 that we happen to be studying at the time. If you can't find a. connection, make one. Let us take them for theme subjects, for platform exercises, let us write about them and discuss them with each other. We are wasting golden opportunities. MANUAL training is to be the coming necessity. We already have our sewing and sloyd. The time is surely coming when cooking and school gardening must be added. We must get in the van or be left behind. It looks as though one of two things must come and come speedily, a lengthening of the course, or special grade training. THE phrase Busy as a Senior has become proverbial. Anyone who dares to suggest any addition to the work is looked upon as an enemy to the class. Nevertheless there are many things that we need. For one thing, we ought to have a period a week which should be a combination of impromptu platform exercises and current events. There should be more opportunity for open discussion of matters of public interest and our school life. WHAT kind of books are taken out of the library most fre- quently? Works of elementary science and novels. YVe need more of both. Many of us depend wholly upon the library for our science books. They are too few and antiquated. VVhy not have dupli- cate copies of some of the new ones? In spite of the fact that modern fiction is taken out so gener- ally the books are very few. This, however, is partly due to the fact that few acceptable books are written. VVhy not have a suggestion box and have some of the books suggested discussed in the English class? SOON we will be alumnae. Let us prove our vaunted ,08 spirit by keeping in touch with our class. Our strength must be in our union. The alumnae association is not as active as it should be. Let ours prove the most faithful of any class. To accomplish this we must do at least three things: Keep our secretary informed of our whereabouts, attend alumnae meetingsg and respond to and proffer suggestions in regard to the school. A Round Robin is one of the most effectual methods of making class loyalty personal. CULTIVATE school spirit and class spirit. There is always room for improvement. Show your spirit by being loyal. It can be done in more ways than one.

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11 Framingham Normal School THE FIRST STATE NORMAL SCHOOL IN AMERICA. ROM 1820 to 1830 was the gloomiest period in the history of our public school education. Some great men at the end of this period saw that, although there were other evils, the greatest evil in the public school system Was the inexperience and lack of knowledge of the teachers. They decided to establish schools for the training of men and Women Who were to be teachers, and the papers, journals, and legislatorial reports of this period were full of their speeches and Writings. The result of this agita- tion was an appropriation December 28, 1838 to establish three Normal Schools in the state. One of these Was for female teachers, and Was established at Lexington. This was the beginning of' our Normal School. y A good school building and boarding house was procured at Lexington and in June, 1839, Reverend Cyrus Pierce was engaged to teach the school. He was just the man for the posi- tion, as subsequent events proved, for as a result of his training the early Normal school pupils were invariably distinguished by their conscientiousness and exactness. School commenced on Wednesday, July 3, in the midst of a rain storm. Before the board of visitors and the new principal, there came but three timid girls who were examined and enrolled, the first pupils of the first State Normal School in America. In spite of the fewness in numbers, school began and continued through the year in such a Way as to be a great encouragement to the men Who Watched its progress so anxiously. During the year a model or practice school was established which contained thirty-three pupils at the end of the vear and at this time there were twenty-five Normal pupils. In 1842, at the end of three years of unselfish devotion in every part of the school, Mr. Pierce was obliged to resign because of the too great mental and physical strain upon him. He was succeeded by Reverend Samuel J. May, whose success in the school Was complete. In July, 18441, Mr. May resigned to give place to Mr. Pierce who was able to take up his duties again. The first graduates of the Normal School were very successful as teachers, not only because of their ability, but because of their