Illinois State Normal University - Index Yearbook (Normal, IL)

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no Zip: jnhrr competitors, but Blooniingtonls bid exceeded Peoria's by about rl59n,00U, and the better offer was accepted. The cornerstone of the building was laid September 29, 1857, with appropriate ceremonies, presided over by Hon. A. J. Merriman, still a resident of Normal. We can hardly imagine that the beautiful campus was then a bare prairie,-a part of it a corn-field,-and that Normal existed only in the minds of the far-sighted philanthropists of the day. Owing to the tinancial crisis of 1857, the work was discon- tinued some eighteen months, so that the building Was not entirely completed until 1861. We can never fully appreciate the heroic struggle maintained by the friends of the institution during the einbarrassments that resulted from this great financial crash. The Illinois State Normal University began its life in Major's Hall, in Bloomington, October 5, 1857. Here Charles E. Hovey, principal, and Ira Moore, assistant, with twenty-nine pupils, in a dingy room, began the work of the institution. At the close of the third year the first commencement was held in the as- sembly room of the present building. Leaving the cradle of its birth at the beginning of the Fall Term of 18150, the Illinois State Normal University removed to its permanent and more spacious home in the new building. Here, nourished by the state and guided by Wise hands and devoted hearts, it has continually increased in influence and rep- utation. ln the summer of 18431, the country's call drew from the University its devoted principal, Mr. Hovey, and all the instruct- ors but two. together with most of the young men. Perkins Bass

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MFSTQRV' at ILLINOIS STATE NQBMAL UNIVERSITY has for over a third of a century exerted a wide influence. Its power for good has not been limited to the state of Illinois, but it has passed beyond the boundary lines,- north, south, east, and West.-until nearly every state and terri- tory has felt its influence. How such an institution originated and what events have marked its development must certainly be of interest to every one into Whose hands this book may chance to fall. The idea of a State Normal School became firmly rooted in the minds of the teachers of the state about 1856. In Febru- ary, 1857, the legislature passed, and Governor Bissell approved, ff An act for the establishment and maintenance of a Normal University. 'I The reason for calling this school a University was to secure a fund which was set apart for the establishment of HUniversities.'7 The act provided for a Board of Education to which was given the power to locate the Normal University at a suitable place Where the most favorable inducements were offered. May T, 1857, the Board met at Peoria to receive bids and decide upon the location. Peoria and Bloomington were the chief 9

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nixillfhaak- ' ali-- DR. RICHARD EDWARDS l862-I876.