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

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N4 ' 44 xv ' rf ' , ff T ' exfff l Q x 6 1 x I ' f .' . l V V xt V ,xl r xXx V , is ., Y ' . - - , I1 ' i ' . 4 ,, . . ' - iw - k . I 7,1 , . ' y 1 -in 2 ' ,pt 'd1.' i' uf.: ,Q .,,' t l Q , ,f nz ,. X V, ,L , , I , at -ff if tb Ngzr I ' '1' - iv ' ' X DR. EDWIN C. HEWETT

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The Index I came from Massachusetts to join the teaching force in October, 1858, and I remained in the faculty until June, 1890. VVhen I came, Bloomington contained about 7,000 people, it had not a foot of pavement, and but very few sidewalks. The fall and early winter of that year were very rainy, so that I had an impressive introduction to Illinois mud. Of course, it was tracked into the school room, where it dried and was set alioat by the sweepers' broom, to settle on books and furniture. One of the students of those days, describing the building nearly twenty-live years afterward, uses this language, to whose truth I can testify from personal knowledge: The walls of the old house were rickety: and iron girders, with huge S's at the ends, held in place the brick masonry. Our assembly room was in the third story. In the second story, were recitation rooms, rather dark, and ill-adapted to our needs. Grocery and hardware stores occupied the flrst floor. The building was heated by a coal stove in each room, and, as Illinois coal is gaseous and explosive, the stove doors were frequently blown open, with loud sounds and clouds of yellow smoke. Notwithstanding these unfavorable conditions, I found here a noble band of about eighty students, many of whom have since made a good record in this and in other states. Some of them are still occupying prominent places in the educational world, some have gone into other occupations, and some have fallen asleep. Mr. Henry B, Norton, one of those students and one of the brightest persons ever grad- uated from the Normal, in writing for the quarter-centennial celebration in 1882. uses the following language, in describing the school and the students in those days: We were shabbily dressed in those days. I think my pantaloons were generally too short, and my coats seemed to have been made for some other person. We were very poor, but very plucky. 'We boarded ourselves, mainly on corn mush, washed the floors and built the tires at Normal Hall, worked hard, lived hard. and were poorly provided with all things. Our parents were sad-faced, struggling pioneers of the prairies. But we were cheery, resolute and happy in our life and in our work. To the toiling youth of frontier homes, thirsting for knowledge,

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The Index the Illinois Normal University opened the gateways of a new life. We loved it, rejoiced in it, and were thoroughly loyal to its name and fame. We were free in our conduct, to a singular extent. No school rules rested upon us. Our hours and our methods were wholly our own. lVe lived as we pleased, formed our friend- ships and associations, made our calls, and managed our atfairs, entirely at our own choice and pleasure. Very few schools were ever so slightly governed. Nevertheless the record of those days was a thoroughly Spartan one. We were from Puritan households, disciplined in self-restraint. Industry and poverty were our safe-guards. On the first Saturday after my arrival in Bloomington, the rain graciously suspended operation for a little, and I made a trip to Normal, then called The Junction, or North Bloomington. The basement of the building was nearly completed, but all work on it was at a standstill, and had been for many months. The campus was a cornlield, with plenty of cornstalks, but not a tree or shrub upon it. The old farm, of which it formed a part, was bounded by a ditch on the west side of what is now Fell avenue. East of that, was only raw, unbroken prairie. Streets had been laid out, but none were opened. Some ofthe magniiicent elms that now shade the streets had been plantedg but they were mere sticks an inch or two in diam- eter. The house lots of Principal Hovey, where Mr. Augustine now lives, were surrounded by a young hedge just set out: and the lots where Mr. John W. Aldrich lives, had just been plowed. The school was hardly settled in its new quarters when the civil war broke out. A few ofthe young men volunteered at the iirst call, in April, 1801. During the spring term almost all the young men drilled every day. The drill-ground was just where the buildings of the public schools now stand. This spot had been used for the burning of the brick for the walls of the University. It made a very convenient parade ground. The clay for these brick had been dug just where the tirst house east of the Baptist church now stands.