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

Page 33 text:

Page Twenty-Nine Jjuhpx and gentlemen, as all normal students are, or should be, and conducted themselves as such. lf perchance they did not, they were invited to go home, as they were not wanted here and were not lit persons to become teachers. But to keep such per- sons from becoming discouraged, they were informed that there was corn to be cultivated and dishes to be washed, and that both occupations were honorable. The invitations to go home were very rare. ln no way, perhaps, can the growth of the school in work- ing facilities for the student be seen more clearly than by com- paring the library of 1865 with that of ITQO7. In 1865 the library of the university was contained in two small cupboards placed in the hall west of the Assembly room. lt consisted of two sets of encyclopedias, Lippincott's Pronouncing Gazetteer of the XYorld, Thomas's Biographical Dictionary, some census reports, and a collection of text books furnished by the publishers. Now there is a spacious and elegant library room filled with book shelves of the latest design holding thousands of the choicest publications of this and other countries, and reading tables, round, square, and oblong, with a blackboard for the delinquent list. All of these conveniences are presided over by two of the most competent and obliging librarians whose most grievous complaint against the students is that the latter do not give them more frequent opportunities of being helpful. There was but one janitor connected with the school, and he attended to the heating, sweeping, scrubbing, etc., being assisted by a few students after school hours and on Saturdays. The one boiler used in heating the building was placed in the middle of the basement, on the north side. The rooms were heated by steam pipes arranged horizontally around the walls. The sys- tem was fairly satisfactory in moderate weather, but in cold weather the mercury was fond of staying near the bulb in the thermometer, and the pipes snapped loudly and persistently as if determined to drown the voices of both teachers and pupils. They succeeded in this at times, but never when a pupil was bravely reciting a lesson he did not know. The pipes put forth their most successful efforts in Normal Hall when lectures or other entertainments were being given. This was especially true with reference to musical programs. On such occasions the pipes always joined in the exercises and were not satisfied unless they jointly or severally reached high G3 they were successful usually. But the pipes have gone, and it is hoped they are at peace, it is certain that no lover of his kind mourns their departure. The janitor and his family lived in the east end of the base- ment, and the students were usually able to give their menu for

Page 32 text:

I il I Il H I I I -I - I- ---1 --I--'I-I I.-Yiiii - .- . .- ,. - Elin Elnhrx Page Twenty-Eight especially against the law of tl1e school to be seen on the streets during school l1ours. 1 F rom the beginning there has been a well conducted Model School connected with tl1e institution. It can hardly be said that it was always a successful Training School. In tl1e early years there were no critiques, All the help the pupil-teacher re- ceived in his work was what he obtained from tl1e principal of the department of tl1e Model School in which he taught, except that he had to bring his class into the assembly room occasion- ally and teach it before tl1e school. NVhen the children were through reciting they passed out of the room, and tl1e exercise was criticised freely by- both students and teachers. It was not considered proper for the pupil-teacher, to bring his class before tl1e school with a lesson which it had already recited. It must be the regular lesso11 for tl1e day, a11d the teacher was expected to show his skill in overcoming the dilhculties arising in the presentation of an average lesson. Thisgof course fell far be- low tl1e highly organized Training School of today with its corps of accomplished critic teachers to make the pathway to pedagogical perfection easy for the beginner. And yet many good teachers were sent out in those days, and the Model School was held in such high esteem that parents were glad to send their children to it, and pay a good stiff tuition fee for tl1e privilege. In 1865, and for a few years thereafter, there was but one session of the school daily, this being broken by a recess of twenty minutes for luncheon. As spelling came immediately af- ter recess, rows of young men could be seen seated in the dress- ing room during this intermission with a spelling book in one hand and a slice of bread and butter i11 the other. Tl1ey were very attentive to both, as this was regarded a very elfective method of getting the spelling lesso11 i11to their heads. The young men had to wear slippers in school. This was to avoid making noise in walking to a11d from the recitation rooms, and to keep from depositing tl1e ricl1 prairie soil i11 the rooms and corridors. Some time later, the gentlemen were per- mitted, i11 the interest of good health, to wear their shoes in tl1e building, but members of the faculty stood guard at the east and west doors to see that no mud was brought i11. The position of shoe inspector was not coveted by the gentlemen of the faculty, Zlllfi in a few years tl1e mud guards were discontinued. In those primitive times, tl1e number, of students being com- paratively small, the sexes were not segregated. The young men and women roomed in the same house, sat on the same porch. and together studied the harvest moon. No evil resulted from this companionship, and none was expected. They were ladies

Page 34 text:

Elin' Elnhrx Page Thirty the midday meal. Good, faithful Peter, in particular, was fond of onions. sausages, and sauer-kraut, and the aroma of those de- lectable edibles permeated the Assembly room and classrooms, making many of the students wish they were janitors, so as to have a good, substantial meal, instead of a cold luncheon sea- soned with four columns from Edwardss Speller. The janitor kept a cow which grazed peacefully on the cam- pus. This cow was frequently immortalized in song and story. Sonnets innumerable were addressed to her, but she coyly shook her head and continued to ruminate. She was a sociable cow, as was shown by her fondness for lying in the shade of the building, near the steps, where she could see the students as they passed in and out, and be the cause of their speaking in unknown tongues when they sometimes stumbled against her in their haste. The cow house was in the northeast part of the campus di- rectly west from the public school. Tt was rather a picturesque building, the style of architecture being a combination of the Tonic, Etruscan and Shantyesque. Perhaps it did not add much to the beauty of the landscape, but it attracted attention. Itwas the first object to be noticed by visitors, and the last to be ad- mired. Xiihen Dr. Edwards resigned the presidency of the school in 1876, to become pastor of the Congregational church at Prince- ton, Ill., Professor Hewett was elected to fill the vacancy. His corps of teachers at that time consisted of the following: Dr. Joseph A. Sewall. Professor of Natural Science. Thomas Metcalf. Principal of the Training School. Albert Stetson, Professor of Language and Reading. John VV. Cook, Professor of Matlteinatics. Henry lXflcCormick, Professor of History and Geography. Stephen A. Forbes, Director of Scientific Laboratory. Lester L. Burrington, Professor of Latin and Greek, and Principal of High School. Harriet M. Case, Preceptress, and Teacher of Grammar. Mrs. lXfTartha D. L. Haynie, Professor of Modern Languages. Amanda G. Paddock, First Assistant, Training Department. Charles DeGarmo, Second Assistant, Training Department. Rosalie Miller, Teacher of Drawing. Bandusia Vifakeheld, First Assistant, Normal Department. Fllen S. Edwards, Second Assistant, Normal Department. President Hewett's administration was largely a continuation of the preceding one. The same high ideals prevailed, and the same thoroness and faithfulness to duty pervaded the entire school. President Hewett, himself, made but few changes in the course of study, but several of the teachers recast the work in their departments and added to the number of studies. These changes, both in matter and manner of presentation, were most noticeable in the departments of Mathematics and History and Geography. The changes were made with the permission of the