Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Oak Yearbook / INSTANO Yearbook (Indiana, PA)

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elCi lo i) oi kfa School. JANE ELIZABETH LEONARD. OF the eleven State Normal Schools of Pennsylvania, Indiana is the youngest but one, and yet it is now almost twenty years since the discussion among the citi- zens that led to its establishment began. In 1869, some eighteen or twenty thousand dollars were subscribed in aid of the project, but there the movement stopped. In 1871 an act was passed to aid the Indiana Normal School similar to the act passed in 18G9, granting aid to the school of California. The subject was considered at the County Institute held in the fall of 1871, subscriptions were resumed, and from that time the work was pushed forward vigorously. The .best site in the whole vi- cinity, overlooking the town, was purchased, plans were adopted, estimates were made, contracts were consummated, and building was begun. On May 17, 1875, the school was opened. Many who read this sketch will remem- ber that first term. It was ten weeks long and we had 148 students in the Normal School, and 80 in the Model School. Among the bright and earnest faces that greeted us on that opening day were at least two of the contributors to the Clionian, Dr. Mc- Curdy of Philadelphia and Miss Brooks of the Allegheny High School. The latter was, we remember, the first young lady who selected a room at Indiana. The State recognition took place on Friday, 21st of May. At two o ' clock on the afternoon of that day a thousand people were gathered in the chapel to hear the report of the committee of inspection, and to listen to their words of approval and congratu- lation. What a ringing speech Mr. Wickersham, then State Superintendent, made, and we had a taste too of the really fine eloquence of the principal of the School, E. B. Fair- field, D. D., LL. D. In the splendid building, completed after so much effort, and in the large number of students already attracted to the school, its friends and the public spirited citizens of the town, began at last to realize their dream of a school at Indiana. The Normal School law of 1857 provided for no State appropriations. The friends of these schools proposed to apply to them the old Pennsylvania policy of allowing private enterprise to precede State action in the establishment of public institutions. Later the State came to their aid, but, with all their required expensive and large equipments, they must be in the main self-supporting. This makes the struggles of new schools difficult, sometimes appalling. From such struggles Indiana Avas not exempt; but so determined were the Board of Trustees to shield the school that its reverses and mis-

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James R. Daucmierty, Indiana, Pa. Hon. Harry White, J. D. Patton, J. M. Guthrie, A. T. Moorhead Samuel A. Smith, Thomas Sutton, Edward Rowe, Hon. Silas M. Clark, Rev. Wm. S. Owens, D. D., Jno. P. Elkin, A. W. Wilson, W. J. Mitchell, John W. Sutton, S. M. Jack, Rev. A. C. Ehrenfeld, ' ' A. W. Kimmell, A. P. Kirtland, Blairsville, ; ' Hon. Silas M. Clark, President. Thomas Sutton, Secretary. James M. Watt, Treasurer.

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HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL. fortunes were taken up by themselves, as far as possible, and borne in silence. It happened more than once that trustees had every dollar they personally owned pledged for the honor of the school. The first two and best friends of the institution were John Sutton and Silas M. ( ' lark. The former was elected President and the latter Secretary at the first organization of the board, as nearly as we can ascertain, on May 13, 1872, three years before the school opened. In the death of Mr. Sutton, June 9th, 1877, the school sustained a heavy loss. He had devoted himself actively to its establishment, giving to it largely of his thought and time, and private means. His sons have, since their father ' s death, become members of the board. There still remain in the board three of the men who were trustees at the opening of the school thirteen years ago. Silas M. Clark, now on the Supreme Bench of the State, but still the wise friend and guide of the school, Andrew W. Wilson, and James K. Daugherty. Mr. Joseph R. Smith, like Mr. Sutton and Judge Clark, was in the original board of ' 72. When he died in February 9, 1887, we lost a friend who held nothing but his honor too much to give to the institution to which he had devoted so many years of loyal service. It is to the wisdom and united effort of such men that the marked prosperity and success of the school is due. They have always been ready to give time and work to the school without any thought of compensation. They have labored weary days and nights to organize and administer its affairs, and this many times under great stress of circumstances. They have borne great burdens voluntarily and grandly. Our success has been won by their valor, labor and sacrifice. It is the prize of their well merited victory. In the summer of 1876 Dr. Fairfield, the first principal of the school, resigned, and accepted the Chancellorship of the University of Nebraska. A man of learning and power the Doctor was, but he knew little about the management of a Pennsylvania Normal School While here he collected $3,000 for chemical apparatus, and through him the Hon. Edward S. Golden and others presented the fine bell which hangs in the cupola. Many of our old students will recall sweet Nellie Fairfield, who died not long after leaving us, and Mrs. Fairfield, and Major Bolar, Assistant in Mathematics, and. Hiram Collier, the rare and accomplished Professor of Chemistry and Physics, all since passed to the land of shadows. Besides Professors Collier and Bolar, Mrs. Col. Porter, formerly Miss Butler, Principal of the Model School, is the only one of the whole teaching force of thirteen years not still living. David M. Sensenig, M. S., who had previously held the chair of Mathematics, was Dr. Fairfield ' s successor. The Professor was a superior and inspiring teacher, but the more varied duties and larger responsibilities of a principal were distasteful to him, and his health failing, he declined reelection in the summer of 1878. Dr. John H. French was chosen to succeed Professor Sensenig. Dr. French had been State Superintendent of Schools in Vermont, had written several text- books, had