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

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HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL. been a successful instructor in the State Normal School at Albany, N. Y., and in the one at Mansfield, Pa., and at teachers institutes in this State and elsewhere. Dr. and Mrs. French made a fine and deep impression upon the school, especially upon its so- cial and religious character. They remained connected with the school three years. Dr. French ' s successor, in October of 1881, was Professor Leonard H. Durling. Pro- fessor Durling is an Ohio man, was educated at the Wesleyan University, in Delaware, Ohio, and afterwards graduated and taught at the National Normal University, at Leb- anon, in the same State. Five years later he was elected Professor of Natural Science in the Central High School, at Pittsburgh, which position he held until elected Super- intendent of the schools of Allegheny City. From this superintendency he came to In- diana. Under his management the school has grown steadily in numbers and influence. Like all institutions which have become a permanent success and power, the In- diana Normal School has grown gradually. The catalogues give the following attend- ance for each year: TEARS. STUDENTS. YEARS. STUDENTS. 305 375 392 422 TEARS. STUDENTS. TEARS. STUDENTS. 1875, . . . 1876, ... 1877, ... 1878, ... 306 304 304 353 1879, . . . 1880, . . . 1881, . . . 1882, . . . 1883, ... 1884, . . . 1885, . . . 1886, . . . 436 522 557 527 1887, . . . 601 Leaving out the current year then we have had 5,404 students in attendance. The number of graduates is 313; of these 210 were ladies, and 103 were gentlemen. Of these graduates all have taught but 18, many of them for several years, and a very large majority of them are still engaged in teaching. Of the 18 who never taught only 6 refrained from doing so from choice, the others being deterred by death or other unavoidable circumstances. The number of graduates who have been professors in Normal Schools and Colleges, is five; the number who have been County Superintendents, is three; the number who have been principals of graded and high schools, is twenty; the number besides these who have taught in graded and high schools, is two hundred and forty. Quite a number of our graduates after teaching a number of years study some other pro- fession. Among these, eighteen have become lawyers, eight doctors, seven ministers, three editors, four missionaries. The whole number now teaching or engaged in edu- cational work, as nearly as I can ascertain, is one hundred and ninety-six ladies and seventy-one gentlemen. It has been charged that the State loses money by the early withdrawal of the lady graduates of the Normal Schools from the profession. The incorrectness of such a criticism may be seen from the following statement: 10

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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

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HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL. The entire number of lady graduates is 210; of these, 5 are dead and 19 are married, leaving a balance of 18G living and unmarried. The whole number of our lady gradu- ates now teaching or attending school is 180. It is thus seen that a larger proportion of them, including those withdrawing from school work on account of marriage, remain in the profession of teaching than of gentlemen ; and it must be a very blind and stupid economy that does not realize the advantage to the State of putting this culture and educational training into the family and social life of a neighborhood. Not alone the number of our students, but the character of our patronage, is a matter of congratulation. Tthas been the constant aim of the trusters to furnish such accommo- dations and to employ such teachers as would attract the more ambitious, thoughtful, and cultivated students of western Pennsylvania. In this they have succeeded. The health record of the school is one ' of the most remarkable features of its history. Your girls are the pictures of perfect health. is a remark often made by visitors. Delicate girls coming here almost always grow stronger. This comes partly from our good fortune and partly from our earnest effort. The building stands on a hill where it is swept by the freshest of breezes, and where we have plenty of light and sunshine, and pure air and pure water without stint. And then we require regular habits and gymnastics, and out-door exercise, and last but not least, plenty of hard work. Almost thirteen years have passed, and over 5,000 students have received training here, yet until within a few days of the writing of this article there had been but little severe illness, and never a single death in the school. Miss Mary Louise Dithridge died of scarlet fever, March 5, 1888. Memorial services were held for her in the chapel, the Sabbath following, in the presence of the students and citizens of the town, clergymen of the leading churches officiating. Improvements in methods of teaching in all the departments have been promptly made. Toward this end recourse has been freely had, from time to time, to the lead- ing Colleges and Normal Schools of the country to fill the different vacancies that have occurred in the department of instruction. Improvements in grounds and building have come more slowly but not less surely. When we, who have been here from the first, remembering how in that May of 1875, when fresh from our budding rosebeds in Lancaster county, we looked about on the rocky battery that surrounded our new building, and wondered if we should be able to grow even a geranium on such an un- promising ledge, display such pride now in our carnations and roses, we might surely be pardoned. And then the trees we have planted, and the vines we have trained, that already make us glad with the glory of each returning spring, and the grading we have done, and the station we are promised at the foot of our own grounds. Oh, while our oaks have grown older and we wiser, to make no more painful admission, our grounds have certainly become more beautiful. And now that we have bought more houses and lands, and enlarged our borders, Our home on the hill will be more graceful and beautiful still. 11