Kent State University - Chestnut Burr Yearbook (Kent, OH)

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XX 'rx 1,- 1 7 W E'-x. Q. K, If it wwm if ,..Lf- T r. f A'jWiExTfmv:Ix I 'V .1 ., . X' in fi N I ODDosite Dage, t0D. formality is the rule in the Lowry Hall , M ' I' V 5 .., if ,jitE2'iffiQj Y' ' Whig 9 dining roomg bottom, home economics students practice gif: ii- sfsurw rm- . - T . .q4 - A J., their skins in a Kent Hall kitchen classroom, 1916. +A ' ' ' ' N V -Q, , Q .4 Q iff Q CUniversity Archivesj zoomed along the river and just cleared the Main Street bridge. He landed nearby and his stopover here on his attempted first transcontinental flight made national news. So did his demise a year later when his engine stopped cold 250 feet over a field. But perhaps the greatest impact on the community was the state's choice of Kent as the site for a teacher training school. The town fathers, realizing the potential benefits of such an institution, did some politicking and steered the site selection committee away from Flavenna, a competitor, with a This page, top, skaters sweep snow off Blackbird Lake Cwhere Wills Gym standsj, a frog pond in summer and the school skating rink in winter, bottom, parking is no problem, as Professor Van Oeusen, one of KSU's first faculty members, stops his buggy in front of Kent Hall. fUniversity Archivesj hot meal and a hard sell. Kent won over 19 other sites, and Kent Normal School came into existence in 1910. Classes were offered at 20 extension centers almost immediately while Lowry and Merrill Halls were under construction on the 54-acre, tree-choked tract donated by William S. Kent, son of Marvin. President John McGilvrey had his hands full when the infant school opened its doors for summer training in 1913. The first student arrived a day early, the plaster in the dormitory wasn't dry, nor was the furniture unpacked. The QC C.-J

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fm . EA .4 J 4-S Q ...Q X .v sg :Z 'lr' Opposite page. classis in a circus tent, summer 1914, Classroom Vx 'Q buildings were not yet completed. CUniverstiy Archivesb This page, top, women sharpen their aims in a 1926 archery class, bottom, the Normal Nine baseball team with its coach, school custodian Alex Whyte, 1914. fUniversity Archivesj l 'Ns , Ki' I . 1 l 1 'gi s . ,K , baseball team, or singing along to the two pianos or the Edison disc phonograph the trustees had obtained. Soon two other buildings, Kent Hall and the Administration Building, stood beside Lowry and Merrill Halls on 'Normal Hill.' Lowry housed 70 women and Merrill was the first classroom building. Kent Hall was used for agriculture and teacher training classes. And the Administration Building, besides the auditorium and library, contained a large room used as a gym. Between 1915 and 1926, the heating plant, Rockwell Library, an addition to the Administration Building and the Moulton dorm were built to accomodate the influx of students attracted to Kent Normal by the school's low cost. There were no instructional fees. A student could attend both summer sessions for about 360. The dorm offered room and board at S4 a week. The first fees were assessed in fall of 1917, when each student paid a S1 per quarter activity fee. In the 1920's a S5 per quarter instructional fee was instituted, and the first out- of-state fees in 1922. 27