Northern Arizona State Teachers College - La Cuesta Yearbook (Flagstaff, AZ)

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I find that in 1899 up to July the first, 5993.23 was expended 5 in 1900, SB14,844.34, mainly for buildings, and in 1901, for maintenance, 557,405.54 In 1903 a special appropriation permitted expendi- tures of 313,191.22 for more buildings. From accounts in the Coconino Sun of the op- ening of the first term of school, I obtained the following: The informal opening of the Northern Arizona Normal School took place on Monday, twenty-three pupils being in attendance. The school was addressed by Hon. A. A. Dutton, mem- ber of the territorial board of education, J. E. Jones, Rev. Geo. Logie, J. C. Grim, Professor A. N. Taylor, the principal, and Miss Bury, his as- sistant. The school starts out under the most favorable auspices. Ten pupils are expected the first of next week, five of them from Apache county. The school will no doubt be one of the leading educational institutions of the territory. A great deal of interest is being taken in it throughout northern counties of the territory. The Sun said of the second annual opening in 1900: The Normal school opened on September 4. Two teachers have been added, Miss Cornelia Hartwell, and Miss Maude E. Babcock. A train- ing school has been established, and many other improvements made which put the normal school on a very secure working basis. Attendance has increased. During the first two years, the governing board of the school was a territorial board, gov- erning both the state normal schools. The terri- torial treasurer and superintendent of public in- struction were members ex-officio. After the two years separate boards were established. Of this Professor A. N. Taylor wrote recently: The first board was a joint board of both normal schools. The legislature of 1900-1901 passed an act separating the board, giving each normal a board with superintendent R. L. Long, chairman of each board. This was done by a suggestion of Governor Murphy. Mr. A. A. Dutton and Mr. T. E. Pollock were undoubtedly the real source of Governor Murphy's action. Mr. Pollock recalls with amusement the occas- ional visits to the school during its early years of committees from the territorial legislature. A committee of from five to seven members of the legislature would arrive in Flagstaff. These were gala occasions. The normal school would always close and the children were given a holiday in their honor. The visiting legislators could not Eighty-F

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The first term began September 11, 1899. In charge was Professor A. N. Taylor, brought from Jamestown, New York, on recommendation of Mr. Dutton. He and Mr. Taylor and Dr. E. S. Miller of Flagstaff had been old-time neighbors in Jamestown. In addition to starting the new school, the normal school board just at that time had its hands full in connection with matters at the Tem- pe Normal School, and found it necessary to make sweeping changes there. In fact the entire fac- ulty of the latter school was replaced by the board. One member of that faculty, Miss Frances Bury, an especially able instructor of high char- acter, was brought to the Flagstaff Normal. It was in honor of Miss Bury, who later became the wife of Eugene A. Sliker, that Bury Hall was named. The next few paragraphs are quoted from a letter received from Mr. McClintock: The opening of the school was celebrated by a banquet held at the old Bank Hotel at Flagstaff. It was a delightful affair with the keenest inter- est shown by the people of the city in its new in- stitution. Many were the addresses, but the wit- tiest was that of M. J. Riordan to whom was given the toast, The Ladies, one never omitted in those pre-suffrage days. I remember especially how eloquently he referred to the banquet as one where water flowed like wine. It was one of the first dry dinners every publicly served in Arizona. The first board of visitors included E. E. El- linwood, Dr. D. J. Brannen, and E. S. Gosney, who were succeeded the following year by Dr. C. Dryden of Winslow, Fred W. Sisson and M. J. Riordan. It may be interesting to note that the princi- pal for the first year received the salary of 31750. Miss Bury received 31100, and in the succeeding year the added teachers S1000 each. They were Miss Maude Babcock, director of the practice school, and Miss Cornelia Hartwell. The janitor was given S545 a month and his living quarters. Mr, Pollock fitted up a gymnasium in the basement at his own expense. The first board of visitors helped in the effort toward scholarship. Mr. Gosney furnished a 820 prize for the student with the best standing, Messrs. Ellinwood and Brannen offered S30 in prizes for essay writing and declamation. A building site of 130 acres was donated by the Santa Fe Pacific Railway company. The first year's attendance was forty students, most of them from local schools. Eighty-Three

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but be flattered at this mark of attention, for how could they know that the real cause of the holiday was to prevent the visitors' learning how few pupils were in the school? Mr. Pollock says that it wasn't long, however, before the school's reputation had attracted stu- dents in sufficient number to make official visi- tors welcome without having to close. In 1902 to 1903 the enrollment was 41. In 1902 the resi- dence of Mr. Bunch was rented for a dormitory and Mrs. S. S. Acker had charge of it. Early in 1903 the board decided on the installation of a school library, the growth of which has been steady until it is now one of the most complete educational libraries in the southwest. There are about 10,000 Volumes and it is especially rich in works in education, history, and literature. In 1903 a boys' dormitory was built, later nam- ed Taylor Hall, in honor of the first president of the institution. This dormitory has been increas- ed in capacity since then. In 1907 a girls' dorm- itory was authorized which was built soon after and named for Francis H. Bury, who with Mr. Taylor were the first members of the faculty. In 1911, a commodious dining hall was built. In 1913, a special session of the first state legisla- ture appropriated money for a third dormitory which was named for Miss Mary Morton, now Mrs. T. E. Pollock, a member of the faculty in 1910. That same legislature authorized the build- ing of a heating plant. The growth in building was continuous. The fourth dormitory was built from the appropriation made by the second state legislature in 1915. This was named Campbell Hall, in honor of Mrs. Hugh Campbell, widow of State Senator Hugh Campbell, who did so much at various times in legislative assemblies. Ashurst auditorium, a beautiful addition to the -original building was erected in 1917. It in turn was named in honor of United States Senator Henry H. Ashurst. Appropriation for the excel- lent new training school was made in 1919. ' That the development of Flagstaff did not any more than keep pace with that of the normal school is indicated in the following newspaper comment of 1908. An effort is being made by public spirited cit- izens to secure sufficient funds to build a wagon road from the city to the Normal school. The mud is so deep that extra teams must be hired to pull wagons carrying students' trunks to the dor- mitories. The territory has spent over 340,000 in E ghty F' MRS. T. E. POLLOCK