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

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-14 lvw i::.,,.g, R. H. H. BLOME Ja ' '24 improvements and additions to the school. The normal school is one of the important institutions of Northern Arizona and that fact should be ap- preciated by Flagstaff. The institution has always been noted for the excellence of the work that has been done, but it is a far cry from the biennial report of 1902 made by President A. N. Taylor showing an enrollment of thirty-four pupils, mostly in high school sub- jects, with a faculty of four teachers and a train- ing school of twenty-five pupils, with a single stove-heated building occupying but a small frac- tion of the campus, to the institution of today with its buildings and campus invoiced at approx- imately a million dollars, with its faculty of twen- ty specialists, with its student body almost whol- ly of college grade, with at times seven hundred people upon the campus, not including the three hundred children in the training school. But the institution has only reflected the growth of Arizona in population and wealth. It will be remembered that Arizona was the only state to show an increase during the last decade of more than fifty per cent in its citizenship. It is interesting to read the old catalogues of the institution. According to one of these, the first class to graduate in 1901 consisted of four members-Mrs. Margaret Wallace, Clara Ken- drick, Alice Campbell and Maude Williams. The class of 1902 consisted of seven members, an in- crease of 75 per cent, which, by the way, is a greater increase than that of today. The increase for the last few years has stood at about 35 per cent. Approximately one hundred students will be graduated from the institution this year. A history of the normal school would not be complete without mentioning the big and faith- ful men of the state who have served upon its boards of trustees. After all, the board is respon- sible for the policies of the school and is the legal rock upon which the institution is founded. It is regrettable that photographs of all of these men could not be obtained. The effort was made but was unsuccessful in some cases. Professor A. N. Taylor, the first president of the school, served the institution for ten years, when he was succeeded by Dr. Blome, whose re- cent death is mourned by so many friends and former students of the school. Dr. Blome was president from 1909 until 1918. Under his direc- tion the school grew rapidly in attendance, char- acter and prestige. He was succeeded by Super- Eighty S

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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

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intendent G. E. Cornelius of Winslow. Mr. Cor- nelius was succeeded by President J. O. Creager, who served until September 1, 1920, when he be- came dean of the department of education of the University of Arizona. He also was a tower of strength to the normal school during his short term of leadership. On September 1, 1920, he was succeeded by Mr. L. B. McMullen, the present head of the school, who has greatly broadened the scope of work done and under whose wise and spirited direction, faculty and students have be- come one big family, working with the finest esprit de corps imaginable to make this the most human and most worth-while normal school in the western states. Possibly the most striking change in the -North- ern Arizona Normal School's appearance in the last few years has been a change in the campus. The location of the school has always been unex- celled, but only within the last few years has money been available for the watering and de- veloping of a campus. In this time dirt has been hauled in upon the rocky ledges for beautiful lawns, hundreds of trees have been planted as well as shrubs and vines, hedges have been set out, the tennis court has been remodeled, curbing and cmeent walks have been laid, wide gravel roads upon rock foundations have been built where formerly automobiles would mire in the mud. A beautiful lighting system has been in- stalled. The front of the grounds has been grac- ed with a rock wall with appropriate entrances. The front fifty acres has been fenced against the depredations of range cattle. An athletic field with a quarter mile track, 220 straight away, has been developed. and at its formal opening last fall was named McMullen Field in honor of the president, himself an athlete and an outdoor de- votee and ardent fan. The cottage city, consisting of 76 cottages, is unique. It has been evolved by the necessities of the larger summer school. Laboratories, shops, and domestic science rooms have been remodeled. The cafeteria has been added for the convenience of the summer group so that in all, five hundred people may be housed and fed upon the campus. The library has been enlarged. The new training school has been furnished and developed, and ranks today as the best in the southwest. A switch track connecting with a logging road en- ables a car load of slabs to be delivered at the plant daily. The new dairy barn houses a small E ghty S