Northern Illinois University - Norther Yearbook (DeKalb, IL)

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THE NORTHER I3 two hundred fifty. It is not surpassed, so far as I know, by any other State Normal School structure in this country. The fine auditorium comfortably seats twelve hundred. Its laboratories, gymnasium, library, society halls, school rooms, and all of its appointments, leave little or nothing to be desired. A telephone system connects all of the school rooms with the central office. A dynamo in the power house furnishes light for the entire building, runs the ventilating fans, and furnishes power for the shop. The Practice School is especially well supplied with quarters, seventeen rooms being devoted to its exclusive use. Since Northern Illinois abounds in good high schools the student body, composed very largely of their graduates, is of superior quality. The courses of study are intended to meet the demands of the modern school, hence much stress is laid upon nature study, litera- ture, and practice work in the graded schools of the town. It goes without saying that the modern Normal School must never forget its primary function. Every subject is approached from the teacher's point of view. XVith a thousand children at our command it is possible to test the teaching power of the pupils to such an extent as to determine their fitness for the work of their chosen profession. Ample opportunity to talqe charge of rooms for a con- siderable period is thus afforded. It is needless to burden these pages with a detailed state- ment of the courses of study and practice, since a postal card will bring to those who desire it a completer account of what is attempted than would be fitting here. It is worth while.to devote a little space to the town in which the Normal School has found a home. It is conveniently connected with all of its tributary-territory. Railway accommodations are excellent. A ride of an hour and a half takes one to the metropolis of the great Northwest, with its libraries, art galleries, and schools. The location is healthful. The town is large enough to care for a student population as great as the school should ever attempt to accommodate. Material for the study of nature is abundant and at hand. There ,gnqg . . -.-.---was-.,...,. - -

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I2 THE NORTHER ters, men of large political influence coupled with tremendous zeal lent themselves heart and soul to the campaign. There could be but one outcome, for the enterprise was paired with a similar movement inaugurated by a like group in Eastern Illinois. In 1895 the General Assembly passed two bills which provided for doubling the number of State Normal Schools. De Kalb won the Northern school, as was expected when the character of the men who were deeply interested was understood. On the first day of October of the same year, in the presence of a mighty concourse of people, the corner stone was laid with much of pomp and ceremony, and henceforth the whole thing was only a matter of time. The plans of Architect Charles E. Brush, of Chicago, had been accepted. XV. McAlpine, of Dixon, was the successful contractor. The work moved bravely on, and in September, 1899, Editor Rosette saw his dream a substantial reality. Of course many men contributed to the splendid consummation. Senator D. D. Hunt, of De Kalb, always had the Normal School on the side if it was not at the center of his thought and effort. Mr. I. L. Ellwood drew his check for thousands and lent many weeks from an over-burdened business life to carry the fight to a successful issue. Mr. Jacob I-Iaish, grateful for an excepe tional success in a fine financial enterprise, devoted other thousands to the endowment of a noble library. Mr. joseph F. Glidden, the venerable and distinguished inventor of the famous barb-wire fence, donated the beautiful campus of more than sixty acres, bought from the Government with his earliest earnings, to the great cause of the scientific education of the children of the people. But space would fail me were I to attempt to do full justice to all to whom honor is due. VVherever they are they have the gratitude of all who wish well for their kind. A glance at the building as shown in these pages will give at best but an imperfect idea of its size and fitness for the purposes for which it was intended. In many ways it is quite ideal. Its extreme length is three hundred seventy-five feet and its greatest depth

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I4 THE N016 THEN are several large manufacturing enterprises and in consequence there is an interesting indus- trial element in the community. The climate is invigorating without being unduly severe. The grounds are finely adapted to out-door sports of all kinds. It should be added that provision was made by the architect for suitable quarters for manual training classes as well as for art and science. VVith this location and equipment the Northern Illinois State Normal School should be of genuine service to the children of the commonwealth. If it can succeed in its task of educating teachers so that those who go from its halls shall have not alone the technical preparation which the times demand, but the spirit which more than anything else begets its kind, the people will never have reason to regret the expenditures incurred in its estab- lishment and maintenance. I esteem it a wise provision which puts the several Normal Schools of the State under distinct boards instead of a single board as is the custom in certain other States. The present arrangement will naturally result in somewhat distinctly marked individualities. Normal will stand for one thing pre-eminently, Charleston, for a secondg Carbondale, for a third. For what is De Kalb especially to stand ? In the nrst place we are accenting very strongly the scientific idea XVe should like to have our pupils really comprehend what is involved in a genuine scientific movement. To this end science appears in some form throughout all of the courses. . In the second place, we desire to accent with much force the human side of the child's environment as it finds its expression in history and literature, sociology and kindred topics. In the third place, we are endeavoring to emphasize with somewhat unusual force, the practical or art side of education. XVe therefore offer wide opportunity for the actual work of instruction in the public schools of the town. XVe believe that our graduates may enter the school room of the State well equipped not only on the theoretical but on the practical side as well. As this is a Normal School, it is needless to say that every exercise is conducted with the thought that the school is neither an academy nor a college, although subserving to a degree, the functions of both. It is, or should be, what its name implies-a school for the preparation of teachers. JOHN XV, CQQK, l l