SUNY at New Paltz - Paltzonian Yearbook (New Paltz, NY)

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1923 fi? if, The QE!! john Carlton Bliss was born at Ovid, New York, April l8, l868. Comell University gave him his A.B. degree in 1889 and he received an honorary Pd.D. degree from the StateATeachers College, Albany, in l908. He taught in Fairfield, New York, and was later Superintendent of Schools. From l900 to l904 he was Inspector for the State Edu- cation Department at Albany, and from l904-l908 he was in charge of teacher examination and certifi- cation. New Paltz Normal claimed him for its principal in 1908, a position he held for fifteen years. At the end of this time he retired to his home in New Paltz, where he died in l924. Principles and History of Education, School Economy, Logic, and Methods Courses in Eng- lish, Literature, Vocal Music, Arithmetic and Algebra, American History, Drawing and Handwork, Geography, Reading, Spelling, Phonics, Nature and Elementary Science, Manual Training or Household Arts, Penmanship, and Physical Training. Then as now the importance of extra-curricular activities was recognized, and students had many opportunities for membership in school clubs. These organizations were: Arethusa Sorority, Clionian Sorority, Delphic Fraternity, Philalethean Fraternity, Knights of King Arthur, Y. W. C. A., Girls' Glee Club, Boys' C-lee Club, junior Literary Society, Athletic Association, and the Alumni Association. Life in New Paltz was peaceful then. Movies were not a distraction, and the radio was not in use as an accompaniment to the evening's homework. The motorized age was not yet upon us, and the few commuters were hardy souls who arrived by train or trolley. Board and room could be had in the village at from 34.25 to 55.00 per week. The Normal continued to grow, and in l9l3 the State Legislature voted SI00,000 to provide for enlarging the school to meet the need for more room. The governor vetoed the bill on the ground that treasury funds were too low to stand so severe a drain. Two years later the school was obliged to refuse entrance to ninety applicants for admission. Eventually the necessary funds were raised, and in 1917 work was started on the wing which includes the auditorium and the library. The thud of marching feet mingled with the sound of hammers, for America was in the war in l9l 7, and in the gym high-school boys were drilling and marching with wooden guns. Attendance dropped off, school activities slackened, and Red Cross work and patriotic endeavors were paramount in student interest. When the tranquil days of peace returned, the Normal course was again altered and a summer session of six weeks was instituted. The new course marked another advance in the requirements for New York teachers, and the class of 1923 was the first hopeful group to graduate after receiving the more advanced training. The year of l923 also marked the end of an epoch in the life of New Paltz Normal, for then it was that Dr. Bliss, whose health had begun to fail, resigned his principalship and retired to private life. Thirly-one

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0190 Q3-Xa IQOS O1 '1'l'l C1 QWWZO U08 John C. Bliss ,,, ,-.K HE NEW structure on the heights was a building in l908, and nothing JV 5 more. The ceremonies which marked the beginning of its construc- tion had been impressive. Distinguished visitors attending an edu- cational conference at Lake Mohonk were invited to participate in the New Paltz dedicatory exercises. In the gathering of notables were the l-lon. David J. Brewer, justice of the Supreme Court of the United Statesg the Rev. Lyman Abbott: Elmer Brown, United States Commissioner of Education: President Charles W. Eliot of Harvard: President Nicholas Murray Butler of Columbia: and President E. D. Warfield of Lafayette. Mr. Smiley and Justice Brewer guided the plow which broke the ground. The new edifice was soon complete, but it was not yet a school. Pupils had not entered its halls, nor was there a hand to pilot it through difficult periods to follow. As nations celebrate epochal dates in their histories, so New Paltz is conscious of 1908 as a pivotal year in its fortunes, for then it was that a modern building and a new administration came into being. Dr. john C. Bliss, the principal, had been for some years in charge of the division of the Department of Education which regulated the qualifications and credentials of teachers. He commenced work with the purpose of bringing the school up to date with the most approved educational ideas of the time, and completely meeting the state requirements for the preparation of teachers. The faculty was increased, and in l909 consisted of twenty- one members. Present-day Normal students will discover a link with these far-off times in the person of our beloved A. B. B. Mr. Bennett is the only member of that former group of teachers, who is on the Normal faculty today. The school was reorganized again in l909, and three departments were formed: the normal school, the training school, and the high school. The last two were made up of the school population of the village. In the same year the requirements for entrance into the Normal were again revised, and a more thorough preparation was demanded of applicants for admission. The year l9l l marked the twenty-fifth in the life of New Paltz Normal. A brief picture of school-life in that Silver Anniversary year may be of interest to the class which is celebrat- ing the Golden one. ' The curriculum approached the modern one in offering such subjects as Psychology, .1 f ki li ' Thirty

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1 923 Our School L. H. van den Berg Njuly, 1923, Dr. van den Berg took up his duties as principal of New Paltz Normal. Perhaps Normal students received a thrill from the idea of a change of regimes. The Jazz Age had burst about their startled ears, John Held, jr. was beginning to draw pictures, and Prohibition was no longer worrying the country much. From all this the Girls of N. P. N. had been sheltered. Dr. Bliss had stood like a rock in the torrent, frowning upon the gradual elevation of the skirt and even announcing in Chapel the exact date on which the Normal maidens were to don their winter woolies. It should not be inferred that the Bliss administration was tyrannical nor that the new leader was one of ultra-radical tendencies, but with the coming of Dr. van den Berg the present day arrived in New Paltz. The three year course had supplanted the two year program in 1923, but en- trance requirements had remained virtually unchanged. Any person presenting a high school diploma was admitted to a state normal school. Things are diH'erent now, though. A selective admissions program is in effect, comprising a scholarship record of 72727 Regents average, the passing of a series of examinations of the psychological and general intelligence type, and the satisfactory completion of a personality test. The growth of the school since 1923 has been continuous, from less than 300 students in that year to over 800 in 1928. The Practice School, the village High School, and the Normal were all in what is now called the main building. Crowding was in- evitable, and the need for a separate Practice School was felt. The state, however, refused to erect a new building as long as the High School remained a part of the Normal and continued to be supported by the state. Opposition to the establishment ofa High School in the village was intense, but eventually the progressive spirit pre- vailed and the New Paltz Central High School came into being. The state granted an appropriation of 2l56oo,ooo and the construction ofthe new school was soon under way. Ready for occupancy in 1932, it was not dedicated until 1933 when, with suitable ceremony, the building was given the name of the Lawrence H. van den Berg School of Practice. The Central High School draws pupils from a consolidation of thirteen Thirgf-two