Towson University - Tower Echoes Yearbook (Towson, MD)

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truth and courage were added in manhood the graces of piety as simple, as serious, as a faith as geninue as unpre- tending. As Principal of the Normal School, Professor Prettyman has been very successful, and is loved and respected by all those who have an interest therein. The changes and growth characterizing the curriculum are noteworthy. Constant thought and study are evidenced in revisions and refinements made from time to time. One wonders how a faculty which until 1900 nexer exceeded sixteen in number could do the amount and variety of teaching involved. By this time, the curriculum arrangement was definitely for three years, divided into first and second terms. More and more students were remaining to complete the course; those who did so received a diploma, and, after one year of successful teaching, the real of Maryland was affixed to the diploma. This was, in substance, a life certificate. In selecting teachers for the Normal School, the State Board of Education looked frequently to its own graduate for suitable candidates. In this way, young, able teachers were invited and brought to the staff of their Alma Mater: Belle A. Newell, Minnie C. Henkle, Minnie L. Davis, Mary H. Scarborough, and Hanna M. Coale. Later came Theresa Wiedefeld, Lucetta Sisk, Elsie Hichew. In 1906, Dr. Ward, appointed principal the preceding year, predicted that with raising of the High School training to the standard four-year course in Maryland, there will disappear the necessity for more information courses in the Maryland State Normal School. Further- more, he adds, giving a long look into the future, would it not be economical for the State to advance a sum of money sufficient to establish this school in the suburbs of Baltimore, with suitable dormitory and campus facilities? In 1905, a committee had been appointed to prepare a course of study which could be adopted by the State Board as a uniform normal school curriculum. A four- year school was definitely se t up. Two years of academic work were offered to students who had finished the work of the elementary grades only; following, were two years of professional courses, upon which graduates of high schools were qualified to enter, and for which students irWhe academic department were prepared. The principal and Miss Richmond represented the Maryland State Normal School. Their ideas were incorporated as they were tried out in the Baltimore school. Amplification was worked out through the following recently created de- partments: Pedaogoy, English, History, Science, Mathe- matics. In addition were the following courses not listed under departments: Latin, voice culture, art, manual train- ing, physical training, and vocal training. A library of be- tween four and five thousand volumes was being con- tinuously added to, though a librarian was not added to the staff until 1909. Thorough scholarship was of tremendous significance to Dr. Ward. Nearly two decades of studying and teaching in liberal arts colleges prior to his coming to the Normal School had confirmed his scholarly attitudes and outlook. He became principal of the State Normal School in 1905 — a position which he filled for four years. Meantime, on every hand were evidences of professional growth of teachers. Of the several channels through which this was encouraged, none perhaps was more im- portant than the State Reading Circle. Organized largely through the efforts of Professor Austin and State Superin- tendent Stephens, it was wholeheartedly supported and guided by the faculty of the Normal School. A second means of broadening the horizons of teachers

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■wjr Minnie Lee Davis 1839-1924 Elijah Barrett Prettyman Principal, 1890-1905 school for men, and the State Normal School be open exclusively to women. The much larger appropriation granted by the State to St. John ' s than to the Normal School had led to the comment: If we believe that woman needs education as much as man, that she is as capable of receiving it, and will make as good use of it, it will be hard to explain the reason why the State has done so much for the education of men and so little for the edu- cation of women. Through this period, as subsequently, the question of qualifications for admission was given much considera- tion. In 1878 it was recommended that only those be accepted who are in good health, and who possess pre- paration, and at least averag e intellectual abilities. Six- teen years was considered the minimum age for insuring sufficient maturity. Great variation of preparation pre- vailed, showing a wide range in the quality of education throughout the State. For each of its representatives in the General Assembly, each county was entitled to send two scholarship students to the school. The curriculum content consisted of English com- position, English literature, English grammar, algebra, bookkeeping, arithmetic, geometry, music, drawing, mili- tary drill (for men), chemistry, physiology, Latin, theory of teaching, and observation and practice of teaching. Periods were forty minutes in length, with a ten minute rest at ten-thirty, and a half hour for lunch at twelve- thirty. By 1886 the growth of the student body to 250 was causing the building, new and spacious a decade before, to seem crowded and inadequate. Eighty additional desks had been provided in this length of time. Repairing had been done as needed, but enlargement could not be de- layed much longer. In 1894 an appropriation of 540,000 was made, for an addition to the buildng, and for metal ceilings and other repairs. A new laboratory was also made possible. But buildings and curricula do not make a school. The throb of purpose, the quality of thinking, the vitality of living, the interplay of human personalities give entity and substance and sparkle which can not be derived from physical appointments, or well-calculated plans alone. We know from statement and implication that this period was suffused with such values. Radiating from the leader of the group. Dr. E. B. Prettyman, were such spirit and educational aspirations as made him both beloved as a man and respected as an educator. Dr. Prettyman came to the principalship of the Normal School in 1891. Those were the days, still, when the principal also served as State Superintendent of Education — a combined responsi- bility which Dr. Prettyman felt was too heavy, but from which he was not released until 1896, when Dr. M. Bates Stephens took over the latter responsibility as a separate office. Creation of fine living, concern for practical af- fairs, and clear ideas about the essence of education charac- terized Dr. Prettyman ' s fourteen years at the Normal School. The regard in which he was held was such that a change of political parties at Annapolis and three changes of Governor did not affect his appointment. At the close of his association with the school, the students ' yearbook was dedicated to him as follows: As a boy he was a leader, for he was frank, courteous, generous, and brave. To these splendid virtues of love,

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George W. Ward Principal, 1905-1909 and of advancing the cause of education in the state was conceived of and came into being as the Maryland School Journal, later called the Atlantic Education Journal. Lesson plans, articles on professional topics, information about sciences, book reviews, and educational news filled its pages. Numerous and interesting are lesson plans and articles by Lida Lee Tall, then of the Baltimore, Training School. The educational challenge stirring everywhere was felt by the faculty. In October, 1906, regular bi-weekly faculty meetings were begun. At the first meeting at- tention was directed to O ' Shea ' s Dynamic Factors in Edu- cation. At the second meeting, Dr. Ward led a discussion on education from the sociological point of view. The newer educational philosophy and practices were just beginning to take form, and claimed the kind of con- sideration which such meetings afford. The fullness of time brings about much. In 1909, Miss Sarah E. Richmond was appointed principal, crown- ing her years of association with the Normal School as student, teacher, and vice-principal — an association dating from the founding of the school. These had been tremendously rich and fruitful years. Vitally concerned as she was with every present need and circumstance of the school — curriculum, quality of work, physical features, soundness of purpose and procedure, calibre of students and their welfare — Miss Richmond was at the same time looking forward with vision and faith to the time when a cherished dream would come true. The spacious building of forty years before had become out- moded. Not without thought and labor did the dream ap- proach reality; during the six years following her ap- pointment as head of the school Miss Richmond, with Sarah E. Richmond Principal, 1909-1917 Henry Skinner West Principal, 1917-1920