Towson University - Tower Echoes Yearbook (Towson, MD)

Page 17 text:

imagination stirred and effort insipred, helped translate the idea into brick and mortar. The commencement of 1915 was the last of forty to be held in this spot. Not only were faces turned toward Towson, but footsteps went, once more with rejoicing, over the threshold of new and beautiful buildings, leaving the building on Carrollton Avenue as an outgrown shell in the unresting sea of education. The new school at Towson consisted of the Adminis- tration Building, with classrooms, offices, libraries, labora- tories, and locker space, a dormitory — Newell Hall, a power house, a laundry, a residence for the principal, and a home for the farmer (the principal ' s and farmer ' s homes were already on the site when purchased by the state ) . In 1917 Dr. Henry S. West was appointed principal of Towson State Normal School. His problems as such ditions, had now established a distressing low in public service. In a number of schools were to be found ignorant, untrained, and inefficient teachers. This was largely because the normal schools of that state were able to supply only a limited number of trained candidates annually. The rest of the positions in the schools were filled by pers ons who had succeeded in passing a series of rather easy tests. Such examinations, of course, had little r l value in testing the teaching ability of applicants. By I9I8 the State Board of Education, much disturbed by the declining school standards, decided to offer to teachers summer school courses, and to establish a system of certifi- cation and consequent promotion to those who attended accredited summer schools. By this plan the authorities hoped to improve the scholarship and teaching of those in the schools who were not graduates of normal schools or of teachers colleges, and htus to raise the general Albert S. Cook Library were new and many. Prospective students and their parents were not all readily convinced that living in Towson and in a dormitory was to their liking. It took several years for the actual effects of this shake-up to be measured and appraised. In the meanwhile, many related problems sprang up and had to be grappled with. The war in Europe had been going on for three years and its effects were strongly felt, especially in the eastern part of the United States. Old values were challenged, and new freedoms were demanded. Educational standards already affected by new pyschological developments were shifting. From another angle also problems of an economic nature were developing. The Maryland schools, partly as a result of war con- standard fo the state system. The first summer session at Towson was established under Dr. West in 1918. Dr. West left Towson to assume the position of Superintendent of the Baltimore Schools and Miss Lida Lee Tall was appointed the new principal on August 15, 1920. The first marked change in the life of the school came in 1924 when the Training School for Teachers in Balti- more City was closed, and its students sent to Towson. In 1931 the course of study was increased to at least three years by an Act of Legislature. This was a forward looking step. On May 25, 1934, the State Board of Education again took a most progressive step by extending the course for elementary teachers to four years with the B.S. in 13

Page 16 text:

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

Page 18 text:

Education as the final award, thus making the three white normal schools into state teachers colleges. The following year its name was officially changed and it received ac- creditation from the American Association of Teachers Colleges. During the period between 1934-1938 the number of faculty members was increased to 30. By 1938 the library had some 35,000 volumes on its shelves. Student enroll- ment during this period fluctuated, both because of tuition increases in 1935 and later as a result of the war. In 1938 Dr. M. Theresa Wiedfeld was appointed Presi- dent of Towson State Teachers College. In 1942 The Model School was renamed the Lida Lee Tall School. In 1946, a liberal arts program was added to the curriculum in response to the educational needs of the large number of veterans returning to the campuses in Maryland. This program was designed not as a terminal course but rather as a transfer program. The curriculum in the teacher ' s program was expanded in 1946 for those who wished to teach on the junior high level; in 1947 a Pre-school Pro- gram was added. Dr. Earle T. Hawkins became President of the college in 1947. The expansion of the programs continued. In i960 a senior high school program was added. In 1958, a Master of Education degree was also made available in the curriculum. A Special Professional Summer Program for elementary teachers was begun in 1951. Since then the summer school program has become more diversified. Lida Lee Tall Principal, 1920-1934 President, 19 34-1938 W. Theresa Wiedefeld President, 1938-1947 In 1949, the college was accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Prior to the initiation of the Junior College there had existed no real need for this kind of accreditation. In 1963, the College was authorized to expand its offerings in the Arts and Sciences. By this authorization the status of the in- stitution was changed from that of a teachers college to that of a state college offering a four year liberal arts program in addition to its teacher training program. Other rapid changes have taken place in the last two decades. In 1949 the faculty totaled about fifty. In 1965 there were 171. In 1949 student enrollment was 764; by 1965 full-time student enrollment was nearly 3,000 with 2,000 more attending evening classes. During this same period of time legislative allocations for ex- pansion totaled over fourteen million dollars. The physical appearance of the campus has also changed. In addition to Stephens Hall, Newell Hall, Glen Esk, the Gardener ' s Cottage, Richmond Hall, the Service Building, and Van Bokkelan Hall, there are Ward and West Halls, (Men ' s Dormitories), Prettyman and Scar- borough Halls (Women ' s Dormitories), Lida Lee Tall School (Laboratory school), Albert S. Cook Library, Dowell Health Center, Wiedefeld Gymnasium, and the latest ' addition, the Smith Science Hall. In order to meet the evergrowing educational needs and overcome the constant overcrowdedness, Towson has launched a seven year building program which it hopes will help alleviate the problem (see opposite page). Taken in part from Seventy-five Years of Teacher Education, Alumni Association, 1941.