University at Buffalo - Buffalonian Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

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1-ELMS ,Q g 0 fluf f The first non-teaching registrar, Miss Isabel I-louck,was appointed in 1925, and the posi- tion of Dean of Women created in January, 1926. Miss Catherine E. Reed began her work as Dean in September, 1926. Tncreased registration and overcrowded facilities made a larger plant and campus necessary as each year went by. On May 27, 1927, in response to a request made by the Board of Managers, in a resolution on April 14, the State Board of Regents changed the name of the Buffalo State Normal School to that of State Teachers College at Buffalo. Credit for this change is due to the late Adelbert Moot, Vice-Chancellor of the Board of Regents. On March 9, 1928, the Legislature passed a bill giving the right to the legal title of New York State College for Teachers at Buffalo. This action gave the college the same Faculty classification and salary schedule as that of the Albany State Teachers College. A college nurse was added to the staff in September, 1928. The Vocational-Industrial Department was put on a three year basis in the spring of 1929, and a four year course was planned. An auto mechanics and a general shop will come within two years. In July, 1929, the Board of Regents approved the transfer of the Art Departments from the Potsdam and Fre- donia Normal Schools to the State Teachers College at Buffalo. The proximity of the new plant to the Albright Art Gallery and the Buffalo Art School made this change especially advisable. In August, 1930, the School of Practice was taken over by the State, which thereafter undertook the paying of the salaries of the critics. With even higher standards for entrance, applications were so great in September, 1930, that tests for admission were again given. The new Art Department opened with twenty students at that time. The expansion of the College from a registration of two hundred seventy-hve in 1919 to one thousand, one hundred fifty in 1930 and a relative increase in the number of faculty, marks the amazing growth in the service of the College. A director of training and two associ- ates, increased practice teaching facilities, a department for the training of elementary princi- pals, two new salary schedules, recognition of the degree of the College by several of the larger universities, and the appointment of a Deans Committee are but a few other splendid developments that took place on the Jersey Street campus during this period. Nearly all fraternities and sororities became nationalized following the collegiate ranking of the school. The American Association of Teachers Colleges also gave the College a grade A rating. State University scholarships were given to students registering at the College, as well as twenty-five vocational scholarships of one thousand dollars each. On January 1, 1931, the College building was turned over to the City of Buffalo, to be used as the Grover Cleveland High School, with its opening scheduled for September, 1931. 18

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, swarms V s vU t 0 1931 Clif New Campus 1931 Greatly increased registration and overcrowded facilities suggested the advisability of a new plant for the College. In December 1926, Commissioner Frank C. Perkins proposed to the Council a plan looking toward the development of an educational center on the Buffalo State Hospital grounds. Finally after several proposals and changes, an agreement was reached between representatives of the city, and Governor Smith. The City of Buffalo was to take the Jersey and Fourteenth Street property while the State conveyed to the city, ninety acres on the State Hospital site. Seventy acres ofthe site was to be made available for use by the city for educational purposes, and twenty acres for a new State Teachers College. The city was to erect a new College at a cost not to exceed one million and a half dollars, and to move the reception building of the State Hospital. Following the approval of the Common Council and the Legislature, plans were drawn early in 1928. These plans visioned for Buffalo a splendid new College adjacent to the city's finest park and educational institutions. Four college buildings with a quadrangle were planned, namely, the main college building, vocational building, school of practice, and gymnasium. A president's residence and athletic field were also included in the development. The labors of Mayor Schwab, Governor Roosevelt, the late Henry W. Hill, Gregory U. Harmon and Edward H. Butler were important factors in this project. A simple program marked the ground-breaking ceremonies on November 7, 1928, while impressive services of a state and civic nature saw the laying of the cornerstone on October 9, 1929. Presided over by Dr. Rockwell, a history making ceremony took place in the unfin- ished auditorium in the presence of the Board of Managers, the Mayor and members of the Council of Buffalo, representatives of the State Educational Department and Board of Regents,state oHicials,and representatives of Buffalo educational institutions. Following the ceremony Edward H. Butler, using the same trowel which his father had employed in 1913, laid the cornerstone of the main building. The graduating classes planted the first ivy on the new campus in June, 1930. In October 1930, an announcement was made of three gifts of chimes for the tower of the main building. The E bell was presented by the Class of 1930, the C bell by the ELMS staff, and the D bell by an anonymous donor in memory of three former principals. To these bells, a bell from the old campus, a gift ofMrs. Robert Livingston Fryer, was added to complete the set of chimes. The first event in the new college took place on November 10 when the Buffalo Symphony Society opened its concert season in the auditorium. Moving to the new campus started December 17, 1930. A parade of students from the old campus to the new and another impres- sive ceremony opened the College on January 12, 1931. Messages of congratulation were received from Governor Roosevelt and Commissioner Graves, and personal greetings came from many civic leaders. Thus in its new setting, in the midst of splendid educational institutions, almost unlimited possibilities in cultural and recreational fields beckon the State Teachers College of Buffalo to a new day of development in elementary education which her eventful history of growth and service has shown in the past. -HARRY S. DOUGLASS 20