University of Northern Iowa - Old Gold Yearbook (Cedar Falls, IA)

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North Hall. Cn June 21, 1882, the graduating class requested permission to put a corner stone in the foundation of the building, to be marked Class of 1882? The Board of Trus- tees refused tl1is offer, and laid the stone itself. ' Tuesday, August 29, 1882, the ceremony of laying the stone was under the direction of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, A. F. and A. M. Three hundred members of the Order were in the line of march from Main street, Cedar Falls, to the uhillf' The Cedar Falls Fire Depart- ment, in full uniform, f ' came next, followed i A by citizens on foot ! and in carriages, be- ing led by the Cedar Falls and La Forte cornet bands. Such a procession has never been witnessed since the return of Caesar from Gaul! But those were the goo-d old days in which peo- ple loved to march, and the occasion was creating controversy in the faculty, contentions among the students, and also, thruo-ut the state, a lack of sympathy for the Normal. Harmony and co-operation did not exist, and legis- lative action was neither responsive nor liberal, the most meager appropriations being made, guaranteeing nothing more than a continuation of the struggle for existence that had been the constant experience of the first decade. The causes that produced this stress and storm can be attributed to no indi- vidual or individuals, but were the logical I outcome o-f conditions always connected with 1 movements for better social, mo-ral or edu- cational affairs. At a meeting of the Board on June 30, 1886, it was decided to bring the complica- tions to a climax by reorganizing the fac- ulty. This determi- nation called to the principalship of the faculty Homer H. certainly worthy- of . such a procession. At the site of the new building there was erected a large platform on which were the Masonic oficers, the Governor, the orator of the day QRev. A. L. Frisbie, of Des Moinesj, the Board, invited guests facultv and a choir. After an extended pro- RD 7 L 7 gram, the stone was laid, and the building dedicated. The severity of the labor and the struggle for success during the ten years from 1876 to 1886 had had the effect of See-rley, Superintend- ent of Schools at Oskaloosa, Iowa. This came as an unexpected honor to Mr. Seerley, as he did not know of the proposed change and would not have applied for the work. 4 After consulting with his friends, he decided to accept the principalship. , Frincipal Seerley immediately began his policy of reorgan- ization a.nd improvement. April 21, 1888, the title of the executive oflicer of the faculty' was changed from principal to

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I bel were relegated to the rear in what is now the Music Hall. Quite frequently we hear rumors of the escapades in which the boys figured when they tried to overeoine the vigilance of the inatron and see the girls. The recitation roo-ins were on the first and part of the second floor, While the kitchen was the present shop of now, that niany normal schools were better than one, and, there- fore, they contended that schools should be established in various parts of the state, and thus bring the schools in close-r Contact to the needs of the people. i . in The new building was located a little to the so-nth of Old the carpenter, and - ,. Mr. Bailey's ' sumptuous apart- T kia? nients were the New din in g-r o 0111, where the slough- ik' grass, corn cobs and sorghum were served thrice a day. The movement for an additional building was insti- tuted at this tiine, and the result was that the Nine- teenth Gene-ral Assembly in 1882 appropriated 5530,- OO0 for the same. This produced an- other eontlict in the legislature over the old ques- tion so keenly con- tested in 1876. Many believed then, as some do Zis- M ri-:gr

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president, the business arrangements heretofore existing being so changed that the President was the supreme otlicial when the Board was not in session, and had charge of all depart- ments. Up to this date, the school had really two heads, the president being in charge of the educational department, and the steward in charge of the busi- ness department. V June 11, 1839, ifty-one students petitioned the , Board for instruc- tion in military science and tac- tics, pledging themselves to pur- chase uniforms and accept any necessary regula- tions, provided the Board would or- ganize such a de- partment. Octo- ber S, 1800, the faculty organized military drill un- der charge of Professor Albert . Lougliridge as coinmandant of cadets, and two companies were organized. The work thereafter became compulsory for male students, unless excused by the president. It was continued for many years under the leadership of a United States officer, but was finally abolished. At the opening of the fall term in 1894, 12l1G.iB02fl1'Cl, installed the Special Primary department, which offered one year's work. Thirty-six students enrolled the first year, seventy-three the next, and one hundred and twenty-six the next. In 1896, the course embraced two years' work. K The Twenty- iiftli General As- sembly 'gr,ant.ed the scliooljan ap- propriation. of . 830,000 for an ad- i ditional- building. I Under the law it 7 could not be erect- ed until,1S05. At this time, the building known as Administration Building, in which the presi- dent's oiiice is lo- cated, was erected, but within one year 'all the addi- tional space had been fully occu- pied, and' steps .were in progress for the securing of another building to keep pace with the growth of the school. The question of the great expansion ofthe Normal School was extensively discussed in the Twenty-eighth,General Assem- bly, anud finally 95100,000 was appropriated for another building. The old question of maintaining several normal schools instead 9