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

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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

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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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of -one came upagain, and it is probable that another school would have been established had tlicre not been such a struggle between competitive cities. This factor, perhaps, was what saved Normal, and made the passage of such a bill impossible. A Tn 1900, the magnificent A u di - 'lZO1'll'l111 .Building 'was erected. Scarcely had it 4 been completed be- fore the Gymnasi- um was erected at a cost of. about siidooo. In is, perhaps, the' most. up-to-date 'and modern 4 equipped gymnasium in the middle west- surely in Iowa. N Tn 1007, the new Science build- ing was ready for occupancyy, with its splendid ,labor- atories for work in Physics, Chem- istry, and Geog- raphy. P The president's 1 new house is now ready for occupancyg the new Museum and Library is in process of .construction lfVhen completed, this building will be the most imposing of all. Its stately columns and beautiful stone .make it very attractive and will lend much toward making the Normal campus what thousands of visitors have exclaimed, the most beautiful spot in all Iowa. The last eight or nine years have been years of wonderful growth. Perhaps no school has had such a rapid progress in the matter of build- ings. And yet this l is not all! A new Manual Training and also a Music Building are need- ed to complete the list of structures so tar erected. . lVe have now become, by recent action of the legis- lature, the To-wa State Teachers' Collegeg we have installed a college course, and the outlook for the fu- ture is very bright indeed. Normal has had quite a stormy past, and at this time much criticism has been heaped upon her, ' - but she has borne it all with a patient shrug, and may she ever continue to do so. 'Every conflict entered into, every objection overcome, only makes lier stronger, better fitted, for the battles and storms of the future. '