University of Wisconsin River Falls - Meletean Yearbook (River Falls, WI)

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W. D. Parker 1875-1889, 1895-1898 J. O. Emery 1889-1893 Art, United States History, and The Constitution. Also, students on arrival at school had to sign a declaration testifying that their purpose in seeking admission into the school was to fit themselves for teaching, and that it was their intention to teach in Wisconsin. In 1882, an age requirement of sixteen was added to the requirements thus far made. The living expenses in earlier days were naturally much less than we find them today. Until about 1890, living expenses were estimated at about three dollars a week in private families, and at two dollars a week in self boarding clubs. However, students had one expense which we do not have: they were required to pay rent amounting to one dollar a year on their text-books. Much alarm was occasioned in the town, when, on the evening of November 29, 1897, the fire bell vigorously began to peal out its alarm. Added excitement was caused when it was announced that the normal school was the victim of the flames — the origin of which was unknown. The greater part of the reference library, together with much of the movable furniture, was saved. Without loss of time the school was housed in churches and society rooms, generously tendered by citizens of the town, and the work went forward without serious interruption. Although the fire of 1897 caused a serious inconvenience, still, the new building constructed in 1898, being a model of comfort and convenience, proved an ideal place in which to conduct a normal school. The summer session custom has not been in existence as long as the regular sessions. Not until 1909 was the new plan of six weeks of summer school adopted. In 1912, a special department of agriculture was put into the school. A tract of fifteen acres of land directly west of the normal school campus was purchased in 1913. and later in the year, an additional tract of thirty acres was added for use as a school farm. Tu'cnly-Hiite

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1874-1924 'TVcIIS issue of the Meletean marks the fiftieth anniversary of the River Falls State Normal School. For fifty years this school has been sending out from its doors teachers who have done much toward making the lamp of learning burn brighter in the schools of Wisconsin. It has had a glorious history, one of which we of 1924 should be extremely proud. In the following paragraphs, we have gleaned for your benefit a few of the interesting items from the past records of our school with the hope that you will understand and appreciate as never before the 1924 session of the River Falls State Normal School. Many interesting occurrences have come about since the first normal school building was erected in River Falls. Let us, in looking back to 1875 when our first normal school was organized, compare the living and educational conditions of our predecessors to those we now encounter. The River Falls Normal School was the fourth to be established by the board. It opened with a larger attendance than had been enrolled in any other Wisconsin normal school at its opening — two hundred and fifty-nine students, with nine teachers to undertake the tasks which have so enlarged that it is now necessary to employ a faculty of forty members to perform them. When vacation came, students were handicapped by poor transportation conditions; since Hudson, twelve miles from River Falls, was the nearest railway station, and could be reached only by a daily stage from Ellsworth and a tri-weekly from Prescott. If the length of the school term has anything to do with the knowledge the average student acquires, the students in 1875 had four weeks advantage over us. Their school session lasted forty weeks, and was organized into three terms. It is interesting to note that candidates for admission into the school were required to bring a '‘nomination” from the superintendent in whose district they resided, certifying to their age, moral character, physical health, and residence in Wisconsin. On arrival at the school, candidates had to show by written examination that their scholarship was sufficient to attain an average of sixty per cent in all branches prescribed by law for a third grade certificate, except in Theory and Twnly-tighl

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W. J. Brier 1S99-I909 It was a memorable day when in 1911 the legislature appropriated $30,000 for a Training School Building. At that time, the school occupied the present South Hall, with an enrollment of about three hundred students. In 1913, the appropriation was increased to $124,000 for an Agriculture Science Building which was built and completed in the summer and fall of 1914. This building relieved the crowded conditions considerably. The world war affected the Normal most profoundly. From 1917 on, young men withdrew from school to enter the service. Departments of the school in which men ordinarily enrolled, were greatly depleted, until by the fall of 1918 there were practically no men enrolled in the Agriculture Department. When the United States government inaugurated the policy of establishing Student Army Training Corps in the colleges of the country, the River Falls Normal School immediately made application and was designated as an institution in which such military units might be organized. In carrying out this policy, a member of the faculty and a group of students were trained at Fort Sheridan in the fall of 1917, and were returned to the school in the fall as non-commissioned officers in charge of the unit. The state, under the supervision of the United States government, built barracks upon the south campus. With the signing of the armistice in November, 1918, the unit was disbanded, and the barracks were transformed into shops for the Agriculture-Mechanics Department. The commencement exercises in 1919 included a Homecoming and Memorial Day program, held in honor of the River Falls men who were engaged in militarv and naval service. One feature of the program was the unveiling of a bronze memorial tablet carrying the names of the eight River Falls men who lost their lives during the war. This tablet will be found in the corridor of the second floor of North Hall. The war also greatly affected the cost of living for students. The cost of board from 1918 to 1920 practically doubled the cost previous to the war, students being required to pay from five to seven dollars a week. Thirty