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

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THE COLLEGE dedication of the River Falls Normal School occurred in September, 1875. The school was housed in what was then considered the largest and best equipped building that had been erected by the board of regents up to that time. The school opened with a larger attendance than any of the three schools previously established, the enrollment being 270. of which 130 were in the normal department and 140 in the preparatory department. The faculty of the River Falls Normal numbered nine, with Warren D. Parker as its first president. On November 29, 1897. the first building burned, and the work of the school was carried on in churches and secret society rooms until the new building could be erected. In September. 1898, the school was located in the new building, larger, more convenient, and better lighted than the first. The enrollment immediately began to increase and the new building was soon filled to capacity. Since River Falls was situated in an extensive agriculture section, in 1911 a course in agriculture was added to the course of instruction at the normal school. The board of regents immediately purchased a tract of land of fourteen and a half acres to be used in connection with the agriculture department. The department of agriculture advanced so that in 1915 the present normal farm was purchased, and in 1919 a modern dairy barn and shops building was erected to offer more and better facilities for instruction in the department of agriculture. In 1914 a new building was erected, known as North Hall, which contained the agriculture rooms, science laboratories, auditorium, administrative offices, and gymnasium. In 1928 an addition to North Hall was erected, to be used by the training school and junior high school departments, which formerly occupied the third floor of South Hall. The science laboratories, located on the second and third floors of North Hall, were much better equipped and a modern swimming pool and large convenient locker rooms were located in the basement. This year a new mechanics building is to replace the old barracks which will be used by the agriculture department as a stock pavilion. At the present time River Falls offers training in many depatments. In agriculture the department was recognized by the state vocational board in 1928 as eligible to place four-year degree graduates in Smith-Hughes departments. At the present time River Falls has the largest department for training agriculture teachers of any teachers college in the United States. Also it is one of three teachers colleges in the United States, the departments of which are recognized by the vocational board for training Smith-Hughes teachers. In the elementary education department, consisting of primary, intermediate. and grammar grades. River Falls offers two. three, and four year courses. The four-year degree course in elementary education was added in 1930. In the rural education department a one and two-year course is offered for training teachers for rural schools. Courses of training are also offered in junior high school and principals departments. In 1927 the title of the school was changed to River Falls State Teachers College, and it became a degree granting institution the same year, offering degrees in agriculture, science, education, mathematics, history, social science, and English. These additions and improvements of the educational plant and courses of study prophesy a new and expanding life for the school, which is the oldest in northern and western Wisconsin. TuftniV'Thrtt

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THE COLLEGE RELIGION, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and means of education shall be forever encouraged”—thus ran the first provision for education as it appeared in the Ordinance of the Northwest Territory in 1787. Many of the pioneers of Wisconsin came from the New England and Eastern states where they had already become impressed with the value of schools. In January, 1849, less than a year after Wisconsin had been admitted as a state the first plan for securing teacher training in Wisconsin was established in the form of a normal department in the state university. During the next few years the normal department made a gradual growth. In 1857 the legislature passed an act to encourage academies and normal schools. This act set aside one-fourth of the gross proceeds of the swamp lands granted to Wisconsin in 1850 for the purpose of maintaining teacher training institutions. It also provided for a board of normal school regents to distribute the income to academies and normal schools which had an organized department for the training of teachers. Later on, in 1865, further legislation was passed donating one-half of the gross proceeds from swamp lands to the normal school fund. The Act of 1865 really established the normal school fund for two reasons: first, because of need of adequate legislation to conserve the funds which the state was deriving from swamp and overflow lands, and second, the failure of university and academics to develop normal departments to meet the demand of the state for training teachers. The income from these funds was to be applied to establishing, supporting, and maintaining normal schools. The first decision of the board of regents was to build a normal school in each of the six congressional districts, but they later proposed that whenever a city or town in the state should offer to give a site, suitable buildings, and fixtures for a state normal school, the said board of regents might consider the same, and select the one most feasible for the maintenance of an institution of this kind. The following year. 1866, the board of regents decided to locate schools at Whitewater and Platteville. The donation from Platteville of the building of the Platteville Academy thus made it possible to open school in October of the same year, giving Platteville the first normal school in this state. White-water being delayed by having to erect suitable buildings was not able to open until April. 1868. At the meeting of the board of regents in May. 1866. Oshkosh was selected as a third suitable location for a normal school. At this time it was also decided to establish schools at Stoughton and Sheboygan, but the motion was soon withdrawn for the latter two places. Erection of buildings for the Oshkosh school began in 1869. and this school was opened in the fall of 1871. The first three normal schools established thus far were located in the southern and eastern part of the state. The congressional districts in the northern part of the state demanded that the next teacher training institution be located in their territory. In July, 1871. the board of regents, accompanied by the governor, made a tour throughout northwestern Wisconsin, and as a result of this inspection it was decided in January, 1872, to locate the fourth school at River Falls in the St. Croix Valley. The city of River Falls and surrounding country contributed $37,000 and ten acres of land as an inducement to secure the location of the institution. Work was started immediately on the new school and the formal opening and T ipmiy-Two

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Charles G. Stratton A.B. Michigan Normal College Geology, Geography Dean of Men Irma Hathorn A.M. Teachers College, Columbia University Dean of Women Rudolph A. Karges Ph.M. University of Wisconsin Chemistry. Director High School Department James P. Jacobson M.S. University of Wisconsin Physics Everett Bowden M.S. University of North Dakota Chemistry Alfred C. Vogele M.S. University of Illinois Biology Twenty-Four