West Chester University - Serpentine Yearbook (West Chester, PA)

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opened September 2-,, 1871, with the very gratifying nuniher of over one hundred boarders, and tliirty day students. Prof. Cook resigned the Principalship in 1872, and Prof. W ' m. A. Chandler served as Principal for the winter term, and, in the autumn of 1873, Prof. Geo. L. Maris, of Kennett Square, Pa., was elected to fill the vacant place. Prof. Maris remained at the head of the School for eight years, leaving it in 188 1 to take a professorship in Swarthniore College, while later lie became Principal of George School, at Newtown, Pa. From 1 88 1 the Normal School has been under the able and efficient leadership of Dr. Geo. Morris Philips, to whose remarkable executive ability and fine scholar- ship it owes, more than to any other one cause, its foremost place among the Normal Schools of the State and of the country. Dr. Philips is widely known as one of the leading educators of the United States, and has occupied positions of ln)nor and responsibility, and refused man - more. As the years rolled on, various other buildings were added to the School plant. In 1878 and i88j. the north and south wings were built; in 1885-6, the dining room, chapel, etc. The gymnasium was built in 1890, and the Principal ' s house and the Infirmary in 189 1-2. In due succession came the Recitation Hall in 1892-3, the Model School building in 1899, the Lil rary in 1903, and the enlarge- ment of the dining room, the new kitchen, and the Dormitorv for Bo3 ' S in 191 1. We now ha e as well-e(|uipped a school as can be found anywhere. Only four days after the opening of the school, September 29, 1871, the Moore Literary Society was organized, and Rev. Vm. E. Moore, President of the Board of Trustees and pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of West Chester, became its first president. Its motto. Scire est regere. and its colors. Garnet and Gold, are known to all. The sister society, the Aryan, followed seven years afterwards, in 1879, having for its colors, Light Blue and Gold, and for its motto, h ' iiiis eoroiiat o iis. These two societies ha ' e done much for their n]embers in training them along the lines of public speaking, debating, and parliamentary order. Many of those who have gone fortli from these halls have said that the training received in the active participation in the meetings of these two societies has been quite as valu- able to them as that of the class-room itself. For a long time it was the custom on the anniversaries of these societies to present very creditable papers. The Moore Literary Gacetfe and The Aryan Rc- z ' icTii but in November, 1891, it was decided to merge the two into a monthly periodical, named The Amulet, which is still living and flourishing. The first 16

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H IBxict Mister of tbc Mest Chester State formal Sebool t IT was on April jq, 1869. that the Board nf ' I ' rustees of the old West. Chester Academy, whicli liad been in existence since March jy. iSij, met ill the office of Mr. Wayne MacVeag h to take steps towards tlie estabhsliment of a Xormal School. Accorchng ' ly, after a nnml er of pre- liminary meeting;s had been held in advancement of the ])roject, the Trustees were empowered by an Act of the General . sseml)ly jf the Commonwealth of Pennsyhania to sell the pro[)erty of the . cadem - at pri -ate sale, and the [iro- ceeds of this sale, aniountin.e; ' to some twenty-ei.t ht thousand dollars, were de ' oted to the building ' of tlie Xormal School. The cornerstone of the present main building ' was laid mi September 14, 1870, by the State Superintendent of Public Schools, Dr. j. I ' . Wickersham. In the following; February application was made to the State Superintendent to make the necessary inspection in order that the school might be accepted as a State institutiiiu. . cuminittcx; was apiiniiUed therefore, which isited the build- ings 1)11 I ' ebruary 22, and having reported faxurably. the Superintendent there- upon issued a pruclamatidii declaring the institution a State Xormal Schodl for the First District. On Ma ' I, 1 87 1, the stockholders met and elected a Hoard of Trustees, con- sisting of the following persons : Dr. Wm. Wdrthingtnii, Win. S. Kirk, R. T. Cornwell, fohn (j. i ol)insi)ii. Win. b . Aloore, .Marshall B. Ilickman. Wm. B. addell, I ' Aans Rogers and Josiah Hoo])es. The org ' anizatioii nf this Board was effected May (k 1871, with Re -, Wm. F. .Moore, President: Capt. R. T. Corn- well, Sccrctar ' , and rhdiii.-is W. Marsh;ill, Treasurer. The first act of the Board was to elect a Principal, Prof. Ezekiel Ccjok, of ladrid, 2 laiiie, and the school 15

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nuniher of The .liiiiilc! appeared in February, i8qj. Prof. F. H. Green heiiii;- the first e liti r-in-cliief. Altlmn -Ii many others lia e since been at the hehn, Prof. Green still keejis his interest in it and oversig ' lit of it. The first special organized line of Christian work, apart from the prayet meetings hich were regularly iield, was in the department of temperance work. Mrs. A. I ' . Reid and Mrs. Richard Darlington started a branch of ' (Mnan ' s Chris- tian Temperance L ' nion, in 1886, but in 1888 our society became a part of the thiistian I emperance League, because of the desire to remain non-partisan. The organization still exists, with Mrs. Geo. Morris Philips as its president, though in the multiplicity of other societies, it is not so prominent as of old. The ' oung Men ' s Christian Association was begun on October 16, 1890, and the ' oung Women ' s Christian . ssociation on Sejjtember 24, i8yi. Prof. Green was the first president of the former, and still holds that office. Miss Eloise Ma hem was the first i)resident of the latter; she was succeeded by Miss Mary A. Cummings: then came Miss Sara S. Kirk, whom so many of us still reniemlier with lo e and appreciation; and at the present time Mrs. ¥. H. Starkey most sys- tematically and efficiently carries on tlii- great work. The Faculty of the scIkjuI has always stood for the highest scholarship, and it is to them, with the l rincipal at their head, that the success of the school is due. Each ear adds to their efficiency, and m;in - of them have a reputation as educa- tors that is not confined to the limits of our own State. During the summer acation of 1877- 1878, a summer school, one of the first of its kind in the country, was held under the auspices of the Normal School, and although it seemed successful and was |uite well attended, it was discontin- ueil. Xow, however, after the lapse of all these years, we again have a summer school, and as several members of the b ' aculty are the jjrime mo -ers of the scheme, it will, no (Iciubt, be successful and lasting this time. This adds one more to the manv channels of infiuence which makes the school so effective and so useful. Thus through the changes and chances of the years, has the school advanced. Contrast the one hundred of its first enrollment with the nine hundred of the present ine, and ten members of the first class graduated with the twd hundred and twenty of the last, and these, with other evidences of strength, nuist make us pripud to be members of the i)est Normal School in Pennsylvania. H. rrii:t 1 1. Baldwin. 17