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

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1914 SERPENTINE Page 15 LIBRARY

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Page 14 SERPENTINE 1914 Under the wise management of its trustees and its principals, the property of the school has grown steadily with the years. In i88g. the original lot was enlarged by the purchase of four acres of land lying just north of it, and two years later the old athletic ground, now the skating pond, was bought. In 1895, the fine grounds of the Chester County .Agri- cultural Society, nowbetter know as Wayne iMeld. were ac(|uire(l. The school now has a splendid campus of forty-eight acres. The original building was (jnlarged liy the addition of a north wing in 1S78, and a soatli wing in i;?82. Then, in 1S87. the dining-room, chapel and sanitary towers were completed. The gymnasium came ne.xt. in 1890. The principal ' s resi- dence and the infirmary were occupied for the first time in 1892. and the same year the comer stone of Recitation Hall was laid. The Model School Bjilding followed in 1899, the library in 1903. the ])ower house and laundry in 1905, while Wayne Hall, the addition to the dining-room, with the anne.x above it. and the household building, with its kitchen, bakery and store rooms were all first used in 1911. The present grounds and buildings have cost over $900,000, and constitute one of the best Normal School plants in the United States. b:zelkiel H. Cook, a native of Maine, and a graduate of Bowdoin College, was the fir.st principal of the West Chester Normal School. He remained only one year. The second principal. Dr. William A. Chandler, served a winter term only. In 1873 George L. Maris was chosen principal. He is a native of Chester county, a graduate of the University of Michi- gan, and before his election to the principalship. had been Superintendent of Public Schools of Chester County. Principal Maris served eight years. During his administration the school made many improvements, and entered upon the steady growth which has characterized it ever since Dr. Maris resigned to accept a professorship in Swarthmore College. The present principal. George Morris Philips, was called to the head of the .school in 1881. Born in Atglen. Ches- ter county, in 185 1. graduated frum Bucknell University in 1871. Dr. Philips was professor of mathematics in Monon- gahela College. 1871-1873. in the West Chester State Normal School. 1873-1878. and in Bucknell University. 1878-1881. Ir 1877 he married Elizabeth . . Pyle, a teacher in the Normal School The marvelous growth of the school during the last third of a century has been due to Inany causes, but the most potent of them all has been the broad vision, the wis- dom in administration, the in.spiring leader.ship, and the untiring toil of Dr. Philips. No other Normal School principal ill the United States has had so many years of consecutive service, and no ])rincipal anywhere is his superior in adminis- tiative etficiencv. The school opened in 187 1 with eleven teachers. Its faculty now numbers more than forty members. The scholar- ship and teaching power of its faculty, past and present, have contributed largely to the school ' s growth and usefulness. It had a great teacher in mathematics, and a scholarly chemist and physicist in C. B. Cochran. Especially noteworthy is the large number of teachers who have gone from the West Chester Normal School to the princip alships of other Nor- mal Schools in l -nnsvlvania. . mong these. Professor Judson P. W ' elch went to Bloomsburg; Professor J. R. Flickinger

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Page 16 S ERPENTINE 1914 went to Edinboro, and later to Lock Haven: Professor Andrew Thomas Smith went tu Manstield, and recently to Clarion; and Professor J. George Becht went to Clarion. Recently. Professor Charles A. Wagner left to become the first Com- missioner of Education of the State of Delaware. In Professors F. H. Green and S. C. Schnuicker, the schnol now has two teachers of national reputation as lecturers. The West Chester Normal School has always had an earnest, faithful and ever-growing student body, drawn from all parts of Pennsylvania, and from neighboring States. During its first year it was attended by 170 students, 57 young women and 112 young men. It was not until 1884 that the women nutnumbered the men. In that year the numbers were J45 and 225 respectively. Since 1890 the proportion of women has been steadily increasing. In 1913, when the school had the largest attendance in its history, of its 1103 students. 902 were women and 201 were men. Prior to 1903 the regular course of study required two years for its completion. That year the first class was gradu- ated from a three-years ' course, and in 1913 a new four-years course went into elTect. Graduates of first grade high .schools are admitted to the third year of this new course. The number (if graduato of such high schools who come to the West Chester State Normal School is growing year by year. Everv effort has been made to keep the equipment of the school up to date. It is provided with physical, chemical, biological and agricultural lal)oratories. a shop for manual training, a domestic science k itchen, and work rooms, a school garden, museum, art gallery, and a well selected library of over 16.000 volumes. In 1877. one of the first Summer Schools in the country was held at the Normal School in West Chester, but it was soon discontinued. In 191 1 the Summer School was re-established, and it has received increasing patronage each year since that time. All of the varied activities of school life were early established, and have had a healthy growth at West Chester. The Moore Literary Societv was organized only four days after the opening of the school. The Aryan Society followed in 1879, and these two societies have flourished in friendly rivalry ever since. For years it was the custom on the anniver- saries of these societies to publi.sh The Moore Literary Gazette and Tlie Aryan Reviezv. Later these papers were merged into a monthly priodical. The Amulet, the first number of which appeared in February, 1892. The Young Men ' s Christian Association was formed in 1890. Professor Green, its first and only president, has guided and inspired its work from the beginning. The Young Women ' s Christian Association promptly followed in 189 1. Its members have reason to re- member with appreciation the efficient services of its two latest presidents. Miss Sara S. Kirk and Mrs. F. H. Starkey. Outdoor sports have been features of the school for many years, but the present Athletic Association dates from 1895. The school lecture course, which has been maintained for many years, has been one of singular excellence. Neither effort nor money has been spared to bring to the school every prominent person in public life who ever lectures. Students at West Chester have had the opportunity to see and hear such statesmen as Roosevelt. Taft, ' ilson. Fairbanks. Clark. Cannon. Curtin and MacVeagh ; such men of letters as Howells. Cable. VanDyke, Garland. Eggleston. Markham and Fur-