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From Normal School to University

The Beginning:

Indiana State University was created by House Bill 119 (December 20, 1865), in which the General Assembly of the State of Indiana established "a State Normal School, the object of which shall be the preparation of teachers for teaching in the common schools of Indiana." Tuition was to be free to residents of Indiana and admission to "the privileges of instruction in the Normal School" were conditioned upon requirements which included sixteen years of age for females, and eighteen for males; good health; and, satisfactory evidence of undoubted moral character.

The Board of the Normal School was authorized to advertise throughout the State of Indiana for donations of land, money, and buildings as a site for the new school. Terre Haute was the only community in the state to make such an offer of money and land. The State Normal School was constructed on donated ground, which is now the present day site of the Quadrangle. On January 6, 1870 the partially constructed and poorly equipped Indiana State Normal School building was opened to students. On this day, President William Jones greeted 23 students and a faculty comprised of three assistants. Later in the year the student body increased to 40 and three additional faculty were hired.

During the early years of operation, the majority of the students attending the Indiana State Normal School had only completed elementary school with perhaps a couple of years of high school. Very few were high school graduates. The Normal School and its course of instruction were characterized by strict discipline and classroom recitations requiring analysis of principles and an abundance of mental exercise. While this level of instruction would characterize the curriculum of the Normal School for decades, the institution met the requirements of its mission to the state of Indiana with remarkable success. By 1880, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction would note that wherever he went in the state, "I find that Normal graduates are doing the very best kind of work and I think that to their efforts is due in a large measure the rapid advancement which our schools have made during the past few years". Graduates of the Normal School would be teaching in public schools and sister normal institutions throughout the United States, and as far away as Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and the Philippine Islands by the end of the century.

On April 8, 1888, the Indiana State Normal School was completely destroyed by fire. The event was described as "the most unfortunate single catastrophe that could happen to Terre Haute". Thanks to the resolve of President William Wood Parsons, students of the school missed only one day of classes. The City of Terre Haute rallied to support the school by providing temporary quarters in the community and appropriating money for the immediate rebuilding of the school. Instruction resumed in a new Normal School building built on the same site in the fall of 1888. In addition to this catastrophe, the Normal School weathered several crises and controversies during these formative years; facing such challenges as the resignation of one-half the faculty in a dispute with the Board of trustees in 1881, and the cancellation of the 1893 Commencement as the result of a student led protest by the Senior Class.

The late nineteenth century also witnessed the emergence to several student-oriented activities that survive to this day. In November of 1895 students produced the first issue of the Normal School Advance. Over the years this publication developed into a yearbook and newspaper format. In the 1920's the yearbook was named "The Sycamore" and the newspaper was named the "Indiana Statesman." During the winter term of 1893-1894 the students promoted intramural and intercollegiate athletic competitions for men and women by forming an Athletic Association. In 1896 the women of the Normal School formed the Women's League in order  to enhance social and cultural functions. This league provided the foundation upon which the Greek sorority system developed.

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