By Kristy McCaffrey
In 1886, the Arizona Territory offered a less-than-ideal
educational environment. The Pleasant Valley War between competing cattle
rustling gangs was in full swing and wouldn’t end until six years later in a
fatal gunfight in the town of Tempe. Despite this, however, Tempe—with the
burgeoning towns of Phoenix and Mesa nearby—would become home to the Arizona
Territorial Normal School.
The school was opened on February 8, 1886 on a 20-acre cow
pasture that belonged to George and Martha Wilson. The institution began with a
four-classroom building, a well, and an outhouse to instruct the first 33
students. These young men and women arrived on horseback—some having ridden for
miles from Mesa or tiny farming communities even farther away—and, in addition
to their studies, would need to rent a room with a local family during their
enrollment.
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| President Theodore Roosevelt speaking in front of Old Main at ASU on March 20, 1911. |
The Normal School was charged to provide “instruction of persons,
both male and female, in the art of teaching, and in all the various branches
that pertain to a good common school education; also, to give instruction in
the mechanical arts and in husbandry and agricultural chemistry, in the
fundamental law of the United States, and in what regards the rights and duties
of citizens.”
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| Charles Trumbull Hayden |
The idea for a school of higher education was spearheaded by
two men, Charles T. Hayden and John S. Armstrong. Arizona Territory was
struggling to achieve statehood but the national press loved to print stories
of the lawlessness present. It was Hayden who sought to civilize the place with
education and culture.
Today, Arizona State University is a sprawling multi-campus
school with over 71,000 students and covers more than 1,500 acres in metro
Phoenix.
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| The ASU mascot - Sparky the Sun Devil. |
Kristy McCaffrey is an alumni of Arizona State, along with
her husband, mother, father, and two uncles. Her oldest son currently attends.
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What a difference between then and now. Hard to imagine a university with only 4 classrooms, situated in a pasture, and an outhouse. Mercy! Apparently though, people actually went there and now it's a regular university.
ReplyDeleteGood blog, Kristy.
It really has grown! I'm glad I didn't have to use an outhouse when I attended. :-)
DeleteI always find it fascinting how education was so important back then. Perhaps the struggle just to get the education made it special. Whatever reason, schools seemed to have a postitive influence. Thanks for the brief history. Doris
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising to me too that there were people who thought higher education was beneficial. Thank goodness for it. Thanks for stopping by, Doris!
DeleteI find it interesting that one of the first "majors" in a new university is teaching--preparing educators to teach others. I recently became aware of a normal school here in my county in a town that no longer exists. Education is one of the keys to civility in civilization.
ReplyDeleteRobyn,
DeleteIt does seem that most education back then was to prepare students to become teachers, but it was so important. Thanks for stopping by!
Kristy,
ReplyDeleteI love the term "Normal School". My grandmother (b. 1907) went to the Normal School in Greeley, Colorado to earn her teaching degree. I attended the same school as did one of my first cousins for our teaching degrees many years later.
How wonderful that you kept the family legacy going!
DeleteInteresting stuff, Kristy! I graduated from the University of Oklahoma, and I need to learn more of its history. Your post made me realize how little I DO know about my alma mater!
ReplyDeleteStudying this certainly made me appreciate my school more. Most of these schools have been around longer than we think.
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