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Normal schools in the United States in the 19th century were developed and built primarily to train elementary-level teachers for the public schools. The term “normal school” is based on the French école normale, a sixteenth-century model school with model classrooms where model teaching practices were taught to teacher candidates. Many high schools in the 19th century had one-year "normal school" programs to train teachers for common schools, In the early 20th century the normal schools all became state colleges. More recently most have become state universities with a wide range of programs beyond just training teachers.

The former normal schools that survive in the 21st century have become state universities. Before 1860, "common schools" were elementary schools, and many high schools provided a year or two of instruction to young women as part of preparation for teaching in the common schools. New England—especially Massachusetts—was the center for educational innovation.^[1]

1823 – Columbian School in Concord, Vermont

In 1823, Reverend Samuel Read Hall founded the first private normal school in the United States, the Columbian School in Concord, Vermont.^[2][3] Influenced by similar academies in Prussia and elsewhere in Europe, American normal schools were intended to improve the quality of the burgeoning common school system by producing more qualified teachers. Hall also founded the first private normal schools in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.^[3] His original school was renamed Concord Academy before closing after seven years.^[4]

1839 – Lexington Normal School, Lexington, Massachusetts

Massachusetts took the lead among state governments, thanks to a grant of $10,000 from a Boston philanthropist and a vigorous campaign led by James G. Carter and Horace Mann. The legislature in 1838 provided for normal schools in the towns of Lexington, Bare and Bridgewater. The first state-sponsored normal school opened in 1839 in Lexington. The goal was to provide training in how to teach children in the ungraded common schools. The new curriculum included an in-depth review of the usual subjects; a review of the physical, mental and moral psychological development; the general principles and methods of teaching; and covered daily plans, discipline; and practice teaching.^[5][6] In 1844 that school moved from its original site of Lexington to West Newton, and then in 1853 to Framingham. Today, Framingham State University is recognized as the oldest continuously operated public normal school in the United States. Anna Brackett attended this school and in 1863 became the first woman principal of a teachers' college.

1849 – State Normal School, New Britain, Connecticut

In 1849, the Connecticut General Assembly established a State Normal School, a training school for teachers. In 1850, a new building to house the Normal School was built in New Britain. In 1933, the school became the Teachers College of Connecticut and in 1959 it became Central Connecticut State College, and finally in 1983 renamed Central Connecticut State University. CCSU is the oldest publicly funded higher education institution in Connecticut.

1854 – Rhode Island State Normal School, Bristol, Rhode Island

Rhode Island State Normal School was established by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1854. Its creation can be attributed to Henry Barnard, the first state agent for education in Rhode Island who had established the Rhode Island Teachers Institute at Smithville Seminary in 1845, and his successor, Elisha R. Potter.

With the dedication of a new building in 1898, the institution began a period of steady growth, evolving first into a teachers' college, the Rhode Island College of Education. In the 1958–59 academic year the college moved to its current Mount Pleasant campus, and in 1959 was renamed Rhode Island College to reflect its new purpose as a comprehensive institution of higher education. With an enrollment predominantly from Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut, the institution historically has served as a "College of Opportunity" for first-generation college students.^[7]

1854 – Salem Normal School, Salem, Massachusetts

Salem Normal School, now Salem State University, was founded in 1854 as the fourth Normal School in Massachusetts. In 1853, the General Court authorized the founding of a normal school in Essex County. Proposals were received from Salem, Chelsea, Groveland, and North Andover.^[8] Salem was selected due to many factors including the city's historical and commercial significance and need for local teacher education.

Prior to the founding of the normal school, Salem women had few opportunities to receive teacher training and the Salem school system was replete with funding, attendance, and teacher compensation problems. It was assumed that by training women as teachers, they could be hired at a lower salary than male teachers, thus alleviating the city's public school budget and teacher compensation challenges.

The original location was at the corner of Broad and Summer Streets, with the building's dedication held on September 14, 1854. Richard Edwards, a graduate of Bridgewater Normal School (now Bridgewater State University), was the first president of Salem Normal School.^[9]

1864 – Farmington State Normal School, Farmington, Maine

Established in 1864, Farmington State Normal School was the first public establishment of higher education in the state of Maine. In 1945, the school was renamed "Farmington State Teachers College". The Farmington State Teachers College was acquired by the University of Maine system in 1968 and is today the University of Maine at Farmington.

1855 – Millersville Normal School, Millersville, Pennsylvania

Millersville Normal School was founded in 1855 as the first normal school in Pennsylvania. Over the years it has changed its name a number of times eventually becoming Millersville University of Pennsylvania.

1855 – The Paterson City Normal School, Paterson, New Jersey

A land grant institution founded as the Paterson City Normal School in the industrial city of Paterson, NJ to train teachers for NJ schools. In 1951, the school moved to the present campus in Wayne, NJ which was purchased by the State in 1948 from the family of Garret Hobart, twenty-fourth vice president of the United States and renamed Paterson State Teachers College. In 1971, it was renamed William Paterson College of New Jersey in honor of William Paterson (judge), a United States Supreme Court Justice appointed by President George Washington, after the legislative mandate to move from a teachers' college to a broad-based liberal arts institution. The New Jersey Commission on Higher Education granted William Paterson university status in June 1997 and it is now known as The William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ). The second oldest public university in the state; Rutgers (public) and Princeton (private) being older and pre-colonial.

1855 – New Jersey State Normal School, Trenton, New Jersey

Founded in 1855, the college was located in Trenton until 1928, when it moved to Ewing Township, where four year baccalaureate degrees began to be offered. The college exists today as The College of New Jersey.

1861 – Oswego Primary Teachers School, Oswego, New York

Established as Oswego Normal School, the Oswego State Normal School was founded by Edward Austin Sheldon, and recognized as a state school in 1866 by New York State becoming the Oswego State Normal and Training School. The school was part of the training program Sheldon devised to introduce the Pestalozzi method of education to the schools of the city of Oswego, the first time the method had ever been used in the United States. The "Oswego Movement" was highly influential nationwide.^[10] Sheldon's school became Oswego State Teachers College in 1942, and was upgraded again to a liberal arts college in 1962, becoming known as Oswego State University.

1865 – Baltimore Normal School for Colored Teachers, Baltimore, Maryland

Established in 1865 by the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People, School #1 opened on January 9, 1865, in the African Baptist Church in Crane's Building on the corner of Calvert and Saratoga streets. In 1867, with the aid of the Freedmen's Bureau, the Quakers of England and others, the Baltimore Association purchased and renovated the Old Friends Meeting House at the corner of Saratoga and Courtland streets to house the Baltimore Normal School for Colored Teachers. The school moved to Bowie, MD in 1911, changing its name to the Maryland Normal and Industrial School at Bowie in 1914. Today, this school exists as Bowie State University.

1866 – Keystone State Normal School, Kutztown, Pennsylvania

On September 15, 1866, the Keystone State Normal School was established on what is now the site of Kutztown University's Old Main. The needs of a burgeoning industrialization in the region placed more and more demands on teacher preparation, and in 1928, the institution was designated Kutztown State Teacher's College and authorized to confer the bachelor's degree.

1866 – Maryland State Normal School, Baltimore, Maryland

While the state created the Maryland State Normal School in the state constitution of 1864, MSNS wouldn't open its doors in Baltimore until January 15, 1865. The school was moved to Towson, Maryland in 1915. In 1935, it was renamed the State Teachers College at Towson, and by 1963 it was changed to a liberal arts school and was renamed Towson State College. In 1976 it was renamed Towson State University and by 1997 it was Towson University.

1871 – Normal School, Buffalo, New York

Buffalo State was founded in 1871 as the Buffalo Normal School before becoming the State Normal and Training School (1888–1927), the State Teachers College at Buffalo (1928–1946), the New York State College for Teachers at Buffalo (1946–1950), SUNY, New York State College for Teachers (1950–1951), the State University College for Teachers at Buffalo (1951–1959), the State University College of Education at Buffalo (1960–1961), and finally the State University College at Buffalo in 1961.

Indiana — 1865, Indiana State Normal School

The Indiana General Assembly established the Indiana State Normal School in Terre Haute on December 20, 1865. Its location in Terre Haute was secured by a donation of $73,000 by Chauncey Rose.

As the State Normal School, its core mission was to educate elementary and high school teachers. The school awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1908 and the first master's degrees in 1928.

In 1929, the Indiana State Normal School was renamed as the Indiana State Teachers College, and in 1961, it was renamed Indiana State College due to an expanding mission.

In 1965, the Indiana General Assembly renamed the college as Indiana State University (ISU) in recognition of increasing student population and expansion of degrees offered.

Former NBA player Larry Bird is a graduate of ISU, although many people mistakenly believe he went to Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington). Indiana University - Bloomington is approximately 52 miles south and east of ISU.

California — 1857, California State Normal School

Main article: California State Normal School

After a private normal school closed in San Francisco after only one year, politicians John Swett and Henry B. Janes sought to establish a normal school for San Francisco's public school system, and approached George W. Minns to be the principal for the nascent institution, with Swett as an assistant principal. The normal school began operations in 1857 and became known as the Minns Evening Normal School. In 1861, after the continued success of the Evening School, superintendent Andrew J. Moulder requested that a committee be formed to create a report on the merits of fully funding a state normal school. Minns Evening Normal School became the California State Normal School in 1862, and is today San Jose State University.

• Normal school, for rest of world
• List of normal schools by country
• Teacher education , for rest of world

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• A historical sketch of the State Normal School at Albany, N.Y. and a history of its graduates for forty years. Albany, NY: Brandow & Barton. 1884.
• A history of the State normal school of Kansas, for the first twenty-five years. Emporia, KS. 1889.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Bicknell, Thomas Williams (1911). A history of the Rhode Island Normal School.
• Kline, Melinda J. (1998). Akron Perkins Normal School: An Institutional History, 1898-1931. ERIC ED428033.
• Learned, William S.; Bagley, William C.; McMurry, Charles A.; Strayer, George D.; Dearborn, Walter F.; Kandel, Isaac L.; Josselyn, Homer W. (1920), The Professional Preparation Of Teachers For American Public Schools, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching – long, in-depth study of Missouri
• Norton, A. O., ed. (1969). The first state normal school in America: the journals of Cyrus Peirce and Mary Swift. New York: Arno Press & The New York Times. LCCN 76-89213. – Cyrus Peirce in 1839 founded an experimental normal school in Lexington, Massachusetts; it was relocated and today is Framingham State University; a primary source.
• Ogren, Christine A. (1995). "Where coeds were coeducated: Normal schools in Wisconsin, 1870–1920". History of Education Quarterly. 35 (1): 1–26. doi:10.2307/369689. JSTOR 369689.
• Putnam, Daniel (1899). A History of the Michigan State Normal School (now Normal College) at Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1849-1899. Ypsilanti, MI.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

• Borrowman, Merle L., ed. (1966) [1965]. Teacher Education in America: A Documentary History. Classics in Education. Vol. 24. Teachers College Press. LCCN 65-17004.
• Norton, A. O., ed. (1926). The first state normal school in America: the journals of Cyrus Peirce and Mary Swift. Harvard University Press. – Cyrus Peirce in 1839 founded an experimental normal school; a primary source.
• Sizer, Theodore R., ed. (1964). The Age of the Academies: Classics in Education. Teachers College, Columbia University.^[1]

• Media related to Teacher training colleges at Wikimedia Commons