State Normal School
Willimantic also included a state-run school to train future teachers. This school would serve as the foundation for what would eventually become Eastern Connecticut State University.
Location
Windham Street corner of Valley Street
History
Connecticut's State Normal School system was established by an act of the General Assembly of 1889, and it was the second Normal School in the state. The school opened in September of 1889 in the third floor of the Willimantic Savings Institute on the corner of Main and Bank Streets.
Due to the expense of paying rent, the state funded the construction of a large four-story building just south of the High School. The Board of Education Report stated that "The building authorized by the legislature of 1907... has been completed and is occupied. It is a model building in every respect and is eminently adapted to its purposes." (pg 15) This new building officially opened its doors on September 7, 1909.
During the time period under study, Henry T. Burr was principal, from 1904-1918. He was then succeeded by George H. Shafer. The January 3, 1910 issue of the Willimantic Chronicle noted that the school's opening would be postponed due to the "somewhat chaotic condition of the heating apparatus."
The school was destroyed by a fire in 1943, and later the four State Normal Schools evolved into the four campuses of the Connecticut State University system. Here, students were taught the foundations of curriculum and how that can be applied in the classroom of rural schools. The main goal was to "educate the masses". Every graduate was expected to leave with the familiarity of the working of all grades.
More information on the history of Willimantic's State Normal School can be found in this exhibit created by Summer Pellegrini.
Education and Student Population
In this school there were 126 students enrolled in 1910, out of the 770 students that went to these types of schools in Connecticut, or 16%. The students who attended the State Normal School completed a two-year teaching program. A class of 105 women recieved diplomas in 1910 and 11 received certificates. The entering class held around 50 more students than the average class size in the previous years.
Since there was an increase in the number of students attending the school, there was a push for more teachers as well as overall faculty members. More model schools were also formed. Conversation also began regarding the ideal size of a normal school.
During World War I, Allen B. Lincoln reports there was a decline in the number of students attending the school. This aside, during the first three decades of the State Normal School, there were 8 graduating classes which totaled 1,155 graduates.
Student Housing
Unlike the state's other Normal Schools, most of Willimantic's students lived in nearby boarding houses rather than with their families. This led to complaints about the quality and expense of the housing available nearby, as well as troubling situations where young men were living in the same boarding house as the young female students! As a result, appeals were made to construct a dormitory for the students as early as 1910, and construction on a new dormitory was completed in 1921.