Nacogdoches Normal - 1889 • Institutes • Old University Closes

Editor's Note: University was in trouble by the late 1880s

In the last years of the nineteenth century, the Nacogdoches University was in trouble. In 1886-87, the Trustees leased the buildings to Keachi College. In 1889, Professor T. N. Coleman of Keachi College Nacogdoches sponsored a Summer Normal Institute at the college. [See the circular for the Normal published in the Daily Sentinel. below.] was held in Nacogdoches.Although the Summer Normal of 1889 was a declared success by it organizers, the Nacogdoches University was not doing well. The imported name of Keachi, never very popular, was dropped shortly thereafter and Professor T. N. Coleman resigned. The Trustees next tried selling off the southern parts of the Washington Square campus for real estate development. [The blocks between Arnold and Edwards, Fredonia and Mound.] It also offered the four remaining corners to various denominations to build churches. Only the congregation of Christ Church Episcopal moved onto the campus. (Christ Church, now at Mound and Starr, originally stood on the corner of Arnold and Fredonia Streets from 1902 to 1940.) A long series of two year terms by headmasters indicate the increasing troubles of the institution. By 1903, when R. F. Davis took over, the end was in sight. Here is the story told through several interesting documents. First, there is the notice for the Nacogdoches Normal of 1889 published in the Daily Sentinel. Second, two segment on normal schools from Dr. Birdwell’s history on education in East Texas. Third, the conclusions from a paper done by Lois Foster Blount, a member of the SFA History Department, in 1928, on the end for Nacogdoches University. [Editor’s Note - JLJ]

Document: Nacogdoches Normal - 1889

We have secured the Summer Normal under the auspices of the state of Texas at this place, and take pleasure in stating that it will continue five school weeks, from July 15th to August 16th. Prof. T. C. Cherry, Nacogdoches, Texas, will be leading spirit of the exercises. Other distinguished teachers of extensive reputation will take part. This Normal offers rare inducements to teachers of both sexes, and it is hoped that a very large attendance will be present, not only from this Senatorial District, but also from other parts of the state and from Louisiana. Certificates of the first and second grades, secured at this Normal will be good in any county in Texas two years. The only charges are five dollars for each teacher or pupil entered. Good board at very low rates. Keachi College will provide the five dollar fee and board for twenty dollars each. Meanwhile the summer Business Course and Music and Art teaching at the College will be in full operation. Board and tuition at reduced rates. Please post this notice and circulate the information about the Summer Normal. Nacogdoches, Texas, June 6th, 1889.

Document: Birdwell on teacher institutes in the late 1880s

"Another phase of the educational endeavor of East Texas for all Texas, is seldom mentioned, namely: the effort at professional training through the county and district institutes. During the 1880’s and 1890’s institutes were held for one, two, or three days. There would be many discussions of professional problems and in nearly all of them would be great teachers who furnished through this means the professional inspiration that has had much to do with the educational development of the state.

"[The traveling professionals] brought to the teachers of the institutes the most advanced thought in education procedure. There were some among the teachers that caught the spirit of genuine scholarship, and then and there dedicated their lives to the big business of education."

Document: Birdwell on the rise of normal schools

"The history of teacher training in Texas dates from 1879....For more than a decade, the Sam Houston Normal Institution was the only educational institute in the State which devoted all of its energies to the business training teachers for the public schools....

"The decade from 1890 and 1900 saw the public schools of Texas take on the aspects which are so familiar to us at the present time. Schools were graded, high schools were rapidly organized and, through the efforts of the University of Texas, were standardized. The vocational subject were introduced and the needs were introduced and the needs were generally felt for an expanded and enriched program of studies. With it came a greater demand for efficient teachers. It is not strange, therefore, that the last few years of the nineteenth century should have witnessed a movement for additional Normal Schools, culminating in the opening of the North Texas State Normal College, at Denton, in 1901, and of the Southwest Texas State Normal School, at San Marcos, in 1903. Only a few years after this, the need was keenly felt for a Normal School in West Texas, and the West Texas State Normal School was opened in 1909, and began its career. To continue this brief historical survey, it should be noted that the Legislature in 1917 created Normal Schools at Alpine, Commerce, Nacogdoches, and Kingsville. All of these schools are now in operation except the one at Kingville. The buildings of that institution are now under construction, and it will be ready for students in June of 1925.

"From 1914 to 1917 the Normals offered two years of work beyond high school graduation, and the curricula were differentiated to meet the needs of prospective teachers. In other words, special curricula were provided for primary, elementary and high school teachers. The Normal Schools offered to their students such industrial subjects as Home Economics, Manual Training and Agriculture. They greatly strengthened their departments of Music, Art and Physical Education.

"...Normal Schools...responded quickly and, in a measure, efficiently to the demands of the expanded program of studies of the Public Schools. In 1917 the Normal Schools began to offer four years of College work, leading to standard under-graduate degrees, and became, in fact, Teachers Colleges. There are, therefore, no more Normal Schools in Texas, but, instead, we have eight Teachers Colleges, forming a unified system of teacher training institutions....

"The expansion of the old Normal Schools into Teachers Colleges did not receive, and perhaps has not received, universal approval.

"Whatever of doubt there may be of the function of the other state supported institutions, there can be no doubt as to the function of the Teachers Colleges. From the very first they have been considered an integral part of the public school system. Their only business has been to train teachers for the public schools and, to that end, all their energies have been directed...."

The Old University Closes

"Some Notes"by Lois Foster Blount

"After the expiration of the charter in 1900 it had become clear that a university could not be maintained and the charter was not renewed. In 1904, the grounds and buildings of the University were deeded to the Nacogdoches Independent School District to be used for ‘educational purposes only and for white children only’.

"In 1912 the men were members of the board of trustees when the charter expired January 1, 1900, John Schmidt, E. A. Blount, W. U. Perkins, F. C. Ford, Geo. Matthews, Jesse H. Summers, T.B. Hardeman, J. H. Thomas, D. K. Cason, John Orton, L. Zeve and J. C. Harris, petitioned the Court for power to dispose of the then remaining property of the Nacogdoches University. Judge Perkins appointed the men named above and S.W. Blount with full power to take charge of, sell and convey or otherwise dispose of any property belonging to the institution. Of this board John Schmidt was made chairman, S. W. Blount, secretary, and J. H. Thomas, treasurer. The property was sold and the proceeds used to improve the campus. So Nacogdoches University passed out of existence.

"In our present understanding of the term school was never really a university. It was a preparatory school although some college subjects were included in the curriculum. But it does give evidence of the desire of its founders and supporters to give their children the advantage of the best education possible. Whether it be because the Nacogdoches University was here or because the people of Nacogdoches are descendants of its founders carrying on the ideals and traditions of their fathers, it is true that there is an unusually large number of college people in Nacogdoches for a place of its size. They are justly proud of the fact that in 1925 one hundred percent of the class graduating from the high school went to college in the fall. Most of these boys and girls had attended classes in the old University building. All had played in its shadow. It is true that the people of Nacogdoches of today followed in the footsteps of their fathers and secured for their children and their community a college only a few years after the old Nacogdoches university had ceased to exist.

"The Nacogdoches University has ceased to exist, but the university tradition remains permanently fixed in the hearts of the people."

[The Bulletin of The Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College, Historical Number, Bulletin No. 38, January, 1932. An unpublished, slightly different version of this paper "Some Notes on Nacogdoches University, 1845-1900" is located in the Lois Foster Blount Papers, University Archives, ETRC.]