The following article was published in The Westfield News on March 2, written by Peter Currier.
The next speakers for the Westfield 350 Historical Lecture Series will delve into the history of Westfield State University on Wednesday, March 6t, at 6:30 p.m. in Parenzo Hall’s Dever Auditorium.
Dr. Beth Ann Rothermel, Dr. Mara Dodge, and Walter Fogg will lead the presentation about the early history, and struggles, of what we now know as Westfield State University. While the city of Westfield itself celebrates its 350th birthday, Westfield State University, once called Westfield Normal School, celebrates its 180th birthday.
“I am going to highlight some of the myths surrounding Westfield Normal School,” said Dodge, a professor of history at the university, “I will also go into the struggle of what should have been taught to the teaching students in the early days of the school.”
The school was originally founded by Horace Mann to train prospective teachers in primary and secondary education. It was also one of the earliest co-educational institutions in the state. The original location of the school was in Barre, Massachusetts because the town’s residents did not object to a co-educational school being established. However, the school eventually moved to Westfield due to a lack of infrastructure and local support. Even after the move, it was not until 1956 that the university was brought to its current location.
Westfield Normal School’s ‘Euphoria’ club (c. 1896)
At the time, in 1839, the school offered courses ranging from Latin, Greek, and German to an advanced science curriculum comprising of eight classes. The debate at the time was largely about the necessity of some of these classes to future teachers and the notion that women could handle more advanced courses.
“If the purpose of these normal schools was to train teachers, then why did they need Greek, Latin, and Advanced Literature,” said Dodge, “The students and faculty of the time wanted these classes, but the state stepped in and said it would cost too much.”
The lecture will be split into three parts led by each of the three presenters. Dodge will discuss the early stages of the institution while Rothermel will read papers written by students of the university from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rothermel’s section is titled, “dig where you stand: lessons from the westfield state archive.”
She will discuss what she learned about the art of teaching during that time period and how it compares and contrasts with teaching today. Walter Fogg’s portion of the presentation will detail the experience of teachers and students in Kindergarten through eight grades at the time. Fogg will also be the main presenter the following week for his lecture titled, “One Room Schoolhouses in Westfield” set for March 13 at the First Congregational Church on Park Square.
Following the lecture, the audience will be brought to the Arno Maris Art Gallery in the Ely Campus Center, where images of students and teachers from the 19th century university will be on display. The presentation was originally supposed to take place in the gallery, but the popularity of previous lectures prompted the organizers to move the talk to the larger auditorium.