“Enthusiasm and Mutual Confidence”: Campus Life at State Normal Schools, 1870s–1900s

Abstract

This chapter focuses on student organizations and the social sphere at state normal schools from the 1870s through the 1900s. The majority of normal-school students, or “normalites,” were female, members of racial/ethnic minority groups, and/or from the lower end of the social-class scale. While these students generally missed out on the fraternity and sorority life and culture of many universities, they created a vibrant campus life at normal schools. After briefly outlining normalites’ backgrounds, Ogren demonstrates how campus life at state normal schools enhanced students’ intellectual and professional growth, welcomed all students into middle-class society, and invited women students into public life. The enthusiastic and mutually confident student life at state normal schools contradicted the rigid system at private colleges and flagship universities.