A Magazine from California State University, ChicoSpring 2012 Issue

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Chico State Normal School

Chico State Normal School

1887–1921

Written by Marion Harmon, Anna Harris, and Casey Huff. Design by Francie Divine

On July 4, 1888, the cornerstone of Chico State Normal School was laid, with John Bidwell as keynote speaker. Students entering the teacher-training school came from widely differing educational backgrounds, for public schools varied in quality and there were few high schools in California before 1891. Of the first 90 students admitted in 1889, only 15 were placed directly into practice teaching after graduating in 1891; 17 were assigned to the Preparatory Department, needing as much as two years’ work to qualify for professional training.

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Normal School Images 1902: Chico State Normal School women softball players. 1900: Three Normal School students in a dorm room getting dressed for a party or performance. Notice the Chico State pennant displayed at right. 1893: Minor L. Seymour, botany teacher. 1903: Aimee M. Jones, dean of women and English teacher. 1905: Beatrice Scott as 'Signor Spaghetti,' for Girls' High Jinks. By 1905 an orchestra had been formed that later became the Chico Symphony. On the lighter side, 'High Jinks' became an annual review for women. 1900: Bicycles have been popular with students since Chico State's founding. Above, classmates with bicycles during a zoology picnic at Big Chico Creek, one mile from town. 1903: Normal School football team at practice on the field west of campus. The Normal Record reported, 'Rough and ready humanity collects above the ground.' 1893: High water in Chico Creek canyon: John Bidwell came to cherish the area around Chico, a vast tract of nearly flat valley land lying east of the Sacramento River, rising to the Sierra-Cascade mountains. Annie Bidwell donated 2,238 acres of their Rancho Chico to the city of Chico in 1905, creating the bulk of Bidwell Park. 1916: Chico State Normal School athlete Herbert Gillespie: The Normal Athletic Association formed in 1895. 1897: The construction of the Chico State Normal School building: Due to anti-Chinese agitation, it was against California state law to use materials in public works manufactured by 'Mongolians.' In 1888 a brick plant was set up west of town where bricks were made without the help of the skilled Chinese. When the first students arrived in September 1889, the building was still under construction. 1901: Clara (Hicks) Lucas graduated from Chico State Normal School. 1892: Faculty Esther M. Wilson, of Boston, Massachusetts, taught music and drawing from the opening of Chico State Normal School until 1901.
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Alum Notes

John Concannon

John

CONCANNON (BS, Business Administration, ’85) is a fourth-generation vintner at Concannon Vineyard.

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Tanja Poley

Tanja Poley

(BS, Business Administration, ’94) is the human resources manager for the News & Review, headquartered in Sacramento.

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Kathy Crusco

Kathy Crusco

(BS, Business Administration, ’87) is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Epicor Software Corporation.

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