Guide to the San Jose State Normal School Records MSS-2010-04-01

SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
special.collections@sjsu.edu


Language of Material: English
Contributing Institution: SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: San Jose State Normal School Records
Identifier/Call Number: MSS-2010-04-01
Physical Description: 42 boxes (46 linear feet)
Date (inclusive): 1860-1990
Abstract: The San Jose State Normal School Records collection consists of various types of records created both by admnistration and students. In addition, the collection contains a small number of realia in the form of banners, flags, and the gown of a 1916 Normal School graduate.

Access

The collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright is assigned to the San Jose State University Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives. Copyright restrictions may apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred Citation

San Jose State Normal School Records, MSS-2010-04-01, San Jose State University Library Special Collections & Archives.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Silke Higgins. Finding aid encoded in EAD by Silke Higgins in 2010. Reviewed by Danelle Moon.

Organizational History

In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San Jose, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes, Minns' Normal School is now San Jose State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations, and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.

Related Material

San Jose State Normal School Principals and Early Presidents Records, MSS-2009-02-01, San Jose State University Library Special Collections & Archives.
San Jose State Normal School Teaching Tools Collection, MSS-2009-02-06, San Jose State University Library Special Collections & Archives.

Scope and Content of Collection

The San Jose State Normal School Records document the early history and student life of the State Normal School. This collection consists of various types of records: accounting and financial files and ledgers, attendance and achievement records, board meeting minutes, commencement records, diplomas, enrollment statistics, graduate lists, student placements filed in cards and ledgers, teachers' class journals, and trustee information, as well as general records pertaining to the daily operation of the school. Also included are a large number of records created by students of the San Jose State Normal School, such as alumni publications, Alpha Phi Omega meeting minutes, class diaries, photo albums, scrapbooks, and sketches. In addition, the collection contains a small number of realia in the form of banners, flags, and the dress of a 1906 Normal School graduate.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into six series: Series I: Administrative and Financial Records, 1861-1932; Series II: Legal Documents, 1870-1936; Series III: Office of the Registrar Records, 1860-1955; Series IV: Students, Faculty, and Alumni Records and Publications, 1863-1927; Series V: Miscellanea, 1871-1990; and Series VI: Textiles, 1881-1921.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Education, Higher -- California -- San José.
San Jose State Normal School
San José State Teachers College -- History
California State Normal School -- History.
Minns' Evening Normal School -- History.
San Jose State Normal School -- Training School -- History.
San Jose State Normal School -- History.
San Jose State University -- History.
San Jose State Teachers College -- History.

 

Administrative and Financial Records Series I: 1861-1932

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series documents the administrative and financial aspects of the San Jose State Normal School. Included are accounting books in English and Spanish, bills issued for building maintenance labor, correspondence regarding financial matters, payroll records for special appropriations, and numerous ledgers and files documenting incidental funds transactions, invoices paid, and maintenance completed. Also included are handwritten minutes of the Normal School Board of Trustees, records pertaining to the daily operations of the school, trustee information, and statistical reports prepared for the Bureau of Education. Of special interest in this series are documents, newspaper clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, and petitions filed by interested parties from Chico, Colusa, Red Bluff, and Redding in an effort to convince the selection committee of the Board of Trustees for the State Normal School that their city should be chosen as the place to establish the first branch of the State Normal School on the West Coast.

Arrangement

Files are arranged alphabetically by format and chronologically by date.
Box 1

Accounting Ledgers 1867-1895

Box 2

Bills, Incidentals, Invoices Paid, Receipts, Vouchers 1861-1901

Box 3

Board of Trustees Minutes, Correspondence, Petitions 1863-1895

Box 4

Board of Trustees Reports, Surveyor General Reports 1884-1900

Box 5

Financial Records 1888-1932

Box 6

Payroll Records, Bills for Building Maintenance Provided 1906

Box 7

Legal Documents Series II: 1870-1936

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series is comprised of legal documents, including architectural contracts, insurance contracts, and land deeds. Also included is a historically significant document written by the architects who surveyed and summed up the damages the San Jose State Normal School building suffered during the 1906 earthquake.

Arrangement

Files are arranged alphabetically by format and chronologically by date.
 

Office of the Registrar Records Series III: 1860-1955

Series Scope and Content Summary

The materials in this series document the early curriculum, coursework, and student body demographic of the San Jose State Normal School. Included are attendance and achievement records, commencement records, course catalogs, diplomas, enrollment statistics, faculty meeting minutes, grade books, graduate lists, and official entrance exams for a variety of subjects, teacher training manuals, and student placement records. Of special interest in this series are student contracts, which detail the commitment to teach in the public school environment for a set amount of time after graduation from San Jose State Normal School. These contracts allowed students to attend and graduate from San Jose Normal School without the payment of tuition fees. Also included are two ledgers containing promises made by students to report in writing to the President of the State Normal School twice a year for three years after graduation, and once a year thereafter while working in the teaching profession to uphold the San Jose State Normal School's high standards and ensure the continuation of the graduate time line.

Arrangement

Files are arranged alphabetically by format and chronologically by date.
Box 8

Attendance, Grading, Graduation & Scholarship Records 1872-1934

Box 9

Course Catalogs and Diplomas 1872-1955

Box 10

Entrance Exams and Training Manuals 1877-1932

Box 11

Faculty Meeting Minutes 1881-1923

Box 12

Forms, Instructions, Exam Questions Scrapbook circa 1860

Box 13

Student Enrollment Statistics in Ledger (Fragile) 1862-1867

Box 14

Student Enrollment Statistics in Ledgers 1899-1912

Box 15

Student Placement Records (Cards) 1863-1890

Box 16

Student Placement Records (Cards) 1891-1901

Box 17

Student Placement Records (Cards) 1902-1909

Box 18

Student Placement Records (Cards) 1910-1913

Box 19

Student Placement Records (Cards) 1915-1919

Box 20

Student Placement Records (Cards) 1920-1926

Box 21

Student Placement Records (Cards) 1927-1930

Box 22

Student Promises (Ledger) 1914-1918

 

Student, Faculty, and Alumni Records and Publications Series IV: 1863-1927

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series documents materials created by teachers, students, and alumni of the San Jose State Normal School. Included are Alpha Phi Omega meeting minutes, photo albums, scrapbooks, sketches, teachers' daily class journals and class diaries, as well as the meeting minutes, journals, and record books created by various student societies. Of special interest in this series are several volumes of Memory's Lane journals composed by students, which provide first-hand accounts of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and its impact on the San Jose State Normal School campus. Also noteworthy is a student petition directed at the Board of Trustees circa 1890, requesting them to rescind a policy that suspended Bible readings on campus. In addition, this series holds memorabilia from the 1926 Fiestas de las Rosas festival and the dance drama Nightingale and the Rose performed in the same year. Also included are scrapbooks created by students, such as Mabel B. Dowser's herbarium, Sarah Rich's extensive collection of geography clippings and class notes, as well as Hazel MacIntosh's Ero Sophian Society book.

Arrangement

Files are arranged alphabetically by format and chronologically by date.
Box 23

Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Meeting Minutes 1898-1909

Box 24

Alumni Records (Handwritten Journals) 1863-1906

Box 25

Alumni Records (Handwritten Journals) 1906-1921

Box 26

Alumni Records (Handwritten Journals) 1921-1928

Box 27

Bible Reading Student Body Petition circa 1890

Box 28

Class Journals 1874, 1927

Box 29

Copies of Guide Posts Publication circa 1927

Box 30

Herbarium and Geography Scrapbook 1895

Box 31

Memory's Lane Journals 1925-1927

Box 32

Nightingale and the Rose, Fiestas de las Rosas 1926

Box 33

Normal School Societies Minutes and Records 1873-1918

Box 34, Box data_value_missing_b5f3a45f58cad00f9154f8c153fd8ff5, Box data_value_missing_fc761bd41d87d4b75df981c13b74350f

Autograph Book and Photo Albums 1875-1887

Box 35

Scrapbook by Hazel MacIntosh 1914

 

Miscellanea Series V: 1871-1990, undated

Series Scope and Content Summary

The items in this series are a collection of miscellaneous materials related to the San Jose State Normal School, accumulated over the years by various sources. Included are newspaper clippings, photographs, posters, and select items that were gathered from the overall collection to become part of an exhibit commemorating the 150th anniversary of San Jose State University in 2007. Of special interest in this series is a compilation of analytical data regarding the San Jose State Normal School. Comprised of enrollment and graduation statistics and graphs; grade distribution figures; warning card counts; and withdrawal rates, this large ledger provides at-a-glance information about some of the Normal School's vital statistics. Of interest from the student perspective is the autograph book of Miss Ada Locke, the valedictorian of the class of 1876, featuring 46 inscriptions from fellow students as well as her teachers upon graduating. Also included are various publications by students, staff, and alumni, such as re-union class of 1878 brochures, poems commemorating the class of 1884, the Christmasse Booke of the 1913 class, the Alumni Bulletin, and several issues each of Teacher and Student, Pacific Coach Teacher, and La Torre publications.

Arrangement

Files are arranged alphabetically by format and chronologically by date.
Box 36

Affidavits, Constitutions, Letters, News Clippings 1871-1925

Box 37

Commencement & Convocation Records 1877-1990, undated

Box 38

Normal School Analytical Data (Ledger) undated

Box 39

Photos, Clippings, Historical Sketch Books 1889-1966

Box 40

Various Publications 1878-1937

 

Student Memorabilia 1875-1876

Item Range 32A

Framed Photo of Students in San Jose State Normal School

Item Range 32A

Framed San Jose State Normal School Class Photo

Item Range 32A

Framed San Jose State Normal School Student Event Photo

 

Textiles Series VI: 1881-1921

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series is comprised of a small number of realia, including the San Jose State Normal School banner, flags created by individual classes, and a dress worn by a 1906 Normal School alumnus.
Box 41

Class of 1916 Alumnus Gown 1916

Box 42

Normal School Banners and Flags 1881-1921