The Beginnings of Teacher Training in Minnesota

The Territory of Minnesota was organized in 1849. The legislature held its first session same year and enacted law establishing system of common schools. This law though subsequently amended in certain particulars laid foundations of public school system in Terri tory. In 1851, second Territorial legislature granted University of Minnesota charter which contained provision that one of de partments of University should be a department of theory and practice of teaching.1 It would seem that proponents of this law intended to establish normal department within University, prob ably similar in character and purpose to that which was created in University of Iowa four years later.2 For reasons that need not concern us here Territorial University of Minnesota never materialized, and when State was organized in 1858 friends of public education either ignored provision for teacher training which was contained in Territorial law, or were unaware of its existence. It should be noted, however, that idea of normal school as separate and distinct institution was making progress. In 1839 first American public normal schools were established in Massachusetts. These were three in number and were soon followed by similar institutions in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Michigan, Rhode Island, Illinois, South Carolina, and Louisiana. As many of most intelligent and active among pioneer set tlers of Minnesota were drawn from Eastern states we can readily understand their enlightened attitude towards public education. Many came from states which already had normal schools in operation. Hence we need not be surprised to find early legislators receptive to proposal to establish state normal schools. At any rate first state legislature of Minnesota passed in 1858 general law under which Winona Normal School came into being as the first state normal school west of Mississippi and fourteenth in United States.3 The man who deserves most credit for suggesting this legislation and for taking active measures to establish first normal school in