They represented two different thoughts in black social and economy progress. Graduates of 1897 In 1897, the Territorial Normal School of Oklahoma had the first five graduates. They are John Adams, Ida Belt, Paranoia Cakes, Robert Howard, and Rose Jackson. They made many contributions to the school. They focused on academic research during their education. Meanwhile, they had achievements on other parts. For example, Cakes won the First Intercollegiate Oratorical Contest. They achieved many successes and will be remembered by CO students. Eke the architectural style of the Old North, but we don’t use this building now.
And the clock tower is closed. From the picture, we can see students could climb to the top of the tower in the past. It seems they like to go there in spare time. The picture was taken in asses. Old North did not have clock until June 20, 1912. People raise the “Clock-for-tower” fund to install the clock. At that time, Charles Evans was the president of Central. Central was expansion with an increasing number of students and staffs under Evans. Students had extracurricular activities, and they had a development in sports. Now there were male-cheerleaders in the past, but this is the first time see male-cheerleaders. They looked very happy.
It seems sports in Central had achieved a rapid development. The picture was taken in 1938. The Spurs served as ‘Yell Leaders” during athletic events. In the asses, Coach Wetlands and his athletic program led school teams to the victory of competition. Both football team and track team achieved great success. 3. University of Central Oklahoma was established in the early asses in Edmond, Oklahoma. It was only a one-room school with one teacher in 1892. Nowadays, he total number of students has reached 1 5,000, and the campus is large. CO is a comprehensive university provides a variety of majors and graduate degrees.
In the early years, University of Central Oklahoma was known as the Territorial Normal School of Oklahoma. It was the first institution of higher education in Oklahoma Territory. As a public school, the Board of Regents would choose the president. Richard A. Thatcher was the first president of Central. He was a professor of mathematics. As an experienced teacher, he was admired by his students. Under Thatcher, there were only five teachers, including himself. Central had two departments. One was the preparatory department that included arithmetic, grammar, descriptive geography, reading, and orthography.
The other one was a normal department of more than ten courses in two terms. Most students were women who lived in Edmond from age 13 to 21 and wanted to be a teacher. When Thatcher was the president, Central was difficult to access for out-of-town student. The following two presidents, George Wins and E. R. Williams were only in office for one year because the low enrollment. In 1895, E. D. Murdered became the fourth president. In his term, Central had the first vive graduated student, first school paper, and started the first graduating class. Frederick Howard Unbolts was the fifth president.
He outlined the mission of Central as a normal school to train young teachers. The Central had nine departments and some new instructors, and began to provide five-year teaching certificates and Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1904, The Territorial Normal School of Oklahoma already had more than one thousand students, and changed its name to Central State Normal School. Except students from Edmond, there were more students came from eastern Oklahoma and other 14 states. Thomas W. Butcher and James A. McLaughlin were the sixth and seventh presidents.
They had some political problems, but Central kept developed. Charles Evans became the eighth president. He made a contribution to recruit students by advertising in the media. The campus had two building’s that housed more departments than before, and a library building named Evans Hall in honor of President Evans. During the World War l, Grant B. Grubbing and J. W. Graves were the presidents. Graves encouraged students to take part in physical fitness. The students joined clubs and sports activities in spare time. They founded the first student clubs, Lyceum and Pioneer, in 1893-1904.
Students were required to join one of them, and competed with each other every semester. Student clubs began to popular after 1900. Students attended both local and national organizations, from singing club to YWCA and YMCA Many new clubs on literature, drama and debate appeared. Central also encouraged students to participate athletic programs like basketball, football, and track. To improve the athletic sports achievement, Central hired Charles Wanted as a football and basketball coach. Both of the woo competitions got good records in the following years.
During World War l, most male students enrolled in the Training Corps. Women also had military drill named “Company B”. Central developed rapidly in the early years. The number of students and staffs sharply increased, and teaching facilities greatly improved. The successive presidents seized the right direction. Although Central is a normal school, presidents encouraged students to participate in different activities, such as academic, athletics, and intercollegiate competitions. The students achieved great success in education and every aspect of their lives.
