BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Mr. William A. Lank, President

Mr. Gerald A. Beierschmitt

Hon. Harold L. Paul, Vice,President

Mr. E. Guy Bangs

Mr. J. Howard Deily, Secretary-Treasurer

Mr. Edgar A. Fenstermacher

Mr. Howard S. Fernsler

Mr. William E. Booth

Hon. Bernard J. Kelley

Dr. Harvey A. Andruss
PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE

Dr. Harvey A. Andruss
DEAN OF INSTRUCTION

Dr. John A. Hoch
ADMINISTRATION OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Directors of Curricular Divisions

Business Education -

Dr. Emory Rarig

Elementary Education -

Dr. Royce 0. Johnson

Secondard Education -

Dr. C. Stuart Edwards

Special Education -

Dr. William L. Jones

Graduate Studies -

Dr. Charles H. Carlson

Student Teaching Supervisors

Dr. Lee E. Aumiller
Coordinator of Field Experience
Dr. Ellen L. Lensing
Mrs. Margaret McCern
Mr. Jack Meiss
Miss Beatrice M. Englehart
Mr. Warren I. Johnson
Mr. Joel E. Klingman
Mr. R. Edward Warden
Mr.
Dr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.

Elementary Education

Stanley T. Dubel!, Jr.
Donald E. Enders
Martin M. Keller
Milton Levin
A. J. McDonnell

Mr. Benjamin S. Andrews
Mr. James T. Reifer

Secondary Education

~

Special Education

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF TEACHER EDUCATION
AT BLOOMSBURG -- 1869 - 1969
The Beginning
The basis for teacher education at Bloomsburg
was laid by chance in the autumn of 1867 when the
then Superintendent of Public Instruction , J. P.
Wickersham, passed through the town by train and
saw the newly erected Carver Hall on the hill
"ablaze with light." At that time the location of a
new Normal School in the Sixth District was under
consideration; soon Wickersham returned to Bloomsburg, addressed a meeting of the citizens, and said
that the Literary Institute location would be idea l
for a State Normal School. The lnstitute's Board of
Trustees concurred, and on March 9, 1868, the
following resolution was adopted: "Resolved that
the Trustees of the . .. Institute agree to establish
in connection with the same ' A State Norma l
School ' . . . "
Establishing the Normal School required the erection of a dormitory, and on April 15, 1868, plans
were submitted by Principal Carver for a building
which called for an estimated cost of $36,000. The
laying of the cornerstone on June 25, 1868, was a
memorable occasion . Prayer was offered by D. J.
Waller, Sr.; Governor John W . Geary laid the cornerstone and made an appropriate address. Other
participants included Superintendent Wickersham ,
Principal Carver, and the Honorable William Elwell ,
President Judge of the County Courts.
Early in February of 1869 the trustees requested
that a committee be appointed unde r the Act of
1857 to consider chartering the Literary Institute as
a State Normal School. On February 18, the com mittee exam ined facilities and proposed curriculum
and the next day submitted a favorable report and
recommendation . Thus February 19, 1869 can be
considered the birthdate of Teacher Education at
Bloomsburg, although the proclamation of the State
Superintendent was signed and sealed three days
later, and the first prospective teachers were not enrolled unti l September.

Elementary Education
For its first half century, in all practicality, only
teachers for the "Common Schools," embracing the

first eight grades, were trained at Bloomsburg, although from the very beginning four-year Scientific
and Classical programs were offered which apparently prepared students for teaching in the widely
scattered high schools of the day. Graduates of these
curriculums were very few in number, and catalogs
of the time indicate that most of those who finished
these programs went on to advanced standing in colleges and universities. At first the curriculum was
merely a continuation of the traditional subjects of
the time : orthography, reading, evolution, arithmetic,
English grammar, political geography, higher arithproval as a State Normal School required only that
students be given instruction in "Theory and practice
of teaching ." The year before, the school had had a
teacher preparation department which offered a
course titled Methods of Instruction, so the actual
transition was a minor one . The offerings for some
time remained static and were quite arbitrary, consisting from year to year of those courses which the
administration and faculty thought best. In general ,
the curriculums continued to run parallel to the curriculums of the high schools. In order to implement
the directive to instruct in theory and practice of
teaching , a Model School was established in the
dormitory building . Later, Hemlock Hall , a small
building north of the main building, was constructed
to serve specifically as a Model Schoo l.
The next Model School was housed in a building
(the former Noetling Hall ) directly behind Carver
Hall and served until the opening of the Benjami n
Franklin Training School in 1930. The catalog of
1900 claims:
A wel l graded and properly conducted Model School is the
most important adjunct to a Norma l School. It is here tha t
the members of the graduating class do their practice teachin g. Th is school , therefore , is intended to be a mode l in
grading , in discipline, and in results . It is claimed that the
work done in this department is unsurpassed , and in strict

accord with pedagog ical principles .

As late as 1877 the school year was of forty-two
weeks duration, but in order to graduate with a Normal School Diploma only twenty-one weeks of attendance were required. With some state subsidy
available, the tuition in the Normal Department was
fifty cents per week per student.

During these formative years in teacher educa-

courses carried topics pertaining to the construction

tion the two newspapers in the town of Bloomsburg,

and use of objective tests.

both editorially and through their letters columns,

A change in name, the privilege to grant degrees,

carried on a rather heated controversy over the

and the mandate to educate high school teachers

types of teaching methods being offered at the Nor-

was dramatically announced by Principal Riemer at

mal School. The feud seemed to end when the "op-

a faculty-student party on May 13, 1927. Although

position" paper printed a letter from Principal D. J.

all

Waller defending the position of the school and citing the testimony of many school

new

programs

were

not

immediately

imple-

mented, from that date the name of the institution

districts which

was Bloomsburg State Teachers College.

praised the success in teaching enjoyed by recent
graduates of the school.

Following the change in name, the curriculum
was revised to give an increased amount of atten-

The catalog of 1878-79 describes the professional

tion to methods and the

department thus:

professional aspects of

teaching. This represented something of a repudia-

This department aims to give not only a thorough knowledge of the principles that underlie and govern all correct
teaching, but also skill in the practical application of them.
During both years of this course daily instruction is given
either in the science or the art of teaching . .. The seniors,
besides studying the philosophy of instruction, or methods,
teach half the school year in the Model School under the
supervision of the Professor of the Professional Department
and the Principal of the Model School, and under inspection
of Committees of observation of their own members. Two
meetings a week are held for criticizing and discussing the
teaching . . .

tion of the strengthening of the academic side in
the early twenties. Programs continued thus until the
next major curriculum revision which took place in
1937 with a reduction in the number of methods
courses and the introduction of so-called professionalized subject matter courses. January first of this
year also .marked the termination of the two-year
curriculum. From this time on until 1950 there was
continuous revision of the curriculum, especially from

It was not until 1920, four years after the pur-

the standpoint of increasing

chase of the Normal School by the state, that the

numbers of general

education courses, adding elective courses, estab-

teacher training programs became distinctive and

lishing an audio-visual aid center, and the revision

differentiated from those of the secondary school.

of existing course syllabi.

The admission requirements were increased to graduation from a four-year high school or its equivalent.
These

changes

not

only

marked

the

The successful launching of the Russian Sputnik

institution's

on October 4,

1957, really

jolted the American

emergence from the preparatory school catagory,

people. The fear that they might be behind in some-

but marked a significant step toward true college

thing very crucial in the power structure of the world

status.

forced them to take a long, hard look at their schools
and colleges. Elementary schools did not escape this

In the
consisted

early twenties the two-year curr_
i culum

scrutiny, and harsh articles appeared in newspapers

largely of professional and educational

and magazines throughout the country. The demand

methods courses. However, more academic respecta-

for improvement in children's reading skills and for

bility was given to the program in 1923 with the

a great increase in their confrontation with science

introduction of a three-year curriculum which placed

and mathematics was almost immediately reflected

increasing emphasis on the content of academic sub-

in

jects. A further important curriculum development at

the college curriculum for the

preparation

of

teachers.

this time was the differentiation of courses of study
into primary, intermediate, and junior high school

Coincident with the advent of space exploration,

preparation, the latter emphasis being the beginning

1957 was a landmark year in the development of

of the education of secondary school teachers. In

the team teaching approach in elementary schools.

1922, in conformity with the national enthusiasm for

Bloomsburg was among the first colleges to require

the testing of ability and achievement, there was

elementary education students to achieve an area of

organized at Bloomsburg a Bureau of Educational

concentration

Research. By 1924 all curriculums included a three-

equip them to be team leaders or resource persons

hour course in education measurements, and methods

in their subject specialities.

2

in

one academic field.

This would

Bloomsburg State Normal School Faculty -

1889

and an area of concentration in one of the following subject fields: Art, Biology, English , French, General Speech, Geography, German, Health and Physical Education, History, Mathematics, Music, Psychology, Social Studies, and Spanish.

Because of the influences mentioned above, in the
years since 1957 the required course credits in methodology have been reduced from thirty-five to
twenty-one. The requirements in mathematics and
science have increased from nine to eighteen . The
curriculum was further strengthened by the addition
of courses in sociology, anthropology, economics,
and world cultural geography.

Another force which is generating much ferment
in elementary education is the research efforts of
some giant foundations. Recognizing the need for
new materials and teaching styles to implement the
individualization of instruction, they have invested
heavily in programmed, and computerized materials.
Their experimentation and products will certainly
affect elementary education in the decade ahead .

The latest major revision of the elementary education curriculum was in 1966. This was accomplished through extensive discussions with the several
departmental chairman and resulted in a program
which gives the students a rich and versatile academic background, thorough professional training,

3

The curriculum for the preparation of elementary
teachers at Bloomsburg State College is sensitive to
the new trends and flexible enough to change continuously as new ideas may demand.

Secondary Education
Inside the title page of the Bloomsburg Catalog
of 1927 appears the following statement:
The State Council of Education at its meeting June 4, 1926
authorized the State Normal School at Bloomsburg to confer
the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education on graduates
of courses in Elementary Education and in Junior High
School. On May 13, 1927, the Council changed the name
of the Normal School to the State Teachers College at
Bloomsburg. The College will continue to offer the regular
two-year courses.

Although, as indicated earlier, some graduates
of the early Normal School did leave to teach in the
mediocre and scattered high schools of their day,
the above announcement really ushers in the era
of the education of teachers for junior, and eventually, senior high schools. Required courses included
such titles as Educational Biology, English, Oral Expression, Introduction to Teaching, Everyday Science,
American Government, Education, Guidance, Educational Measurements, and Student Teaching. This is
not an exhaustive list of required courses, of course,
but conveys the thinking of the day in regard to
basics in Secondary Teacher Preparation. In addition, the 136-credit Curriculum provided opportunity
for enough electives to meet certification requirements in two fields to be chosen from among English,
Science, Social Studies, Mathematics, Geography,
French, Latin, or German. The awarding of the degree entitled the holder to "teach in any public
school any subject in which he has earned 18 or
more semester hours of credit." It was even recommended that a third field, in which less preparation
was required, be added if the student expected to
teach in Junior High School.

Henry Carver: Principal 1869-71

Techniques of Teaching. During the first few years
practice teaching was done in the junior high school
fields of English, social studies, mathematics, and
geography. As time went on and enrollment increased, the student teaching program moved into
the senior high school and embraced the additional
fields of biology, chemistry, physics, Latin, and
French.

Until 1937 the curricular pattern in Secondary
Education was built upon the base of the existing
programs in Elementary Education, with an opportunity to gain subject matter depth substituted for the
many methods courses in the Elementary field. The
1936 catalog indicates that by this time the number
of credits required for graduation had been reduced
to its present 128, and that they were distributed as

The first student teachers in Secondary Education
began their work in the fall of 1928, when eighteen
students were assigned in the newly opened Bloomsburg Junior-Senior High School under the supervision of a Director of Secondary Education. The
Director also taught the theory courses as well as a
course, coordinated with Student Teaching, called

4

follows: Professional Education, 35 hours; Arts (including physical education), 7 hours; English, 18
hours; Science, 9 hours; Geography, 6 hours; Social
Sciences, 11 hours; Electives, 18 hours in each of
two fields and six in a third. By this time German
did not appear as an elective field , although French
and Latin were still in the curriculum as areas of
specialization .
Effective September 7, 1937 an "Enriched Program of Studies" was adopted which in effect somewhat reduced the number of "Education" courses
and made the first two years of the elementary and
secondary curriculms basic to both areas and concentrated specialization in the last two years. Common courses in professional education began in the
freshman year and were distributed throughout the
four years, culminating with student teaching in the
senior year. A student preparing to teach junior or
senior high school was still able to obtain certification in two or more areas. Examples of some changes
in curriculum content were replacing Educational Biology with separate courses in botany and zoology.
Introduction to Teaching and Educational Sociology
were replaced by Place and Purpose of Education in
the Social Order. A course in measurements was
added , as was one in the History and Philosophy of

Judge William Elwell

Education.

President, Board of Trustees -

Driver education and general safety education
programs were established in the summer of 1948 to
prepare teachers who could give adequate instruction to senior high school students in this growing
phase of modern life. The certification of driver and
safety education teachers has since been discontinued.

1879

of offering an area of certification in Aeronautics to
Secondary Education students . Such a program was
approved by the Department of Public Instruction
in April 1943, and began operation in September of
that year. A faculty of twelve offered courses in
Theory of Flight, Navigation , Meteorology, Civil Air
Regulations, Aircraft Communications, and related
fields. By 1955 the program had disappeared from
the offerings in Secondary Education.

The next curriculum development in Secondary
Education was an outgrowth of World War II programs and the anticipation of an upsurge of interest
in aviation. Pre-flight aeronautics courses for teachers-in-service were offered during the summers of
1942 and 1943, sponsored by the Civil Aeronautics
Administration. A quota of twenty was assigned to
Bloomsburg, which was the first institution in the
nation to offer the course exclusively as teacher
education for practicing teachers, rather than having the students mingled with Civilian Pilot Trainees.
This individual treatment of the courses from a purely
educational standpoint gave rise to the possibility

During the period from 1950 to the present there
have been many other changes in the curriculum in
Secondary Education . Most notable is the shift from
two major areas of study to a single area of emphasis in which both breadth and depth in specialization is required. At the beginning of this period
the requirements in professional education included
eight different courses in addition to student teaching. These courses included Educational Measurement, Evolution of the American Public School,

5

School Law, Problems of Secondary Education, Visual Education, Educational Psychology, Curriculum
Materials and Adaptation, and Place and Purpose of
Education in the Social Order. As a result of evalu-

city and suburban schools since many graduates
found their first position in this type of school.
Therefore, in 1961, a secondary student teaching
center was opened in Bucks County with a full-time
faculty supervisor in residence . This program has
been so successful that additional centers have been
established in Montgomery County in 1967 and in
Dauphin County in 1968.

ation of the curriculum, these eight were reduced to
five in 1958, at which time Professional Orientation,

Audiovisual Education, Problems of Secondary Education, Educational Psychology and Professional
Practicum, Including School Law were required. Due
to the nature of the assignments of many secondary
education graduates, the curriculum required that
the student have specialization in at least two fields ,
a major and a minor. The major normally required
30 credit hours and the minor required the number
of credits needed for state certification. At this time
approximately 61 credits were required in General
Education , 25 credit hours in Professional Education,
24 credit hours in Specialization, and 18 credit
hours in Electives. However, this was changed in
1963 when a study of positions held by graduates
and certification regulations in Harrisburg suggested
that the student, rather than having two areas of
competency, should concentrate his efforts and time
in only one area or in a fixed combination of closely
related disciplines such as social studies.

Business Education
Although the education of business teachers - as
we know it today-dates back almost forty years,
as long as a century ago the college used the phrase
" Commercial Institute" as part of its title. Included
in the curriculum were bookkeeping, shorthand, and
typewriting, for use in business, not in teaching. In
1884 penmanship was added, and in 1888 instruction began in commercial law.

In 1964 Teaching of Reading in Academic Subjects
was added to the requirements for Secondary Education majors as a result of state certification recommendations, but the requirement was dropped in
1967 when new curriculum designs were structured.
At this time the number of required credit hours in
General Education, Professional Education and
Specialization were changed to 62, 24, and 42 respectively. The eight courses that had once been
required in Professional Education were now just
three, with many concepts being changed and others
being fused into a common core of instructional
material such as the six credit course, Curriculum
and Instruction in the Secondary School. Student
teaching has been maintained as a full semester, 12
credit course, but the professional practicum once
offered for 2 credits now has been integrated with
the student teaching experience.
During this period of change it became evident
that the number of student teachers would soon become greater than schools in the Bloomsburg area
would be able to handle. In addition, there was a
desire to place some prospective teachers in large

Dr. David Jewett Waller, Jr.
Principal: 1877-1890, 1906-1920

6

The Training School Kindergarten - 1921

the training and preparation of teachers of Commercial Subjects at the State Teachers College at
Bloomsburg. 11 The present President of the College,
Harvey A. Andruss, was Director of that Department,
coming to Bloomsburg from the same field at Indiana
State Teachers College. He and one other instructor
formed the first faculty to give instruction in business
subjects. The program was called "Commercial
Teacher Training Curriculum." All students took the
same courses, a mixture of a little general education, the professional education needed for teaching,
and a quite heavy load of credits in the business
subjects. At this time, as with other degree programs,
the credit requirements totaled 136.

Evidently there were lapses in the program for
the catalog of 1891 states, in part:
An experienced teacher gives lessens in shorthand and typewriting. The typewriter used is the Remington Standard No .
2. The system of shorthand taught is the Pitman System.
The starting of this department meets a growing demand.

In 1904 the name was changed from the Department of Stenography and Typewriting to the Commercial Department, and offered courses, not only
in stenography and typewriting, but in, bookkeeping,
penmanship, commercial law, commercial geography, and commercial arithmetic. The curriculums
provided for two courses of study. One was a threeyear course for Normal School students preparing to
teach, and the other was intended to meet the needs
of special students preparing to devote themselves
exclusively- to work in the business world. Generally
this curricular pattern continued until 1910 when
business practice and office methods courses were
introduced.

On September 15, 1930, in order to stimulate
interest in the field, students in the Commercial Department organized the Junior Chamber of Commerce, which in 1939 changed its name to the
Business Education Club. Another innovation in the
department's first year was the presentation of the
first Commercial Contest for high school students.
As a public relations project for the department and
a service to teachers-in-service and high school students, it served the college well until limitations of
space led to its discontinuance in the spring of 1966.

A special bulletin entitled "Commercial Teacher
Training" was issued by the college in the spring of
1930, and said in part, "We are pleased to an nounce that the Superintendent of Public Instruction
has approved the inauguration of a department for

7

North Hall - 1929

Much planning, advertising, and recruiting must
have taken place during the summer of 1930, for
the catalog of 1931 announced that fifty students
were enrolled in the curriculum designated as the
Department of Commerce. It held this designation
until 1938, when it was renamed the Department of
Business Education. Of the fifty students originally
enrolled, six took advantage of course offerings
during summer sessions and accelerated their programs. Therefore, the first degrees were awarded to
these six students in May, 1933.

By 1938 the original common curriculum for all
registrants was changed to provide more options on
the part of the student. In this year the opportunity
to specialize was introduced, and a student could
choose among concentrations in Bookkeeping, Stenographic, Retail Selling, or a Combined Commercial
Sequence. It was also possible to choose a combination of two of the sequences. The all-inclusive program changed in name several times as revisions in
terminology were made : From Commercial Sequence
to General Commercial Sequence in 1945, to General Business Sequence in 1947, but still offering
opportunity to specialize in Accounting (a change
from bookkeeping), Secretarial (from stenographic),
and Retail Selling.

The first student teaching was conducted in the
Junior-Senior High School at Bloomsburg, but by
1936 the enrollment in the program had increased
to such an extent that two junior high schools and
the sen ior high in nearby Williamsport were utilized
for student teachers in commercial education . This
same year, 1936, found the curriculum had been revised to the point where the graduation requirements had been reduced from the original 136
semester hours to 128, in line with that of the other
curriculums.

The first Retail Sales Training Conference was
held in February 1947 and proved so worthwhile
that it was continued until 1962 when the curricular
pattern and the strain on college facilities dictated
its demise. It was the purpose of the conference to
provide a practical and inspirational program for
businessmen, to foster better relationships between

8

l
l

college and business, and to give students in the
Sales sequence practice in organizing and administering community activites.
By 1950 the specific Retail Selling Sequence was
eliminated, but it was (and is) still possible to obtain
certification in this area by taking nine additional
semester hours of credit in Sales and Retail Selling.
In 1955 the Silver Anniversary of the founding of
the Business Education Department was comemmorated with the publication of an attractive bulletin
entitled, "The Department of Business Education
Celebrates Twenty-Five Years of Progress: 19301955," and was appropriately dedicated to: "Dr.
Harvey A. Andruss and to faculty members, past
and present, of the Department of Business Education."
During that same year, the Department of Business Education served as host to the Convention of
the Pennsylvania Business Educators Association, during which Dr. Andruss was honored by the Association for his contributions to business education.
Although not immediately apparent, an event in
1957 was destined to have great import for the

Department of Business Education as well as the
College itself. In that year, Bloomsburg became the
first of the State Teachers Colleges to have a stateapproved long-range campus development plan.
Growing out of this plan, the Business Education
Department was able to move into its newly-constructed home, Sutliff Hall, in 1960.
The year 1960 was an unusually significant one
for the Department for other reasons as well. While
the College then assumed the name of Bloomsburg
State College, the Department had just the previous
year become the Business Education Division. The
Division also celebrated the 30th year of its founding .
In the meantime, the faculty of the Department
had steadily expanded . From a full-time complement
of two at the beginning, and three in 1942-43, the
faculty grew to include nine full-time members in
1950, remaining at that number until the expansion
of the l 960's.
Among the curriculum changes brought to fruition
in the l 960's to help insure a more effective program was an increased flexibility in skill subjects to

Waller Hall (Second Street Side) -

1937

May Day -

differentiate among those students who had had
varying amounts of preparation in high schools, and
in business schools. Another development was an
increased emphasis on a broad general education
background during the first two or three semesters
so that a student finding himself in difficulty in a
business education program was no longer "locked
in" but could move to another area with little or no
credit loss. Still another curriculum change has been
the recent introduction of courses in Electronic Data
Processing and Computer Programming in the business curriculum. Pending the acquisition of appropriate hardware and trained faculty, it is anticipated
that the college will be able to implement a fullydeveloped curriculum in this rapidly-developing area
of business in the very near future.

1914

business teacher conferences, business education department chairmen conferences, and others. Thus, a
direct, two-way flow of information is maintained
from the College to the business education departments in the field and back to the College, thereby
keeping the Division sensitive to local developments
and current in its approaches.
The increasing numbers of business education
student teachers now occupy the full-time attention
of three supervisors and include twenty-five high
schools located in the Bloomsburg-Berwick-Danville
area, the Williamsport area, the Allentown area,
and a new area this year-Hazleton.
Not to be overlooked as a source of leadership
in the Division has been the work done by Pi Omega
Pi, the Business Education Scholastic Honor Society.
The Pledge Book of the fraternity reads: "The Alpha
Delta Chapter of _Pi Omega Pi was established in the
State Teachers College, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania ,
May 25, 1935, and is composed of people held to•
gether by a common interest-that of Commerce."
Together with the Business Education Club-now
Ph i Beta Lambda-the members of Pi Omega Pi
have bee n active in many important projects of the

In addition to curriculum improvements, during
the l 960's the Vocational Education Act provided
substantial and valuable assistance in implementing
instruction , supervision, and coordination of business
education programs. Presently, two full-time staff
members of the Division are engaged in coordinating
business education curriculums in the hig h schools
of the region . Among their assigned duties are
school visits, business education clin ics, beginning

10

East Hall Lounge - 1964

Special Education

Division; Chapter alumni now occupy many positions
of prominence both in business education and other
areas as well.

The first course taught at the College, which
could be considered Special Education, was called
Speech Problems and was offered by all the Pennsylvania State Teachers Colleges in 1932. Later,
some practicum work in Speech Correction was offered in the campus training school.

With the latest development in the Division, we
appear to have come full circle, for the fall of 1967
saw the first freshmen admitted to the newlyapproved Business Administration curriculum being
implemented to provide trained managerial practitioners and leaders in the business world-a purpose for which the curriculum was established almost
a century ago!

"Special Education" first appeared in the catalog
of 1938 when the College was designated by the
State Council of Education as a Center for the education of teachers of "orthogenic classes," now
called classes for the mentally handicapped. Requirements for certification to teach these classes
were satisfied by the college program. The courses
offered in Special Education for orthogenic classes
included nine semester hours of content courses:
Education of Subnormal Children, Clinical Psychology, Psychology of Atypical Children, Mental Tests,
or Mental Hygiene; six semester hours of Special
Education Arts and Crafts; five semester hours of
Special Methods and Observation in Orthogenic
Classes; five semester hours of electives in Special
Class courses - Speech, Health, Social Agencies,
Delinquency, and Diagnostic Testing.

At the present time, with a full-time faculty of 18
and 2 part-time, an enrollment of 625 (including 225
in Business Administration), and a graduate program enrollment of about l 00, the future of the
Division looks bright. To date the Division has
trained just over 2,000 well-qualified and adequately-prepared business teachers for the high schools of
Pennsylvania. Many of these are prominent leaders
today.
The Bloomsburg Catalog of 1930-31 states,
"Students at Teachers College are preparing for
work as leaders." This challenge of leadership is,
and remains, the challenge of the Business Education
Division-leadership in providing the schools of
Pennsylvania with the finest-qualified business teachers that can be obtained anywhere. This is the
challenge, and the promise.

Also in 1938 additional courses in Speech Correction were offered under the auspices of the Special
Education Department and the Speech Clinic was

11

established at this time. This served primarily as a
practicum facility for college students and also as
a diagnostic and therapy center for children in the
area, college students, and adults.
In 1940, certification of teachers to teach classes
for the mentally retarded was initiated as an extension to elementary education programs in a 24
semester hour block of approved courses in Special
Education . In 1942 the State Department granted
permission to offer courses leading to State certification in the field of Speech Correction. Students in
secondary and elementary education were able to
elect Speech Correction as an area of concentration .
Speech Pathology was added to the curriculum
as a three hour course and Psychology of Speech
was changed to read Psychology of Speech and
Hearing in 1950. In 1957 the Department title was
changed from " Curriculum in Special Class Education" to " Curriculums in Atypical Education ." The
title was again changed in 1959 to read "Department of Special Education " and was given divisional
status in 1961 with two curriculum areas indicated" Special Education for the Mentally Retarded" and
" Speech Correction ."

Dr. Francis 8 . Haas, President 1927-39

pita!, the Geisinger Medical Center and White
Haven State School and Hospital as well as with
various public schools to provide practicum facilities
for students in Special Education . In the spring of
1967 two new courses were added on an elective
basis: Experience with Emotionally Disturbed and
Experience with Learning Disorders, and an affiliation was established with the Danville State Hospital
teenage ward, again for a practicum facility. In
1967 the title "Special Education" remained for the
Division but the area of Special Education for the
Mentally Retarded designation was changed to
Teaching of the Mentally Retarded . Courses such as
Education of the Exceptional Child remained listed
as Specie I Education courses, whereas courses designed especially in mental retardation took on the
prefix of Teaching of the Mentally Retarded. Also,
in 1967 two new courses, Learning Disabilities and
Behaviour Disorders were added as electives for
either upper classmen or graduate students.

On January 31 , 1962 the State Council of Education authorized Bloomsburg State College to confer
the Master of Education degree in Speech Correction . At this time more courses were added at the
undergraduate leve l in the area of Speech Correction . Both the curriculum in Special Education for the
Mentally Retarded and Speech Correction became
major curriculums but students were allowed dual
certification in the teaching of elementary classes
and either of the above mentioned curriculums.
Individual Mental Tests and Group Psychological
Tests were some of the psychology courses required
of majors in either area of Special Education .
Student professional organizations had begun
earlier with the Iota Chapter of the National Speech
and Hearing Fraternity, Sigma Alpha Eta , being
established on campus in 1949, the year the Fraternity began , making them a Charter Chapter. In
1960 students formed the Alpha Chapter #370 of
the Council for Exceptional Children . Staff members
serve as advisers to both groups.

Departmental status was granted to the two curriculums in Special Education with the titles of Department of Speech Correction and Department of
Mental Retardation in 1968. The Speech and Hearing Clinic title was also changed during this year to
Center for Learning and Communication Disorders .
Students from both programs participate in diagnos-

Affiliation has been established for a number of
years with the Selinsgrove State School and Hos-

12

tic and remedial work with clients who are mainly
school children referred by physicians, school
nurses, teachers, and parents.
A Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation program
was conducted during the summer months for approximately twenty boarding students during several
summers. Most of the clients in these programs had
handicaps which consisted mainly of problems in
hearing articulation or stuttering. This program provided practicum experience for students in Speech
Correction.
Future plans include adding an area in the Teaching of the Deaf and an area of concentration in Exceptional Children for students majoring in the
Elementary Division. As of September 1, 1969, the
Department of Speech Correction will be known as
the Department of Communication Disorders.

Graduate Education
In April 1954 a Graduate Study Committee, consisting of senior members of the faculty, was appointed by President Andruss to conduct a survey to
determine the interest in and need for a graduate
program at Bloomsburg. The committee conducted a
postal card survey, and a questionaire (designed by
the Department of Public Instruction for use by all
state colleges) was mailed in December 1954 to (1)
Bloomsburg State College graduates from 19411954, (2) teachers in Columbia, Montour, Luzerne,
and Northumberland Counties, and (3) business
teachers in the eastern half of the state, excluding
Philadelphia. Out of 5,247 cards mailed, 1,058 were
returned. A second survey was made in September
1959, covering Bloomsburg graduates from 19551961. This resulted in a return of 1,420 of 5,770
mailed.

!

I

IIIL.l-•--A~.:l.;.J.",~" - - ~

lal)Jr..J

Haas Auditorium - 1968
Exterior and Ceiling Detail

program of studies that would lead to a Master of
Education degree, with majors in Elementary Education and Business Education, was approved. Graduate programs in these two fields were started in
June of 1961.

These almost 2,500 replies indicated positive
interest, enough so that as a result the College made
an application to offer graduate study on October
16, 1959. In February 1960, at the request of the
State Council of Education of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools made an evaluation
at Bloomsburg State College with the purpose of
evaluating the readiness of Bloomsburg State College to undertake graduate programs. As a result,
on April 20, 1960, the application to the State
Council for authorization to inaugurate a graduate

During the fall of 1961 the College applied for
authorization to initiate graduate programs leading
to the Master of Education degree with majors in
Special Education for the Mentally Retarded and in
Speech Correction. This authorization was granted
on January 31, 1962, and graduate course offerings
in these fields of emphasis were first offered during
that summer. In March of 1962, application for
approval of programs in English and Social Studies
(including Geography) was submitted to the Pennsylvania State Council of Education and a visitation

13

certification stimulated the organization of extension
classes for in-service teachers in September, 1921.
The classes met in late afternoons, evenings, and on
Saturday mornings. During the first year, twentyfive classes were organized for approximately seven
hundred teachers and were held at Hazleton, Freeland, McAdoo, Williamsport, Plains, Edwardsville,
Danville, Bloomsburg, and other public school centers in the service area.

by the Department of Public Instruction was made
to the Bloomsburg campus to evaluate the institution
for the purpose of recommending approval of the
expansion of the existing graduate programs to include Master's degree curriculums in English and
Social Studies. These programs were approved in
the Spring of 1964, with the English program beginning in January 1964 and the Social Studies
program beginning in June 1964. The English and
Social Studies programs were again evaluated in
February 1965 when the Middle States Association
and the Department of Public Instruction visited the
college.

In the course of the next few years, extension
work flourished, and in some instances was even
used by county superintendents as a substitute for
the required institute. It was limited to holders of
standard certificates or old normal diplomas. These
assignments created problems in teaching load and
salaries for members of the Normal School Facu lty.
Other hard to control abuses crept into the prog ra m
and brought about the end of extension work du ring
the late years of the Bloomsburg State Normal
Schoo l.

On April 5-7, 1965, a Department of Public
Instruction team again visited the college to evaluate
the programs in Special Education (Mentally Retarded), Elementary Education, Business Education,
and Special Education (Speech Correction). At this
time the application to offer a Master of Education
degree in Biology was considered. (The original application for the Biology program was submitted to
the Department of Public Instruction in January
1965.) This program was approved on August 17,
1965.

War time conditions, as well as the fact that
45% of the public school teachers in Pennsylvania
had less than four years of training, in 1945 led the
college to open four extension centers: at Kingston,
Hazleton, Mt. Carmel, and Sunbury. These operated
with success for several years until the twelve-week
summer session, better transportation conditions a nd
College staff limitations led a large number of the
two-year teachers away from the extension centers
and to the campus.

The Foreign Language application (German,
French and Spanish) was approved on June 6, 1967,
as was the program in Speech and in the field of
History. An application to offer the Master of Education degree in Reading, leading to certification
for Reading Teachers and Reading Specialists, was
submitted to the Department of Public Instruction in
March 1968 and approved on August 23, 1968.

War-time Aviation Programs. The development
of educational programs for the armed forces during
World War II had its beginning in the fall of 1940
when an initial class of ten trainees, under the
Civilian Pilot Training project, began their training
at the Bloomsburg airport. After Pearl Harbor the
program accelerated, and over a hundred civilian
college students were given preliminary military
flight training. Some of the nation's first combat
flyers were men trained at Bloomsburg.

Since the enrollees in all these programs are
principally teachers-in-service, registrants in the Summer Sessions are far greater than during the regular
college year. It is interesting to note, however, that
the 1968 summe r sessions enrolled 854 students
while the 1961 summer term enrolled an even 100.
During the last college year (regular semesters) 471
students took graduate courses as compared to 35
during the college year 1961-62. This comparison,
coupled with the addition of graduate assistants to
the program, presents prospects of growth and
change which have implications for the college's
entire program in teacher education.

From 1942 to 1945 Bloomsburg provided flight
instruction for thirty Army Service Pilots and four
hundred Navy Cadets in the V-5 Program. In 1942
the Navy asked the college to concentrate exclusively on a Navy training program; so the Army Air
Force program was discontinued. In 1943 the Navy
selected Bloomsburg, along with only four other
colleges in the United States, to conduct a special-

Special Programs In Teacher Education
Extension Centers. A new state salary schedule
for teachers and more demanding requirements for

14

Trimesfer Pion. As a result of the draft and the consequent increasing need for teachers in the public
schools, a trimester plan was instituted in September
1943. The college year was divided into three sixteen-week sessions so that teacher education students
could finish their degrees and qualify for certification in three calendar years instead of the usual four.
With demobilization under way in 1945, the College
returned to the two semester plan in the fall of that
year. However, by taking advantage of the summer
sessions, many students even now accelerate and
earn their degree in three years.
Dental Hygienists and Public School Nurses. By
the late forties and early fifties, legislation and the
consequent demand for certified dental hygienists
and public school nurses had begun to be felt . So
in 1951 Bloomsburg inaugurated programs leading
to certification in these two areas. At first dental
hygienists were required to earn 64 semester hours
of credit in general and professional education beyond completion of the two-year technical program
completed in a school of dental hygiene . In 1964
the requirements were raised to 70 semester hours.
At the beginning of the certification program for
public school nurses the requirements in general and
professional education consisted of 45 semester hours
beyond the three-year preparation for the earning
of the R. N. By 1963 this was raised to 60 hours in
order to prepare these applicants more completely
for work in the public schools. Although the present
demand for these programs is not high, they continue to be offered, and each commencement finds
a few graduates in these areas.

Dr. Harvey A. Andruss, President 1939-1969

Annual Education Conference . As part of the
College's contribution to the continuing education of
teachers, it held in 1947 its first " Teachers' Day. "
At first this activity consisted of the presentation of
demonstration lessons by college faculty in the various subject areas and grade levels, using Training
School children for the elementary classes and pupils
from Bloomsburg Junior-Senior High School for
secondary classes. These demonstrations of latest
methods and approaches to instruction were accompanied by displays of textbooks, instructional materials, and equipment.

ized training program for Navy flight instructors .
This program, concluded in 1944, resulted in the
training of 250 Naval flight instructors.
The college also trained five hundred Navy V-12
officer candidates in a program which could, and
later did for many, lead to a Bachelor's Degree.
Bloomsburg was one of only 140 colleges, selected
fom the 1700 institutions of higher educdtion in the
nation, to participate in the V-12 program.
To meet -these exigencies of war faculty members
at Bloomsburg adapted their talents. An art teacher
taught aircraft recognition; a geography professor
became a meteorology instructor; and a history
professor taught civil air regulations.

As the school districts and their teachers became
better informed and better equipped, the format of
the conference gradually changed and now includes

15

the presentation of nationally known innovators in
the various curricular divisions, bringing both college
faculty and teachers-in-service, along with their administrators, up to date on actual activities going on
in pilot schools. The presentation of this service has
been uninterrupted for twenty-two years, and plans
are currently underway for the twenty-third "Annual
Education Conference," as it is now called.

Not only was the program for business teachers
inaugurated and it and all other areas consistently
strengthened during these years, but the special
challenge of World War II was met and the survival
of the college assured. With only a handful of
women as a nucleus in teacher education, Andruss
assured the use of facilities and the maintenance of
faculty by obtaining instructional assignments from
the Navy in its V-5 and V-12 programs. Thus, the
plant and faculty were intact to service not only the
post-war flood of ex-G.l.'s, but even to instruct
several sections of Penn State freshmen . The years
that followed have shown this same foresight and
dedication fo the future of the college.

In Summary
In many ways the history of an institution and its
functions reflect the personalities and leadership of
the men at its head. With rare exception Bloomsburg
has enjoyed enlightened and progressive leadership
from the indomitable Henry Carver, who started the
Normal School movement, to the present President,
Harvey A. Andruss. Carver was followed by two
short-term Principals, Charles G. Barkley and John
Hewett, each of whom served a year. Hewett was
succeeded by T. L. Griswold, who served four somewhat controversial and stormy years.
In 1877, at a low point in the school's morale
and prestige, D. J. Waller, Jr. assumed the Principalship and lifted the facilities and the curriculum to a
new and more progressive plane. Waller served
until his appointment in 1890 to the State Superintendency and returned in 1906 to serve through the ·
maturation of its teacher education programs and
its sale to the State, retiring in 1920. Judson Welsh,
a Bloomsburg graduate, succeeded Waller in 1890
and served until Waller' s return in 1906, his tenure
marked particularly by the addition of several buildings to the campus.

In the century past, Bloomsburg has progressed
in the education of teachers from the equivalent of
high school level work to the extension of preparation time beyond high school to first one year, then
two, three, and finally to a four-year course leading
to the Bachelors Degree. From training elementary
teachers only, the program progressed to the education of special education teachers, speech correctionists, teachers of business subjects, as well as
those of practically all the academic areas of the
junior and senior high school programs of studies.
In fact, the enrollment in Masters Degree programs
alone in the various areas of teacher education now
exceeds the tota I student body of the institution in
some years past.

Waller was succeeded in turn by Charles H.
Fisher (1920-1923), G . C. L. Riemer (1923-1927) ,
and Francis B. Haas (1927-1939), the latter leaving
the Presidency to become Superintendent of Public
Instruction. Haas holds the distinction of being the
last Principal of Bloomsburg and the first President
of the College .

From meager instruction in high school subjects
and a token exposure to methods, the College's
curriculum has evolved to the point where almost
half of its program is in general education of high
quality liberal arts character, a little less than onefourth devoted to professional education- carefully planned and culminated by a semester of fulltime student teaching in one of over a hundred
schools-and the rest, some 42 more credits, devoted
to a major in the students' chosen field of specialization, whether in Elementary Education, Business Education, Secondary Education, or Special Education.

During the Haas tenure, in 1930, Harvey A.
Andruss joined the administrative staff to organize
the Division of Business Education. From this position
he became Dean of Instruction, and later, in 1939,
President of the College . Under his administration,
the longest presidential tenure in the college's history, the most and major changes have taken place.

If the changes of the past can serve as indicators
of things to come, and if the ferment of change al l
around us in the world has meaning for education,
the outlook at the beginning of the second century
of teacher education at Bloomsburg looms even more
exciting, challenging, and rewarding than the hundred years which have passed.

16

ONE HUNDRED THIRTY YEARS OF SERVICE
TO THE COMMONWEAL TH OF PENNSYLVANIA
l 839 -

Academy

1856 -

Literary Institute

1869- State Normal School
1927 -

State Teachers College

1960 -

State College