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TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection
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TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection
TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection
TFPL001 · Collection · ca. 1857 - 2024

Content Warning: The items in this collection may contain racist and harmful depictions of marginalized groups, sexist or misogynistic language, and xenophobic attitudes and opinions.

The collection consists of 10 boxes, one oversized folder and 4 rolled maps. The material is divided into 11 series as described below. The core of this collection provides information about the history of the Trenton Normal School from its founding in 1855, its move to Ewing and transition to New Jersey State Teachers College at Trenton (1937). It also provides some
information on its successor institutions from the 1930s to 2023. The collection also includes information about the Model School, especially highlighting achievements of the older students in publications including The Signal and records of the Thencanic Society, and scrapbooks kept by Grace Bromwell Fletcher, Class of 1907 and Emma R. Kerns Crofton, Class of 1916. There is also some information about alumni activities found in the form of event programs (1900s-1950s, 1980-1996) and the publication Accent and Alumni Review (1987-1996).

 New Jersey State Normal School (Trenton, N.J.)
Miscellaneous Correspondence
3 · Series · 1857-1994
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

This small series is arranged in chronological order and includes material from 1857, 1865, 1904,
1920 and 1986. The earliest letter is an 1857 invitation from the Normal School Principal to the
Judges of the Court of Errors and Appeals to examine programs of the institution. The most recent
is a 1986 letter of protest at early attempts to remove Trenton from the name of Trenton State
College.

 Hart, John S. (John Seely), 1810-1877
William H. Phelps, Normal School Principal to the Judges of the Court of Errors and Appeals, 1857
William H. Phelps, Normal School Principal to the Judges of the Court of Errors and Appeals, 1857
William H. Phelps, Normal School Principal to the Judges of the Court of Errors and Appeals, 1857 · Item · 06/18/1857
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

A letter by William H. Phelps, first Normal School Principal, to the Judges of the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, inviting them to examine programs of the institution. Phelps includes a list of events to occur. The letterhead features a printed image of the Normal School main building. This letter was a gift of Charles S. Aitkins, 1935.

Transcription:
[letterhead with lithograph of the Normal School building in Trenton, captioned “New Jersey State Normal School”]
Trenton, June 18th, 1857
To the Honorable the Judges of the Court of Errors and Appeals:
I am directed by the Board of Trustees of the State Normal School to extend to your Honorable Body a cordial invitation to attend the Examination of the Institution now in progress and to conclude this day.
The order of the day is as follows:
Examination of classes from the Model School until 12 o’clock noon.
Review and rehearsal by the Divisions in Local Music
An address by Prof. J. C. Moffat of the College of New Jersey [Princeton University], and select performances of the Glee Class, including the grand chorus from Handel’s Messiah.
Hoping that the engagements of your Honorable Body will permit you to accept this invitation.
I remain [great] respect
Your obedient Sevt.
Wm. Phelps, Principal

 Phelps, William F. (William Franklin), 1822-1907
Photographs and Other Published Materials Ephemera, and Artifacts
6 · Series · 1859 - ?
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

This series includes a handful of photographs and a variety of materials that do not fit in the other series. Of particular interest to the history of Normal schools in general is the work "American Normal Schools: Their Theory, their Workings, and their Results, as Embodied in the Proceedings of the First Annual Convention of the American Normal School Association, Held at Trenton, New Jersey August 19 and 20, 1859." There is also a small and charming collection of dance card/event programs, which were used by young women to schedule with whom they would dance during the evening. Often, as in this collection, the cards were part of a small, printed program of the event which could be worn on the wrist. Finally, this series includes a ca. 1930s Teacher’s College beanie that freshman class members were required to wear.

Note that the photographs that appear in the "Additional Photographs" folder make up a part of Trentoniana's photograph collection, and do not physically appear in this record group.
American Normal Schools: Their Theory, their Workings, and their Results, as Embodied in the Proceedings of the First Annual Convention of the American Normal School Association, Held at Trenton, New Jersey August 19 and 20, 1859. Published by A. S. Barnes & Burr: New York
Item · 1860
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

A digitized copy of this work is available through HathiTrust: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006582035
Model School - Other Financial Documents, Printed Materials, Ephemera, and Scrapbooks
10 · Series · 1862-1930
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

This series include tuition receipts for John McCormick (n.d., 1862) and George Hildebrecht (1902-1903); Commencement Programs (1878, 1880); the History of Class of 1904, compiled by Class President Kenneth H. Lanning (1930); Modellian (1915) [Model School yearbook]; and two scrapbooks kept by Grace Bromwell Fletcher, Class of 1907 and Emma R. Kerns Crofton, Class of 1916. These scrapbooks were pre-printed and titled The Girl Graduate: Her Own Book, providing places for photographs, event programs, class prophecies, class autographs and other ephemera.
Model School tuition receipts, ca. 1862 and 1902-1903
Model School tuition receipts, ca. 1862 and 1902-1903
Model School tuition receipts, ca. 1862 and 1902-1903 · Item · 1862; 1902-1903
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

This collection of four receipts for tuition, room, and board at the Model School gives insight into how much it cost to attend the de facto elite institution. The first two vouchers, made out to a John McCormick and from around 1862, show that the Normal School charged about $8.00 in tuition in its first decades. According to census statistics, an average New Jersey laborer spent about $2.50 per week on bread, so this was not an unsubstantial amount of money!

Forty years later, in 1902-1903, George Hildebrecht (owner of Trenton's Hotel Hildebrecht) paid $10.50 for per quarter for his son Albert. At this time, based on census statistics, this would have equaled about half a day's wages for the average Trenton industrial laborer.

No transcriptions, as the documents are largely typed.

 New Jersey State Normal School (Trenton, N.J.)