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A report on normal schools, including excerpts of correspondence that represent an argument for Normal schools, a report of the committee on business, and a petition to the legislature.

The handwritten diary of Mary Jane Sergeant (Larison) contains a series of journal entries from 1855-1856 describing her experiences and studies while attending the New Jersey State Normal School in Trenton, New Jersey. The diary encompasses the first term of the Normal School and provides a glimpse into the earliest days of its opening years, highlighting the variety of subjects studied including Latin, arithmetic, climatology and cartography and reflecting theory and practice in teachers' colleges in the mid-19th century. Some entries in the latter half of the diary appear out of chronological order. The diary makes mention of the laying of the cornerstone of the first permanent building at the Normal School, the first Principal Willian Phelps, as well as several instructional texts for teachers' education of the period.

Annual Reports Concerning the State Normal Schools to the New Jersey Legislature for the Year 1855 (publication date 1856).

Second Annual Report and Accompanying Documents of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey State Normal School, to the Legislature, for the Year Ending February Ninth, 1857.

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).

A printed version of the address delivered by William F. Phelps before the Dialectic and Franklin Societies of the New Jersey Normal School on January 15, 1857.

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

The second and third parts of the Second Annual Report of the Principal of the New Jersey State Normal School, for the year ending February 9, 1857, by William F. Phelps.

"Normal Schools: Their relations to the primary and higher institutions of learning, and to the welfare and progress of society, together with their future in the Untied States."

Third Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey State normal School, with Accompanying Documents, to the Legislature, for the year ending February 9th, 1858

Fourth Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey State Normal School, with Accompanying Documents, to the Legislature, for the Year Ending February 9th, 1859