![bridgewater state university my bsu bridgewater state university my bsu](https://www.bridgew.edu/sites/bridgew/files/styles/330x240/public/media/images/BSU-Family-Hub-sign-in-image-400x277.jpg)
The Normal Building and Tillinghast Hall were rebuilt and opened in June 1926, now renamed as Boyden Hall and Harrington Hall. The total State appropriation for the Normal School repairs and rebuilding of the training school was $606,566, in addition to $86,500 from the town. The training school was housed in a different building temporarily and later a new building was built for it exemplifying a well equipped elementary school, with a gym and playground. Tillinghast Hall was rebuilt and a new Woodward dorm built. The Normal School and boiler room were repaired immediately. The cause of the fire was not definitely established, but it is believed to have been either "rats or mice" gnawing in the heating ducts, or a spontaneous combustion. The fire was so large that other towns' fire departments had to be called to assist. The Normal School and the boiler room were saved. 1924 fire Īn early-morning fire on Wednesday December 10, 1924, destroyed three of the college's buildings, over half of the campus: Tillinghast Hall, the Training School, and old Woodward dormitories. It was the next step toward establishing educational institutions for specific purposes.īridgewater Normal School trained its students in elementary-school subjects expansion subjects above the elementary level including mathematics, philosophy, and literature and pedagogy, including philosophy of teaching and discipline based on child psychology, and as much practical experience under constant supervision as possible at the model school.
#BRIDGEWATER STATE UNIVERSITY MY BSU PROFESSIONAL#
Coiled up in this institution, as in a spring, there is a vigor whose uncoiling may wheel the spheres." This first normal school established a professional standard for the preparation of teachers, breaking away from traditional academics for attendance. It belongs to that class of events which may happen once, but are not capable of being repeated. It is the completion of the first normal schoolhouse ever erected in Massachusetts,-in the Union,-in this hemisphere. The building was dedicated on August 19, 1846, with Horace Mann saying on the occasion: "Among all the lights and shadows that ever crossed my path, this day’s radiance is the brightest.I consider this event as marking an era in the progress of education-which as we all know is the progress of civilization-on this western continent, and throughout the world. Since changes were made to the school, the board of education required people to attend three terms for fourteen consecutive weeks, establishing a year's course. There were small and large classrooms, with blackboards in each. This two-story wooden building, 64 feet by 42 feet, accommodating 84 students, was to be the institution's educational plant for almost half a century. In 1845, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts finally agreed to construct a building for Bridgewater State Normal School, the first building ever erected in America for the preparation of teachers. Students were not required to attend consecutively. The school year consisted of two 14-week terms.
![bridgewater state university my bsu bridgewater state university my bsu](https://www.bridgew.edu/sites/bridgew/files/styles/max_470x470/public/tour2_2.png)
Nicholas Tillinghast, the first principal (1840–53) was initially the only instructor. The first class consisted of 21 women and seven men.
![bridgewater state university my bsu bridgewater state university my bsu](https://www.bridgew.edu/sites/bridgew/files/styles/590x350/public/media/images/transfer-orientation-cta-1.jpg)
The normal school opened in the basement of the Old Bridgewater Town Hall, in a 40-foot by 50-foot space, divided into three rooms: an ante-room for students, an apparatus room, and a classroom. During its history, it has also been known as Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater Teachers College, Bridgewater State Teachers College, and State Teachers College at Bridgewater. It became a university and took on its present name in 2010. Since the 1960s, the school has also expanded its program to include liberal arts, business, and aviation science. Today Bridgewater, which is regarded as the "home of teacher education in America", has the largest enrollment of teacher education students in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As one of the first normal schools in the nation, its initial mission was to train school teachers. It opened on September 9, 1840, making it the oldest permanently-located institution of public higher education in Massachusetts.
![bridgewater state university my bsu bridgewater state university my bsu](https://mybsu-stg.bridgew.edu/sites/mybsu/files/styles/grid_categories_banners_desktops_x1_300_/public/categories_2020-12/financial_resources.jpg)
Bridgewater State University was founded by Horace Mann as a normal school named Bridgewater Normal School.