M EM B ERS OF T H E COM M ISSION .

$ . CHARLES LINTH ICUM ,Chairman.

$OHN s. B I D D I SO N .

CARVILLE D . BENSON .

$ . M ITCHELL D IGGES .

T H E GOVERNOR.

T H E STAT E COMPTROLLER;T H E STATE TREASURER.

THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF

EDUCATION .

THE PRINCIPAL OF THE MARYLANDSTATE NORMAL SCHOOL .

B . K . PURDUM , Secretary,Annapolis, Md.

INTRODUCTION .

The Maryland - State Normal School Building Commissionwas created by an Act of the General Assembly of 1 9 1 0 , andcharged with the duty of investigating the need for improvednormal school facilities, the recommending of a site , and thepreparing of tentative plans for buildings .

The Commission has collected considerable informationconcerning the present conditions and needs which is herewith set forth . I t has inspected a large number of sites .

Descriptions of those sites which seem available are included .

Tentative plans for grounds and buildings have been prepared , without charge to the Commission , by Mr . Theodore$ ells Pietsch , Architect , and it is believed that with slightmodification , they will be adequate .

The material included in this report is submitted under thefollowing headings

I . The Present Conditionand . Needs .

II . Descriptions of Sites .

I II . Tentative Plans for Buildings and Grounds .

I V . Relation of Inst i tution to Baltimore City .

I . TH E PRESENT COND ITION AN D NEED S .

The present demands of the modern public school makespec ial training . for the teacher as essential as for any otherprofession . $ e have many goo-d teachers. now in the work,who have not had the advantage of normal training, but theyhave invariably become effic ient after a number of years’ ex

perience in the classroom, at the expense of their pupils , whocan ill afford to lose their time .

Our investigation shows that the county superintendentsare encountering constantly increasing difficulties in securingcompetent teachers . Fully 350 new teachers are needed eachyear in the State to fill positions caused by increase in enrollment and to take the place

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of those who , for various reasons,leave thework, while Our normal schools supply less than 1 00

teachers annually. This means that more than 2 50 untrainedteachers go into our schools each year . Much valuable timeof the pupils under their charge is lost and the whole systemis affected adversely . This should not be .

The Commission observes that about 80 per cent . of ourteachers are women . This means that the Normal School i sprimarily a girls’ school . The State appropriates many thousands Of dollars annually to institutions engaged in the education of young men who make valuable returns to the State ,but usually in an indirect way . The Normal School graduatesinvariably engage immediately in the State’s own work andseem, for that reason, to have the first claim on the State forits help . Proper recognition of the work of the Normal Schoolaffords the State an opportunity to treat its young women aswell as it has been treating its young men .

TABLE Showing TOtal Number of T eachers in Each County, the

Percentage of Normal School Graduates N ow Employed, the UsualNumber of N ew Teachers Needed Annually, and the N umber of

Normal Graduates From Each County in Class of 1 9 1 1.

Count ies

A llegany .

Anne Arundel

Baltimore

Calvert

Caroline

Carroll

Cecil

Charles

Dorchester

Frederic$

Garrett

Harford

Howard

Kent

Montgomery

Prince $George’s

$ ueen Anne’s

S t. Mary’s

Somerset

Talbot .

Washington

Wicomico

Worcester .

Totals

T H E REASONS FOR BET T E R AN D MORE E$ TENSIVE NORMAL SCHOOL E$ U IPMENT BRIEFLYSTATED

I . The demands of a modern public school System makespecial training for teaching as necessary as for Law, Medicine or any other profession .

2 . More than 350 new teachers are needed each year in theState while our Normal Schools which are at present overcrowded are not able to furnish more than 80 teachers an

nually.

3 . The present building which was built about forty yearsago is in bad condition , and has been pronounced unsafe bythe Building Inspector of Baltimore .

It has no system of ventilation .

The construction is not fireproof .The corridors are narrow and dark .

The classrooms are too small, insufficient in number, andpoorly lighted .

The stairways are too narrow for safety .

There is no vacant ground for recreation .

The location is at the corner of two noisy thoroughfares .

4 . The curriculum should be enlarged by the introductionof a dditional courses . This is impossible in the presentquarters .

5 . There is only one small laboratory for the teaching of allof the different branches of science and no room properlylighted for artwork .

6 . The absence of dormitories forces the girls into boardinghouses where distracting in$ uences prevent the formation ofstudious habits, where they lose the advice of teachers as toconduct and associates, where food is poor and rooms uncomfortable, where

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they are liable to be sub$ected at any time todangerous in$ uences .

7 . Negroes have been rapidly moving into the vicinity andare now within one block of the school . This lowers the classof boarding houses .

8 . The institution is owned and controlled by the State .

Its work is the State’s work and should be well done .

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II . D ESCRIPTIONS OF SITES .

Before the inspection of S ites was begun, the Commissiondecided that no property would be considered that containedless than forty acres, ; that was not on some important thoroughfare , or was not with in easy reach of one or more largepublic school, or near enough to sufficient population to makeit possible to establish a practice school in connection withthe institution .

The Commission inspected more than 50 sites , many ofwhich were not in any sense suitable for the purpose desired .

There are included , herewith, definite descriptions of 1 5 properties that seem in a greater or less degree to meet the re

quirements decided upon .

LIST OF SITES

PARK HEIGHTS AN D SLADE AVENUE PROPERTY .

This property contains approximately 50 acres and issituated at the corner of Park Heightsand Slade Avenues,extending through to the Reisterstown Road . I t - is highest in center, sloping gently in four directions . There isa large grove of forest trees on the Slade Avenue front

,it

is on electric line and . near $ estern Maryland Railroad .

Elevation , 500 feet . N O improvements . Price,

CHEW PROPERTY, TOWSON .

Contains 4 2 5 acres , lying northeast of Towson, twosquares from electric line, and five squares from Marylandand Pennsylvania Railroad , several fine building s ites

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well watered and fertile, no improvements that could beutili$ ed , elevation , 400 feet . Price , $2 00 per acre , in sections of 45 acres, $300 per acre .

3 . ALBERT PROPERTY , CATONSVILLE .

Contains 43 acres , situated,

on Bloomsbury Avenue,

near high school , 1 9 - room house , in good repair, fine shadetrees a nd shrubbery, near electric line , steam road at rear,elevation, 450 feet . Price ,

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4 . KERBY PROPERTY, CATONSVILLE.

Contains 40 acres, situated on west side FrederickRoad

,2 8 - room house, in good repair, fine shade trees, on

electric line, . elevation, 400 feet . Price ,

5 . ALLEN PROPERTY, TOWSON .

Contains 50 acres, situated on west S ide Y ork Roadlarge house, in good repair, on electric line , Maryland andPennsylvania Railroad at rear, fine Shade trees , elevation,450 feet . Price

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6. OFFUTT PROPERTY , TOWSON .

Contains 40 acres, situated on Chesapeake Avenue, nearelectric line , Maryland and P ennsylvania Railroad andTowson H igh Schoo-l

, good house , shade and shrubbery,elevation, 465 feet . Price not quoted, unless seriouslyconsidered .

7 . MENLO PARK PROPERTY ,PARK HEIGHTS AND GLENN

AVENUES .

Contains acres , situated on east side Park HeightsAvenue , three new modern cottages , two of which couldbe utili$ ed, on electric line . elevation, 450 feet . Price ,

TALBOTT PROPERTY, LUTH E RYI L LE .

Contains 1 2 5 acres, situated on Northern Central Railroad, near term inus of Lutherville electric line , affordsseveral good building sites, in high state of cultivation,well watered and drained , shade and forest trees, orchardsand shrubbery . No improvements that could be utili$ ed ,elevation, 360 feet . Price,

B AUE RN SCH M I D T PROPERTY , HAMILTON .

Contains 68 acres, situated on west side Harford Road ,on electric line , extends back to Glenmore Avenue , grovesof forest trees, lawns , shrubbery and orchards , largemansion, barn and tenant house , all in good condition ,elevation, 350 feet . Price ,

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1 0. HARKER PROPERTY,HAMILTON .

Contains 88 acres, S ituated on east side Harford Road,on electric line, mostly woodland , no improvements thatcould be utili$ ed . Price ,

1 1 . MAHON PROPERTY,PIKESVILLE.

Contains 55 acres, situated on Seven - Mile Lane,near

Park Heights Avenue , near electric line , dwelling in goodrepair, fine shade , shrubbery and orchards, elevation, 475feet . Price

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1 2 . BOULEVARD PROPERTY, , M T . WASH INGTON .

Contains 40 acres, situated on proposed new boulevard,near electric line, shrubbery, orchards , no improvementsthat could be utili$ ed . Price ,

$ SH I PLE Y PROPERTY , SH IPLEY .

Contains 1 00 acres, situated on Annapolis Road , nearShort Line and $ ashington, Baltimore and AnnapolisRailroad , well watered and drained , orchards , lawn andshrubbery, affords several good building sites, I 2 - roomdwelling, in good repair, elevation, 1 00 feet . Price

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1 4 . THE MAPLES,CHARLES STREET AVENUE.

Contains 35 acres, fronting feet on Charles StreetAvenue and 2 75 feet on B e-llona Avenue, 1 5

- room house,in good condition , shade, lawns, shrubbery, fertile soil ,well drained , three - quarters of a mile from electric line ,one - half mile from Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad,elevation, 430 feet . Price ,

1 5 .

$ O’DONNELL PROPERTY , LAKESIDE.

Contains 40 acres , situated near terminus electric lineand near Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad, one - halfunder cultivation , one - half covered with forest trees,lawns and shrubbery, 2 o- room stone house and other outbuildings

,all in good repair, elevation, 300 feet . Price ,

The accompanying map shows the location of all propertiesabove described .

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III . TENTATIVE PLANS FOR BUILD INGS

A N D GROUND S .

GENERAL PLAN .

The principal buildings constituing the Central Group formthree sides of an open square or Campus . The Princ ipal’sand Professors’ houses are attached to the main buildings insuch a way that communication with all the buildings maybe made under cover. The Power House and Men’s Dormitory $ ank the A thletiC '

Field and are isolated buildings , atsome distance from the Central Group . The Central Groupis composed of the School proper, to the right and left ofwhich are the Assembly Hall and Gymnasium . The young$ omen’s Dormitories are placed in convenient proximity,and connected by porticos . The Professors’ and Principal’sHouses likew i se connected, afford fac ilities for supervision,and at the same time are independent homes . The Buildingsare all located and designed to receive the maximum amountof sunlight and air.

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The Campus faces the South, giving theEast or $ est sun in all bed rooms . The School proper hasthe administrative offices and princ ipal class rooms facing theSouth . The Laboratories and Lecture Halls on the Northernside of the Building ensure a steady and diffused light , whichis the most desirable for the uses for which this section of theBuilding

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is planned .

THE SCHOOL BUILDING.

The School Building proper is placed on the axis of theCampus fac ing South . It con tains the Administrative Offices, Class Rooms , Laboratories, Lecture Halls, space .

forManual Training and Cooking School , Library, Teachers

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Rooms,Store Rooms, and necessary Toi let accommodations .

T H E ASSEMBLY HALL AN D GYMN AS IUM BUILD ING.

The Assembly Hall with a seating capac ity of Twelve toFifteen Hundred has a spacious Banquet Room in Basement $while the Basement of the Gymnasium is reserved for a largeSwimming Pool

,with Dressing Rooms and Showers attached .

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THE DORMITORY GROUP

The Dormitories provide accommodation for two studentsin a room, and aggregate One Hundred students to eachbuilding . On the first floor are also located certain roomsfor Teachers and some Recreation rooms . Study rooms andToilets with Baths and Showers are provided on all $ oors .

MEN’S DORMITORY .

The Men’s Dormitory at the end of the Athletic Field is aBuilding complete in itself, w ith Recreation and Study rooms ,and Bed Rooms to accommodate twenty - five students .

THE POWER HOUSE.

This Building contains other than the Boiler, Engine Room,

Machine Shop , the Laundry and Stable . It also providesLodgings for the Superintendent in an upper story .

ARCH ITECTURE .

The Architecture of the Buildings , .while suitable and becoming in dignity a work of public character, has been considered with due regard to economy in the selection of ma

terials and design . The Colonial type adapted to modern conditions is expressed , and the structures are of Bri ck with stonetrimmings and Slate Roof . The general effect of the BuildingGroup is characteristic and pleasing in the landscape , and thiswill be further enhanced by the approaches , roads, gardening,etc . The photographs of the drawings attached Show thescheme in plan , and perspective , and give an approximate ideaof the form and silhouette of the divers structures .

AREA .

The Area covered by the'

Central Group of Buildings , andaccessories

,including Approaches , Campus, Athletic Field and

Stadium,with grounds immediately ad$oining, is approxi

mately Twenty Acres .

COST .

The architectural scheme is of such a type that the Buildings may be erected to meet the requirements . If suffi cientfunds are not available for the entire pro$ect in the beginning,certain Buildings might be dispensed w ith temporarily, andprovis ion made to a certain extent for accommodation in theBasement of the structures to be erected .

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I V . RELATION OF TH E STATE NORMAL

SCH OOL TO BALTIM ORE CITY .

At present Baltimore City is maintaining a separate schoolfor the training. of her teachers. $ hile contributing her sharetoward the support of the State Normal School , she has re

ceived, in recent years, very little in return .

A Committee appo inted by the Baltimore City SchoolBoard, has conferred with this Commission concerning the advisability of providing for the training of the Baltimore Cityteachers as well as for the county teachers in the State NormalSchool . After this conference, the Commission came to theconclusion that while there are some difficulties in the way

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they are not insurmountable, and that a plan can be workedout, making this entirely practicable.

RECOMMENDATIONS .

The Commissionrecommends a bond issue of tocover cost

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of site and buildings . It is estimated that a site ofproper si$ e , well located , with the necessary buildings including dormitories for at least 300 students, will cost thatamount.

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