During the decades of the 1820's and 1830's, educators in this country studied the European schools where the principles of Johann H. Pestalozzi (1746-1827), Friedrick Froebel (1782-1852), and Emanuel Fellenberg (1771-1844) had been put into practice with favorable results. The Prussian normal schools established by Frederick the Great were some of the best in the world. American educators came back with glowing reports of the progress Europeans were making in this direction. By 1838, due to the efforts of James Carter (1795-1849) and Horace Mann (179 6-1859), and because of the generosity of a Boston merchant, the Massachusetts legislature was moved to fund a normal school project for a three-year period. The following year, on July 3, in the town of Lexington, the first state normal school in the United States was opened.
","abstract_html":"<p>During the decades of the 1820's and 1830's, educators in this country studied the European schools where the principles of Johann H. Pestalozzi (1746-1827), Friedrick Froebel (1782-1852), and Emanuel Fellenberg (1771-1844) had been put into practice with favorable results. The Prussian normal schools established by Frederick the Great were some of the best in the world. American educators came back with glowing reports of the progress Europeans were making in this direction. By 1838, due to the efforts of James Carter (1795-1849) and Horace Mann (179 6-1859), and because of the generosity of a Boston merchant, the Massachusetts legislature was moved to fund a normal school project for a three-year period. The following year, on July 3, in the town of Lexington, the first state normal school in the United States was opened.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ring, Harold E."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Education (MEd)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Thomas W. Walterman","Floyd Rodine","Arley L. Vancil"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1970,"date_issued":"1970-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1970-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:37:54Z","subjects":["education","state normal school","teachers","James Carter","Horace Mann","Lexington","Massachusetts","History","Teacher Education and Professional Development","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1483","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Thomas W. Walterman","Floyd Rodine","Arley L. Vancil"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ring, Harold E."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-03-09T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Education (MEd)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["education","state normal school","teachers","James Carter","Horace Mann","Lexington","Massachusetts","History","Teacher Education and Professional Development","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1483"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["During the decades of the 1820's and 1830's, educators in this country studied the European schools where the principles of Johann H. Pestalozzi (1746-1827), Friedrick Froebel (1782-1852), and Emanuel Fellenberg (1771-1844) had been put into practice with favorable results. The Prussian normal schools established by Frederick the Great were some of the best in the world. American educators came back with glowing reports of the progress Europeans were making in this direction. By 1838, due to the efforts of James Carter (1795-1849) and Horace Mann (179 6-1859), and because of the generosity of a Boston merchant, the Massachusetts legislature was moved to fund a normal school project for a three-year period. The following year, on July 3, in the town of Lexington, the first state normal school in the United States was opened.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A History of the Events Leading to the Establishment of the First State Normal School in America"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Thomas W. Walterman","Floyd Rodine","Arley L. Vancil"],"dc:creator":["Ring, Harold E."],"dc:date.available":["2021-03-09T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["During the decades of the 1820's and 1830's, educators in this country studied the European schools where the principles of Johann H. Pestalozzi (1746-1827), Friedrick Froebel (1782-1852), and Emanuel Fellenberg (1771-1844) had been put into practice with favorable results. The Prussian normal schools established by Frederick the Great were some of the best in the world. American educators came back with glowing reports of the progress Europeans were making in this direction. By 1838, due to the efforts of James Carter (1795-1849) and Horace Mann (179 6-1859), and because of the generosity of a Boston merchant, the Massachusetts legislature was moved to fund a normal school project for a three-year period. The following year, on July 3, in the town of Lexington, the first state normal school in the United States was opened.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1483"],"dc:subject":["education","state normal school","teachers","James Carter","Horace Mann","Lexington","Massachusetts","History","Teacher Education and Professional Development","United States History"],"dc:title":["A History of the Events Leading to the Establishment of the First State Normal School in America"],"dc:type":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Education (MEd)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:37:54Z"}