At their Matown meeting they authorized the borrowing of $12,000 to cover the cost of construction of the model school for the normal school. The Machias townspeople again offered tangible support to the dream of a normal school. Curtis took matters in hand personally, and at his own expense, started the foundation of the building on the land allotted for it. Following the legislative action, there was a long period of inactivity.Īt last a feeling grew that the matter would be allowed to lie until the legality of the vote had expired. 4īut there was no progress on the construction of the normal school.
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At a July 30, 1909, special town meeting, the townspeople approved the purchase of the O’Brien land and authorized the borrowing of $4,000 to meet the sale price. The town had offered to purchase and donate to the state twelve acres of land on which to erect the normal school, and the Trustees of the State Normal School accepted the land offer. Curtis, February 26, 1909, that the bill had passed and Machias was to have the Normal School. 2Īnd the Union-Republican continues the narrative: The presentation of the case was one of the most complex ever made before a committee of the Legislature. The hearing was largely attended, not only by citizens of Machias, but by interested persons from all over the county. Effie Talbot’s manuscript, “Early History of WSNS” substantiates the early support for the school:Īll citizens were invited to attend a hearing at the State House, Tuesday, Februand to use their influence to get the cased (sic) before the Educational Committee…. Talbot presented a resolution asking the county senators and representatives to use all honorable means in their power to induce favorable action toward thepassage of the Normal School Act. A special town meeting was planned for an early date.Īt that meeting (January 27, 1909), Edward E. At this meeting in the selectmen’s office, William C. Leading citizens in Machias met January 20, 1909, which was early in the session of Legislature, to consider possibilities for getting a normal school here. Payson Smith, the State Superintendent of Common Schools, was strongly in favor of a normal school for Washington County and the logical location was in Machias, but others prominent in the school department were not in approval. Such a start is common with most worthwhile projects. The opening of the normal school on the hill followed much controversy and discussion. Payson Smith, the State Superintendent of Common Schools, and the citizens of Machias worked untiringly to realize their dream of such a school in Machias. Other areas, particularly Skowhegan, were rivals for the new normal school. The concept of a state normal school to be located in Machias met with controversy. Its history is a record of a committed people: faculty, administrators, students, citizens of Machias, of Washington County, of the State of Maine and other supporters, whose compelling sense of purpose and direction have enriched the lives of citizens of eastern Maine and far beyond. The University of Maine at Machias, the easternmost college in the United States, had its beginnings as Washington State Normal School.
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SUBJECT: HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT MACHIAS SECTION I Section I – History of the University of Maine at Machias