Graduates of the Brockport State Normal School

1868-1900

Brockport State Normal School campus in 1899.

Long before the State University of New York College at Brockport existed there was the Brockport Collegiate Institute. In 1866 the Collegiate Institute was incorporated into the Brockport State Normal School. The Brockport State Normal School trained men and women to be teachers and offered college preparatory courses through the Academic Department of the Collegiate Institute. The courses of study offered to students of the Normal School were Elementary English, Advanced English and Classical. The Elementary English course was the least rigorous and was completed in two years. It included courses in Arithmetic, Grammar, Analysis, Geography, Drawing, Algebra through Quadratics, Geometry, Elements of Chemistry, Physiology, Natural Philosophy, Rhetoric, Mental and Moral Philosophy, and Civil Government. Exercises in Impromptu Composition and Declamations of Select readings were also part of the program. The Advanced English program took three years to complete and required all of the courses for the Elementary English program plus additional Chemistry, Physiology, Natural Philosophy, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Surveying, Botany, Geology, and Astronomy. The Classical program required fours to complete and required all of the courses in Advanced English plus three years of Latin and two years of Greek or a modern language plus practice in the Training School. A Scientific program was added in 1889 which required two year courses in two languages and by 1893 the Elementary English program was discontinued.* Through the years the Brockport State Normal school expanded beyond one building as its enrollment and academic programs increased. In 1948 Governor Thomas Dewey created the State University of New York or SUNY system and Brockport became part of the SUNY system. To this day it continues to be an integral part of the Brockport community and to offer excellent academic programs.

This is the Brockport State Normal School library in 1899.

Graduates of the Brockport State Normal School 1868-1884

Graduates of the Brockport State Normal School 1885-1900

Name Index Normal School Graduates 1868-1900

*Wayne Dedman, Cherishing This Heritage (New York: Meredith Corporation, 1969), 97, 112.