Mankato State Normal School Fun Facts

• George M. Gage was 34 when he was hired as principal.

• The average age of enrollment in 1870 was 19½.

• Common classes taken in 1870 included: arithmetic, geography, grammar, penmanship, and music.

• 'High School' subjects offered included:

botany, physiology, geometry, algebra, English language, natural philosophy (physics), U.S. government, chemistry, and geology.

• Mankato's normal school was founded by Daniel Buck, who lived in both South Bend and Mankato, MN.

• Students were usually between the ages of 17 and 19, with an occasional 15 year old, and very rarely, down to age 12 and up to the 30s.

• Regular teachers went through 2 years, and administrators went through 3 years.

• The word 'Normal' used here is from the Latin norma, meaning 'rule'.