UA95 Glasgow Normal School Records

Description: Records created by and regarding Glasgow Normal School. The collection consists mainly of publications, commencement programs and diplomas. There is also a typescript alumni list of undetermined origin.

Originally, this was an artificial collection made up of photocopies of records located in other locations in Special Collections. A reworking of the collection has resulted in links to the original materials located elsewhere in the collections. The collection is arranged in three series:

Series 1. Publications
Publications created by and about the Glasgow Normal School. The series includes the first catalog, a pamphlet and James Cornette’s history of the school.

Series 2. Clippings
This series consists of an advertisement clipped from the April 28, 1888 Louisville Courier-Journal.

Series 3. Commencement
Commencement programs for various years 1876, 1880 and 1884. These do not give a complete list of students. This series also contains a list of alumni and diplomas.

Dates: 1876-1890; 1938

Extent: 9 folders

Biographical/Historical Note: The Glasgow Normal School opened February 9, 1875 as the Glasgow Normal Institute under the ownership of Professor A. W. Mell (1855-1931). When first established it was chiefly a common school, but was chartered under a board of trustees on March 9, 1876 as the “Glasgow Normal School.”

Mell operated the school out of the former Urania College building in Glasgow, Kentucky. In 1882, J. Tom Williams became his partner and head of the business department. When over three hundred students enrolled in the fall of 1883, Mell and Williams sought community financial support to expand their facilities. Support was not forthcoming, however, and they decided to relocate to Bowling Green when citizens there subscribed $3,000 for the move.

Controversy raged through the summer of 1884 over Mell and Williams’ right to move the school. Ultimately, they took most of the faculty, students and equipment with them, leaving behind only the Glasgow school building and charter. They called their new school the “Southern Normal School and Business College.”

The Glasgow Normal School reopened in the fall of 1884 under its new head,
J. M. Stallworth. Ruric N. Roark succeeded him in 1885, and was in turn succeeded in 1889 by F. M. Malone. J. R. Alexander and H. McD. Fletcher took over in the summer of 1890, but left after one term to join Mell and Williams in Bowling Green, effectively signalling the end of the Glasgow Normal School.

Additional information regarding the Glasgow Normal School is available online.

Container List:

Box 1

Folders 1-3 1875-1838 Publications

Folder 4 1888 Ad clipped from the April 28, 1888 issue of the Louisville Courier-Journal

Folders 5-7 1876-1884 Commencement Programs

Folder 8 1876-1907 Alumni List - A typed list of alumni of unknown origin for the period 1876-1907. It may be that alumni listed after 1890 attended the Southern Normal School.

Oversize Box

Folder 1 1884-1886 Diplomas - Three diplomas issued by the Glasgow Normal School to:

L.W. Coakley, March 31, 1884
George DeVasher, July 10, 1885
George DeVasher, July 29, 1886

Subject:

Coakley, L.W.
Commencement ceremonies
Cornette, James
DeVasher, George
Diplomas
Glasgow Normal School

Accession Information:
These records were transferred to the University Archives upon its creation.

Access Restrictions:
No restrictions

Preferred Citation:
UA95 Glasgow Normal School Collection, WKU Archives, Kentucky Library & Museum, Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA.

Processing Information:
Collection created by Lynn Niedermeier September 2007
Rearrangement and description by Suellyn Lathrop October 2008