The "A Great Educator" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Cleaning the shelves of my office when I came across a few Lancaster County Historical Society Journals that I had purchased a few years ago at a book sale held at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Two of the three Journals had stories about renowned educator James Pyle Wickersham who has a building named after him at Millersville University where I matriculated over 50 years ago.  Wickersham Hall was built in 1938 and was the principal classroom building for a number of years.  I can remember at least four courses that I had in the building during my years at what at the time was called Millersville State Teachers College.  

James Pyle Wickersham

Never thought much about the name of the building until I read about Mr. Wickersham in the Journals.  His story is amazing to say the least.  He was born into a Quaker farm family on March 5, 1825 in nearby Chester County.  During his childhood he loved school and at the age of 12 left home to seek a life in education.  At first he wanted to study law, but his Quaker grandfather disapproved of that so he decided to become a teacher.  He began his studies at Unionville Academy.  His entire  education consisted of classes in mathematics, natural science, history, English, Latin and French.  At the age of 17 he became an instructor at a rural common school in Chester County.  At the age of 20 he was asked to be the principal of the newly organized Marietta Academy.  For nine years he was both an administrator and teacher at the Academy.  In 1853 he helped to organize a group that became the Pennsylvania State Teachers Association.  Then, in 1854, at the age of 29, he was asked to be the first Lancaster County Superintendent of Schools.  The following year he was asked to hold a summer school for teachers to improve educators' proficiency.  Those teachers realized that they were deficient in many areas and asked if there were a school in Pennsylvania where they might enroll for professional studies.  

A very early painting of Millersville Normal School.

Thus, it was decided that Wickersham should establish a Normal Institute.  The board of trustees at the Millersville Academy proposed that Wickersham could use their school building in the summer months free of charge.  The results were so good that Wickersham and others asked for a permanent institution.  The trustees at Millersville Academy offered their school and Lancaster County Normal School opened in 1855.  The following year Wickersham resigned his position as Lancaster County Superintendent and became principal of the new Normal School.  Not only was he an administrator at the school, but taught science and the art of teaching.  

A postcard showing the oldest teacher-training school in the
state of Pennsylvania. It opened in 1854 at Millersville Academy
and eventually was made the first State Normal School in 1859.
It became a State Teachers College in 1927.  It now is a University.

The Governor of Pennsylvania eventually asked him to become Superin- tendent of Common Schools. It was under Wickersham that graded schools were developed as well as making larger school districts with each having a Superintendent.  He also set higher standards for those who taught in those schools.  For fourteen years he worked on perfecting the educational system of Pennsylvania's schools.  James Pyle Wickersham went from a young farm boy to one of the most influential educators in the United States.  He died on March 25, 1891.  I was lucky enough to be able to attend one of those Normal Schools and sit in classes in a building named after J.P. Wichersham.  Perhaps even in a classroom in which he at one time taught.  What an honor!  I only hope it made me a better person and teacher so I too could educate the children of Pennsylvania.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.