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Shippensburg University Old Main

Introduction

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Before beginning the History Walking Tour of the original part of our campus, it is necessary to understand how it came to be. In the early 1800s, a movement swept Pennsylvania championing the idea that all Pennsylvanian children should be able to receive a free education. Public schools began popping up around the state, and then in 1857, the legislature passed the Normal School Act. The Normal School Act was designed to train teachers for all those new public schools. They were called “normal” schools because many people teaching in those new schools had no previous training — and the goal was to introduce teachers to the acceptable “norms” that they should follow. Fun Fact: Originally, the university was named the Cumberland Valley State Normal School. This name lasted from 1870 to 1927.

Images

Early photograph showing the first three buildings on our campus, Old Main, Horton Hall, and Stewart Hall.

Early photograph showing the first three buildings on our campus, Old Main, Horton Hall, and Stewart Hall.

Interior view of the Chapel.

Interior view of the Chapel.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The trustees had hired architect Samuel Sloan of Philadelphia to design the building. Ground was broken for the school in August 1870. And then on May 31, 1871, the town celebrated by beginning construction of this building here in front of us. A parade, led by the Shippensburg Masonic Lodge, marched the 1,000 pound, Pennsylvania marble cornerstone from King Street up the hill to its current location (the front, right hand corner of Old Main).  

Fun Fact: The cornerstone contained a time capsule that was opened during the school's 100th anniversary. It contained a charter of the school, newspapers, a bible, coins, programs from the cornerstone laying, a list of trustees, and a copy of the Masonic Register of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. 

It would be two more years before the building was completed. The building was state-of-the-art, with indoor plumbing, steam heat, and a gas lighting system. 

In the spring of 1873 the faculty were hired, and first class of students recruited. The school opened on April 15, 1873, and the first class of 217—93 women, 124 men, began taking classes. The first students would graduate from the two-year program in 1875.

If you can imagine, this one building was was the entire campus for the first several years. The top two floors were the dorms, with the men living on the east and women living on the west side. The students were forbidden from going in the other gender's wing. Along with the students, the top two floors also held the apartments for the school principal and teachers. The bottom floors held the dining area, classrooms, and the chapel.

Additionally, because this was a school to train teachers, the school as equipped with a Model School—the first of four model schools or lab schools that would be on our campus. The original lab school was located where the Registrar's Office is today. Our current lab school is the Grace B. Luhrs Elementary School.

Also located in Old Main, is the Chapel. This was a central meeting space where all of the members of the Cumberland Valley Normal School could meet, a space for plays, programs, and speakers, but it also was meant as a religious space where all students were required to attend daily worship services led by the President. Students had assigned seats, and if they did not attend, they would be marked absent.  The chapel was strictly segregated by gender—with men sitting on one side, and women on the other.

In fact, life was highly regimented for the students well into the 1960s. Women commonly wore dresses and men wore suits and ties to class. Formal dress was also required in the dining hall, and your food was brought to you at the table by students serving as waiters and waitresses. All lights were turned off at 10 PM, and students could only visit town on Saturday nights with permission. Curfew was strictly set at 10 PM for those outings.

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