Dates

• Majority of material found within 1909 - 2019

Extent

137 boxes Linear Feet (Indiana University of Pennsylvania has witnessed a history rich in accomplishment. IUP was founded in 1875 as Indiana State Normal School, a state-chartered, privately held institution, which was sold to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1920. ISNS became a four-year undergraduate college and was renamed Indiana State Teachers College in 1927. ISTC became Indiana State College in 1959, which achieved university status in 1965 as Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Since 1875, when it served only 225 students in a single building, it has experienced continuous growth, becoming Pennsylvania’s fifth largest university. The current enrollment is near 15,000 with students from thirty-six states and over fifty-five countries. The first building, named John Sutton Hall in honor of the first president of the Board of Trustees, was opened for students on May 17, 1875. In April 1920, control and ownership of the school passed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In May 1927, by authority of the General Assembly, the State Normal School became a college, with the right to grant degrees. The name was then changed to the State Teachers College at Indiana, Pennsylvania. In 1959, the Legislature approved a change of name to Indiana State College; in the 1960’s there followed a rapid growth in the liberal arts program. In December 1965, Indiana was redesigned Indiana University of Pennsylvania and given the authority to expand its curriculum and to grant degrees at the master’s level. At this time the first doctoral program was initiated. James E. Ament, was principal of Indiana State Normal School from 1907 to 1917. He was described as an “enthusiast, who loved the spectacular.” His contribution to the Normal School includes “beautifying the buildings,” the interiors as well as exteriors. Besides the addition of several annexes to John Sutton, he added a fountain, the “Greek steps,” along North walk and myriad flower beds. Ament had been the principal of Normal Schools in Missouri and Oklahoma prior to his Indiana State Normal School position. He left Indiana to become the head of the national Park Seminary in Washington, D.C. Dr. John A. H. Keith, who served as Principal of the Indiana State Normal School from 1917-1927, became Indiana State Teachers College’s 1st President, was noted for his idealism and professionalism. He helped to elevate standards in pursuit of collegiate status. Not only was there an improvement in course content but also there was an elevation of faculty quality as the first Indiana State Normal School professors with earned doctorates were hired. Keith enjoyed a national reputation, having taught at the North Illinois Normal School at Normal, Illinois and Columbia University Teachers’ College, and served for over a decade as principal of the State Normal School at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. On January 17, 1927, Keith left the Indiana State Normal School to assume new duties as state superintendent of public instruction. Charles R. Foster was the president of Indiana State Teachers College from 1927-1936. He guided the State Teachers Colleges’ first decade. He had served as the assistant superintendent of Pittsburgh’s Public Schools. He and the institution had to weather the impact of the Depression and its aftermath. Foster was unable to survive the partisan political struggle that reached from Harrisburg into the Indiana State Teachers College Board of Trustees. In 1937, Dr. Samuel Fausold, Governor Earle’s deputy state superintendent of public instruction, was inaugurated as Indiana State Teacher College’s 11th president. Fisher auditorium, with a seating capacity of 1,600, and the Keith Laboratory and the Demonstration School were completed during Fausold’s tenure. Ill health forced his resignation in 1939 after two years as President. Dr. Leroy A. King came to the Indiana State Teachers College from the University of Pennsylvania faculty. He was President from 1939-1942. He was instrumental in involving the faculty in more institutional decision making as he strove to upgrade the quality of Indiana’s education program. Accreditation by the Middle States Association legitimized the institutions’ collegiate status. Dr. Joseph M. Uhler was elevated from the faculty to be Indiana State Teachers Colleges’ 13th president following the untimely death of Dr. King, led Indiana through the years of college attrition caused by WWII. He was president from 1942-1947. For twenty years, Dr. Willis Pratt was president of Indiana State Teachers College (1948-1959), Indiana State College (1959-1965), and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1965-1968). He assumed the presidency of an institution already rich in its broad development and respected in its academic reputation. The college consisted of 1,415 full-time students 105 faculty, two academic divisions, Elementary Education and Secondary Education, separated into 13 departments’ housed in 34 buildings spread across a 40 acre campus. As president from 1948 to 1968, his tenure as president brought tremendous change to campus. By his retirement the school had undergone the transition from its State Teachers College status to Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Eight schools housed 34 departments, with 456 faculty, an enrollment of 6,995 and a graduate enrollment of 700. Pratt also developed the College Student Union Association, which became the independent name of Student Union Facilities, allowing greater opportunity for expansion than at other Pennsylvania state owned institutions. Dr. William W. Hassler became Indiana’s president during one of the most challenging times in the history of the school. He was president of IUP from 1969-1975. His tenure was beset by crises, most notably proposed tuition increases, inadequate funding, and prolonged contract negotiations as well as the Sutton Hall controversy, which focused on the construction of a new library and threatened the survival of the school’s original building. In 1975, the IUP campus was troubled by a statewide strike by the American Federation of State, County, and municipal Employees (AFSCME). That year, Dr. Robert C. Wilburn was appointed president, bringing with him a strong background in finance. He was President of IUP from 1975-1978. In 1976, IUP was listed in Kiplinger’s Changing Times as one of the “Good Colleges that Cost Less.” Following Dr. Wilburns’ acceptance of Governor Thornburg’s offer to join his administration as secretary of budget and administration. Indiana’s next president was Dr. John C. Worthen, who served from 1979-1984. During his tenure he continued to develop the thrust of educational opportunities by strengthening the school’s external exchange programs. Campus ambiance was improved with the opening of the University Museum and Gorell Recital Hall. In addition, improvements in the landscape of the campus addressed the decade of neglect caused by austere budgets. The Sutton Hall Project also neared finalization, and Stapleton Library was completed. In 1983, aspirations of the Worthen administration became evident in the major goals of a five-year plan which included increased faculty development and research opportunities, the improvement of University facilities, enhancement of the quality of student life, and strengthening both the graduate and undergraduate programs. To augment these goals, supplementary funding sources were developed, including the gas and oil gift program, solicitation of the gift of the recently vacated Robertshaw Industrial Plant, and the institution of Small Business Incubator, and the establishment of the Cogeneration Plant. Between the Wilburn and Welty administrations, the University’s presidency was filled by interim president Dr. Bernard Ganley. When Dr. Worthen resigned in the Spring of 1984, the following year, Dr. John D. Welty was chosen by the Board of Trustees to fill the vacancy. Shortly thereafter, the successful conclusion of difficult APSCUF-SSHE contract negotiations further eased the atmosphere on campus. Other improvements contributed to the promise of a brighter future for IUP. The renovation of Waller Hall, the Eicher Building, and Breezedale not only created a state-of-the-art theater facility, a Learning Assistance Center, and an IUP Alumni Center respectively, but also created an aura of direction. Beginning in the mid-1980’s, the University begun to expand Westward, with campus boundaries extending greatly with the gift of the Robertshaw Plant and the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company building, and other acquired properties. Principals 1875-1876 Dr. Edmund B. Fairfield 1876-1878 David M. Sensenig 1878-1881 John H. French 1881-1888 Leonard H. Durling 1888-1891 Z. X. Snyder 1891-1893 Dr. Charles Deane 1893-1907 Dr. David Jewtt Waller 1907-1917 Dr. James E. Ament 1917-1927 Dr. John A. H. Keith Presidents 1927-1936 Dr. Charles R. Foster 1936-1939 Dr. Samuel Fausold (1888-1948) 1939-1942 Dr. Leroy A. King 1942-1947 Dr. Joseph M. Uhler 1947 Dr. Ralph E. Heiges, Acting President 1948-1968 Dr. Willis E. Pratt (1906-1992) 1962 Dr. John Davis, Acting President 1969-1975 Dr. William W. Hassler (1917-1997) 1975-1979 Dr. Robert C. Wilburn (1919-2007) 1979 Dr. Bernard J. Ganley (1921-1999) Interim 1979-1984 Dr. John Worthen 1984 Dr. John D. Welty, Interim President 1985-1991 Dr. John D. Welty 1991-1992 Dr. Charles Fuget 1992-2003 Dr. Lawrence Pettit 2003-2004 Dr. Derek J. Hodgson 2004-2005 Dr. Diane Reinhard 2005-2010 Dr. Tony K. Atwater 2010-2012 Dr. David J. Werner, Interim President 2012-present Dr. Michael Discroll )

Language of Materials

English