1882 – Letter from a young woman describing life at the California State Normal School, located at San Jose
San Jose, California: 1882. Envelope or Cover. This two-page letter was written on letterhead with a large illustration of the California State Normal School in San Jose (today San Jose State University. It was written by Addie Turner to her cousin, Iva Hurless, in Savana, Illinois on October 3, 1882. It is enclosed in its original mailing envelope that was franked with a 2-cent green Washington stamp and bears a circular San Jose postmark dated October 19, 1882. In nice shape.
In this letter Addie relates, in part:
“We have had a very sad time in San Jose the last month. The mistress of the house in which my sister and I are boarders died about four weeks ago. She was well known here and thought a great deal of. There must have been over a hundred carriages followed to the cemetery.
“Last week was Fair week and they gave the school one day’s vacation. . .. There were three of the girls who went to San Francisco and three more of us went to the depot to see them off. . .. We three jumped on the car & asked the conductor if we could have a ride round the other depot which is about two miles. He said ‘certainly.’ We had a splendid ride and what was better the old conductor said we could come any time and ride. . ..
“My brother, Willie, is here in San jose attending the University. . .. I have never studied Botany. My sister has . . . found it very interesting. She mounted fifty specimens in two weeks. . ..
“There were six hundred thirty pupils at the start of the term but has dropped down to about six hundred now. Our school closes the twenty-first of December [and] we have three weeks vacation. . ..”
. Very good. Item #010770The California State Normal School (a teachers’ college) was founded in San Francisco as a private venture in 1857, Initially, it held classes only one day a week and graduated 54 students. Impressed with the results, the state legislature funded the school, which was renamed the California State Normal School in 1862. In 1871, the school moved to Washington Square Park at S. 4th and San Carlos Streets in San Jose, where the campus remains to this day. The first building was completed in 1876 but destroyed by fire in 1880. The replacement building shown in the letterhead opened in 1881, not long before this letter was written. Although not toppled by the 1906 earthquake, the structure was so damaged that it was razed, and a new building, known as Tower Hall, now stands in its place. In 1972, the school broadened its curriculum and transferred from being a teacher’s college into California State University San Jose; it was renamed San Jose State University in 1974.
A very nice first-person account of a young woman’s student life at a late 19th century teaching college.
.Price: $150.00