History

---

History | Benefits | Participating Schools

Northern State University was founded in 1901 as Northern Normal and Industrial School. From the very beginning, education of teachers for rural schools was an important mission. In 1919, NNIS produced 36% of the state’s certified teachers. In 1925 the Teachers College at Columbia in New York City reported that NNIS trained more rural teachers than any other educational institution in the country , and with the lowest cost per student (less than twenty-five dollars).

In the early 1920s, NNIS propagated new concepts in rural education such as consolidated schools and a twelve-month school year. Student teachers were bussed around by a truck, complete with “foot warmers,” driven by male student teachers. In 1922, the school district of Barnard created the first consolidated school based on the new rural education concepts. Built in a community of fifty people (just 18 miles north of Aberdeen), this model school was expected to improve rural education in South Dakota by inspiring other districts to follow its pattern. The new building replaced eight one-room schoolhouses. Four high school teachers with college training and four elementary grade teachers taught a total of 137 students bussed from an area of fifty-six square miles.

Northern State University
The First Century
1901 – 2000
2001 Northern State University Press