The Archives of Teacher Education: What We Can Learn from the Records of the Normal School Movement

The Normal School Movement in Massachusetts has had a profound and lasting impact on public higher education in the Commonwealth, with most public colleges and universities able to draw an unbroken line between the normal schools of the nineteenth century and the academic programs at their institutions in the twenty-first century. This panel will look at the history of the Normal School Movement in Massachusetts through the lens of archival records held by four public universities. In an effort to share information about our collections, to connect and collaborate across institutions, and to contribute to the study of the Normal School Movement, archivists and librarians from Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, Salem State University, and the University of Massachusetts Boston will: Discuss the history of the Normal School associated with their institution and for which they hold records, the provenance of the records in their custody and care, and the contents of the records themselves. Describe issues of access as they pertain to the Normal School records in their institution’s custody and care, and the various ways we provide access to and information about these records (either in person or electronically). Reflect on what these records tell us about the history of our institution and about the academic programs, activities, and missions of our institutions today. Using a lightning round format, panelists will give researchers a sense of what records are available to them, the ways they can access these records, and ideas for future exploration and collaboration