Report of the Board of Education.

THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL

Was established by an act of the Legislature, approved March 28th, 1849. Under this act, which appropriated twenty-five sections of salt spring lands for the purposes of the school, the lands were selected, and the site fixed at Ypsilanti, in the county of Washtenaw. On the 5th day of March, 1850, Gov. Barry gave his approval to an act consolidating and amending the previous act and such amendments as had been added. By the latter act, the State Normal School was continued at Ypsilanti, and the exclusive purposes of the school were defined to be the instruction of persons, both male and female, in the art of teaching, and in the various branches that pertain to a good common school education; also to give instruction in the mechanic arts; in the arts of husbandry and agricultural chemistry; in the fundamental laws of the United States; and in what regards the rights and duties of citizens. The school is placed under the direction of the Board of Elucation, which possesses the power of appointing the Principal and other officers; of prescribing the various books to be used in the school, and of making all the regulations and by-laws necessary for the good government and management of the same; of establishing an experimental school in connection with the Normal School, and of making the necessary arrangements for this purpose, and a discretionary power of admitting scholars thereto free of charge for tuition.

The Board of Education have also the power, and it is made their duty from time to time, as the means at their disposal shall warrant, to provide suitable grounds and buildings, implements of husbandry and mechanical tools, for the purpose of more effectually carrying out the provisions of the law, requiring instruction in the mechanic arts, in the arts of husbandry, and in agricultural chemistry.

It is made the duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction when the Normal School is prepared to receive pupils, to give notice

of the fact to each county clerk of the State, and to publish such notice in a newspaper published in each Senatorial district.

Every applicant for admission is to undergo an examination in such manner as shall be prescribed by the Board; and if it shall appear that the applicant is not a person of good moral character, and will not make an apt and good teacher, he is to be rejected. The Board of Education may in their discretion, require any applicant for admission, other than such as shall prior to their admission sign and file with the Board, a declaration of intention to follow the business of teaching in the primary schools of the State-to pay or secure to be paid, such fees for tuition as to the Board shall seem reasonable. Any person may be admitted who shall pass a satisfactory examina tion-provided that he will sign, before admission, a declaration of intention to follow the business of teaching in the primary schools of Michigan. It is provided further, that pupils may be admitted without signing such declaration on such terms as the Board shall prescribe; and each county in the State is entitled to send pupils, in the ratio of the Representatives in the State Legislature to which it is entitled--not to exceed such number as the Board may prescribe. Lectures are to be delivered on the subjects of Chemistry, Composition, Anatomy, Astronomy, the Mechanic Arts, Agricultural Chemistry, and on any other science that the Board may direct. As soon as any person has attended the school twenty two weeks, he is entitled to an examination, and if he possesses the learning and other qualifications necessary to teach a good primary school, he will receive a certificate to that effect, signed by the Principal and approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The above constitutes the substance of the provisions of the act of the Legislature. Since its passage, and approval on the 25th of March, 1850, the Board of Education have applied themselves mainly to carrying out the incipient provisions of the law--the securing of the land granted-the fixing of a site, and the erection of a necessary building for the school. These objects have been accomplished· Upon the completion of the Normal School building, and on the fifth day of October, 1952, it was formally dedicated to the purposes for which it was erected, and Mr. A. S. Welch was appointed as its Principal. The site of the building is upon an eminence, over

looking the village of Ypsilanti and the surrounding country, in a pure and healthy locality and atmosphere. The building is of brick, finished with stucco-work, three stories in height, with a basement for furnaces, and is divided into a model school room, with entries, reception, library and recitation rooms and entries; a Normal School room in the second story with similar arrangements, and a large and spacious hall in the upper story. In this hall, in the presence of fifteen hundred or more of the citizens of Michigan, the Board of Education and a large congregation of the teachers, the building was dedicated.

THE EXERCISES OF DEDICATION

Were commenced by reading the following passages of scripture, by the Superintendent of Public Instruction:

"And the officers shall speak unto the people saying: What man is there that hath built a new house and hath not dedicated it? Let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it?"

"Sing unto the Lord all ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness."

"For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning "Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me. Lord, be thou my helper."

"Thou hast turned my morning into dancing; thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness."

"And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and with singing. with cymbols, psalteries, and with harps."

PRAYER,

BY REV. MR. READ, OF YPSILANTI.

O, Eternal God, the Author of all blessings, the Parent of all good. We come before thee with grateful acknowledgements of thy Sovereign goodness and gracious Providence. Thou art our God and we will worship thee; our Father's God, and we will praise thee. Thou hast made to thyself a great people, where there was no peo

ple, and hast raised up a nation to thy Glory. Thou hast brought this vine out from among the nations, and has cast out the heathen

and planted it. Thou hast prepared room before it, and caused it to take deep root and fill the land. The hills are covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof are like the goodly cedars. We bless thee, O, thou Most High God, that thou hast remembered this people, and hast favored them above all the nations of the Earth. This people is thy people, and here thou hast recorded thy name and done thy mighty deeds. Thou hast given unto, this people the Gospel of thy Son, and exalted them to Heaven with blessings. By the power of thy truth thou hast filled our land with institutions of benevolence and monuments of thy praise. Thou hast opened the storehouses of thy goodness, and scattered blessings through all our midst. Thou hast graciously blessed our youth and abundantly provided for their wants. In thy kind Providence thou hast multiplied the means of their social, mental and moral improvement, so as to prepare them to discharge the high and holy responsibilities of life. Under thy fostering care, schools and academies, and colleges, have arisen through all our land, gathering into their consecrated walls vast numbers of youth, and preparing them to go out and bless the world. We have met this day, O God of Truth, to offer unto thee the work of our hands; to consecrate to the blessed cause of Elucation this beautiful structure which thou hast enabled us to rear. We thank thee for that propitious providence by which this building has been carried on to its completion, and in which we now assemble, to enter upon the enterprise that is cherished by so many hearts. We humbly beseech thee, O God, accept our offering, and graciously smile upon our efforts to bless the many youth of this growing State. May those to whom shall be committed the managment of this important Institution be especially under the influence of thy spirit and thy truth, that in all their teachings they may have reference to the yast results of human existence. O! Be thou the teacher's wisdom. May thy blessing, O God, rest upon the many youth that shall crowd these halls, eager to grasp the immortal truths of science, and press their way up to respectability, to usefulness and honor. May each truth that they shall here obtain lead their undying souls upward to greater and still greater discoveries of God, and of the boundlessness of their own destinies. May each mind be deeply pervaded with the love of truth, and each heart fully