By Mike McCormick
TERRE HAUTE — During 1908 and 1909, contractors guided by administrators at Indiana State Normal School were constructing one of the most modern libraries in the state.
Combining safety with beauty, that library — the only remaining edifice built during the Normal School era (1867-1929) — was a product of five fundamental concepts: safety, storage capacity, comfort, convenience and architectural beauty. Safety was paramount: the building had to be fireproof. The administration had learned an important lesson on April 9, 1888, when the first college building erupted into flames and was totally destroyed. No one was injured but more than 5,000 books were lost. By the time Normal Library was finished, librarian Arthur Cunningham — its principal champion — proudly reported that it would contain about 100,000 volumes.
Safety also meant that the building would be structurally sound. The foundation was capable of supporting 20 stories, if necessary. Concrete used was apportioned one part cement to four parts sand and gravel, far superior to that used in most construction
Very little wood was used. The building consisted primarily of Bedford stone, vitrified brick, concrete and steel. One limestone block weighing seven tons was too large and had to be cut, reducing the largest piece to five tons. The roof was made of concrete five inches thick. The only lumber in the building was found in window sills, doors and door frames.
James F. Alexander of Lafayette was the architect. Terre Haute contractor August Ohm was the general contractor. Robert Greene Gillum, professor of physics at Indiana State Normal, was superintendent of construction.
The architectural beauty of the Italian Renaissance structure with Ionic pilasters — largely modeled after the Chicago Public Library, an 1897 edifice considered among the most attractive buildings in the U.S. — was not sacrificed.
The building’s dome of decorative art glass 20 feet in diameter was supported by columns which give a circular appearance to the room below.
Book stacks of cast iron construction were five feet high. The main stack was separated from the main reading room by a series of columns, on each side of which were small rooms for maps and pamphlets. Marble stairways led from the main floor to the basement and the upper floor.
The information desk was placed in the center of the rotunda flanked by book stacks on the east and west sides. Mezzanine floors containing similar stacks were accessible by spiral stairways at one end and regular stairways at the other.
The front of the second floor included an art reference room and a public documents room. Four small study rooms occupied the sides. An art gallery was planned for the corridor surrounding the rotunda.
A children’s reading room and a reference library were placed in the basement. A state-of-the-art Paul steam vacuum system was used to heat the building. The contract for the construction of the building was let on Aug. 7, 1907. Though scheduled to open in early 1909, it was not finished until December and was dedicated with much pomp and circumstance during Anniversary Week: June 19-23, 1910.
Anniversary Week included several events. The first commencement of Normal Training High School was staged on June 20. Dr. Robert Judson Aley, state superintendent of public instruction, gave the principal address that evening. The Breinig Orchestra and Ione Hazeldine provided music.
New Parsons Field, the anticipated site of field games such as baseball and football, and Normal Library were dedicated on June 21. Cunningham, State Librarian Demarchus C. Brown of Indianapolis and William H. Armstrong, president of the Normal School board of trustees, made presentations.
Dr. William Wood Parsons, the third president of State Normal who was commemorating his 25th year of service, declared Normal Library to be “the handsomest building in the state devoted to library purposes and is a durable and magnificent monument to our great system of common schools.”
The original construction appropriation was $99,970. The ultimate cost hovered around $150,000. The extra money was secured from the library and maintenance funds.
The dome, which shed soft light over the reading room, included an oil reproduction of Raphael’s figure symbolizing philosophy, encompassing all liberal arts and sciences. In its lower tier there were inscriptions promoting education taken from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the State of Indiana Constitution of 1816, the second state Constitution (1851) and the 1865 Indiana statute which created State Normal School. Below Raphael’s figure were 24 wreathed medallions pierced by flaming torches, each identified with names of noted philosophers and educators from Sophocles to present times, including six Indiana products. Among those honored was President Parsons.
Parsons enrolled at State Normal School when the doors first opened on Jan. 6, 1870. The 40th anniversary of the college was recognized on Jan. 6, 1910 but celebrated extensively during Anniversary Week.
Indiana Gov. Thomas Riley Marshall; Livingston C. Lord, president of Eastern Illinois Normal; Dr. Charles Hubbard Judd of the University of Chicago; Dr. Winthrop E. Stone, president of Purdue University; Superintendent of Muncie Schools Ben Moore; and Dr. Barton Warren Evermann of the U.S. Fish Commission and professor of biology at Indiana State Normal from 1886 to 1891, were present to honor Parsons and the college.
Howard Sandison, vice president of State Normal and a college classmate of Dr. Parsons, and Bishop Evans Holt Hughes, also honored Parsons and the graduating seniors. When Normal Library was remodeled in the late 1950s, Miller and Yeager of Terre Haute were the architects. Unfortunately, the dome could not be restored though sections of it have been placed in storage.
Placed on the National and Indiana Registers of Historic Places in 2002, Normal Library — antiquated but seemingly indestructible — is the proud symbol of a fabled collegiate heritage conceived in 1865 and born in 1870.
