Program from the Sixth Annual Examination and Commencement of the Ohio Central Normal School

This program, from 1878, lists those who received diplomas at the Sixth Annual Commencement of the Ohio Central Normal School, which was housed in the old Worthington Female Seminary building. The seminary closed in 1857 as students chose to go to the new Ohio Wesleyan Female College in Delaware.

The Normal School opened in 1871, at a time when the need for trained teachers was arising. The school drew students from all around Ohio, and in the class of 1878, only three of the 35 students were from Worthington; Ella J. Martin, Eda J. White and Mary Young.

Ohio lagged far behind other states in recognizing the need for trained teachers. The Ohio Teachers Association, formed in 1847, opened some schools. City school districts began to demand educated and more highly trained teachers, and so a market grew. Private normal schools were started to help fill the demand. Large cities such as Columbus and Cincinnati also started their own district normal schools, and the competition brought about the demise of many private normal schools.