The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1921-06-30
WILLIAM PICKEN HERE
FOUNDER OF FORT HAYS KAN
SAAS NORMAL SCHOOL Wis
ITS INSTITUTION HE
FOUNDED
Speaks to Student BODY

the NORMAL students Monday morn
ing at assembly, is one of the found
ers of this school He, with Miss
Anna Keller, came out from the State
Normal School at Emporia, to estab-
hsh a western branch of that institu-
ton. The first school was held in the
old hospital building out on the
grounds Of old Fort Hays. When the
old Fort was abandoned, some of the
leading educators of Kansas petition
ed Congress for the use Of the land
$500 acres in all, for school purposes.
Half of the land was granted the En-
pOria Normal, and half to the Agri-
cultural College at Manhattan to be
used for school and an experiment
station.
Mr.. Picken came out here in 1902,
nineteen years ago, and his first en-
rollment was under twenty. For the
time that the school remained out on
the hill, Mr.. Picken lived in theCom-
mandant's quarters at the old Fort.
In his speech in assembly he stated
that one of the rooms in the Colonel's
house accommodated all the students
in the school at party given during
the first year. He said that one of
the sections in the Coliseum would
have held the entire enrolment of
those first two years and left room for
many visitors. The summer school
was started the first year and it is
marvellous to see how it has grown
from a mere handful of students to
almost thousand in such a short
time
The present site of the school was
a prairie dog town and Mr.. Picken
brought poisoned wheat from En-
poria and sowed it all over this
ground in order to kill the prairie
dogs. When the school was moved
down here the first building on the
campus was the middle section of the
Administration Building. The Wo-
mans Building, which was then used
as an auditorium, with a movable
stage, a gymnasium, and for recrea-
ton purposes, was built next. The
two wings of the Administration
Building, the Auditorium and the
north wing, were added next.
s. LITTLE fro,
from the Fort, housed the first board
ing club for students. This was or
ganized by Mr.. Picken because the
women up town who were boarding
the students were going to raise their
price to $500 a week and the stu
dents could not afford that, so the
club was organized for the students
with Mr.. and Mrs. Cave in charge.
When the Industrial Building was
erected, this club was moved to the
basement Of that building and in one
end of the little frame building was
started the manual training and
blacksmithing. department, and the
music department of which we are so
proud, had its lowly origin in the
other half. Here was the band room
and the Glee Clubs rehearsed here
Glee Clubs were sent out to the near
by towns to give concerts. The band
made good many trips of this sort in
those years.
The boys of the manual training
he
ium, a rude building covered with
tarred paper, that the high school
students had. The physical training
director for the boys and girls went
down to the high school and conduct
ed gymnasium classes there.
In 1910, after a hard fight on the
part of the school authorities to con-
vince the state legislature that a
Home Economics department was en-
tirely legitimate in a Normal School
and that school teachers would have
a need of such knowledge, Miss Ag-
new came out to inaugurate the de-
partment of Home Economics.
The school had two literary soci-
cites and debating societies. Every
wear an opera and Shakes
pearean play were given Mr..
Picken taking part in some OF
those. A lecture course was
maintained, and practically all the
denartments with the exception OF
the Telegraphy Department, were IN
troduced by Mr.. Picken. He was
nioneer in this field, and the develop
r,ent of our school today is founded
- his work here in those first ten or
eleven years. In honor OF MN tns
instrumentation Building was named
poord of Education William