Alabama. -
Arkansas. -
- In 1948, the University of Arkansas became the first traditionally
Euro-American University in the South to break the color barrier,
when Silas Hunt, an Afro-American, enrolled in the University of Arkansas
School of Law.
-- John O., American University
California. -
- In 1921, California became to first state to enact "teacher tenure."
Which meant they had to have a just cause to be fired.
--Kara Blakenship., American University
- I went to Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton, CA. It had the largest
high school swimming pool in the West and the largest pool in Northern
California.
-- Molly K. American University
Connecticut. -
- In 1729, Yale University gave out the very first medical diploma.
- Connecticut founded the very first public library.
- Connecticut also founded the first school for the deaf.
-- James Perachio and Reaghan Bik
Delaware. -
- I went to Wilmington Friends School, which is the oldest school
in Delaware. It was founded in 1749, and just celebrated its 250th
anniversary.
-- Emily F. American University
- First "Junior Year Abroad" was instituted by the University
of Delaware, Newark, Del. Professor Raymond Watson Kirkbride took
8 students to study at the University of Paris in 1923.
Source:
Kane, Joseph. Famous First Facts. (3ed.). The H.W. Wilson Company.
New
Florida. -
- The Florida Bright Future Scholarship, created in 1997, is the
first education program funded by the Florida Lottery. This scholarship
grants students financial assistance based on academic performance
in high school, in order to help them in college.
--Lori, Christine R., Anna C., Laura B., American University
- Stetson University provided Florida with its first College of Law,
first School of Business Administration, first School of Music and
the first geography program.
--A. Jordan Schuck, American University
Georgia -
- New Georgia legislation clarifies the state's Charter School Act
of 1998, creating four types of charter schools and altering the requirements
for each. The bill now provides for conversion charter schools, local
charter schools, state chartered special schools, and start-up charter
schools. The bill now provides, however, that each school be tied
to the same criteria for performance. The bill is a significant achievement
for charter school applicants, mainstreaming requests and requiring
local school boards to decide in 60 days the merits of a petition,
which they must also vote on in the allotted time. Thus, this is the
first time that legislation in Georgia has been established in favor
of the charter school applicant and charter school system.
Source: Georgia Board of Education e-Newsletter,
April, 2002 www.gadoe.org
-- Bryan Depuy and Jason Levitt
Guatemala -
- Did you know that in 1562, Don Francisco Marroquin, bishop of Guatemala,
established the Colegio Universitario de Santo Tomas? It became the
first college in Guatemala to offer university studies to low-income
students.
-- Anavela Mijangos
Illinois -
- Although I went to a 'released time' religion class in my high school
in Utah, I discovered that the first Supreme Court legislation regarding
released time for religious instruction actually occurred in Illinois.
In 1948, Vashti McCollum challenged the right of the Champaign public
schools to permit the three-part (Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish)
religious instruction program taking place inside the schools to continue.
The Supreme Court ruled that released time religious programs of this
kind were unconstitutional. This was the most forceful denunciation
of the church-school relationship to date. (Released time was ruled
constitutional by the Supreme Court four years later, but under very
strict conditions.)
Source: Landmark Supreme Court Decisions on Public School Issues,
by Edward C. Bolmeier. The Michie Company, VA: 1973.
--Jennifer Heywood
Iowa -
- The School of Religion, established in 1927, was the first in the
nation to teach the academic discipline of religion on a tax-supported
university campus. Iowa was the first state university to offer a
PhD in religion. -- Kara McElduff, American University
Source: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Archives%5Cfirsts.htm
Louisiana -
- The East Baton Rouge Parish public schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
hold the record for the longest running school desegregation suit
in America. The suit in Baton Rouge is still going at 45-years-old.
The suit was filed in 1956 when the school system refused to let African-American
students attend a local elementary school.
Source: http://www.lpb.org/programs/americanapartheid/about.html
Submitted by: Sarah Rubin, American University /li>
Maryland -
- Charles Benedict Calvert created The Maryland Agricultural College
in 1856. This was the nation's first agricultural research college,
now The University of Maryland, at College Park.
--Lori, Christine R., Anna C., Laura B., American University
- St. Frances Academy 1828 First dental college in the world - Baltimore
College of Dental Surgery, 1839
- First publicly supported high school for girls - Eastern High School
and Western High School, 1844
- First woman professor at medical school in the United States, Dr.
Florence Rina Sabin, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1901
-- Carrie I., Kate M., and Dipti M., American University
- Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, MD was founded in 1789 by the society
of Jesuits. It is the oldest (that would make it the first) Catholic
secondary school in the U.S.
-- Tina Clarkson
Massachusetts -
- I am from Massachusetts and attended the first boarding school in
the country. Governor Dummer Academy was founded in 1763 and today
is known as America's oldest boarding school.
-- Susan G.
- Elizabeth Peabody founded the first American kindergarten in the
city of Boston, 1873. Source: Richie-Sharp, Shelly Ann. http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfrnb/kindergarten.html
-- Katie Horst, American University
- Smith College-first women's college endowed by a woman established
in 1875 in Massachusetts by Sophia Smith.-- Erin M., Maria R., Laurie
L., Courtney G., Leslie D.
- The oldest (first) College in the United States was Harvard College
in Cambridge, MA. It was founded in 1636 as Newtowne College and renamed
in 1638 after its first benefactor, John Harvard.
---Lauren Jamieson and Stephanie Wu
- First College student to work his way through college was Zechariah
Brigden. The fourteen year old made his way through Harvard College
Cambridge, Mass. by "ringing the bell and waytinge" to graduate
in 1657.
Source:
Kane, Joseph. Famous First Facts. (3ed.). The H.W. Wilson Company.
New York: NY. 1964.
- First college for women was Mount Holyoke Seminary in South Hadley
Mass. It was chartered Feb. 11, 1836 and was opened Nov. 8, 1837.
The 80 students paid $64 for tuition and board.
Source:
Kane, Joseph. Famous First Facts. (3ed.). The H.W. Wilson Company.
New York: NY. 1964.
- First School to Operate on the one-class-per-room basis was established
in Quincey, Mass. in 1846.
Source:
Kane, Joseph. Famous First Facts. (3ed.). The H.W. Wilson Company.
New York: NY. 1964.
- The Mather Elementary School in Massachusetts is America's oldest
elementary school, established in 1639.
-- Anne Dickey. and Charlene Reynolds., American University
Source: http://boston.k12.ma.us/schools/rc348.asp
- In 1973, Shirley Ann Jackson was awarded the Ph.D. by the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, an achievement making her the 1st African-American
female to earn a doctorate from this institution and the 1st in physics.
Source: http://black-collegian.com/issues/30thAnn/higherlearn2000-30th.shtml
--Jamie Lyle, American University
Michigan -
- First school to caption commencement for the hearing impaired. For
Spring 2001 commencement, a real time digital display of all the speeches
was used to help the hearing impaired enjoy the ceremony as much as
everyone else. The U-M is the first university ever to use this LED
display in an outdoor setting involving so many people. The entire
audience was able to see the 10-inch letters from their seats. In
past years, an interpreter signed the commencement comments from the
stage.
(Source:
http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/Releases/2001/Apr01/r042401b.html)
Amira Maaty
Minnesota -
- Minnesota was the first state to enact charter school legislation
in 1991.
-- Erin M., Maria R., Laurie L., Courtney G., Leslie D.
Missouri -
- The Missouri School for the Blind, in St. Louis, was established
in 1851 and was only the twelfth school for the blind in the United
States. The Missouri School for the Blind was the first school in
the western hemisphere to teach the reading and writing of Braille.
-Jessica Fabbre, Lindsey Blampied, Dan LaGrotte, American University
- The Missouri School for the Blind, established in 1851 in St. Louis,
was the first in the western hemisphere to teach the reading and writing
of Braille. The school was established with the idea that all children
could learn given the opportunity. This was the belief of Mr. Eli
William Whalen, a blind man who had formerly been Superintendent of
the Tennessee Institution for the Blind at Nashville.
-- Michael Murawski
New Jersey -
New York -
- Last week, between April 15 and April 19, 2002, Governor George
Pataki of New York, signed a bill authorizing the education commissioner
to take over the badly failing 3,000-student Roosevelt school system
on Long Island, New York. This was the first such action in New York
history. Source: Washington Post, Sunday, April 21,
2002
-- Rebecca Fahnley and Jane Unger, American University
- Vassar College-first real college for women established by Matthew
Vassar in 1865 in Poughkeepsie, NY. -- Erin M., Maria R., Laurie L.,
Courtney G., Leslie D.
- The first music teachers for public schools in the United States
graduated from Potsdam Normal School in Potsdam, NY. found at: http://www.northnet.org/stlawrenceaauw/crane.htm
--Megan Toy, American University
- The first school of Nurse-Midwifery was established in New York
in 1931 found at: http://www.maternity.org/yesterday.html
--Megan Toy, American University
- Winifred Edgerton became the first American women to receive a
Ph.D. in mathematics, in 1886. After her second year studying mathematics
and astronomy at Columbia University she petitioned to recieve a Ph.D.
degree, having fullfilled all of the required credits and writing
an original thesis that dealt with geometric interpretations of multiple
integrals and translations and relations of various systems of coordinates.
Her work in astronomy also included computation of the orbit of a
comet of 1883. The board of trustee's first refused her application
but after Winifred personally talked to each member, the board unamiously
voted to award her a Ph.D in mathematics, which she recieved with
highest honors.
--Angela Fiorille
- In 1997, Rebecca Sealfon of Brooklyn, New York, became the first
homeschooler to win the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee Championship.
Sealfon lasted 23 rounds and won by correctly spelling "euonym."
Source: www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/7537/0008hsnat.html
--Jean-Marie S., American University
North Carolina -
- The University of North Carolina was the first state university
in the United States, established in 1793.
-- Walker, American University
- North Carolina established the first state supported university
in America. Its first state constitution, written in 1776, called
for the school citing a need for higher education at a low price.
With the Revolutionary War and the hard financial times following,
it was not until 1793 that the first cornerstone was laid. The second
state to establish a university was Georgia in 1801. If you want to
find out more about the history of UNC-Chapel Hill, visit http://www.unc.edu/about/history.html.
--Walker, American University
Ohio -
- In 1856, Wilberfource University was the first institution of higher
education owned and operated by African Americans in the United States.
- In 1839, Ohio became the first state to adopt a bilingual education
law, authorizing German-English instruction at parents' request.
---Lauren Jamieson and Stephanie Wu
- First Coeducational College was Oberlin Collegiate Institute (know
as Oberlin College since 1850), Oberlin, Ohio, which opened Dec 3,
1833,
with 44 students (29 men and 15 women).
Source:
Kane, Joseph. Famous First Facts. (3ed.). The H.W. Wilson Company.
New York: NY. 1964.
Pennsylvania -
- Pennsylvania was the first state that called for free public education
in its constitution in the year 1790. However, this was only for poor
children and it was still expected for rich people to pay for their
child's education.
--Katie S.
- In 1988, the Pennsbury High School Marching Band performed at the
Great Wall of China and in Beijing's Tiennamen Square. The PHS marching
band is the only foreign musical ensemble to perform in Tiennamen
Square.
--Melissa Reichley and Melissa Pearson
Source: www.Pennsburybands.com/marching_bands_history.htm
- First U.S. Public Television Station - WQED - April 1,
1954
WQED, operated by the Metropolitan Pittsburgh Educational Station,
was the first community-sponsored educational television station in
America and was also the first to telecast classes to elementary schools
(1955).
- Dara Rabner, American University
- I went to the Wm. Penn Charter School which was founded in 1689
as the first Quaker school in Philly and the nation.
-- Julia S.
- Established in 1746, Linden Hall is America's oldest boarding school
for girls. It is located in historic Lititz, PA. (For more info, log
on to Lindenhall.com)
-- Tina Clarkson
- First art school and art museum: the Museum of American Art of
the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded 1805.
Philadelphia Firsts. http://www.libertynet.com
-- Adam Nathan
- First University legally designated as a university was the university
of the state of Pennsylvania. The privately endowed institution went
from the College of Pennsylvania to the University on Nov. 27, 1779.
Source:
Kane, Joseph. Famous First Facts. (3ed.). The H.W. Wilson Company.
New York: NY. 1964.
- Philadelphia is home to the nation's first public grammar school,
now known as the William Penn Charter School, founded in 1689.
Source: http://philadelphia.about.com/library/weekly/aa072101a.htm
-- Stacey Berkowitz, American University
Puerto Rico -
- The University of Puerto Rico (UPR) is the first and only public
university in Puerto Rico. UPR was founded as a normal school (teacher
training school) in 1903; between 1903-1923, almost 3,000 students
graduated from UPR. 95% of those students went on to become teachers.
UPR eventually grew and became a full-fledged university. UPR is widely
considered to be one of the most influential intellectual centers
on the island.
Source: Scarano, Francisco, Puerto Rico: Cinco siglos
de historia. (San Juan:McGraw-Hill, 1993), p.605.
-- Robert Ames and Signe Nelson, American University
Rhode Island -
- Brown University was the 7th university established in the American
colonies, but it was the first to open its doors to men of all religious
beliefs and backgrounds. Brown was established in 1764, and its admission
policy has always been one of non-discrimination on the basis of religion.
Source: The Baccalaureate Commencement speech given
by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Brown University on May 26, 2002
-- Contributed by Sheri F, American University
South Carolina -
- In 1999, David Beihl, a 13-year-old homeschooled student from Saluda,
South Carolina, became the first homeschooled student to win the National
Geography Bee. Beihl correctly answered that La Nina is the condition
characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial
region of the eastern Pacific Ocean. Source: www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/7537/0008hsnat.html
Submitted by: Jean-Marie S., American University
- South Carolina boasts the first municipal college - College of Charleston,
opened April 1, 1838. South Carolina also boasts the first textile
school established in a college - Clemson, 1899-- Erin M., Maria R.,
Laurie L., Courtney G., Leslie D.
-
In 1740, in South Carolina, the first law prohibiting slaves the
opportunity for education was passed. -- Carrie I., Kate M., and
Dipti M., American University
Texas -
- First air conditioned public elementary school was the Belaire School
in San Angelo, TX, which was opened in 1955 with eight air-conditioned
classrooms.
Source:
Kane, Joseph. Famous First Facts. (3ed.). The H.W. Wilson Company.
New York: NY. 1964.
Vermont boasts the first
- Blackboard
- Teachers' Textbook
- Teacher Education Program (Normal School)
- State Constitution that Provides for a State University
(and perhaps MOST important)
- Rubber Eraser
- 1800 - Middlebury established the first female seminary.
- 1814 - The first globe was made by James Wilson of Bradford.
- 1915 - The first junior high school in the country was founded in
Cabot.
- 1777 - Vermont had the first state constitution to provide for a
"complete and closely articulated system of education."
- 1912 - The Carnegie Commission of the Advancement of Teaching conducted
"the first comprehension effort on the part of the State of the Union
to study its school system as a whole, from the elementary school
to the university."
Julie Alexander, American University
- Alexander Lucius Twilight was born in 1795, to a free black family
in Vermont. He received a bachelor's degree from Middlebury College
in 1823, making him the first African American to graduate from college.
He was licensed to preach by the Presbyterian church. He became principal
of the Orleans County Grammar School in Brownington, Vermont, and
in 1836 built a massive three-story granite building, Athenian Hall,
which became Brownington Academy. Additionally, in the 1836-1837 term,
he served in the Vermont State legislature, the first African American
to do so. He died in 1857.
-- Samuel Hall and Melinda Ford
Virginia -
- Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1776 at the College of William
and Mary in Virginia.
-Dwight Allen, American University
- Patrick Henry College will open this fall in Purcellville, Virginia.
It is an experiment in higher education because it is the nation's
first secondary institution designed for home-school students and
a training ground for Christian political advocates. Part of the home-school
movement has been fueled over parent's growing discontentment with
the secularization of schools. Eighty to ninety percent of the student
population is expected to be home-school in an effort to help return
American to its biblical and Constitutional roots.
Source: New York Times. January 9th 2000. Education Life Section 4a
- The American Roentgen Ray Society, founded in 1900, is the first
and oldest radiology society in the United States. It is located in
Leesburg, Virginia.
-- Tonya N. Jefferson
- The first American leader or politician to actively pursue the creation
of a public school system was Thomas Jefferson, in 1779. His plan
would guarantee a tax-paid education for Virginia's children for at
least three years, and further low-cost education for those who performed
well during their studies. The top students would then be offered
the chance to attend publicly funded colleges. Though his proposal
never gained the support it deserved, it went on to become the groundwork
for early 19th century school systems.
Source: http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=04E49000
- Mary Snow became the first black principal in an integrated school,
Capitol Elementary, in 1958.
-- Kara McElduff, American University
Source:http://www.dailymail.com/static/specialsections/lookingback/lb09074.htm
Washington D.C.. -
- In 1893 American University became the first and only school to
be chartered by an Act of Congress. Originally, it had been an idea
of President Washington to have a national university where anyone
could come and receive a liberal arts education. At the time, Congress
did not agree, but approximately one hundred years later, they did
issue the charter. Then, in 1937, 17 years before the case of Brown
v. Board of Education of Topeka, when the Supreme Court ruled that
it was illegal to separate children of “similar age and qualifications
because of their race,” AU became one of the first universities
in a segregated city to admit African American students. --Jessica
Ingram
- Washington, DC: In 1979, President Jimmy Carter selected Shirley
Mount Hufstedler to be the first United States Secretary of Education
to serve as a member of the President's Cabinet. --Liza Prestileo
and Kita Murdock, American University
- 1979 - Oyster Elementary School was the first public elementary
school in the District of Columbia to implement a program in bilingual
education.
-- Pablo Moglia, American University
- 1852 - Emerson Preparatory School is Washington DC (formerly known
as Emerson Institute) was the first independent co-education high
school in our nation's capitol. According to legend and lore, its
proud graduates include John Wilkes Booth, President Ulysses S. Grant's
two sons, and John Sirica, the Watergate judge.
-- Stephen Born, American University
- Gallaudet University is the world's only university for the deaf
and hard of hearing.
-- Jaime Lazar, Shelby Sandler, Niki Diamond
- The Option School and the Children's Studio were the first two public
charter schools in Washington, DC. While the Option School was actually
the first licensed charter school in Washington, having been opened
in 1996, the Children's Studio had been operating a community-based
school since 1977. It did not become an liscenced charter school until
1997.
-- Andrew Lemerise
- In 1943, Euphemia Lofton Haynes earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics
at The Catholic University in Washington, D.C., becoming the first
African American Woman Ph.D. in Mathematics.
Source: http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/PEEPS/haynes.euphemia.lofton.html
-- Rachel Workman, American University
Wisconsin
- Wisconsin was the first state to establish kindergarten in the US.
--Karen Z, American University
- Milwaukee became the site of the first publicly financed voucher
program in 1990. Wisconsin lawmakers approved a plan for Milwaukee
students to receive approximately $3,000 each to attend nonsectarian
private schools. -- Erin M., Maria R., Laurie L., Courtney G., Leslie
D.
England. -
- External Exams-- The first External School Examinations (i.e. examinations
conducted by an independent examining body) were held on December
23-25, 1850 at Mr. Goodacre's School at Nottingham, England.
- Sex Education-- The first sex education course offered in a school
setting was introduced by Cecil Reddie, Headmaster at Abbotsholme
School in England, in 1889. With this course, Mr. Reddie hoped to
"prevent mental illusions due to false ideas from within" and to "prevent
false teaching from other fellows".
Source: Robertson, Patrick. The Book of Firsts. London: Rainbird Ref.
Books Ltd., 1975.
Germany. -
- The first Kindergarten was founded in 1837 by Friedrich Froebel
-- Raquel Salcedo-Fabian and Jonathan Walker
India -
New Zealand. -
- The Reading Recovery Program was discovered in New Zealand in the
mid 1960's. The program was designed to detect children's early reading
difficulties. In the 70's it was implemented in New Zealand.
Peru. -
- UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL MAYOR DE SAN MARCOS DE LIMA, coeducational
state-financed institution of higher learning situated at LIma, the
capital of Peru. The university, the oldest in South America, was
founded in 1551.
--Rossana and Mary-Ann, American University.
USA. -
- The first assistance group for staff development (and largest too)
is the National Development Staff Council which was founded in 1969.
--Sivan Kromelia
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2003
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