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Show -~ I THE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL • S0U'l1IERN tll'AH UNIVERSlTY • PRIDAY, MAY 2, 1997 ··-" CENTENNIAL .. ~, THE FOUNDING O F SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSI IBY GERALD R. SHERRATT I n the annals of Ame ri can higher educatio n, the re is perhaps a no mo re dramatic f(_,unding of a school than that accorded Southern Utah University, nor a more striking extent of the commitment of Utah's early pioneers to the cause of educati on. At the ins ti gat ion of the Mo rm on colo nizer, Brigham Yo ung, Cedar City had been o riginalJ y settled as a place for the manufacture of iron, the nea rby hills containing abundant iron ore. Yet for al l the fond hopes of Brigham Young, the "Iron Mi ssion " failed fo r lack of fuel and water power and the need for m o re manpower. As a result, the people of the frontier community turned to other livelihoods, the majorit y becoming farmers, cattl em en, and sheepmen. By 1897, th e yea rs of SUU's founding, Cedar C ity had em erged as a thriving - yet far fro m prosperous - rural community of nearly 1,500 people. Primarily of English and Scottish descent, the c itizens of Cedar City were a hardy lo t who ha<l spent their lives wrestling with nature for the shee r s ustenance and bare necessities of life. Isolated from the m ore populous centers of the West, they had learned how to nurse and care for the mselves through inj uries, illness, and accidents without professional help or much in the way of m edicine. Demonstrating an un common degree of self-reliance and putting their I faith in Divine Providence, they had built a community with the stark essentials - but few of the amen ities - of life. When in the spring of 1897 the people of Cedar City learned that the Utah Legis lature had authorized a branch of the state's teacher training school to be located in southern Uta h, it was wel com e news indeed, tho ugh few of the town 's citizens believed it actually possible for Cedar City to be selected as the school's site. After all, Cedar City and Iron County didn't really have much political clout. In terms of population, Beaver County to the north and Washington County to the south were both larger, Washington nearly half-again as big. Then, too, many people thought Cedar C it y was destined to be a manufacturing town and there were predictions that the c ity's atmosphere would undo ubted ly be sm ok y and unh ealthy. Utah's Dixie, on the other hand, had a unique climate which was especially nice during the winter m onths, and Beaver had an o ld fort wh ich cou ld easi ly have been converted to house the Normal School, as teacher training institutions were th en known. The bi ll enacted by the Legis lat ure established a committee composed of three distinguished educators to make the final selecti on of the town to host the school and added the condition that the community so selected would have to vest the state with title to s uitab le grounds and buildings to ho use th e school. The selection committee was composed of th e three m ost distinguished edu cators of th e 1890s: Dr. Karl G. Maescr, Dr. Jo hn R. Park, and Dr. Jam es E. Talmadge. Immediately upon t he Leg is lative approval of th e bill, each of the communities of southern Utah began appointing committees and making necessary plans to influence the decision of the t h ree m en . Cedar City set its machinery in m oti on at a mass meeting o n March 2 1, 1897. Leh i W. Jones was appointed chairman of the committee, which also included John S. Woodbury a nd Edward J. Pa lmer, who were to serve as secretary and treasurer, respectively. This permanent committee served during the entire founding period, ca lling mass meetings as often as needed to discuss various plans and appo int sub-committees. John Parry, Cedar City's representative to the Utah Legislature, had been instrumenta l in the passage of the bill authorizing the no rmal school branch, and he and Mayhew H . Dalley were as ked to frame a petition to the commission setting fo rth the advantages of locating the school in Cedar City. T he (contin ued on page 10) |
