Then and Now
Early History
Charles Baxter, David Baxter
No story of Athens would be complete without including an early history of what is now Concord University. Originally, the college was known as a Branch of the State Normal School, and the community was Concord Church. It was more commonly referred to as just Concord.
Even before the town and school existed, there were schools in the area now known as West Virginia, which was then the western part of Virginia. The first frontiersmen into the area were generally intelligent and literate, and when what was refered to as "the Indian menace" was removed and comfortable homes were established, they felt the need for formal learning. This need for formal learning became greater and more urgent when many of the settlers who followed were said to be deficient in intelligence and literacy.
The greatest influences retarding the free school movement in what is now West Virginia were: the sparseness of population in large areas (about 90% of the state); poor roads, and inadequate means of transportation and of communication; a media that devoted little time for the support of education; an unwillingness to support a system of education; and there were those who believed that educating the masses could do more harm than good.
During the pre-Civil War period there were free schools in successful operation in counties located in what are now the northern and eastern panhandles of West Virginia and in the area extending from Kanawha County to the Ohio River. There were Academies, both sectarian and secular, and most of them were in highly populated areas. But, the educational needs of the vast sparsely populated West Virginia were met by subscription schools.
Subscription schools were “kept” by masters (teachers) who for certain considerations agreed with families to educate their children. The education received was of an elementary nature, and classes met in just about whatever space was available. Many of the masters were itinerant and moved from place to place seeking to “get up” a subscription school. When one place proved to be unsatisfactory and their contract ended, they moved to a more favorable place. As a consequence of a selective process, the best communities were served with the best teachers, and large areas were served by the worst teachers or had no schools at all. When not itinerant, the masters were local farmers and preachers who needed to supplement their incomes. Some of the masters were well educated and otherwise equipped for keeping school, while the teaching ability and reputation of others depended more on their ability to “keep order” than upon their ability to inspire pupils. Since the earliest endeavors to provide a system of public free schools in West Virginia, there was an awareness of the need for trained teachers.
During the first half of the 19th century, the normal school movement was introduced into this country. These were institutions that trained secondary-school graduates to become teachers. In 1839, the first state normal school was opened in Lexington, Massachusetts, and three others were opened within the next two years. About this time in what is now West Virginia, then Virginia, there were several private normal schools.
A summary of the history that led to establishing Concord was provided by Charles Baxter and contributed to Athens We Knew by his son David. The Baxter's identified eight historical events that shaped the institution's development and growth. Follow the links below for additional information and photographs.
Results of the Courthouse Controversy
Procuring Land and Meeting State Requirements
Establishing Concord Normal School
The original Concord State Normal School Seal. It was designed by Felix Yanowski and adopted as the official seal by the faculty on March 31, 1915.