Who Decides What’s "Normal?"

by Carole A. Lane on June 9th, 2008

San Diego County is made up of many unique and interesting communities, but one stands out in contrast to all others, because of its name. Did you ever wonder who decided Normal Heights was “normal?” What does that make the rest of San Diego’s communities?

I had to wonder if the folks of Normal Heights took one look at the surrounding communities and decided that they were no part of whatever freak show was going on at the time, and would name themselves accordingly.

True? No, not true. According to the City of San Diego, Normal Heights was actually named in 1906 for the State Normal School in University Heights.

So why was it named the State Normal School?

Minn’s Evening Normal School (a training school for elementary teachers) was established by San Francisco Board of Education in 1857. It became California State Normal School in 1862, the first institution of higher education established by the State. Under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Education, this institution was moved to San Jose in 1871 and today is San Jose State University.

Other State Normal Schools were established in Chico in 1887, San Diego in 1897, and San Francisco in 1899, with more to follow across California.

In 1921, “Normal Schools” became “Teachers Colleges,” later changing to “State Colleges” in 1935. In 1972, San Diego State College became one of fourteen State College campuses to be designated California State Universities.

For more information about the history of California State University, see their Historic Milestones page. To learn more about SJSU history, see “Planting a Tree: A Brief History of SJSU” or “San Jose State University: A SHORT HISTORY.”

Well then, why was it named “Minn’s Evening Normal School?”

Established by George W. Minns and other dedicated educational leaders, Minn’s Evening Normal School was dedicated to teaching teachers. That explains the “Minn’s,” but what about the “Normal?”

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica:

“Normal schools were established chiefly to train elementary-school teachers for common schools (known as public schools in the United States). The first public normal school in the United States was founded in Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1839. Both public and private “normals” initially offered a two-year course beyond the secondary level, but in the 20th century teacher-training requirements were extended to a minimum of four years. By the 1930s most former public normal schools had evolved into teachers colleges, and by the 1950s they had become departments or schools of education within universities.”

They also note:

“One of the first schools so named, the École Normale Supérieure (“Normal Superior School”), was established in Paris in 1794. Based on various German exemplars, the school was intended to serve as a model for other teacher-training schools. Later it became affiliated with the University of Paris.”

For more information on normal schools, see Wikipedia’s or Answers.com’s explanation of “Normal School,” where you’ll find:

“Its purpose was to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name.”

There you have it: Normal Heights was named after a school, and normal schools were named after schools in Europe, which were named École Normale because they taught standards or “norms.” Does that make Normal Heights normal? Why not come for a visit and decide for yourself?

Photo credit: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:NormalHeightsSmall.jpg, licensed under Creative Commons
Map credit: The City of San Diego http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/community/profiles/maps/mapnheights.jpg

Tags: california state university, minn's evening, normal heights, normal school, san diego state college, san diego state university. ecole normale, state normal school

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