Grace A. Greene Normal School Alumnae Records

The first normal school was opened in 1869, with Emma Brown of Massachusetts as the first instructor. While first called the Dayton Normal School, it later became the Dayton Teacher’s College. The school was closed after the 1931 school year in order to save money during the Great Depression.

Those who held the post of principal at the teacher’s college between 1869 and 1931 include:

Emma Brown, 1869 – unknown Miss Parley, exact dates unknown Mary Hall, 1885-1887 Kate Slaught, 1890-1894 Marie Kumler, 1894-1895 Jan Marlay, 1894-1895 Grace A. Greene, 1895-1925 Maude Slaught, 1925-1932

The school gave rudimentary education to those women who wished to become teachers. Between 1869 and 1932, the degree requirements changed from a one-year to a three-year program.

Grace A. Greene was born 7 April 1861 in Logan County, Ohio. Her parents, Benjamin F. and Grace Hunkins Greene, moved to the Dayton area in 1866. Ms. Greene graduated from Central High School in 1880 and attended Wellesly College in Massachusetts for three years.

Ms. Greene was a grade school teacher in the Dayton Public Schools until 1889. She travelled abroad for fourteen months during 1893 and 1894 to augment her education at a variety of technical schools. Ms. Greene became the Principal of the Dayton Normal School in 1895.

Ms. Greene has been remembered by her pupils for her tremendous energy, talent and unique style. There are many articles in the collection which describe her devotion to the aducation of women teachers.

In addition to teaching and holding down the post of principal, Ms. Greene was a charter member of the Helen Hunt Club and the Young Woman’s League. She also taught Sunday School at the First Baptist Church for twenty years.

The first half hour of any day at the teacher’s college began with a payer or a poem, some written by Ms. Greene. She published a volume of poems that she shared with her students each day before the lessons began. That volume, The Golden Treasury of Grace A. Greene, was published in December of 1925, two months before her death from cancer.