Samuel Thorburn Black Memorial Collection

University Archives

MS-0372

Library and Information Access

San Diego State University

5500 Campanile Drive

San Diego, CA 92182-8050

Extent
0.6 linear feet (1 document storage box, 1 half-sized document storage box.)

Copyright
The copyright interests in the materials found in this collection belong to San Diego State University. Special Collections and University Archives can only grant permission to publish materials for which it is the copyright holder. For further information, please consult the section on copyright in the rules for using collections, or contact the United States Copyright Office at (202) 707-3000 or http://www.copyright.gov.

Preferred Citation
Identification of item, folder title, box number, San Diego State University Samuel Thorburn Black Memorial Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Library and Information Access, San Diego State University.

Processing Information
Processed by Ellen Jarosz and Priscilla Lopez, September 2006.

Contact Information
Special Collections and University Archives
Library and Information Access
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-8050

Abstract
The first president of San Diego Normal School, Samuel T. Black was selected for the post by the Normal School's Board of Trustees in October 1898. He served as president until 1910. Having previously been State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and having had numerous other administrative and teaching appointments throughout California, he entered the position with extensive experience. He brought professional activism and many solid connections in the educational world.

Black was born in 1846, in northern England, to Scottish parents. He came to the United States in search of an uncle the family had lost touch with, and upon finding him in Wisconsin, decided to stay in the US. Though he spent his first year teaching in the Midwest, he eventually traveled to California, arriving in San Francisco in 1868. Mr. Black had two children, the second of whom, Pauline Black, followed him into the teaching profession, and taught at the Normal School for several years. In 1910 she and her father took a trip around the world.

On September 1, 1910, Mr. Black officially stepped down as San Diego Normal School's president. Enrollment had increased from 83 students the first year to nearly 400. The original seven members of the teaching faculty that Black had assembled remained largely intact, and the addition of several new faculty members brought the total number of instructors to 19. From 1913-1916 Black served as a member of the Board of Education of the City of San Diego. He died in San Diego, March 23, 1917.

This collection documents both Black and his presidency, and includes correspondence, financial records, annual reports, Pauline Black's diary, and a scrapbook of the trip Mr. Black and his daughter took around the world.

Subject Access Terms
San Diego State University.
Black, Samuel T.
College presidents-California.

Related Collections at San Diego State University
SDSU Historical Collection
Walter R. Hepner Memorial Collection
Malcolm A. Love Papers
Thomas B. Day Papers
Stephen R. Weber Papers
Edward L. Hardy Memorial Collection

Box	Folder
		Series I, Working Files
1	1	Certificate of Admission to the Bar, 1877
	2	Correspondence, 1899-1910
	3	Diaries of Pauline T. Black (Daughter)
	4	Faculty Resolution After Resignation, June 1910
	5	Financial Data, 1900-1907
	6	Glover’s Invitation, 1914
	7	Obituary, Normal News, 1917
	8	Publications
	9	Report of the President, 1906, 1907, 1910
	10	Requests for Funds, 1899
	11	Copies Scrapbook
	12	Scrapbook
	13	Scrapbook
	14	Copies Scrapbook
2	1	Scrapbook
	2	University Club of San Diego – Complimentary Dinner Program, September 5, 1910
	3	Visit to Europe, 1910-1911
	4	Zlac Rowing Club Book, 1922