AN Industrial School and School for Manual Training was established at Ellendale by the Constitutional Convention of 1889, with a land grant of 40,000 acres of the public lands. In the Legislature of 1893 a law was passed authorizing the governor to appoint a board of three trustees for the school. This board consisting of J. W. Bishop, Ed. N. Leiby and Dr. M. F.  Merchant, all of the city of Ellendale, was appointed, and one of its first duties was to accept a donated site and land for the new school.

In 1889, Ellendale was about seven years old-a treeless prairie town in the pioneer stage. Nevertheless, the citizens were eager to get the school started, and in 1893 they raised by subscription a fund of $600.00 with which they purchased and donated to the school forty acres of land to be used as the site of the buildings. On looking up the best location for the buildings it was discovered that a better site could be obtained a little further north and nearer town, so the new Board purchased about two acres of land adjacent to the donated tract, paying for the new land in most part from their own pockets.

With this land secured the Legislature could be asked for an appropriation to erect a building. The law governing the organization of the school was changed in 1897, and a new Board of five members were appointed, consisting of J. W. Christian of Forman, T. H. Faus of Ludden, Dr. C. J.  Sturgeon of Edgeley, T. W. Millham and B. R. Crabtree of Ellendale.

In the fall of 1898 ground was broken and a basement wall constructed, and in 1899 the first building was erected, now called the Home Economics Building. Fifteen Thousand Dollars was the first legislative appropriation and that was to cover the cost of the building, buy the equipment and pay all expenses including the teachers' salaries for the two years. It can be imagined how elastic that fifteen thousand dollars had to be to cover all these items. The dedication of the first building was in charge of the Masonic Order of Ellendale, Grand Master George H. Keyes of the State Lodge laying the corner stone. The principal address was given by J. H.  Worst, who at that time was President of the Agricultural College at Fargo.

It is a matter of pride that when this school opened its doors in September, 1899, North Dakota had founded the only free manual training school in the United States, and was the first and only one of the higher institutions of learning in North Dakota to open in its own building.

School opened under the supervision of Warren E. Hicks, its first president, with a faculty of three other members. A. E. Dunphy was the instructor in Manual Arts, Lillian E. Tingle in Household Arts and Ellen S.  Anderson in Fine Arts. The enrollment the first day was forty, and the total for the year reached 160. A fourth teacher had to be added in 1900, and the first class was graduated in 1901, consisting of three young women;-Minnie Fait, Flora Millham and Ina Randall.

By this time the one building was inadequate for the large number of students and the variety of school work presented. Being unable to secure an appropriation from the Legislature, President Hicks, with the help of the Board, enlisted the services of Congressman Thomas F. Marshall and negotiated a loan of thirty-five thousand dollars from Andrew Carnegie, giving him notes or warrants, signed by officers of the Board and purporting to be secured by the land grant of forty thousand acres by which the school had been endowed by the constitution of the new state. With this money the second building known as Carnegie Hall was erected in 1902-03.

As this school was required to give instruction in Military Science the Legislature of 1905 made an appropriation for the erection of an Armory.  This necessitated the remodeling of the heating plant, so a power house, just large enough to house such a plant was constructed. This was later enlarged to provide for a machine shop and in 1911 was further rebuilt to make the large two-story building and power house known as the Mechanic Arts Building. To afford better opportunities in mechanic arts a foundry for iron and brass work was built in 1911. At the time of the remodeling of the power plant an electric unit was installed which has furnished current for lighting and power for the school.

The attendance at the school was increasing rapidly. Dormitory accommodations were provided for the girls on the upper floors of Carnegie Hall, with a dining room in the basement. These accommodations were not adequate, so in 1907 more land at the head of Main Street was purchased and a beautiful building was built and christened Dacotah Hall. Besides the regular dormitory rooms for the girls it contains a spacious and beautifully furnished parlor, reception rooms, apartments for the matron and Dean of Women, a special room for many of the school societies and the dining room and equipment for the school boarding department.

To meet the demand for teachers of the industrial subjects normal training was added to the curriculum of the school and definite plans in this field were made in 1903. The Legislature of 1907 attempted to define the purpose and field of the different state schools. With this in view the name of the school at Ellendale was changed from the Industrial School and School for Manual Training to that of the State Normal and Industrial School and its purpose widened to include the training of teachers for the public schools. Under the re-modification of the school laws in 1911, the double purpose of the school was recognized, and the survey of 1916 recommended that the school train teachers for the public schools and continue to function in the industrial subjects.

In 1917 a Demonstration Rural School was erected on the campus.  For two years this served as a school for the pupils of the eastern half of Ellendale township, and then was used for several months in the early summer and in the fall for a public kindergarten, proving most successful.  The State Normal and Industrial School entered into an arrangement with the Ellendale City Schools-one of the best in the state-and the cadet teachers of the Normal Department do practice work in the grades and junior high school.

The school continued under the administration of a board of five trustees until July, 1915, at which time the newly created State Board of Regents took over the management of this school with the others of the state until July, 1919, when all the higher institutions of learning passed into the control of the State Board of Administration.

The first president of the school was Warren E. Hicks, who served in that relation until 1905, at which time Wm. M. Kern from Nebraska entered upon the presidency and served six years, or until 1911. For the school year of 1911-1912  Mr. A. E. Dunphy, the head of the Mechanics Arts Department, served as acting president. Mr. A. S. Kingsford, from the Moorhead Normal, was president for the school year of 1912-1913.  He was followed by Mr. W. E. Johnson from the Aberdeen Normal, who served one year and was called back to Aberdeen, at which time Mr. R. M.  Black from the State School of Science was called to the presidency, a position which he is still holding (1929).

Beginning with the original faculty of three there have been a number of excellent instructors added until the number has reached twenty-two on the campus staff and nine in the practice school. The tendency has been to ward long service and consequently an excellent school spirit as well as high efficiency in instruction and attainment has been built up. The courses offered and the diplomas awarded show that the scope of the school is exceptionally broad and practical. An expression of the purpose of the school might be;-How to operate and repair farm machinery, how to construct buildings properly, how to maintain the fertility of the soil, how to eliminate disease, how to safeguard health by preparing wholesome food, how to manage a home efficiently and economically, how to train the hands as well as the head, and how to teach the most efficient school. It has been a school that has taught things, a teaching that equips a person for life.

Founded as a school for the people it has been a living symbol of democracy. It excludes no one. Its courses are so varied that while some require high school training for admittance, there are others open to the eighth grade student, who in addition to academic training may wish to take a course in carpentry, blacksmithing, agriculture, home economics, music, painting, drawing or in some phase of business or industrial work for which a special aptitude or ability is shown. The alumni now number about nine hundred, a group of people who have had excellent success in their life work so far, and exemplify the training received at this practical school. This does not include the many others who have been inspired and helped by the school but did not have the privilege of completing for the diploma. The attendance has averaged about three hundred in recent years, a number not so large but that a personal acquaintance can be maintained between teachers and pupils, a condition that fosters the human side of education. Since 1921 the summer session has been one of twelve weeks, making the fourth quarter for the year and in this way affording opportunity for many young people who have to make their own way by teaching through the school year.

In 1920 the school became a member of the American Association of Teachers Colleges, in this way becoming one of the teacher training schools of the nation. In 1926 the school was inspected by a representative of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and was approved and admitted to membership in this standard classifying agency.  In 1928 it was given rating of Class A by the American Association upon inspection by one of its officers.

The Legislature of 1925 passed a law authorizing the State Board of Administration to expend the curricula of the school to four years and grant its graduates the Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Education.  Approval of the Board was given in 1926 and on June 9,1927 the first degree class was graduated, consisting of Hugh L. Demmer, Frances M. Haskins, Clifford L. Herness, Ethel A. Lindeman, Burdette McKinney, and Helen Hazel Meachen. Since then twenty others have received the degree in 1927 and 1928.

With its record in the World War and the large number of its graduates in this and other states the school is keeping faith with the vision of its founders and is one of the important factors in education not only in Dickey County but in North Dakota.

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