Special Collections & Archives Henry B. Norton

"The second term, beginning in September, 1865, saw the Normal School with two teachers instead of one. Henry B. Norton, after whom "Norton Science Hall" was named, was the new teacher. He was 5 years older than I was, a tall, gangling, loosely built man, always reminding me of Abraham Lincoln, with a poetic nature, and of the most kindly disposition, and in many respects the most remarkable man that ever served on the faculty of this school." - From the memoirs of L. B. Kellogg

Born in Elba, New York, on February 22, 1836, Norton came to the Normal School in 1865 from Illinois, where he had attended the Illinois State Normal with Lyman Kellogg and had taught in public schools. He left Emporia in 1870 to help found Arkansas City, but returned to KSN in 1873. In addition to teaching, he was pastor of the Emporia Congregational Church. In 1875 he accepted a position at the San Jose Normal School, the first normal school in California. He died in California in 1885.