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The History of Louisiana Tech University began when the Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana was founded in Ruston, LA in 1894. The institute was founded to develop an industrial economy in the state of Louisiana. Four years later, the school was renamed the Louisiana Industrial Institute when Louisiana adopted the Constitution of 1898. When the Constitution of 1921 was passed, the school changed its name again to Louisiana Polytechnic Institute to reflect the school's evolution from a trade school into a larger and broader technical institute. Although the university was informally called Louisiana Tech for about five decades after the 1921 name change, it was not until 1970 when Louisiana Polytechnic Institute officially changed its name to Louisiana Tech University. Over the course of its history, the school grew from a small industrial institute with one building to a university with five colleges and an enrollment of around 11,800 students. ==Establishment of the University== After the end of Reconstruction in Louisiana in 1877, the only two notable universities in the state were Tulane University and Louisiana State University (LSU). A few small colleges populated the rural areas of north Louisiana, such as Mount Lebanon University in Mount Lebanon,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Identity & Mission | Louisiana College )〕 Keatchie Female College in Keachi,〔http://files.usgwarchives.org/la/desoto/misc/schools/messeng.txt〕 and Ruston College.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Page Not Found - City of Ruston )〕 The Louisiana state government began to support the creation of higher education colleges and universities across the state including the establishment of Southern University in 1880〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=SUBR.edu: History of Southern University )〕 and Louisiana State Normal School in 1884.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Northwestern State | History )〕 On May 14, 1894, one year after a fire destroyed the old Ruston College, the Lincoln Parish Police Jury held a special session to outline plans to establish an industrial institute for Lincoln Parish and to introduce the plans during the upcoming session of the Louisiana State Legislature. The police jury decided at the meeting to move forward with the plans and called upon the local State Representative George M. Lomax to introduce the legislation during the next session. During the legislative session, State Representatives Lomax and J. T. M. Hancock from Jackson Parish, and lawyer and future judge John B. Holstead fought for the passage of the proposed bill. On July 6, 1894, the legislature passed the bill as Act 68 of the General Assembly of Louisiana. The act established The Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana to be located in Ruston, LA. The institute was established "for the education of the white children of the State of Louisiana in the arts and sciences". The original skills to be taught at the industrial institute included telegraphy, stenography, drawing, industrial applications of designing and engraving, needlework, and bookkeeping. Because the school was the only state college north of Natchitoches, admission standards were lenient. Students who were admitted into the general preparatory class were required to be fourteen years of age and to be able to read, write, speak and spell with "tolerable correctness." The Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana named Colonel Arthur T. Prescott as the institute's first president in 1894.〔(Biography of Colonel Prescott )〕 Colonel Prescott, the former commandant of the student cadet organization at the University of Virginia, moved to Ruston to oversee the establishment of the industrial institute in Ruston. After the school secured $20,000 from the Louisiana Legislature, Lincoln Parish, and the City of Ruston and twenty acres of land through a donation by Francis P. Stubbs, Prescott led the school's efforts to construct the first buildings on the Tech campus. The first building constructed on the Tech Campus, The Old Main Building, was a two-story brick building that contained eight large classrooms, an auditorium, chemical laboratory, and two offices. Prescott also set aside a reading room in the Old Main Building furnished with tables, chairs, and 125 books donated from his own personal collection to serve as the school's first library〔(Beginnings of Prescott Library ).〕 A frame building was also built near the Old Main Building to be used for the instruction of mechanics. In 1898, Hale Hall was constructed as a two-story girls dormitory.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hale Hall )〕 During Colonel Prescott's five years at the institute, the school's student enrollment grew and the first diplomas were awarded. On September 23, 1895, the school held its first classes with six faculty members and 212 students from 22 parishes.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=School of Architecture - About )〕 Although there were no classes offered for music studies at first, student demand led to the administration offering courses in piano, voice, and violin.〔http://esr.lib.ttu.edu/bitstream/handle/2346/18572/31295000216266.pdf?sequence=1〕 For the 1897–1898 academic year, the student enrollment grew to 300 students while the faculty expanded to 12 teachers. In the spring of 1897, Colonel Prescott awarded the school's degree to Harry Howard. Harry Howard received a Bachelor of Industry degree after two years of study. Mr. Howard would become an instructor at the college as well as the College Treasurer and the Director of the Business Department for over 25 years.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Harry Howard )〕 The first graduation ceremony was held in 1898 when ten graduates received their diplomas at the Ruston Opera House.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=University Catalog 2011–2012 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Louisiana Tech University」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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