WHEN WE WERE NORMAL
A Historical Augmented Reality Walking Tour
Color and Design Can Make Learning a Joy
LOCATION: Forthcoming
Florence Conlon was younger than some of her students when she was teaching in a classroom at Fitchburg Normal School and she would spend 42 years teaching here. She was 17 years old when she first taught in a classroom at Fitchburg Normal School in 1919. She had just finished her own two-year course but she didn't obtain her degree because Fitchburg Normal School was not granted to give degrees yet.
For most of her career, the art department at Fitchburg was not really a department at all. It was just her, doing everything. She was the primary leader and head of the Fine Arts Department for the entire 42 years she worked there. She was the only art professor on staff. She provided all of the art instructions while it was transitioning from a normal school to a teacher's college. This was also the reason why the alumni bypassed the system and fought for her name to be engraved on the Fine Industrial Arts Building.
She believed “Color and Design Can Make Learning a Joy" and the objective of that was to show students that the process of learning art can be engaging and personal. This belief was taught in Florence's new Curriculum where students did woodworking, metalworking, painting, and linoleum prints. This was a departure from the old curriculum, “handwork and drawing”, which was nicknamed "Spots" by the alumni. In the old curriculum, students dissected flowers and enlarged their parts on paper, which was a repetitive exercise. Conlon thought that it would be better to replace a curriculum dedicated to drawing with one more focused on working with your hands. She believed that this would allow students to express themselves more.
There were a lot of milestones in her career, beginning in 1935 when she earned her Bachelor of Education from Boston University, sixteen years into her teaching career. She continued her studies while working and earned her Master’s degree from the same university in 1941. Later, in 1957, she spoke publicly about how important it is to teach art to students with special needs.
Conlon also loved to travel, and all the places she visited related to what she was studying: English literature, art, and history. London University involved her studying all of those subjects, and she also made a woodblock print of the Ely Cathedral while she was there. Other than England, she traveled through all parts of Europe, Canada, and Mexico. After retiring in 1961, she took a Caribbean cruise on the Israeli ship Shalom, visiting St. Thomas and San Juan. She also traveled to New York in 1937 to take students to an Eastern States Education Conference, and then she led the group to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. She went to Washington, D.C. to serve as the chairman of the “Meet the Senators Committee” for the National Art Education Association. Frequently, she traveled through Massachusetts and
Connecticut, often with her Pekingese dog.
In this footage, below, Florence Conlon makes an appearance in the video on the quad of the Fitchburg campus. In the video, we see students ice skating, typing, and making models. Conlon is likely the one recording most of the footage. It is believed that after watching all of her traveling videos, she probably recorded all of this for herself, documenting her travels. Then, of course, she recorded her students doing their hobbies and learning. She likely documented this for herself, but to also put it in the archives. She probably loves to document her favorite things and wants to share how much joy art brings her and her students!
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