John Ogden was from out east where he was president of the Hopedale Normal School in Ohio. At age 19, while working as a blacksmith, he broke his arm. Unable to work at his trade for quite some time, he entered teaching, and found it so rewarding that he made it his life's work. Ogden was clearly a well-qualified individual to oversee the new school when it was opened for admission on Sept. 2, 1860. Winona State Normal School was founded in 1858, and during the following 18 months the curriculum was created, the faculty recruited, and class meeting space arranged. Prior to coming to Minnesota, Ogden studied and taught in the Ohio Wesleyan University, was principal of a school in Columbus, Ohio, and later president of the Hopedale Normal School. Principal Ogden declared that education is not merely the acquisition of knowledge, "but the development of the whole character of the individual, physically, educationally, morally, and religiously." At the first American Normal School Association convention in 1859 and he brought the ideals of education to the Midwest where he became president of the Winona Normal School 1860-1862. Ogden and the Winona community raised $7,000 for the placement and structure of the first normal school west of the Mississippi River, Winona Normal School. He had courage for moving west of the Mississippi River. He helped teach the children of settlers what they needed to know, and created teachers to teach those children. He could have taught anywhere, but he chose to brave the unknown that was the west of the Mississippi River. Ogden also had courage when he decided to resign only two years after the school opened to fight for the Union in the Civil War. He fought for the abolition of slavery, he must've believed it was wrong, and had the courage to leave the school to fight for it. Immediately following the inaugural Normal School Association convention, Ogden would become Winona State Normal School's first principal. Principal John Ogden resigned to fight in the Civil War. He ended his resignation letter with the words, "My brethren and fellow teachers are in the field. Some of them, the bravest and the best, have already fallen. Their blood will do more to cleanse this nation than their teaching would. So will mine." The Civil War, and Ogden's resignation to fight for the Union, caused Winona's normal school to close for nearly three years. It reopened in 1864 under the guidance of Phelps, who was principal until 1876.

3/17/2023:
Suggested edit: John Ogden was a professor of education. Among the many normal schools he worked in were Winona Normal School (Minn.) before the Civil war and after the war at Fisk University (its first administrator) which at that time served freedmen. He was an abolitionist and strong supporter of black education, attempting to hold out against separate black and white schooling in the post-war world. He was courageous and fully involved in public education deep in to his old age. His second wife was also a dedicated teacher.
Contributor: Linda Bryan (48350559)