| 1850 |
 Horace Mann, considered "the father of the American common school," was an influential leader of the school reform movement and a vocal supporter of the cause of normal schools. Before he was appointed Massachusetts' first secretary of education, he practiced law and was a state legislator.
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| 1853 |
The General Court authorizes founding of a normal school in Essex County.
A Board of Education subcommittee reviews possible locations for the new school. From a pool including Chelsea, Groveland, and North Andover, Salem is selected. Salem chooses the site of the former county registry of deeds at the corner of Broad and Summer Streets as the new home for the normal school.  |
| 1854 |
Richard Edwards appointed first president (then called principal) of the Salem Normal School.
The Salem Normal School building is dedicated on September 14th. The first class of seventy-two students begins the school year on September 15th. The faculty is comprised of Edwards, Martha Kingman, and E. Ripley Blanchard, a part-time music instructor. |
| 1855 |
Over 200 spectators witness the first end of term  examinations on February 12 and 13th. Students are called upon to answer questions about geometry, physiology, reading, grammar, geography, and logic; they also deliver and then critique literary passages.
The first African-American student, Charlotte L. Forten of Philadelphia, enters with the second class in March. |
| 1856 |  Salem introduces an advanced program, which leads to a second diploma. It is intended to prepare teachers for secondary-level instruction. The first graduation ceremony takes place in February with fifty members of the first class receiving their diplomas. The Salem Normal School Alumnae Association is formed. The first catalog is issued.
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| 1857 | The First Salem Normal School Alumnae Association triennial convention is held. Richard Edwards resigns at the end of September to take a job at the new normal school in St. Louis, Missouri. Alpheus Crosby becomes the 2nd president on October 29th. He joins a faculty consisting of three full-time assistants and one part-time music instructor. The General Court of the Commonwealth abolishes all statutory references limiting high school teaching to men; enrollment in the advanced program at Salem Normal School increases. |
| 1858 | Crosby hires three more faculty members and makes calisthenics a mandatory part of the curriculum in order to improve student health. Crosby divides the school into departments with each faculty member taking responsibility for a particular subject. |
| 1859 |  Crosby splits the curriculum into five divisions: professional courses, courses directly related to subjects taught in the common schools, cultural enrichment courses, student teaching, and courses related to subjects taught at the upper secondary level.
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| Forward to the 1860s |