HomeMy WebLinkAboutSLO What November 2016
History of San Luis Obispo
Joseph A. Carotenuti
City Historian/Archivist
When President Theodore Roosevelt briefly mentioned the founding of the California Polytechnic School in
his hour-long visit to San Luis Obispo in 1903, the institution already had a long, notable history.
Today, its most remarkable achievement has not been its students, staff and touting millions in gifts or sprawling
acreage and buildings…but its beginning. The concept of an institution for advanced education that did not
follow the classic route prevalent in America at the time was a very daring experiment. Not that learning from
the masters in literature and art, the great minds of science and theology or the men and women who had
advanced civilization was somehow wrong. It has always been a valid learning method. However, then and
now, everyone benefits from using both their intellect and hands in their daily pursuits. As a friend once
remarked about the highly educated and trained crews valiantly going into space: “Someone has to know how
to use a screwdriver.”
For local legend, Myron Angel, the original concept to best serve the future was to provide for the teaching of
teachers. As sound as the thought was, the demands for its implementation was anything but simple. Angel’s
altruism – as too often happens – ran head-on into reality. In the end, Myron wasn’t successful but the defeat
of one goal was the beginning of an even greater quest.
And quest it was. He knew he needed Sacramento and its haven for politicians to be successful. Combine reality
with legislation and the end result can be devastating. To begin with, more powerful lobbies than the reclusive
central coast wanted the same thing: normal schools. In the end, San Diego, Chico, San Jose, Los Angeles and
San Francisco received funding for normal schools. The central coast was allowed to keep its dreams. Indeed,
Myron quickly adopted a new one.
Angel knew the revised goal for San Luis Obispo at the turn
of the twentieth century “was in advance of the times.” Being
in advance of the times is what visionaries do…that’s why
there are so few. It’s tough enough to contend with the
present, let alone the future. Nonetheless, it is the visionaries
who stake out the path followed by most of us. Today,
educational practicality locally has its own shrines, but over
a century ago, planning for a polytechnic school was both
enterprising and audacious.
A “practical” education would have been dearly appreciated
as the local legend vividly recalled a memorable episode
from his earlier life. Cold, discouraged and desperate, the
young Angel needed a job. “I walked the streets of San
Francisco, penniless, ragged, and hungry.” When offered
work - to shingle a roof for $8 per hour – he was forced to
decline as “I never drove a nail in my life.” Decades later, he
knew “…a school here which will teach the hand as well as
the head…” was a noble idea.
Thus, “learning by doing” was born…almost stillborn in the
birthing rooms of Sacramento
Contact: jacarotenuti@gmail.com 9/2016
HISTORY of SAN LUIS OBISPO