Aztec Timeline: A Chronology of All Things San Diego State > 1910

1913

Henrietta Goodwin is the first African-American to graduate from San Diego Normal School. (January 30, 1913)

Normal school students vote to establish a student newspaper, “The Normal News Weekly.” (November 26, 1913)

1914

Irving Outcalt, head of the English and Literature Department at the normal school, writes the play Admetus, which will become a popular yearly production for the institution.

At midnight on New Year’s Eve in the nation’s capital, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson presses a Western Union telegraph key which illuminates Balboa Park, sets off fireworks, and officially opens the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego.  The San Diego Normal School plays a major role in the exposition, participating in programs, designing exhibits, performing theatrical events, and offering summer courses in conjunction with the international festival. (December 31, 1914)

1918

At the tail end of World War I, the 1918 flu pandemic ravages the world; over 50 million die across the globe, including over 600,000 in the U.S. and 368 in San Diego.  The San Diego City Council imposes a strict quarantine; even once it is rescinded residents are still required to wear gauze masks in public to restrict the spread of the disease.  Unlike other influenza epidemics, this particular strain is especially devastating to healthy young adults—especially those of a college-going age—, compounding the massive human losses from World War I.