Brandywine Stories: Purple and Gold
Photos courtesy of the Chester County History CenterScenes from West Chester University's story

When the words “Chester County history” are mentioned, many images come to mind — “Quakers,” “Women’s Rights,” “Underground Railroad.” But one of the keystones of this county’s history is its strong and consistent emphasis on education, and an important building block is West Chester University.
Early Years: Training Educators

One-room schoolhouses proliferated in our region in the 18th and early 19th centuries. But things changed dramatically in 1834 when Governor George Wolf signed into law Pennsylvania’s Free School Bill, paving the way for the commonwealth’s first public schools. With the rise of publicly funded education came a resulting demand for qualified teachers. Later in 1857, the state legislature passed a law dividing Pennsylvania into 12 districts and urged each district to construct a school specifically for training teachers.
Where would the vast number of new teachers required for the public schools be trained? It turns out West Chester University — originally founded in 1812 as a private school called West Chester Academy — had a pivotal role in educating the new educators.
In 1870, a cornerstone was laid for the first of many green serpentine buildings at what would next become West Chester Normal School. (The term “normal school” comes from the French école normale, a school where future educators were trained in model teaching practices.)
The Normal School welcomed its first class of 160 students in 1871. More than 20 years passed before the faculty, among many other things, chose the school’s official colors — purple and gold. Though the school colors remain the same today, the faculty’s dubious school yell of “Hoo! Rah! Rah!, Hoo! Ray! Ray!, Rah! Rah! Rah!, Rah! He!, S.N.S.!, W.C.!” has fallen by the wayside. More trivia: early mascots included a dog named Puck and a goat named Elmer before the school settled on the Golden Ram in the 1960s.
The evolution continued. In 1960, the Normal School became West Chester State College, and then in 1983, it adopted its current name: West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
Famous Guests and Alumni
The Normal School welcomed many influential figures over the years. These included future President Theodore Roosevelt, who gave a lecture titled “Our Native Land” in January 1896, and suffragist Henrietta G. Moore, who spoke to a large crowd of men and women in the school’s chapel in February 1898.
One of the most notable and frequent visitors was Frederick Douglass, the famed abolitionist, activist and political leader. In 1895, Douglass delivered his last public speech at West Chester’s campus. In his “Against Lynch Law” address, Douglass advocated for a federal law to make lynching a federal crime, warning of the dangers it posed to law and order in the country. Douglass died less than three weeks later, and more than 125 years before this country enacted an anti-lynching law in 2022.
West Chester University has also produced notable alumni. A recent highprofile alum is Dr. Jill Biden, the former first lady who earned her master’s degree in education in 1981. Another is Michael Brune, former Sierra Club executive director, who earned dual degrees in economics and finance in 1993.
Other notable alumni include:
- Philip M. Sharpless (1857–1944), who founded the largest industrial enterprise in West Chester’s history, the Sharples Separator Company, which produced machines used to separate heavy cream from milk.
- Cathy Rush (b. 1947), who earned degrees in 1968 and 1972, and coached basketball at nearby Immaculata University, where she led the Mighty Macs to three consecutive national championships and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
- Marian Elizabeth Washington (b. 1946), who coached women’s basketball at the University of Kansas for over 30 years and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
- Lee Woodall (b. 1969), who played eight seasons in the National Football League, including as a rookie for the San Francisco 49ers during the 1994 season when they won Super Bowl XXIX.
Finally, let’s not forget the contributions of Donald Yetter Gardner, who earned a bachelor’s degree in music and in 1944 penned the classic holiday song “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.”
A Legacy of Learning
While West Chester University’s popular major — early childhood education — hearkens back to its origins as a Normal School, today WCU is the largest state-owned university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with more than 17,000 students, and is the sixth largest university in the state. Through its history and contributions, West Chester University continues to build the legacy of learning in our region.
Serpentine

Ever wondered why there are greenish buildings on West Chester University’s campus? It’s from the serpentine stone.
A prime example is the first building of West Chester Normal School, called “Old Main,” designed by architect Addison Hutton, who had a penchant for using serpentine. The serpentine used in Old Main, the largest serpentine building in the world, came from nearby Brinton’s quarry, which also supplied stone for many fine homes in West Chester, including the famous “Four Sisters” on Virginia Avenue.
As the university grew and new buildings were added, they too boasted the unique green hue that made the campus distinctive. But because of serpentine stone’s tendency to absorb water, leading to accelerated deterioration, it’s rarely used now as a building material.
This article was a collaboration between Jennifer Green, Director of Education at Chester County History Center, and Sarah Wagner, Outreach Officer for the Chester County Community Foundation, who are working to gather community support for Chesco 250. The Brandywine Stories series brings awareness to the expansive history and culture of Chester County, building excitement for 2026, the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.