Chico State University Yearbook: The Normal Record

The Record is an unsurpassed source for the history and culture of the university. The online collection The Record. Chico State University Yearbook now contains all the volumes (1896-1997). 

The Normal Record, from 1896 to 1919 are scanned and enhanced by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) which allows this resource to be full text searchable. The 1920 to 1997 Records, are continuously being digitized and processed, so some may be searchable, and some may not. Do continue to check Chico Digital Collections for updates.

The Record served the Associated Students as both a commencement program AND as a student magazine. Many of the earlier issues are filled with student articles, poetry, and illustrations. After a few years, the editors formalized featured columns

• Alumni Notes

• Record Staff

• Chico Normal School class officers

• "Joshes" or Jokes section

The Chico State Associated Students began publishing the Record on a monthly basis in March 1896, running concurrently with the Normal School year, with the campus closed during the Summer months of July and August. In Autumn 1908, citing the difficulty of managing the Normal Record business along with balancing coursework, the editors of the magazine shifted from a monthly to quarterly publication cycle. In June 1912, the editorial staff chose to shift from a quarterly publication to biannual. Finally in The Record attained its recognizable “yearbook” form when it began to be published annually in 1919. When the school became Chico State College in 1922, the Normal Record became the Record. The Record was then published annually until 1970, when, due to rising costs, publication of the yearbook ceased. It was revived again in 1976 and sustained publication until 1997 when the last edition was printed. It was revived again in 1976 and sustained publication until 1997 when the last edition was printed

Here are some interesting and noteworthy articles which have appeared in the Normal Record over the years: