During the 1920s growth in the Normal and stability of the Geography program occurred. Prior to this time, geography was anchored by one individual and numerous adjuncts or short-term appointments and long-term program development was limited. Jefferson was the Department and McFarlane was the Department before him. In Natural Science Sherzer was the geologist (1892-1932), offering most of the geology courses during a 40-year tenure.

Jefferson had a keen eye for talented students who frequently served as short-term facility. He stressed basic facts and concepts and after a year or two passed the more promising students on the graduate departments (Barton and Karan, 1992). These students were in many instances to become leaders in the field: Isaiah Bowman (1903-04), Darrell H. Davis (1905-08), Charles Colby (1906-08) and A. E. Parkins (1908-11). It was not until 1921 that the department attained a sense of unity. Margaret Sill (1921-1969) and Ella Wilson (1923-1939) both earned M. A.'s from Columbia Teacher's College and joined Jefferson, serving the department for 48 and 16 years respectively. The Natural Science Department that Sherzer headed included 10 faculty, nine student assistants and a florist gardener. Sherzer taught all the Geology courses (6) and supervised the remaining 52 courses among Agriculture, Botany, Hereditary and Evolution, Nature Study, Physiology and Hygiene, and Zoology. Geology, however, was not to see growth and an established identity until the mid-1960s.

Maps were the essence of geography to Jefferson. The 1929 MSNC Bulletin (p. 152) included a map illustrating a railroad web of Europe from The Civilizing Rails (Jefferson, 1928). The vignette is followed by a six-paragraph precis analyzing the map and a discourse on Geography.

This was indeed an elaborate introduction to the course offerings of the Geography Department. Maps were the first graphics, with the exception of campus photographs and sketches, in a Normal catalog. Other maps were presented as an overture to the department's offerings. The map represented a powerful and visually attractive tool for future teachers.

In the 1930s the emphasis continued to be regional. Of 21 courses offered, only nine were systematic (e.g. Physiography, Meteorology, Commercial Geography). Regional courses included continental offerings (e.g. Europe and Latin America) followed by upper level detailed regional offerings (e.g. Switzerland, France, Central Europe). Following the publication of The Civilizing Rails (1928) Jefferson annually offered Geography of Railways (Geo 416) because "Railways are the greatest civilizing factor of the century" (MSNC, 1930, p. 163-169).

By 1933-34 Major and Minor programs had been established. Nine courses were required for the Major in Geography, to include Principles of Geography, Physiography of the United States, Applied Geography, Geography of Commerce, Map Drawing ( not titled "cartography") and Asia, Field Geography or Geography of Michigan.

Jefferson was an intellectual force. He was elected president of the Association of American Geographers in 1916, published more articles in official publications of the A.G.S. than anyone before or since ( Personal communication, G. J. Martin, 1994). He ranks as one of the "Big Four" reviewers for that A.A.G.'s book review section. His notions concerning the civilizing rails, the ecumene, primate city, anthropogeography and six-six world map became a lingua franca to geographers everywhere. He taught 63 different courses while at the Normal (Figure 1).