| Summary: | Expanding public education as a means to ensure progress and happiness was one of the most widespread late-eighteen century illustrated ideals, and Bourbon reformers carried this ambition all the way to New Spain 's distant frontiers. The community of Chihuahua, a mining and merchant center which alternated with Durango as capital of New Vizcaya, adopted this ideal, offering the means to establish its first public school. This article describes how the financing, building, furniture, teacher and school supplies were obtained, considering also issues such as management, definition of norms, contents, and tasks, student selection and advancement, supervision of the teacher by town officials, testing, and the relations between the school and the community and public authorities. This article offers a whole panorama, from the antecedents and the problems encountered in creating the school, to the period of inertia which led to the first teacher's eventual discharge. The author concludes by assessing the school's later influence and its importance for different population sectors.
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