History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 39

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928

USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 39

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In 1853 a school for young ladies, called the Bascom Institute, was opened. It was under the auspices of the Pacific Conference of the M. E. Church and was managed by nine trus- tees. Mrs. R. C. Hammond was the first prin- cipal. She was succeeded by Samuel Lea, with Orrin Hinds as assistant. The institu- tion prospered until 1859.

The first common school was organized by a committee of citizens in March, 1853, and was taught by Rev. Horace Richardson. In June of the same year the committee opened another school in the Baptist Church and em- ployed Orrin Hinds as teacher.

Of those whom the discovery of gold brought to this coast, a large proportion were men of liberal education, many of them col- legians and fit to take the highest rank in the various professions. By reason of their in- telligence and mental culture these men were put to the front in public affairs. They deter- mined that the new state should have every facility for popular education that could be afforded. Legislation on the subject com- menced early and was characterized by a spirit of liberality which was met with enthusiasm by the people at large. As a result of this legislation Santa Clara County was, in 1855. divided into sixteen school districts. Having a large number of educated men to draw upon for a supply of teachers, the schools from the start became wonderfully efficient. The lib- eral salaries paid teachers attracted the best educational talent from the older states, and almost from the beginning the common schools of California took rank with the very best in the Union. Especially was this the case in Santa Clara County, where the lib- eral appropriations of the state were supple- mented by equally liberal ones from the county funds.

The San Jose Schools

From an interesting history of the San Jose high school written by Judge Perley F. Gos-

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bey, himself a former teacher and president of the board of education, the following ex- cerpts are taken :

The first mention of a high school in the city of San Jose appears in the minutes of the board of education under date of December 12, 1865, when the superintendent of schools was instructed by the board to purchase five chairs for the use of the high school. At this time the public schools of the city were held in various parts of the city, in small houses. They were located in St. James Square, Wash- ington Square, on Thirteenth Street, and on Market Street. There was also a one-room building. The school which gradually grew into and was finally named a high school, was located on the Fourth Street side of Wash- ington Square, where the Normal grounds now are, and faced San Antonio Street. It con- sisted of one room, but there were no certifi- cates of graduation or diplomas issued to those who completed the course of study. There was another school, consisting of two rooms, located in the second story of a block on the north side of Santa Clara Street, between Sec- ond and Third streets, in what was known as Armory Hall.

The early records show that the board of education was composed of six members, who were elected from two districts. District No. ] was located in the southern part of the city. while District No. 2 was in the northern part. Each district elected three trustees.

In January, 1867, the board took the first steps for purchasing six lots on the north side of Santa Clara Street, between Sixth and. Seventh streets, for the location of a new schoolhouse, and during that year the mayor and common council, together with the board of education, purchased the site and adopted plans for building the Santa Clara Street schoolhouse, which was subsequently called the Horace Mann School. This building was occupied by both the high and grammar schools, and on August 18, 1868, the board of education prescribed the first course of study for the high school, which was as follows: Wilson's Fifth Reader, Russell and Murdock's Vocal Culture, Robinson's High Arithmetic. Robinson's Elementary Algebra, Korles' Grammar, Warren's Physical Geography. Quackenbos' Philosophy, Quackenhos' His- tory C. S., Wilson's Larger Speller, Cutler's Anatomy. Wood's Botany, Porter's Chemis- try, Robinson's Elementary Geometry, Pay- son and Dutton's Bookkeeping. The high school course of study was for two years. On January 17, 1870, the board of education au- thorized the teaching of Latin in the high school. In 1871 the board of education pre- scribed as a course of study for the high school

the following: Reading, spelling, English grammar, physical geography, arithmetic, al- gebra, physiology, U. S. history, natural phil- osophy, bookkeeping, rhetoric and astronomy. There were then but two years in the high school course, and in 1873 the first formal graduating exercises took place, diplomas be- ing awarded the graduates. In this class there were eight who received diplomas. Their names were: Kate Tower, Mary Bowman, Belle Churchill, Frances Freeman, M. C. Har- ris, Angelo Heinlen, William Lucky and Charles Moore. In 1877 the course of study was increased from two to three years, and in 1897 it was extended to four years.

In 1897 a new school building was erected on Washington Square to meet the demands and requirements which were so urgent at that time. This was a three-story building, constructed of brick and stone, which was shaken down and demolished by the earth- quake of April 18, 1906. The destruction of the building made it necessary to accommo- date the high school in the Lincoln school building, which was done by holding half-day sessions for the grammar and primary school and a half-day session for the high school. From and after the destruction of the high school building in 1906 to the end of the school vear 1907-08, work in the high school was ar- duous and unsatisfactory, both on the part of the teachers and students, but by hard, per- sistent and patient labor, the school was kept well together, and for the year 1907-08 the largest class in the history of the school was graduated from it.

After the high school building had been wrecked by the earthquake the board of edit- cation immediately began to make its plans for building a better and more up-to-date high school to meet the demands and needs of the times, They resorted to a bond election and the citizens of San Jose, by an overwhelming vote, bonded the school district of San Jose for $175,000 in the first issue for bonds for the building, and an additional $20,000 for furnishing and equipping said building, as well as laying out the grounds and sidewalks. The board was particularly fortunate in the selec- tion of Mr. F. S. Allen of Pasadena as archi- tect of this new building. The plans, arrange- ments and equipment are very elaborate and complete, and the citizens of San Jose may rightfully boast of now having one of the best high schools in California. On Thursday, June 18, 1908, the first exercises were held in the new building, when a class of one hundred students were graduated from the high school, the exercises being held in the new auditorium.

During the summer months the finishing touches were put upon the building; furni-

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ture, apparatus and appliances were installed, and on the opening of the school in Septem- ber, 1908, there was a finely equipped high school for the education of the boys and girls of the city of San Jose.

Within the last decade the people of Cali- fornia have come to recognize the expediency of perpetuating this early style of architecture and to see in it many advantages not found in the types of construction requisite in more se- vere climates. Many buildings, both public and private, are now patterned after the ideas of the Mission Fathers. This is particularly true of the public schools, which, with their large rooms and the necessity of wide and ex- tensive passages, lend themselves most admir- ably to this manner of building.

The San Jose high school is perhaps the first high school building constructed on the university plan. It consists of five separate and distinct buildings, so grouped and con- nected as to form one general whole. The administration building, with its massive tow- ers. is the central feature: on either side are the classical and science buildings ; at the rear of these are the domestic science and manual arts buildings. They are all of the same type of architecture, with rough cement plaster ex- teriors and red tile roofs, and are connected by three cloisters. One of these runs through the towers between the east and west en- trances and is crossed by the other two which extend from the classical and science build- ings to the rear end of the group. Each of these two side cloisters leading to the side en- trances of the assembly hall in the main build- ing. The east cloister also passes an open court around which are located the various departments of the manual arts building.

Beyond the front gateway is a patio abont 150 feet square, with broad concrete walks leading to the front buildings. The three great arches between the towers form an entrance to the main cloister, which stretches away to the right and left, nearly 150 feet in either direction. From this cloister a stairway ascends to the offices of the department of ed- ucation in the west tower. The location of these offices is so arranged that they in no way connect with the high school proper.

From the main entrance three large double doors open into the assembly room. This room is 112 feet in length and 97 feet in ex- treme width : it has a slanting floor one-half its length and is capable of seating 1200 peo- ple in opera chairs. It has seven pairs of outside double doors, two exits from the ends of the stage and one through the library con- necting on the right through a large archway. Five hundred of the opera chairs have tablet arm rests for study purposes and the room is

provided with reference reading tables and chairs. The 200 ceiling lamps are so arranged next to the arches as to shed a soft, mellow light toward the stage, permitting no light to shine directly in the eyes of the audience. The floor of this room, as well as of all the other rooms in the first story, is a peculiar kind of asphaltum imported from Germany, and is laid upon a heavy concrete base. It is water. fire and vermin proof, is easier to walk upon than wood or concrete, and embodies the high- est points of sanitation. The rooms of the sec- ond story are floored with polished Michigan hard maple.

In the principal's office stands a large, espe- cially designed Frick master clock, which au- tomatically rings the bells for class changes and operates the secondary clocks in the vari- ous rooms, affording synchronized time throughout all buildings. This clock auto- matically silences all bells from Friday even- ing until Monday morning and controls the current for charging the storage battery from which the energy is obtained for operating the clocks and bells. The storage battery is charged from the 110-volt alternating lighting service by means of a Sirch rectifier, and is the first installation of this kind ever used for this purpose.

This building, though only one story in height at first, was so planned that a second story was added, thus giving six additional class rooms. It contains the sewing and cook- ing rooms, with their special furniture ; kitchen, pantry, storeroom, a girls' dining- room fitted with tables and chairs, a girls' locker room fitted with steel lockers, and toi- lets, also a shower bath room with seven show- ers and ten dressing rooms. The walls and ceilings of these rooms are all finished in white enamel.

Besides numerous recitation rooms, the classical building contains the women teach- ers' room, the girls' rest room and the offices of the principal. The two stairways are of re- inforced concrete, while the interior walls are of steel studding, metal lath and plaster, thus making the building practically fireproof. However, at numerous places in the hallways are located fire hydrants and a fifty-foot length of fire hose. They are connected with the ar- tesian well and an electric pump. All class rooms are provided with closets for books and other necessaries, while the special rooms have many supply closets and storerooms.

The laboratories are equipped with chests of thirty-two small drawers for sundry sup- plies, and each instructor's laboratory and the principal's office has a sectional filing case for students' papers, letters, catalogues, etc.

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The manual arts building is located in the rear of the science building, and, like the do- mestic science building, was at first one story in height, but was raised an additional story. adding nine more class rooms. It contains an office for the department, a bench and lathe room for wood working, metal and machine room for metal working, two recitation rooms and a supply room ; also the boys' locker and bicycle room, with toilets, and a shower bath room with twelve showers and twenty dress- ing rooms, which, like those of the girls' side, have their walls and ceilings done in white enamel. Here also is located a small office for the use of the school paper published by the student body, and a boys' lunch room with a long lunch counter running from end to end.

The science lecture hall, the four science class rooms, the large assembly hall and the class rooms for history and English literature are all equipped with currents for lantern use ; the windows of these rooms are darkened with opaque black shades.

In the principal's outer office is located the central office of a modern telephone exchange which connects with all rooms of the five buildings and was the gift of the architect. There are also intercommunicating phones be- tween the science department, stage and boiler room, that can be used when the central ex- change is closed.

The electric plant which supplies lights and the different kinds of power for pumps, fans, air compressor and experimental work at the instructors' and students' tables in the eight science laboratories and science lecture hall, is believed to be one of the most complete of its kind ever built. The power is obtained from a 2300-volt alternating three-phase cur- rent and runs from the street through an un- derground iron conduit to a strictly fireproof transformer room adjoining the boiler room. Here it passes through three large transform- ers and enters the house as 110 and 220-volt alternating and three-phase current.

The fireproof boiler house, with white en- amel walls and ceilings, is located in the rear of the main building and contains two large oil-burning boilers that supply steam through an eight-inch main to the 8,000 feet of steam coils that stand in front of the two great steel ventilating fans, which by the aid of two ten- horse electric motors, supply the buildings with nearly 4,000,000 cubic feet of moderately heated fresh air per hour. There are over 500 feet of electric lighted concrete air tunnels leading away from the fans. The ventilating of the toilet rooms, shower bath rooms and chemical laboratory is independent of the main system.

One of the late improvements to the high

school is a large two-story building, located on the southwest corner of the square, east of the main building, which is used for the com- mercial department and the gymnasium.

Besides the high school there are nine gram- mar schools in San Jose. The buildings are practically all new, those not new having been modernized in every particular. Three-fourths of the school rooms of the city schools are of convertible open-air design, having open- air windows from the floor to the ceiling on one side of the room and French doors en- closing the entire opposite wall of the room. Practically every elementary school owns the entire block upon which the school is situ- ated. The board of education adds $10,000 worth of playgrounds into the department each year regularly. Teachers are selected by an examination conducted by four principals and the superintendent in the elementary schools, and in the high school upon the rec- ommendation of the principal of the high school, the head of the department concerned, and the city superintendent of schools. The maximum salary paid in the grades amounts to $1,560, and in the high school $1,900, with $2,100 for elementary school supervisors and $2,400 for elementary principals.

Physical education has been developed to a considerable extent, having four teachers of physical education in the high school and at least one teacher in each elementary school especially equipped to lead in this work. Thirty minutes have been added to the ele- mentary school day in order to give sufficient time to physical education. The high school has a gymnasium and swimming pool, which are used by three thousand different students each week, including day high school students and evening high school students, and elemen- tary pupils on Saturdays.

The schools have had medical examination for ten years, with a school physician and med- ical and dental clinic. The board of education has purchased free eyeglasses for those who needed them, and in some cases it is furnish- ing free milk for those suffering from malnu- trition. Clothes and shoes are furnished to those who need them in order that they may attend school. Stammering and stuttering pupils are given special attention. Cafeterias are operated in the high school and in one ele- mentary school.

There is a kindergarten in each elementary school, and in 1921 there was added an extra kindergarten in each school where foreign children predominate. The school system has a school librarian conducting her work along the lines adopted by the county librarian. Practical education is carried on to a consider- able extent both in the grades and the day

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'and evening high schools. About one-half of the teachers engaged in this line of work come from the trades, and the other half are school men and women prepared to do this work. Thirty-three hundred and ninety-six students were enrolled in the evening high school in 1921 with an average night attendance of 700. This work will be nearly doubled for the com- ing year, according to present plans. In the classes of Americanization the foreign-born purchased $65,000 of bonds and thrift stamps, which was, on the average, more than the reg- ular American citizen purchased. Sixty-two of the foreign-born of this class entered the army, not because they were drafted, but be- cause of a desire to fight for American ideals. There are twelve teachers. Mrs. Nellie Chope is principal.

The school department on March 9, 1820, submitted to the voters a proposition to bond the city for $400,000 for high school purposes and $300,000 for the elementary schools. The bond issue was carried by a seven-to-one vote. It was necessitated by the fact that the board of education desired to largely extend tech- nical and physical education, and because the number of pupils had increased from 3639 to 9557 during the past twelve years, while the number of teachers had increased from 116 to 251.

Twenty-five large class rooms, a study hall and eight immense concrete shops were built at the high school in 1921, while a whole square block was purchased for playground purposes. The following lines of work are taught in the Polytechnic high school, which occupies half a block on San Fernando Street between Sev- enth and Eighth : Woodwork, electrical work, auto construction and repairing, carpentry and building, lumber and planing-mill work, sheet metal work, and oxygen and acetylene welding and cutting. At each elementary school a large addition, comprising in most cases eight rooms, has been built. Over $100,000 worth of elementary school playground have been added. Lunch rooms and indoor gymnasiums have been provided at each school. All new rooms that have been built are convertible open air in type.

The appraised value of the high school plant in the spring of 1920 was $600,000. The ex- penditure of the $400,000 raised by bond issue increased the valuation to $1,000,000. The grammar school buildings and lands are val- tted at $736,000.

The average high school attendance in 1922 was 1934. R. B. Leland is the principal. There are twenty-four regular and thirty-five special teachers. The grammar school, kin- dergarten and special teachers number 168.

Following are the names of the city super- intendents of schools since 1860: R. P.

Thompson, Rev. L. Hamilton, W. Tonner, D. S. Payne, W. C. Hart, J. M. Littlefield, Chas. Silent, W. B. Hardy, E. A. Clark, J. O. Haw- kins, L. J. Chipman, J. G. Kennedy, J. B. Finch, A. W. Oliver, J. G Kennedy, L. F. Cur- tis, F. P. Russell, A. E. Shumate, Alex. Sher- iffs, W. L. Bachrodt.

The State Teachers' College

The State Normal School, now the State 'l'eachers' College, was established by an act of the Legislature, May 2, 1862. It was lo- cated in San Francisco and opened its doors with thirty-one pupils. Its usefulness in providing efficient teachers for the public schools of the state was at once recognized, and in 1876 an appropriation was made for the erection of suitable buildings. One of the most memorable battles ever witnessed in the legislation of the state took place on the ques- tion of selecting a location for this institution. Nearly every county in the state offered a site and some of them large subsidies in money. San Jose offered Washington Square, contain- ing twenty-five acres, for the use of the state. and the offer was accepted. A large and fine wooden building was erected under the super- intendency of Theodore Lenzen, the architect. This building, with all its contents, including furniture, library, apparatus, museum and charts, was burned to the ground, February 11, 1880. The Legislature was then in ses- sion and a bill was immediately introduced for an appropriation to rebuild, the school in the meantime occupying rooms in the high school building. An effort was made to change the location of the institution and the fight of 1870 was renewed. But San Jose was again successful and an appropriation was made with which another and stronger building was constructed. This building was used until the earthquake of 1906, when it was so greatly damaged that its demolition became a ne- cessity.

The new building was completed in 1910. It is situated on the Fourth Street side of the Normal campus, with its entrance opposite San Antonio Street. The structure is two- storied and is laid out in the form of a quadran- gle. The building is an adaptation of the Mis- sion style of architecture and is made of re- inforced concrete, covered with gray plaster. trimmed with brick and roofed with red tile. The quadrangle, whose extreme length is over 400 feet and whose extreme width is about 250 feet, is composed of three main divisions, united by continuous open arcades, an upper and a lower. To the right, on the approach from the gates, is the science wing of the building ; to the left is the library. The two sides of the quadrangle are connected at the rear by the administration building, and in

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front by a single arcade, open on both sides. In the center of this are three arches, a little higher than those of the rest of the arcade, which form the entrance to the building.

Passing under the central arch, one enters the great court. On either side rise the cen- tral arches of the upper and lower arcades. The latter are plain concrete archways, while the former are supported by pillars of stained Oregon pine. Directly in front, a little to the left of the entrance to the administration build- ing, rises a tall Gothic tower. The lower floor is a locker room for the girl students, while the upper is occupied by the preceptress. Where the library wing meets the adminis- tration building is a large room devoted to the first and second grades of the Training school. Above the library are large reception rooms and special rooms of various kinds. In the center is one of the most beautiful rooms in the building. It has great arched windows which, on the north side, form a bay. This is the music room. Then there are the society rooms and the drawing rooms. In the science wing are recitation and lecture rooms, with seats arranged in tiers. On the lower floor is the kindergarten. In the basement are en- gine rooms and store rooms.

As adjuncts of the teaching departments are the Short Story Club, organized in 1904 by Dr. Henry Meade Bland ; the Men's Club, the Psychology Round Table, the Art Club, the Dailean Society, the Mandolin Club, the Newman Club, the Y. W. C. A. and the Bas- ket Ball Association, Sappho Club, Athenian Socitety, Eurosophian Society, and Browning Club. Basket ball and tennis courts are on the campus.

The Training school has a faculty including eight department supervisors, four assistants, librarian and special supervision of domestic science and penmanship. About 600 children are in attendance. In addition to the regular subjects there are classes in typewriting, printing, home problems, household science and decoration, cooking, sewing, manual train- ing, physical training, including folk dancing and military drill, and primary handwork. Classes in the violin and piano give children further opportunities, and the Training school orchestra adds its part. A minimum of one year's teaching of one period a day is required of all except experienced teachers and univer- sity graduates. The minimum for experienced teachers is one term of twelve weeks, and for university students, two terms.

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History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 39

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846- Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1928

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928