USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 12
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WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
STEPHEN WILLIAM WILBY
Stephen William Wilby was principal of the Crosby High School from 1896 to the time of his death, March 30, 1917, a period of twenty-one years of able service to the city.
He was born at Spencer, Mass., November 27, 1865, graduated from Montreal College and later attended Holy Cross College, in Worcester. From this he grad- uated, in 1888. He began teaching in Epiphany College, one of the principal acad- emies in Baltimore, and later at St. Andrews' Seminary, Rochester. In 1895 he came to the Waterbury schools and was appointed principal of the High School in 1896.
His work here has been of exceptional value. The constant yearly increase in attendance necessitated make-shifts without detracting from the value of the school work, and in this labor he demonstrated a rare power of organization and of executive ability.
Many additions to the courses were recommended by him when the work of double sessions was in itself enough to keep his mind and time occupied, showing that nothing could deter him from keeping the Crosby High School up to standard.
MINOT SHERMAN CROSBY
Minot Sherman Crosby was connected with the Waterbury schools from 1870 to 1897, the year of his death. From 1870 to 1891 he was both principal of the Waterbury High School and Superintendent of Schools. In 1891 he was relieved of the high school work and confined his labors to superintending the schools of the Center district. He was born in Conway, Mass., prepared for college at Phillips Academy, and graduated from Amherst. For ten years he was a teacher in the public schools of this state and in private schools in Virginia and New York. In 1861 he became principal of the Hartford Female Seminary. In September, 1870, he came to Waterbury. His work here was of exceptional value in estab- lishing a sound foundation for the great growth that came in later years.
The new high school, completed the year before his death, was named Crosby, in honor of his long years of useful work in Waterbury.
THE NEW WILBY HIGH SCHOOL
At present the sessions in the Crosby High School Building are divided, as fol- lows: Crosby High pupils, 8 A. M. to 12:45 P. M .; Wilby High pupils, I P. M. to 5 P. M. The Crosby is what might be termed the Classical High, and the Wilby the English, Commercial and Household Economics school. The new Wilby High, which will cost when completed, with its site on Pine and Grove streets, approxi- mately $1,000,000, will be ready for occupancy in 1919. The building will accom- modate from 1,200 to 1,500 pupils. The architect, L. A. Walsh, has provided for approximately thirty-four rooms. It will be a fireproof structure, 190 by 196 feet, on the so-called hollow-square plan, the rooms being arranged about the outside of the square, with the assembly hall in the center. The exterior provides a build- ing on the Tudor-Gothic style, built of red rough tapestry brick with the orna- mentation concentrated about the main front entrance and the two Pine Street entrances. The floors of corridors, toilet rooms, lunch room, pool room and locker rooms are to be terrazo. The floors of all other rooms are to be maple. The building has been set close to Pine Street, so that the approaches for pupils from Grove Street may be made on an easy slope.
Vol. I-6
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WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
SCHOOL REGISTRATION FOR 1917
The following is the school registration for 1917:
Crosby High School
897
Slocum
581
Wilby High School
553
Sprague
473
Abbott
I7I
Town Plot
303
Barnard
332
Walsh
1,092
Begnal
415
Washington
585
Bishop
530
Webster
829
Bunker Hill
315
Welton
223
Columbia
266
Maloney 622
Croft
1,396
Bucks Hill
40
Driggs
800
Chapel
179
Duggan
715
East Farms
33
Hamilton
90
East Mountain
87
Hendricken
384
Hopeville
I27
Merriman
583
Oronoke
16
Mill Plain
227
Park Road
47
Mulcahy
446
Reidville
107
Newton Heights
52
Porter
230
Total
14,172
Russell
426
MEDICAL INSPECTION
The medical inspection in the schools of Waterbury dates back to 1898, when the first eyesight tests were made. The discovery of defective vision in about II per cent of the children and the immediate efforts made to remedy this evil led in the following year to the passage of a state act, making these tests compulsory in all schools every three years.
Medical inspection was introduced about 1907, and it was due largely to the efforts of the school doctors that children with weak lungs were segregated, as far as possible, and that the Open Air School was started in 1912.
Today the Dental Association of Waterbury devotes some time to inspection of teeth. The school physicians for 1917 are Drs. Charles A. Monagan and John W. Fruin, who make the rounds of all the schools of the city. Two nurses are also in the service of the schools and work either in the homes or schools, as the doctors advise.
MARGARET CROFT
The Board of Education struck a tender and popular chord when it named one of its latest an'd best school buildings the Margaret Croft School. For Margaret Croft was first of all a native of Waterbury, and, what is more important, one of the great factors in the advancement of its schools.
She was born here, January 25, 1835, the daughter of James and Polly W. Croft. Her father was the first person in Waterbury who had been trained in the art of making gilt buttons. He was identified with this industry until his death, in 1837.
Margaret Croft graduated at Mount Holyoke Seminary in 1855, was a teacher in Mississippi in 1855 and 1856, and in Georgia from 1858 to 1861. In 1863 she became a Waterbury teacher, and her work was of such exceptional worth that
THE MARGARET CROFT SCHOOL, WATERBURY
EEE
CROSBY HIGH SCHOOL, WATERBURY
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WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
she was later appointed assistant principal of the High School, which position she retained until 1909, when she retired. She died August 20, 19II.
She was thus connected actively with the schools of Waterbury for forty-six years, and had during that long period been one of the greatest of Waterbury's educational and moral influences.
JOSEPH P. KENNEDY
Joseph P. Kennedy, the principal of the Wilby High School, is a Waterbury boy. He was born here March 28, 1877, was educated in the Waterbury public schools and later graduated from St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Md. He came to the Waterbury schools as a substitute teacher in 1898, and in February, 1900, was made teacher of mathematics at the Crosby High School. In 1914 he was made sub-master. In September, 1917, he was appointed principal of the Wilby High School.
He is devoting much of his time to planning improvements for the Wilby High School Building, which is to be ready for occupancy in 1919.
MICHAEL C. DONOVAN
Michael C. Donovan, principal of the Crosby High School, was born in Belvidere, N. Y., October 12, 1868, and was educated in the public and parochial schools there and in Wellsville, N. Y. He graduated from Niagara University, Niagara Falls, N. Y., in 1892 and in June, 1917, his college gave him the honorary degree of Litt. D.
He received his Normal training in the Teachers' College, Buffalo. For two years after taking this course he worked for the Standard Oil Company at Lima and Findlay, Ohio.
In 1898 he came as teacher to the Crosby High School, Waterbury, where he has been ever since. In September, 1904, when the Department of English was created at the Crosby High School, he was placed in charge of it.
He was made temporary principal on March 15, 1917, and principal May I, 1917.
Mr. Donovan has thus been connected with the Waterbury schools for nearly twenty years, and throughout that period has given valuable service to its pupils. He is a strict disciplinarian and has done much to advance the cause of education in Waterbury.
THE DAVID G. PORTER COLLEGE BEQUEST
David G. Porter, born in Waterbury March 8, 1833, who spent most of an active life in this city, died October 7, 1905, and left a large portion of his estate for the founding of a college. He knew that in itself it would not suffice for the purpose he had in mind and in his will he states that "when the accumu- lation, increased by possible contributions, donations or bequests from other sources, shall be deemed sufficient for the purpose, the trustees shall establish a school or college on the portion of land west of the Meriden Road, to be operated according to the following plan :---
"The courses of study in the institution may be literary and classical, or scientific and technical, or both, but shall in any case be made up of a six-month winter term for young men, extending from October Ist to April Ist, these dates being movable at the discretion of the trustees, but so as to comprise not less
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WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
than six months, inclusive of a holiday recess of not more than one week, and shall be arranged so as to rise in grade, each succeeding term or year above the preceding, and covering a period of not less than three, nor more than six years.
"The courses of study for young women shall be made up of summer terms of not less than three months each, and shall extend over a period of not more than four years; and as far as practicable, special prominence shall be given in these courses to the theory and practice of domestic science, literature and modern languages ; and a study of the constellations of the visible heavens, and of ornithology shall be included."
The following explanatory paragraph is also signed by the testator and made a part and parcel of the will :
"The purpose of the residuary legacy is to provide for the beginning of a school, or college, to be operated on a plan by which young men can earn during the six summer months what they will need to spend at college during the other six months of the year; in order that capable young men, who are so disposed, can secure a liberal education independently, and of their own resources, without incurring debt or the risk of injury to health by attempting double work; and so that young women can receive such instruction in college courses as shall be fitted to their circumstances and needs under similar conditions, but without what is termed co-education."
The following are named in the will to hold the property in trust for the above purposes : Cornelius Tracy, Albert D. Field, Charles L. Holmes, Edwy E. Benedict, Helen P. Camp and Margaret Torrance Holmes, wife of Walter W. Holmes.
The Waterbury Trust Company was elected trustee of the fund on July 26, 1907. It now approximates $45,000.
David Porter devoted many years of his life to the study of theological and educational questions. Many of his contributions appeared in the New Christian Quarterly, some in the New Englander and the Journal of Social Science.
After the publication of "The History of Waterbury," Mr. Porter published the following: "The Elder from Ephesus," 1897; "The Perversion of Funds in the Land Grant Colleges," 1897; "Religion Straight from the Bible," 1902; "The Kingdom of God." 1905.
In 1904 Mr. Porter edited and contributed largely to the cost of publication of a volume of 200 pages entitled, "A Century in the History of the Baptist Church in Waterbury, Conn." Interesting among a quantity of miscellaneous manuscript is, "The English Language and Its Written Expression."
THE SILAS BRONSON LIBRARY
Beginning in 1869, with an endowment by Silas Bronson, of Middlebury, of $200,000, the Silas Bronson Library was directed for some years according to the scholarly ideas then prevailing, and fulfilled its function as a storehouse for the preservation of rare and costly books.
Later, the pressure of democratic tendencies forced it into line with a move- ment directed by the American Library Association and having for its aim "The best books for the largest number at the least cost." To this "library move- ment," so-called, is due the present system of free libraries supported by the people and appealing to them under the democratic title of "People's Universi- ties." The Bronson Library belongs to both periods and shows the influence of both.
In its reference department are rare and beautiful works such as the early
BRONSON LIBRARY, WATERBURY
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WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
editions of Ruskin valued at $200; the Versailles gallery of pictures in 13 volumes, quoted at $610; Audubon's "Birds of North America," at $500; Tryon's "Manual of Conchology" in 35 volumes, valued at $700; and others of equal scarceness. The library has also 2,000 or more volumes relating to local history and genealogy, books wisely chosen for the model collection which now attract visitors from all parts of the state.
The library museum contains fine mineral specimens exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago and secured for the library by Cornelius Tracy, a herbarium collected by H. F. Bassett in several different states, 1,000 coins presented by Nathan Dikeman, and war relics from southern battlefields and the Philippines. In 1906, F. J. Kingsbury, with the co-operation of the Naturalist Club, presented a fine collection of New England birds valued at about twelve hundred dollars ; and in 1910, specimens of rare butterflies beautifully mounted, were given by the Misses Merriman and Mrs. F. E. Castle.
The aristocratic period of development ended in 1900, when the circulation of books fell to 69,600 volumes for the year, although in the first year of the library's establishment, the circulation was 76,769 volumes based on a collection of less than 12,000 books.
In 1902, readers were for the first time admitted to the shelves of the book- room, the stringency of the rules for borrowers was relaxed, and the library became at once a popular institution. The record of succeeding years has been one of progress along democratic lines, and the issues of the library have increased from 69,600 volumes in 1900 to nearly 400,000 volumes in 1917.
An unexpected result has been the rapid growth in the reference use of the library by the masses of the people. A few years ago questions involving research of any sort were rarely asked; but during the past year 1,831 subjects were referred to the librarian for special material. The use of the library is developed through a special department cared for by a "readers' " information librarian, who aids people in the use of the case catalogue, provides material for essays and debates, and answers all questions requiring special knowledge, including those sent by telephone.
From this department is issued the monthly bulletin of the library, with lists on subjects such as the war, new thought, books about Ireland, technical books, city government and social betterment, while the bulletin board in the hallway calls attention to books relating to holidays and anniversaries or to other topics of special interest. Postals are also sent out notifying persons of recent additions in certain classes of literature.
The collection of pamphlets numbering some fifty-five thousand is an impor- tant aid in information work and includes in their season such popular features as tourists' guides and the latest catalogues of colleges and universities.
Novel readers are accommodated by a collection of pay duplicates, and atten- tion is called to the best stories in many lines by volumes grouped in the book- room under such designations as Stories of Country Life, New England Stories, Ghost Stories, Civil War Stories, and One Hundred of the Best Novels, all of which have their special patrons.
The school work of the library is directed by a trained children's librarian under whose care are the children's rooms in the main building, and the branches, and the deposit libraries sent each year to every grade beginning with the third in seventeen schoolhouses.
In the Brooklyn branch, story-telling as a method of interesting children in the best books has been introduced with success, and boys' as well as girls' reading clubs are in the process of formation.
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WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
During the weeks before Christmas, an exhibition of the books most loved by children is always arranged at the main library and invitations to visit it are sent to mothers interested in selecting books as gifts. The library has also a per- manent collection of books for story-telling reserved for the use of mothers and teachers, and there is now a model library of 500 of the volumes best adapted for supplementary reading in the schools.
The library co-operates with teachers in many ways, lending books for class- room use and providing two study rooms for young essay writers and for those working on material for debates. There is also a lending collection of pictures patronized by teachers ; by students of design; and, as to the portraits, by writers for the newspapers.
From these examples, it will be seen that by following after and supplying the popular demand, the Silas Bronson Library has achieved a great increase in use- fulness and is committed to many new lines of activity. It has now, including school libraries and branches, nineteen outside agencies for the distribution of books and each of these is the nucleus for increasing usefulness. Twenty assistants are employed, though, a few years ago, seven sufficed.
The new building in Library Park on Grand Street, was opened in 1894. The Children's Room was opened in 1898. Miss Helen Sperry was appointed librarian in 1906. The stack room was opened to the public in 1902. Books have been sent to the schools since 1903.
The branches were established as follows :
Waterville, 1907.
South Waterbury, opened 1908; closed, 1912.
Brooklyn, opened 1909.
Rose Hill, opened 1913.
There were in the library on January 1, 1917, 100,345 books.
The board of agents of the Bronson Library consists of twelve electors of the city, two of whom are elected at each biennial city election, to hold office for a period of twelve years from the fourth day of July next following their election.
The board of agents of the Bronson Library are legally constituted agents of the City of Waterbury, with full power to collect, invest, expend, manage and control the Bronson Library Fund and the income therefrom, and to establish, regulate and manage the Bronson Library.
Following are the officers :
Martin Scully, president ; Lewis A. Platt, secretary ; Otis S. Northrop, treas- urer; Helen Sperry, librarian.
The board of agents at present is as follows :
Charles H. Swenson, Mark L. Sperry, James E. Russell, Otis S. Northrop, John O'Neill, Terrence F. Carmody, John P. Kellogg, Francis P. Guilfoile, Lewis A. Platt, Bernard A. Fitzpatrick, James S. Elton, Martin Scully.
THIE MATTATUCK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
It appears from the brief record in the "History of Waterbury," by Dr. Joseph Anderson, that an historical society was projected by some of its citizens in 1875, "but the scheme did not take definite shape until 1877, the bicentennial of the settlement of the town, when special interest in local history was aroused."
The origin of the society as related in the first entry in its records was as follows: "Upon an invitation signed by F. J. Kingsbury, Joseph Anderson, and H. F. Bassett, the following named gentlemen met at the rooms of the Waterbury
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WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
Scientific Society on the evening of December 22, 1877, for the organization of an historical society : F. J. Kingsbury, Rev. Joseph Anderson, Prof. Isaac Jen- nings, E. L. Brown, S. W. Kellogg, George E. Terry, N. J. Welton, Anson G. Stocking, Rev. E. G. Beckwith, D. D., Prof. M. S. Crosby, H. F. Bassett."
The constitution adopted at that meeting gave as its purpose the collection and preservation "of whatever, in the opinion of its members, may serve to explain or illustrate the history, civil or ecclesiastical, the archaeology, or the natural history of the State of Connecticut, and especially the region originally included in the Town of Waterbury and formerly known as Mattatuck." There were twenty signers. In addition to those already mentioned, these were: Israel Holmes, D. L. Durand, David B. Hamilton, S. M. Terry, G. W. Tucker, S. B. Terry, Robert W. Hill, Fred A. Mason, Gideon L. Platt, George W. Cook, C. M. Platt, James O. Cook, Guernsey S. Parsons, George R. Welton, John O'Neill, Jr., Israel Coe. Mr. Kingsbury was its first president and Geo. A. Tucker its first secretary.
In May, 1896, a collection of stone implements, representing the American Indian, was shown at the Y. M. C. A. This was purchased by Elisha Leaven- worth and Cornelius Tracy, and placed on the upper floor of the Bronson Library. Mr. Leavenworth announced that he would provide for its proper housing in a new building, which was to be a museum in charge of the Historical Society.
Later, for the purpose of officially receiving this and other like gifts, "The Mattatuck Historical Society" was incorporated, February 14, 1902, with the fol- lowing incorporators : Frederick J. Kingsbury, Joseph Anderson, Anna L. Ward, Katherine A. Prichard, David G. Porter, John G. Davenport and Charles L. Holmes. Its first officers after incorporation were: President, Frederick J. Kings- bury ; vice presidents, Joseph Anderson, Sarah J. Prichard; treasurer, Charles L. Holmes ; secretary, Katherine A. Prichard; directors, John G. Davenport, Anna L. Ward, David G. Porter.
Beginning with the annual meeting of December 10, 1902, the organization met regularly on the second Monday of March, June, October and December. Before it had its own building, these meetings were held in the conference room of the First Church, and from October, 1907, to June, 1910, at the home of President Kingsbury.
On June 8, 1904, the society received from Elisha Leavenworth a gift of $10.000, and on October 10, 1907, he purchased and presented to the society the ethnological and archaeological library collected by Dr. Joseph Anderson. This consisted of several thousand books and pamphlets relating to the races of men, the stone age in Europe and America, and the American Indian.
The death of President Kingsbury occurred September 30, 1910, and Dr. Joseph Anderson succeeded him at the following annual meeting in December, 1910.
By the will of Elisha Leavenworth, who died January 6, 1911, the society was bequeathed ample funds with which to purchase its own home. On June 14, 19II, therefore, the first meeting was held in what had been known as the Ludington Place on West Main Street, and which had been purchased for $50,000. Later in this year the society purchased the ground adjoining it, on Kendrick Street, 261/2 by 112 feet, and in 1912 erected the present Museum Building, which is 50 feet wide and 62 feet long. This building, by Architects Griggs and Hunt, of Waterbury, is connected with the house fronting on West Main Street by a broad hall and marble steps. It is three stories in height, with an auditorium on the top floor, which has been regularly used since 1912 for the six successive picture exhibitions of the society. The main floor and a large part of the first floor are set apart for museum purposes.
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WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY
The basement at the present time is devoted to those articles which have not as yet been placed on exhibition, or which are too large to permit of their occu- pying space in the main museum. Among the articles to be found there are a carpet loom which was built into a house on Hunter Mountain, Naugatuck, and which had to be taken to pieces to be removed from its former home to its present position : also the first carriage ever seen in Waterbury.
On the top floor is the lecture hall of the society. This is fitted with proper lighting apparatus for a picture gallery. The first painting received toward a permanent collection is "A Road Near the Sea," by William Langsen Lathrop.
But the room in which much interest centers is the museum occupying the main floor of the building. In this there are twenty-one cases, sixteen arranged in rows on either side of the room, twelve being table cases, four table and wall cases combined, and the other five being centrally placed. The wall cases, which occupy the space at the further end of the hall, are memorial cases dedicated to Col. Jonathan Baldwin, Miss Sarah J. Prichard, Bennet Bronson and Deacon Aaron Benedict. These were presented by Miss Katherine L. Peck, Miss Katherine A. Prichard, J. Hobart Bronson and Mrs. Gilman C. Hill.
Since 1914, three memorial cases have been added, the gifts of the Kingsbury family, the descendants of Wm. H. Scovill and the Henry W. Scovills.
The late Doctor Anderson so skillfully arranged the exhibition that in passing down the east side of the room, the visitor sees first relics from ancient Babylonia and Assyria, then comes the neolithic collection, mostly from Denmark, followed by the American prehistoric collection arranged geographically. The modern American Indian collection presents a pleasing contrast to that of the prehistoric collection. The part played by the white man in American history is represented by a collection of wonderful laces, silk garments, lace collars, traveling bags, together with autographs and documents of various sorts,-the niceties of the white man's civilization which he early introduced into the rough country he had chosen for his new home.
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