USA > Connecticut > New London County > Old Lyme > The educational history of Old Lyme, Connecticut, 1635-1935 > Part 19
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Graph III records the amount of school funds in Old Lyme between 1867 and 1930. These include total receipts for the entire period and state grants for the years 1906 to 1930. This graph also shows a rather continuous total for school funds from 1867 to 1905 with a rapid fluctuation up- ward after that year. Supplemented by state grants from 1905 to 1930, the total increase in school funds for this pe- riod also indicates an increase in local appropriations. Begin- ning with a total of $900 in 1867, the total budget for schools in Old Lyme had reached $33,664 in 1930. Graph IV pre- sents the single item of teachers' salaries showing a similar. continuous low level in salaries from 1855 to 1897 followed by a spectacular rise after 1917.
It is interesting to observe the similarity between Graphs II, III and IV. From these it appears that the town's ex- penses for education have increased in almost lockstep with the town's wealth. Interesting also was the fact not evident from the graphs that a considerable portion of the increased wealth and increased appropriations for education was made possible through the taxes of transient residents who did not profit directly by the schools they helped to support. The amount of town support for education was still definitely in-
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Public Schooling, 1855-1935.
adequate. Such were some of the conditions which influenced the reaction of the townspeople of Old Lyme when in 1930 a dissatisfied school committee asked for public support in fa- vor of a more adequate plan of school organization and con- tro1.39
The specific origin of the present school program in Old Lyme is not definitely known. It appears that a correspond- ence was established early in February 1930, between Mr. Horatio Biglow of the Old Lyme school committee and Pro- fessor Clyde M. Hill, chairman of the Department of Edu- cation of Yale University. On March II, 1930, in response to a request, Professor Hill forwarded to Mr. Biglow two pro- posed plans for reorganization.40 By the end of May the pre- ferred plan had been selected, and the supervising principal and elementary supervisor recommended by Professor Hill had been appointed. The plan became operative in Septem- ber 1930, and is fully described in the Report of the Town School Committee of that year. Excerpts from that report follow.
In accordance with a vote of the Town School Committee, the Town of Old Lyme is now withdrawn from the supervision of the supervising agent appointed by the State Board of Education and is now functioning under the general guidance of the Department of Education of Yale University.
The Center School will be under the direction of a supervising principal who will be the administrative officer of the school and who will be responsible for the work of the seventh and eighth grades.
An expert primary supervisor has been appointed who will have no administrative duties but who will be responsible for improving in- struction in the six lower grades.
Six other regular teachers and two part-time supervisors in Art and Music complete the staff. The additional cost to the town of Old Lyme will be low due to the fact that the Lyme High School As- sociation has very generously agreed to defray a substantial part.
The school committee responsible for this unique educa- tional change was composed of N. L. Sheffield, chairman,
39. Old Lyme Town Report, 1930, pp. 30-35.
40. Ibid., pp. 35-37.
212 Educational History of Old Lyme.
J. L. Brevoort, secretary, T. R. Ball, L. H. Biglow, H. V. Champion, Mrs. Myra Morgan, R. H. Noble, Mrs. Myrtle Peck and Allan T. Speirs.
The educational objectives established by Yale University for the school year 1930-1931 were two: improvement of in- struction in the common-school branches and grade placement of pupils. At the beginning of the second semester depart- mental work was introduced into the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades and an additional teacher was engaged. Plans were also made for the retention of the ninth-grade pupils in Old Lyme instead of sending them to New London.
With the opening of schools in September, 1931, the ele- mentary and junior high-school grades were set apart with separate faculties and curriculum. Physical health was organ- ized so as to include two regular forty-five minute periods of organized play. This was later unavoidably curtailed by poor weather and the lack of indoor facilities. To offset this, clubs were organized in dramatics, nature study, arts and crafts, photography and foreign languages. Every child could be in any two of these clubs. The program was as diversified as the overcrowded building and limited staff would permit.
This condition of overcrowding had challenged the school administration for some time. Every alteration had been made that was within the realm of feasibility. A new school build- ing had been proposed even before the school survey of 1927. This plan had been considered too costly by some and unwar- ranted by others. A possible source of building funds was then seen in the resources of the Lyme High School Association. This was eliminated, however, by a decision of the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut on April 16, 1931, when eight findings were handed down. Especially pertinent and conclu- sive was this one: "No part of the income from said Fund shall ever be used for the care or maintenance of any building and grounds or for additions thereto unless said building and grounds are a part of the McCurdy-Salisbury Fund."41
With this decision, the leaders of the new school project 41. The Atlantic Reporter, "The Lyme High School Association vs. Alling," Vol. 154, pp. 439-440.
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Public Schooling, 1855-1935.
lost heart and their building program was temporarily aban- doned. Increasing conditions of depression aggravated the general situation and the schools entered upon a program of strict economy and internal improvement. Defeated on the one hand, they were successful on the other. They were well launched upon a three years' experiment in reorganization under the personal supervision of Professor Hill and the im- mediate direction of a highly trained staff. They had accepted the challenge of the newer educational practices and were ready to test these practices in a vital school situation.42
During the first year of the Yale supervision of Old Lyme schools special attention was given to the improvement of instruction in the first six grades and to a survey of the ele- ments to be considered in the development of a modern jun- ior high school. At the same time a considerable improvement was made in instructional supplies. New desks were pur- chased for the first two grades and books for all grades. Test- ing programs were put into very general use and their results were used for prognostic purposes. A considerable number of retarded children were discovered, but neither space nor money was available for their special care.
During the spring of 1931 a drive was made looking toward the organization of a junior high school. This was made imperative due to the alarming number of failures among the local students attending New London high schools. Of these over 50 per cent failed in all subjects taken during the first year, while 90 per cent failed in one or more of these subjects. Many students were requiring five or six years for the completion of high school. The students were believed to be either lost in a difficult social adaptation or very poorly prepared. The organization of a junior high- school curriculum, including grades seven, eight and nine, was Professor Hill's recommendation to the board of school visitors of Old Lyme.
42. Of the 269 pupils enumerated in Old Lyme in 1930, 209 were in pub- lic schools, 22 in private schools and 38 in no school. The faculty included seven teachers and one teaching principal. Report of the Connecticut State Board of Education, 1930, pp. 173, 233-235.
214 Educational History of Old Lyme.
This recommendation was adopted and the school opened in September, 1931, with a distinct elementary and junior high- school curriculum. This necessitated a number of changes: one teacher was added; a health program for the entire school was instituted; geography, history and civics were reorganized into social studies with regular instruction from the third through the ninth grades. A science program was introduced. This curriculum, with some small changes, has continued in operation since its adoption. It has functioned as well as could be anticipated under the prevailing conditions of poor hous- ing. The work has been circumscribed in many ways, but the achievement of local pupils in New London high schools has improved greatly. The housing problem was the next diffi- culty to be overcome. Its immediate solution was in no way anticipated.
It so happened, however, that on September 25, 1933, the legal voters of Old Lyme met in Memorial Hall to consider and act upon a proposal to borrow $ 100,000 from the Federal Government through the administrator of the Federal Emer- gency Administration of Public Works, to be used for the construction of state-aid roads within the town. This proposal was voted and later rescinded. A substitute measure was adopted which made provision for the appointment of a com- mittee to consider a comprehensive plan for the expenditure of all moneys available to the town under the National Re- covery Administration. Other meetings followed on October 2, 1933, on October 16, 1933, and on November 1, 1933. At the meeting on October 16 it was proposed that $ 50,000 be used for a public water system and $ 50,000 for the construc- tion of a unit of the proposed new school. The first bill was defeated and the second bill accepted. Then at the meeting on November 1, 1933, Dr. E. K. Devitt proposed that applica- tion be made for $ 100,000 for the construction of a complete new school plant.
Later, on March 5, 1934, at an adjourned town meeting it was voted that the town appropriate a sum not to exceed $ 100,000 for a new school plant and equipment. This motion received the support of 134 of the 244 voters present. A
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Public Schooling, 1855-1935.
school building committee was elected and conditions covering the sale of bonds were set up. At the same time the town voted to take no further action in connection with the federal loan. Ernest Sibley was selected as the consulting architect, with Thomas R. Ball of Old Lyme as the local architect.
Following a period of frequent and lively town meetings, rife with caustic debate, ground was broken for the new school plant. Its recent completion is the beginning of a new day in the educational history of the town. Of a low, rambling colo- nial design, the building is up to date, efficient and virtually fireproof. It has a large assembly hall and gymnasium with a fine stage, which can be shut off for music and band practice. Then there are twelve classrooms, laboratories, domestic sci- ence and art rooms, a library-study hall, nurses' and teachers' rooms, superintendent's and supervisor's office, a projection room, adequate shower and locker rooms and the necessary facilities for general service. Every need of an enriched school experience is here provided for. Dignified in its simplicity, this building serves as a unique tribute to the generations that have gone before and will offer inspiration and security to the generations yet to come.
THE history of education and schooling in Old Lyme is in many ways typical of the development of education and schooling in most of the towns in Connecticut. The conditions of life were everywhere about the same and the major social and economic changes which affected education were far more general than local. All legislative enactments were made to regulate and direct the policy of the entire state and the con- ditions in Old Lyme gradually approached these standards. The panorama of social change has had its counterpart in edu- cational change. In attendance, in curriculum, in teacher preparation, in housing and in community-service education in Old Lyme has followed the prevailing practice of the time. Slowly but finally, it has adjusted to meet the changing needs of rural education.
The three-hundredth anniversary of the coming of white settlers to the mouth of the Connecticut River gives pause to
216 Educational History of Old Lyme.
those who peacefully enjoy her quiet hillsides. Some ten gen- erations have gone before and their achievements challenge our ingenuity. The Indians, the elements, disease, disaster, wars, panics and continued economic change have stood in league against them. Yet with limited tools and a great faith they have built homes, churches, highways, bridges, ferries, ships, schools, fortunes and reputations, while oncoming gen- erations have been fortified by their thrift.
The pageant of life moves onward. What shall the record be?
THE NEW SCHOOL IN OLD LYME.
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Summary.
T HE town of Lyme, Connecticut, originally a part of Saybrook, was incorporated in 1667 as one of the largest towns in area in the colony. It embraced the present towns of Lyme, East Lyme, Old Lyme and parts of Hadlyme. Old Lyme looks with peculiar satisfaction upon its early beginnings as a part of the original town of Saybrook and continues to treasure its ancient lineage and the quality of those first proprietors who came from Saybrook between 1645 and 1667 to settle on the east side of the river.
An understanding of the development of education and schooling in the town of Old Lyme has been gained through a careful study of her original records, the conditions of settle- ment, the beginnings of government and the character of her first proprietors. Education has been studied as one of the factors in the structure of town government in Connecticut. Basic to this understanding has been the study of early methods of land distribution.
The entire town of Lyme was originally one of the "quar- ters" of Saybrook. By 1660 the population of Saybrook had so increased on the infertile land of their original settlement as to require the division of all the remaining common lands. A committee selected for the purpose surveyed all the re- maining land and divided it into three quarters. The third quarter was regularly referred to as "the quarter on the east side of the river." The proprietors of Saybrook then met and drew lots in turn. Some drew lots for homesites and some for speculation.
The followers of Mathew Griswold chose their land near his large tract on the east side of the river which had been given to him by George Fenwick in 1645. The actual move- ment of the people into this quarter continued rapidly be- tween 1660 and 1667. In 1665 the settlement was set off as a new plantation and given the name East Saybrook. In 1666 the Rev. Moses Noyes moved there with a group of followers
218 Educational History of Old Lyme.
and in 1667, with the required number of thirty proprietors, East Saybrook was incorporated as the new town of Lyme. To this new town Moses Noyes and Mathew Griswold brought the leadership of the educated clergy and the landed gentry.
Education in this early colonial period was part of a condi- tion of active participation in group projects organized to meet the immediate needs of the community. All social ex- periences were intimate and vital, closely connected with ac- tual group survival. Specific abilities were developed as by- products of these rugged life situations in which all ages did their part. It was a very real situation of "learning by doing." The young took their places early in an active program of building in which there was an immediate need for houses, food, roads and protection.
The responsibility of instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic remained largely with the heads of families. The ability to read, being also considered an essential in religious life, was safeguarded by a learned clergy who did much in transmitting the cultural heritage of the settlers.
Education was not left during this early period to the vol- untary acts of the inhabitants. In 1644 the general court en- acted a law providing that every township of fifty families appoint one within the town to teach all children to read and write. The selectmen were required to keep a vigilant eye over their neighbors and to check any neglect of the children in their charge. A good town grammar school was required of similar towns in 1648. The whole matter of education rested largely with the magistrates and the clergy.
Schools were early established in the more thickly settled towns of Connecticut, but in 1650 and for some years there- after there were many towns in Connecticut with less than the fifty families stipulated in the school law. Lyme was one of these towns.
As group needs became more expansive, general participa- tion in community projects became less satisfactory. Also, as the influence of the educated settlers became less effective within the family groups, a program of organized instruction
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Summary.
for the young became a necessity. Schools were then estab- lished to meet this growing need.
Under the new government, established by the colonial charter of 1662, the privileges and duties of towns and the franchise rights of the inhabitants were again provided for. That these rights were differentiated so as to allow "admitted inhabitants" to vote on local affairs and "freemen" to vote on colonial affairs was not new. This practice had pertained from the beginning and had an important bearing on all phases of colonial legislation. It was a determining factor in the development of education and schooling in Lyme. Under this practice only freemen could be deputies, vote for higher officials or fill the post of magistrates. These freemen consti- tuted a kind of popular aristocracy and included about one- third of all the admitted inhabitants in the colony. They were the major officeholders and made all the laws of the colony, including the laws on education, to which the town of Lyme must subscribe.
Of the many items of business which came before the town meetings in this period none was of greater importance than the item on the "Division of the Land." This was of particu- lar significance since the division of the land, the spread of oncoming generations onto the land and the contingent build- ing of main highways into the land determined in large meas- ure the location and spread of district schools.
The first and second divisions of the land on the "east side of the river" seem to have been completed before the incor- poration of the town of Lyme. The third division was made between 1676 and 1680 and the fourth division between 1683 and 1702. The method of land distribution demonstrates the advantages accruing to original proprietors and the immedi- ate direct effect of this condition upon family wealth. As a further result much of the land was concentrated for many years in the hands of a very few families. This created a powerful and limited landed aristocracy which controlled all aspects of public life including the organization and direction of public schooling. The influence of this early land system still remains as a dominant force in the civic life of Old
220 Educational History of Old Lyme.
Lyme. In the main, education has been what this control group has been willing to provide.
The grants for highways, bridges and public landing places, with their dates and locations, have very special significance when they are studied in connection with other special acts which came at intervals between 1667 and 1712. They made possible the building of sawmills and gristmills, hastened the distribution of the people and determined the location of the population. The division of the ecclesiastical societies followed soon after.
The ecclesiastical affairs of Lyme between 1667 and 1712 were typical of conditions in the Connecticut colony. The church was the center of political, religious and educational policy and through its educated clergy directed the type and quality of education. The clergy favored a program of educa- tion which included weekly catechism and regular religious instruction. Similarly, attendance at any church other than those directed by settled and approved ministers was forbid- den by law. These early churches required and supervised education and in ceaseless ways influenced the pattern of life.
In 1665 the educational section of the Code of 1650 was reëstablished as the educational law of the colony. This code included the five educational requirements previously listed which comprised the continuing program of public education. These were the educational laws of the colony in 1667 when Lyme with a minimum of thirty families became an incor- porated town. By the school law of 1672 penalties and fines were created for negligent towns. Grammar schools, with special income-bearing grants of six hundred acres each, were required in the four county towns. The laws affecting Lyme were not passed until 1677 and 1678. The former fixed the school term at nine months while the latter reduced the num- ber of families stipulated in the school law from fifty to thirty so as to include all towns in the colony. These laws gave im- petus in 1680 to the town acts which made provision for the first school in Lyme.
In the period from 1665 to 1680 education in Lyme was provided entirely through active participation in group af-
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Summary.
fairs. A considerable complement of learning was still inher- ent in the population and an unavoidable variety of creative experiences provided the skills and techniques necessary to survival and progress.
It appears that in 1680 the people of Lyme were convinced that the establishment of a school under the law could no longer be safely avoided. At the same time there was no en- thusiasm for a generous school tax. The first plans provided for a nine months' school to be opened on February 6 in the home of William Measure who was already keeper of the or- dinary. On May I the school was to be moved to the meet- inghouse for four months. The teacher was to receive eight- een pounds for the nine months. Ten pounds were to be raised by a town rate and the remainder divided equally among the pupils. During the cold months each child was to provide one load of cut wood.
This plan was soon abandoned as being unnecessarily gen- erous. Under the new plan William Measure was to teach school at his home for three months for a salary of six pounds five shillings. Three pounds five shillings were to come from the town and three from the students that were appointed by the selectmen. At the same time two school dames were hired to teach young children and maids. By these acts the town fixed the term, the location, the curriculum and the teaching staff of its first school. No further mention of schooling ap- pears in the town records until 1691.
The next important act was the election in 1695 of a school committee of three members. This preceded the colonial law by fifty-five years.
This was a period of grave financial distress and the Lyme school, like many others in the colony, was all but abandoned. The school law of 1700 aimed to spread the financial burden and raise standards. The law requiring twelve months of school was provided for in Lyme by a "moving school" which met successively in four parts of the town for a three months' term. The children could attend any or all of the sessions. A general tax of forty shillings on every thousand pounds, known as "Country Money," was levied for the support of
222 Educational History of Old Lyme.
schools. This was collected by the town constables, sent to the colonial treasurer and returned to the school committee.
Both country money and town rates grew increasingly dif- ficult of collection and town schools suffered under the more secular trend and the changing interests of the people. For this reason town control of schools in Connecticut was replaced in 1712 by ecclesiastical control. Under the new law the ad- ministration and maintenance of schools passed to the ecclesi- astical society while the supervision remained with the town officers.
With the year 1713 the early colonial period in Connecti- cut came naturally to a close. Public education functioned un- der the church and government while educated men of the approved order filled the pulpit, the bench and the magistracy.
The eighteenth century ushered in a period of serious de- cline in the public concern for education. Connecticut turned to road building, agriculture and trade. Both the church and the school suffered greatly. Few changes were made in school administration except to increase the penalties on negligent towns. In 1727 general legislation provided for the division of the ecclesiastical societies. In Lyme this movement toward decentralization devitalized both the ecclesiastical societies and the schools under their direction.
The increased opportunities for trade created a consider- able activity in all outdoor occupations. This drew the older boys and girls out of school and tended to make manual skills more to be desired than learning. The rudiments of education were provided by schoolmasters teaching in poorly attended winter schools and by dames selected from time to time to teach summer classes.
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