USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 51
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vice-president, Josiah Meigs; secretary, John D. Barclay; treasurer, Moses Young. The superintending committee of the Western Academy were Benjamin Homans, Rev. James Laurie, and Joseph Mechlin; of the Eastern Academy, William Brent, George Blagden, and William Dougherty; and of the Lancasterian School, Rev. William Matthews, Moses Young, and Andrew Way.
On June 28, 1816, the city was divided into two school districts, the First and Second wards constituting the first district, and the Third and Fourth wards the second. Each district had a separate board of trustees, that of the first consisting of nine members, six of whom were chosen by the joint ballot of the two parts of the city Council, of which number three were taken from the First Ward and three from the Second, and the three remaining members were to be chosen annu- ally by the contributors who had contributed $10 or more toward the support of the schools. The board of trustees of the second district was chosen annually by both parts of the city Council, and consisted of seven members. The contributors elected as trustees Joseph An- derson, James Davidson, and Andrew Way, Jr. The trustees elected by the corporation were Rev. James Laurie, Rev. William Matthews, Josiah Meigs, Benjamin Homans, Joseph Mechlin, and Moses Young.
The Lancasterian School was carried on successfully for four years, when a gale of wind so injured the building that it was considered unsafe. This was in the spring of 1816. The house was then advertised for sale, and then, in consequence of the rapid inercase of population in the Second Ward, the superintending com- mittee could find no building at all. The lottery authorized by law, by means of which it was hoped to raise the money necessary to build the Lancasterian schoolhouse, failed to raise the amount, and on this account Mr. Robert Ould was retained at a reduced salary until the schoolhouse should be built; but, in December, 1816, having no hope from the lottery, and not knowing when the corporation would build a schoolhouse, the trustees rented a room on F Street, between Ninth and Tenth, and in that room opened the school on December 17, 1816.
The officials of the public schools elected August 3, 1817, were as follows: President, Rev. James Laurie; vice-president,- secretary and treasurer, John D. Barclay. The superintending com- mittee for the Washington Academy were Joseph Anderson, Rev. James Laurie, and Rev. William Hawley; and for the Lancasterian School, Josiah Meigs, Rev. William Matthews, and Thomas II. Gilliss.
A most interesting occasion was that of the visit to this country
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of Mr. Joseph Lancaster, who delivered a lecture in Congress Hall January 26, 1819.
July 3, 1820, the trustees elected were, for the first district, Josiah Meigs, William Williamson, James Hoban, William Matthews, James HI. Handy, John P. Van Ness, and Andrew Coyle; for the second district, Andrew Hunter, Daniel Carroll of Duddington, Charles B. Ilamilton, John Crabb, George Watterston, Daniel Rapine, and James Carberry. The board for 1822 was as follows: First district, Thomas Munroe, James II. Handy, William Williamson, C. W. Goldsborough, James Hoban, William Matthews, and George Sweeney; for the second district, Edmund S. Lewis, George Watterston, A. T. McCormick, S. N. Smallwood, M. Wright, Daniel Rapine, and Samuel Miller.
In June, 1826, the following trustees were appointed: First district, Rev. William Matthews, Rev. Robert Little, Rev. David Baker, C. W. Goldsborough, Christ Andrews, John Wells, and George Sweeney; second district, Rev. A. T. McCormick, Rev. Ethan Allen, George Watterston, George Blagden, Daniel Rapine, Edmund S. Lewis, and Timothy Winn.
Robert Ould was still principal of the Lancasterian School, estab- lished in 1811, into which there had been received 1,101 pupils; 879 had left, and 222 remained.
June 29, 1827, the trustees elected for the first district were Rev. William Matthews, Daniel Baker, Robert Little, C. W. Goldsborough, John N. Moulder, James Larned, and George Sweeney; for the second district, Rev. A. T. McCormick, Ethan Allen, George Watterston, John Coyle, Jr., William A. Smallwood, Charles B. Hamilton, and G. W. Peter.
June 27, 1828, the trustees of the public schools elected were: For the first district, Rev. William Matthews, Rev. William Hawley, James Larned, George W. Dashiell, John N. Moulder, William .G. Elliott, and George Sweeney; for the second district, Rev. A. T. McCormick, George Watterston, G. W. Peter, Charles B. Hamilton, John Coyle, Jr., C. T. Coote, and Edward W. Clarke.
For the public schools, trustees were annually elected until 1837, up to which time the only system of public education recognized in the District of Columbia was that supported in part by the corpora- tion and in part by individual subscriptions. The free schools, of which there were two, were started by the corporation with money derived from lotteries; but so far, the free schools were totally inade- quate to the necessities of the youth of the city. There were then about 3,000 white children from five to fifteen years of age, and of
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these about 1,200 were being educated at private academies, and abont 350 only at the public schools. Thus about 1,400 of the children of the ages mentioned were entirely destitute of educational facilities, and if the same ratio were applied to the entire District, it appeared that there were upward of 2,300 children growing up in ignorance within the Ten Miles Square. At the same time, there were many among the poorer classes who would not send their children to the free schools for fear of incurring the stigma of having them educated by public charity. This unreasonable, but natural, feeling could only be removed by some such admirable system as that of the public schools of New England, where the children of the poor men enjoyed the same privileges as the children of the rich, and where there was made no discrimination in the public mind as to the different classes of children attending the public schools. In such a system of educa- tion no stigma applied to one that did not apply to all, and hence there was no stigma at all applied to any.
Congress had not appropriated any money for schools in the District of Columbia. This was not attributed, however, to the par- simony of Congress, but to the neglect of the city authorities of Washington, who had never presented the claims of the children of the District to that body of legislators. In fact, the corporate authorities of the city, instead of placing the subject of education among those of first importance, had always treated it as of but minor consequence. They had spent their time upon canals, railroads, banks, and other public institutions, and permitted public education to suffer and almost perish from neglect.
But in the early part of 1837, the trustees of the corporation free schools, by the direction of the Council, appointed a committee to bring the necessities of the District of Columbia to the attention of Congress, and to ask of that body such assistance as would lay the foundation of a general system of education to embrace the entire population of the District of Columbia from five to fifteen years of age. The memorial prepared by this committee was presented to the appropriate committee of the Senate during its session of 1836-37, but, as that session drew to a close with but little prospect of action, it was suggested to the citizens of Georgetown and Alexandria that they appoint committees to make similar demands upon Congress at the beginning of its session of 1837-38, so that measures might be adopted which should apply to the children of the entire District of Columbia, and under which the children of the poorest should enjoy the same educational privileges and advantages as the children of the rich.
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On July 3, 1837, trustees of the public schools were elected as follows: First district, Rev. William Matthews, Rev. William Hawley, Lewis H. Machem, James Larned, John D. Barclay, John W. Maury, and William B. Magruder; second district, Rev. A. T. McCormick, John Coyle, Thomas Blagden, Richard Barry, William Speiden, James Marshall, Marmaduke Dove, and James Carberry.
In the first district, for the year 1836-37, J. Laurens Henshaw was the teacher. According to his report, made to the trustees, for the year ending June 28, 1837, there had been admitted to the school, which was still conducted under the act of October, 1808, from its commencement, in February, 1812, 1,488 boys and 675 girls, an aggre- gate of 2,163 pupils; and at the time of making the report, there were in attendance 207 pupils-186 boys and 21 girls.
In 1839, the question again arose as to why it was that the cor- porate authorities paid so little attention to the education of girls. In the Western Free Schools they were not admitted at all, in conse- quence, it was thought, of the immoral tendency of mingling together so great a number of the two sexes, both in and out of school. While this exclusion, for this reason, was considered proper, yet it was not thought proper that no provision should be made for the education of the girls.
July 1, 1841, J. Laurens Henshaw made his report of the condi- tion of the schools in the first district, consisting of the First and Second wards. There had been in attendance two hundred and sixty- nine pupils in school during the year.
The condition of education in Washington in February, 1842, is shown by the following statistics: The number of public schools was 2, and of private schools 19. The number of white persons under twenty years of age was 9,000; the number between five and fifteen years of age, 4,488; and it was estimated that the number between four and sixteen years of age was 4,900. The estimated number under four and above sixteen, of school age, was 500; so that the total school population of the city was 5,400. From official sources it was learned that the number in actual attendance at school was 989, leaving the large number of 4,411 that did not attend school at all. The cost of educating the 989 that did attend was estimated to be as high as $35,000, and some thought it was considerably higher; and it was believed that by means of a thorough system of public schools all the children in the city might be educated for a less sum.
Such considerations as the above led the committee on public schools to submit to the Boards of Aldermen and Common Council, a
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report in relation to the establishment and support of common and high schools in the city of Washington. This report was submitted November 7, 1842. The annual message of the Mayor had discussed the subject of education, and the committee said: "Provision should be made for the education of the entire youth of the community at the public expense and at the earliest possible period. At present, no systematic or efficient plan exists," etc. The cost of educating the one thousand two hundred children, or thereabouts, that attended school, including the cost of books, stationery, etc., fell but little, if any, short of $40,000 per year. One-half of that amount judiciously expended, so it was thought, would give equal if not better instruc- tion to the school population of the city. The committee therefore suggested the establishment of a number of schools sufficient to meet the wants of the people, by the imposition of a tax upon the assess- able property of the city.
The committee, at that time, had in contemplation the establish- ment of a high school in connection with the proposed system of common schools, admitting to the high school those who proved most proficient in scholarship in the common schools. Their proposition was to erect seven schoolhouses, and to appropriate $15,000 with which to pay the teachers and to purchase the necessary books, sta- tionery, etc. Their report was quite long, and very able and compre- hensive. The committee consisted of James F. HIaliday, C. A. Davis, John T. Towers, John A. Lynch, John E. Neale, and E. W. Clarke.
But in Washington, as in all other parts of this country, when it was proposed to establish schools in which the children of the poor should be educated at the expense of the rich, there were those who could not be convinced of the justice of the system by even the most forcible and logical reasoning. And here, as elsewhere, the objection was raised, that under this plan the poor would be taxed to educate the children of the rich! This was, of course, a great perversion of reasoning faculties, and a great misapprehension of the purposes and plans of the committee.
On January 16, 1843, the Board of Aldermen convened to listen to a report from the committee appointed to take into consideration the advantages to be derived from the establishment of common and high schools in the city. The report was not long, but it is not deemed necessary to present it in full in this connection; it is therefore summarized, as follows: The corporate authorities of the city of Washington have the necessary power to establish such a system of schools, granted to them in the charter in the following words:
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"The corporation shall have full power and authority to lay and collect taxes upon the real and personal property within the said city, provided that no tax shall be laid upon real property at a higher rate than three-fourths of one per centum on the assessed value thereof, except for the special purpose hereafter provided"; and "the said corporation shall also have power and authority to provide for the establishment and superintendence of public schools, and to endow the same; and to lay and collect taxes for the expense thereof."
But, notwithstanding the fact, as the committee reported it, that the corporation had sufficient authority to establish such schools, it yet thought that it would be inexpedient to exercise the power at that time, for the reason that when the rate of taxation was increased to pay the interest on the Holland loan, the result was to check and almost to prevent the making of improvements in the city. "The noise of the busy workman, so cheering to the friends of the city, was rarely heard." "When, however, through the kind liberality of Congress, the load of debt under which we were struggling was partly removed and the taxes restored to the original rate, the city, rousing from its lethargy, has increased and prospered at a ratio which, under all circumstances, has rarely been exceeded by any city cast of the mountains. Shall we again, by an increased imposition of taxes upon real and personal property, the very means by which our city is extended and improved, check those improvements, and again have to lament the stagnation of mechanical and other business, and the cessa- tion of our present prosperity? We are sure that the voice of the people will answer, No!" etc. The committee was therefore opposed to imposing a tax upon real and personal property at that time. They were also opposed to taxing certificates of stock and also to asking aid from Congress. They then recommended the indefinite postponement of the petition. Their report was adopted by a vote of yeas, 9, to nays, 2.
On July 24, 1843, the Mayor, W. W. Seaton, submitted to the Boards of Aldermen and Common Council some statisties with refer- ence to the schools. The teacher of the Western Free Schools reported the attendance, during the year then closing, of 336 pupils, an increase of 134 over the previous year. The teacher of the Eastern Free School reported 174 scholars in attendance. The two female charity schools, to which the corporation had for some years contributed pecuniary aid, continued to flourish, and to do honor to the benevolent ladies by whom they were instituted. The report of the managers of the Cen- tral Sehools showed that the number of pupils registered was 80,
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and the attendance 60. The Capitol Hill school had 85 registered pupils.
Mr. Seaton then said that he regretted the postponement of the adoption of the public-school system. "Anxious as I was to see introduced the wise and admirable system of the North, by which education is amply placed within the reach of the poor and rich alike, the diversity of views which the scheme has encountered, and the doubts which are found to exist in regard either to the power of imposing taxes for its support, or the expedieney of imposing them, must, I fear, forbid for the present the hope for its adoption."
Notwithstanding the adverse action of the Council, the Mayor recommended the establishment of an additional public school. The income from the school fund was then $3,000, and the two schools then in operation cost the city but $1,800 per year, leaving a surplus of $1,200, which might be devoted to the support of a third school. Yet the Councils did not take immediate action on the Mayor's recommendation.
There were members in the Council quite as anxious as was the Mayor for a system of public education. On October 2, 1844, Ignatius Mudd introduced a bill into the Common Council entitled, "An Act to Increase the Number of Public Schools," which was read twice, and referred to the committee on public schools by a vote of 13 to 5. At length, on December 6, 1844, an ordinance was adopted by the cor- porate authorities to increase the number of public schools in the city of Washington and for other purposes. By this act the city was divided into four public-school districts, as follows: The first district was composed of the First Ward and that part of the Second Ward north of the canal; the second district consisted of all that part of the Third Ward north of the canal; the third district consisted of the Fourth and Sixth wards and that part of the Fifth Ward east of the canal, and the fourth district, the rest of the city.
This act provided for the election by the Boards of Aldermen and Common Council of a board of school trustees of three persons from each school district, who, together with the Mayor of the city, should have the management of the schools of the city. The Mayor was authorized to have erected a good and substantial schoolhouse on that portion of Judiciary Square granted by the President of the United States for that purpose, for the second district; and he was required to secure ground and have erected thereon a good schoolhouse for the fourth district. The cost of the schoolhouse in the second district was not to exceed $2,000, and that of the house in the fourth district
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was not to exceed $1,300. There was appointed one male teacher for each of the schools, who was the principal thereof, and who had charge of the school. All white children between the ages of six and sixteen years were admitted to the schools under this act, at a tuition not to exceed fifty cents per month, to be paid in advance.
On December 16, 1844, the trustees elected under this act were as follows: First district, Robert Farnham, George J. Abbott, and John F. Hartley; for the second district, Peter Force, Thomas Donoho, and John C. MeKelden; third district, John P. Ingle, Noble Young, and William M. Ellis; fourth district, Isaac S. Miller, Ignatius Mudd, and Thomas Blagden.
February 28, 1845, an act was passed by the corporation, appropri- ating $475 to procure a lot and to cause to be erected thereon a good and substantial schoolhouse for the fourth district, sufficient to accom- modate not less than one hundred and fifty pupils. On April 7, Dr. T. Watkins was elected teacher in the second district, and Henry Hardy in the fourth.
In the summer of 1848, the pay feature of the public-school system was abolished, and it was hoped that all the dissatisfaction which had existed under the old system would disappear, and that in a short time all classes would be united in the support of the public schools.
November 22, 1850, the corporation established four male primary schools, to which females were not, under any circumstances, admitted, either as pupils or teachers. For the support of these four schools the following appropriations were made: For compensation to teachers, $1,637.50; for books, maps, and stationery, $100; for fuel, $60; for furniture and desks, $280; for rent of schoolrooms, $180; for contingent expenses, $45; total, 82,302 50.
By 1851 the public schools of the city were placed in a flourish- ing condition, and great interest was taken in their success by the people. Prizes and diplomas were given to meritorious pupils. August 16, 1851, Dr. Tobias Watkins, who had been principal of the Second District School ever since the establishment of the system, declined a renomination for the position, and was succeeded by T. M. Wilson. The expenses of the public schools for 1850 were $11,519.14, and for 1851 $12,935.92. Under the law of November 22, 1850, mentioned above, four new primary schools were established at the beginning of the following year, making the total number in active operation 23- 19 primary and 4 district schools. There were 33 teachers-23 males and 10 females. The number of pupils admitted through the year
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was 3,317, and the average attendance for the year ending June 30, 1851, was 1,755. In 1854, there were 36 teachers, at an aggregate annual salary of $12,400. The highest salary paid at that time was $800 per annum. The lowest was $200. All white children between the ages of six and sixteen were admitted to the schools. The act under which the schools were then operated imposed a tax of $1 upon all white male citizens of twenty-one years of age and upward. In September, 1854, there were still four school districts in the city. In the first district there were 10 teachers; in the second, 10; in the third, 11, and in the fourth, 6. The principals in the districts were as follows: First district, S. Kelly; second district, Thomas M. Wilson; third district, John Fell; fourth district, J. E. Thompson. There was as yet no superintendent of the public schools, nor any high school. The total expenses of the schools for the year were $17,633.88. The number of pupils on the roll was, in the first district, 552; second, 504; third, 631, and fourth, 378; total in the four districts, 2,065.
From 1854 to 1861, much improved school furniture was intro- duced, the municipal authorities cooperating with school trustees in extending facilities for instruction.
An attempt was made in 1857 to establish the office of superin- tendent of public instruction, but the measure was vetoed by the Mayor. The total appropriations for this period were $257,721.74.
The period from 1862 to 1866 begins to mark the development of the school system. Thirty schools of different grades were author- ized. The Wallach schoolhouse, the pioneer of the present excellent public-school buildings, was erected at an expense of some $30,000. It was pointed at by many at the time as "Wallach's folly"; but time has vindicated the wisdom of its erection. Steps were taken also for the erection of the Franklin building. The aggregate expen- ditures for this period were $390,727.10. The gross appropriations for school purposes within the District from 1805 to 1866, a period of sixty-one years, were $918,090.89.
September 1, 1862, an act was passed by the city Councils grad- ing the public schools and fixing the salaries of the teachers. This act provided that the schools should be known as primary, secondary, intermediate, and grammar schools. There were then four school districts, each of which was divided into male and female grammar schools, male and female intermediate schools; and there were as many secondary and primary schools as were necessary. The pre- ceptors of the male grammar schools received under this act $1,200 per annum; of the female grammar schools, $550 per annum; the
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teachers of the male intermediate schools, $500 per annum; and of the female intermediate schools, $450 per annum. Other teachers re- ceived smaller salaries.
When the schools opened in the fall of 1864, there were 8 gram- mar schools, 8 intermediate schools, 27 secondary schools, and 20 primary schools; total number of schools, 63; capacity of the build- ings, 3,780.
A new public-school building was erected in 1869 on Four and a Half Street in South Washington, between M and N streets. It was two stories high, thirty-two by seventy-two feet in size, and cost $6,500. It contained four schoolrooms, each thirty feet square in the clear.
In 1870, the statistics for the public schools were as follows: There were 131 schools authorized by law, and there were established 117. The four districts had the following numbers of scholars: Dis- triet No. 1, 1,271; No. 2, 1,430; No. 3, 1,554, and the fourth, 1,156; total, 5,411. Of the teachers then employed, J. E. Thompson was first appointed in December, 1847; Mrs. M. E. Rodier, in 1849, as was also Miss Moss; Miss Emily Billings, in 1850; and Mrs. Emily Myers, in 1852. In the four districts the lots upon which the pub- lie schoolhouses stood were valued at $94,864, and the buildings at $319,000. The furniture, apparatus, etc., in the four districts were valued at $40,115; total value of school property, $453,979.
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