USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Shelburne > History and tradition of Shelburne, Massachusetts > Part 15
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Another source of dissatisfaction was the require- ment that parents provide the pupils' textbooks, a sub- ject on which Dr. Packard expressed himself forcibly. Evidently some parents considered the cost of supply- ing books for several children too great, and this was long before the State had begun to consider free text- books. Apparently it did not occur to the good doctor or his colleagues on the committee that town funds might be provided for this purpose, and the ever- recurring problem was not solved until the State ordered that the towns should furnish all children with books.
As has been stated before, the governing bodies of the schools were quite free and frank in expressing their opinions on the system and even on each other. It may be interesting to read a few of the character- istic comments which they made on the schools them- selves.
"Miss B - is a first-rate teacher, and has succeeded in making a first-rate school. She rules by the sovereign power of love. Rarely have we seen affection in the children toward the teacher so marked as in this school. This teacher combines in a remarkable degree a knowledge of children, tact, shrewdness, and gentle firmness, important gifts, but rarely found combined in one individual. . The Committee was highly gratified by the appearance of this school. Order excellent, the teacher had no occasion to reprimand a scholar while the committee was present. Teacher and scholars seemed to be interested and earnest in their employment. May the shadow of this school never grow less! .
1856 - "The committee was not pleased with the appearance of this school. There was a manifest want
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of thoroughness in instruction, great hesitation on the part of the scholars. They seemed never positive that they were correct in their answers. This was the longest term of school in the town, and yet (the school) does not exhibit corresponding marks of im- provement. . Both teacher and children seemed to lack interest. The committee was not satisfied either with the thoroughness of the instruction or with the progress made by the school. They noticed that the children had displayed much zeal and some skill in carving the seats and benches."
March 1858 - "No. 1 school - government good, some recitations excellent. . . . Scholars generally showed a fair degree of study and interest. . .
"No. 3 - a successful school. Energy and thorough- ness were apparent on the part of the teacher, interest and industry on the part of the scholars. This is a school of excellent scholars, with scarcely any disturb- ing characters. The closing examination gave evidence of successful effort on the part of the teacher, and patience and perseverence on the part of the scholars."
1870 - "The Fox Town school is a peculiar insti- tution. It is one of the rare spots in Shelburne where the people do not think alike on all subjects or schools, either, and many were not satisfied with the teacher or school. The great defect in the judgment of your committee, was a lack of discipline, and we think a larger part of the fault is chargeable to the parents, as this same teacher can keep order in other schools, while here she cannot."
"There is a screw loose in this school, for either the teacher could not well sustain herself, or the district did not do its part in sustaining the school, for some of the large scholars left, and went to school in an- other district. .
"It was evident at the examination that the pupils had not received a sufficiently thorough training, so that their attainments were quite too superficial, and their habits of study and recitation very careless."
"Some of our schools have made decided and satis- factory improvement. Of others we are obliged to speak more doubtfully. If there has been any improve- ment it has been imperceptible. Others seem actually to have retrograded."
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS
Some phases of the development of the school sys- tem of Shelburne since 1860 or thereabout, were home- inspired, but most of them were due to the leadership, and occasionally the pressure, of the State Department of Education. The activities of the department were motivated by the dynamic and far-sighted Horace Mann. No attempt will be made here to list these changes chronologically, but the more important ones will be taken up individually.
Some improvements had been made, and some of the objectionable features mentioned above were gone or on the way out. The Legislature had occasionally exercised some controls, as in the matter of free text-
books, and the Department of Education had already been receiving funds from the State treasury to dis- tribute among the smaller towns to improve their educational facilities.
Four state-wide developments that sooner or later affected Shelburne schools were the establishment of normal schools for training teachers; paid full-time professional supervision for the schools; consolidation ; and the great American secondary-school movement.
At first the establishment of the normal schools did not help Shelburne or other small towns. Teachers trained in them would not teach in one-room, ungraded rural schools when graded schools paying better sala- ries were open to them. As time went on, however, the opening of more normal schools and constant pressure from the State Department slowly improved the quality of teaching.
The idea of employing a superintendent of schools, whose whole time should be given to the work of supervision and improvement, began to appear in school reports as early as 1870. From then until 1892 it came up frequently in town meetings, and was sure to provoke heated arguments. Rugged indi- vidualists that they had always been, many Shelburne voters were bitterly opposed to giving up any part of the control of their own schools to an outsider, and argued that any such delegation of power to a person placed in authority over the schools would eventually lead to complete usurpation of control by that authority and consequent loss of control by the voters.
Others urged that better standards of education could be obtained by vesting authority in one person, who made the care of the schools his whole business, rather than by dividing this authority among several persons, each of whom had his own affairs to consider.
"No doubt the people of Shelburne desire to get the best return possible from the money expended for education. Better would it be for the town to require the school committee annually to appoint a superin- tendent of public schools, who under the directional control of said committee shall have the care and supervision of these schools. This officer, visiting every school and acquainting himself with what is best in each one, is in a position to introduce into each one the best practices of all."
"According to the statutes of the state, the entire management of the schools is placed in the hands of the town committee. All orders from the state board of education are legitimately directed to the local school committee. The superintendent is merely a subordinate officer and subject to the control of the committee, strictly an agent for performing the duties they may assign him. This does not allow him the power of independent management, since this authority is vested in the town committee and cannot be trans- ferred legally to a subordinate."
In an effort to compromise between these two points of view, the town in 1886 elected H. A. Pratt, chair- man of the school committee, as superintendent of schools. This office he held until 1892.
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This plan broke the ice, so to speak, but lacked the advantages of having a professionally trained schoolman in the position. Shelburne, obviously, could not afford a full-time superintendent of this type, but a new State law opened the way by allowing two or more towns to unite in a "supervisory union" and to employ a superintendent jointly. Not only did this law permit such an arrangement but encouraged it by reimbursing the towns for one half the salary (now two thirds of the salary up to $5000) from the State treasury. The requirement is attached that the incum- bent possess certain specified professional qualifications. Buckland, Colrain, and Shelburne took advantage of this plan. A Mr. A. L. Safford was employed, and his salary was apportioned among the three towns "in proportion to each town's share of the cost of supervision," which was estimated at Buckland 32.4%, Colrain 41% and Shelburne 26.6%. Later this was reapportioned into three equal parts.
Mr. Safford remained only one year but made some fundamental improvements. Most important was to publish a sadly needed uniform course of study for the full nine grades in all the schools. He planned a systematic program of visiting the schools, held monthly teachers' meetings, and called in agents from the State Department who discussed with the teach- ers the most approved method of teaching. He was succeeded by the able Captain Charles P. Hall, and this supervisory plan has been followed ever since, the incumbents remaining for terms varying from two to fifteen years.
The problem of consolidating the one-room un- graded schools was settled more by a march of facts than by discussion, although there was plenty of the latter.
In 1843 there were eight rural schools with enrol- ments totaling 241 in the winter term and 170 in the summer, the average attendance being 149 and 126 respectively. By the turn of the century three of these schools had closed for lack of pupils.
By 1914 there were but three schools left outside of Shelburne Falls - Center, Skinner, and Patten. In this way came the beginning of consolidated schools, although the idea was bitterly opposed by many resi- dents.
One of the chief objections to consolidation was the belief that if any district were deprived of its own school, property values in that district would decline. Another was the inadvisability of having small chil- dren so far away from home in case of accident or sudden illness. The third objection was the supposedly high cost of graded schools.
In reply to the first point, the advocates of con- solidation brought out the fact that, far from lessen- ing property values, the fact that the town possessed a graded school, to which suitable transportation was furnished for all pupils living more than a mile away, would be an attraction to future property buyers. The second objection was met by stating the belief that the more experienced and better qualified teach-
ers who could be obtained for a graded school would be perfectly capable of dealing with any common accident that might occur. As for the higher cost of graded schools, the statistics of the cost of maintaining the graded school at the Falls and five district schools were compared. The cost per scholar at the Falls was slightly more than half that in the rural schools.
It was also pointed out that the smaller number of classes gave the teacher a chance to spend more time on each class and to make more thorough preparation for each, and that successful teachers would be will- ing to stay longer in such schools than in one-room ungraded schools.
So the arguments pro and con continued until the time when the building at the Center was destroyed by fire in 1933. Since a new school must now be built, it seemed to many people that the time had come to bring all the children together in one building, where they might enjoy all the benefits of larger classes, modern buildings, more attention from the special teachers, and better sanitary conditions.
This course was finally decided upon, and the busi- ness of building a new consolidated school at Shel- burne Center was begun. The site was chosen with the idea of making the new building part of a munici- pal group, consisting of church, school, and library, as well as providing an ample playground for the children, where there would be the least possible danger from automobile traffic.
Just before the building operations were begun, the State decided to relocate the highway at that point, and the erection of the building was delayed several months while decisions were made and surveying done.
When all that was completed, the dream of a community center was somewhat shattered, but the net result was an attractive three-room building pleas- antly located on a neatly graded plot of ground and very acceptable according to the standards of the day. It was opened for use in January 1934, and the Skinner and the Patten, the last of their historic kind in Shelburne, were closed.
OUR ACADEMIES
In pioneer days the founding fathers were con- strained to devote their efforts to developing a public elementary school system, the taxation necessary to provide for these schools being all they could carry. When the first rigors of pioneer life had abated and it was no longer necessary to devote every waking hour to obtaining the bare necessities of life, a strong demand arose for a higher degree of education. While the public "Latin Grammar Schools" were free to all children, only a favored few could hope to go to college. It was then that the era of academies and seminaries began. This was a type of educational institution intermediate in point of time between the college, which had existed since Harvard was founded, and the public high school, which was to flourish many years later as the top rung of the free public-school
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ladder. In these schools young people athirst for knowledge could study ancient and modern languages, history, literature, music, and drawing at a very modest expense. As many of the schools were headed by clergymen or religious bodies, parents felt that their children were under safe influences while attending these schools.
The first such school was established in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin, hard-headed, far-seeing, and generous as he always was. Many similar schools were started during the next 75 years, especially in the northeastern states. In this vicinity were the academies of Deerfield, New Salem, Ashfield (Sander- son), Benardston (Goodale), the Charlemont Grove Seminary, the Heath Select School and Buckland High School. Of these seven the first three still survive.
Shelburne was not behind its neighbors in provid- ing for higher education. In the year 1793 the town voted to raise the sum of two hundred pounds to establish an academy and petitioned the State Legisla- ture for an additional amount. The request was not granted. and thus matters stood until 1832.
At this time the Baptists of Western Franklin County, "deploring the low state of education among Baptists in this section," decided to establish a self- supporting academy within the bounds of the Franklin Baptist Association, wholly under the control of the Baptists.
Many of the towns included in the Association offered inducements to obtain the location of the pro- posed school within their borders. Shelburne Falls offered "to erect a building and make it a donation to the establishment as long as it should be used for purposes of education," and giving the Baptists the privilege of occupying the hall of the academy when not in use. This was considered the best offer made by any town, and so Shelburne Falls was chosen as the site for the new academy.
As the school was to be self-supporting, it was de- cided that a farm should be purchased as a part of the school. Upon this farm students could work three hours a day under the direction of the steward at the rate of six cents an hour to help pay their expenses.
Funds were to be raised by subscription; shares were sold at twenty-five dollars each, four of them to "constitute a permanent scholarship." The school was "called by the name and appellation of Franklin Academy." The principal was to be a "man of learn- ing and evangelical piety." All the directors were to be "elected from persons of regular standing and well- established religious character of the regular Baptist denomination churches."
Work on the building was begun in the spring of 1833 and finished in the fall. It was a three- story brick building with a tower and bell. At the time, it was said to be the highest building in Franklin County. It contained a large hall or chapel, two recitation rooms, a reading room, and eighteen rooms for students on the upper floor. It was located on Main Street, a little north of the Baptist and Con-
gregational churches, now number seventy-seven.
The school was formally opened September first, 1833. "The gray smoke was faintly curling from the twelve chimneys when the first sound of the bell called together one hundred students for morning prayers."
A farm just north of the present Cowell Gym- nasium, described as that of "Dan Townsley of Shelburne Falls, deceased," was purchased for $+100, and in the fall of 1833 a building was started to be used as a dormitory. It was a structure sixty feet by twenty-four, attached to the farmhouse, and was called the "Mansion House." From this building a path ran almost exactly west to the school. A long flight of steps led down the steep bank near Mr. Frank S. Field's home, and a footbridge crossed the Mechanic Street Brook. Eighty students could be accommodated. Board was as low as eighty-three cents a week for ladies, and one dollar for gentlemen. Later it was raised twenty-five cents a week. Some students boarded in private families at a rate of $1.75 to $2.50 per week. This included fuel, lights, and washing. Ladies' rooms were furnished, except for bed and bedding, but gentlemen had to provide their own furnishings, in- cluding a mirror. Many students boarded themselves at an even lower rate.
These are some of the rules laid down by the school authorities - and there were many!
"Only one dish shall be allowed for the same scholar at the same meal.
"The scholars shall eat such victuals as are set before them.
"The washing shall not exceed six pieces for gentle- men, and five for ladies.
"The reading room shall be open to all, but at different times for the different sexes.
"No one is permitted to take fruit from the inhabit- ants or from the farm belonging to the institution without permission.
"No scholar is allowed to frequent the tavern except on necessary business, and he must leave as soon as that is transacted.
"The two sexes are requested to walk by them- selves.'
Tuition was $4.00 per term for Greek, Latin, algebra and Euclid; $5.00 for French; $6.00 for Hebrew; and $3.00 for other studies. There were four terms a year of eleven weeks each.
Financial difficulties beset the school from the begin- ning. The farm was a failure and was sold in 1836 to Deacon Benjamin Maxwell, who had been the steward, and the boardinghouse became a private enterprise. Tuition charges did not cover faculty salaries. The first principal, Rev. David Allen, was more than competent, either as head of the school or as pastor of the Baptist Church, but handling both jobs was too much for any man, and at the end of six years his health was broken. There were three other principals during the next five years, but the situation was hopeless and the school closed in 1844.
The land and buildings came into the possession of
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N. and E. G. Lamson, the founders of the cutlery, who made no immediate use of it. About 1844 a young Brown University graduate, Lucius Lyon, be- came interested in the plan of opening another academy there.
Seventy pupils were enrolled the first year, and double that number the second year. Upon achieving this record, Mr. Lyon began to work for an endow- ment of $10,000 to establish the school upon a sound financial footing. Lamson Brothers had generously offered to provide half the amount, and Mr. Lyon, leaving school affairs in the hands of his able assist- ant, started out to canvass for the other half. In six months he had reached his goal, and the new school was chartered in March 1847 as Shelburne Falls Academy. The attendance at one time reached 279, although many students came for only a few terms. Expenses averaged $20 per term.
Mr. Lyon employed a very competent staff of teach- ers. Standards of instruction were high, and an unu- sually large number of the students went on to more advanced institutions of learning. Students came from all the New England States. Forty Massachusetts towns were represented, and there were two students from New York and one from Illinois.
There were three departments of instruction, Eng- lish, classical and languages, which included Latin, Greek, and French. Tuition was $5.00 for languages, $3.00 for common English, $4.00 for higher English, use of piano $2.00, drawing $2.00, colored crayon work $5.00.
Like its predecessor, Shelburne Falls Academy met with financial troubles. Principal and instructors had great responsibilities and meager salaries, and many preferred to take positions in other schools where salaries were fixed and duties were lighter. The school closed in 1871. Later it was used as the Shelburne High School, and still later as a dormitory for students attending Arms Academy. In 1900 the Academy building and campus was sold to Henry Merrill of New York. It was used as a factory for making patent medicines until 1906. It finally became private prop- erty, and has been made into an apartment house.
The corporation of Shelburne Falls Academy still exists, with control of a fund of $6,000. The interest of this fund is devoted toward the college expenses of worthy students who are in need of assistance.
In 1855, when Shelburne Falls Academy was be- coming increasingly aware of the financial difficulties which were to force it to close its doors in 1871, Major Ira Arms came to the rescue of the cause of education in his adopted town. He gave the sum of $20,000 to the town, to be placed in a trust fund for the purpose of founding an academy, which should "foster intellectual, moral, and religious growth among the youth of the community." He also gave a tract of land for the site of the school. In 1860 the organ- ization created to care for this fund was incorporated for $50,000 as the Arms Academy Association. By 1879 the original fund of $20,000 had more than
doubled by the sale of part of the land on Severance Street which Major Arms had given in addition to the money, and the trustees decided that the time had come to build the academy. The architect was E. C. Gardner, the builders Bartlett Brothers and George Harmun, and the cost of the building $15,000. The design was similar to those used in many of the old academies, and the construction was unusually sub- stantial. The bell which had hung in the belfry of the old Academy building on Main Street was pre- sented to Arms Academy and is still in use. A fine painted portrait of Mr. Arms was also presented to the school, and the chief item on the dedication pro- gram in March 1880 was an address by Paul A. Chadbourne, then president of Williams College.
In the beginning, Arms was a typical New Eng- land academy, managed by a board of trustees, and charging a modest tuition fee. The academic course cost $8.00 per term, the classical course $9.00. In one of the first catalogues of the school we find this state- ment :
"Discipline in the school will be firm, relying mainly on the good sense of the scholars, and their being and acting as ladies and gentlemen. None will be permitted to remain whose influence is hurtful or who wastes his time through inattention to studies."
The first commencement was held in 1885, when Prof. H. S. Cowell was principal, although several pupils had graduated before that time. The class con- sisted of seven boys and seven girls, half of whom had come from Prof. Cowell's former school in Francestown, New Hampshire, to complete their edu- cation under his instruction.
Mr. Cowell's program was elaborate, beginning with a graduation sermon on a Sunday and continuing for five days with a prize-speaking contest for juniors, class day exercises, a concert by an imported quartet, and finally, on Thursday, the graduation exercises in the Baptist Church to which four hundred invitations were issued.
Professor Cowell's enthusiasm in school affairs did not end with the elaborate graduation programme he inaugurated. Lecture courses, lyceums, the drama, and the school magazine, The Arms Student, were all introduced by him. It was with the greatest regret that the people of Shelburne Falls saw him leave, after four years, for Cushing Academy in Ashburn- ham.
At last there seemed to be an academy in town which was on sound foundations financially as well as educationally, and attention was turned to the be- ginning of a long series of developments.
FREE HIGH SCHOOLS FOR ALL
In the meantime many cities and larger towns had established public high schools during the latter half of the century, especially since the end of the Civil War. The State Legislature made it compulsory to furnish free secondary education and required that
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towns which could not, or would not, support high schools should pay the tuition of their pupils in such towns as did have them. This did not seem neces- sary for Shelburne with a good school in its midst ; so the town voted at its annual meeting in 1894 to pay the tuition of its pupils at Arms, beginning with the fall term. The Shelburne enrolment for the fall term was 53 and for the winter term 52, and the total cost to the town was $783.60. This arrange- ment, preceded by considerable discussion, was what the people wanted, and the obvious thing to do. Since Shelburne pupils constituted practically half of the student body, the town expected to have a large voice in the management of the school and in the character of the instruction given.
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