USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, Volume I > Part 42
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Until 1890, the High School occupied a wooden building - also used up to 1872 as the Town Hall - on the site of the existing one; the Hancock Grammar and Primary Schools were located in a two-story wooden building, with inadequate land, on Waltham Street; the Adams Grammar and Primary Schools were housed in the wooden building - about to be superseded - on Massachusetts Avenue, East Lexington; while a large proportion of the children of the town were taught in four ungraded schools: the Tidd, on Hancock Street, in the north part of the town; the Franklin, on Concord Avenue, in the south or "Kite End" district; the Howard, on Lowell Street, in the "Scotland" district; and the Warren, on School Street, to accommodate the Concord Hill section. What was implied in this district system is well set forth in the report of the Special Committee (Messrs. C. A. Staples, E. G. Porter, F. O. Vaille, J. O. Tilton, A. M. Tucker, C. A.
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Wellington, and A. E. Scott) appointed by the town in 1889 "to consider the subject of building a new school-house for the Hancock School." In urging the value of enlarged ac- commodations at the centre of the town in order to permit of the bringing of pupils from the outlying districts to a central, graded school-house, the Committee say: -
" If parents in the outer districts realized the disadvantages to which their children are subjected in the mixed schools which they are compelled to attend, they would not submit to it without re- sistance.
" We do not in any way criticize the management of these schools; no doubt it is as efficient as the condition of things will admit. We wish merely to call attention to the evils of the system, and suggest a remedy.
"The day for ungraded schools in a town like Lexington has passed away, yet we have four remaining, all isolated and remote from the homes of most of the pupils, and two of them so small as to render enthusiasm or interest on the part of either teacher or pupil impossible.
"It is difficult to conceive of the intolerable classification and methods which prevail in these schools. The wonder is that the pupils accomplish anything, and that the teachers are not over- whelmed with despair. They comprise all grades, from the child of five years, just learning to read, to the boy of twelve or fourteen, fitting for the High School.
"In the Franklin School there are at the present time seven or eight grades, and the teacher somehow 'gets through' with thirty recitations daily.
"In the Tidd School there are six grades, with upwards of thirty recitations.
"In the Howard School six or seven grades, with twenty-four recitations.
"In the Warren School there appears to be a somewhat closer classification, but still there are at least four grades, with over twenty recitations.
"Estimate the time that the teachers of these schools can devote to each recitation or exercise, and compare the results with those to be attained in a well-classified school, where the teachers have only a single grade. Think of the long hours of mental stagna- tion and physical suffering which younger pupils in these schools endure, and compare this with the mental activity and physical development possible in the well-graded primary school, under the charge of a teacher specially fitted for her work.
"In the one case, the child is called out to 'recite' by himself
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
or in a class of two or three, it may be; five or possibly ten minutes are devoted to the exercise, and then the child returns to his seat to yawn and dawdle away the rest of the session with such desultory attention as the overtasked teacher can give him while trying to instruct or rather 'to hear' the so-called higher classes recite. In the other case, every pupil is under the direction of the teacher during the whole session. They are all engaged in the same work at the same time; they pass rapidly from one exercise to another; they become eager and enthusiastic in their work.
"This is almost equally true of the older pupils. The classes are generally small, many of them recite alone, and their so-called re- citations are dismally devoid of interest and of that spirit of emu- lation which is aroused and stimulated in children by contact with their peers in larger classes in well-graded schools.
"The Committee feel that this system should be no longer suf- fered, and earnestly recommend that the four schools to which we have referred be abandoned and merged in the Hancock and Adams Schools, or perhaps in the Hancock alone. This change would not only benefit the pupils who are transferred, but it would be of mutual advantage. . .
"The present school-houses, although perhaps in geographical centres, are in uninteresting localities and at long distances from the district boundaries. Some of the pupils are now carried to and from school by their parents, and the greater number bring their dinners and remain through the noon recess.
"We can illustrate this better by again referring to the schools in detail.
"In the Howard School there are at the present time twenty-one pupils. In order to make the existence of this school possible, the Committee have allowed and required the pupils from other schools to attend there. Two of the pupils reside on Maple Street and be- long to the Adams, and ten reside at the Crossing and belong to the Hancock; the remaining nine reside on or near Lowell Street. More than half of the whole number remain at noon.
"In the Tidd School there are forty-nine pupils. Twenty-three of these reside on Adams Street, or on Hancock Street near its junction with Adams Street; two on Lowell Street; seven on Bur- lington and Grove Streets, and the remaining seventeen at North Lexington and on Hancock Street. Nearly thirty remain at noon.
"In the Franklin School there are twenty-nine pupils. They all reside on Waltham Street or on Allen Street and Concord Avenue, east of Waltham Street. There are none from Concord Avenue, or that part of the district west of the school-house. All but two live at long distances from the school-house, and remain at noon.
"In the Warren School there are thirty-three pupils. Eleven
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of these reside on Concord Hill, four near the Water Works, and nine at or near the corner of Spring and Middle Streets. Nearly all remain at noon.
"Furthermore, the school buildings are old, and the cost of re- pairs and required alterations in the future must be considerably more than was expended during the past year. They are heated by stoves, so that the temperature in cold weather varies many de- grees in different parts of the rooms. The sources of ventilation are very meagre and faulty, and the teachers, in their desperate struggle with impure air, resort to open windows, through which pour the dreaded draughts upon the heads of the pupils. If the schools are to be continued, a large sum must be expended to bring the heating and ventilation within the requirements of the present law.
"The basements are unwholesome, the sanitary arrangements vile, and an additional expenditure is here required for decency, if for nothing more.
"The argument is sometimes advanced that the removal of these schools would depreciate the value of property in the districts, but it is difficult to conceive how a neglected school-house and yard with unsightly and unsavory attachments can add much to the attractiveness of a neighborhood, and it is equally difficult to con- ceive that intelligent families will seek the outlying farms of our town for residence with the intolerable school privileges now af- forded. It is our belief that the fact that all the pupils in these dis- tricts have the same advantages of good graded schools that the centres have, will add very greatly to the value of these farms. Wherever the plan has been adopted, this has been the result; and although wherever it has been tried there has been opposition at the outset, it has soon been silenced, and in no case has there been a desire to return to the old system.
"Objection is also made that the conveyance of so many young people together may occasion rudeness and lack of discipline, but we believe it may be so managed as to conduce to good behavior, punctuality, and good discipline. A week's walking as a punish- ment for rudeness would be a sufficient corrective in most cases; but if this should not suffice, the walking time could be indefinitely extended. Indeed, it is the universal testimony that the bringing of pupils from the small outside schools to the larger central schools results in better manners, greater cleanliness, neatness in dress, more constant attendance, and vastly improved scholarship.
"The memory of early school-days brings back to some of us the orgies of the noon intermission in district school-houses. The new school-house will, no doubt, be under supervision at all times. Large and convenient play-rooms, separate for boys and girls, will be provided, and those who remain at noon will have more
400
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
comfortable accommodations than they now have for their dinners and for recreation, and be under greater restraint.
"In stormy and cold weather the exposure is far less for those who ride, and it has been shown in places where this plan exists that the attendance of the pupils brought in from the outer dis- tricts is somewhat better than the average attendance of the whole school.
"We must not fail to call attention to the better supervision which is possible under this scheme. Now the supervision of these schools consists in, perhaps, two or three calls from the Committee and Superintendent per year; while the schools in the new build- ing will, no doubt, be under the control of a Principal, and have the influence of almost daily visits of the Committee or Superin- tendent.
"The decision of this question has a direct bearing upon the size of the new school-house, and it is important that the town should act upon it before action is taken on the matter of building."
As a result of this excellent report, the town voted, in June, 1890, to build a new house for the Hancock School, to discon- tinue the district schools, and to transport those pupils living more than a mile from the Hancock or Adams school-houses to and from those buildings at the town's expense. In the fall of 1891 the new Hancock School was opened;1 and more than twenty years of experience have proved the wisdom of the Committee not only in recommending the erection of a solidly constructed, dignified brick edifice, with wide stairs and cor- ridors, and with ample grounds for play, but also in seizing the occasion of this new building to induce the citizens to abolish the district system. From the earliest days that sys- tem had been a source of almost ceaseless controversy within the town; the children living remote from the villages had suf- fered in their educational opportunities; and, because of this separation into districts, citizens had grown up without that mutual acquaintance so necessary to good understand- ing and right feeling. While the expenditure for schools has advanced rapidly in these twenty years, the quality of teach- ing, the school attendance, and the educational results have shown a growth that is fully commensurate with the cost.
The difficulties inseparable from centralizing the schools of a town should not, however, be minimized. The cost of
1 The Hancock School building was designed by Hartwell and Richardson, architects; cost, about $61,000. Ed.
HANCOCK SCHOOL ADAMS SCHOOL
MUNROE SCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL
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transportation proved far greater than was predicted in the report of the Hancock School Committee; the question of securing competent supervision of the children on their way to and from the centres is a serious one; the shifting of school population in a town covering so large an area as Lexington brings about complications in the matter of routes; and the problem of those children who must wait for the barges at points somewhat distant from their homes is not easy. More- over, the children from a distance must, of course, spend the noon recess in the school buildings under supervision; and the abandonment of the district school-house does, without question, deprive the rural sections of a convenient centre of local social life. For all these reasons, there has been from the beginning more or less opposition on the part of some citi- zens to the plan adopted in 1891; yet there is every reason to believe that the town is not likely to return to the system of district schools, at least for children of grammar and high- school age.
While the new building was in process of erection, the old Hancock School, on Waltham Street, was burned, requiring the use of inconvenient temporary quarters for nearly a year. The four district school buildings were kept for a number of years by the town, in the event of a return, after fair trial, to the district system; but they have now all been razed or sold for conversion into dwellings. So rapidly did the resort to the new Hancock School increase that one or two of the dis- trict buildings were temporarily reopened in the early years of the present century; 1 and so much more rapid has been the proportionate increase in school population over that in the general population, that the School Committee almost every year find difficulty in providing adequate accommodations for all the children.
The former Town Hall building, erected in 1846, although used for over thirty years to house the high-school pupils, was never really fitted for educational purposes, its single assem- bly room being as much too large, as its ante-rooms and attic rooms were too small, to permit of good teaching. Therefore, after a good deal of agitation and discussion, it was voted, in
1 The Tidd School was closed for the last time in 1903, and all district school- houses were disposed of soon thereafter. The Tidd School building was built in 1852-53, at a cost of $1583. The Howard School building, built in 1853-54, cost $1593. Ed.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
1901, to erect a brick building on the site of the existing one. The present edifice 1 was in the following year opened, the grounds graded, and, some years later, the property in the rear was made into a suitable place for recreation. By transferring the ninth-grade pupils from the Hancock and Adams Schools to this new building, the pressure upon those buildings was somewhat relieved; but within a year or two, this had again become so great that, in 1904, the town voted to erect a school-house, of wood, for children up to the ninth grade, in the vicinity of Bloomfield Street. This building was in the following year opened and named the Munroe School.2 Sub- sequently additional land was purchased in the rear of this building, giving ample space for play.
Meanwhile the Adams School, in East Lexington, built in 1859,3 was proving more and more unfitted for the demands of modern education. Successive School Committees did what they could, by rearranging rooms and putting in mod- ern sanitation, to mitigate conditions; and the gift, by Miss Stone, of a piece of land in the rear of the school, extended the recreation area. The rapid building development near the Arlington line has caused such an increase in the school popu- lation, however, that, for several years, at least one of the classes has been housed in the Stone Building. Therefore, during 1911, the town voted to erect a new building of brick, not on the site of the existing school-house, but on more level land, with a better exposure to the sun, in the rear of the Stone Building. This new house is in process of erection.4 When it is finished, Lexington will possess four modern school-houses of excellent design, well arranged for school use, and situated in extensive and attractive grounds. More- over, in spite of the disadvantage of being surrounded by so many cities and towns able to offer higher salaries, Lexing- ton has been and still is most fortunate in the quality and devotion of her public school-teachers. Because of this and because Lexington early conformed with the state laws re- quiring adequate supervision, drawing, manual training, etc., her schools have continued to maintain the high rank noted, in 1867, with just pride, by Mr. Hudson.
1 Cooper and Bailey, architects; cost, about $61,500. Ed.
2 Willard D. Brown, architect ; cost, about $28,000. Ed.
3 The original cost was about $4065. Ed.
4 The estimated cost is about $60,000. Ed.
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EDUCATION
Leading citizens of the town have been willing to serve on the School Committee and have given freely of their time and thought. The members of the several Building Committees have shown the same spirit in dealing with the perplexing problems of providing buildings of a high order on the compar- atively small appropriations possible in a town like Lexing- ton. The efforts of these citizens have usually been heartily supported by the town meetings; and a very generous per- centage of the revenues of Lexington is annually devoted to purposes of education.' A Superintendent has been employed since 1886, that office usually having been combined with the principalship of the High School. From 1906 to 1909, how- ever, Mr. George P. Armstrong served as Superintendent. He had no teaching duties, and divided his time between Lexington and Belmont, where he was also Superintendent of Schools.
With the exception of the interval, 1903 to 1910, the num- ber of the School Committee has been three and the member- ship made up usually of men. In the former year, however, the town, believing it to be desirable to have a larger repre- sentation, perhaps including women, voted to increase the number to six. In 1908 it was voted to return, by gradual reduction, to the smaller membership. There have been fluc- tuations, also, as is to be expected, in regard to the teaching of cooking, sewing, and manual training; and there has al- ways been difference of opinion as to whether or not the High School should attempt to fit youth for college. A con- siderable number of young men and women have gone to colleges and technical schools from the High School, which has for some years held the so-called "certificate privilege" in regard to those higher institutions which do not demand entrance examinations.
It may be of interest to record the increase in school at- tendance and in appropriations for school purposes, by ten- year periods since and including 1870: -
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
District Schools.
125
152
177
22
-
Hancock School
114
154
186
456
Adams School.
88
89
105
131
161
High School
46
46
63
91
184
Munroe School
=
227
Total attendance
373
441
531
700
908
Total school appropriation.
$7000
$9000
$11,500
$19,500
$36,500
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
Lexington has had at times, since 1867, excellent kinder- garten and other private schools and classes, conducted by women of high ability. That which existed longest was maintained by Miss Ellen L. Nash, who from 1866 to 1874 occupied the building on Massachusetts Avenue east of Vine Brook, now used as a dwelling, and who from 1874 to 1881 occupied what is now known as Cary Hall, in the Town Building. A certain number of children, moreover, have at- tended schools in Boston; but, as a rule, it has been the excel- lent custom of the citizens to make full use of the public schools. The interest which this engenders has been fostered in recent years by a Public School Association,1 aiming, through social meetings at which school problems are dis- cussed, to bring parents and teachers into close personal relations.
Following is a list of the Principals of the High School: -
George W. Dow, 1854-56
H. O. Whittemore,
1856-57
David W. Hoyt,
1857-58
Emory W. Lane,
1858-60
Augustus E. Scott,
1860-66
Lorin L. Dame, 1867-68
William H. Knight, 1868-70
Nathaniel Childs, 1870-71
Usher W. Cutts,
1871-72
A. E. White,
1872-77
George R. Dwelley, 1877-80
Frank O. Carpenter, 1881
Justin E. Gale, 1882 (part of year)
Charles H. Morss, 1882 (part of year)
J. B. Gifford, 1883
John N. Ham,
1883-93
Mark S. W. Jefferson, 1893-96
Everett P. Carey, 1896-97
Jonathan I. Buck, 1897-1901
Henry W. Porter, . 1901-06
John F. Hamlin, 1906-08
Frank H. Damon, 1908-
Since the public library2 is to-day properly regarded as an
ยท 1 Organized April 7, 1908. Ed.
2 As early as 1831 an organization known as "The Social Library" was in active operation in the town, and a catalogue printed that year, now preserved in the Cary Memorial Library, gives the titles of 305 books. This library was later merged in the Farmers' Club Library. Ed.
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EDUCATION
educational agency of almost equal value with the school, it is appropriate to include under "Education" an extended account of the Cary Memorial Library,1 already mentioned in an earlier chapter.
On December 10, 1867, Mrs. Maria Hastings Cary, of Brooklyn, New York, "having a regard for her native place and being prompted by a desire to increase the opportunities for culture among its inhabitants," offered to the town of Lexington the sum of $1000, the interest to be expended for books, provided the town would vote to establish a free li- brary, procuring or appropriating $1000 for the purchase of books and $40 each year thereafter. This sum was to be held by the Selectmen, the School Committee, and the settled min- isters of the town as trustees, who also should have the over- sight and management of the library. These conditions were heartily approved and the gift was accepted on April 20, 1868. The town voted to appropriate $1000 when $400 more or its equivalent in books should be raised. This provision was doubly met. A Farmers' Club Library, organized in 1835, and having about seventy-five members, owned 401 volumes estimated in value at $575, and these were presented to the town. On October 1 of the previous year, 1867, a stock library had been formed by twelve associates, to be known as the Lexington Library Association. There were 228 shares, hav- ing a par value of $3 per share; 116 shares were presented by the owners and the town purchased the remainder. Mr. Benjamin de Forest gave $100, and 153 volumes were con- tributed by the Hon. Charles Hudson. Thus the generous proposal of Mrs. Cary found already alive an active desire for ampler literary advantages and met this hearty and ef- fective response. It was an instance of the growing apprecia- tion of good literature which was rapidly extending through- out the State.
The modest collection of books thus provided was in- stalled in a room over what is now G. W. Spaulding's store, and on January 27, 1869, it was opened to the public under the charge of Miss Marion S. Keyes. The hours were from one o'clock until five on Wednesday afternoons, and from one to eight on Saturdays. No one except the Librarian was allowed to take books from the shelves. Much better accom-
1 This account has been prepared by a member of the Committee, Rev. Charles Francis Carter. Ed.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
modations were provided in 1871, when the books were re- moved to the lower part of the Town Hall, which had been admirably fitted for this purpose. This was enlarged in 1883 by incorporating Memorial Hall into the main room, with in- creased shelving capacity, and the entire room was then re- decorated.
The resources of the Library have been repeatedly in- creased by generous gifts. Mr. Warren Sherburne in 1883 gave money for the purchase of 100 volumes; from Mr. Levi Prosser in 1884 there was a donation of $215; from Mr. George W. Robinson several donations of money for the pur- chase of books; from Miss Caira Robbins for the East Lex- ington Branch, $25 in 1886; from Mrs. Eleanor S. Beals, $1000 in 1892; and from Mr. Benjamin Wellington in 1897 the sum of $1000 was received and expended for books for the Branch; and in 1901 $1000 more was given as a fund to be placed at interest. In 1871 Mrs. Cary gave further evi- dence of her generous spirit in the sum of $5000, and a like amount was received from her estate in 1883. The town it- self has been liberal in its appropriations and annually has set aside the dog tax to be added to the other resources, thus insuring about $800 for the purchase of new books in addi- tion to the requirements for administration.
These resources have enabled the Trustees to purchase from month to month such works as seemed desirable and thus continually to freshen the stream of good literature that is flowing into the town. The record of circulation repeats the story that is familiar in other places, telling of a large percent- age of fiction, - usually from fifty to sixty per cent, coupled with a commendable record of more serious reading. The steady increase in the number of books withdrawn is significant of the growth in literary interest not only in this town but throughout the country. When the Library was first opened the eagerness of the people showed itself in the use of 1670 volumes within the first three months. In 1885 a circulation of over 29,000 represented an average of 113 volumes for each inhabitant. The circulation, in 1909, of 44,079 is almost double the number of books contained in the Library, there being 22,389 in the Main Library and 2547 in the Branch. This gratifying growth has been accompanied with a finer appreciation of the function of such an institution. In the Report of 1889 the wholesome observation was made that
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