USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Somerville, past and present : an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts > Part 11
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Great as has been the advance in buildings and equipments still more marked have been the changes in methods of teaching.
The introduction of the kindergarten has diffused an influence, that has been felt in every grade below the high school ; the "laboratory method," so called, or learning by doing, has been no less potential, reaching down -. ward from the college and the high school, improving the work of the lower grades. The present secretary of the State Board of Education is authority for the statement that, "the best Massachusetts high schools to- day are far ahead of the colleges of fifty years ago, or even thirty years ago, in the character of the science work done, or of that at least which they seek to have done."
In the opinion of many, still greater changes are impending. G. Stan- ley Hall in a recent lecture said : "Every day we have signs of awakened interest, and cultivated people everywhere are coming to realize that there is only one great cause, the cause of education."
JOSHUA H. DAVIS.
GORDON A. SOUTHWORTH.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
At the present time there are nine State normal schools, and various other institutions of learning, with courses of study for the special prepara- tion of teachers. From these preparatory institutions are graduated yearly hundreds of persons with qualifications of a high order. Teachers' insti- tutes, lectures, conventions, educational publications, discussions, practical works on the science of education and the art of teaching, all contribute to the development of the highest ability and professional enthusiasm among teachers. Men of great natural abilities are attracted to the work of teach- ing, and the problems of education are carefully studied by the greatest men of the age.
Great as has been the improvement in the character of the buildings, equipments and methods of teaching over those of half a century ago, still greater has been the advance in popular sentiment with regard to their im- portance.
The common school of early days was only the germ from which our present enlarged and perfected system of public education has been devel- oped. " Fortunately the system possesses the flexibility necessary to adapt it to the wants of different periods of time, and different communities, with their ever varying necessities."
SCHOOL BUILDINGS .*
The Upper Winter Hill Schoolhouse, located on Central street, near Broadway, was moved to the present site of the Prescott school, East Somerville, in the year 1855. In 1856 it was removed to Prospect street, where it was known as the Union schoolhouse.
The Prospect Hill Schoolhouse contained two rooms, and was situated on Medford street, near the end of Cross street. It was used for school pur- poses until the completion of the Brastow in 1861. The building is now located at the corner of Somerville avenue and Prospect street, and is used by the Somerville water board.
The Milk Street Schoolhouse, located on Somerville avenue, near the Cemetery, was burned in 1849.
The Lower Winter Hill Schoolhouse, at the corner of Broadway and Franklin street, was occupied by primary schools until 1846, and, on the completion of the first Prescott schoolhouse in that year, was sold and re- moved.
In one of their early reports, the school committee facetiously styled these buildings "the dowry of the good old dame to her first and only off- spring."
In addition to the schools above mentioned, one was kept in a private dwelling in the Russell district until the completion of the Walnut Hill Schoolhouse in 1843, when the name was changed to the " Walnut Hill dis- trict."
The average attendance in all these schools for the year 1842 was two hundred and twenty-six pupils. In 1843-44, the master of the Prospect Hill
* For an account of the earliest school buildings, see Chapter VIII.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
grammar school, Mr. William E. Graves, was paid a salary of $600. Master Charles Warren, of the Lower Winter Hill school, received $30 per month ; the female teachers $210 per annum.
The Walnut Hill school was taught by a male in winter and by a female in summer. This arrangement was discontinued in 1853. In 1854, Miss Susanna C. Russell was appointed teacher and continued in that position till the spring of 1867. Under her instruction, pupils passed through all primary and grammar grades, and were fitted for the high school. In 1867, when the Lincoln school was established, this school was discon- tinued.
SCHOOLHOUSES CONSTRUCTED SINCE 1842.
The Walnut IIill Schoolhouse (already mentioned) was built in 1843, on Broadway, near the foot of Walnut Hill. In 1868 it was moved to Cedar street, named the "Cedar Street Schoolhouse," and was duplicated in 1873.
The Lower Winter Hill Schoolhouse, built in 1843 at the corner of Broadway and Franklin street, was removed to Beacon street in 1848, and named the Harvard Primary. It was enlarged in 1861, and was burned in 1871.
The Prescott Schoolhouse, No. 1, located at the corner of Broadway and Franklin street, was built in 1846, and was burned in 1856. It contained two schoolrooms.
The Franklin Schoolhouse, on Somerville avenue, near the end of Spring street, was built in 1846. It contained two rooms, and was duplicated in 1862.
The Prospect Hill Schoolhouse, on Washington, opposite Prospect street, was erected in 1848, with four rooms. The two front rooms were added in 1865.
The Spring Hill Primary Schoolhouse, built in 1850, is located in the rear of the Beech street schoolhouse.
The Bell Primary was built on Cherry street, near Elm street, in 1857. In 1867 it was moved to the rear of the Franklin schoolhouse. In 1871 it was placed on the site of the Harvard schoolhouse, and took the name of that building. In consequence of these changes and "to perpetuate the memory of Dr. Luther V. Bell, a citizen so eminent in his profession, and so strong in attachment to the interests of the schools," the school board adopted the following resolution : -
" Resolved, That this board recommend that the name ' Bell ' be given to the next large school building erected in Somerville."
High Schoolhouse, No. 1. The building now used as the city hall, was dedicated April 29, 1852. For fifteen years the high school occupied the upper story, the lower being used for town purposes. From 1867 to Feb- ruary 27, 1872, when the building was vacated, the entire edifice was occu- pied by the school.
The Forster Schoolhouse, No. 1, built in 1854-5, on Sycamore street, near the site of the present building, contained four schoolrooms. It was burned February 18, 1866.
THOMAS S. WENTWORTH.
MARTIN W. CARR.
185
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
The Prescott Schoolhouse, No. 2, containing seven rooms, was built of brick on the spot where the school is now located, and was burned Decem- ber 31, 1866. It was rebuilt with twelve rooms in 1867.
The Brastow Schoolhouse, on Medford street, opposite the end of High- land avenue, was built in 1861, containing two schoolrooms. The site is now occupied by the Central Fire Station.
The Jackson Schoolhouse, at the corner of Poplar and Maple streets, was built in 1861, and has four schoolrooms.
The Lincoln Schoolhouse, No. 1, was built on Elm street, in 1866. It contained four rooms, was moved to Clarendon Hill, in 1881, and was burned October 22, 1884. It was rebuilt in 1885.
The Forster Schoolhouse, No. 2, Sycamore street, was built in 1867, with eight schoolrooms and an exhibition hall ; two additional rooms were con- structed in the hall in 1881, and, in 1883, the remaining portion of the hall was divided into two schoolrooms.
The Prescott Schoolhouse, No. 3, Pearl street, was built in 1867, with ten schoolrooms and a hall. In 1873, the hall was divided into two school- rooms.
The Bennett Schoolhouse, corner of Joy and Poplar streets, was built in 1868, and has four schoolrooms.
The Webster Schoolhouse, on Webster avenue, was built in 1868, and contained four schoolrooms.
The Morse Schoolhouse, at the corner of Craigie and Summer streets, was built in 1869, containing four rooms and a hall. In 1880, the hall was divided into two schoolrooms. In 1889, an addition of six rooms was made.
High Schoolhouse, No. 2, located on Central Hill, was constructed in 1871, and formally dedicated, February 27, 1872. A chemical laboratory and a philosophical room were arranged in the basement. A schoolroom fifty-two feet square, and two recitation rooms, twenty-six feet by twenty-two feet, occupied the first story, and the second was divided in the same man- ner. The third story contained a large hall and three anterooms.
In December, 1883, two schoolrooms were constructed in the third story, leaving a hall sixty-three by sixty-four feet, which, in 1888, was divided into two schoolrooms.
The Edgerly Schoolhouse, on Cross street, was built in 1871, containing four schoolrooms, to which four were added in 1882, and four others in 1892.
The Beech Street Schoolhouse, originally a chapel, was purchased of the Spring Hill Baptist Society in 1872, and contains two schoolrooms.
The Luther V. Bell Schoolhouse, on Vinal avenue, was completed in 1874, and contains twelve schoolrooms.
The Highland Schoolhouse, corner of Highland avenue and Grove street, was built in 1880, with eight rooms, and, in 1890, was raised one story, thus making an addition of four rooms.
The Cummings Schoolhouse, on School street, built in 1884, has four schoolrooms.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
The Davis Schoolhouse, on Tufts street, was built in 1884, and contains four rooms.
The Lincoln Schoolhouse, No. 2, on Broadway, Clarendon Hill, built in 1885, contains four schoolrooms.
The Burns Schoolhouse, Cherry street, near Summer street, was built in 1886, with four schoolrooms.
The Bingham Schoolhouse, Lowell street, built in 1886, contains four rooms.
The Knapp Schoolhouse, Concord square, was built in 1889, with eight schoolrooms, to which four were added in 1894.
The Charles G. Pope Schoolhouse, corner of Washington and Boston streets, was built in 1891, with twelve schoolrooms.
The Jacob T. Glines Schoolhouse, Jaques street, was built in 1891, with eight schoolrooms, to which five were added in 1896.
The George W. Durell Schoolhouse, located on Beacon street, was built in 1894, and contains four schoolrooms.
The English High Schoolhouse, on Central Hill, was built in 1895. It contains fourteen classrooms, a chemical, a physical, a biological laboratory, three recitation rooms, a lecture hall, drawing room, two teachers' rooms, library, and principal's office, besides four manual-training rooms in the basement.
The William H. Hodgkins Schoolhouse, on Holland street, containing twelve rooms, was completed in 1896.
" From the foregoing it appears that on her natal day, Somerville had four school buildings containing in all five rooms ;" that, prior to the close of 1889, "thirty school buildings containing one hundred and sixty-nine schoolrooms had been constructed, and one building of two rooms had been purchased. Six of these, containing nineteen rooms, had been burned." Two buildings, containing three rooms, had been applied to other uses, and one had been sold.
By the table on page 79 of Superintendent Southworth's Report for 1895, it appears that at that time the twelve-room buildings were the Pres- cott, Edgerly, L. V. Bell, C. G. Pope, Forster, Morse and Highland. The O. S. Knapp has thirteen ; the J. T. Glines nine (to which five have since been added). The Bingham has eight, and the Prospect Hill six rooms.
The four-room buildings were the Davis, Bennett, Jackson, Cummings, Franklin, G. W. Durell, Burns, and Lincoln. The Beech street and Cedar 'street schoolhouses contain two rooms each, and the Harvard has one room. The buildings that can fairly claim the greatest antiquity are the Cedar street, which has been in use for a period of fifty-three years; the Franklin, fifty, the Prospect Hill, forty-eight, and the Harvard, forty-five years.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
" For a series of years, about forty-four per cent of the pupils registered in all the schools have been in this department.
" Previous to 1857, pupils were admitted to these schools at the age of four years, and were retained in them four years.
QUINCY E. DICKERMAN.
S. NEWTON CUTLER.
189
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
"Since that time the age of admission has been five years, and the work has been completed in three years." "Early in our history children were subjected to great discomfort from lack of desks and other needed appliances. The irksome alphabet method of teaching reading was univer- sally practiced. There was no slate work, and no instruction in writing and drawing. Little was done to relieve the tedium and enliven the school life of the children by furnishing them congenial employment ; and the teacher's energies were directed chiefly to the maintenance of order and the repres- sion of the activities of their pupils."
During the last sixty years all this has been changed. Convenient and comfortable furniture, more rational methods of instruction and study have made school life more attractive as well as vastly more profitable. At the present time much more is accomplished in a given period, and with less expenditure of vital force.
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.
" At their first meeting, March 21, 1842, the school committee took measures for the immediate establishment of a permanent grammar school."
The Prospect Hill Grammar School was established in April, 1842. Mr. William E. Graves, principal. In June, 1874, the name was changed to the "Luther V. Bell School."
The Lower Winter Hill Grammar School was organized in April, 1844, with George Swan as principal ; salary $360. In January, 1847, the name was changed to the " Prescott School."
The Franklin Grammar School was organized in November, 1846, Wil- liam E. Graves, principal. In March, 1870, the name was changed to the " Morse School." The vacancy caused by the transfer of Mr. Graves was filled by the choice of Martin Draper, Jr.
The Forster Grammar School was established in February, 1855, John Jameson, principal ; salary $700.
The Lincoln Grammar School was established in January, 1867, Horace P. Makechnie, principal; salary $1,000. The name was changed to the " Highland School " in September, 1881.
The Charles G. Pope Grammar School was organized in October, 1891, George M. Wadsworth, principal ; salary $1,600.
The Edgerly Grammar School was organized in September, 1888, Edgar L. Raub, principal.
The O. S. Knapp Grammar School was organized in April, 1890, Harry N. Andrews, principal.
"During the first ten years of our history all pupils in the grammar schools were under the instruction of the grammar masters. In 1853, an intermediate, or sub-grammar grade, embracing the three lower classes of the grammar schools, was established and placed in charge of female teachers. This arrangement was continued until 1872, when the present mode of classification was adopted as follows : primary, containing three classes ; grammar, six classes ; high, four classes."
The following are the names of the principals of grammar schools in Somerville, not elsewhere mentioned, and the year of their appointment :-
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
Robert Bickford, 1851 ; McLauren F. Cook, 1852; H. (. Whittemore, 1853 ; Daniel B. Wheeler, 1854; John Wilson, 1859 ; George R. Bradford, 1864 : Samuel C. Hunt, 1866; John D. Marston, 1868; William B. Allen, 1869 : Augustus Linfield, 1872; L. B. Pillsbury, 1872 ; Samuel C. Higgins, 1876; Charles C. Hunkins, 1877.
Two eminent teachers, not elsewhere mentioned, were George Swan and George T. Littlefield, both of whom left Somerville to accept prominent positions in Boston. Edward W. Howe, one of our grammar masters, was afterwards principal of the Jamaica Plain High School, and John Jameson, of the Boylston School, Boston.
The names of masters and principals serving at the present time will be found in another chapter on the schools.
EVENING SCHOOLS.
By a statute of 1883, every town and city in this Commonwealth, hav- ing ten thousand or more inhabitants, is required to maintain "evening schools for the instruction of persons over twelve years of age, in orthogra- phy, reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, drawing, the history of the United States, and good behavior."
In 1875 (December 6), an evening school was opened in the hall, corner of Washington and Prospect streets. It contained one hundred and fifty pupils of both sexes, from fourteen to thirty years of age. Other evening schools were held for several winters in the Luther V. Bell, Webster and Cedar street schoolhouses.
Evening grammar schools were established in different sections of the city in 1885.
They have been in charge of the grammar masters, and have been sup- plied with all the conveniences and appliances of the day schools.
DRAWING.
This branch of education was introduced into the high school in 1853, and made one of the regular exercises of the school. From 1853 to 1857 (inclusive), Mr. Wm. N. Bartholomew was an instructor in this department.
The Legislature of 1870 enacted that drawing should be added to the required branches of learning to be taught in the public schools, and that towns and cities of more than ten thousand inhabitants furnish free instruc- tion in industrial or mechanical drawing to persons over fifteen years of age, in day or evening schools, under the direction of the school com- mittees.
Both these requirements were promptly met. In January, 1872, a school was organized under the direction of Prof. Lucas Baker, who also had charge of the school in the winter of 1873-4. Prof. Baker was employed, also, to give instruction to teachers of grammar and primary schools on Saturdays, during part of 1873-4. In 1885, Mr. Charles M. Carter, agent of the State Board of Education, performed a similar work. While the regular teachers were becoming qualified in this branch, the schools were taught by special
MARK
BURNS.
F
JOHN A CUMMINGS
NORMAN W BINCHAM 0
OREN S KNAPP
JACOB T GLINES
GEORGE W DURELL
CHARLES G.POPE
Citizens for whom Somerville Schools are named.
CHARLES S. LINCOLN
CHARLES FORSTER
CLARK BENNETT
JOSMUA
M DAVIS
ENOCH R MORSE
LUTHER V BELL
JOHN SEDGERLY.
Citizens for whom Somerville Schools are named.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
instructors. In their report of 1877, the committee say that "all teachers employed by the city are expected to teach drawing with the same degree of skill and success that they do penmanship, or any other branch of in struction."
In 1885, evening drawing schools were resumed, and have been contin- ued without interruption.
In 1888 and 1889 a special teacher of drawing was employed to give in- struction in all the schools.
MUSIC.
In September, 1859, Mr. S. D. Hadley was employed to teach vocal music in the grammar schools. The committee, in 1860, commend his work, and in 1861 they say, " His services have done much to improve as well as to elevate the tone of the schools."
In September, 1868, Mr. S. H. O. Hadley was appointed teacher of music in the high school, and in September, 1870, he succeeded Mr. S. D. Hadley in the grammar schools. A new impulse was given to the study of music the same year by the introduction of Mason's charts. In their report of 1887, the committee say : "In all the grades one hour a week is devoted to the study and practice of music, which has been a regular branch of in- struction in our schools for nearly thirty years. For the last twenty years it has been under the direction of Mr. S. H. O. Hadley." . .. " Mr. Hadley, by his enthusiasm and rare ability and skill as a teacher, has ever sustained a commendable interest in this important branch of instruction." In the high school, the practice of singing by note is discontinued, and pupils sing at sight the music contained in the Fifth or High School Music Reader, which contains compositions of a high order from the best masters.
SEWING.
" In the early part of this century instruction in this branch was given to girls in the public schools quite generally. This practice has been re- vived." In September, 1888, two sewing teachers were appointed to instruct the girls of the grammar schools. The results are highly satisfactory.
FREE TEXT-BOOKS AND SUPPLIES.
Since the opening of the schools in September, 1884, agreeably to a law enacted that year, all pupils have been supplied with the text-books and materials needed in their school work free of expense to them.
The total cost to the city during the first four years that the law was in force for these supplies was $27,519.63, of which $16,456.00 was for text- books.
VACATIONS AND HOLIDAYS.
Forty-eight weeks constituted the school year until 1847, when it was reduced by one week, and Christmas was added to the six holidays which had been previously granted.
In 1850, the vacations and holidays were : one week, commencing with the first Monday in March ; one week, commencing with the first Monday
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
in June ; three weeks, commencing with the second Monday in August ; Thanksgiving Day, with the remainder of the week ; the afternoons of Wed- nesday and Saturday ; New Year's ; Fast Day ; the ist of May ; the 17th of June ; Fourth of July ; Christmas.
In 1857, the twenty-second of February was added to the holidays. In 1 863, the Saturday sessions in the high school were discontinued. In 1868, the week preceding the first Monday in March was made a vacation, and the summer vacation was made " seven weeks preceding the first Monday in September." Christmas week also became a vacation.
In 1872, the school year was reduced to forty weeks, and the afternoon sessions to two and one-half hours. In 1875, the afternoon sessions were reduced to two hours, and the recess was discontinued. In 1884, a session of two hours Wednesday afternoon was substituted for the session of three hours Saturday forenoon.
In 1886, vacations and holidays were granted as follows : " Every Sat- urday ; from noon of the day preceding Thanksgiving until the Monday fol- lowing ; from December 24 at noon to the day after that celebrated as New Year's Day ; the 22d of February ; the week immediately preceding the first Monday in March; Fast Day ; one week, commencing on the Monday pre- ceding the first Wednesday in May; Memorial Day ; the 17th of June ; the weeks between the close of the school year and the first Monday in Sep- tember."
CHAPTER XVI.
HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS (Continued ) .*
SUPERINTENDENCY OF CLARENCE E. MELENEY.
THE committee on annual report for the year 1888, Mr. James F. Beard, chairman, use the following language concerning Superintendent Davis.
" By the resignation of Mr. Joshua H. Davis, the city has lost the valued services of a superintendent whose long employment in the interest of her schools had made him intimate with the wants and conditions of every department of the work and section of the city. ... The general satis- factory condition of the schools, as he left them, show him to have been well abreast of the times in all educational lines of thought and practice. We take pleasure in paying tribute to his efficient and progressive adminis- tration. His genial and courteous manner will ever be remembered by his associates in the school work of the city. In him the scholars had a warm friend, and the example of a consistent Christian gentleman. With his farewell report we appropriately close the first volume of our school history as a city."
* The editors are indebted to Superintendent Southworth for school reports and valu- able information from which this and the succeeding chapters have been mainly derived.
SANFORD HANSCOM, M. D.
WILLIAM P. HILL.
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SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
The same committee says : " All the departments of our growing city are in the midst of important changes. The spirit of the age that demands such improvements as the electric light, the police signal system .. . is equally exacting in the line of school work." . . "The old is constantly called upon to give way for the new." ... " Although it is the policy of the board to try no experiments . . . yet some changes are being gradually made that the experience of other municipalities, similarly situated, have proved to be useful and desirable."
" At the February meeting, the board unanimously elected, as the suc- cessor of Superintendent Davis, Mr. Clarence E. Meleney, of Paterson, N. J." . . . " He comes to us as a man in the forefront of educational prog- ress." The administration of Mr. Meleney opened under favorable auspices. No one realized the importance of the work before him more than he, but he entered upon it with courage and enthusiasm, and by his judicious management secured the co-operation of teachers, committees, and the community. The same committee, above referred to, says : " Additional schoolroom accommodations is a subject that requires more or less space in every school report."
With wise forecast they declare : " Nothing proves so attractive to the class of citizens we would invite to become residents of our city as good schools in commodious buildings."
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