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 13
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5,488
88,967
953
7,12I
5,892
7,421
110,354
1889
5,956
96,466
805
6,081
6,448
9,903
119,703
1 890
6,486
104,184
1,004
5.586
7,539
10,37I
1 28,684
1891
6,502
114,066
1,047
8,032
8,544
1 3,899
145.588
1892
7,035
124,232
1,064
7,148
9,795
12,944
155,183
1893
7,217
128,720
1,014
8,312
10, 160
10,137
158,333
1894
7,212
132,919
958
9,673
10,686
10,919
165,155
1895
7,617
144,113
1,398
8,796
11,58I
1 5,063
180,95I
214
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
ANNUAL COST PER CAPITA OF MAINTAINING SCHOOLS FOR A SERIES OF YEARS. [Based on the average membership.]
YFAR.
Instruction and Supervision.
Janitors, Water, Heat, and Light.
School Supply Expenses.
Total.
Assessors' Valua- tion of City.
Ratio of cost of school mail- tenance to valuation.
1885
$16.21
$1.98
$1.72
$19.91
$24,878,400
.00392
1886
16.76
1.94
1.34
20.03
26,003,200
.00384
1887
16.68
2.37
1.45
20.50
27.469.300
.00388
1888
16.21
2.54
1.36
20.11
28,756.400
.00384
1889
16.20
2.24
1.66
20.10
30.004,600
.00399
1890
16.06
2.18
1.60
19.84
32,557,500
.00395
1891
17.54
2.71
2.14
22.39
36,843,400
.00395
1 892
17.66
2.56
1.84
22.06
38.093,100
.00407
1893
17.84
2.70
1.40
21.94
41,773,600
.00379
1894
18.43
2.96
1.5!
22.90
44,142,900
.00374
1895
18.92
2.86
1.98
23.76
46,506.300
.00390
The average per cent of attendance for eleven years from 1885 to 1895 was 94.1.
AMOUNT SPENT ANNUALLY FOR NEW SCHOOLHOUSES, AND FOR REPAIRS, ETC., FOR A SERIES OF YEARS.
YEAR.
For New School- houses.
For Repairs.
For Maintaining Schools.
Amount spent for all school purposes.
1885
$19,185
$ 7,052
$ 97,648
$113,885
1886
15,515
8,706
99,865
114,086
1887
14,839
13,636
106,563
135,038
1888
4,996
13,994
1 10,354
129,344
1889
20,167
14,225
119,703
1 54,095
1890
75,775
19,168
128,684
223,627
1891
84,902
14,847
145.588
245,337
1892
12,679
17,734
155,183
176,00 I
1 893
22,809
12,440
1 58,333
193,582
1894
82,206
¥44,764
165,155
292, 1 25
1895
87,680
15,651
1 80,95I
284,282
POPULATION OF SOMERVILLE.
1842
1,013
1880
24,985
1850
3,540
1885
29,992
1860
8,025
1890
40, 11 7
1865
9,366
1895
52,200
1870
14,693
1896
55,000
1875
21,594
* Including heating apparatus in both High School buildings.
DAVIS SCHOOL.
EDGERLY SCHOOL.
BENNETT SCHOOL.
PRESCOTT SCHOOL. JACKSON SCHOOL.
-
-
-
1111
GLINES SCHOOL. MORSE SCHOOL.
CEDAR STREET SCHOOL.
FORSTER SCHOOL. FRANKLIN SCHOOL.
HARRY F. HATHAWAY.
GEORGE M. WADSWORTH.
-
JOHN S. EMERSON.
CHARLES E. BRAINARD.
217
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
An interesting feature of the report is furnished in the portraits and biographies of the distinguished citizens for whom schools have been named, which is hereto appended.
Prescott, William H. Prescott.
L. V. Bell, Luther V. Bell.
Franklin, Benjamin Franklin.
Cummings, John A. Cummings.
Forster, Charles Forster. Davis, Joshua H. Davis.
Brastow, George O. Brastow. Burns, Mark F. Burns.
Jackson, Andrew Jackson. Bingham, Norman W. Bingham.
Lincoln, Charles S. Lincoln.
O. S. Knapp, Oren S. Knapp.
Bennett, Clark Bennett.
Charles G. Pope, Charles G. Pope.
Webster, Daniel Webster.
J. T. Glines, Jacob T. Glines.
Morse, Enoch R. Morse.
G. W. Durell, George W. Durell.
Edgerly, John S. Edgerly. Hodgkins, William H. Hodgkins.
HEAD MASTERS, MASTERS AND PRINCIPALS OF SCHOOLS.
Latin high school : --
Beginning of service.
George L. Baxter, head master
· 1867
Frank M. Hawes, master .
· 1879
English high school : -
Charles T. C. Whitcomb, head master Winfred C. Akers, master
1895
Prescott, Samuel A. Johnson, master
1893
Edgerly, Charles E. Brainard, master
1889
Davis, Frances Meldrum, principal
1 896
Bell, Frederick W. Shattuck, master
1890
Cummings, Lydia J. Page, principal
1869
Prospect Hill, Helen Tincker, principal
1872
Charles G. Pope, George M. Wadsworth, master
1891
1880
Forster, Fred C. Baldwin, master .
1893
Glines, Mary E. Northup, principal
1878
Bingham, Harry F. Hathaway, principal Morse, Mina J. Wendell, principal .
1882
Franklin, Harriet A. Hills, principal 1874
Durell, Nora F. Byard, principal
1884
Beech street, Elizabeth S. Foster, principal Harvard, Grace B. Tibbetts
1890
Burns, Laura J. Brooks, principal .
1883
Cedar street, Lizzie A. Davies, principal
1893
Highland, George E. Nichols, master
1877
Hodgkins, Arthur L. Doe, master .
1 896
Lincoln, J. Louise Smith, principal
. 1896
Oren S. Knapp, John S. Emerson, master
1894
Jackson, Annie E. McCarthy, principal . Bennett, Mary B. Smith, principal .
1885
1890
1896
1896
218
SOMMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
SPECIAL TEACHERS.
Instructor in music in high schools, and grades 7, 8 and 9 of grammar schools, S. Henry Hadley.
Supervisor of penmanship, William A. Whitehouse.
Supervisor of drawing, Mary L. Patrick.
Supervisor of music, grades i to 6 inclusive, Mrs. Gish Garwood.
Teachers of sewing, Sarah I. Stanton, Mary L. Boyd.
SUPERINTENDENTS PRIOR TO 1866.
In 1857 Rev. George H. Emerson, who was a member of the school board, was elected to the office of superintendent at a salary of $300. Re- signing in 1865, he was succeeded by O. S. Knapp, who had for ten years been principal of the Prospect Hill grammar school. In 1866, Mr. Knapp was succeeded by Joshua H. Davis.
Superintendent Southworth has kindly furnished the following concern- ing the schools for 1896 :-
At the present time there are twenty-five school buildings in Somer- ville ; two hundred and twenty teachers in day schools, and twenty-seven in evening schools. In the day schools there are eight thousand eight hundred pupils, being an increase of nearly six hundred over the number in 1895. There are about four hundred pupils in the evening schools. In June, 1896, three hundred and seventy pupils were graduated from the grammar schools, seventy-six per cent of whom entered the high schools.
HIGH SCHOOLS.
As early as 1647, an ordinance was passed by the General Court of Massachusetts, making education universal and free, and requiring every town containing one hundred families to maintain a grammar school, - simi- lar to the high schools of the present time, -to be kept by a master who "should be able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university."
By an act of 1826, "every town may, and every town containing five hundred families or householders, shall maintain a high school." In 1851, measures were inaugurated by the citizens of Somerville, for the erection of a building and the establishment of a high school. The building was ded- icated April 28, 1852, and the school was organized on the 3d of May following. After an examination sixty-six pupils were admitted. In August following, twenty-two additional pupils entered the school.
In August, 1859, when Mr. Babcock assumed charge, it contained forty- three pupils. The course of study required three years. Pupils of the first class studied the Latin reader. None had been prepared for college, and none had been graduated.
In 1860, two courses of study of four years were adopted, one a regular course including the Latin language, the other a course preparatory to college.
ENGLISH AND LATIN HIGH SCHOOLS.
Residence of GEORGE S. POOLE, 46 Mt. Vernon Street.
221
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
In 1862, diplomas were awarded to six graduates. In 1870, an English or mercantile course was adopted. The advent of Mr. Babcock to the school was the introduction of a new and prosperous era. In his efforts to improve the school he was greatly assisted by Charles S. Lincoln, Esq., then a member of the school board. Under the judicious management of Mr. Babcock and his successor, Mr. Geo. L. Baxter, the school has con- stantly increased in numbers, efficiency and popular favor. In September, 1867, Mr. Babcock resigned, and Mr. Baxter became principal. The school then contained one hundred and nineteen pupils. In 1872 (March 4), when the school held its first session in the new building, it contained one hun- dred and fifty pupils. The reports of committees and superintendents fur- nish abundant evidence that, under Mr. Baxter's management, the school has performed admirable work in preparing pupils for higher institutions of learning, and has pursued a liberal policy towards those who desired to sup- plement the grammar-school course by studies of practical value to them in their various contemplated pursuits in life.
During the twenty years that it occupied the old building, eight hundred and fifty-three pupils were admitted to the school, and one hundred and forty-one received diplomas of graduation. Previous to Mr. Baxter's acces- sion to the school, fifty pupils had been graduated, only six of whom entered upon a college course.
The constant growth in the number of pupils and of graduates, since 1867, has been so remarkable that we present the following brief table of statistics illustrating it.
YEAR.
Largest number in High School.
No. Graduated.
No. who entered College or Scientific Schools.
1867
II9
7
4
1872
186
21
2
1877
227
37
7
1882
280
33
14
1887
387
53
15
1 892
577
80
25
1893
626
82
29
1894
691
11I
33
1895
775
92
29
1 896
855
118
.25
By reference to the superintendent's report for 1895, page 95, we find that the per cent of the average membership of all the schools maintained by the high school has increased from o.32 in 1867, and 0.75 in 1868, to 1.52 in 1894, and 1.21 in 1895 ; or averaging the first two years above mentioned and the last two, the per cent for the years 1894 and 1895 is 1.365 as against 0.535 for the years 1867 and 1868.
The names of principals of the high school, and their terms of service, are as follows : -
222
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
Robert Bickford, from 1854 to 1856. Samuel J. Pike, from 1856 to 1858. Isaac N. Beals, from 1858 to 1859. Henry HI. Babcock, from 1859 to 1867. George L. Baxter, from 1867 to 1897.
In submitting the report of the committee on the high school for the year 1890, Dr. A. H. Carvill said : "When this school first occupied the present high school building, March 4, 1872, it contained one hundred and fifty pupils and six teachers, a teacher to every twenty-five pupils. In September of this year, it contained four hundred and eighty-seven pupils and ten teachers, a teacher to every forty-nine pupils .... But even these figures do not represent the full amount of crowding in the lower classes, where the average is nearly sixty to a teacher." The report recommended the establishment of an English high school, and speaks of Principal Bax- ter's work closing with these words: "He had seen the school double in the number of pupils to each teacher, and his duties have more than doubled, and yet his students go into college and maintain their rank there with the best schools in the State."
The opening of the schools in September, 1895, was marked by the be- ginning of the new English high school, which furnished the much-needed relief to the Latin high school. Concerning the latter, the superintendent speaks as follows : --
LATIN HIGH SCHOOL.
"While our attention is naturally turned to the English high school as an illustration of the advantages resulting from a division of the high school, we must not lose sight of the gain accruing to our educational system in the superior opportunities that the pupils of the Latin school enjoy as a result of the change. ... Its two hundred and seventy-five members are all fitting for college. They are animated by a common pur- pose, and stimulated to constant efforts by the desire to attain the standard of excellence required to reach their goal. . . . Already it is apparent that better work is being done, and more rapid progress made than ever before. The Somerville high school has always been conspicuous for the excellence of its college preparatory work, and it is saying much to remark that in the future it will surpass all previous records."
From Superintendent Southworth's report is taken the following con- cerning
THE ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL.
" The Unitarian church property was purchased for the sum of $45,000, and an appropriation of $80,000 made for the construction of an English high schoolhouse. Several plans were submitted by architects, and those of Hartwell, Richardson & Driver were accepted. Ground was broken December 5, 1893, and the work progressed without serious interruption until the building was ready for occupancy, September 3, 1895.
" The building is admirably planned and thoroughly constructed
. ..
GEORGE L. BAXTER.
CHARLES T. C. WHITCOMB.
225
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
throughout, thanks to the efficiency of the several committees and the unflagging zeal, energy, and watchfulness of Chairmen Andrews and Spar- row, to whom the city is greatly indebted for their labors in this con- nection."
The entire cost of the building and furnishings was $147,725.59.
As principal of the school, the committee selected Mr. Charles T. C. Whitcomb, principal of the Wakefield high school, on the 29th of April. Mr. Whitcomb is a native of Thomaston, Maine. He was graduated from Amherst college in 1883, and taught in Sandwich for five years, becoming principal of the Wakefield high school in 1888. The superintendent says : " His conduct of the affairs of the English high school up to the present time shows that the choice of principal was wisely made."
SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1896.
Hon. Albion A. Perry, mayor, chairman ex officio. George E. Whitaker, president of common council, member ex officio.
Term expires January,
WARD I. - Sanford Hanscom, 1 Webster street S. Newton Cutler, 28 Flint street George S. Poole, 46 Mt. Vernon street
1897
1 898
WARD II. - Thomas M. Durell, 23 Bow street . 1897
1899
Alvah B. Dearborn, 34 Bow street . Herbert A. Chapin, 41 Walnut street
1898
1899
WARD III. - Thomas S. Wentworth, 350 Broadway Frank H. Hardison, 192 Central street . Quincy E. Dickerman, 85 Central street
1897
1 898
1899
WARD IV. - Martin W. Carr, 74 Craigie street . 1897 George A. Miles, 417 Highland avenue 1 898 Giles W. Bryant, 296 Elm street 1899
Gordon A. Southworth, secretary and superintendent of schools. Of- fice, English high school building. Residence, 40 Greenville street.
EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS.
BY ALBERT E. WINSHIP.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE schools of Somerville have maintained a good standard of excel- lence through all the years. They have never been poor nor have they taken highest rank in the opinion of experts. They have neither been the first nor the last to introduce any new thing. The name of the city has never been attached to any special educational notion in administration, method or device, neither has it been connected with conservative opposition to progress.
Somerville has always had her schools in good working order, has al- ways done good work for her pupils, and the record of her youth and maidens in entrance examinations for college and in final honors in the university courses has placed her high school among the first three fitting schools of the country. So far as it is possible to estimate what the schools do for those who go out into the world rather than into college, no schools have done more by way of preparation for citizenship, for industrial or commer- cial life. To be a graduate of the Somerville public schools is considered an honor, based upon what her graduates have done in business, professional and political life.
Originally the only school in this territory was very rural, an out-of-the- way country school for the much scattered farm-people who lived " beyond the Neck." Charlestown was a thrifty town, the Neck was the boundary of the village, and the outlying farms were merely "beyond the Neck." Fifty years ago and a little more this rural folk became a town by themselves, a humble people in their own estimation, and slowly they came to independence of thought and action.
Their schools first gave them confidence, courage and reputation. A single church sufficed for a time ; but the four villages at once outlined them- selves about as many schoolhouses, which became at once village rallying- points for the organization of churches as well as the education of children. The first reputations were made in connection with the schools. The first statesman, man of State reputation, was Dr. Luther V. Bell, whose writings and political championship of education made him a close second to the illustrious Horace Mann; and two of the earliest lawyers of the town - Oren S. Knapp and Charles S. Lincoln - attained the influence and repu- tation that gave them public confidence and practice through their efficient service as schoolmasters.
226
-
REV. ALBERT E. WINSHIP.
GEORGE O. PROCTOR.
229
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
What was so well begun has been well continued. One of the most successful mayors was one of Somerville's school principals, then a lawyer, Charles G. Pope. One of her successful physicians, a man of good profes- sional practice with influence in the affairs of public interest - Dr. H. P. Makechnie - stepped from the Lincoln school into the practitioner's office after due course of study and the requisite diploma. And Somerville's librarian, John S. Hayes, went directly from the school to the library.
SCHOOLHOUSES.
The public pride in the character and intelligence of the graduates of the schools and the influence of the teachers and graduates have simplified the question of appropriations for schools and school buildings. At first these were a necessity and appropriations were voted by the citizens with the same sense of duty and justice as that with which they repaired their country roads; but of late years the authorities have had regard to the luxuries as well as necessities, and there are no more beautiful buildings in the city than some of the schoolhouses whose adornments are artistic and appointments all that can be desired.
In each of the original villages there are several large buildings, and all boundary lines between the villages have been obliterated by making new districts in the most unexpected places, erecting large schoolhouses which have grouped the children of different wards and sections with reckless dis- regard of inherited prejudices, and the end is not yet. So thick and fast comes the demand for new buildings that it is already a question where land can be found for all that must be built. No other New England city has ever had just such an experience in the housing of her scholars. So compact is the population and so rapid and universal has been the growth that her experience has been unique ; and the crowning glory of the city seen far and near, are the companion high schools, the most distinguished looking buildings to be seen in the vicinity of Boston from any of the lines of public travel.
THE TEACHERS.
It is a truism so old as to be almost absurd, that the teacher is the school. This is especially advantageous for Somerville, whose teachers have been exceptionally strong men and women. Mention has already been made of Messrs. Knapp and Lincoln, Pope, Makechnie and Hayes, men who have left teaching for more remunerative professions. Then there have been men like W. B. Stevens, called to Staten Island ; Alfred Bunker, Henry C. Parker, Herbert L. Morse, Edgar L. Raub, H. H. Newton, Harry An- drews and other men called to Boston ; Frank F. Murdock, Adelaide Reed, and Miss Turner, who have been called to the State normal school at Bridge- water. Mr. F. E. Forest, of the high school, is the leading criminal lawyer of Chicago and of the West. These are types merely of the men and women who have considered themselves promoted by their going.
230
SOMMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
Those who remain are not less worthy of note. In the churches of the city, in all religious organizations, in Masonry, Odd Fellowship, the Royal Arcanum and other fraternities, the teachers have been an important factor. A cleaner set of men, a nobler class of women are not to be found in any community. They are representative of the best reading and thinking, of the highest purpose and noblest aspiration of the city.
THE SCHOOL BOARDS.
Somerville has been specially favored in the men who have been willing to serve upon the school board. It is a thankless task and one that offers no political preferment. It is a service with a mission rather than an office with a reward. In the case of Dr. Luther V. Bell, it was a great ser- vice with a grand mission. In the entire history of Somerville, no other name occupies so high a place in the niche of fame. It would be a luxury to write appropriately the story of his life. He was the most eminent physician, the most influential man of affairs the city has ever produced, and occupies a prominent place among the educational celebrities of the State. His school reports written fifty years ago are next to those of Horace Mann.
Men like Oren S. Knapp and Charles S. Lincoln, ex-teachers and leading citizens, gave much time to this service of their fellow men, each has a school named for him, an honor infinitely beyond that which attaches to the naming of a school for an official merely. In their case it recorded public appreciation of personal devotion to the cause of education.
There have always been prominent persons from each ward, men or women, in whom the public has had such confidence that support of every measure has been prompt and hearty. Among the many leaders of long and efficient service it may not be invidious to mention Hon. John Haskell Butler, Henry M. Moore, Dr. Sanford Hanscom, Norman W. Bingham, Quincy E. Dickerman, Prof. B. F. Brown, M. W. Carr, and Dr. A. H. Car- vill. These are a few only of the many who have served term after term wisely and well, giving to the schools their best thought and unwearied en- deavor.
THE SUPERINTENDENTS.
After all has been said by way of general praise, that which stands out clear as the day is the fact that the schools owe their pre-eminence to four men, Dr. Luther V. Bell, Joshua H. Davis, George L. Baxter and Gordon A. Southworth. Dr. Bell was the greatest educational character, but to Mr. Davis, long a member of the town school committee, and for more than a quarter of a century the superintendent, the city owes more than it can ever repay.
The greatest service any one ever renders a community educationally is in the selection of efficient teachers. The great danger to the public school system has ever been the choice of incompetent teachers because of personal or political favoritism. To-day it is a recognized impropriety for
EDMUND S. SPARROW.
LUTHER B. PILLSBURY.
233
SOMERVILLE, PAST AND PRESENT.
a member of the school board to insist upon his preference over the profes- sional judgment of the joint opinion of the superintendent and a principal : but in Mr. Davis' day there were no such recognized limits to propriety. Then the teachers were largely untrained, and local residence or committee favoritism counted for much ; and yet in these adverse conditions Mr. Davis had the wisdom and the skill to get the best available talent, to place the good to the best advantage and the indifferent to the least disadvantage. Ideals of teaching were quite different twenty years ago from what they are to-day, and yet Mr. Davis had standards so high and his tests were so rigid that results were attained that seem now impossible under such conditions. The knowledge of the children was exact, facts and processes learned were retained and the pupils had themselves well in hand in their thinking and in the expression of their thought.
No three men ever worked together more perfectly than Mr. Davis, Mr. Baxter, principal of the high school for more than a quarter of a cen- tury, and Mr. Southworth, principal of the Prescott grammar school for nearly twenty years. Mr. Baxter has trained an entire generation, has fitted for college practically every Somerville boy and girl that has ever enjoyed the advantages of a higher education. Men now in the pulpit and at the bar, in medicine and dentistry, in professors' chairs and in the enjoy- ment of literary honors, men of business and women of the best society, people scattered over the world on missions and in missions did all their pre- paratory work under his guidance. With high ideals, close and accurate scholarship, a born trainer, Mr. Baxter placed the Somerville high school at the front when he became its principal, and it has never lagged an hour through all the years of his administration.
But to Mr. Gordon A. Southworth has come the greatest opportunity. He was long the leading grammar school principal in the city, if not in the suburbs. A great teacher, a genius in administration, an inspiration, a per- sonal and professional force, he left the impress of his mind and purpose upon a multitude of girls and boys; while in grammar school work he prepared a series of language books and arithmetics. This working out of ideal into definite shape, materializing notions in a system of teaching, broad- ened his professional vision and intensified his force so that he was admirably fitted for local leadership and a representative position when he was chosen superintendent of the Somerville schools.
Mr. Clarence E. Meleney succeeded Mr. Davis, and in five years he transferred the system from the old to the new in method and spirit. This work has to be done sooner or later for every city. It matters not how efficient the work or how good the results under the old regime, the new must be substituted, and Mr. Meleney made the transfer with much skill, so that Mr. Southworth presides over entirely different schools from those that Mr. Davis passed to Mr. Meleney.
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