USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Northampton > The Northampton book; chapters from 300 years in the life of a New England town, 1654-1954 > Part 18
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The Sacred Heart School early emphasized the study of written and spoken French, which began in the first grade and continued through all the other grades. The class in English was the only one in which the teaching of the French language was excluded. Otherwise, in general, the subject matter taught at Sacred Heart was quite similar to that of St. Michael's elementary grades. Sisters of the French Order of St. Joseph remained in charge of the teach- ing at Sacred Heart until 1930, when the Order of the Sisters of Presentation assumed charge. This change was made in order to introduce English in the school. The Sacred Heart enrollment was 2 19 in 1910, 264 in 1920, 228 in 1930, 156 in 1940, 114 in 1948, and 123 in 1954. During the last quarter of a century, the membership of the school has dropped over 50 per cent from the high point of 25 1 pupils in 1929. Undoubtedly the large number of mixed mar- riages prevalent for some years past, the lack of interest on the part of children in learning French at an early age, and the fact that playmates of prospective students encouraged them to join
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them in the public schools, have been contributing factors in the decline in Sacred Heart School's membership.
Since 1905 the Department of Education of Massachusetts has required that a register be kept in each classroom of the parochial schools similar to that in public schools. Each school must fulfill a number of sessions; 160 days for the elementary grades, 180 days in high school. Daily attendance and scholastic standing of the students are recorded. At the close of the year, the pastor is re- quired to send a membership record to the Superintendent of the Public School System.
At the time the local Parochial System was established, over 60 years ago, the course of study, like the public schools, followed the generally accepted standards of the day. On St. Michael's secondary level, the classics held sway for many years. Each candidate was required to take a series of examinations known as "Diocesan Examinations," tests composed by the Diocesan Head- quarters in Springfield, before promotion from the elementary 9th grade. The high school curriculum at St. Michael's long in- cluded Latin, Greek, English Literature and Rhetoric, Algebra, Geometry, French, and Music; the first period of the morning was devoted to religion, as in the elementary school.
Upon the death of Father Kenney in 1917, his duties were taken over by the present pastor, Reverend Father Thomas F. Cum- mings, D.D., who was elevated to the rank of Monsignor in 1934, and who has been a brilliant scholar and leader locally for over 45 years. Father Cummings sponsored the construction of a new building for parochial high school students, the first separate high school in parochial education in the city. The work of dismantling the famous old Shady Lawn structure began in May 1927 and on its site, modern in every way, the large brick St. Michael's High School building was built and opened in September 1929.
St. Michael's total attendance figures were 484 in 1918, the year before the new high school building was opened; 504 in 1920; 461 in 1930; 505 in 1940; 468 in 1948; and in 1954, 720, a notable increase in seven years.
The Northampton Parochial District is a part of the Spring- field Diocese of the Catholic Church and the schools are directed by a Diocesan Superintendent who is appointed by the Bishop. The Superintendent is assisted by a board of supervisors, com- posed of four members, one from each Order of Sisters engaged
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in teaching. In turn, the pastor of the parish serves as a superin- tendent of his own school-in the dual capacity of school principal and as supervisor of the operation of the Sisters' Home and the religious activities of the Sisters.
The parochial schools are maintained by the individual mem- bers of the parish in which the school is located. In the parishes each member is called upon to contribute at least 25 cents each week to the support of the parochial school-no part of the ex- pense is borne by the taxpayers as a whole. The charge for chil- dren from other local parishes, or from Easthampton, Hatfield, Amherst, and Greenfield is a nominal fee of $3 a month, the out- side parishes paying transportation costs.
Specific requirements for admission to the teaching profession in the parochial schools has been formulated by church authori- ties. The teaching staff of the parochial schools in this Diocese is composed of several Orders of Sisters, among whom are the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of Notre Dame, the Sisters of The Holy Ghost, and the Sisters of the Presentation, all under the supervi- sion of the Diocesan Superintendent.
Probably the most far-reaching change in the schools was made in 1939 with the introduction of the revised standardization of subject matter by the Bishop. This policy was adopted in order that the parochial schools might compare scholastically with the public schools, and also enable graduates to receive equal con- sideration for admission to advanced educational institutions. A thorough system of examinations twice a year was introduced in 1936, extending from the fourth grade through senior high school.
As modern educational methods replaced practices formerly used, the parochial schools advanced with the times. Many of the books required in secular schools are used in parochial schools throughout all the grades in recent years. The courses are similar to those given in secular high schools with the addition of religion which is required daily of all students. Typing, bookkeeping, and similar vocational subjects are offered to secondary students in choice.
The records of the public schools do not reveal the religion of those in attendance, and the exact proportion of Catholic children who do not attend the parochial schools can only be estimated. The Public School System maintains 1 1 buildings wherein pupils of kindergarten and the first grade may be accommodated; the
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Parochial System has but three. Once children have been accli- mated to school, they tend to remain-and neighborhood children tend to go to school together. However, a large proportion of young children of the Catholic faith attend the parochial school if it is within easy walking distance from their homes.
The peak of attendance at public schools was reached in 1925, after which a decline prevailed through 1945. During the 20 years, attendance dropped from 3515 to 2474. Public school attendance increased in 1946 to 2482; it was 2677 in 1948; and is now 3319. Parochial school attendance meanwhile increased from 753 in 1925 to a peak of 946 in 1939, to fall off to 444 by 1945; the paro- chial school total was 735 in 1946, 833 in 1948, and in 1954 rose to II37.
In 1891 the parochial school attendance was 320-14 per cent of the public school total of 2005; in 1911, the parochial school total was 680-2 1 per cent of the public schools' 2 309; in 1931, the 98 1 parochial students were 20 per cent of the public schools' al- most peak figure of 3496; in 1948, the parochial schools' 833 were 24 per cent of the city's public school attendance of 2677. In 1954, the parochial schools' 1137 is 34 per cent of the city's public school attendance of 3319.
Thus, the ratio of attendance in the parochial schools compared to the public schools is at present one to three-the Catholic popu- lation of Northampton meanwhile constitutes more than one- third of the city's inhabitants.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Clarke School for the Deaf
By GEORGE T. PRATT
C LARKE SCHOOL began in the hearts and minds of three determined New England mothers during the early 1860's. Coincidentally, three bright and healthy little girls were stricken with illness involving high fever which left them deafened. The mothers of Mabel Hubbard, Jeanie Lippitt, and Fanny Cushing did not know each other at the time, but they shared a common resolve-that their daughters, happy and chat- tering little beings, bubbling with life such a short time ago, should not drift off into the silent world of the mute to substitute pantomime for already formed communicative skills.
Although the problem was a new one to each of them, the mothers went earnestly to work. They soon began to compre- hend the immense barrier which deafness throws across the path of language experience and development, the avenue by which one achieves education. They discovered also that the problem presented by impaired hearing is quite different for the deaf, the deafened, and the hard of hearing.
In 1860 there were 22 schools for the deaf in operation in the United States, with 2000 pupils. The system of instruction was the French which employed the language of signs as the means of communication. The time of instruction was generally six years, commencing at about 12 years of age. Articulation was not taught as a subject or practiced as the everyday means of communica- tion in these schools. Efforts to engraft the German system of articulation upon the French system of signs proved a failure and were gradually abandoned.
Learning something of the work which Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe had done with Laura Bridgeman, Mrs. Cushing went for help to Perkins Institution, in South Boston at that time. She reasoned that if a girl who was both deaf and blind had proven to be educable, certainly there must be educational possibilities for
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her daughter who was only deaf and, in addition, had memory of both speech and language. A teacher, who had worked with Laura Bridgeman, helped persuade her sister, Miss Harriet B. Rogers, to accept Fanny as a private pupil in her home and at- tempt to teach her. Miss Rogers was an experienced teacher of hearing children but was entirely unfamiliar with the problems of deafness.
While considering the possibility of undertaking the teaching of Fanny, Miss Rogers visited Mrs. Lippitt, whose husband was later to become Governor of Rhode Island, who was herself in- structing her daughter, Jeanie, through speech and lip reading at her home in Providence. She was quickly convinced from the child's responses that such instruction was feasible. A few months of earnest effort with Fanny further emphasized this conviction, during which time she and Mrs. Cushing decided against the use of finger spelling to assist in communication.
In the meantime, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner Greene Hubbard of Cambridge, had been making progress with the instruction of their daughter Mabel. In 1864 Mr. Hubbard had endeavored to persuade the Legislature of Massachusetts to charter and support a school for young deaf children for the purpose of teaching them to speak and read the lips. When this effort failed because "the present condition of State finances do not warrant the expense of such an experiment," Mr. Hubbard assisted Miss Rogers in open- ing, in June 1866, a small private school for deaf children at Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Her success with the pupils indi- cated that such instruction was practical and not a visionary dream. Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, Chairman of the Board of State Charities, and Franklin B. Sanborn, Secretary, recom- mended that the education of the deaf should be commenced at an earlier age, continued for a longer period of time, and that schools should be provided for the deaf within the limits of the State.
In the autumn of 1866 Mr. Hubbard called upon Governor Bullock to ask him to favor an application for a charter for the school in his message to the Legislature. He was most surprised and pleased to learn that the Governor had received that morning a letter from Mr. John Clarke of Northampton, offering $50,000 if a school for the deaf could be established in Northampton. Mr. Clarke had no knowledge of the school at Chelmsford. His in-
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terest in the problem was probably first aroused by his own deaf- ness and strengthened by his acquaintance with Theresa Dudley, a pupil at the Hartford School, who was the daughter of Hon. Lewis J. Dudley of Northampton, member of the Massachusetts Legislature.
Governor Bullock recommended the chartering of the school and expressed his assurance that such action "will develop rich sources of private beneficence." This part of the message was re- ferred to a joint special committee of which Mr. Dudley was Chairman on the part of the House. The committee reported favorably but the vote was in doubt until Mr. Dudley arose and delivered a most effective speech in support of the advantages of the oral system.
The bills incorporating Clarke School were approved June I, 1867. Mr. Clarke at once gave $50,000 and an additional legacy was left in his will making his contribution to the School about $300,000. Miss Rogers and her pupils moved from Chelmsford to Northampton and Clarke School opened on October 1, 1867, with Miss Rogers as the first Principal and Mr. Hubbard as first President of the Board. During the first year there were 20 pupils.
Clarke School opened on Gothic Street. Until nearly the time of its opening Mr. Lewis J. Dudley was principal of a boarding school for boys in Northampton. With the outbreak of the Civil War, most of these students who were from the South were with- drawn. Clarke School occupied two buildings of this school on Gothic Street, one being used to house the teachers and pupils, and the other, originally planned for a boarding school, for the classrooms.
On July 5, 1870, Miss Caroline A. Yale, a 22-year-old teacher from Charlotte, Vermont, visited Clarke School at the invitation of Miss Rogers. Her influence upon the school was to be a pro- found one. In her book, Years of Building, she writes that "from the first, there was a fascination about the work which was ir- resistible, and, so far as I recall, there was never a moment's doubt on my part that this was a work I should like to do." She made Clarke School her life, and during her 63 years as teacher, Princi- pal, and Director of the Teacher Education Department the school achieved international prominence. In this work she was most capably assisted by a number of truly outstanding teachers, including Miss Frances W. Gawith and Miss Bessie N. Leonard.
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In September 1870 Clarke School was transferred to a new home on Round Hill. The buildings consisted of two halls on the east side of Round Hill Road which had belonged to the Round Hill School for Boys. There was also a new brick building on the west side of the road. There were 40 pupils and 5 teachers. As was deemed wise at that time, the boys and girls were housed sepa- rately. One of the original Round Hill School buildings was the residence of the girls and was named Rogers Hall. The new build- ing across the street was occupied by the boys and was named Baker Hall (now known as Gawith Hall). The other original building, Clarke Hall, later replaced by a new building, Hubbard Hall, was used only for school and library purposes.
In 1871 Alexander Graham Bell came to Clarke School to in- struct the teachers in his father's system of Visible Speech, a method of phonetic representation by which the pronunciation of any language could be represented in simple characters based on the formation of sounds. He approached this work with his char- acteristic enthusiasm, earnestness, and persistence. There were practically no school hours to him. An interesting bit of work begun in the classroom went on in the playroom or on the play- ground. Probably his greatest contribution was the strong empha- sis laid on the value of the trained hearing of the teacher and of her knowledge of the positions required for each sound. There was no guess work when he was the teacher. He knew the posi- tion which the child assumed; he knew the correct positions de- sired. This was infinite gain over the former indefinite, inaccu- rate knowledge. Dr. Bell's work for the deaf was interrupted temporarily by his studies for and invention of the telephone, but his real interest in all that pertained to their education remained a lifelong enthusiasm. On July 11, 1877 he and Mabel Hubbard were married. Later, in 1888 he was associated with Mr. Hub- bard in the founding of the National Geographic Society.
In 1889 the Teacher Education program was instituted by Miss Yale primarily to prepare teachers for Clarke School. In 1892, at the request of the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, a professional organization founded by Dr. Bell, the department was expanded to prepare teachers for schools for the deaf at large. Since then over 500 teachers have been certi- fied upon graduation from the department, going out to teach in all sections of this country and about 20 foreign countries.
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In 1903 an event occurred which later made the name of the school known widely and brought it a host of generous friends. At that time Miss Grace Goodhue was admitted as a student in the Teacher Education Department. A graduate of the University of Vermont, she had been familiar with the school since early childhood because of her acquaintance with Miss Yale's brother's family in Burlington. After completing the training Miss Good- hue remained as a teacher in the Middle School, during which time she made the acquaintance of a young lawyer of Northamp- ton, Calvin Coolidge. After teaching for two years she left to marry him and was permanently located in Northampton. The years which she spent in public life made her name the country over a synonym for gracious cordiality and sincere kindliness. Her active interest in the school and the welfare of its pupils has not diminished. For 17 years she served as President of the Board and continues to serve as President Emeritus.
In the late 1920's a Coolidge Fund drive was undertaken suc- cessfully to increase the endowment funds of the school. This made possible the establishment of a research department with three divisions to probe scientifically into the many unknowns in- volved in the problem of deafness and also to explore the possi- bilities of amplified sound in the education of deaf children, espe- cially in view of the then recent advent of the radio and the consequent potential for electrical amplification. For more than 20 years research work has been going on at Clarke School con- cerning: (1) Experimental Phonetics, (2) Heredity of Deafness, and (3) Psychological aspects of the education of deaf children.
Today Clarke School has expanded to include 15 buildings situated on a 20-acre campus, located on the top of Round Hill. There are 145 deaf boys and girls between the ages of 41/2 and 18, taught by 33 teachers. Since it is a residential school, a staff of 97 full-time employees is required. Experimental work done with acoustics and electronics for the armed services during World War II produced much functional information about amplifica- tion which has been incorporated into equipment for schools for the deaf. Hubbard Hall, the central classroom building, has 20 sound-treated classrooms, each equipped with a most modern group hearing aid.
Since its establishment in 1867 Clarke School has given in- struction to 1656 pupils with impaired hearing. Returns from a
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recent questionnaire to graduates indicate that over 50 per cent of those replying have graduated from or are now attending high school, or the equivalent, with hearing children. Alumni hold degrees, including Master's and Ph.D., from 30 different colleges and universities. The variety of occupations followed by Alumni is almost unbelievable. It is now well established that deaf chil- dren are educable, that the use of speech and lip reading as the functional means of communication is feasible, and that well- educated deaf men and women are capable of taking their places among their hearing brothers and sisters. In the constant search for better language, better speech, better social adjustment, better vocational opportunities for deaf children, Clarke School intends to continue its efforts to promote and encourage real professional progress.
Northampton has every reason to take pride in being the home of a truly exceptional school.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Forbes Library
By FLORENCE BANNARD ADAMS
K NOWLEDGE is not the privilege of the expert or the mighty. It is the property of everyone who strives ear- nestly to attain it. In America the public library symbol- izes this philosophy."
In his report for 1952 the Librarian of Forbes Library in North- ampton, quotes these words spoken by the Secretary of State Dean Acheson on June 21, 1952 at the laying of the cornerstone of the memorial library given by the United States to commemo- rate the American occupation of the city of Berlin. It is a public library of the American kind typifying the American ideals, which Judge Charles Edward Forbes has perpetuated in the Forbes Library in Northampton. In his will, making his great gift to this fortunate city, Judge Forbes states,
It has been my aim to place within the reach of the inhabitants of a town in which I have lived long and pleasantly, the means of learn- ing, if they are disposed to learn, the marvelous development of mod- ern thought and to enable them to judge of the destiny of the human race on scientific evidence.
Charles Edward Forbes was the son of Jesse Forbes and Mary Packard, daughter of the Rev. Elijah Packard, and was born in Bridgewater on August 25, 1795. His ancestors were Puritans from the old town of Duxbury although his forbears had lived in Bridgewater at least since 1692. The family moved to Enfield in 1796-his home until 1817. Charles Forbes graduated from Brown University in 1815 and received in 1849 the honorary degree of LL.D. from his Alma Mater. He studied law in Enfield for two years following his graduation, and in 1817 he entered the law office of the Hon. Elijah Hunt Mills of Northampton. He was admitted to the bar in 1818.
His professional career was noteworthy. He was elected to the
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legislature in 1825 and again in 1835; he was Hampshire County attorney in 1826; chairman of the highway commission in this same year; Master in Chancery for Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties in 1835; commissioner for codifying the com- mon law 1836-1837,-the first revision since the adoption of the constitution.
In 1844 Mr. Forbes declined the offer of Governor Briggs of the chief justiceship of the Court of Common Pleas for Massa- chusetts, but accepted, in 1847, an associate justiceship. He served as associate judge of the Supreme Court from 1848 to 1849 when he resigned because of the severity of the work. Governor Briggs' comment was that "had Judge Forbes remained on the bench, he would have succeeded Judge Shaw as chief justice." Evidently the judge felt obliged to curtail his activities and desired to de- vote his energies to the practice of the law. The only outside undertaking recorded after this date is in 1856 when he was a Re- publican presidential elector and voted for Fremont.
Judge Forbes retired from active practice in 1865 but con- tinued his interests in the concerns of the city in which he "lived so pleasantly."
Under the terms of the will of Miss Sophia Smith of Hatfield, Judge Charles Edward Forbes and Deacon George W. Hubbard were appointed executors of her estate and they were also desig- nated by her as Trustees of the college she was founding under this will. Miss Smith died in 1870 and in 1871 Judge Forbes be- came a member of the first Board of Trustees of Smith College.
The last years of his life were given to reading and study, happy years in the "sure companionship of books." He died February 13, 1881 at the age of 85.
Charles Edward Forbes is described as a striking figure, tall and erect with strong expressive features. In the winter months he went forth on his walks wrapped in a long black cloak, leaving the impression as he passed, of a man having unusual strength and grandeur of character. His contemporary friend continued, "Judge Forbes' striking personality, will, before many years, pass from memory and little will remain to remind us of the founder of a great library but in it his name will be forever preserved-his epitaph-like that of Sir Christopher Wren-
'If you seek his monument, look around you.'"
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At the death of Judge Forbes the terms of his will disclosed his plans for this lasting monument to his name. He had left his entire estate, except a few bequests, to found a public library for the city of Northampton. The Probate Court at once appointed Deacon George W. Hubbard and Mr. Oscar Edwards as Trustees. The city voted at once to accept the gift and the Trustees pur- chased a plot of land known as the "Turner lot on College Hill," the present site of the library. The Town Council had in all haste accepted the munificent gift of Judge Forbes-if they had not it would all have gone to Harvard University-and then they and the citizens of Northampton sat down to examine the conse- quences.
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