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GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY L
3 1833 03543 0005
Gc 974,701 D95ki King, Charles Donald. History of education in Dutchess County
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- History of Education in Dutchess County
: .. by CHARLES DONALD KING, JR.
He spoke wisely who said that schools were the workshop of humanity. Since it is undoubtedly through their agency that man really becomes man . . .
COMENIUS
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR CAPE MAY, N. J., 1959
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Copyright 1959 Charles D. King, Jr. Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Library of Congress Cat. Card No. 59-10323
FIRST EDITION
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
This book is dedicated to my parents MABEL SPRINGER KING and CHARLES D. KING, SR.
whose help made this book possible. To them I am deeply grateful.
19-01-6
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
Page
Introduction I
1. Education in America
1
2. Development of New York State School System
12
3. Education in Dutchess County, 1716-1843
30
4. Poughkeepsie Sets the Pace for Dutchess County
58
5. The Twentieth Century
75
6. Conclusion
104
Appendix
111
a. Historical Calendar - Elementary Education 111
b. Historical Calendar - Secondary Education 111
c. Historical Calendar - Federal Activities in Education 112
d. Historical Calendar - Dutchess County 112
e. Directory of Dutchess County Schools - 1959
113
f. Organization and Administration of Public Education 116
g. Famous Early Educators
1. Martin Luther
119
2. John Amos Comenius 119
3. Jean Jacques Rousseau 120
4. Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi 121
5. Friedrich Froebel
122
6. Johann Friedrich Herbart 122
7. Thomas Jefferson 123
8. Benjamin Franklin
124
9. Horace Mann
125
h. New York State Board of Regents 126
i. Statistics on Poughkeepsie High School - Forbus Street 127
j. State Aid System of New York State 128
Bibliography 134
Index 139
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Map showing township lines of Dutchess County
Burning of John Rogers-Poem from New England Tutor V
Plaque at No. 2 Broadway, site of first school in New York City 12
View of a Dutch school in New York City 14
Page from minutes of the first Board of Regents - 1784
16
New York State Road Sign showing site of First Public School in Clermont 18
Rules of the Wallkill Academy
25
A typical old school house of the 1700's 29
Visual education - 18th century style 40
Map of Poughkeepsie, 1790, showing school house lot
44
Nine Partners Boarding School, South Millbrook
46
Collegiate School on College Hill, Poughkeepsie
51
Map of Dutchess County showing location of earliest schools
57
Map showing schools in Poughkeepsie in 1800 when it was known as "The City of Schools" 61
Education cartoon from Life Magazine - 1887
69
Columbus Day card from Poughkeepsie public schools - 1892
71
Poughkeepsie High School
74
a. architect's proposed plan b. photo showing completed school
Interior of Poughkeepsie High School ---------
a. Senior Chemical Laboratory b. Library c. Industrial Arts Department
88
Spackenkill School, 1865
94
Shenandoah School
97
TOWNS OF DUTCHESS COUNTY
RED HOOK
MILAN
PINE PLAINES
NORTH EAST
RHINE- BECK
STANFORD
AMENIA
CLINTON
WASHINGTON
HYDE PARK
PLEASANT WVALLEY
DOVER
UNION VALE
LAGRANGE
RIVER
POUGHKEEPSIE
BEEKMAN
WAPPINGERS
EAST FISHKILL
PAWLING
HUDSON
FISHKILL
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INTRODUCTION
This study concerns itself with the history of education in Dutchess County, New York, from the 1700's to the pres- ent. It attempts to do it in a way that human beings have been using to understand themselves as long as there have been hu- man beings-by writing a history. This book is based on no special theories about education or about history ; it presents no plea to change our educational systems, or to do anything with them. This is a history in the most restricted sense of the word, a narrative, written with a careful regard for facts.
Education has long been looked upon in America as the lifeblood of democracy. There has always been some form of education since there have been human beings. The children who complain about going to school, or the parents who just take America's great public school system for granted do not stop to realize the struggles and hardships that went into its development. Only in the past few decades has the American school system become as well organized as it is, and there is still room for improvement.
Changes in education are made as society calls for them, which accounts for the change from the one-room school to the district school and the modern centralized school system; the change from the 8 year-4 year to the 6 year-2 year-4 year to the present accepted system of six year elementary school, 3 year junior and 3 year senior high school system. However, demands of society are pos- sibly more slowly reflected in educational processes than in any other form of public service. Therefore, there are still many one-room schools existing in the country, and there are still areas where there are no junior high school programs, and many areas where there are no central schools. There have always been problems in education in this country, and there always have been attempts to solve them. Today's main problems are getting enough schools to meet the de- mand, and getting sufficient qualified teachers for these schools. However, judging the American people on past experience, it seems understandable they will meet these problems in the very near future in the same firm way they
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have met educational problems in the past. The American people, for the most part, want the best for their children. Education is no exception, and the people have the right as taxpayers to get proper education and educational facilities for their children.
Education was at first a family matter, and today the first five years, approximately, of a child's life are spent at home with his family, learning to talk, walk, and adjust to his environment. In early times in America, the child was sent to church schools when he became old enough, to learn his relig- ion, and if time permitted, "readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic." As the demand became necessary, higher education, still un- der church control, was established; the Latin Grammar Schools, and many early academies were the result of such un- dertakings. By the 1800's, private, but not free schools were established, and by the late 1800's, public education in Amer- ica was pretty much accepted by the population.
Of all the struggles or battles fought for education, the greatest and most difficult battle was that of making educa- tion available to all the people. In Europe in the 1500's, for- mal education was almost exclusively for the clergy, aris- tocracy, and the rich burghers. In addition, it was almost entirely reserved for males. Martin Luther was among the first to advocate education as we know it today. It was his idea to make religious scriptures available to everyone. He wanted everyone to be able to interpret the Bible in his own way. By the 1600's, most of the people of Europe had a good background in reading, and thus when the first settlers came to this land, they, too, had an understanding of read- ing and writing. Unfortunately, the children in these fami- lies were not taught to read, and by 1640, with many of the older colonists dying, reading was becoming a lost art. This brought about the first education law in 1642.
Even though the New England colonists were able to read when they arrived, they were slow in setting up schools. It remained for the Dutch in New Amsterdam to establish the first school in America in 1638.
From these early beginnings in the seventeenth cen- tury comes the public educational system now established in America, the idea of free education for all the people. Many famous persons contributed to this idea, among them, Thom-
II
as Jefferson and Horace Mann-as we shall see later in the book.
Our first two chapters deal with the educational devel- opments in America and New York State, as a background for comparison as to what happened in Dutchess County. Education is one aspect of the county's history that has not been touched upon to any degree. The facts are scarce and scattered. Much of the material for the third chapter came from the early county histories, old newspapers, volumes of the Dutchess County Yearbook, and other similar material in the Adriance Memorial Library in Poughkeepsie. It was then only through the kind help of the people associated with the library that I was able to find the materials presented in this book. It was also through the help of many citizens of the county that I was able to get material for the recent happenings and I wish to ex- press my thanks to all who helped make this book possible, and in particular I would like to thank the following for their time and information : Miss Anna M. Farrell, former principal and teacher at the Shenandoah School, E. Joseph Kegan, Superintendent of Wappingers Central School, George Key, Poughkeepsie School System, Dr. Henry Noble MacCracken, President-emeritus of Vassar College, Harold Storm, Superintendent of Schools, Arlington Central School District, and Mrs. Amy Ver Nooy, formerly of Adriance Memorial Library.
I would also like to thank the members of the staff of the Adriance Memorial Library, Hoffman Memorial Library at Bard College, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park for their help and cooperation.
To the publishers and associations listed below I am deeply grateful for their permission to use the following il- lustrations :
Harper Brothers, from AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EDUCA- TION by G. W. Frasier
Visual Education - 18th century style
New York State Education Department,
from their book EDUCATION IN NEW YORK STATE by H. H. Horner
Plaque on Southeast Wall of Produce Quadrangle, N. Y. City First Page of the minutes of the first meeting of the Regents - 1784 Rules of the Wallkill Academy
III
New York Historical Society A Typical Schoolhouse of the 1700's New York State Teachers' Association, Elementary school in New York in 1633 Poughkeepsie Savings Bank, from Thrift Messenger - 1937 Collegiate School on College Hill
The map of Poughkeepsie in 1790 is from Platt's Eagles History of Poughkeepsie, the illustration of the Nine Part- ners Boarding School is from J. H. Smith's History of Dutch- ess County. The cartoon "Knowledge is Power" appeared in LIFE magazine, April 14, 1887.
I am indebted to Mrs. Lionel Lawrence, former princi- pal of Spackenkill School, for the picture of Spackenkill School in 1865. The architect's sketch of the Poughkeepsie High School appears through the courtesy of Mrs. Rolf C. Dreyer. All other illustrations are from photographs taken by the author. The maps, with the exception of Poughkeepsie in 1790, were drawn by the author.
IV
S
BURNING OF JOHN ROGERS
Give Ear my Children to my words whom God hath dearly bought
Law up his laws within your Hearts', and Print them in your Thoughts.
I Leave you here a little Book for you to look upon,
That you may see your Father's Face, when he is Dead and gone.
Title page from New England Tutor (1702-1714 ?) as presented in New England Primer, edited by Paul Leicester Ford, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1899.
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CHAPTER ONE
EDUCATION IN AMERICA
Throughout America during the colonial period, edu- cation was scattered, fragmentary, and largely unsatisfac- tory. Each group of settlers brought with them not only their language, customs, and religion, but also their ideas of education. Therefore different patterns of education were attempted in the various colonies. Three of these pat- terns are illustrated in the following pages, and will later be compared with those established in Dutchess County.
1. NEW ENGLAND - Colonial New England, and particularly Massachusetts, took the first steps toward the permanent establishment of schools for the common people. Not long after the colony of Massachusetts was settled, the law of 1642 was passed :
It gave to town officials the power to take account from time to time of their parents and masters and of their children, especially of their ability to read and under- stand the principles of religion and the capital laws of the country, and to impose fines on all those who refused to render such accounts to them when required.1
The main reason for this law was the fact that many of the elderly people in the settlement, who were able to read, were dying, and the children were not being taught to read. This law of 1642 was, unfortunately, not strictly enforced, and by 1647, a new law was necessary. This law became known as the Old Deluder Satan Act, which required various towns to establish and maintain schools, under the following conditions : In a community of fifty families or more, the community was to provide a teacher to teach the three R's and Religion. If the community had one hundred families, it was also required to provide a teacher to prepare boys for college. Harvard College, which was opened in 1636, pre- pared boys for the Ministry, and was the goal of all the boys in the community.
1 Chris A. DeYoung, Introduction to American Public Education, 1942, 171.
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The settlers of New England, though seeking religious freedom, set up equally strict ideas of their own. The Church was ever important, and the settlers wanted to be able to read and wanted to be educated, in order to have a better un- derstanding of the Bible.
Their attempt at education, though strict and based on religion, was, nevertheless, a start at universal education for all the people. It did not compare with our present sys- tem of free education, but there were similarities. They had laws, the schools were for all, and they attempted to tax themselves to pay for the cost of schools, teachers, equip- ment, and service. Despite these remarkable advances in educational ideas, they patterned their schools after those in the mother country. Their Latin grammar schools and universities were all exact copies of similar schools in England.
The strictness of their religion, and their belief in the Bible is reflected throughout their text-books, the most fam- ous of which is the New England Primer. In the poem of John Rogers "unto his children," which was included in ev- ery New England Primer, he said :
"I leave you here a little booke For you to looke upon, That you may see your father's face When I am dead and gon."2
No better description of the New England Primer itself could be penned. As you glance over what may truly be called "The Little Bible of New England," and read its stern lessons, the Puritan mood is caught with absolute faithfulness. Here was no easy road to knowledge and to salvation."3
No Mass or prayer, no priest or pastor, stood between man and his Creator, each soul being morally responsible for its own salvation; and this tenet forced every man to think, to read, to reason." !
It is impossible to measure the work the Primer ac- complished. The New England Primer is dead, but it died on a victorious battlefield, and its epitaph may well be that written of Noah Webster's Spelling Book: "It taught mil- lions to read, and not one to sin."5
An example of the New England Primer, is this ex- cerpt from the Rhymed Alphabet Pages.
2 New England Primer, Paul L. Ford, editor, 1899, 1.
3 Ibid, 1-2.
4 Ibid, 26
5 Ibid, 113-14.
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The New English
A In Adam's Fall,
We sinned all.
B Thy Life to mend
This Book attend.
C The Cat doth play
And after slay.
D A Dog will Bite
A Thief at Night.
E An Eagle's Flight
Is out of Sight.
F An Idle Fool Is Whipt at School.
These alphabet rhymes were each preceded by a pic- ture illustrating the point of the rhyme. The above is from the New England Tutor, printed in London, 1702-14? 6
The Bible not only played an important role in the life of the New England Colonists, but also in most of the settlements of the North, particularly of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts, the Quakers in Rhode Island and Pennsyl- vania, and the Dutch, Swedes, and Germans of the Middle Atlantic Area.
2. THE SOUTHERN COLONIES - The Southern Col- onies developed their own kind of education based on their English background. Virginia and the other southern col- onies were largely settled by the English, some of whom came from the aristocratic or ruling class. When they came to the new country, they brought the Church of Eng- land. Also, some of the colonists, because of their back- ground in Europe, brought over the idea of class distinction. These settlers developed tracts of land, many of which were expanded later into large plantations. The wealthier set- tlers in Virginia hired tutors to teach their children, and in some cases, when the children were older, they would be sent to England to continue their education. The work on the larger plantations was done by convicts and indentured servants from England and by slaves from Africa. The chil- dren of these groups received no education. By doing this, the Virginians were simply following the pattern set in the mother country, where it was the custom that laborers be kept ignorant as well as poor. The business of the poor was to work, but not to think. The Southern Colonists believed in authority-authority of the Church of England over religious affairs; the authority of owners over those who
6 Ibid, 52.
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worked. It was the pattern of inequality so common in England and other European countries. It is interesting to note that in the South during the Colonial period, there was no organized attempt made to promote public education. One of the few to try to publicize education in the South was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson had great faith in democracy and the rights of the common man, therefore it was natural that he would be interested in public education.
3. MIDDLE COLONIES - In the Middle Colonies, which included New York, you find a still different kind of educational pattern. At present New York will be omitted, as it will be dealt with fully in the next chapter. Education in the Middle Colonies, like that in New England, was pro- moted by a desire to read the Bible. However, in the Middle Colonies schools were organized by the churches, and not by the local civic government. E. P. Cubberley says of the Middle Colonies :
In New England the Puritan-Calvinist had had a com- plete monopoly of both Church and State. Into the Middle Colonies, best represented by New Jersey and Pennsylvania, there had come a mixture of peoples representing different Protestant faiths, and no such monopoly was possible there.
Unlike New England, though, no sect was in a majority, Church control by each denomination was, as a result, con- sidered to be most satisfactory, and hence no appeal to the state was made by churches for assistance in carrying out their religious purposes. The clergymen usually were the teachers in the parochial schools established until a regular schoolmaster could be had; while private pay schools were opened in a few of the larger towns. These, as were the Church services, were conducted in the language of the different immigrants. Girls were educated as well as boys, the emphasis being placed on reading, writing, counting, and religion, rather than upon any form of higher training.
The result was the development in Pennsylvania, and to some extent in the other Middle Colonies as well, of a policy of depending upon Church and private effort for edu- cational advantages. As a consequence, the provision for education, aside from certain rudimentary and religious instruction thought necessary for religious purposes, and aside from the apprenticing of orphans and children of the very poor, was left largely for those who could pay for the privilege.7
By showing education in three different parts of the young nation, one can see that three different and distinct types of schooling developed; the tax-supported school of New England, the private tuition-supported school of the
7 George W. Frasier, An Introduction to the Study of Education, 1956, 110-11.
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South, and the private church-supported school of the Mid- dle Colonies.
It was many years before anything like Universal, free, nonsectarian, tax-supported education came into our national pattern. Many famous men in history helped to make complete compulsory education a reality in America. The more prominent persons included Thomas Jefferson, previously mentioned, and Benjamin Franklin, who, though interested in educating the poor as well as the rich, did not want tax-supported schools. However, Franklin did estab- lish an academy in 1751. Horace Mann has been referred to, often, by historians, as the father of our public schools. He established the first state board of education (in Massachu- setts), and established the first Normal School in 1839 at Lexington, Massachusetts. Henry Barnard set up a state board in Connecticut, similar to that which Mann established in Massachusetts. Barnard also did experimental work with the kindergarten and founded, in 1855, the American Journal of Education. From 1855 to 1893 this journal did much to help shape the educational pattern in America. Oth- er notable leaders in American education include : John D. Pierce, who was instrumental in setting up the Michigan State School System; Caleb Mills, pioneer in Indiana educa- tion; and Samuel Lewis, first superintendent of public in- struction in Ohio. Many others followed in their footsteps. In state after state the fight to establish a free public school system was fought and won by men who were important pi- oneers in this movement.
E. P. Cubberley points out that there were several "battles" fought before an educational system such as we have at present was established. Some of these battles were :
1. The Battle for Tax Support-Early schools were supported by tuition, gifts, land grants, and several other ways. The battle to establish an orderly system of public taxation was a long and bitter one. It involved the idea that education was a necessity in a democratic society and that property should be taxed to supply schools for all the children.
2. The Battle to Eliminate the Pauper-School Idea- The pauper school is the same as the poor school. In other words, only those who could not afford private training were allowed to go to "public school," or free school. In 1834, Pennsylvania passed a law to extend throughout the state, free education of the type already established in Philadelphia. This was violently opposed by taxpayers, but
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after long drawn out debates in the Senate and House of Representatives, it was passed. Free education for all be- came a reality.
3. The Battle to Make the Schools Entirely Free-Even after taxation for schools had become accepted the schools were not entirely free. If there were not sufficient funds to run a school the deficiency was charged in rates against the parents of the children attending. These rates were abolished by law in Pennsylvania in 1834 and in other states at a later date.
4. The Battle to Eliminate Sectarianism-Early schools were closely associated with religion and church organiza- tion. In the early days of public education the funds were often divided between the public schools and the schools conducted privately and by religious groups. A feeling was growing that the church groups were getting too large, therefore more money went for private church schools than for public education. Also there was a growing feel- ing that a democratic form of government demanded an educated population, and that schools should be an important part of the democratic state. This problem was settled by complete separation of public education and religious groups. State after state wrote into its constitution a law that pro- hibited the use of public funds for anything but public schools.
In spite of the fact that this was apparently settled a great many years ago, the problem appears to be still with us. The bill before Congress in 1950 to appropriate federal funds for public education was held up, largely, by those who maintained that the funds should be used for certain services provided by private and parochial schools. Appar- ently this problem will confront the American public for some time to come.
5. The Battle to Establish State Supervision-This is another way of getting away from private control. It was an attempt to set up state systems such as we now have throughout the United States.
6. The Battle to Extend the System Upward-Even though elementary education became public, higher educa- tion was still on a private basis. Even those schools that were semi-private charged some tuition. About a century ago public high schools were established, and have become universal throughout the nation.
We are still fighting the battle for free public education in America. Right now it is centered on the idea of edu- cational equality. Various states differ greatly in their ability to support education. It is the desire in our country that all children have educational equality, and therefore funds must be provided. One way of doing this would be to raise them on a national basis and have them distributed to the various states on the basis of need.
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