USA > New York > Noted living Albanians and state officials. A series of biographical sketches > Part 7
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MELVIL DEWEY.
stand the relations of its many phases will see that he has followed strictly the original program laid out in boyhood, and has steadily denied himself most of the pleasures of society and literary and social life, because his chosen work demanded every available hour, and he is as jealous of any thing that takes from his time or strength as if in training for a race. He claims that he gets as much rest by chang- ing from one phase of his work to another as by stopping all labor and engaging in the usual recreations, and his uni- form good health and unusual endurance of long hours of intense work seem to justify his theory.
While he has done much himself, his greater work has been in stimulating and inspiring others to accept his broader views, share his faith and take an active part in the needed work which can be carried on only by the efforts of thousands. He often says " my plans involve a hundredfold more work than I can ever do, but if by the efforts of my life I can induce one hundred men and women each to do one per cent of this work, the whole will be accomplished."
Thus, it was in his office that the New York Library club was organized with over fifty members for promoting library interests in New York city and vicinity. All its meetings were held in his library till he resigned the presidency when called to Albany. There also was incorporated, and there met, the Children's Library association, whose constitution, drafted by Mr. Dewey, stated its object to be " to create and foster among children too young to be admitted to the public libraries, a taste for wholesome reading. To supply the children, for use both at home and in free libraries and reading-rooms, with the books and serials best adapted to profit them, and to prepare them for the wisest use of the public libraries."
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In the same place were formed the New York branch of the Spelling Reform association and the New York Lan- guage club, of which President Barnard and David Dudley Field were the first presidents, and Mr. Dewey the secretary and treasurer ; the object being " to consider practical ques- tions connected with language, its use and improvement," and its members including well-known and scholarly New Yorkers. Its meetings were largely attended till discontinued because of the secretary's removal. President Barnard of Columbia was also president of the American Metric bureau in Boston, founded in 1876 by permanent secretary Mr. Dewey, and of the American Metrological society which met always at Columbia, and of which Mr. Dewey was also secretary. It is to the efforts of this society that we are chiefly indebted for the success of the campaign which did away with the absurd confusion and annoyances of local time for every village, and gave us the present system of standard time. 'It will be seen that every one of these organizations was di- rectly advancing the work chosen by Mr. Dewey in his boy- hood, so none of the energies devoted to them was wasted or diverted from the main purpose. As their work was con- fined almost wholly to New York city, Mr. Dewey resigned all these offices in order to give his entire time to the greater field open in Albany.
Within six months after his election by the regents, there was held at St. Louis a national convention which resolved itself into a permanent association of state librarians. In spite of Mr. Dewey's protest that he had led in more than his share of library enterprises, the association unanimously elected him president, and already there is abundant evi- dence that a great and most valuable work is to be accom- plished by the new body.
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He has also delivered many addresses - all extempora- neous, for he is too busy to write - before schools, colleges and educational meetings. His address in 1886, before the Association of Collegiate Alumna on "Librarianship as a profession for college-bred women," was widely circulated by the association as a document of peculiar value to a 1 interested in woman's higher intellectual work. On July I, 1888, he spoke before the university convocation of the state of New York on " Libraries as related to the educa- tional work of the state." The convocation itself unani- mously indorsed and asked the regents to adopt the radical views then advanced. The regents in turn gave hearty sup- port and asked needed legislation, and the new university law of June 15, 1889, provides for carrying out his plans.
The death of the state librarian, Dr. H. A. Homes, and the resignation of the secretary and treasurer of the uni- versity, Dr. David Murray, made it necessary for the re- gents to fill these important offices. After much discussion it was determined to enter on a greatly enlarged work for which the time seemed ripe, if the right man could be found to undertake it. Extended inquiries led the regents to think one man specially fitted by his peculiar training and experience for the new work, and the three offices of secre- tary and treasurer of the university and director of the state library were combined into a single position, to which, on December 12, 1888, Prof. Dewey was unanimously elected. Many who knew him only through his reputation as a libra- rian hastily inferred that he was an eminent bookworm, while in fact he has always disclaimed all credit as a bookish librarian. He is primarily an educator, and became a libra- rian solely because that side of the educational field seemed most fruitful. Museums, he claims, to be but another form
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of libraries, in which one reads from the book of nature in- stead of from print, and his plans include museums as essen- tial parts of well-equipped libraries. When, therefore, the only state in the Union having a department devoted wholly to higher education, and at the same time in full charge of the state library and state museum, offered its unrivaled fa- cilities, and almost boundless possibilities of development, the man who had given his life to exactly this work had no choice but to accept what was clearly the ideal position from which to carry forward the good work already begun.
At the university convocation of 1889, Mr. Dewey deliv- ered an admirable address on "The extension of the Uni- versity," outlining his plans for making more widely useful the organization which is hereafter to do so much more than its excellent work in the past.
In personal appearance Professor, or as he much prefers to be called, Secretary Dewey, is above the ordinary size, standing over six feet and weighing nearly two hundred pounds. He has an active, nervous temperament, which finds real pleasure in work and unhappiness in idleness. With his varied and onerous duties, not only as director of the state library, but also as secretary of the university with all the colleges and academies of the empire state, his hands are full of labor. Always on the alert, his mind is deeply occupied in his professional pursuits. He is rapid in movements, rapid in speech and rapid in dispatch of business. He is supremely devoted to his calling, and with a generous hand has expended all his earnings in the study and advancement of his favorite work, and in aiding and encouraging others of similar tastes to follow in his steps.
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July 11, 1890, on call from Secretary Dewey, forty- three librarians and educators met in the State Li- brary and organized the New York Library association " for promoting the library interests of the state of New York." The wisdom of this step was shown by its recep- tion. Within two months Iowa and New Hampshire had organized similar associations, and leaders in five other states had decided to do so without delay.
As the last proof of this sketch passes the author, Sep- tember 15, 1890, the press reports the close, in the White Mountains, of the largest and most successful conference of librarians ever held. On Thursday the New York Library association elected Melvil Dewey President. On Friday the association of State Law Librarians made the same choice, followed next day by the national body, thus curiously com- bining in one man the presidency of all three associations. We close our sketch by quoting from the Boston Transcript's account of "The Librarians' Congress:" " Mr. Melvil Dewey is par excellence the best-informed man in the United States in the science of library progress. He brings to its discussion a wide knowledge of its every detail, born of many years' experience. The enthusiasm and vigor which he throws into every word that drops from his lips is refresh- ing and strengthening to others. He sets the pace, so to speak, which, if followed, is sure to lead on to victory and success. Obstacles seem to him to be a pleasure, that he may study them and wipe them away. He is an ever- loaded magazine of thought and suggestion. It only needs the opportunity to ignite the flame, resulting in the explo- sion of a volume of common-sense ideas, which always seem to fall on fertile ground, soon to bear their good fruit." .
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ANDREW SLOAN DRAPER.
O NE of the foremost men in the promotion of the cause of education in our country to day, is the Hon. Andrew S. Draper, the present Superintendent of Public Instruction of the state of New York. His career is especially note- worthy and interesting as affording encouragement and in- spiration to the youth of our land, who are seeking higher educational advantages.
Born at Westford, Otsego county, N. Y., on the 21st of June, 1848, the first seven years of his life were passed under watchful parental care, at his native place. The first school he attended was in the primitive cross-roads red school- house. In 1855 his parents removed to Albany, soon after which he was sent to the district schools of this city - a city which was to become his permanent residence. Win- ning a prize scholarship in the Albany Academy, when about fifteen years old, he became a pupil in that institution, from which after a thorough course of instruction he gradu- ated in the summer of 1866. From his youth up he was of studious habits and active life. After graduation at the academy he taught in that institution and others for four years, during which time he also read law, and in the fall of 1870 he entered the Albany law school, from which excel- lent institution he was graduated in the summer of 1871,
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being admitted to practice at the general term of the supreme court in May of that year. It will be interesting to remark here, as indicating his early tastes and talents for public speaking, that in the presidential campaign of Grant and Seymour in 1868, Mr. Draper delivered over fifty polit- ical addresses in different parts of the state, before he had reached the age of twenty-one and he has spoken in every campaign since that time.
He lost no time, however, in engaging in the active duties of his profession, becoming a member of the law firm of Paddock, Draper & Chester. This firm existed till 1886 when, upon the death of Judge Paddock, it was succeeded by that of Draper & Chester, which, since Mr. Draper's elec- tion to his present position, has also been dissolved, Mr. Alden Chester carrying on the law business alone. In the meantime Mr. Draper had been a member of the board of education of Albany, in which he seems to have familiarized himself with matters to which he has since devoted his best intellectual powers, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the educational system and the best methods of presenting it to the public.
But another field into which he was now about to enter, temporarily, and to achieve no inconsiderable success, was that of politics, a careful and comprehensive survey of which he had previously taken. He became early noted as an ar- dent and active young republican, highly popular with his party, and in the fall of 1881 he received the nomination for member of assembly from the second Albany district, and after quite a spirited canvass was elected by a plurality of about 500 over Daniel Casey, democrat, and Charles R. Knowles, independent republican.
Few new members of the legislature ever rose so rapidly
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into prominence as leading debaters during their first term as did Mr. Draper. He served on the committee of ways and means, judiciary, public education, and public printing, and at once participated in the debates with great confi. dence and boldness. His previous legal training, his readi- ness in debate, his natural gifts in repartee and his tenacity of purpose were of eminent service to him in legislative dis- cussions. Perhaps his most earnest and stirring addresses in the legislature during the memorable session of 1881-2 were in favor of the return of the United States senators, Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Platt, but in this he was finally defeated through the election of Messrs. Miller and Lap- ham. Seldom, if ever, has any member of a legislative body stood more steadfastly by personal or political friends than did Andrew S. Draper in advocacy of the re- election of Messrs. Conkling and Platt to seats which they had, in the excitement of political passion, perhaps too hastily and unwisely resigned. It was the writer's privilege to listen almost daily to those lively and often heated de- bates in the legislature, and well does he remember with what vigor, impressiveness and persistency Mr. Draper hurled his remarks against opposing forces. But it was in vain for any member to stem the popular tide which had set in so strongly against the return of the distinguished ex- senators, and so Mr. Draper gracefully yielded to the course of events and the choice of the majority.
In 1880, '81, '82, Mr. Draper was chairman of the republi- can county committee of Albany county, and in 1883 and 1884 he was a member of the republican state committee, serving also as chairman of the executive committee in the presidential campaign of 1884. In this campaign he con- ducted the entire correspondence of the state committee,
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and had charge of all the arrangements for and accompa- nied Mr. Blaine in his two memorable trips through the state.
In the same year returning, perhaps, to more congenial and fruitful fields of labor, he was appointed a member of the executive committee of the Albany State Normal School ; in December of the same year he was selected by President Arthur a judge of the court of Alabama claims, his associ- ates being the Hon. James Harlan, for many years United States senator from Iowa, and the Hon. Asa French, of Massachusetts. In this office Judge Draper accomplished a large amount of judicial work in the interest of the gov- ernment, over two thousand cases being tried before that tribunal during his year of judicial service. His reputation as a scholar and his efficiency as a judge were thus largely increased by his successful discharge of those judicial duties, and he was not long in being called to another department, to which he was admirably adapted by special training and general accomplishments. His whole heart had for a long time been enlisted in the system of popular education, and it was putting the right man in the right place when on the Ioth of March, 1886, the legislature in joint session elected him Superintendent of Public Instruction of the state of New York. It was indeed a most judicious choice. Judge Draper was now in his true element, and his executive ability, quick perception and sound judgment were brought into full exercise. And he immediately set himself to work in improving, elevating and perfecting the educational system of the state. His task has been by no means an easy one. He has devoted his whole time and ripest men- tal powers to the personal supervison of his chosen work, and with watchful care has visited nearly every county in the state, delivering earnest practical addresses, at state
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conventions, teachers' institutes, associations, normal and high schools. These addresses, characterized by forcible utterance, propriety of language and directness of purpose, containing many valuable suggestions, have been listened to with absorbing interest by his hearers. Among the most important of his school addresses which have been published and which are worthy of careful consideration are those de- livered to the state teachers' association at Elizabethtown, N. Y., in July 1886, on "Our school law;" before the teachers of the city of New York, on "What ought the common schools to do; how can it be done?" before the association of school commissioners, at Binghamton, in January, 1887, on the "Law relating to school commission- ers and how to improve the country schools," before the department of superintendence of the national association, at Washington, in February, 1887, on "The qualifications of teachers, how shall they be determined? " and before the New York state teachers' association, in July, 1888, on " The powers and obligations of teachers ; " before the state teachers' association in Brooklyn in July, 1889, on "School administration in large cities;" before the national educa- tional association at Nashville, Tenn., in July, 1889, on "The legal status of the public schools;" before the presbytery of Buffalo in September, 1889, on "The Indian problem of the state of New York;" before the State Teachers' Association at Saratoga in July, 1890, on " The Origin and Development of the New York Common-School System," and before the State School Masters' Club of Illinois, at Peoria, in October, 1890, on " The Authority of the State over the Education of her Children."
His annual reports to the legislature are prepared with great care and research, and contain a wide range of
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thought, with eminently suggestive propositions, which have received most favorable comment and been generally adopted as legislative measures. As an indication of what has been accomplished upon his suggestion, in a single year we may mention as having been moulded into laws by the legislature of 1887 :
Authorizing school commissioners to condemn unfit school-houses without the concurrence of the supervisor ; apportioning school moneys upon the aggregate instead of the average attendance ; providing for the filing of collect- ors' bonds ; providing a system whereby the state secures absolutely the full quota of state scholarships at Cornell university, by filling vacancies which may occur in one county by appointment from another ; requiring teachers' wages to be paid at least as often as at the end of each month, and requiring trustees to deliver to teachers a writ- ten memorandum of contracts made; providing for the free distribution of the revised code of public instruction among all the school districts of the state; providing for the free distribution of the annual reports of the department among all the school districts of the state; providing for the prep- aration and publication of architects' plans for school build- ings; requiring every school district in the state to pro- vide suitable outbuildings, in default of which public moneys may be withheld; establishing a plan for the uniform examination of teachers for commissioners' cer- tificates.
The legislatures of 1888, 1889 and 1890 also passed many important measures upon the recommendation of the Super- intendent. 'Among these may be named the following : An act authorizing him to grant teachers' certificates without examination to graduates of colleges and universities who
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had taught three years successfully and also to indorse di- plomas granted by normal schools in other states, so as to make them good in this state ; an act providing for improve- ments in school furniture; an act prohibiting trustees from issuing money orders for teachers' wages unless the money was on hand to meet the order ; an act establishing " Arbor day;" an act transferring the supervision of teachers' train- ing classes from the regents to the department of public in- struction ; an act extending the minimum school year from twenty-eight to thirty-two weeks; an act providing that no trustee shall employ a teacher for a less term than sixteen weeks or discharge one in the middle of a term except for a cause which is approved by the superintendent ; an act au- thorizing districts to levy taxes for teachers' wages in advance; and a most important act compelling attendance upon school in cases where necessary. In fact every recom- mendation made by him to the legislature has received prompt and favorable attention.
Judge Draper is one of those progressive educators who do not like to stand still or move but slowly onward in the old beaten paths of our fathers in furnishing the means of education to the masses ; but whenever any improvement has seemed desirable in the way of reorganization or more efficient methods in conducting public instruction, he has always been foremost in advocating and pressing such measures to a successful issue. It is his desire to keep abreast with the spirit of the age, which seems to demand a more perfect system in the education of the youth of our land. His decisions in appeal cases have been uniformly judicious, clear and firmly expressed, with apparent fairness to all parties concerned. In his last annual report to the legislature (Jan. 10, 1889), Judge Draper, in a most compre-
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hensive and elaborate review of the activity and progress in educational work, remarks :
" It may properly be said that the year has been one of marked educational activity. The department has had its hands more than full, while superintendents in the cities, commissioners in the country, and the great body of trus- tees and teachers everywhere, have been industriously at work. It is more than doubtful if any other year in the history of the state has witnessed so much of interest, so much of effort, and, it may be added, so much of accom- plishment, on the part of all grades and classes of educa- tional workers, as the one which has just closed." * * *
" More study is being given to the history and the phil- osophy of education than ever before. It must be confessed that we have been slow to look upon the work of the schools from a scientific standpoint, or to believe that it should be intrusted only to hands which are professionally trained and equipped for its scientific prosecution. But Americans are proverbial for treating a subject vigorously and energetically after once seizing upon it. The idea that a teacher must not only have fair technical scholarship, but that he must know something of the world's efforts at educational pro- gress, something of the developing processes of the human intellect, must understand how to arouse, direct and sustain mental activity and so promote the healthful growth of the mind that it will digest and assimilate knowledge, seek more knowledge and gather strength for self-action, and that these requirements are no less essential in the primary than the advanced schools, is gaining strong foothold and making rapid headway throughout the state."
In the same report he makes suggestions which must ul- timately be regarded in a most favorable light by the legis-
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lature and the people of the state regarding the encourage- ment and proper maintenance of school or public libraries, and the plan of changing them from district to township libraries, " thereby providing for a larger library which should be centrally located, or perhaps moved about the town, remaining a few months in each school district."
His habits of mind and his method of treating public af- fairs are well indicated in the following paragraphs with which he closes his recent (1890) annual report to the legislature :
"The mere presentation of figures which show a con- tinually-increasing population, increasing number of schools, increasing attendance, and rapidly-increasing expenditures for school purposes, fails to satisfy any thoughtful mind of the real work of the schools. The character of the work being performed and the spirit and disposition of the workers are to be considered. The numerical growth and develop- ment of the schools is by no means to be accepted as the measure of the state's educational progress. Rather, we must inquire what is being done, how it is being done, with what end in view, and how much, how intelligently and profitably is effort and money being expended to accomplish that end."
" There is certainly no justification for entire self-compla- cency and satisfaction on the part of those who are charged with the business management and the professional super- vision of the public schools. There never will be. Perfec- tion will never be attained. The desired end will never be fully accomplished. Our public school system is yet in a crude state. The legislation which shapes and controls it, the management which directs it, the teaching-service which determines its tone and character will necessarily be greatly improved and strengthened in the coming years. The
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