USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I > Part 67
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The high school was now started but it was not established. A bitter onslaught was made upon it the following year, led by some of the leading townsmen, in- cluding H. B. Payne, who afterwards became one of the wealthiest of our citizens and United States Senator from Ohio; and Harvey Rice, who has been called "the Father of Public Schools in Ohio" and whose monument stands in Wade Park, erected by the board of education and the city.
% Vol. 29, No. 15.
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
In November, 1847, Mr. Payne introduced a resolution in the City Council ask- ing for a discontinuance of a "select high school" until "an opportunity for obtain- ing a thorough common school education is provided to every child in the city over four years of age." This resolution was referred to a special committee com- posed of H. B. Payne, John Erwin and Charles Hirker. Payne and Erwin reported favorably, Hirker brought in a minority report, saying there was no legal objection to the high school and recommending its retention. A mass meeting was called to consider the question and influence of public sentiment. The city council finally, on the motion of Payne, ordered the school opened to girls also, thus overtaxing its little room. The struggle was then shifted to Columbus, where both sides sent dele- gations. Bradburn completely triumphed over Payne, by having a law enacted re- quiring the city council to maintain a high school and authorizing a special tax for that purpose. In the spring of 1848 Bradburn was named as a candidate for mayor against L. A. Kelsey. The issues were the school tax of four-fifths of a mill, and the high school. Bradburn on account of ill health could not participate in the campaign and was defeated. The vote stood 722 to 771. But enough friendly coun- cilmen were elected to help the new school. The old council spitefully dropped Mr. Bradburn from the list of managers before they yielded to the will of the people, but Charles Bradburn had established the first high school and the petty council could not rob him of the honor.
II. The second period begins with the election of Andrew Freese in 1853, as first superintendent of instruction. Mr. Freese had been connected with the schools for a number of years as principal of the grammar schools and later of the high school. He was to devote only a part of his time to his new duties and receive three hundred dollars a year as extra compensation; he received one thousand dollars salary as principal.
He at once attempted to grade and classify pupils and schools. He found differ- ent text books used in the same grade in various schools, pupils had been ad- vanced at the whim of the parent or teacher rather than on merit, there was not even a semblance of uniformity in the course of study. In a word there was neither plan nor rational individuality in the school system. Mr. Freese complained that "reading was badly taught," that in some schools "geography was taught by requir- ing pupils to commit to memory a large number of pages of definitions and descrip- tive matter, giving very little attention to maps; in others, local geography was taught almost exclusively ; the pupils in one school had learned by great dili- gence and study to name and bound the counties of Ohio, while at the same time they could not name the five great divisions of the globe or even bound the state they lived in."
The new superintendent began by dividing the schools below the high school into three divisions and subdividing each division into three classes, and to each class he assigned a definite task. This was the first systematic course of study in the schools, and parents and teachers resented this interference with their "rights." The small schoolhouses were a great obstacle to completing this classification. It was necessary to mix the classes in various rooms. The largest building seated only five hundred. Boys and girls were still taught in separate rooms and this added to the difficulty.
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
The high school was nine years old before it graduated its first class. For various reasons, principally lack of quarters and the confusion of moving from place to place, none of the pupils persisted in the four years' course until 1855, when a class of ten was graduated. In April, 1856, the new building was occupied. In 1856 Greek and Latin were first taught in the high school and a classical course is printed in the reports of 1857-8.
The securing of suitable teachers was a very vexing problem. The superin- tendent was empowered to examine all applicants. He issued three grades of certificates and their pay depended upon the grade of their certificate. In 1854 their salaries were as follows : Male teachers, six hundred to eight hundred dollars per year. Female teachers were paid a per diem until this year, they were paid three hundred dollars, two hundred and seventy-five dollars and two hundred and fifty dollars. In 1854 the board first began to recognize length of service in ranking the pay, and in 1856 the pay was advanced to eight hundred dollars for the principals and four hundred dollars, three hundred and fifty dollars, thrce hundred dollars, and two hundred and fifty dollars for female teachers. In 1859 the legislature provided for a board of examiners of three to be appointed by the board of education who were empowered to grant four grades of certificates. In 1873 the number on the examining board was increased to six but subsequently reduced to three, the present number.
An industrial school for incorrigibles was established in December, 1856, by the city council in the Champlain street schoolhouse. It grew later into an important work.
In 1861 Mr. Freese indicated his preference for teaching and was relieved of his responsibilities as superintendent. Luther M. Oviatt was chosen superin- tendent. Mr. Oviatt had graduated from Western Reserve College, had been con- nected with the schools since 1848 and on his retirement from the superintendency in 1863 he became librarian of the public library. Under his administration the course of study was revised, the principal change being in the introduction of the "object lesson" method and the beginning of physical training. The teachers themselves paid for their lessons in physical training so that they in turn might instruct the children. The work was with wooden dumb bells and the superin- tendent reports: "these exercises are practiced at least twice a day in every de- partment, each drill occupying from five to fifteen minutes, according to the grade of school. I entertain no doubt of this salutary effect on the minds as well as the bodies of the pupils." This was the beginning of our present highly specialized work in body culture. The new West high school building was completed in 1861. When Ohio City was amalgamated with Cleveland, the law only allowed one high school in the city. In order to provide the west side with accommoda- tions a "branch high school" was established in the Kentucky building in 1855.
In 1863 Rev. Anson Smythe was elected superintendent. He had been state commissioner of education, editor of the "Ohio School Journal" and superintend- ent of schools in Toledo. His first task was the still vexing problem of classi- fication.
The new superintendent also began to weed out the course of study. The "frills and fads" of the present day had pushed aside the "essentials" even in that mediaeval period of our school development. He reported that too many sub-
From an old cut Prospect street school, built 1840; type of the first public school houses
From Freese Kentucky street school; the second type of public school building
From Freese Cleveland Central high school as it appeared when first built, 1856
The first high school builling, erected 1852. This drawing was made for Andrew Freese by one of the pupils, just before the building was torn down. It stood on Euclid avenue where the Citizens building now stands, "Very few of the trees that existed are shown. since, to one standing on the street, they nearly hid the building from view." The building shown to the right was a private school for girls.
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
jects were crowded upon the child's mind and that recitations were too short. So he ordered longer and fewer recitations and reported to the board that "each lesson in grammar and arithmetic is nearly twice as long as those under the former program." Some advance was made in the professional interest of the teacher, when Superintendent Smythe instituted teachers' meetings, with compul- sory attendance where instruction was given in various subjects. Meetings of grade teachers and of principles were also started.
III. The third period of educational development begins in 1867, with the election of Andrew J. Rickoff as superintendent. Indeed our system of public schools, of classified grades, of professional training for teachers, of well wrought courses of study, of discipline and pedagogical idealism, was organized into def- inite form by this able school man, this genuine school-master. He immediately saw the inherent weakness of the schools he was called to administer. There was an utter lack of fixed responsibility and the old problem of classification had been only half solved. At once, therefore, he made the principal of each school a re- sponsible executive, and forthwith reclassified the schools into primary, grammar and high school divisions, each containing four grades called D, C, B and A. Boys and girls were put into the same rooms, a new course of study was formed, and a beginning was made to so shape "the instruction of the child that it may be of the greatest possible benefit to him at whatever time he may leave school." 1
Immediately followed a consolidation of the higher grammar grades and the concentration of scattered schools. Next, the office of supervising principal was created and given full disciplinary power over pupils and "a general oversight of the methods of instructions employed" and general responsibility over their buildings. For the first time, to belong to a grade meant a definite educational rank. By the end of the year, 1868-9, the new system of supervision was tested thoroughly enough to warrant its extension and Mr. Rickoff divided the city into four districts and assigned each one to a supervising principal, who was entirely relieved of teaching duties. At the same time the teaching of the highest grade in the grammar school was entrusted to women, and thus women principals were introduced to the schools, a feature for which Cleveland is unique among the larger cities of the land.
German was added in 1870 upon the urgent request of the German citizens and upon the advice of a special investigating committee, E. R. Perkins and M. G. Watterson. In 1869 a systematic course in music was adopted and a supervisor of music appointed. In 1872 drawing, which had been dropped for some years, was reintroduced and all of the teachers were given instruction in it. In 1878 the plan of semi-annual examinations and promotions was inaugurated. The an- nexation of East Cleveland in 1872 brought a new high school known as "East High School." Its old building forms one of the Bolton school group, still in use. The annexation of Newburg necessitated a branch on the south side, called the "Broad- way branch." Later pupils were transferred from Newburg to Central high, but the experiment was too costly and in 1877 the "Newburg branch" was reestab- lished. But the new Central building on Willson made the school accessible and the branch was permanently abolished in 1878-9. The new Central high building
1 See First Annual Report of Superintendent Rickoff for full course of Study.
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
in Willson avenue was dedicated in 1878, and East and Central high schools were consolidated.
Mr. Rickoff began the more systematic training of his teachers. In 1868 he conducted a Normal or Institute for a week before the opening of the school year. He urged the raising of salaries which was done from time to time and in 1870 a sort of schedule was adopted. The female teachers' pay ranged from four hundred dollars to five hundred and fifty dollars ; principals, seven hundred dollars, eight hundred dollars and one thousand dollars; the supervising principals received two thousand, three hundred dollars; the high school teachers, eight hundred dollars to one thousand, eight hundred dollars; and high school principals, two thousand dollars and two thousand, two hundred and fifty dol- lars. In 1874 the normal school was organized in the Eagle building. The course occupied only one year and twenty-six graduated in the first class. In 1877 the board resolved to give only a professional training in the schools The principal of the school was empowered to drop any pupil whom he thought would not make a successful teacher. This rule was overturned twenty years later, when a young lady was excluded from the school because she was told by a pre-scient member of the Normal School faculty that she could not develop into a teacher. Her appeal to the courts abolished the rule. In 1880 a rule restricted the admission without examination virtually to graduates of Cleveland high schools, and pupils who taught as substitutes were required to have a certificate; and it was determined that "the graduates of the Normal school shall not have preference over others in appointments to schools." 2 The Normal school's efficiency was raised but at the cost of considerable popularity, a price that is always exacted when efficiency is to be achieved in any public undertaking.
In March, 1876, the unclassified school or school for incorrigibles was started. The Cleveland school exhibits in 1876 at the Centennial exhibition was creditable and received several medals.
In 1882 after a brilliant career of fifteen years, Mr. Rickoff was not reap- pointed. He had served his city and his cause too well. A disgraceful campaign was waged for membership on the board of education and his petty enemies within the schools and outside triumphed, to the lasting shame of the city.
In 1881 occurred one of those strange, emotional eruptions that periodically break out against public school authorities. This was by far the most vehement one in our municipal history. Rumors started by some irresponsible gossip monger began to be heard. The schools were unhygienic, something mysterious was the matter, and sinister things were said about some of the teachers and supervisors. Some of the eager newspapers spread the unworthy reports until the stage of hysteria was reached. Then the board of health and the city council were asked by petition to investigate. The board of health reported: "In general we find the sanitary condition of most of the buildings good," but recommend some changes in the heating and ventilating of certain buildings .* A committee of the city council, composed of John D. Crehore, W. J. Scott, Charles C. Dewstoe and H. W. Kitchen, made an exhaustive report, which closed with the following words : "In conclusion we say to our petitioners and resolutionists that we have found
2 Rule seventy-one of board of education, 1880.
* See Annual Reports, 1881-2.
1
George Willey
Charles Bradburn
From a photograph Courtesy Mrs. Emma R. Hinckley Andrew Rickoff
From an old engraving Harvey Rice
Andrew Freese
FOUNDERS OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
some charges against our public schools true and have suggested needed repairs ; but we do not find it necessary to convert them into hospitals nor necessary to station medical supervisors within them." It was found that "sore heads and malcontents had been busy and resorted to this diabolical means for causing disruption." 9
Mr. Rickoff's was one of the very few minds of the highest order that have de- voted themselves to public education in America. He was born in Newhope, New Jersey, August 23, 1824. At the age of six his parents removed to Cincinnati. Cir- cumstances prevented his completing a college course and at the early age of seven- teen he began his career as a teacher. He so rigorously disciplined his own mind. that he won honorary degrees from several colleges. When he was called to Cleveland in 1867, he had developed one of the most noted private schools in the west, in Cincinnati, where he had also been president of the board of education. The salary, four thousand dollars, Cleveland wisely offered him, was as ample as any then paid by the larger cities, and when our city, through its elected school board, foolishly dispensed of his services, he was immediately offered many places and chose Yonkers, New York, where he remained several years as superintendent and as editor of text books for the Appletons. In 1888 he accepted the responsi- bility of Felix Adler's noted school for working men. But his body was no longer robust. The accidental death of a very promising young son, followed by the death of his wife, broke his health, and he sought relief in California. He died at Berkeley, March 30, 1899. He is buried in Lake View cemetery. The secret of his great success lay not alone in his capacity as an organizer or in his delightful per- sonal attainments, but in the attitude of his mind, which he declared in these words : "I am a skeptic in education." He avoided the self-satisfied complacency of the bookish pedagogue.
B. A. Hinsdale, president of Hiram college, the friend and biographer of James A. Garfield, was chosen to the superintendency in 1882. At the end of his four years' term, Dr. Hinsdale wrote in his final report: "I soon discovered that what the schools most needed was not revolution in external organization and system but more fruitful instruction, a more elastic regimen and a freer spirit. This path ran wide of all sensationalism; it was quiet and unobtrusive; the man who should tread it could look for little in the way of noisy popular approval; never- theless, it would lead to some of the best fruits in education. In this path I have steadfastly sought to tread." In his administration there were no radical changes made and he devoted himself to bettering the quality of instruction by bettering the quality of the teachers. It was his opinion that "the instruction needs to be made more practical, more thorough and fruitful." He began by more earnest teachers' meetings ; next he reorganized the Normal school. Its change of name to Training school was significant of his conception of the school. He abolished the semi- annual examinations and corporal punishment. £ The high schools were also touched with this qualitative of work. There had been a great deal of public crit- icism of those schools on the ground that they were for the rich, whose sons went to college, supported by the poor, whose sons went to work. Careful inves- tigation showed that the pupils came from all classes of homes and that many of them worked their way through the high schools. In the fall of 1885 Mr. Hinsdale
9 See Annual Reports, 1881-2.
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
altered the system of high school discipline. He placed all the first year class under the charge of teachers to whom they were not only to recite but under whose eye they prepared their lessons. This personal touch he though of great value. Finally he systematized the night school work which had grown greatly in importance as the foreign population of the city multiplied.
In 1886 Mr. Hinsdale was elected to the chair of history and pedagogy in the University of Michigan, a position that he filled with great power and influence over the students until his death.
L. M. Day, who had been for many years a supervisor in the Cleveland schools, served as superintendent from 1886-1892. He continued the qualitative work in teaching. He said that the two types of teachers that are a great hindrance to the best work in the schools are those "who have had little or no experience or train- ing, and who consequently are narrow and 'bookish';" and those whose chief aim seems to be to 'drill' all the work into the little unfortunates committed to their care." 10 By continued personal supervision and by increasing the training work in the Normal school he hoped to help matters.
But by far the most important educational work at this time was the in- auguration of manual and domestic training. The legislature had authorized the levy of one-fifth mill tax for this purpose and 1886-7 the tax was first collected.
In February, 1885, in a barn on Kennard street, near Euclid, some enthusiasts started a carpenter shop for boys. Through its effective work and the enthusiasm of its pupils, it attracted attention and in June, 1885, the Cleveland Manual Tran- ing School Company was incorporated for the "promotion of education and espe- cially the establishment and maintenance of a school of manual training, where pupils shall be taught the use of tools and materials, and instruction shall be given in mechanics, physics, chemistry and mechanical drawing." Judge Samuel Wil- liamson was president, Thomas H. White vice president of this company, and N. M. Anderson, Samuel Mather, L. E. Holden, J. H. McBride, E. P. Williams, William E. Cushing, Alexander E. Brown, Charles W. Bingham, S. H. Curtiss, J. F. Holloway, Ambrose Swasey, Thomas Kilpatrick and S. W. Sessions were directors. Newton M. Anderson, an instructor in physics in Central high school, was chosen principal. A well equipped building was erected on East Prospect street near the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railway crossing, and in February, 1886, it was opened for one of the most significant and far-reaching educational movements in the local history of education. Pupils of the public schools were admitted free to this school, the board of education contributing to its maintenance. A course of study for three years' work was adopted.
Domestic science was also first nurtured by private beneficence before the pub- lic school authorities could be induced to adopt it. In the autumn of 1884 in the basement of Unity church, Prospect street, a few young ladies opened a "kitchen garden" with twenty pupils. The great need for the work was indicated by its wonderful growth. Within two years the "Cleveland Domestic Training Asso- ciation" was organized and classes held in rooms at 479 Superior street, where chil- dren from Rockwell school were permitted to share in the work.
Gradually this special work was introduced into the schools. In 1890 a Manual training school was opened on the upper floor of the old West high school and the
10 Report of Superintendent of Schools, 1888-9.
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
following year a blacksmith shop was fitted up in the basement. Mr. Day recom- mended that manual training be made a part of the high school curriculum. In 1890 a two years' business course was added to the high schools.
In 1887 the legislature commanded scientific temperance instruction. In 1888 the first compulsory school law was enacted and the first truant officer, George E. Goodrich, appointed.
IV. The fourth period begins with the superintendency of the fearless and energetic Andrew S. Draper, who was appointed by the director of schools in 1892 under the new federal plan. Mr. Draper came to Cleveland from New York, where he had been State Commissioner of Education. Changes followed in rapid succession, when this enthusiastic executive arrived. He began by increasing the responsibility of the principals, who he said "were such in name only." 11 He then startled the politicians by announcing that neither political nor personal in- fluence would count in appointing teachers and that "in making appointments in the elementary schools it will be the aim to secure the services of some persons of experience and proved competence who have been notably successful as teachers in other places." Tradition has it that the consistent Superintendent threatened to throw a well known politician out of his office who had gruffly demanded a certain appointment. The supervising force with one exception, were not reappointed, and new supervisors were named. To the teaching force he imparted energy and enthusiasm by organizing the "Principals' Round Table," holding teachers' meet- ings at regular intervals, organizing pedagogical clubs, developing university ex- tension work for teachers, with courses in literature and other cultural subjects ; by starting a teachers' reading room supplied with pedagogical literature ; beginning a pedagogical department in the public library ; and in encouraging in a multitude of ways the self-improvement and professional development of the teachers. He secured a raise in salary for them, abolished examinations as a test for promotion from grade to grade excepting in the high school, and teachers were allowed to promote any pupil at any time whom they deemed competent to be advanced. Further he issued orders asking the teachers never to touch a child for purposes of punishment. The discipline of the child to be by the softening influence of per- sonality, not by military rigidity. A complete system of reports of the teachers was devised. Nearly a hundred teachers were retired because of incompetency.
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