USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume II > Part 50
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The Public Library, of 438,767 volumes; the Mercantile Library contain- ing about 76,000 books; the Lloyd Library and Museum, consisting chiefly of scientific works, as well as those of Lane Theological Seminary, the Hebrew Union College, the Art Museum, and the College of Music, are open to university students.
The university offers facilities in botany, zoology, physiology, histology, physics, chemistry, psychology, geology and in the engineering departments that are equaled by few institutions in the west. The industries of the city afford abundant opportunity for the observation of the most recent processes applied to manufacturing.
The Museum of Natural History, located on the fourth floor of McMicken hall, contains a fine collection of geological and biological specimens. The Greek room contains reproductions of the most noted works of Greek art. Students of the classics and of industrial art derive much profit from the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum, from the Museum of the Society of Natural His- tory and the Zoological Garden.
There are at present in attendance at the university in the regular depart- ments 1,399 students; counting the affiliated department, the total is 1,423
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The engineering department, under Dean Schneider, has made a great and important step in the establishment of the cooperative department. Part of the time of a selected group of students is devoted to practical work in various shops in the city, and by this means they gain training as well as remuneration. The course has been so successful as to attract the attention of educators through- out the nation, and other universities have adopted the plan wherever practicable.
The university receives about $50,000 a year from taxes. Its endowment is about a million and a half. Of this amount Mr. McMicken contributed about $700,000. Mathew Thoms $130,000, David Sinton $100,000, Henry Hanna $70,000, Briggs S. Cummingham $60,000, Asa Van Wormer $50,000, and William A. Procter $50,000. Total income $249,549.
Tuition for pupils resident in Cincinnati is free; for other pupils $75.00 per year, academic; other departments $125. Laboratory and library, etc. fees for all are from $25 to $65.
Six of the Greek letter fraternities are represented by strong chapters, though none of these societies as yet own their chapter houses.
Fraternities in the order of their establishment at the University of Cincinnati. Literary-Sigma Chi, 1882; Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 1889; Beta Theta Pi, 1890; Phi Delta Theta, 1898; Delta Tau Delta, 1909; Pi Kappa Alpha.
Inter-fraternal-Theta Nu Epsilon.
Professional-Phi Delta Nu, 1886; Nu Sigma Nu, 1892; Omega Epsilon Phi, 1900: Alpha Kappa Kappa, 1901 ; Phi Alpha Delta, 1908;
Local-Sigma Sigma, 1898; Epsilon Gamma Chi, 1909.
Sororities-N. C. P., 1891 ; Delta Delta Delta, 1898; Alpha Phi Psi, 1908; Pi Delta Kappa, 1909.
Honorary-Phi Beta Kappa, 1898.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The public schools had their beginning in February 1829. In 1818, John Kidd had arranged in his will that one thousand dollars a year, from ground rents, be expended for the education of Cincinnati's poor children and youth. The title to this property proved defective, and this fund was lost.
Thomas Hughes, an Englishman who had lived for a long time in this city, in 1824 left a permanent ground rent of $2,000 on certain land "to be appro- priated and applied to the maintenance and support of a school or schools in the city of Cincinnati, for the education of destitute children whose parents and guardians were unable to pay for their schooling."
Some years later, Mr. Woodward made a like bequest.
These gifts laid the foundation for the high schools of the city.
The law of 1825, providing for state education, was defective, the tax author- ized was not adequate, the schools were unpopular and were regarded as charity schools. In February 1829 a statute was passed giving independent organization to the schools of Cincinnati, and authorizing the council to levy taxes for erection of schoolhouses and maintenance of schools. Ten districts were arranged for, and in each the council was to purchase within ten years ground and put up a two story brick or stone building, containing two school rooms. One mill per dollar was to be levied for cost and another mill for teachers expenses.
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The board of education, composed of a member from each ward, chosen each year by the people, found themselves in 1831 with certain of the schools held in basements amid most unwholesome conditions. Selfish competition among compilers and publishers of school books also led to strife, resignation of trustees, and injury to the schools.
Steps were taken in 1833 to impress the public with the value of popular education. Annual examinations of pupils were arranged for. The press, edu- cators from other neighborhoods, well-known men, the families and friends of pupils were urged to attend these examinations. Enthusiasm was kindled. In 1833 a notable procession of boys and girls, at the close of examinations, paraded the streets. The attention and interest of the city was attracted. In the same year, an excellent schoolhouse, of brick and stone, was completed, on Race street near Fourth. Within two years the other nine districts had similar buildings.
In 1836, there were 2,400 pupils in attendance, with 43 teachers. The same year a faculty association was formed by the teachers, who twice per month met to consider plans for improvement. Tri-monthly conferences between trustees and teachers were held.
The popularity of the public schools rapidly grew. In 1839, the school board planned schools for orphan asylums. In 1840 instruction in the German language was begun in certain schools. Night schools were opened in 1842 and continued until 1857, and then suspended temporarily from lack of patronage.
In October 1845 a proposal was made for a central school for more advanced pupils. The legislature, February 1846, authorized the school board to arrange for such other grades of schools as might seem best, and to arrange with per- sons or institutions "in relation to any fund for school purposes that might be at their disposal." This action bore upon the Hughes fund, up to this time un- connected with the public schools.
The central school was established in 1847, and was opened in November with one hundred and three pupils. These had been chosen from all the schools by competitive examinations.
The present constitution of the high schools date from this period, when the funds of Woodward and Hughes were blended with the system of public schools.
By 1850 there was an attendance of 5,362 pupils, 138 teachers, in 14 school- houses.
In 1854 the intermediate schools were established, and the concentration of the two upper grades of all the district schools into four.
In 1857, a normal training school for teachers was established.
In 1842, the question of the Bible in the schools had begun to be agitated. In 1869 the movement to shut out the Bible from the schools was energetically taken up again. Many public meetings were held and the matter was discussed on both sides. When it was brought into the courts it was held that the board had authority to admit or reject books and decide subjects of study, and the exclusion of the Bible was maintained.
There have been, from 1825 onward, a number of special schools for colored children, but in 1887 separate schools for the colored boys and girls were abolished.
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The first public high school in Cincinnati was The Central high school, which was opened July 27, 1847, in the basement of the German Lutheran church, on Walnut street. Bellamy Storer, Dr. John A. Warder, Charles S. Bryant, William Goodwin and D. R. Cady, were the members of the board of education who advised the founding of this school. It had an excellent curriculum. H. H. Barney was its first principal. The school grew rapidly and in 1851 it was formed into the two famous organizations, the Hughes and Woodward High Schools.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF HUGHES HIGH SCHOOL.
Thomas Hughes, after whom Hughes High School was named, died Decem- ber 26, 1824, leaving a will dated twenty-two days before his death, by which he left his property to the city of Cincinnati for the education of poor children. This is the oldest of all the bequests for education now available in this city. This property, consisting of land within the present limits of the city, was left in the hands of a board of five trustees named in the will, who were to administer the trust and who were also given power to fill all vacancies that might occur in the board.
The income from this property for the first ten years was used to pay for the education of indigent pupils in the Woodland College, a private institution that was in existence before the organization of the present Woodward high school. Of the money collected from rents during the next five years, over $6,000 was lost through the misappropriation of funds by one of the trustees.
In 1845, a lot for a high school was purchased on Ninth street, between Race and Vine, at a cost of $9,000. No building, however, was erected on this lot, and in 1851 it was sold for $15,700, and the lot where the present school stands on Fifth street, opposite Mcund, was purchased for $18,000. Meanwhile, in 1847, the Central school was opened in the basement of the Lutheran church on Walnut street, with Mr. H. H. Barney as principal. The next year the school was moved to what is now Longworth street, between Race and Elm, where it remained until after the organization of the present Hughes and Woodward High Schools.
In pursuance of an act passed by the legislature in 1845, a tripartite contract was entered into in May, 1851, between the trustees of the Hughes fund, the trustees of the Woodward fund, and the trustees and visitors of common schools of Cincinnati, whereby the Hughes and Woodward funds were to be consolidated with the common school fund of the city, and a union board of high schools was provided for to have charge of the two high schools to be organized.
The consolidation of these funds and the organization of free public high schools had been under discussion ever since the passage of the law in 1845, and had awakened some bitter opposition. Mr. Barney, principal of the Central school, had taken a prominent part in this discussion in favor of the law, and the views which he represented had finally prevailed. The union board of high schools, composed of seven members representing the Hughes and Wood- ward funds, and six members each year from the trustees and visitors of com-
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mon schools, was organized July 22, 1851, and entered upon its duties. In May, 1895, this contract was modified so as to give the common school board seven members instead of six. Upon the organization of the board it was de- cided that Race street should be the dividing line between the two schools, all pupils west of that line to remain at the Central school, which was henceforth to be known as the Hughes high school, and all pupils east of that line to go to the building that already stood on the Woodward lot, and to constitute the Wood- ward high school. This took place on the 16th of September, 1851, and on that date the Hughes and Woodward free public high schools entered upon their career.
In June, 1851, the first class was graduated from the Hughes high school, consisting of four young ladies, viz .: Frances Ellen Cassatt, Elizabeth Hawley, Amelia Burgess and Zelia Byington.
During the year the new building had been erected on the lot on Fifth street, opposite Mound. This building was imposing in its architecture and was con- sidered at the time as affording exceptionally fine accommodations for the school. It was formally accepted from the contractors on January 5th, was dedicated with public exercises on Monday, January 17, 1853, and the school immediately moved into these new quarters with Mr. Barney and his corps of assistants in charge.
But the reputation of Mr. Barney had extended over the state, and in a few weeks after the opening of the school he was elected state school commissioner of Ohio. He continued in his place as principal of the school until February, 1854, when he resigned to enter upon the duties of his new office.
Mr. Barney was succeeded in the principalship by Mr. Cyrus Knowlton, a graduate of Brown University, who had for several years served as an assistant in the school. Mr. Knowlton continued in the office of principal until the year 1860, when he resigned, with the intention of entering upon the practice of the law.
The Hughes school was especially fortunate in having two such men as prin- cipals in its early years. Mr. Barney had shown his ability not only as an ad- ministrator of the affairs of the school, but also as an advocate both by tongue and pen of the cause of free public education and of the high school as a legiti- mate part of that system. It was a time when these were burning questions, and when the dicussion of them was the order of the day, and when the cause of public education needed bold and aggressive champions. Mr. Barney bore an honorable part in this conflict.
Mr. Knowlton was a man of marked qualities of character that eminently fitted him for the position to which he had succeeded. These two men gave a tone and direction to the school that have characterized it to the present day.
Upon the retirement of Mr. Knowton, Dr. Joseph L. Thornton, who had been a teacher in the Woodward high school, was chosen principal. The school continued under his leadership for thirteen years, until the close of the school year 1872-3, when he resigned.
The school opened in September, 1873, without a principal, being placed temporarily under the charge of Mr. John M. Edwards, who had been a teacher
ORIGINAL OLD HUGHES HIGH SCHOOL
OLD HUGHES HIGH SCOOL, 1906 Replaced by new building on Clifton Avenue, 1910
NEW HUGHES IHIGH SCHOOL, 1910
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in the Central school, and had been in the Hughes from the beginning. In the fall of that year, the present incumbent, the writer of this sketch, was elected principal, and entered upon his duties December 16th.
There have been many men and women who have rendered the school in- valuable service as teachers in subordinate positions and who could not be passed by in any full history of Hughes. Such men as Mr. John M. Edwards, who has already been referred to, Mr. M. W. Smith and Hon. Jacob H. Bromwell, and such women as Miss Wright, Miss Porter and Miss Ellen M. Patrick, and many others, will receive their full meed of praise when the history of Hughes shall be written, but in this brief sketch we can only say that whatever is most worthy of commendation in Hughes high school is largely due to the character and in- fluence and labors of these men and women.
Another, who has now gone to his reward, should also be mentioned in any notice of Hughes high school. I refer to Mr. H. H. Tatem, a graduate of the school, for years an active and efficient member of the union board and chairman of the house committee. He gave his time and thought ungrudgingly to the in- terests of the school with no expectation of reward beyond the consciousness of having performed a public duty and served his Alma Mater faithfully and well.
There have been many changes in the curriculum of the school since its first organization, but most of them have been of minor importance. At one time in the early history of the school a more extended course of study was adopted. This, however, did not last long, and a return to the traditional four years' course soon followed. Instruction in French and German was offered almost from the first and has continued to the present time. Spanish has been introduced in the year that is just passing. Classes in domestic science were first formed in the year 1892-3, and that subject has formed an optional part of the course ever since. A gymnasium was erected on the lot adjoining the school to the east and opened for classes in October, 1893. Students of both sexes are required to take physical exercises in classes under an instructor in the gymnasium twice a week.
The Hughes building was seriously disfigured by the making of an addition in front in 1888 to furnish needed accommodations for the growing school. While the architectural beauty of the building was thus destroyed, it provided six additional rooms that were immediately filled by the incoming pupils.
In the year 1851-2, when the first class was graduated, the school numbered 199 pupils; the enrollment for the present year is 665. The first graduating class numbered four ; the graduating class of June, 1892, numbered eighty.
The work that the school has done has more than justified its existence; it has established its claim to friendly and generous consideration in everything that relates to its future development and welfare.
FOUNDER'S DAY.
Never was there a greater audience assembled in the hall of the Hughes building than on Saturday, December 3, 1898, when, for the first time, there was a formal celebration of Founder's Day. As the programs of these celebrations may prove interesting in the future, copies are here given :
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FOUNDER'S DAY. Saturday, December 3, 1898. PROGRAM.
MUSIC-Violin Solo, Concerto in E minor, Mendelssohn First Movement. Mr. George Smith.
ADDRESS, Mr. Thornton M. Hinkle
MUSIC-Happy Days, Miss Katharine Allen Coolidge
Violin Obligato by Mrs. Emma Von Seggern.
POEM, a. Nocturne in F. minor,
PIANO
Miss Mary Helen Lathrop Chopin b. To Spring, Grieg Frederick J. Hoffman.
REMARKS-By Moses F. Wilson, A. M. Van Dyke, Chas. H. Stephens, Dr. David Philipson, Leonard J. Crawford and others.
MUSIC-Valse Brilliante, L'Ardiba, Miss Katharine Allen Coolidge
MUSIC-Auld Lang Syne, .
IN WHICH ALL ARE INVITED TO JOIN. .
Saturday, December 2, 1899, 2 o'clock p. m.
PROGRAM.
1. PIANO SOLO,
May B. Hoban
2. ADDRESS, Dr. P. S. Conner
Subject-Life and Services of Cyrus Knowlton.
3. MALE QUARTET-Hiram A. DeCamp, Charles H. Robinson, Charles O. Rose, Louis E. Aiken.
4. REMARKS .- By Rankin D. Jones, Judge Miller Outcalt, Judge D. Thew Wright, Jr., Dr. Louis Grossman, and others.
5. VOCAL SOLO, Mrs. Katherine Gould Seitz
6. RECITATION, (a) The Pine. (b) The Ocean. (c) The Cloud. Nature Sketches Mrs. Belle McDiarmid Ritchey.
7. PIANO SOLO, Marguerite Levoy
ยท AULD LANG SYNE-By the audience.
Saturday, December 1, 1900, 2 o'clock p. m.
PROGRAM.
I. PIANO SOLO,
2. ADDRESS,
Subject .- Character and Culture. Flora Foster Dr. David Philipson
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3. VIOLIN SOLO,
Max R. Reszke
4. REMARKS .- By Ellis G. Kinkead, Harry M. Hoffheimer, George F. Sands, Michael Heintz, and others.
5. VOCAL SOLO,
Bessie Luckey
AULD LANG SYNE .- By the audience.
THOMAS HUGHES. "Unlettered, lowly, modest and obscure, And yet his name through ages will endure."
The magnificent new Hughes high school building having been completed, the dedication took place Dec. 2, 1910. The Commercial-Tribune, of the follow- ing day said :
SIIADES OF THOMAS HUGHES ATTEND SCHOOL DEDICATION-HOVER OVER EXERCISES AT SUPERB BUILDING WHICH STANDS AS LASTING MEMORIAL TO HIS POET
SOUL-DEAN WEST MAKES ADDRESS.
Hovering near last night were the shades of Thomas Hughes, "a humble cob- bler, this poet soul, unerring seer of the real, brave lover of all loveliness."
Magnificence had run riot and had exploded in one grand burst of archi- tectural ecstacy !
Men had dreamed their dreams; they had passed from hope through despair to achievement and final realization. Hughes high school was a reality, a thing almost complete and perfect, seated high "above the smoke, the grime and the turmoil," the most superb among all similar structures of the United States.
Standing before this majestic pile, overawed by its monster guarding Tudor tower, one marveled at the spirit of man that dared create so audaciously and feared not to exalt the youth of the city of Cincinnati by dedicating to its service a building which, in the years to come, must serve as a model to all the world. And fulsome though these words may seem they be true, every whit, with not: one smack of exaggeration.
Dr. Coy, principal of the school, was in his glory, of course. He smiled, he beamed. There was a reason. "Can't beat this in the world," he exclaimed, joy- fully. "Just take a look throughout our manual school. The boys are all work- ing. It's just bully. Cost us a million, but see what we've got. Domestic science, manual training, commercial, industrial and art, all in addition to our regular academic courses."
The programme of dedication was an elaborate affair and brought a number of addresses that were rich with juice and meat. Dr. Coy commented upon the tremendous growth of the high school in this country, the total number of such schools being 8,000 today, with an enrollment of 800,000 pupils, against sixty schools fifty years ago, and a total attendance of only 6,000. He enlarged upon the spirit of democracy that will rule Hughes school, the "poorest boy having an equal chance with the richest."
"But," he insisted with determined voice, "we will insist rigidly on two tests -the one, character; the other, ability."
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Dr. F. B. Dyer, superintendent of schools, declared with enthusiasm that "Hughes high school is the masterpiece of the most progressive board of educa- tion the city of Cincinnati has ever had."
The dedication of Hughes high school last night was an event. Better, in the words of one of the speakers, "It marked an era in the educational develop- ment of the city," because under one roof it represented the sum total of every- thing that the finest and most sympathetic of human minds had found of value for the proper training of youth preparatory to his entrance into the college and university.
A round $1,000,000 of cold cash had been transformed into equipment more nearly perfect than anything yet devised by man. To achieve this required brain of the highest order, a fact that impressed itself at every turn upon the vast audience that was drawn to Clifton Heights last evening.
Another of the great high schools of this city is the Woodward. The fol- lowing account is from the pamphlet issued at the time of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary.
WILLIAM WOODWARD.
In a plain but comfortable New England home near the banks of the Quine- baugh river, in Connecticut, there lived in the last quarter of the eighteenth cen- tury a family of thirteen members. It consisted of the father, mother, six sons and five daughters. The head of the house, Elias Woodward, a farmer, was an ardent believer in the cause of the colonies, and to show his faith he fought in the Continental army. The mother was a Miss Lydia Cliff, a sister of the mother of Lorenzo Dow. How much the home was loved, how strong the cords that bound the children to it, and its sweet Christian influence is shown by the fact that one of its sons made three long journeys to visit it-the last one when he was nearing the sunset of life.
The children early were taught to be known by deeds rather than by words. Self-reliance was breathed from the very air of their home. So we are not sur- prised to find two of the sons coming in their young manhood to seek their for- tunes in the Northwest Territory, and making the military post known as Cin- cinnati their headquarters. Levi, the fourth son, and William, the fifth, cast in their lot with the rising little village. Levi's name is among the list of those who purchased land here in 1789-90.
William came here in the fall of 1791; in the following year he was a mem- ber of the expedition fitted out under General Wayne against the Indians. Dur- ing the year 1792 he purchased from his brother a farm in the northeastern part of the city This land extended from Hunt street to Liberty, and from Main to Broadway. It was in this year he utilized the timber of old flatboats for a house, using wooden pins for nails. The house was on Webster street between Main and Sycamore, and stood a land-mark for upwards of half a century. Dur- ing the year 1792 he married Miss Jane McGowan. She died in little more than a twelvemonth after their marriage.
The year 1798 is marked by his first visit to his old home at Plainfield, Wind- ham county. Connecticut. This was a hazardous undertaking, the Indians being
WILLIAM WOODWARD
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troublesome ; but he joined a company of young men from Kentucky who also were going East, and in safety all reached the firesides of their childhood.
In 1803 Mr. Woodward married Miss Abigail Cutter ; Abigail street is named in her honor. Her father, James Cutter, had been killed by the Indians while he was at work on his farm near where the Cincinnati Hospital now stands. Miss Cutter was quite wealthy, owning in part, land on the north side of Fifth street, between Main and Walnut; also a lot on the southeast corner of Fifth and Main streets, besides several others. She had $2,000 in money, and after- wards received quite a nice sum from Massachusetts, her father's former home. This wealth, added to Mr. Woodward's was the foundation on which he built the large fortune he amassed before he died. Several children came to brighten their home, but all died young.
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