USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Memoirs of the Miami valley > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
113
EDUCATION IN THE MIAMI VALLEY
"The children of our foreign population must, through the in- fluence of these institutions, become Americanized, by mingling in early life with our native youth, learning in the same school obedience, order, self-control, and virtuous habits; imbibing the principles of American republicanism, and becoming familiar with our language and history.'
One of the striking examples of European influence exerted upon American educational ideals is the interest awakened in phys- ical training about the middle of the last century. The Cincinnati Daily Gazette for July 2, 1858, in giving an account of the com- mencement exercises at Miami university illustrates the extent the movement had then reached :
"The closing exercises, for the year, of this old and well-known institution of the state, began yesterday. They were introduced in a manner somewhat novel, by an exhibition of the Miami Gymnastic association. This society was established in connection with the university one year ago, under the direction of our former well- known citizen, Dr. J. C. Christin, assisted by Prof. Roemler, teacher of gymnastics, also formerly of Cincinnati. The association is already in a most flourishing condition, having upwards of fifty members, and apparatus worth about $500, erected in the gymnastic grove of sixty acres.
"In addition to the members of the association here, there were present, at the exhibit today, about twenty-five representatives of the Turners' association at Hamilton, and also delegates from both the Turners' and Young Men's Gymnastic association of Cincinnati. * * *
"Messrs. H. Roemler, of Oxford, and Wm. M. Corry and Milton Sayler, of Cincinnati, having been appointed judges, awarded the prizes to the following persons in their order: T. P. Hatch, of the Miami gymnasium association .; N. Meyer, of the Turners' associa- tion of Cincinnati; William Whittaker, of the Young Men's Gym- nasium association of Cincinnati ; D. H. Evans, of M. G. A .; France Lackner, of the T. A. of Hamilton; Jeremiah Morrow, of M. G. A .; Jacob Lorentz, of T. A. of Hamilton ; and G. W. Smith, of M. G. A. These gentlemen were each crowned with a wreath of evergreen in the presence of the multitude, after which the audience dispersed, ap- parently much pleased with the entertainment. It is but just to say that the exercises of the afternoon were all of the most interesting character, and reflected very great credit upon the young men engaged in them; and it is to be hoped that what has been so well begun in this university, in the way of physical education, will be carried forward with spirit and success.'
The history and difficulties of the Miami Gymnasium associa- tion is thus set forth in a report by J. G. Christin, M. D., manager of the gymnasium of Miami university, to the board of trustees in 1859.
"When in the fall of 1857 the gymnastic apparatus purchased by your committee was offered to the use of the students, a number of them organized themselves at once into a society called the Miami Gymnastic association, engaged Mr. F. H. Roemler of Cin- cinnati as teacher at a salary of $40 a month and rented a building
114
MEMOIRS OF THE MIAMI VALLEY
for their gymnasium at a cost of $60 a year. During that entire first year, the classes practiced regularly three times a week, and with what success you have seen at our festival where the young gymnasts of M. U. carried off the first honors of the day over their competitors, delegates from several old Turners' societies. But to bring about this happy result, we were obliged to complete our gymnasium by purchasing about $300 worth more of apparatus. This the association did, encouraged as they were by a generous donation of $150 from the citizens of Oxford and other friends, and believing that they could pay their debt soon by the aid of friends and proceeds of some exhibitions.
"At the beginning of the fall session of 1858, the society was reorganized, and Mr. Roemler again engaged as teacher at a salary of $480; but as the number of members during these two sessions was on an average only about 75, they were, for want of funds, obliged to rescind the contract with their teacher at the end of March last, whereupon Mr. Roemler went to Dayton as teacher of G. M. Gym. A. After his departure, the number of students at the exercises of the gymnasium, which under their faithful teacher's direction had always been from 60 to 80, dwindled down in a few weeks to about a dozen, and today the gymnasium is closed alto- gether, for want of interest in the students and citizens to continue their exercises without a teacher."
A statement was presented showing receipts of $1,025 and expenses of $1,325, leaving the M. G. A. in debt $300.
"Reduced thus to the necessary alternative, either to seek aid at your hands, gentlemen, or to abandon the gymnasium altogether, and thus to throw away the thousand dollars already spent for it, I take the liberty of proposing to your honorable body a plan for the secure and permanent establishment of an excellent gymnasium at M. U."
As a result of this report the board of trustees provided for the discharge of the indebtedness of the association, taking over the property and management of the same, thus making it an integral part of the university system.
Effects of the Civil War on Education. Every great war is a transitional stage in human development. The series of revolution- ary contests that climaxed in a world peace in 1815 was followed, particularly in the country to the westward of the Allegheny moun- tains, by certain characteristic tendencies. These, as we have already seen, tended along several main lines.
First, there was the establishment of certain land grant insti- tutions which by reason of the emphasis placed by the Presbyterians on an educated ministry, had for the most part passed under the dominance of men of that faith as the ones best fitted to administer them. A second was a move on the part of certain denominations, due to their dissatisfaction with the situation in the state institu- tions, to found denominational colleges. A third was the move on the part of New England to recover the dominance which she had lost on account of the westward trend of empire to recover her prestige by the establishment of a number of cultural centers which through the radiation of their ideals would tend to bind the West to
115
EDUCATION IN THE MIAMI VALLEY
the East rather than permit her continued alliance with the South. The fourth was the development of a new type of education which, though it bore a correspondence to that of the older settled areas, had its own individualistic characteristics.
So also the contest between the sections of our country which culminated in the Civil war was accompanied by a new trend in American education. President Thwing gives five reasons for the great educational progress in the United States since the Civil war: (1) American Idealism, (2) Quickening or stimulating effects of the war itself, (3) The settlement of questions incident to slavery af- forded opportunity to give attention to other great American needs and problems, (4) The appearance of several personalities who became great educational leaders, and, (5) The presence of so many immigrants who were unaccustomed to the privileges and duties of a democracy.
One of the tendencies has been a marked development of com- mon school education, particularly in the rural districts. An ex- amination of the school reports brings out some facts which cause the Miami valley area to sustain a favorable comparison with the other areas of the state.
In 1867 the average number of weeks that the ungraded or county district schools were in operation throughout the state was 26. Ten years later the Ohio average was 28 and in 1887 it had risen to 29 weeks. The average term for the country school of the Western reserve was 26.3 weeks or .3 above the state average in 1867 ; in 1877 it was 27.1 or .9 below the average, while in 1887 it was 30.1 weeks, or 1.1 above the state average for the same grade of schools. During the same period the ungraded rural schools of the Miami valley averaged 27.5, 31.2 and 32.5 weeks respectively. In 1897 the Ohio average for this class of schools was 30 weeks, while the two sections under consideration showed 32.5 weeks for the Western reserve and 32.7 weeks for the Miami valley. Ten years later the state average reached 32 weeks and that of the two sections stood at 33.8 and 33.2 weeks, respectively. The figures for 1916, the last available, show an average school year of 38.3 weeks for the reserve and 33.7 for the Miami valley.
As far as the length of the rural school term is indicative of the attitude of the people toward popular education, the Miami valley has a somewhat better record than that of the Western reserve for the period since the Civil war, especially the first half of the period.
If one considers the remuneration of teachers in any way an index of the character or grade of work done in the rural schools, the Miami valley has distanced the Western reserve quite per- ceptibly. The following table shows the standing of these sections by decades since 1867, in average monthly salary.
-1867- Men Women Men Women -1877-
-1887- Men Women
-1897-
-1907 --
Men Women Men Women
West. Reserve .. 31.9
17.6
34.9
22.1
33.2
26 34.8
30.5
27.7
42.2
41.5
Miami valley ... 41.7
29.5
44.3 37
33.1 26
44.8 37
26
35
39.3 29
49.8 44
47.4
Ohio average .. 35
23
42
From the above sets of figures it will be readily seen that the Miami valley was giving the rural schools increased support during
43.I
116
MEMOIRS OF THE MIAMI VALLEY
the fifty years covered by this study and that it was not surpassed by any section of the state. A study and comparison of the rural schools has been made because it more nearly reflects the attitude of the whole areas. If a comparison of city schools were made, the area having the larger number of cities within its borders would appear to advantage. Another trend of this period has been the remarkable growth of the tax-supported high school, and the decadence of the old-time academy.
The first legislation that clearly provides for a free tax- supported high school was that passed in 1843, to enable Cincinnati to establish such a school. That city had enjoyed the ministrations of endowed high schools which admitted a certain number of free pupils, and there had been some negotiations looking to the fusion of the Hughes and Woodward schools with the public school system of the city. There being some delay in securing the legal authority, it was enacted by the legislature February 11, 1845, that the trustees and visitors of the common schools of Cincinnati, with the consent of the city council, "were empowered to establish and maintain, out of the funds under the control of said trustees and visitors, such other grade of schools than those already established, as might to them seem necessary and expedient, and to have taught therein, such other studies, in addition to those now taught in the common schools of said city as might be deemed appropriate and useful under such regulations as said visitors might from time to time prescribe." Under the provision of this act, passed a year in advance of that providing for the Cleveland high school and two years in advance of the famous Akron act, the Central high school was established. However, due to legal delays in the merging of the Hughes and Woodward schools with the city system, the Central high school did not become operative until November 8, 1847, a year after the Cleveland school had opened.
One of the interesting educational phenomena of this period was the rise and decline of the National normal at Lebanon.
In the summer of 1855 the second normal school in Ohio was founded as a result of a three-weeks' institute which was held at Miami university. The Southwestern State Normal School asso- ciation was organized at this meeting. The object of the venture was to establish and maintain a state normal school in southwestern Ohio until state aid could be obtained. The first board of trustees consisted of A. J. Rickoff of Cincinnati, Charles Rogers of Dayton, and E. C. Ellis of Georgetown. This board chose Lebanon for the location of their venture and on November 24, 1855, the school was opened with about ninety students enrolled. In a few years the name of the first principal of the school had become a household word throughout the state, and few men in Ohio did more for the cause of education than did Alfred Holbrook. The growth and influence of this school present an interesting study and together with H. S. Lehr's Ohio Normal university at Ada, they furnish a unique chapter in the history of education in Ohio. At Lebanon was a school where students, men or women, with little academic preparation, might enter at several times during the year and find suitable work. Two decades after its founding it enrolled 1,600
117
EDUCATION IN THE MIAMI VALLEY
students during the year. Here many young men and women who through lack of funds or entrance deficiencies could not have en- rolled in the old line four-year college found a school which would give them every economy of time and effort, and at the same time give them an inspirational start up the long educational ladder. It would be difficult to overestimate the value of this institution to the cause of education in the Miami valley during a long period of years, but more especially the period from about 1865 to 1895.
Like many schools of its kind, it found in the tax-supported institutions a competition which became increasingly difficult to meet, especially from a financial viewpoint, and a few years ago this institution was forced to discontinue. An interesting sidelight on the kind of work which was offered by the national normal may be had from the following prospectus of the courses of study taken from a catalogue of 1875 :
Course of Study in National Normal School in 1875 .- Teachers' Course: This ordinarily requires two terms of eleven weeks each, in order to obtain a teacher's certificate, and three terms for a diploma. This shorter course prepares teachers to manage a gram- mar school, as well as any of the lower grades with success. The branches pursued are: English grammar, arithmetic, geography, map drawing, physiology, United States history, penmanship, ob- jective drawing, elocution, and the art of school teaching and school management.
Business Course: The business course requires two or three sessions. Many combine the teachers' and business courses, which can be done by giving an additional term. Three terms are gen- erally sufficient for the completion of both courses.
Engineering Course: The engineers' course requires three or four terms. This fits young men for any possible form of county surveying, also for managing a squad of men in railroad engineering. Many combine the business course and the engineering course. This can generally be done in three or four terms.
Collegiate Course: The scientific course requires one year of fifty weeks, besides two or three terms in the preparatory depart- ment. The classical course requires an additional year of fifty weeks.
In the antebellum days, Miami drew a considerable portion of her students from the south, but of course this part of her con- stituency was lost never to return. This and other influences such as the Morrill act, granting land for higher education, greatly narrowed the scope of Miami's patronage and influence. The result of these conditions was a very limited income, and careful management could not prevent deficits. As Doctor Upham puts it, in his "Old Miami," "Her land rents had been long before prevented by law from ever increasing beyond a beggar's pittance, while other col- leges, springing up all over the land with the revival of confidence and prosperity, lavished money on salaries and equipment. People professed to find the good old curriculum away out of date, but there were no funds in the Miami treasury to establish new chairs and add new furbelows. Tuition fees helped some, but depleted rolls meant depleted income. The state legislature was being
118
MEMOIRS OF THE MIAMI VALLEY
petitioned at each session to extend aid to this child of its adoption, and everybody assured everybody else that some day this aid was coming." Miami also expected to benefit by the Morill act granting land for the establishing of agricultural colleges, but aid did not come from either of these sources, and notwithstanding "that students were on hand in at least comfortable numbers," the uni- versity decided to close its doors after the commencement of 1873.
During the dozen years following, the only Miami was the Miami of memory. But through these years a small fund was ac- cumulating from the early land grant and in 1885 the trustees decided to reopen the old college. This gap in the alumni list of the university deprives her of valuable counsel and support.
Several changes came with the reopening in 1885. It was at this time that the long expected state aid came, in small doses to be sure, but very welcome nevertheless. As might be anticipated, the appearance of state aid through legislative grant meant the ap- pearance of the "Co-ed" and the catalogue of 1888 states that "the university is now open to women in all of its departments." How- ever, it was some years before any women were graduated.
The deleterious effects of being closed during twelve years are apparent when one examines the statistics of attendance for the first year after reopening. Not only was there a dearth of students, but the faculty showed the same condition. It may be mentioned in passing that several of the faculty and a considerable number of the students found their places as faculty members and students in other institutions when Miami suspended operation in 1873. The catalogue of 1885-86 lists a faculty of eight members and a student body of fifty distributed as follows: Sophomores 7, freshmen 12, second year preparatory 9, first year preparatory 22.
A tuition fee of $45 per year was charged, so that now the in- come of the university came from four sources. Rent on university lands, appropriations from the state legislature, gifts from friends and alumni, and tuition fees. Considering the slender resources of the university, the small student body and the quaint little town of Oxford, the following admonition repeated in several catalogues after 1885 provokes a smile: "Parents should remember that an abundance of spending money given to students is ordinarily an unmixed evil."
Perhaps the presence of two colleges for women in Oxford ac- counts in part at least for the small enrollment of women in Miami university. In 1888-89 two women were enrolled as "special students." During the year 1890-01, no women were in attendance. The next year twenty-two women are classed as special students. Of these all but two were from the village of Oxford. At this time there were two freshman girls. In 1893-94 one woman was listed as a "postgraduate" and in 1894-95 there were no women in any of the departments. No woman received a degree from the institution until June, 1900. The coming of the normal college in 1902 makes the presence of the fair sex much more common.
The growth of the university during the years 1885-1902 was rather slow. Despite the untiring efforts of faithful administrators, self-sacrificing faculty and loyal friends, the future of Miami was
119
EDUCATION IN THE MIAMI VALLEY
not very roseate. In 1902, however, a better day dawned. Ohio at this date established normal colleges at each of the land grant universities and by so doing began a more healthful appropriation in support of Miami and Ohio universities. A summer session opened in 1903 with an enrollment of 488. The normal college that fall had nearly 200 and the college of liberal arts showed a handsome increase.
To a superficial observer it might appear that no cause for anxiety was in sight, but it was only the calm that precedes an approaching storm. Several forces were at work seeking to curtail or detach all state aid from the university in order to focus on one strong central tax-supported university. By the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, however, a compromise had been reached and the state appropriations are now assured and are keep- ing pace with the growth and usefulness of the institution. The growth has been steady during the last decade and the time is not far distant when considerable expansion will be necessary to accom- modate the young men and women who wish to attend one of the strongest institutions of its class in the middle west.
Dominance of Cincinnati in Educational Development of Ohio. Much has already been said that evinces the leading part which Cincinnati has played in the educational affairs of Ohio through most of her history. Space will permit of few additional illustra- tions of this statement. The education of the children of foreigners was begun as early as 1837; music was introduced into the schools of Cincinnati in 1844; drawing in 1862; night high schools in 1856; a city normal school in 1868. At the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876, the schools of Cincinnati won gold and silver medals for their exhibits. The high schools of the city were among the first in the country to provide courses in domestic science. The continuation school, or the co-operative plan, worked out by Dean Schneider for the engineering students of Cincinnati university, is unique in educational circles and has been copied by schools in various parts of the world. Of the municipal universities of the entire country, that of Cincinnati founded in 1869 must be given first place.
Cincinnati university was founded in 1874 on a foundation es- tablished in 1858 by Charles McMicken, but which, due to various obstacles, was not until now adequate to the end in view. An attempt to unite the various trust funds held for the promotion of education within the bounds of the city having failed, the city as- sumed a partial support of the institution which now embraces the Graduate school, the McMicken college of liberal arts, the college of teachers, the college of engineering, the college of medicine, the college of commerce and the school of household arts.
Though a tax-supported institution, it has appealed to the lib- erality of many public-spirited citizens of Cincinnati, from whom it has received many munificent gifts to aid in the furthering of its work. One of the interesting features is the evening classes in the college of liberal arts opened in 1912 in order that those persons whose occupations prevented them from attending day classes might have opportunity to take college courses at night.
120
MEMOIRS OF THE MIAMI VALLEY
Educational Pioneers. Among the men of the Ohio valley who were largely instrumental in moulding the educational ideals of the state and of the western portion of our country in particular, the following deserve special mention.
Samuel Lewis is perhaps entitled to head the list of the early educators of the valley as being first in point of time and prominence in the advocacy of the rights of all the people to a common school education. Born in Massachusetts in 1799, he at the age of fourteen moved with other members of his family to Cincinnati. The trip was made on foot as far as Pittsburg, from which point the family floated down the Ohio to their destination in a flatboat.
Having learned a trade, he paid his father $50 a year for his time that he might be more free in framing his life plan. Working and studying, he developed talents that qualified him for license as a local preacher in the Methodist church, of which he was an earnest and consistent member. He was soon employed in the advocacy of temperance and of education. His interest in the latter subject had not a little to do in influencing his friend William Woodward to found the institution bearing his name, of which, as also of the Hughes high school, he served as an influential trustee.
Recognizing the magnitude of the task of providing an adequate educational system for the state, and the qualities of mind and will that were requisite in him who would do that work, the better class of teachers of the state secured his election by legislature in 1837 to the position of state superintendent of education. In this capacity he traveled thousands of miles, delivered numerous addresses, pre- pared a series of reports and secured the enactment of legislation that evinced him to be a man of rare energy, capacity and power of achievement. Though he met with much opposition in his crusade, into which he threw himself with all the ardor of a medieval knight errant, and the time of administration lasted but two years, he achieved results that have persisted to the present. The ardor which he manifested in all his undertakings soon exhausted his vital ener- gies and he died at the early age of fifty-five. His thorough grasp of the educational situation, his appreciation of the inadequacy of the existing educational provisions to meet the needs of all the people, his eloquence, persistency, and rare disinterestedness in the advocacy of his ideals entitle him to recognition as the founder of the present common school system of Ohio.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.