USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903, Volume Three > Part 5
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In 1901 an act was passed providing for the election of super- vising principals in townships with a population of four thousand or more. The duties of these officials are confined to supervision and do not include the issuing of provisional and professional certificates nor service upon the State boards appointed to con- duct annual examinations at the State Normal schools.
State Normal Schools .- The thorough and practical training of teachers for work in the public schools has been a subject of earnest discussion in Pennsylvania for more than a hundred years. About the middle of the eighteenth century Benjamin Franklin, in an appeal to the common council of Philadelphia for aid in establishing an academy (since developed into the University of Pennsylvania ), pointed out the need of competent schoolmasters,
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Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal
and the possibility thereby of supplying such as can teach reading, writing, arithmetic, and the grammar of the mother tongue. Both the Friends and the Moravians had succeeded in fitting many persons for teaching. The legislature made moderate appropria- tions to a number of colleges on condition that they give free tui- tion to a specified number of students preparing to become teach- ers. Lafayette college during the presidency of Dr. George Jun- kin erected (in 1838) a building for a Model school and provided special courses for teachers. This is claimed to have been the first undertaking of its kind in the United States in connection with a collegiate institution, and it failed through lack of proper appreciation and material support. In 1843, when the law mak- ing appropriations for this purpose was repealed, only thirty stu- dents who were preparing to teach were reported from all the col- leges in the State. It is not difficult to explain why the experi- ment of preparing teachers in our colleges to take charge of the common schools was a failure. The salaries paid to those in charge of our common schools do not attract the college-bred man. He can find more lucrative employment in the older pro- fessions and in other vocations. Even now, when the salaries paid in high schools furnish more adequate compensation, only three hundred and sixteen college graduates are reported as teach- ing in the public schools. Although permanent certificates have been granted without examination since 1873 to the graduates of recognized colleges, after three years' teaching in the public schools, only about nine hundred persons have applied for this desirable grade of certificate. Among thirty thousand teachers this comparatively small number of college graduates amounts to little more than a drop in a bucket of water. Yet as a drop may suffice to color the entire bucket of water, so to their credit it must be said these college graduates in the public schools are making themselves felt through the whole school system.
As a source of supplying competent teachers for the common schools, the superintendents were obliged to look elsewhere. To
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fill the places of the incompetent teachers who had been weeded out of the schools through the annual examinations and as a means of improvement for those who were ambitious to fit them- selves for better work, Normal Institutes were established, some- times under the control of the county superintendent. This cre- ated sentiment in favor of and paved the way for the State Normal schools which had been recommended in every report of the school department from 1836 to 1857.
All these reports, except the last, favored schools for the training of teachers owned, controlled and supported by the State. So long as an appropriation of money was needed to carry out the idea, it failed to gain much favor with the legislature. Finally, in 1855, Mr. Benjamin Bannon, of Pottsville, long in official connection with the common schools as a school director, wrote a lengthy letter to Governor Pollock in which he suggested the division of the State into twelve or fifteen districts and the establishment of a Normal school in each, partly at private ex- pense, and yet having State recognition and support. The latter found favor with the school authorities at Harrisburg and was subsequently forwarded to Dr. Burrowes for consideration in drafting the Normal School law. Without doubt the views ex- pressed in this letter led him to modify his views. In framing the Normal sections of the school bills of 1853 and 1854 he fav- ored Normal schools owned and exclusively supported by the State. In August, 1856, he announced that he had reached the conclusion that Normal schools, like other professional schools, ought not to be established by and at the expense of the State, and should be no further controlled by the State than is necessary to give value and authority to their diplomas. On this basis the act of 1857 was prepared by Dr. Burrowes, and as the plan did not require an immediate appropriation, the bill passed both houses and received the signature of Governor Pollock on May 8 of that year. In transmitting his draft of the bill to Mr. Hickok, Dr. Burrowes wrote: "If you succeed in putting this bill
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through, it will be your best winter's work, as it has been my best Sunday's work for many a year."
The Normal school act was drawn on truly colossal scale. To many the requirements appeared extravagant at the time, but the growth and popularity of the several schools have far outstripped the original expectations. The act divided the State into twelve districts (a thirteenth was subsequently created), provided for their establishment and management by private corporations composed of stockholders or contributors, specified as essential to recognition grounds to the extent of ten acres, buildings large enough to accommodate three hundred boarding students, a hall capable of seating a thousand adults, a faculty of at least six professors of liberal education, and a model school with accom- modations for one hundred pupils. No financial inducement was held out for the establishment of Normal schools. It was be zeved that the power to grant licenses to teach would bring them patronage and make them prosperous. The original provision that the act should become operative as soon as four schools com- plied with the conditions and applied for recognition was per- fected by a supplementary act of 1859, providing a way for the recognition of one school without waiting for the application of four schools.
The carrying out of this legislation in regard to State Normal schools was a work of years. Planned on a colossal scale, the private parties who undertook to erect them were obliged to go heavily into debt. The attendance of students and the revenue did not suffice to pay running expenses and interest on the debt. Men like Abraham Peters of Millersville, Hon. Silas M. Clark of Indiana, and Rev. D. J. Waller of Bloomsburg went security for large sums of money to save from the hands of the sheriff the schools with which they were connected as trustees! Time has justified their faith in these schools. The several schools grew in public favor, legislative appropriations lifted them out of press- ing debts, and to-day the State points with pride to the State
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Richard Dale
Lieutenant in Virginia navy 1776; captured and imprisoned by British while in Revolutionary war service, 1777; commissioned lieutenant 1781; became captain 1794; commanded the Mediterranean squadron 1801; died, 1826
The Educational System
Normal schools. A detailed history of the trials, struggles and sacrifices through which the several schools passed until they finally reached the era of prosperity, would fill volumes. Such details must be left to the local historian. In order that the State legislature might be induced to come to the rescue by liberal appropriations, a change was made whereby six out of eighteen trustees were appointed by the State superintendent, and mort- gages covering the grounds and buildings were given in favor of the State to guard against the sale of the same in the interest of the stockholders or contributors. This finally made it difficult for the trustees to make temporary loans. A few leaders of the type of Hon. S. M. Wherry exposing the folly of requiring mort- gages in return for money spent in the preparation of teachers, a new policy was adopted by the legislature in which the mort- gage clause was struck from the appropriation bills.
Under the administration of C. R. Coburn as State superin- tendent was inaugurated the policy of giving students fifty cents a week towards the payment of their tuition, and fifty dollars on graduation. The annual appropriations for this purpose gradu- ally increased from $10,000 in 1866 to $130,000 in 1899. A shortage of available funds impelled the governor to veto this special appropriation for the year beginning June, 1900, but in 1901 the legislature set apart from the general school appropria- tion funds to provide free tuition for students seventeen years of age or more who elected to pursue the teachers' course of study.
The course of study in these institutions is arranged by a con- vention of principals. Although provision was made for courses of three and four years' length, a majority of students stopped at the end of the two years' elementary course. Largely through the efforts of Dr. E. O. Lyte, an educator of prominence, it was decided at the convention of principals held at Harrisburg in November, 1900, that after June, 1902, no more students should be graduated in the two years' course, and in its place a regular course of three years was adopted.
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The following table shows the name and location of each of the Normal schools, the year of recognition by the State, the value of property and furnishings, and the number of students attend- ing in the Normal and Model school departments during the school year 1901-02.
Name of School
Date of Recog- nition
Valuation
Normal Depart- ment
Model Depart- Total ment
Millersville
1859
524,032. IO
814
205
1,019
Edinboro
I86I
177,000.00
561
II5
676
Mansfield
1862
305,529.00
512
I38
650
Kutztown
1866
351,450.00
550
217
767
Bloomsburg
1869
355,218.97
638
I27
765
West Chester
187I
537,279.00
73I
200
93I
Shippensburg
1873
249,500.00
326
80
406
California
1874
248,073.04
488
376
864
Indiana
1875
277,927.0I
616
206
822
Lock Haven
1877
271,100.00
410
143
553
Clarion
1887
272,725.00
509
32
54I
Slippery Rock ...
1889
254,959.95
566
239
805
East Stroudsburg 1893
89,306.87
374
170
544
$3,914,100.94
7,095
2,248
9,343
Dr. Edward Brooks, superintendent of schools of Philadel- phia since 1892, wrote most of his books and treatises on educa- tion while he was connected (as professor and principal) with the Millersville Normal school. Of the principals now serving, Dr. E. O. Lyte has been president of the National Educational asso- ciation ; Dr. D. J. Waller, jr., has been state superintendent ; Dr. G. M. Phillips declined the office when it was tendered to him. Dr. G. M. D. Eckels and Dr. J. R. Flickinger have been members of the Pennsylvania legislature (the latter was also a member of the Colorado legislature) ; Drs. Noss, Maltby and Welsh have been engaged in Normal school work for several decades. Pro-
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fessor Rothermel has achieved a reputation for executive ability as principal of the Keystone Normal school at Kutztown. Pro- fessors Bigler, Kemp and Wier were more recently elected to the position of Normal school principal.
The buildings at Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield were destroyed by fire. The first buildings at Kutztown were faulty in construction and have been rebuilt and enlarged. All the schools have recently enlarged and improved their facilities for practical work.
Old "Camel Back" Bridge across the Susquehanna at Harrisburg
Built by Theodore Burr, 1812-1817; damaged by flood, March 2, 1902, and removed same year. Engraved for this work from a photo- graph in possession of Historical Society of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
A Separate School Department .- At first the department of public instruction was under the control of the secretary of the commonwealth, who was ex-officio superintendent of common schools. A separate school department was a cherished idea with the friends of education throughout the State, and had been offi- cially and earnestly recommended by almost every secretary of the commonwealth from 1838 to 1854. It had been warmly urged by the educational meeting at Harrisburg in 1850, by the State Teachers' association and other educational gatherings. There was a growing belief that the magnitude and complexity of our public school interests justified the creation of such a depart- ment. In his second annual report, Mr. Curtin suggested some reorganization to enlarge its powers and to increase its efficiency.
3-5
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.
A bill for the purpose was introduced into the house during the session of 1857 by the chairman of the committee on education and passed both houses without calling the ayes and nays. Dep- uty Superintendent H. C. Hickok's name was sent into the senate to fill the new position, and was unanimously confirmed. The officer was known as superintendent of common schools and the term of service was fixed at three years. The method of appoint- ment by the governor and confirmation by the senate was criti- cised by Dr. Wickersham in his first annual report. He recom- mended the method of selection by popular election. After his unsuccessful canvass for the congressional nomination in Lan- caster county he probably reached the conclusion that the people sometimes make mistakes in not selecting the best man, and the recommendation was not repeated. His long term of service and the appointment of his successor, Dr. E. E. Higbee, by three successive governors are abundant proof of the wisdom displayed by those who drafted the bill. The constitution of 1874 lengthened the term to four years, changed the title to "Superintendent of Public Instruction," and made the incumbent irremovable during the term for which he was appointed, except
by impeachment. Upon the death of Dr. Higbee, Rev. D. J. Waller, Jr., D. D., was appointed to serve out the unexpired term. As is usual in appointments made when the legislature is not in session, his commission was worded to expire on the last day of the ensuing session of the senate. The name of Dr. Z. X. Snyder was sent to the senate as his successor, and rejected by a decisive vote. A legal battle occurred to decide who was entitled to the office. The Supreme court finally decided that Dr. Waller was entitled to serve out the unexpired term. This decision gave the office a degree of stability and independence equal to that of an officer who holds his place by popular election.
Three times have appointments been made across party lines, and a fourth governor is on record in black and white as declar- ing his determination to appoint the best man regardless of parti-
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The Educational System
san politics. This would not have been possible under the plan of popular election. In States which elect the head of the school department, the section from which no one has been put upon the State ticket is given this place, usually the last on the ticket ; and thus men of very inferior qualifications have sometimes been chosen by vote of the people.
At first the superintendent had only two clerks and a mes- senger to assist him. By the act of 1854 he was empowered to appoint one of these a deputy, with power to act. In 1874 the working force was enlarged to two deputies, three clerks and one messenger. In 1895 the employment of a stenographer was authorized. Want of space makes it impossible to name all who have rendered valuable service in the school department. How- ever, some names deserve more than a passing word of recog- nition.
Henry C. Hickok was connected with the school department during a period of about five and a half years. Born April 26, 1818, in Cayuga county, New York, and brought to Union coun- ty, Pa., with his father's family in 1822, he studied law and was admitted to the bar at Harrisburg, Pa., April 27, 1840. He was called by Governor Pollock to the office of deputy superintendent of common schools, January 19, 1855. The act to separate the department of public instruction from that of the secretary of the commonwealth, which he prepared, became a law on May 20, 1857. On the first Monday of June in that year he became state superintendent of common schools and held the office for three years. He helped effectively to secure the passage of the act under which thirteen magnificent State Normal schools have been established. His untiring vigilance and zeal, with Governor Pollock's unflinching support, enabled him to contribute mate- rially to the protection of the act of 1854, and of the county superintendency which was unpopular to a degree that the present generation finds it difficult to understand. The act of 1854 placed our system far in advance of other State systems which
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have either never had the office of county superintendent or never specified the professional and literary qualifications of those holding the office. The effect of the examinations by county su- perintendents was soon felt; the office being firmly sustained grew in favor ; its unpopularity gradually passed away; and be- fore he died at the age of four score years (died December 16, 1898), he had the satisfaction of seeing his policy fully justified by the results and approved by every student of educational his- tory.1
Dr. Thomas H. Burrowes was twice the head of the school department ; first from December 15, 1835, to January 15, 1839, as
1From a private letter of Ex-Superintend- ent Hickok :
One day while brooding despondently over the formidable obstacles in the way of the success of the new school law, the governor informed me, while in the exccutive chamber on an errand, that he had that morning re- ceived an invitation from the Reading School board to be present at a public reception in that city to be given in his honor by the board, "and," said the governor, "I have a great mind to accept it." 1 was electrified . This was just the opportunity that was needed to define his position then and roll back the tide of opposition.
I told him I thought it was a good idea, and 1 advised him to go by all means. He said he wanted me to go along with him to represent the school department, and I made no objec- tion. At the appointed time we found our- selves in the presence of a select audience embracing the very elite of the place, the intelligence, culture, refinement and control- ling influence of that historic city. Hon. William M. Hiester, speaker of the State sen- ate then and the year before, was chairman of the meeting.
The governor wanted me to speak first. I told him that I should break ground squarely and unreservedly for the county superintend- ency and the school law of 1854. "Take your own course," said he "and I will back you up." The audience was an inspiring one and the opportunity such as might rarely present
itself, and, making my remarks decidedly ad rem, I endeavored to grapple with the objec- tions and the sentiment of the time, and didn't mince matters. I talked, I suppose, about twenty-five minutes, and when I resumed my seat, which was next to Chairman Hiester, he was kind enough to say that I had given some very good reasons for people to change their minds about the school law of '54 and the county superintendency. The governor fol- lowed with one of his genial, taking, colloquial speeches, for which he was remarkable in his prime, and sat down amidst great applause.
I did not see any of the Reading newspa- pers and don't know what the reporters made of the meeting, but the news of it was flashed over the State on the wires, and encouraged the friends of the common schools every- where. They began to take heart and, if the administration was going to sustain the new school law, they would roll up their sleeves to sustain the administration. That was a great point gained.
On our return we had not been on "the Hill" half an hour before we had some very emphatic evidence that the meeting had pro- duced effect. I was sitting at my desk in the department, which was in the southwest room in the executive building, on the second story, just north of the Capitol, facing the open door at the northeast corner of the room, when a clerk in the secretary's office passed my door on his way from the governor's private office. He hailed me in passing: "They are after
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secretary of the commonwealth, and again from 1860 to 1863, by appointment of Governor Packer. At the time of his first ap- pointment he was not conversant with the details of school affairs, but he felt that he must either master the situation or fail in the proper discharge of his duties. Although as a member of the house during the sessions of 1831-3 he had voted with the oppo- nents of a general system of education, he afterward became a warm friend of the schools, and at the end of his long, use- ful career he was known as one of our foremost educators, then being president of the State Agricultural College. Dr. Burrowes died in 1871.
Charles R. Coburn was the first professional teacher placed in the office of superintendent. In 1857 he was commissioned
you," he said. "Who's after me?" said I, pricking up my ears. "The politicians," said he. I laid down my pen, and sat back in my chair, and listened curiously to what he had to say. He told me that whilst he was in the governor's office a delegation of influ- ential politicians, belonging to or affiliated with the administration, called upon the gov- ernor to protest against his going out to champion the school law and defending the county superintendency. I listened intently to his story.
Governor Pollock was sitting in his arm chair and, when he discovered their errand, he leaned his elbow upon the left arm of the chair, and resting his lest cheek and forefin- ger, looked at the speaker curiously as if he wondered whether he understood himself, but made no remark until the latter, realizing that he wasn't making the impression upon the chief executive that he expected to make, proceeded to attack me, saying, "Why, Hickok will ruin your administration if things are allowed to go on this way."
With that the governor sprang to his feet and, extending the digit of his right hand towards the delegation, exclaimed with flash- ing eyes and an emphasis that left no room for misapprehension, "Gentlemen, I will see every other part of my administration go down before I will suffer the school depart- ment to go down. "
This ended the conference and the com- mittee left with the discovery that the socially genial and pleasant governor was by no means a nose of wax, and that when he had once made up his mind upon any important question of principle or policy there was an end of all discussion, that you could no more shake his purpose, no matter what the oppos- ing odds, than you could move Gibraltar from its base with a feather duster. At first I did not feel quite sure that that committee might not be able to persuade the governor to mod- ify his procedure somewhat, but when they proceeded to threaten him, I sat back in my chair perfectly content, for, like increased pressure upon an arch, every attack upon him of that kind would steel him more inflexi- bly against them.
I have never given the names of that delegation. It is not necessary at this late day, besides most of them are under the sod and I would not disturb the ashes of the dead. The spokesman of the party is still living and prominently influential in public affairs, though holding no office, but it makes him very uncomfortable to hear any allusion to that episode. I have never mentioned his name in connection with it and never shall. He afterwards rendered good service in the cause and that atones for his error of judg- ment in that instance.
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superintendent of Bradford county, and while serving in that capacity was chosen president of the Pennsylvania State Teachers' association. He became State superintendent on the first Mon- day of June, 1863. During his administration State aid was first given to students preparing to teach. Mr. Coburn was a conservative head of our educational department and gave excel- lent service in maintaining the efficiency of the school system.
Dr. James P. Wickersham was appointed superintendent by Governor Curtin in 1866, and assumed full charge of the depart- ment on the first of November. He held the office through suc- cessive appointments until April 1, 1881, a period of fourteen years and five months. He became county superintendent in 1854, and served as principal of the State Normal school at Mil- lersville for ten years. His long and varied experience as a teacher, and his familiarity with all the details of the system fitted him in an eminent degree for the duties of the higher position to which he was called. The details of the supplementary act of 1867 came from his pen, and he did much to perfect the system and to introduce it in every portion of the State. Dr. Wicker- sham died March 25, 1891.
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