History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 123

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146

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In October, 1904, the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. of the state university, held a joint mass-meeting to consider the best interests of both organizations. Prof. G. M. Smith was chosen to preside. He announced that the juniors would forego the publication of the annual that year and give all the money to a house for both organizations. During the previous three years $3,000 had been spent upon the annual, but now it was determined by the juniors that they would de- vote the money to the movement for a combined association building. Other speakers who addressed encouraging remarks to the two associations were Presi- dent Droppers, Dean Young, Dean Sterling, Miss Fee and several of the students. Dean Young dwelt on the importance and strength of co-operation in this move- ment. Of course these organizations were independent of the state government and therefore were obliged to rely upon their own resources, as they could expect no appropriation from the state. Their work was religious and private so far as the state was concerned. This was a period of reconstruction and readjustment. It was the last of the nineteenth and the first of the twentieth century. Like the Renaissance this was a time reconstruction, when all human efforts in industry, politics, society and education tock new leaps and bounds, and when religion broke from its fetters and became what it is today the consolation and hope of mankind. Science had caused the reconstruction of religious ideals, aspirations

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and logic, but the reconstruction was an improvement. It was broader, higher, more humane. In a hundred years the whole system of civilization had been reconstructed and constituted anew. There had been great changes in religion, and the two organizations represented at this meeting were the result of brighter religious aspirations and hopes. It was right that they should unite and build a fine hall for their mutual instruction and consolation. Independence in religious thought had been demanded and had arrived. Truth was better than blind faith after all. He further said:

"I am one of those who believe that the truth needs no guardian. The his- tory of the world shows that no set of men have done so much to hinder progress as those who may be styled self-appointed guardians and sponsors for truth. If there is any class of people entitled to a frank and fair statement of the truth, it is those who are devoting themselves to the work of students, as are the young men and women of this and similar institutions. The present relative indiffer- ence to religious truth is undoubtedly due to the changes and reconstruction in religious thought which have characterized the past fifty years. Unwarranted conclusions have been drawn from what may be called scientific rationalism in this reconstructive period. But the fact is that in this process of readjustment and re-statement of religious truth, not one single essential principle of religion had been abandoned, and the sum total of all this revolution is a change in emphasis and viewpoint. The fundamental principles of religion are entirely intact and no essential religious truth has been attacked. * The Y. M. * * C. A. and Y. W. C. A. have stood staunchly by the essentials of our Christian religion, while holding themselves in a receptive attitude toward every new phase of religious truth. They stand in the very front of the great agencies working for a general revival of religious interest, and are doing a mighty work in strengthening the religious convictions of this generation."

"Where can such associations do more good than at an institution of learn- ing-an organization whose initiative springs not from the officers of control nor from the instruction of the institution, but from the student body itself- to welcome the newcover, to guide the unwary, to spread the truth that our university is an integral part of a Christian civilization. No wish should be more sincere or stronger than that the Young Men's and the Young Women's Christian Association of the state university should flourish. May the organiza- tion grow in numbers and in vigor until its reputation extends to the remotest boundaries of the state and utterly annihilates the charge that our state university is a Godless institution."-From address of President Droppers, October, 1904.

This effort, though praiseworthy in the extreme, finally failed, but left in- fluences behind that have resulted in great progress in the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A.

The annual meeting of the State Educational Association was held at Dead- wood late in December, 1904. There was a large attendance and many new and vital questions were introduced and discussed. Prof. G. M. Smith took a prom- inent part in the proceedings. One of the principal addresses was made by C. H. Tugg of Parkston. He said that the dream of the school authorities of South Dakota was to unite all the common schools and the higher schools into one uniform system, that there should be a direct path leading from the primary schools through the high schools and academies to the colleges and universities.

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This plan could not be made a success unless the masses took interest in higher education. He dwelt on this point, but did not show how the masses could be or would be interested. Already in the state was a fairly well articulated system : (1) Common schools, (2) high schools, (3) colleges and universities. A con- tinuity of study or thought united all by natural interest and process. Higher education was doing well throughout the state, but too many dropped out of the primary schools at the end of the seventh and eighth grades, and took no further interest in education. The common schools were designed to furnish the educa- tion for the masses, but thus far they were really the end of education for the masses. It seemed, therefore, that the bulk of the citizens were willing to admit or concede that the education furnished by the common schools was sufficient for the mass of people. The country school, in other words, measured the educa- tional advance of the population. Educational boards and superintendents could invent such courses and methods as they pleased, but it remained for the patrons to select what schools, studies and teachers they wanted. At this session the association favored state health inspection of the public schools, and asked the Legislature for a law to place the inspection of high schools in the State Depart- ment of Public Instruction.

Really, the parents in the country were the ones who terminated the educa- tion of their children at the seventh and eighth grades. Mr. Tugg correctly insisted that this custom could not be changed unless the ideas of the patrons were changed. All that could be done was to work for betterment gradually. One step at a time. It was really an education of the patrons as well as of the children. Unless the patrons were improved and were imbued with more ad- vanced ideals and wishes concerning education, the masses would continue to be graduated from the seventh and eighth grades. Even yet teachers in the country districts, he maintained, were hired to keep school instead of to teach school. They were not educators but keepers of order. Besides there were only six months of school per year generally for the rural districts. The idea still in the country districts was a cheap education-one that did not cost much, because the farmers did not wish to be taxed, needed the money, needed the child's serv- ices and hence took them at the end of the seventh or eighth grade and practically made beasts of burden of them on the farm. Some schools did not go beyond the fourth year and the children were then withdrawn as if they already had gone beyond the limits of what was necessary. In many' schools compulsory educa- tion as required by law was not observed. The law required an attendance of but three months each year, such attendance to continue until the child reached the fourteenth year, when the education could be ended because the compulsory law then terminated. In many schools, of course, there was a higher standard, but in too many there was little of merit in any grade beyond the fourth. Even then there were the stupid patrons who acted as a drag through ignorance and prejudice. In fact, a few schools of the state were dominated by this class of patrons. These were the conditions which the friends of a uniform system had to encounter and overcome. Should the schools be wholly independent and with- out uniformity? It was necessary to regard common schools as independent, because in fact they really were. That is, they were dominated by ignorance and stupidity. All this was strange but true, and here, wonderful to state, was the only education furnished for the majority of the citizens of this great common-

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wealth. While the cities were boasting of their high schools, colleges and uni- versities, nine-tenths of the children were mentally yet in Egyptian darkness, without a solitary gleam of sunshine through the clouds. Should not, therefore, special tactics be employed to change this lamentable and disastrous condition of affairs. How could the rural patrons be advanced in ideas. Before a reform of any consequence could be effected, it would be necessary he declared, to cast light upon the benighted minds of the patrons of the rural districts.

In January, 1905, Pres. Garrett Droppers was asked to tender his resig- nation as president of the State University to take effect at the end of the school year. Later the time of his retirement was fixed at January 1, 1906. Dr. James Chalmers of the Agricultural College was appointed president in his place. At the same time Dr. Robert L. Slagle, president of the School of Mines, succeeded Doctor Chalmers as president of the Agricultural College. At this time W. H. H. Beadle resigned from the presidency of the Madison Normal School and accepted the chair of history in that institution. Dr. J. W. Heston became his successor. Doctor Heston had formerly been president of the Agricultural College. George W. Nash, state superintendent of public instruction, succeeded Dr. C. F. Koehler as president of the Aberdeen Normal and Industrial School. Prof. M. M. Ramer, superintendent of the Mitchell city schools, was appointed superintendent of public instruction to succeed Mr. Nash. Thus there was a great change made in the heads of the different state institutions at this time. The State Board of Regents rearranged the heads of all the institutions and changed faculty mem- bers which required a month's work. These changes placed Doctor Slagle at the head of the Agricultural College, Doctor Chalmers at the head of the State Uni- versity, G. W. Nash at the head of the Aberdeen Normal, J. W. Heston at the head of the Madison Normal School. It was believed that these changes would quiet the dissension which had prevailed in nearly all institutions and place them on a firmer and better foundation.

The dismissal of Doctor Droppers from the presidency of the university after five or six years of superior service occasioned then and does yet much curiosity and question. No one at the time disputed his fitness for the place and the benefits he was steadily conferring upon the institution. It came out that the real trouble was due to a variety of personal or local causes and did not arise within the institution as such. Certain social observances on his part, though not serious, were objectionable to a few other members of the faculty and to a number of the citizens. Numerous small circumstances finally culminated in 1906 in such a strong feeling against him that he was asked to resign by the Board of Regents. In about five years he had revolutionized the courses of study, the efficiency of the institution, and the standing of the university among the other state educational institutions of the West. At the time many believed that his dismissal was a calamity to the university, and it would have been had not the regents been fortunate enough to secure the services of Dr. F. B. Gault in his place. Under Doctor Droppers the whole institution was recast and modern- ized. In six years from 1899 to 1905, the number of college students more than doubled. This result was largely due to his efforts. Many elective courses were added, and the university had recently become such in fact as well as in name. Through his efforts largely the College of Law was added. The morale was never better than in 1905 under him. He was scholarly, broad minded and had

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done the institution a vast amount of good. He was charged with being pessi- mistic, and thus it was declared was not a safe counselor of hopeful youth. By dividing the course of study the university had already been brought into har- mony with the high schools and the high schools had been brought into closer relation with the universities. The preparatory department was still important, but already the university was depending largely upon the high schools for students in its freshman class.

At the end of 1904, the Spearfish Normal School was short $6,000 of having enough to meet actual expenses. This $6,000 had been cut out by the Legislature from the recommendations of the State Board of Regents. The Legislature of January, 1905, was asked to make good this amount.

Mr. Tugg believed that, in spite of all this, uniformity from the lowest to the highest schools should prevail, because if it did the rural children could at least have the opportunity to go higher and a few would no doubt do so. The remarks of Mr. Tugg were directed almost wholly to rural schools along these lines, because they were the ones which were making no progress and were perhaps in reality retrograding. The consolidation of the rural schools might help. Formation of township high schools would no doubt aid the movement. In any event, the patrons must be first stimulated into action before a reform could be effected. Township high schools, with graded courses and consolidated schools with the same, if persisted in, would in a measure, no doubt, overcome the difficulty. In the same way the teacher in the rural schools should be required to teach the studies wanted by the rural children, that is, the studies needed by people who expected to live permanently on the farms. But this meant addi- tional study for the teachers, improved knowledge of educational requirements in the rural districts, higher salaries for teachers, higher taxation for school buildings and equipment, all of which no doubt would at first, at least, be dis- couraged by the rural patrons. He suggested three important steps of develop- ment in the rural schools: (1) a far greater amount of reading books, news- papers and everything else proper to make the student enjoy and adopt the habit of reading; (2) cultivation of a sentiment of pride in local, county and state affairs ; better knowledge of the government; thorough knowledge of citizenship; better knowledge of the duties of life; (3) practice in composition and the use of language that would fit them for speakers, social circles and business. This paper of Mr. Tugg attracted great attention at the time and was published throughout the state in part or in whole to show the conditions of rural education.

The statement of Governor Elrod in his message to the Legislature of 1905 that there was too much Latin taught at the Agricultural College was taken up not only by the press of the state but by the farming communities. The farmers generally were of the opinion that not enough practical knowledge of farming was dispensed at the Agricultural College, and that too much time was devoted to matters that did not enter into the practical operations of the farm. There was a growing tendency which had almost reached the culminating point through- out all the western states that the agricultural colleges should be made more helpful to practical agriculture, and there was a general demand, particularly in the state, that the school officials of South Dakota should restrict the institution to the line of duty marked out by the Morrill bill and by subsequent legislation. Thus the governor and the farmer were united in opinion, and the newspapers Vol. III-56

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in a large measure sustained their point of view. The Sioux Falls Press said that the public had a right to believe that the chief executive of the state would scarcely make a statement of that kind without reasonable assurance that the college was not fulfilling its aim as an educational institution for agriculture.

In January, 1905, the Legislature considered whether the State University should be deprived of its engineering department. This step was no doubt taken in response to the statement of Governor Elrod that in his opinion there was too much engineering taught at the State University and too much Latin at the Agricultural College. It was asked what would there be left to distinguish the university from the denominational colleges of the state if the industrial and professional departments of the State University should be removed. No strong college, it was asserted, could be built up without professional studies. Modern engineering covered almost the whole field of applied science and were it taken from the university half the value of the institution would be lost. But it was insisted that the university had the law classes, and that the Agricultural College was founded in part on the basis of instruction in engineering. In the end no change was made in the courses at either institution.

In the spring of 1905, General Beadle again publicly urged that the school lands should be leased and not sold. He pointed out that the maximum price of school lands in Bon Homme County was $52 per acre and the minimum price $38 per acre. He considered that this fact and others of a similar nature were powerful arguments in favor of not selling the school lands. He stated that the commissioner was justified in placing a high estimate on the value of these lands. At this time much of the land was already appraised by law. It was a fact that much of the school land that had been sold fifteen years before was now worth from two to five times what it was then sold for. He said in March, "The policy of early sales even at a lower figure to help the schools and to relieve the people in part from heavy taxes for the common schools, has perhaps been justified. Much of the land sold from seven to fourteen years ago is now worth from two to threefold the price then received. When the land is sold the gain in value to the state ceases except by the help to the common schools from the interest upon the fixed sum. It was a great and heroic decision of the people of South Dakota in 1885 and later to save and hold these lands and their income. The self denial involved was far greater than would be the present decision to sell no more of these lands. Then help was more needed by a population rela- tively poor and struggling hard and no immediate income could be seen from rentals. Now the leasing promises an immediate income from interest on loans and the certainty that the income from rentals will steadily increase. We ought to sell no more of the public school lands, but by constitutional amendment should provide for their lease."

But the sale of the school lands continued rapidly during the spring of 1905. Often the lands sold high above the appraisement. Now the average price of selling was much nearer $20 than $10 per acre.

In April, 1905, there arrived at the office of the state superintendent 769 sets of teachers' papers, embracing 8,388 individual papers, all of which were duly handled by the marking or examining board. Twenty-nine persons tried for state certificates and eighteen secured them. One hundred and eight tried for first grade certificates but only forty-three secured them; the remainder

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obtained second grade certificates. Of 632 persons who applied for second grade certificates, 402 were successful. All of this examination placed an immense burden upon the office of the state superintendent. In all there were given 525 certificates out of 769 that were applied for. It was noted by the superintendent that poor spelling was one of the greatest defects. Three of the words that were most often misspelled were bilious, exhilarate and ecstasy.

In May, 1905, School Land Commissioner C. J. Bach purchased with school money $50,000 worth of the county courthouse bonds at Faulkton. He paid one-half down and the balance as needed. At the end of May of this year, there was in the treasury only $437.42 cash of the school fund. In June the semi- annual apportionment of public school funds was the largest on record. It amounted to $305,097.75. The school population at this time was 135,599. This fund gave $2.25 to each pupil.

The state superintendent noted at this time that the statistics received from many of the counties were padded, with the expectations no doubt of securing larger apportionments. An investigation showed that this practice had been going on for some time. During the investigation it was asked, "Should normal students be listed?" A few contended that they should not, because they were already drawing help from the state.

In June, 1905, the State Board of Regents at Pierre sent out diplomas to graduates of the different state educational institutions. In all, 179 were sent out at this time; 47 to the State University, 40 to the Agricultural College, 22 to Madison Normal, 22 to Springfield Normal, 21 to Spearfish Normal, 20 to Aberdeen Normal, and 8 to the School of Mines.

State Commissioner Bach in June directed ten counties to make annual leases after July I in tracts of less than one section. The leases were ordered as follows: For 40-acre tracts, 15c per acre; 80-acre tracts, 12c per acre; 160-acre tracts, Ioc per acre. On five-year leases he fixed the rate at 8c per acre. These counties were located east of the Missouri River, but in the northwestern part of that portion of the state.

In September, 1905, George W. Nash withdrew from the office of state superintendent and was succeeded by Prof. M. M. Ramer of Mitchell.

In September, the Agricultural College opened with the largest enrollment in the history of the institution. Students were present from almost every county in the state and from several neighboring states.

At this time there was a great change in educational views. The old style method dwelt upon the classics, culture and discipline. Now the efforts were aimed mainly at the professions, industries, vocations and discipline. Few at this time asked for an aimless culture, but nearly all educators now maintained that culture should be secondary to the vocational studies. In addition it was now required that the studies should concern moral character, government, good citizenship, athletics, scientific agriculture, domestic science, etc. Culture would follow these studies, it was claimed, as surely as it would the classics.

In 1905, the South Dakota Educational Association held its annual meeting at Brookings. There was a large and interesting program. Many educators from all parts of the state were present. Interesting papers and important dis- cussions were enjoyed. At this date George W. Kephart was president of the association.

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A conference of the city superintendents of schools of the whole state was held at Mitchell in November, 1905, with the object of revising the set course of study for high schools and graded schools. State Superintendent Ramer appointed committees to prepare the revisions and the conference after some debate adopted the reports. They provided that the schools of the state should be classified as follows: (1) High schools maintaining a 4-year course to be of the first class; (2) high schools maintaining a 3-year course to be of the second class; (3) high schools maintaining a 2-year course to be of the third class. A first class high school was construed to be one with eight constants and eight electives; a second class high school to have six constants and six electives; a third class high school to have four constants and four electives. The term constant was defined to require that a study be pursued for thirty-six weeks of five periods each; and the term elective was defined to be an optional study selected from the board of education and city superintendent and pursued for thirty-six weeks of five periods each; the term period being defined as requiring not less than forty-five minutes of class work. The committee recom- mended that under ordinary conditions no student should carry more than four studies of five periods each, or receive credit for more than twenty periods per week. The committee further recommended that a complete syllabus of English work should be prepared. This task was placed upon a committee consisting of Messrs. Schellenbarger, Cochrane, Thompson, Dunlevy, Otte, Emm, Hoff, Brown and Matheny.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 123

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146