USA > Vermont > The Lake Champlain and Lake George valleys, Vol II > Part 36
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Middlebury College was an outgrowth of Addison County Gram- mar School, incorporated in 1797. The idea that it should develop into a college seems to have been held from the beginning, and in October, 1798, a petition was sent to the Legislature. An Act estab- lishing Middlebury College was passed two years later in the fall of 1800. Seven students enrolled at once, one of them completing his course in 1802, two years before the University of Vermont's first com- mencement. The college expected to receive income from public lands, but, unlike its sister institution in Burlington, it did not obtain economic assistance from the State. As a result, in addition to other factors, the
2 TRAAMENTE SENDEROFTHE SEITE
LER'S
( Courtesy of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce)
IRA ALLEN STATUE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
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young college was forced to undergo a terrible struggle to survive. Attendance reached eighty-six in 1830 and one hundred and sixty-eight in 1836, but was only forty-six in 1840 and forty-nine in 1871. Women were first admitted to classes in 1883. As in the case of the Univer- sity of Vermont the bulk of its growth has taken place in this century. Although not as large as its sister institution, its alumni have accom- plished much and the influence of Middlebury College extends over a wide area. Paul Dwight Moody has been president since 1921. One unique feature of this institution at the present time is its widely known summer school which specializes in modern foreign languages.
St. Michael's College is a small Catholic institution located near Winooski, Chittenden County. It was established in 1904 by the Fathers of St. Edmund, whose schools had been confiscated in France. They were without adequate funds and their development was char- acterized by a fierce struggle to survive. The institution operated as a boarding school and provided both high school and college courses. It was incorporated in 1913, and the present president is the Rev. Leon E. Gosselin.
Mount St. Mary's Academy was opened in 1889 and conducted by the Sisters of Mercy, who came to Burlington in 1874. In 1925 an advanced course was begun here known as Trinity College. It is now the only Catholic college for women in Vermont. The present dean and registrar is Sister M. Emmanuel.
Fifth, last and most youthful of the collegiate institutions located in our six Vermont counties is Bennington College. It was opened in 1932 and in the short time since then has earned a wide reputation. It is devoted entirely to the education of young women, the bulk of whom come from outside the State. Here we find stressed the infor- mal development of individual talents and tastes, and the fitting of students to a proper social perspective. The present executive head is Robert D. Leigh.
There are three junior colleges in Vermont, one of which is the Green Mountain Junior College at Poultney, Rutland County. It grew out of Troy Conference Academy, which was founded here in 1836 by the Methodist Episcopal Church. This was not only one of the oldest but was also one of the most respected secondary schools in Vermont. An unusual feature was that at one time it became Rip- ley Female College. The present junior college is a co-educational
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institution which took its present name in 1931. Its cultural influence is evident in eastern New York as well as in Vermont. The present executive head is Jesse P. Bogue.
Middlebury was the site in 1800 of the first female seminary in America. It was opened by Miss Ida Strong, of Litchfield, Connecti- cut, but she died in 1804, and in 1807 her work was taken up by Miss Emma Hart, of Berlin, Connecticut, who later became famous as Mrs. Emma Willard. Her more famous school at Troy, New York, was not started until 1821.
Although the "academy" is now primarily a feature of the past, in its day and age it played a vital part in our educational systems. The first institution bearing that name established in Vermont was Clio Hall at Bennington, founded in 1780. There were ten such institu- tions by 1800, seventy-five by 1850, and over a hundred when the Civil War broke out. Today there are but twenty-one in the entire State, and nine in the six Vermont counties of this research. Many of these are denominational institutions, being organized or controlled by various religious groups. High schools were not started until the 1840s. The greatest relative change between them and academies occurred between 1880 and 1905, when the number of high schools increased from thirty-four to sixty-six and "academies" decreased from sixty-nine to sixteen. On the New York side the story of the rise and fall of "academies" was rather similar. The oldest in the New York counties covered by this research, and also fourth in order of crea- tion in all New York State was Washington Academy of Salem, Wash- ington County, incorporated in 1791. It also won the distinction of being the first institution outside of New York City to become a free academy. In all, about two hundred were chartered and most of them did useful work. Union free schools-really high schools-were established as early as 1853, and as they were formed academies began to disappear. The academies of New York State today are mostly parochial and confined largely to the populous urban centers. It is only natural in this beautiful summer resort area of ours that religious education should be provided in the vacation months. At Cliff Haven, near Plattsburgh, we find the Catholic Summer School of America, while on the shores of Lake George there is the Protestant group known as the Silver Bay Association. At Saranac Lake is being established by the Friars of the Atonement, which is a Franciscan
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Order, a preparatory seminary for young men entering the priest- hood. Graduates will go to the Friar Seminary at Catholic University, Washington, District of Columbia. The principal is Father Samuel Cummings.
In a survey of the educational and cultural development of this region "Yaddo" deserves a prominent place. This is the name of an estate of five hundred acres located in Saratoga Springs and was once the home of Spencer and Katrina Trask. In accordance with a joint will, it was turned over to the Corporation of Yaddo on their death. Since then it has been used in the summer months as a retreat for creative artists, who are free to pursue their work uninterrupted by practical cares or the details of making a living. Much has been con- tributed to culture by these invited guests of "Yaddo." Actually, there is not one county out of our eleven that has not served as inspira- tion for authors, artists or musicians. Their names would constitute a surprisingly long list and it is literally impossible to make it com- plete. Bennington County, in particular, is the home of writers, the leader of whom is that great poet, Robert Frost. Warren County has for decades lured great singers, composers and instrumentalists in the summer months. The entire area has been blessed with men and women of culture, as the hills with trees.
One of the most unusual features of this entire region is the Ver- mont Symphony Orchestra, the first and only rural symphonic ensem- ble in the United States. It was organized by Alan Carter without any such impetus as Federal aid or a millionaire's backing. It plays in community halls, churches, farm granges and buildings of that type. It is composed of sixty players, forty of whom are amateurs drawn from all walks of life. They live in all parts of the State and play in all sections. Semi-weekly rehearsals are conducted in two groups, one at Rutland and one at Burlington. Thus twice a week the play- ers have to travel in their own cars as much as fifty miles to practice. Probably nothing would astound a returning pioneer quite as much as to learn that such an organization now exists, a feature utterly unthink- able in his own day. Even now this State-wide symphony orchestra is a source of wonder to people of other commonwealths.
The development of elementary schools has been purposely left until last. Our educational systems offer little in the way of compari- son with the log schoolhouses erected by the early pioneers. Today
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there are large, pleasant and well-equipped buildings of brick and stone. Instead of the old-fashioned master, to whom teaching was often only incidental, we have our modern specialists who rank favor- ably with other professional groups in all respects except remunera- tion. Elaborate library facilities, in many cases, have replaced the Bible of early schoolrooms. No longer is heat supplied from wood- stoves and fireplaces ; while electricity now supplements lighting facili- ties when the sun fails to shine. Health and sanitation are now given serious consideration and the teaching of subjects other than the 'three R's" has developed far beyond the experimental stage.
Much of the improvement in the field of elementary education has taken place in comparatively recent times. As late as 1851, Vermont's State Superintendent of Common Schools reported:
"The vast majority of schoolhouses in the State of Vermont are relics of 'other days,' and have contributed no small share of influ- ence in forming the character and shaping the destiny of two or three generations. They have been nurseries of disease, of physical and moral deformity, and of mental imbecility. Their construction, loca- tion and arrangement, internal and external, are directly calculated to suppress the risings of every moral sentiment, and to excite the lower and vicious propensities of our nature; and thus they have contributed their full quota to fill our jails and prisons, our lunatic asylums and hospitals."
This appears to be an overstatement made by an administrator pardonably disgusted with the educational system of his day. Actually, although conditions were often terrible, much of a constructive nature was accomplished. A large number of the teachers, by virtue of pre- cept and example, profoundly influenced the citizens that led in the development of the Champlain Valley. As has been indicated, the achievements attained here in all walks of life were truly heroic and unquestionably great. So much could not have been possible of accom- plishment, if Burnham's description, quoted above, were accurate. The truth is that the unpleasant features of our school systems tend to live after us, while the good things are more easily lost from public view. That there were 9,882 cases of corporal punishment in Vermont in 1860 seems difficult to forget; that no State ever produced, in pro- portion to its population, a greater list of great men is apparently
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hard to remember. The rowdiness of the pupils makes more sensa- tional reading than the character moulding influence of great teachers.
No attempt can be made here to trace in detail the development of elementary education from pioneer days to the present time. It would be a story as complicated as the history of education itself. At one time or another every possible theory of educational philosophy has been practiced here. It would be difficult to find a type of school building never constructed here. All manner of professional require- ments have existed at one time or another. At first there was no regu- lation whatever, while today there are numerous State-wide require- ments. Methods of instruction have succeeded each other in never- ending cycles, although under different names. In the realm of text- books and school equipment all manner of conditions have prevailed. Even in this present day there is tremendous variation in all phases between educational facilities offered in neighboring schools.
In both New York and Vermont there has been a growing tendency to regard education as primarily a State function. In the first place, communities within a State vary greatly as to their ability to provide an adequate education for children, and also as to their willingness to do so. There seems to be no particular reason why one student should be penalized educationally merely because he happens to be born in a poor or a backward township, nor why another youth should be pampered simply because he is reared in the centers of wealth. The basis of American democracy is equal opportunity to all, which cannot exist without equality in the right to procure an education. In the second place our population of the present day is increasingly mobile. Less and less do people live and die in the town of their birth. Therefore, if education is deficient in one community it is likely to react unfavorably on other sections of the State or even beyond. A pupil poorly adapted to life by one school system, may in his adult years, present a serious social or moral problem elsewhere.
Proceeding on this assumption that education is a State function, it then follows that it is the State's duty to see to it that educational opportunity is equalized within its boundaries. There are two ways in which this can be accomplished: by providing a system of State regulations with penalties attached to make them enforceable; and by granting financial inducements to encourage progressive measures. Both methods have been employed in New York and in Vermont,
(Courtesy of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce ) IRA ALLEN CHAPEL, UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
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although the former, of course, has much greater financial reservoirs that it can tap. Such control constitutes a trend toward centralization, yet the broad purpose of State regulation of education is equality of opportunity for Americans of tomorrow.
The entire question of State aid to schools is at present a contro- versial issue. Local funds for schools are mostly derived from taxes on real estate, a source of public money that has borne more than its share of the tax burden. State funds on the other hand are from assessments on personal incomes, corporations, gasoline and other sources. Thus it is not only a matter of whether local or State funds should be used for the support of education, but also whether the schools should be financed by owners of real estate, or by individuals earning certain incomes, using motor fuel or serving as members of corporations. The matter is very much of a football in the hands of these tax groups.
Sometimes the quarrel is not over the principle of State aid to education, but over the amount of it. At present in New York State the argument has reached a critical point, derived partly from the economic depression which makes the public more tax-conscious than in normal times, and partly from the constantly growing totals of State aid. At present it exceeds by far any other item in the State budget. Realizing that the old district school did not constitute an efficient unit of education suitable for our modern age, the State has sought to unite them into central schools, providing financial inducements as an impetus. As a result, rural New York has witnessed an amazing trans- ition and the children from the farms have been provided, in many instances, with an education equal to that which their city cousins have always had. Based on per pupil cost, the expense of education in New York is comparatively high, while based on ability to pay and living conditions it is small. Under the liberal provisions of the central school act, local communities improved their educational standards, acting on the assumption that the State would continue to support what had been financially encouraged at the beginning. When the Legislature in 1939 decided to make a flat reduction in State aid, the local districts were faced with the choice of increasing local taxation on real estate or mak- ing economies which, in most instances, were bound to curtail the edu- cational services of the schools.
CHAPTER XXIV
Political and Social Development
In a certain sense our political and social history has already been described in detail. The evolution of our local units of government, even the remotest of mountain townships, has been chronicled in these pages, while the social habits and customs of all generations have been discussed without limitation. Much of the presentation, however, has been factual rather than interpretive. Our picture is not yet com- plete. It is essential in the final analysis no longer to study these eleven counties as a unit apart from the rest of the Nation, but rather to consider in its larger aspects the relationship between the Cham- plain Valley and our country as a whole. Just what has been the part played by these counties, both individually and collectively, in solv- ing national political and social problems? What is the political and social philosophy of the Champlain Valley in this present day? Finally, and what is of even more interest and importance, what is the proper explanation or interpretation? On the whole, the attitude of this sec- tion on political and social questions has been logical and constitutes no mystery to anyone familiar with conditions that have existed here. Frankly, however, there are a few minor political phenomena that persist in defying reason.
No frontier ever offered many attractions to the rich, the suc- cessful and the well-born as a place to settle and build a home. The dominant interest of this class in the virgin wilderness was economic profit. Their absence from the luxurious drawing-rooms of the sea- coast was but temporary, the length of time depending on the state of the family fortune and economic prospects on the frontier. The actual settlers of the Champlain Valley were the "have-nots," those who did not fit into the rigid economic, social, political and religious
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mould of the older aristocratic towns. Professor Dwight, of Yale, has left us an interesting description of these early settlers :
"The class of pioneers cannot live in regular society. They are too idle, too talkative, too passionate, too prodigal, and too shiftless to acquire either property or character. They are impatient of the restraints of law, religion, and morality, and grumble about the taxes by which the Rulers, Ministers, and Schoolmasters are supported. After exposing the injustice of the community in neglecting to invest persons of such superior merit in public offices, in many an eloquent harangue uttered by many a kitchen fire, in every black- smith shop, in every corner of the streets, and finding all their efforts vain, they become at length discouraged, and under the pressure of poverty, the fear of the gaol, and consciousness of public contempt, leave their native places and betake themselves to the wilderness."
Of course, this is the picture of the pioneer when painted in dark colors by a conservative of the dominant class, but after we discount class prejudice a good portrait remains. He was the restless, untamed individual who soon attained fame as a Green Mountain Boy and who, according to Burgoyne, belonged to "the most active and rebel- lious race on the continent." The eastern side of the Champlain Val- ley was settled very largely by New Englanders, whereas in some places on the western side of the valley there was a considerable Dutch element, in addition to the pioneers from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Ver- mont. Since the Dutch were more aristocratic and conservative than their neighbors, our New York counties were not so radical as those of Vermont. Lynch law, as typified by the "beech seal," was as for- eign to the Dutch temperament as cheap currency to a banker. In any case, the New York counties were in a State possessing a firmly established government, with the aristocracy in full control; whereas the political destiny of Vermont was in a state of ferment until after the Constitution was adopted and Washington was already President.
During the critical period of our history both New York and Vermont were favored with great governors. With the exception of 1789-90, Thomas Chittenden guided the destinies of Vermont from 1778 to his death in 1797. He has justly been described as the George Washington of his State. He was a staunch Federalist and while he lived there was little partisan rancor, most Vermonters being content
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to trust his benevolent rule. In New York State, George Clinton was Governor from 1777 to 1795 and from 1801 to 1804. He was of the aristocracy by birth but not by sympathy, and it is a tribute to his greatness that he held the highest political office so long in a State possessing such outstanding aristocrats as Hamilton and Jay. For reasons of political philosophy he was opposed to the ratification of the Constitution, and became a leader of the anti-Federalists. Thus while Vermont, a youthful and radical State, was governed by a Fed- eralist, old, aristocratic New York was ruled by an anti-Federalist. At least this peculiar situation met the needs of the time because in Vermont political stability was urgent, while in New York an anti- dote was needed for the snobbery of the Jays, the lack of faith in democracy felt by the Hamiltons, and the traditions of the landed estates.
The first regular governor of Vermont after Chittenden was another Federalist, Isaac Tichenor, who held office from 1797 to 1807, and from 1808 to 1809. Unlike the previous administration, however, there was now heated party warfare. Although the Legis- lature proved its orthodox federalism by disapproving the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, it was by a vote of one hundred and four to fifty-two, and the minority was strong enough to make its presence felt. The time was soon to come when Tichenor would face a hostile majority.
Probably no one factor was more important in influencing the trend toward anti-Federalism or Republicanism than the case of Mat- thew Lyon. Reference has previously been made to this fiery Repub- lican from Fair Haven, Rutland County. He was sent to Congress from Vermont in 1797, and there he became the scourge of the Fed- eralists. It will be recalled how he was unjustly sentenced to a fine and imprisonment under the unconstitutional Sedition Act because of remarks made in his newspaper. It happened that Vermont Federal- ism was not so uncompromising and strong as the variety common to most of New England. In fact, there were few Timothy Pickerings in the Green Mountain State. Here the bulk of the voting popula- tion was not Federalist by economic interest, but rather because of ties of birth and tradition with Massachusetts and Connecticut; because of nationalist fervor so often associated with all frontiersmen; and last but not least, because of the example of such leaders as Washing-
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ton and Chittenden. The people of Vermont now reacted to the persecution of Lyon by aristocratic Federalists, much the same as the Green Mountain Boys had resented external authority at the time of the land feud with New Yorkers. Lyon became a martyr in the eyes of most Vermonters and, although he was in jail at the time, he was reëlected to Congress by an overwhelming majority. His journey to Congress was a triumphal procession the entire distance. He did not long remain a Vermonter, moving to Kentucky in 1801 ; but Federalism in Vermont had received a crushing blow, although it was not dead.
Vermont's first Republican Governor was Israel Smith, who served from 1807 to 1808. After Tichenor's last term Jonas Galusha, a second Republican, was intrenched from 1809 to 1820, with the exception of 1813-15, when in the hectic days of the War of 1812, Vermont returned temporarily to Federalism. In national elections the trend toward Republicanism was even more marked. In 1800 Jef- ferson received but one electoral vote in all New England, but that came from Vermont. This proved to be a harbinger of things yet to come, for in 1804 Jefferson carried all of the New England States except Connecticut. In 1808, when the Northeast was bitter over the Embargo Act, Vermont was the only New England State to remain Republican. Again in 1812, Vermont alone gave its vote to Madi- son. The Green Mountain State might justly, therefore, be called the least Federalist of all New England States.
The key to the political mysteries of New York State during this formative period lies not in party warfare but in personalities and cliques. Here, for the most part, we find doubtful political territory, most elections being quite close. That this was generally recognized at that time is evident from the fact that Aaron Burr (under Jeffer- son) was but the first of a number of New York leaders who were selected as possible material for the position of Vice-President. There seems not to have been too great respect for party labels. Both Hamil- ton and Burr became noted for their part in factional disputes within their own political groups. The latter, in particular, was prone to flirt and intrigue with members of the opposition. Burr and Clinton, although fellow-Republicans, were both willing to consort with Fed- eralists to defeat each other. Each leader had his own personal follow- ing whose loyalty transcended devotion to party. As a result the politi- cal history of New York in this period was not concerned so much with
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