USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume I > Part 60
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
Conditions in 1845 .- Nearly ten years after the first public schools had been established in Milwaukee, and in the year preceding that in which the Milwaukee eity charter was adopted, the Sentinel, in its issue of June 7, 1845. said : "The building used for school purposes in the first district is old, dilapi- dated, unpainted and half unglazed, without playground or shade. In this school, ont of a school population of 325 children between the ages of four and sixteen years, only about thirty are in the school, and these are of both sexes, pursuing their studies in text books whose name is legion. Three hundred and eighteen dollars is all that is appropriated for the entire maintenance of this school, not one dollar for each child entitled to receive a common school education."
In the fall of the same year (1845), at a public meeting held for the purpose of taking some action looking towards the improvement of the schools, Mr.
632
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
1. W. Weeks was chosen chairman. I. A. Lapham and A. W. Hatch, secretaries. At this meeting Rufus King made a report in which he said: "The whole number of school children between the ages of five and sixteen years in the Town of Milwaukee is 1,781- There are thirteen schools in operation within the corporate limits, namely, four public and nine private schools. The actual attendance at the public schools is 228, at the private schools 356, or 584 in all. There is no public schoolhouse in the east ward, and there is only a small sized and inconvenient public schoolhouse in the west ward. In the south ward there is a good building. There are upward of one thousand children for whom no adequate provision of school accommodation is made."
A committee consisting of Rufus King. F. Randall. E. D. Smith, Richard Murphy and Moritz Schoeffler, was appointed and instructed to report at the next meeting to he held a few days later on a general plan of revision.
Recommendations of the Committee .- At the meeting held December 17. 1845. the committee recommended that all the common schools be placed under the control of a board of commissioners elected or appointed annually from the several school districts or wards, which should have full control of the pub- lic schools, employing the teachers, preseribing the text books and determining the rate-bills to which recourse might be had for defraying a portion of the expenses. Lastly, the committee recommended "that the school board shall have power to eleet its president, who shall serve the board as its clerk, and who shall be required to make periodical examinations of the schools and report the results thereof to the board." This report was adopted and became in substance the outline of that part of the first city charter which related to the public schools, and was the first important step that had been taken to im- prove the schools and was the first well-defined plan of improvement that had been presented.
Beginning of the City Schools .- The city charter was adopted the next year, namely. April 7, 1846, the date of the first election under the charter. The eity was divided into five wards, namely, the First and Third on the east side. the Second and Fourth on the west side, and the Fifth on the south side. The First Ward public school was first opened in the basement of the old St. Peter's Cathedral on Martin Street, which was kindly offered to the school board by Right Rev. John Martin Henni, archbishop of Milwaukee. "Evi- dently," writes Mr. Donnelly, "the church authorities in those days had no prejudiee against the public schools." In the Third and Fourth Ward schools the sessions were held in rented houses, and in the Second and Fifth wards the schools were held in the buildings that had been used before. These five schools were opened in June, 1846. At the date of the first annual report there were 648 pupils enrolled. with an average daily attendance of 355.
Growth of the Public Schools .- "The city goverment had now come." writes Mr. Donnelly in his historieal account, "a definite form had been adopted for the establishment and maintenance of the schools, but the means to supply even the most limited requirements were still utterly deficient. The population was rapidly increasing, the commercial necessities of the city were so urgent and the tax income so limited. that notwithstanding the popular appreciation of good schools, six whole years must elapse before anything
633
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
like adequate school room was provided. In 1852 five new brick school build- ings, which were then considered quite large, were ready for use. Two of these were on the east side, namely, one on the northwest corner of Van Buren and Division streets, and one on the northeast corner of Detroit and Jackson streets; two on the west, one on the northwest corner of Eighth and Sycamore streets, and one on Fourth Street near Galena. The Fifth Ward (south side) was supplied with one on or near the site of the Fifth District school building. Each of these new buildings was intended to accommodate about three hun- dred and fifty pupils."
As compared with the duties that now devolve upon the school board the board in those early days possessed considerably greater powers and responsi- bilities. But there was one very serious defeet in the system, namely, the lack of professional supervision. "Such supervision seemed to be rather an uncer- tain element in the school organization of that time. A committee of the board was appointed to visit the schools and report impressions received. The visits were seldom made and they led to nothing particularly helpful in school work. It may truthfully be said that from 1852 till 1859, when General King was eleeted as first superintendent of the Milwaukee public schools, the lack of supervision was the most serious fault of the school administration."
Review of the Early Period .- " From the early village school of the '30s the charter school of 1846 followed, and in 1852 the five large and well equipped schools above mentioned. Uniformity of text books, and classification into grammar, intermediate and primary departments were now established. Many of the best teachers that Milwaukee ever had were in the employ of the school board in the '50s. Among the latter we need but name F. C. Pomeroy, whose fame as principal of the Third Ward school was known not only in Milwaukee but throughont the whole Northwest. Until the time of Superin- tendent King whatever of good there was in the schools did not exist so much as a requirement by well-formulated regulations of the school board as by the excellent abilities of the teachers who then served the city.
"The election of a superintendent chosen on account of fitness to supervise the work of the schools was a great step in the development of our present splendid school system. Gen. Rufus King, the first superintendent, was a man eminently fitted to perform the duties of the office. He was a man of liberal education and had long been a member of the school board. There was a decided improvement in the schools from and after the date of his be- coming superintendent." King's connection with the Sentinel obliged him to discontinue his work as superintendent, and in 1860 Jonathan Ford was elected as his snecessor. Ford had been a teacher in the Milwaukee schools and prob- ably knew more of the details of the work than his predecessor, but in breadth and general powers of developing the system and of improving its faulty con- ditions King was distinctly superior. Under Ford's superintendeney the prae- tiee of giving prizes for the best standing in the respective branches was begun. Mr. E. D. Holton gave medals, Mr. R. C. Spencer scholarships in his commer- cial college, and Mr. Alexander Mitchell cash or book prizes for the pupils who attained the highest standings. These contests served a good purpose, awakening a healthy emulation and establishing a higher standard of scholar-
634
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
ship. Unpleasant comments, however, were not unknown. Favoritism, preju- dire, unfairness in making awards, were often heard as charges against the decisions of the examining committees. But it does not appear that any of these charges were provenor operated to hinder the general improvement in the schools.
Consequences of the Panic in 1857 .- The panie of 1857 left long-standing difficulties in the general management of school affairs in its wake. It was during Mr. Ford's term of office that the financial crisis in Milwaukee history finally culminated. "School orders," says Donnelly, "were seeking pur- chasers at a discount of from 20 to 25 per cent. Finally, the school board closed the schools for more than two months, which brought the common vouneil to a definite decision in making the provisions necessary to meet the financial requirements. To the credit of the teachers be it said, that none of them deserted their ill-paid positions in consequence of the loss sustained in having their pay stopped at a time when they could ill afford to suffer any loss. Sixteen teachers were dropped from the service. the two high schools were discontinued, as essential steps of retrenchment.
"The work of the schools was resumed, and. in spite of the depressing financial difficulties, the Milwaukee schools did good work in those days when the dark elouds of the Civil war ominously darkened the southern horizon, and the boys left the schools to blow the patriotic strains of the fife or tap the war drum to give the marching columns time ; or, still oftener, to join the ranks and march away to the front. The stern demands of the war did thin the upper grades of the schools, but the work still went on. Those stirring. sad days of war lent an impetus to the rhetorical work of the schools. The speeches of John Adams. Patrick Henry and Daniel Webster were rendered with adjunets of feeling and passion befitting the times.
"The war music aroused the spirit of patriotism. All the older teachers can well remember with what spirit the pupils sang . Rally Round the Flag, 'The Red, White and Blue,' 'John Brown's Body, and . Lay Me Down and Save the Flag, and how those stirring lines on 'Sheridan's Ride' were spoken by the boys and girls ahost as soon as taken from the press! History teach- ing received a new impulse ; it was no longer regarded as a study of secondary importance. The history of the times was told by the pupils in well written compositions, and the schools received a mighty impulse from the great deeds that were being performed on the bloody fields of the South."
Later Superintendents .- In 1862, J. R. Sharpstein, one of the editors of the Milwaukee News, was elected superintendent. but he resigned after a few months, on account of the pressing demands of his editorial work on his paper. One of the members of the school board. Mr. De Wolf, was elected as superintendent, and served three years. During the last year of Mr. De Wolf's term of office, the following were the principals in the employ of the school board: First Ward, F. C. Pomeroy: Second Ward. Jacob Wernli : Third Ward, Patrick Connolly, Jr. : Fourth Ward. C. K. Martin : Fifth Ward. Galen B. Seaman: Sixth Ward, F. C. Lan: Seventh Ward, II. B. Furness: Eighth Ward, O. M. Baker: Ninth Ward, Lonis Hillmantel.
"May 15, 1865. Mr. F. C. Pomeroy, who had been recognized and coneeded
635
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
by all to be one of the ablest and best teachers that ever taught in the Mil- waukee schools, was elected superintendent. Mr. Pomeroy's supervision was uniform, constant and painstaking. Trained in the work himself, he knew what was attainable, and by his careful examinations of all the classes in the eity he was soon able to make intelligent and fair comparisons of the relative status attained by teachers engaged in the same grade of work.
"Yearly examinations of teachers had been required up till the time of Mr. Pomeroy's administration, and having himself been required to go through this humiliating annual test he soon indueed the school board to abandon it. Sinee his time a teacher's certificate is required but onee. The department system, namely, grammar, intermediate and primary departments constitute the three divisions of a school. * * During Mr. Pomeroy's administra- tion mental arithmetic attained a very high standard of excellence in the Milwaukee schools, Pupils in the highest or first grade could with the great- est rapidity analyze problems that usually required an algebraic solution.
* * The branches taught during Mr. Pomeroy's term of service om- hraeed reading, spelling, writing, grammar, arithmetic-mental and practical, geography, United States history, physical geography and music. German was optional."
In January, 1868, the high school was opened in the Seventh district school as a part of the system. The whole number of pupils enrolled in the high school during the first year was 100, and the average daily attendance was sixty-eight.
Mr. Pomeroy died August 25, 1870, and George II. Paul was shortly after- ward elected to fill his unexpired term. Mr. Pant had been a member of the school board but had no practical experience as a teacher. He followed Mr. Pomeroy's plan of superintending the schools. He examined teachers and pupils as Mr. Pomeroy had done, but did not attempt any change either in the work as he found it or in the manner of doing it.
F. C. Lau's Superintendency .- In May, 1871, Mr. F. C. Lan, who had been principal of one of the schools, was elected as Mr. Paul's successor. "He at- tempted more than any of his predecessors." writes Mr. Donnelly. "He had mental arithmetic dropped as a separate branch of instruction ; he undertook to revolutionize grammar teaching by eliminating most of what is known as technical grammar and by substituting composition or language exercises instead ; he tried to have ' Morals and Manners' made a part of the course of study ; and he recommended the following textbooks to be used by the teach- ers as a guide or basis of instruction : Willson's Manual, Hadley's Language Exercises, Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, 'Our World,' by Mrs. Hall, etc. "Mr. Lau's theories, " continues Mr. Donnelly, "tended largely towards an entire change of the matter and methods followed prior to his time. There was so much change attempted that confusion and uncertainty followed as a consequence. Such extensive changes in school work never improve the existing order of things. School work is rarely so bad as to warrant an entire change in all that relates to it."
During Mr. Lan's term of service a Normal department or division of in- struction was added to the high school, and Miss Sarah L. Denton was ap-
636
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
pointed the teacher and Miss Sarah A. Stewart as assistant. "The establish- ment of the Normal department," says Mr. Donnelly, "proved to be the wisest investment ever made by the school board. Prior to that time but few of the Milwaukee teachers "had any professional training other than that acquired by experience. Year by year the City Normal School graduated classes of teachers that were trained to enter upon the work of teaching with the experience that made their work successful from the very commencement. There is probably no other single factor in the history of the Milwaukee schools that has contributed so much to their high standing as did the City Normal School. Its founders hardly realized the extent of its I'nture influenee upon the Milwaukee schools."
James MacAlister's Superintendency .- In May. 1874, James MacAlister was elected to the office of superintendent. He had been a principal of the schools ten years or more before that time, and at the time of his election was president of the school board. le had unbounded faith in the Normal department, and one of his first important official acts was to recommend making the Normal department independent of the high school. Miss Sarah Stewart was the principal and for many years she gave the very best proofs of her fitness to train the graduates of the high school to become teachers. "Before Mr. MaeAlister's time, the highest classes of the district or ward schools were examined in their respective schools for promotion to the high school. Mr. MacAlister, in 1874, changed this plan and instituted therefor one general examination for all the first grades of the city."
Preparation for the Centennial Exhibition .- " The Centennial Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1876," continues the account we have drawn from, "afforded an opportunity of making an exhibit of school work. Mr. Mae- Alister, with the aid of some of the principals, laid out the plan of the exhibit contributed by the Milwaukee schools. It embraced specimens of school work from all of the grades in which pupils were able to write. The time for doing the work was niform throughout the schools, and as soon as finished the work was forwarded to the superintendent's office where it was appropriately arranged and classified. It was then bound into 114 volumes.
"Large photographs of the school buildings were taken and Framed. A silk banner was prepared upon which was printed the number of schools, the school enrollment, attendance. number of teachers, total cost of schools, ete. These became a part of the Milwaukee exhibit. The work, and particularly the plan of presenting it. received well-merited distinction. The president of the commission of education of the French republie. M. Buisson, was so im- pressed with the work that he made a two days' visit to Milwaukee for the purpose of seeing the schools and studying more elosely the manner of doing the work."
So great an impression was made by this exhibit that in 1878. upon receiv- ing an invitation from the educational department of the Paris Universal Exposition, the same work exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition, with some additional work, was forwarded to Paris, and a silver medal was obtained in recognition of its merits. Eight volumes of the work exhibited were given to Japan, ten to Italy, and the remainder to the minister of publie instruction
637
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
in France, to be placed in the pedagogical museum and library in Le Palais Bourbon.
Redistricting and Changing Names of the Schools .- During the years 1875 and 1876, the school board redistrieted the eity and changed the names of the sehools, as follows :
First Ward, Juneau School to First Distriet Sehool.
Second Ward, Webster School to Second Distriet School.
Second Ward (primary). Jefferson School to Second District Primary.
Third Ward. Jackson School to Third District School.
Fourth Ward. Plankinton School to Fourth District School.
Fifth Ward, Mitchell School to Fifth District School.
Sixth Ward, Humboldt School to Sixth Distriet School.
Sixth Ward (primary). Union School to Sixth District Primary.
Seventh Ward, Hathaway School to Seventh Distriet Sehool.
Eighth Ward. Douglas School to Eighth Distriet School.
Ninth Ward, Quentin School to Ninth District School.
Tenth Ward, Washington School to Tenth District School.
Eleventh Ward, Franklin School to Eleventh Distriet School.
Twelfth Ward, Lincoln School to Twelfth District School.
Ås the distriet numbers of the schools corresponded with the numbers of the wards, there was less difficulty in locating the schools than there had been when they were known by the personal names. Inneau. Webster, etc.
.
Changes Made in the Courses of Study .- " Several changes were made in the graded courses of study during Mr. MacAlister's term of service, " con- tinnes Mr. Donnelly in his excellent history of the schools. "Algebra was dropped from the course in the district schools and elementary mensuration and bookkeeping were added. The use of a textbook in teaching spelling was discontinued. Several of what were designated as 'impractical rules' found in the textbooks of arithmetic were also discontinued. These changes were all intended to make the school work more practical than it had been hereto- fore."
In May, 1878. J. J. Somers was elected superintendent of schools and served until May, 1880, when James MacAlister was again elected. No change of moment occurred during Mr. Somers' administration. Warm dis- cussions took place upon the textbook question, resulting in a better class of manuals. The readers were better printed, more clearly illustrated and better arranged with reference to the successive development of pupils. Geographies . were greatly improved, better arranged and the maps showed the advance- ments made in the engraving and printing arts. Evening schools were estab- lished but the results were somewhat disappointing. There was one evil con- sequence that grew out of evening schools, namely, parents withdrew their boys and girls from the day schools to engage in employment under the mis- taken belief that the young people could get as much education as was need- ful in the evening schools. Mr. MaeAlister resigned AApril 3. 1883, to accept a similar position in the City of Philadelphia.
William E. Anderson was elected superintendent in 1883 and served until March, 1892. a period of almost nine years. In 1885. a deaf-mute school was
638
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
established in the primary school building at the corner of Seventh and Prairie streets under the charge of Mr. Paul Binner. The Legislature pro- vided for the support of this school by making an allowance of $100 per annum For each pupil. When Professor Binner took charge of the deal-mute school he was the only teacher, but afterwards he was provided with several assist- ants as the school grew in numbers and popularity. Other changes occurred during Mr. Anderson's term resulting in the betterment of school work. Mr. George W. Peckham was elected superintendent in March, 1892. Mr. Peck- ham had been connected with the Milwaukee High School for the previous twenty years.
In 1881, during Mr. Mae Alister's second term of service. a single kinder- garten school was opened. Kindergarten schools have rapidly increased in popularity until now (1919-1920) the enrollment of pupils is given in the school report as 6,851. The total enrollment including all grades in the schools is given in the same report as 55,822. More complete statistics follow in a later portion of this chapter.
The German Language in the Schools .- The history of the Public Schools in Milwaukee was written by Mr. Patrick Donnelly as a contribution to the "Columbian History of Education in Wisconsin, " and we have used his well- written account largely in the preparation of this chapter. It must be remem- bered that at the time he wrote the history no opposition had as yet mani- fested itself to the teaching of the German language in the schools as was witnessed during the progress of the great war of later years. Mr. Donnelly wrote previously to 1893, the year in which the "History of Education in Wisconsin" was published. His discussion of the subject, however. is of great interest in view of the bitterness engendered in the years of war. Publie opin- ion has become greatly ameliorated as those years are rapidly receding into the past.
"The very large proportion of German-speaking patrons of the Milwau- kee public schools, " writes Mr. Donnelly, "was the cause of making German a branch of the course of instruction. In the German speaking distriets, such as the Second, Sixth and Ninth, German was spoken and incidentally taught even before the school board made it a part of the course of instruction in 1867. Teachers of German were at first appointed for those schools in which the German-speaking children largely predominated.
".Soon after, however, the argument was presented that there were some German-speaking children in all the schools. also that there were many others who desired to study German. The advantage of understanding a language which was spoken by more than half of the whole population could not be questioned. There was another reason advanced for the study of German in the public schools, and that was that it afforded the surest means of leading the German-speaking children into the public schools, and thereby to learn the English language.
"After the adoption of German as a part of the course of instruction, there was a marked increase of enrollment in the public schools, and a cor- responding decrease in the German private schools. In July, 1869, three of the Mitchell prizes were given for the best German translations. For the first
639
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
three years after the adoption of German, there were no formal reports as to the numbers studying that language. In fact, the records contain but little if any reference to it.
"November 1, 1870, the school board adopted the following rules: First, applicants for the position of teacher of the German language should not be deemed qualified for such position until they have passed a satisfactory ex- antination, showing their capability of writing and teaching both the English and German languages ; second, monthly reports to the superintendent should, after that time, include the number and percentage of those studying the German language in the respective grades; third, pupils studying the German language presented for promotion should be examined with reference to their proficiency in that language.
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.