USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895 > Part 33
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It is probable that German, by forming an integral part of the course of instruction, was
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introduced into the public schools upon the right principle to make it successful. In many cities it had been introduced into the school system in separate schools, where English was only taught incidentally. This had always and inevitably given rise to much dissatisfaction. A report was made October, 1880, by a special committee to look into the German instruction, in which it is recommended that the primary grades be supplied with instructors in German, by the appointment of regular class teachers as assistants to the teachers of German already in the school. These assistant teachers of German were to receive fifty dollars per year in addition to their regular sala- ries as class teachers. They must be duly examined and certified to teach German, and would have classes not higher than the fourth grade. A pro- tracted discussion followed this report, but it was finally adopted in May, 1881. To carry out the purpose of the foregoing rules, a class in Ger- man was established in the normal school under Professor Bernard Abrams of the high school. In this way a number of teachers could be obtained each year from the normal school, who could per- form the duties of assistants in German.
At about this time the German course of instruction was revised and the three books edited by the German teachers were introduced and used throughout all the grades. In December, 1884, the board accepted the very generous offer of W. W. Coleman to give the A. B. C. Post, Kindergarten-Post and Jugend-Post, for the use of the schools, gratis. They were formally adopted by the board as supplementary reading matter. Generous acknowledgment for this free gift to public education was made by the board and by teachers. Since the death of Mr. Coleman the publication of the juvenile papers has continued, but they are no longer distributed free to the schools.
At the board meeting on January 6, 1886, the report of the special Committee on German In- struction was adopted, providing for the annual election of a superintendent of German. He must devote three hours daily to supervision and the balance of the time to class instruction in the high school. At the following meeting in February, Bernard A. Abrams was appointed to this position at a salary of eighteen hundred dollars per annum. Instruction based upon the oral method was adopt- ed by the board. In grading his classes in German,
Superintendent Abrams, in his report to the super- intendent of schools July 6, 1886, says: "The method used in the various classes and the subject matter of the lessons should always be adapted to the average child in the class, and this regardless of grades or limit of standing in other branches of study." He insists upon teachers of German conducting their work so that their pupils should be taught to speak German regardless of their nationality. This is the essential part of the teacher's work, and to "this end his energies must be untiringly devoted." In this same report Mr. Abrams remarks that, prior to the discontinuance of the city normal school, those wishing to pre- pare themselves for teaching German spent four years in the high school, where a full four-years' German course was open to them; and in addition to this he gave two lessons a week to these pupils after entering the normal. When the normal became a state institution, the course in the high school was made three years, and no instruction in German was given in the normal school. The fact that German had no place in the curriculum of the state normal was deplored, and a memorial was sent to the Board of the Normal Regents by the School Board, urging the introduction of German into the normal, whereby graduates of the high school could there continue their German instruction and fit them- selves for teaching the language in the public schools. This demand was not met by the nor- mal school and subsequently, by recommendation of the joint high school and German committees, a German normal four-years' course was established in the high school. This action was in response to a demand for more competent teachers of Ger- man. Upon graduation from this course they re- ceive a diploma and certificate from the superin- tendent of German, which entitles them to receive from the board a "Special Assistant's Certificate of German." Their compensation was made the same as that of teachers from the first to the sixth grade.
By authority of the School Board, March 1, 1887, five hundred copies of the " Manual of Pri- mary and Oral Instruction in the German Lan- guage," prepared by Superintendent Abrams, were printed. This manual was for the use of teachers of German in the schools. The employment of special assistant teachers of German, commencing in 1886, proved much more satisfactory than the
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instruction given by the class teachers. On July 5, 1887, the salary of the superintendent of Ger- man was raised from eighteen hundred dollars to two thousand dollars per annum, and remains the same to the present time. During the winter of 1889 an attempt was made in the legislature to prohibit the teaching of the German language in the public schools. The School Board adopted resolutions against the proposed legislation at its meeting, March 5, 1889, and the project met with a decided defeat in the legislature. The conserv- ative and efficient manner in which instruction has been carried on in the Milwaukee schools has given it a strong position in the system.
On December 6, 1892, a rule was adopted by the board permitting pupils to omit geography in the sixth and seventh grades, and book-keeping in the eighth grade, and substitute German. Many pupils now entering the high school, even of American parentage, have a good conversational acquaintance with German. They are divided into beginners, intermediate, and advanced, in the first year of the high school. In response to a communication from the director of German, December, 27, 1893, the Committee on German, with the Committee on Rules recommended that each district school having an average enrollment of not less than sixty pupils studying German, in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades together, shall have one teacher of German, and if below sixty an assistant teacher of German. By this plan a material reduction in the cost of German instruction was made possible.
It may be seen, by referring to the tables of the School Board reports and proceedings, that the study of German in the schools has not only held its own, but has gradually advanced in popularity as measured in attendance upon German instruc- tion. For the school year 1870-71, out of a total enrollment of eight thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine pupils attending school, thirty-one per cent. were studying German; for 1880-81, with a total enrollment of fourteen thousand five hundred and eighty-six pupils, fifty per cent. were in German classes; for the year 1890-91, out of a total enrollment of twenty-four thousand six hundred and seventy-six pupils, sixty per cent. were in German, and for the last month of the school year ending 1894, sixty three and one-half per cent. were in German classes.
A resolution of the Common Council was sent
to the School Board, September, 1876, recommend- ing establishing and maintaining an inexpen- sive kindergarten in connection with the branch primary school in the Second ward. The board failed to carry out the recommendation of the council, but a year and a half later permitted Miss Sara Stewart, principal of the city normal school, to visit St. Louis to study the workings of the kindergarten system in that city, and to adopt such features as would be desirable in the training of the young teachers under her charge. The fol- lowing month, by recommendation of the High School Committee, the board appointed Miss Nel- lie Fisher as director of the kindergarten depart- ment in the normal school. The model kinder- garten, under Miss Fisher, was the beginning of that class of work in the public schools.
It had always been a serious problem to the board to know what to do with the little wards placed in their care under the age of six years. In October, 1881, the superintendent reports one thousand, eight hundred and fifty-eight of these children in the public schools. The kin- dergarten or Froebel plan seemed to be exactly suited to their needs, and to those who had inves- tigated the system the only question seemed one of expense. In December, 1881, Miss Sara Stewart was appointed, at a salary of fifteen hun- dred dollars per year, director of kindergartens. She was to manage the model department of the normal school, train local directors and supervise the work of the kindergartens when they were opened and put into operation. On Febuuary 7, 1882, Mr. J. G. J. Campbell, chairman of the Committee on Kindergartens, and Superintendent MacAlister re- ported to the board the results of their visit to St. Lonis to inspect the working of the kindergarten system there. Miss Blow had been working single- handed for eight years and during that time had given of her time and strength and money, and es- tablished sixty kindergartens in the city, which were under the direction of trained directors and as- sistants. These gentlemen were of the opinion that the kindergarten should be made an organic part of the school system, with trained teachers in charge of the work. They regarded the advantages much greater in Milwaukee than in St. Louis for intro- ducing the system, since the minimum legal school age in Milwaukee is four years and in St. Louis six. They also recommend a more intimate con- nection between the kindergarten and primary
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work, so that it may better adapt itself to the regular graded course of instruction.
In March, 1882, a kindergarten was organized in the Eighth district and placed under the direc- tion of Miss Mary J. Mccullough, who received the first certificate as a kindergartener ever issucd by the School Board. She was a graduate of the city normal and had had training under Miss Blow of St. Louis. Before the beginning of the school year in September following, directors' cer- tificates were issued to Misses IIelen Warren, Kate Nichols and B. M. Levings, they having demonstrated their fitness for the kindergarten work. By April, 1883, four kindergartens had been established, and at this time sixteen were graduated from the training class. The kinder- garten classes and the first-grade pupils attended only one session, making it possible for the teacher to have one class in the morning and one in the afternoon. By this method the cost of kinder- garten instruction (two classes of sixty each day) in the four kindergartens in actual operation in April, 1883, was six dollars and four cents per pupil per year, while that of primary instruction, according to apportionment of teachers (one class of sixty-six pupils per day), was seven dollars and ninety-five cents. Instruction in the seventh and eighth grades cost twenty-one dollars and eleven cents per pupil, and in the high school forty-four dollars and forty-two cents. This showing was sufficient defense for the existence and mainte- nance of the kindergarten from the basis of expense. In view of the fact that only nine out of twenty of the kindergarten teachers had found employment from the board, the training class was given up and no appointment made of general director of kinder- gartens for the years 1883-84. But it was recom- mended that pupils attending normal classes. should receive kindergarten training. The cen- tral kindergarten under Miss Mccullough was used for observation and practice for the normal class, and the normal graduates were given sup- plementary certificates as kindergarten teachers. By act of the board, March, 1884, a knowledge of music was required of all kindergarteners,sufficient to render upon the piano correctly all the music of the songs of the kindergarten work.
By recommendation of the superintendent, the board adopted the resolution August 4, 1885, to organize and train a class of kindergarten assis- tants under the direction and instruction of Miss
Mary McCullough. The practice work of this class included actual teaching in the several kindergartens of the city schools, and the theory consisted of analysis of the various occupations of the kindergarten, study of songs and games, methods of teaching form and color, exercises in the narration of stories, blackboard sketching, and a study of the general aims and principles of the kindergarten system. The retirement of Miss Mccullough in July, 1886, concluded all efforts of the board for some years in preparing teachers for kindergarten work. By a rule of the board adopted December 6, 1887, kindergartens having two sessions daily were entitled to a director for fifty pupils, and an assistant for each thirty pupils over fifty. No kindergarten could be opened unless an enrollment of fifty pupils could be secured.
In 1888 Superintendent Anderson urged the importance of more supervision in the kindergarten and in the lower grades. The teachers in the kin- dergartens at that time were generally persons of less education than in the grades, and the board, in order to get teachers for the work, were obliged to base the examination largely upon the occupa- tions of the kindergarten. Inasmuch as it was found difficult to obtain educated young women for the kindergarten work, at the beginning of the spring term of 1889 a class of thirteen young ladies was formed, eleven of whom had finished three years of training in the high school. These were placed under the instruction of Miss Alpha O. Smith, who also had charge of the Second ward kindergarten.
The system had now become a permanent part of the school organization. There were then twenty-two kindergartens connected with the public schools, and Superintendent Anderson urges their introduction into all the schools where prim- ary instruction is given. He observes a marked benefit upon the primary grade instruction where kindergartens are found. The kindergarten prin- ciple was contagious, and prevented mechanical methods wherever its influence was felt.
Miss Smith remained in charge of the training class and of the Second ward kindergarten for nearly two years, having resigned September 2, 1890. She was succeeded by Miss Anna Littell, who remained until the close of the school year ending 1892. The maintaining of a training class was then discontinued, and the preparation of
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teachers for kindergarten work was left to the Milwaukee State Normal School. The number of kindergartens now connected with the public schools is thirty. In the kindergarten course, the gifts, first to the ninth are given ; physical, mental and moral training are received through the games, the calisthenics, the marching and the singing. The occupations include folding, weaving, prick- ing and sewing. Exercises are given in sense perception, and ideas of surface, direction, position, size, color, form, lines, angles, number and time are developed. The kindergarten has gradually grown without interruption from the time of its first introduction to the present. It has been a branch of the system for eleven years and there has been an almost regular increase in average enrollment of three hundred per year, and for the month of June, 1894, the average enrollment was three thousand three hundred and five pupils. While the average cost of instruction in all the schools per pupil, on the average enrollment for the year ending 1893, was twenty dollars and eighteen cents, the cost per pupil in the kindergarten on the aver- age enrollment was only ten dollars and sixty-two cents. Serious objections cannot therefore be made to the kindergarten on the ground of expense.
In 1854 the first steps were taken toward the study of music in the schools by a course of lec- tures on music, given by S. T. Sanford; and in the following year an attempt was made, but failed, to have a regular instructor in singing. It was many years before any regular systematic instruc- tion was attempted in all the schools, though much voluntary work was done by individual teachers having the ability to impart musical in- struction. In the annual report of the board in 1871, it was recommended that instruction in music, drawing and gymnastics be given in the schools. Accordingly a committee of the board, to whom this matter was referred, recommended that music be introduced into the schools at the beginning of the school year in September, 1872. In accordance with this recommendation there were appointed three teachers of music, one for each side of the city, at a salary of five hundred dollars each. For the following year F. W. H. Priem was appointed as superintendent of music in all the schools at a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum.
On March 5, 1874, the first annual concert was given under the direction of Professor Priem,
which awakened considerable interest in this branch of popular education. The superintendent gave instruction to teachers, the three highest grades of all the schools, and daily instruction to pupils in the high school. He also gave instruc- tion in the art of teaching music to the normal graduating class. Rules were adopted by the board, November 5, 1873, defining the duties of the superintendent of music, and of teachers and pupils in receiving musical instruction. Pupils were excused from music only on certificate from a physician or permit from the Committee on Music. The text-books used were mainly Mason's series of music readers. The salary of the super- intendent of music was raised to eighteen hundred dollars for the years ending 1875 and 1876, and then placed at fifteen hundred dollars, where it remained to the end of Professor Prien's connec- tion with the schools in 1880.
For the year ending 1881, Professor William Eblman succeeded Professor Priem as superinten- dent of music, and still occupies that position. He introduced a new method of instruction-the Tonic-Sol-Fa system-and Superintendent Mac- Alister reported at the end of the first year a decided improvement in the matter of vocal cnl- ture. In 1888 the instruction in music was changed to the old method of staff notation employed before the Tonic-Sol-Fa system was introduced. This change President Oberman says was welcomed by both teachers and pupils, and greater progress was made in vocal music. Mr. Ehlman, however, still uses the Tonic-Sol-Fa in teaching primary pupils to read music at sight, as he regards it the most natural for the child to learn. At the re- appointment of Mr. W. A. Ehlman in 1889, as superintendent of music and singing, it was de- cided by the board that Mr. Luther W. Mason be requested to lend Mr. Ehlman his assistance, for the first two months of the year, to introduce the National system of singing in the schools.
Instruction in music was formerly compulsory in the various grades of the schools, and pupils were marked according to the results of an examination in that branch. Of late years, with the increased number of pupils and no additional assistance to the director, it has been made optional in the main. The director instructs in the high school twice a week for a period of twenty minutes each, and gives those wishing it an opportunity for chorus practice. Pupils are also drilled for special
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occasions, such as commencement exercises and other special entertainments.
Drawing first became a part of the regular instruction in the schools at the time of the appoint- ment of Mr. Charles Zimmermann as superintend- ent of drawing in the fall of 1873. Mr. Zimmer- mann received a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum. Before taking charge of the depart- ment Mr. Zimmermann was sent to Boston to study the Walter Smith system of drawing, which was now introduced in the Milwaukee schools. According to the rules adopted by the board November 5, 1873, all teachers were to meet for music and drawing at such times and places as the committee and superintendent of drawing should designate. It was also required that all pupils in the five upper grades receive one hour and a half instruction in drawing per week, and in the high school including the normal depart- ment, two hours per week. The text-books used were Walter Smith's " American Text-books of Art Education." The work included free hand, model and object drawing, geometrical and mechanical drawing and designing.
The instructor in drawing found time only for teaching pupils of the high school and normal department, and for instructing teachers and super- vising their work. At the end of the second year after the introduction of drawing with a superin- tendent, a committee of citizens was appointed to inspect the drawing work. This committee con- sisted of W. H. Bishop, William H. Metcalf, F. A. Luitich and James Douglas. They examined fourteen thousand drawings which had been care- fully arranged for their inspection, and in an elaborate report made July 24, 1875, they most "heartily commend both the system in use and the progress made in the city schools." The custom of placing the work of the year on exhibition at the close of the year still prevails. In the last year of Mr. Zimmermann's superintendency he gave lectures to teachers in their various sections of the Saturday institutes.
The subjects of historic ornament, geometrical design and primary methods of teaching drawing were presented, and a class in mechanical draw- ing was organized in the high school. The super- intendent had very little time for the mechanical drawing in the high school, and it was not until several years after that much attention was given to that side of the subject.
For the year commencing September, 1878, Mr. Zimmermann was chosen by the board to the prin- cipalship of the Eighth district school and Miss Hannah M. Brown was named as his successor in the department of drawing. September 4, 1883, Miss Brown resigned as superintendent of draw- ing and Mr. Caleb Harrison was appointed as her successor. In recommending the new appoint- ment the committee had in view the plan of mak- ing mechanical drawing an especially strong feat- ure of the work. Mr. Harrison was a graduate of the mechanical engineering department of the Wisconsin State University and introduced more mechanical drawing, especially in the high school, where he did considerable work with his pupils in descriptive geometry and in graphical statics. The Committee on Industrial and Art Education had Mr. Harrison instruct teachers in drawing on Saturdays. They suggested the obtaining of an as- sistant for the high school, where he had given a large proportion of his time. This suggestion was carried out by the appointment, February, 1891, of Miss Mary D. Shields as such assistant. Mr. Har- rison still continued to give instruction twice or three times a week, while Miss Shields took the free-hand work. The Prang system has always continued in the schools, and their books and ap- paratus used. On May 3, 1887, the board author- ized thirty-three sets of Prang's Models for primary schools, with one hundred teachers' manuals on the use of the models, at a cost of seven hundred and sixty-five dollars.
Mr. C. N. Harrison resigned as director of drawing in December, 1892, to continue his mathe- matical studies in the Johns Hopkins University, and Mr. L. L. Summers was appointed as his suc- cessor. Since Mr. Summers assumed charge of the work he has aimed to systematize and strengthen the work in the grades, but has not been able to do much in the high school work. On April 1, 1894, Mr. Percy A. Middleton took the mechani- cal drawing in the East-side high school, and still continues in charge of that branch of the drawing. Since the introduction of the manual training into the high school, the mechanical drawing has be- come a more prominent feature, and the effort is now made to offer superior advantages in that line of work.
At the last meeting in December, 1876, the Committee on Music, Drawing and Calisthenics recommended the appointment of Professor
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George Brosius, to give instruction in physical ex- ercises in the public schools, at a salary not to exceed six hundred dollars for the balance of the school year. This recommendation was approved by the board. The teacher of calisthenics was to give instruction to teachers and such grades of pupils as he deemed advisable. It was required of all class teachers, not holding certificates of ex- amination in music, drawing and calisthenics, to attend Saturday institutes in those subjects.
For many years physical exercises had formed a part of the course of instruction. This had been given in a very irregular and unsatisfactory man- ner, and only became regular and systematic by the appointment of a teacher of calisthenics who should have charge of the work in all the schools. Professor Brosius was one of the most accom- plished teachers in that department in this country, and his work was considered highly efficient, though many were opposed to the introduction and maintenance of the subject in the schools, believing that the sports of the play-ground are far preferable, and where a variety of home duties are required it is unnecessary. Mr. Brosius pre- pared a very complete elementary course in calis- thenics, which was partly published in the annual report of the board for the year ending 1877, and the remainder of the course published in the re- port for the year ending 1878. On recommenda- tion of the Committee on Music, Drawing and Calisthenics to the board on December 5, 1882, the services of the superintendent of calisthenics were discontinued. It was maintained by the commit- tee that the work with the teachers had been so proficient that they-under the direction of the superintendent of schools-could carry on the exercises successfully. Miss Laura Gerlach was thereupon appointed special teacher of calisthenics, to give lessons twice a week to classes in the nor-, mal department, and to such teachers as might be necessary to maintain the calisthenic training in the schools in a satisfactory manner. The work was carried on in this manner for several years under the direction of Mrs. Maxon and Miss Maria Vette.
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