GALESBUR PUBLIC SCHOOI THEIB HISTORY AM) LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAICN 379.773 St3g I.H.S. (7 C^V\/^A^^-C- F v .*' "'Vi!^ MJttBSltT F IUJ80W Founder of the Galesburg Public Schools. GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Their History and Work 1861-1911 BY WILLIAM LUCAS STEELE A. M. (Monmouth), PH. D. (Knox) GALESBURG, ILLINOIS: PUBLISHED BY BOARD OF EDUCATION 1911 THE CADMUS PRESS PREFACE. In the autumn of 1909, Mr. Fred R. Jelliff, Chairman of the Program Committee of the Knox County Historical So- ciety, asked the writer to prepare and read a paper on the History of the Public Schools of Galesburg before the Society sometime during the following winter. In gathering the ma- terial for this purpose it was found that there was enough to make a paper sufficiently long to be read at one meeting with- out taking up the history of the schools under their present organization ; so the paper read at that time was on the "His- tory of the Public Schools from 1840 to 1861." The Society, in passing its customary vote of thanks, included in it a re- quest that the writer continue the history down to the present time. This request was seconded by the Board of Education at its meeting the following month, on motion of Director Mrs. G. W. Thompson. Accordingly for two years the writer spent most of his vacations and evenings in preparing this work, and he has made no statement of facts without having the best evidence which was the original when obtainable be- fore him ; there may of course be some clerical errors. The regular meeting of the Board of Education in June, 1911, was the fiftieth anniversary of its organization. At the next meeting, held three days later, Mr. L. T. Stone, who was beginning his thirty-fourth year as a member of the Board, realizing the help that a knowledge of those years gave him in meeting the issues of to-day and believing that a complete history of the schools would be of great service to the mem- (iii) 69447ft iy GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS bers of the Board in the future, moved the adoption of the following: "Resolved, That the Board ;of Education re- quest Mr. W. L. Steele, Superintendent of Schools, to pre- pare for publication a History of the Public Schools for the past fifty years, with a statement of the work being done to-day, % present and future reference." The motion prevailed by a unanimous vote. It was his opinion that, as the Board had not published a report for four years, it would be justified in expending the amount necessary to print such a work as its Semi-Centennial Report of the Schools. Thus this work has been prepared in response to a local demand, and the constant endeavor has been not only to pre- serve the worth-while facts of the past half -century but to present them in such a way that they may be readily servicea- ble to the coming generations. That part which contains "The Work of the Schools" has been prepared in the same manner regardless of the merits or demerits of the work, though the writer is conscious that it has many of the latter. However, if the schools are to be intelligently and progressively con- ducted in the future, a knowledge of their condition present and past is necessary. It is hoped, therefore, that this record of the Galesburg Public Schools may find among the citizens many readers, as the best interests of the schools are safe only in the keeping of those who have an intelligent knowledge of their mission and their work. W. L. STEELE, November, 1911. Superintendent of Schools. INCREASE IN PDPULATIDN, ENROLLMENT INTHE GRADES, AND IN THE HIGH 5CHDDL, BV DECADE5. mm PDPULATIDN GRADES CBtf HIGH 5CHDDL 1861 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 USC. "03 /tt. u J.S.C ait/ H/iJ , 71f am I tf POPULATION GRADES HIGH SCHOOL JJ4 2f 6 73 / lS-7 3.6 44.1 Chart showing Increase in Population and School Enrollment, by Decades. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. FIRST YEAR UNDER THE CHARTER, 1861-62. 1. ORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD 1 Committees; Officers; Re-election of Board members; Course of study and attendance, 3. 2. TERMS OF AGREEMENT WITH THE TEACHERS 4 Second Board meeting; Private schools and teachers, 4 Tui- tion schools and tuition, 5. 3. EQUIPMENT 6 Buildings; Janitor service, 6. 4. THE SCHOOL YEAR, ARRANGEMENT OF TERMS AND SESSIONS 6 Length of school year, 6 The noon recess, 7. 5. THE TEACHING FORCE. 7 CHAPTER II. PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874. 1. COLLEGE INFLUENCE 8 2. SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL PROPERTY 9 The first schoolhouse ; Churchill School ; Purchase of site, 10 Voted to build; Plans adopted, 11 Bonds for $40,000 voted; Build- ing begun, 12 More bonds voted ; Building completed ; Description of the building, 13 Cost of building, 14 Half-day sessions ; Pres- ent High School site purchased, 15 Crisis of 1867, 16 Improve- ments made in 1867 ; Fourth Ward school building, 17 Board's relation to City Council, 18 Suit against City Council, 19 Tax levy of 1872; Fifth Ward school building, 20 A strange mistake, 21 Third Ward site purchased ; Janitors ; Tree planting, 22 Sum- mary of improvements, 23. 3. THE BOARD AND ITS RESPONSIBILITIES 23 All matters referred to the Board ; Dissatisfied parents, 23 Resolution on discipline, 24 Pupils sometimes expelled ; Teachers come to the Board, 25 Noon recess ; Examinations, 26 Absence of method, 27. (v) vi GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS 4. POSITION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT; REGULATIONS FOR TEACHERS AND PUPILS 28 Powers of the Superintendent, 2&Salary of Superintendent; Teachers, their duties, etc., 29 Salaries of Teachers, 30 School shortened, 32 Payment of salaries; Knox County Institute, 33 Educational journals; Rules for pupils, 34. 5. COURSE OF STUDY 35 Reading; Arithmetic, 35 Geography; Grammar; Spelling, 36 Miscellaneous branches; Oral instruction; Ten grades below the High School, 37. 6. THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THE COLLEGES 38 High School ; Effect of High School on college attendance, 38 Location of the High School; Principals of High School; High School not popular, 39 Graduating exercises; Course of study; Literary society, 40 The third year, 41. 7. THE QUESTION OF COLOR 41 First colored school, 41 Colored teachers for colored schools; Simmons street and East Main street colored schools, 42 Civil suit threatened ; Huntington's resolution, 43 The Willoughby res- olution, 44 The colored schoolhouses burned, 46. 8. SPECIAL SCHOOLS .. 46 German school, 46 Ungraded school, 47 Night school, 48. 9. SPECIAL BRANCHES 50 Penmanship, 50 Music, 51 Mrs. Cooke employed by the Board, 52 Supplementary reading; Churchill resolution on supplementary reading, 53 Gymnastics; Drawing, bookkeeping, etc., 54. 10. PRINCIPALS 54 Men for principals, 54. 11. LIBRARY 55 12. LIMITATIONS 56 School age changed to six years; Tax limit; Salary paid clerk and treasurer, 56 One session a day; Superintendent's report; Number of teachers, 57 Changes in the members of the Board of Education, 58. 13. RESIGNATION OF SUPERINTENDENT ROBERTS 58 Letter of resignation, 59. 14. SUMMARY 60 Tax levies, 61 Bonds issued, 62. CHAPTER III. PERIOD OF_RETRENCHMENT : 1874-1885. 1. SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN THIRD, SIXTH AND SEVENTH WARDS 65 Character of the period, 63 A new superintendent employed, 64 School buildings; Third Ward building, 65 Origin of second contention, 66 Seventh Ward building, 67 Sixth Ward building, 68 Every section had its new schoolhouse, 69. CONTENTS rii 2. LOSSES BY FIRE 69 Buildings burned, 69 Fourth Ward schoolhouse burned, 70 Heating system changed; Addition to Fourth Ward, 71. 3. THE BOARD AND ITS ACTIVITIES 72 The function of committees, 72 Teachers examined, 73 Teach- ers again examined, 75 Superintendent's salary ; Salaries increased, 76 Salaries decreased ; Salaries restored, 77 School elections ; Vaccination, 78 Examinations; Complaints, 79 Lots sold, 80. 4. TEACHERS' MEETINGS AND VOLUNTARY TRAINING 80 Teachers' meetings, 80 Professor Hamill, 82. 5. COURSES OF STUDY 82 Course of study of 1878, 82 Reading, 83 Arithmetic; Gram- mar; Geography; Spelling, 84 Penmanship; Drawing; Course of study of 1884, 85 Penmanship ; Drawing, 86 Music ; Kindergar- ten work, 87 Text-books adopted, 88 Publications, 90. 6. SPECIAL SCHOOLS 90 Night school; Ungraded school, 90. 7. SPECIAL FEATURES OF ORGANIZATION 91 Classification, 91 Two dismissals; Substitutes; Attendance, 92 Special features, 93. 8. IMPROVEMENTS AND ALTERATIONS 94 Telephones ; City water ; Fire escape ; Other improvements, 94 Beautifying school grounds; The chapel divided; Religious exer- cises, 95 Centennial Exposition ; Fiscal year, 96. 9. THE HIGH SCHOOL 96 Growth ; Course of study, 96 High School preparatory for col- lege, 97 Third course of study; Graduation exercises, 98 Prizes to graduates, 99 Alumni Association organized, 100. 10. RESIGNATION OK SUPERINTENDENT M. ANDREWS 101 11. SUMMARY 102 Board of Education; Growth, 102 Tax levies, 103. CHAPTER IV. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911. 1. SCHOOL BUILDINGS 104 Favorable conditions ; Questions involved, 104 Board decides to build a new High School, 105 Proposition to divide the $25,- 000, 106 The Board makes its first visit to other cities ; Plan of the building, 107 Changes in the High School ; Selecting a site for a new schoolhouse, 108 The Lincoln School; Naming the schools, 110 No more bonds to be issued; New policy as to size of viii GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS buildings adopted, 112 An addition made to the Hitchcock School; The disadvantage of pupils changing schools in the fourth and fifth grades, 114 Addition to Weston School, 115 An addition made to the High School, 116 Plans for the addition; Hunt prop- erty purchased; Addition made to Bateman School, 118 Addition to Lincoln School, 119 Heating plant in High School changed to steam ; Addition made to Douglas School, 120 Building the Cen- tral Primary, 121 The material used ; Other contracts ; The building completed, 122 The district found prepared to build a High School, 123 Galesburg High School building a pioneer; One hundred thousand dollars voted for a High School building, 124 Selling of the bonds; The method of obtaining the plans, 125 Cost of the building, 126 Furnishing the building, 127 Total cost ; A heating plant considered, 128 How the money was raised, 129 Building of the heating plant, 130 Opening of the High School building; The Farnham School, 131. 2. OTHER PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS 132 Churchill building dry closets, 132 Steps brought inside the building; Tower of Churchill School damaged by fire, 133 Im- provements on Cooke School; A modern system of ventilating in- stalled in Hitchcock School ; Manual training addition made to the High School, 134 A smoke consumer for the heating plant; Im- provements made at Douglas School, 135 Humidity device in- stalled in Bateman School ; Addition made to Weston School grounds; Addition made to the Churchill grounds, 136 Summary of investments in permanent improvements, 137 Schools in build- ings other than the property of the Board, 138. 3. PROTECTION FROM FIRE 138 Fire escapes, 138 Fire drills; Fires, 139. 4. Music, DRAWING AND PHYSICAL TRAINING 140 Introduction of music, 140 Introduction of drawing; Introduc- tion of physical culture, 141. 5. THE TRAINING SCHOOL 142 Teachers' Training School organized, 142 Plan of the Training School, 143 Advantages of the Training School, 144. 6. METHODS 145 Reading, 145 Supplementary reading; Arithmetic, 146 Lan- guage 148 Geography and history; Spelling, 149 Penmanship, 150 Physiology and hygiene; Nature study, 151. 7. THE TEACHERS AND MEANS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT 152 Teachers' meetings ; Educational books studied at these meetings, 152 Discussions of the problems of the day reported; Program furnished by different schools, 153 Interesting accounts of jour- neys given; Addresses by prominent educators of the state 154 Addresses by the pastors of the city, 155 Addresses by physicians ; Other speakers who addressed these meetings; University Exten- CONTENTS ix sion Lectures ; Grade meetings, 156 Teachers' Library ; Central Illinois Teachers' Association, 157 Military Tract Educational Association, 158. 8. PUPILS AND THEIR SPECIAL ACTIVITIES 158 Method of promoting pupils ; Exhibition of school work, 158 School entertainments, 159 Teaching patriotism, 160 Remember- ing the poor on Thanksgiving day; Furnished children's room in hospital, 162 An act of kindness by the pupils ; Another boy helped ; Benevolences of the High School ; Other collections, 163 Exhibition of school work; Work at St. Louis Exposition, 164. 9. TEXT-BOOKS 165 Readers used, 165 Spelling books ; Histories ; Music books ; Drawing books ; Physiologies, 166 Language books ; Arithmetics ; Geographies ; Copy books ; A rule to govern the change of text- books; School apparatus, 167. 10. ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES 169 Vaccination; Half-day sessions, 169 Flags for the schools; Parents complain ; Truant officer, 170 School nurse ; Resolutions of respect and sympathy, 171 Bond issues, 172 Land purchased and sold, 173 Reports printed ; Reading the Bible in the schools ; Beautifying the school grounds,. 174 Drinking fountains ; Tuition, 175 Board of Education rooms, 176 Moving Public Library, 177 The Children's Library and Reading Room ; How the Children's Library came to be organized, 178 Use made of the library, 179. 11. SALARIES 179 Salary of the Superintendent of schools, 179 Salaries of High School teachers ; Salaries of grade teachers ; Petitions for increase of salaries, 180- Schedule of salaries for grade teachers, 181 Reason it is difficult to increase salaries of grade teachers ; Jan- itors' salaries; Salary of the engineer; Janitors make the repairs, 182 A faithful janitor, 183. 12. THE HIGH SCHOOL AND DEVELOPMENT OF ITS ACTIVITIES 184 High school changes its function ; English course introduced, 184 Second revision of the curriculum ; A fourth year added ; Manual training introduced, 185 Work of the department, 186 The finished product ; Equipment before the fire, 187 Equipment after the fire ; Number taking manual training, 188 Domestic science introduced, 189 How the department of speaking came to be organized, 191 Declamatory contests ; Literary societies or- ganized, 192 Lincoln Debating Club ; Elizabethan Literary Society, 193 The Budget, 194 Dramatic Club ; A printing plant purchased, 195 The printing plant presented to the Board; Work done in the print shop ; Expenses of the shop, 196 Value of the printing plant; Gregg Shorthand Club; The first history of the High School, 197 German Club ; Musical organizations, 198^ Athletic organizations ; Men teachers, 199 Individual instruction ; The study hall plan, 200 Causes for the growth of the school, 201 The significant place of the high school, 202. x GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS 13. THE ELECTIVE SYSTEM 203 All studies made elective; Reasons for making the studies elec- tive, 203 Form of diploma used; Opposition to elective studies; Elective system explained, 204 Effects on attendance; Criticism of the three-year course, 205. 14. THE BOARD AND ITS EXPERIENCES 208 Board members faithful, 208 Harmony in the Board; Perma- nency of the Board members, 209 Women on the Board of Ed- ucation; How changes in efficient Boards should be made, 210 Members defeated by the A. P. A. organization, 211. 15. THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 211 Events of the field day; Assistance given by the patrons of the schools, 212 Organization of Playground Association; The Re- flector; Alumni banquet, 213. 16. SUMMARY 215 Tax levies, 216. CHAPTER V. GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS: 1840-1861. The first schoolhouse, 217 The first teacher ; Location of school- houses, 218 County records, 219 Poverty of the districts, 220 School laws of 1825, 221 The school section, 222 Amount real- ized from school section, 223 Income from township funds ; Pub- lic indifference to schools, 224 John F. Eberhart, 225 Simeon Wright, 226 Attitude of the college; Private schools, 227 The moneyed interests, 228 Jealousy of the district; Conditions op- posed to free schools; Professor Churchill, 229 Henry Barnard, 230 W. S. Baker; Horace Mann, 231 Silas Willard, 232 Union graded schools adopted, 233 The school charter; Opposition in the legislature, 235 Three amendments made; Cause of delay at Springfield, 236 Two jokers in the charter; Election denied by council ; School directors elected, 237 Union graded schools or- ganized; Union graded schools opened, 238 Mrs. Tryon Precep- tress; Subjects taught, 239 Closing exercises of the term, 240 The charter adopted, 241 Last year of union graded schools ; Advantages of the charter, 242 The last battle for free schools, 243. CHAPTER VI. THE CHARTER AND ORGANIZATION. 1. SCHOOL CHARTER 245 2. RULES AND REGULATIONS 253 Organization, 253 Rules of order, 254 General regulations, 255 Duties of the Superintendent, 256 Teachers, 257 Pupils, 260 Directions for keeping records, 262 Janitors, 263 Rules of the Board of Health, 264. 3. MR. LESTER T. STONE 265 4. STATISTICS FOR 1910-1911. . . 267 CONTENTS xi CHAPTER VII. DIRECTORY. 1. MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 272 2. THE TEACHERS 274 3. HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI 287 CHAPTER VIII. THE WORK OF THE SCHOOLS. 1. REPRESENTATIVE TESTS IN SPELLING 331 2. REPRESENTATIVE TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 338 3. REPRESENTATIVE TESTS IN LANGUAGE 345 4. REPRESENTATIVE TESTS IN GEOGRAPHY 352 5. REPRESENTATIVE TESTS IN HISTORY 356 CHAPTER IX. COURSE OF STUDY. 1. READING 358 2. ARITHMETIC 359 3. LANGUAGE 371 4. GEOGRAPHY , 384 5. HISTORY 388 6. SPELLING, PENMANSHIP, PHYSIOLOGY 390 7. Music ; 391 8. DRAWING 393 9. PHYSICAL TRAINING 397 10. MANUAL TRAINING 404 11. SEWING } 406 12. SUPPLEMENTARY READERS 406 13. TEACHERS' LIBRARY 409 14. TEXT-BOOKS USED IN THE GRADES 413 15. HIGH SCHOOL COURSE OF STUDY 414 16. TEXT-BOOKS USED IN THE HIGH SCHOOL 420 17. VALUE OF THE SUBJECTS TAUGHT IN THE HIGH SCHOOL 422 18. TRAINING SCHOOL COURSE OF STUDY 441 INDEX . .445 ILLUSTRATIONS. GEORGE CHURCHILL Frontispiece FACING PAGE CHART SHOWING INCREASE IN POPULATION AND SCHOOL ENROLL- MENT, BY DECADES v R. B. GUILD 1 FIRST BOARD OF EDUCATION 4 JUNIUS B. ROBERTS , 8 THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FIRST WARD 32 THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SECOND WARD 48 MATTHEW ANDREWS 63 THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE THIRD WARD 80 W. L. STEELE, IN 1885 104 BUILDINGS USED BY THE HIGH SCHOOL 124 HIGH SCHOOL * 124 THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FOURTH WARD 140 THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FIFTH WARD 160 PUBLIC LIBRARY 176 THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SIXTH WARD 184 PRINCIPALS OF HIGH SCHOOL 200 BOARD OF EDUCATION, IN 1911 208 W. L. STEELE, IN 1911 216 THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SEVENTH WARD 236 FARNHAM SCHOOL 244 LESTER T. STONE , 265 CENTRAL SCHOOL, CHURCHILL SCHOOL 272 HITCHCOCK SCHOOL 286 LINCOLN SCHOOL ; 328 WESTON SCHOOL 360 DOUGLAS SCHOOL 384 COOKE SCHOOL 408 BATEMAN SCHOOL 440 (xii) R. B. GUILD Superintendent of Schools CHAPTER I. FIRST YEAR UNDER THE CHARTER: 1861-62 1. Organization of the Board. 2. Terms of Agreement with the Teachers. 3. Equipment. 4. The School Year. Arrangement of Terms and Sessions. 5. The Teaching Force. 1. ORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD. The Board of Education of Galesburg School District was organized under the present School Charter, June 11, 1861. Thus the present school system has been in operation fifty years. As special interest always attaches to the be- ginnings of an institution that has become important and permanent, an entire chapter will be given to recording the events of the first year. There were twenty-four meetings of the Board this year. Here is the verbatim record of the first meeting : OFFICE OF CITY COUNCIL Galesburg, June 11, 1861. The following named persons having been duly elected to the office of School Directors of "Galesburg School District," in the City of Galesburg, in the County of Knox, and State of Illinois, on the 3rd day of June, 1861, met at the office of the City Council on the llth day of June, 1861. Mayor Knowles being President of said "Board of Education" being present. There were also present: CHAUNCY S. COLTON, director for 1st ward. EDWIN POST, director for 2nd ward. DAVID SANBORN, director for 3rd ward. GEO. H. WARD, director for 4th ward. CLEMENT LEACH, JR., director for 5th ward. R. P. SAGE, director for 6th ward. who severally took the oath of office as prescribed by the Charter and took their seats in the "Board of Education." (1) 2 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS On motion it was voted that the members of the Board of Edu- cation proceed now to draw for the term of time each shall serve, when CHAUNCY S. COLTON drew for 3 years. EDWIN POST drew for 3 years. DAVID SANBORN drew for 2 years. R. P. SAGE drew for 2 years. CLEMENT LEACH, JR. drew for 1 year. GEO. H. WARD drew for 1 year. When on motion it was voted that each director shall have the charge and care of the school rooms and school property in his ward during "vacation." On motion Messrs. Leach and Sanborn were appointed a com- mittee to prepare a code of by-laws for the Regulation of the Board to be submitted. And then on motion the Board adjourned to meet at the call of the President. W. A. WOOD, Clerk The committee appointed to draft rules and regulations for the government of the Board made its report at the fifth meeting of the Board, July 15th. It was adopted without change or dissent. The principal provisions of this report are as follows : IST. The members of the Board of Education shall meet and organize each year on the second Monday in June. 2ND. At the first, or some ensuing meeting, soon after the or- ganization of the Board, the following standing committees shall be appointed, to-wit : First, a committee on school buildings, grounds, furniture and supplies, consisting of four members. Second, a com- mittee on text-books, rules and regulations, consisting of two mem- bers. Third, an auditing committee, consisting of two members. Fourth, an examining committee, consisting of two members of the Board, two citizens chosen by the Board and the Principal, three of whom must be present at each examination of teachers and three of whose names must be appended to each certificate of examination. 3RD. The Board shall hold its meetings on the second Monday in each month unless otherwise ordered by a majority of the Board. A special meeting may be called at any time on the request of any two members, left with the Secretary. 4xH. The meetings being called to order by the President, or one appointed President pro tern, the order of business shall be: 1. Reading the minutes of the last meeting by the Clerk. 2. Reports of Committees. FIRST YEAR UNDER THE CHARTER: 1861-62 3 3. Petitions and communications. 4. Reports and suggestions by the Principal. 5. Miscellaneous and unfinished business. With the exception of the provision for the examination of teachers, these rules have remained unchanged to the present day. The first committee appointed under these rules, July 30th, was the Examining Committee. It consisted Commit . of Prof. A. Kurd, Prof. Isaac A. Parker, C. Leach, tee * Jr., R. P. Sage, and the Principal of the Schools. At the same meeting Chauncy S. Colton and David Sanborn were, on motion, made a standing Auditing Committee. The other committees were not appointed until October 8th. The first clerk was W. A. Wood and he was required to take the oath of office. The first treasurer, B. F. _ . Officers. Holcomb, was required to give a bond, the amount of which was twelve thousand dollars. At the close of the year the clerk was allowed fifty dollars for his services and the treasurer was allowed ten dollars. There was but one change in the membership of the Board this year (which has been the average for the last 25 years) and that was due to the resigna- tion of Mr. Clement Leach, Jr. The City Council Members, filled the vacancy by electing Dr. I. N. Candee. At the elec- tion in June, George H. Ward of the Fourth Ward and Dr. I. N. Candee of the Fifth Ward were unanimously re-elected. It often happens that in looking up a matter the most important item cannot be found ; so it is in this Cour8e of case; there is no record of what subjects were l*^ 1 ! 11 * taught. It is true that Principal Guild reported ance - to the Board, October 8, 1861, a course of study, which was adopted and placed on file and marked "A," but the entire files of the Board for the first two years are missing. What is stranger still, there are no files preserved of any newspa- pers published in Galesburg from 1860 to 1870; at least, if there are, they are private property, probably lying in some 4 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS garret waiting to be destroyed. Neither is there any record of the number of pupils that attended the schools. In \ t he tember, 1862, there were 777 pupils enrolled in a. schools. Judging from this, one would be justified in saying that there were between 700 and 800 pupils enrolled the first year. 2. TERMS OF AGREEMENT WITH THE TEACHERS. At the second meeting of the Board the salary of the "Principal of the Graded Schools" was fixed at Board seven hundred dollars for the year; salaries of the "lady teachers" in the High School at six dollars per week, and of all other teachers at five dollars per week. Mr. R. B. Guild was then elected to the "post of Principal of the Graded Schools for the coming year." The other teachers were chosen in the latter part of July. The teachers appointed were subject to an examination by the Examining Committee and to the direction of the Board as to the po- sitions they should hold in the schools; and the Board re- served the right to terminate the contract at its discretion. This last clause was not merely a form, for the records show that a committee of two directors was appointed to visit the schools and was given the power to dismiss any of the teachers who, in their judgment, might not be needed. Private schools were still at this time a factor to be con- Prtvate sidered. Mr. A. E. Blunt, who had such a school lnd o1 in the city, was paid $35 for his school furniture ers * and "given charge of the Grammar Department and the Superintendence of the schools in the Colton Build- ings" at a salary of $55 per month. Mrs. Carney, who had formerly taught in the Boston schools and was the author of that exquisite gem of poetry, "Little Drops of Water," was also conducting a private school at this time. A petition signed by thirty-five citizens was presented to the Board, asking that she be taken into the graded schools ; but no action was taken on the petition. C. S, COLTON EDWIN POST ft* DAVID SANBORN GEO. H. WARD CLEMENT LEACH. R. P. SAGE FIRST BOARD OF EDUCATION Organized, June 11, 1861. FIRST YEAR UNDER THE CHARTER: 1861-62 5 At its fourth and fifth meetings the Board had at- tempted, without success, to fix a rate of tuition Tuition to be charged all resident pupils;* but, from the and 001 resolution adopted ten days before the close of the spring term, it would seem that the Board still had a liking for the old subscription school in which they themselves had received their elementary education. The resolution reads as follows : "That Mr. Guild open a tuition school in the Academy on the 21st day of April for one term of ten weeks, and to charge and collect $1.50 in advance from each scholar attending, without distinction of age or study; and that the Clerk cause an advertisement accordingly to be in- serted in the Galesburg Democrat." Principal Guild was the only teacher not employed by the week. He was em- ployed for the year, and consequently had sufficient time to teach another term of ten weeks, which he did. For this he received $67.50 in tuition, which amount was charged to him and applied on his salary. According to the state law the Board had already conducted free schools a sufficient number of days to enable it to draw the state fund ; so there could be no objection to tuition schools on this account. At this meeting the Board appears to have inaugurated a sys- tem of tuition schools for the vacation period. A committee was appointed to "rent such rooms in the Colton Building to Mr. Blount during vacation as they deem right, also to rent the upper rooms in the Academy to such female teach- ers as they can agree with on terms." The subscription schools for the long vacation, thus begun by the Board, con- tinued for years, but finally becoming an annoyance to the Board it refused to rent rooms for such a purpose or to employ any one as teacher who taught such a school. The tuition for pupils outside of the district was made the same as that charged by the academic department of Knox college, except for the primary department, and here it was fixed at $2.50 per quarter. *See page 243. 6 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS 3. EQUIPMENT. At the first meeting it was necessary for the Board to rent some buildings for school purposes. Knox Academy, on the north side of the Public Square, was leased from the Trustees of Knox College, for a term of three years, at the rate of $316.66 per year. The Cotton building, on the west side of the Square and north of Main street, was rented for $550 per year from C. S. Colton. These two buildings provided eight schoolrooms four rooms each. From S. Mitchelson was rented a schoolroom on Seminary street, south of the depot, at $6 per month. The other five rooms for there were fourteen schoolrooms this year were the property of the Board, having been built previous to the union of the school districts in 1858. These schoolhouses were all situated south of the center of Main street ; one on East Main street, one on West Simmons, an- other on Monmouth Boulevard, one on Tompkins street, where the Baptist Church now stands, and the Depot School, on the northwest corner of Chambers and First streets. There was no schoolhouse in the north part of the city. The school desks with which it was necessary to fur- nish some of these buildings cost $4 each double the price of to-day. One man did the janitor work for both the Academy and janitor ^^ e Colton building, for which services he received service. $15 a month. The janitors for the other six schoolhouses were boys who were paid from twenty-five cents to thirty-seven and one-half cents per week. The tax levy for the year, made at the September meet- Taxes, ing, was forty cents on each one hundred dollars. 4. THE SCHOOL YEAR, ARRANGEMENT OF TERMS AND SESSIONS. The number of weeks the school should be kept open was t a matter f uncertainty during the entire year, and school it was decided term by term. At first the Board voted to open the schools the first Monday of Sep- FIRST YEAR UNDER THE CHARTER: 1861-62 7 tember but later decided, for reasons not recorded, to open them the second Monday of October. At the December meeting it was voted to close the schools the Friday before Christmas for a vacation of two weeks, and to begin a new term of ten weeks on the first Monday of January, 1862. At the February meeting it was voted to extend the present term for an additional four weeks. The length of the noon recess seems to have given some trouble. At one meeting of the Board it was The Noon voted that the noon recess at the Central School Bece8S - should be one hour and at the outside schools at the discre- tion of the teacher. This was in December. At the Jan- uary meeting it was voted, "The 'noon recess' shall be thirty minutes." 5. THE TEACHING FORCE. The roll of the teachers for this year was as follows : MR. R. B. GUILD, Principal and Superintendent. Miss A. E. SMITH, Assistant to Mr. Guild Academy. Miss MARY COLE, Academy (up-stairs). Miss MARY EVEREST, Academy (up-stairs). Miss A. E. TILDEN, Academy (rear room). MR. A. E. BLUNT, Principal, Colton Building. Miss KINGSBERRY, Assistant to Mr. Blunt, Colton Building. Miss EMMA FIELD, Colton Building, (up-stairs). Miss SARAH BARNES, Colton Building, (up-stairs). Miss MARY ALLEN WEST, Colton Building, (lower south room). MRS. R. K. COLBY, Blanchard School. Miss I. L. HENSHAW, Tompkins Street. Miss JENNIE McMiLLEN, Depot School. Miss SABRINA LANPHERE, Churchill School. Miss ERMINA FINCH, Brick School. Miss M. I. STRONG, Monmouth Street School. MRS. GROSS, Teacher of Writing, All the Schools. CHAPTER II. PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 1. College Influence. 2. School Buildings and Development of School Property. 3. The Board and Its Responsibilities. 4. Position of the Superintendent; Regulations for Teachers and Pupils. 5. Course of Study. 6. The High School and the Colleges. 1. The Question of Color. 8. Special Schools. 9. Special Branches. 10. Principals. 11. Li- brary. 12. Limitations. 13. Resignation of Superintendent Roberts. 14. Summary. 1. COLLEGE INFLUENCE. This period of twelve years extends from June 30, 1862, to July 1, 1874. It covers the time when the schools were largely under the control of the two colleges. The Board of Education during these years was, to a great ex- tent, composed of men who were ardent friends of one or other of the colleges. In its membership were always to be found trustees or members of the faculties of these institu- tions ; the man who served as Superintendent of Schools during these years was, when he was appointed to the po- sition, a tutor in Knox College ; in short, college domination was complete. This was natural and it was right. It was natural, because when the organization of a free school sys- tem was first agitated there was a strong feeling among many of the friends of the colleges that the public schools would in some way be antagonistic to their favorite institu- tion. Under such circumstances it was natural that the schools should be placed under a control that was at least friendly to the colleges. It was right, because the town in the first place was a distinctly educational enterprise; in those days it was the college first and other matters after- ward. When the common schools were organized who should be more interested in them and know better how (8) JUNIUS B. ROBERTS Superintendent of Schools 1862-1874 OF m OF ILl-f*'"?*? PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 9 they should be conducted than the men who were devoting their lives to the cause of education? 2. SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL PROPERTY. The first great problem that confronted the Board of Education was the building of schoolhouses. Galesburg was then a city of six thousand inhabitants, with an actual school enrollment for that year of 1,264 pupils. It had prac- tically no school buildings. It is true the district owned six one-room schoolhouses, but they were built in the days of the independent school districts and were now unfit for school purposes and were of no money value; indeed The Free Democrat, a local paper, advised the districts in 1858 to sell these buildings for coal houses. To appreciate the magnitude of this undertaking the conditions of that time must be understood. The people who were called upon to replace these schoolhouses were the same persons who had for years fought the introduction of any system of free schools. Now they were asked not merely to make pro- vision for the actual growth of the city, as the people of to- day are required to do, but to provide at once school build- ings for a city of six thousand population. It should also be remembered that these people had never experienced any of the benefits of free schools ; they themselves had been edu- cated in private or select schools; they had paid for their own education and were inclined to regard the free school as a sort of charitable institution. It is not strange that this idea thus ingrained in the life of the people continued to some extent for years. It is not surprising that a wave of opposition swept over the community when one school- house costing sixty thousand dollars was no sooner com- pleted than two more were projected. How different has been the development of the free school system in the newer sections of our country ! There, when a town was founded, the public school was started; it was thus made from the 10 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS first an organic part of the civic institutions ; and it was sup- ported by people who themselves had been educated in the public school and believed in it. In comparing the school buildings and grounds of Galesburg, even to-day, with those of a western city of like size, it would be manifestly unfair to the memory of the people of that day as well as to our- selves not to take into consideration the difference in the fundamental conditions. The first schoolhouse was built in the summer of 1862. It was located in the Fourth Ward, southeast of The First school- the depot, on the corner of Chambers and First house. 1-11 r*'i TT j streets. It was built by Silas Horton and cost four hundred and thirty-five dollars. This was certainly a modest beginning for the Board of Education, not one cal- culated to alarm the conservative element; yet the money that paid for it had to be borrowed at twelve per cent inter- est. This building was called the Depot School, and it evi- dently took the place of one that had been there for years. The next summer the Tompkins Street schoolhouse that stood where the Baptist Church now stands, was moved and placed on the same lot with the Depot School. The building of the Churchill School, originally called chnrchiu tne High School, was the great event of this school. period. It was the fulfillment of the dream of the independent districts when they voted in 1858 to unite. It was an imposing building for that day, comparing favorably with Knox College on the south and Lombard University on the east, and costing about the same as each of these buildings dedicated to higher education. Its construction may rightly be considered as one of the great events in the history of Galesburg, since it caused the common schools to be recognized as one of the public and important institu- tions of the city. At the January meeting of the Board in 1863, on motion porchMo f ^ n I- N. Candee, a committee was appointed to of site. inquire into the expediency of erecting a new PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 11 building. As a result of this action Mrs. Silas Willard of- fered to donate to the Board all the land she owned oppo- site the Willard house and fronting on Main and Cham- bers streets, provided the Board would build thereon re- spectable school buildings. This proposition was accepted, but at the May meeting the Moshier lot, twelve rods square, on the southwest corner of Broad and Simmons streets, was purchased for two thousand dollars. On this lot were a house and stable which were sold for one hundred and seventy-five dollars. In the following year the Board showed its wisdom in buying of John B. Colton, for five hundred dollars, two lots adjoining this property on the west and fronting on Cedar street. It is unfortunate that this policy was not pursued by the Board, as opportunity presented, until it owned the entire block. Professor George Churchill became a member of the Board in June, 1863, an important event to the Voted to schools of the city. At the September meeting it BuUd - was voted, on motion of Professor Churchill, to proceed im- mediately to erect a new building on the Moshier lot, to be completed by September, 1864. The following resolution was passed at the October meeting, on motion of David Sanborn, "That the President and Clerk of the Board adver- tise for a loan of $15,000 to $20,000 for the purpose of erect- ing a suitable central school building for the use of the graded schools." Professor Churchill and Superintendent Roberts pre- sented at a meeting of the Board in January, 1864, plang complete plans for a school building. These plans Adopted. had been drawn by G. P. Randall, a prominent school arch- itect of Chicago, and they were adopted, provided the build- ing would not cost over $20,000. It turned out, as such projects usually do, that the building could not be com- pleted for that amount; and, as a result, the new school building was delayed one year. 12 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS It was found that not twenty thousand, but forty thou- sand dollars, would be required for the proposed Bonds for . . - $40,000. new building. After this shock some time elapsed Toted. . , before anyone had the courage to move in the matter, but all realized that a crisis was rapidly approach- ing. The people, who for nearly a decade had been asking for that central school building, so glowingly pictured and so strongly recommended by Horace Mann, in his address ^delivered in the old First Church, were becoming impa- tient; the leases on the old Academy and the Colton build- ing on the Public Square, which had thus far furnished more than half the rooms for the schools of the district, would' ex- pire the following year; and the Board knew that these leases could not be renewed. Something must be done. Ac- cordingly the Board, on motion of David Sanborn, decided, September 26, 1864, to submit to the voters of the city a proposition to issue bonds to the amount of $40,000 for the purpose of building a new schoolhouse. Now conies the surprise. The election was held November 21st, and there were 947 votes cast in favor of the bond issue to 16 against it. These bonds were issued by the City Council, in such amounts and at such times as requested by the Board of Education. This was the beginning of a practice that later involved the Board in a suit with the City Council to de- termine to what extent, if any, the City Council could pass upon the actions of the Board of Education. The first issue of these bonds was for $10,000, the time being three to five years and the rate of interest ten per cent. Everything now moved along smoothly. The plans of Building Architect Randall, somewhat modified, were Begun. adopted by the Board on February 15, 1865, and he was paid $600 for them. Directors Ward, Sanborn, Reed and Churchill were made a special Building Commit- tee to have charge of the construction of the building. The work was all done by the day except the plastering, which was let by contract to R. C. Haines for $1,400. H. D. PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 13 Bancroft was employed to superintend the stone and brick work at four dollars a day, and Joshua P. Chapman to super- intend the carpenter work at three dollars and a half a day. The wages of each of these men was later increased fifty cents a day. The amount paid for superintending the con- struction of this building was about $2,000. The brick used in the building were made in the Johnson Brick Yard in the west part of the city and cost ten dollars a thousand. After the work on the building had been going on for about a year, it was discovered that the $40,000 received from the sale of the bonds voted in 1864 Bonds would not be sufficient to complete the building itself, to say nothing of the heating apparatus and furniture required. There was nothing for the Board to do but to ask the people to vote more bonds. Accordingly an election was called for October 13, 1866, to vote on the proposition to issue bonds to the amount of $10,000, for the purpose of finishing the new school building. At this election there were only twenty-two votes cast, and they were all in favor of issuing the bonds. The building was heated by furnaces, and a system of ventilation was installed which was said at the Building Com- time to be perfect. Dr. J. V. N. Standish, who pieted. was elected a member of the Board in June, 1864, was made chairman of the special committee that selected and pur- chased the furniture for the building. The last days of 1866 saw the new building completed, and on the first Monday of 1867 the schools quietly took possession of it. The people took great pride in the new building, and they were justified in doing so. It had been wise- Degcrip _ ly, honestly and well built. It was both a credit ** ot and an ornament to the city. The State Teachers' Building. Association showed its appreciation of what had been done in Galesburg for public education, by holding its annual meeting for 1867 in the new building. The building was named the High School, when perhaps a more appropriate 14 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS name would have been Central School. It had ten rooms furnished with sixty-three desks each, two recitation rooms, and a "chapel ;" the last occupying the east half of the third floor. It thus provided more schoolrooms than the Board had ever rented' at one time in the central part of the city, and they were so superior to the rented ones that a com- parison cannot be made. There was only one serious mis- take made in the building, and that was in the heating and ventilating apparatus. The furnaces never warmed the building sufficiently in cold weather, and they were a con- stant source of annoyance and expense until they were re- placed by a system of steam heat. As to the system of ven- tilation that was then pronounced "perfect," it is generally believed to-day that little was known about ventilation at that time. On the records of the Board is spread the following in- cest of formation in regard to the cost of construction, Building. w hich is of interest to the people of to-day : Cash paid for lumber, nails, slate roofing, and all other materials used by J. P. Chapman, and for labor under the department of carpenter and joiners' work $27,872.38 Cash paid for stone and brick and labor used by H. D. Bancroft, and for all labor and material used in his de- partment of stone and brick work 19,458.20 Cash paid Randall, Architect 600.00 Cash paid Fuller, Warren & Co. for furnaces 2,100.00 Cash paid R. C. Haines for plastering 1,400.00 Cash paid Perry & Knights for gas fixtures 325.67 Cash paid McNeely for bell 462.32 Cash paid A. H. Andrews for school furniture 2,986.00 Cash paid J. H. Knapp for slating for blackboards 135.00 Cash paid Henry Jerauld for filling up lot 80.00 Cash paid for freight on furniture and bell 296.87 Total cost $55,716.44 To this was added in July of the same year for fence and improvements by Boyd and others 1,053.47 To this also should be added the cost of the land 2,500.00 This makes the total cost $59,269.91 PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 IS There is quite a difference between this sum and $20,000, the amount originally intended to be placed in the building. The present High School, which cost nearly twice as much as this building, was completed for about fifteen per cent more than the original estimate. As already stated, the leases on the old Academy and Colton building expired in June, 1865. For four Half Day years these two buildings had provided accommo- s* 8810118 - dations for about half the pupils in the city. What provis- ions were made for these pupils during the next year and a half, or until the new building was completed, is a matter of interest. For a part of the time two rooms were rented in the old Post Office building on Broad street, opposite the present Central Church ; after these were given up, a room on the Public Square was rented; the old Baptist Church building, situated where the present High School stands, was purchased and fitted up for school purposes. In these buildings and in the Simmons Street School, formerly called the Blanchard School, were held, from September, 1865, to January, 1867, two distinct schools each day, one division of the pupils attending in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Some of the teachers taught half the day, while others taught all the day and received ad- ditional pay. It was during this time that the present High School site was acquired. When the Board purchased the old Baptist Church building in 1864 for $1,100, the Baptist Society refused to sell the ground ; site PUT- however, in August, 1865, the Board succeeded in securing the land by a trade, giving lots seven and eight, where the present Baptist Church stands, and a U. S. bond for $500 in exchange for lots nine and ten, the present High School site. In this trade the Baptist Society consid- ered it received $2,500 for its property. 16 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The annual school election of 1867 was the crisis of this crisis of period ; it was more ; it was a crisis in the history 1867. O f t h e Galesburg Public Schools. The whole trend of school affairs was changed by it. It is only in re- cent years that its blighting effect has not been felt. The two outgoing members were candidates for re-election. The following proposition was also submitted to the voters at the same election: "To allow the Board of Education to raise the sum of ten thousand dollars, by loan or taxation, for the purpose of building two new school buildings, re- pairing and fitting up old ones, furnishing the new hall, and improving the grounds." The candidates of the Board were defeated by a vote of 386 to 122, and the proposition to bor- row $10,000 by a vote of 412 to 94. This crushing defeat of the Board was caused probably not so much by what it had done in the past as from fear of what it might do in the fu- ture. It was certainly not wisdom on the part of the Board to ask for more money for building purposes at that time, and the wording of the proposition could not possibly have been worse. It invited defeat. The position of the Board was this: it had provided excellent accommodations for half the pupils of the city, and this made the other half all the more urgent in their demands for suitable school build- ings ; they were in sore need of them ; there could be no question about that; and in their sincere desire to do justice to all, the Board submitted the question to a vote, ignoring all expediency in the case. The people had just completed the first school building, and it had placed upon them a debt of $50,000. This fact should have been recognized as being a sufficient reason for giving the people some time to rest. The defeat of this just but ill-timed demand for more school buildings immediately would have been a matter of small importance, had it not produced a condition that made good schoolhouses impossible when the time did come for build- ing them. The character of the ward schools that were afterwards built makes this point sufficiently clear. The PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 17 men who built the High School, would never have put up the ward schools that were built in the next ten years. The effect of this election was felt not only in the kind of school- houses that were built, but also among the citizens in a growing dissatisfaction with the character of the work done in the schools. Before this calendar year had closed it seemed necessary to the Board to vote a resolution of confi- dence in the Superintendent of Schools, which was done unanimously, on the motion of Director Henry R. Sander- son. However, a committee of five persons, not members of the Board, was appointed at the request of the Superintend- ent to make a personal visitation and examination of the schools and to report to the Board their condition and prog- ress. In the summer of 1867 an addition was made to the brick schoolhouse on East Main street, together Improve _ with some repairs upon it. The job cost $206. Jade 8 in A lot on the southwest corner of Kellogg and 1867> Losey streets was purchased of S. M. Cox for $850. The Tryon schoolhouse with its fixtures was bought for $500 and placed on this lot. A special committee was appointed to find a suitable lot in the Fourth Ward for a new school building. These were the improvements and additional ac- commodations provided this year. At the November meeting of the Board in 1868 a special committee which had been appointed in July pre- Fonrth vious, on motion of Henry R. Sanderson, to select g^j, locations for new schoolhouses in the Fourth uildln *' Ward and the Fifth Ward, recommended a lot, ten by twelve rods, on the southeast corner of Mulberry street and Allen's avenue as a desirable site for a new schoolhouse in the Fourth Ward. The lot thus rec- ommended was purchased at this meeting for $1,550. In May, 1869, J. P. Chapman was employed to make plans for a four-room brick building. The contract for the con- struction of this building was let to M. D. Billings for 18 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS $8,800. It was supplied with stoves at a cost of $241.50 and the furniture cost $1,553.12. Lightning rods were placed on this building by J. W. Smith at twenty-five cents a foot and three dollars a point. This custom of placing lightning rods on the schoolhouses was continued until 1904. The total cost of the Fourth Ward School, including lot, building, furniture and heating, was $12,144.62. School was opened in it, January 10, 1870, just three years after the opening of the High School. After the Fourth Ward building was completed the Board seriously entertained the proposition to sell a part of the school lot. The matter was referred to the Finance Committee with power to act. This action is in striking contrast to that of the Board that purchased the Moshier lot in 1863 for the High School. It required three years of agitation to get the Fourth Board's Ward building which provided four schoolrooms, an d *t took three years more to get another four- room building in the Fifth Ward. During these six years all the school buildings were overcrowded; the few tuition pupils were refused admission, and half-day sessions for the primary grades were resorted to. One cause of this delay in erecting new buildings was due, no doubt, to the fact that the Board of Education had become involved in a suit with the City Council to determine the Board's right to raise money for school purposes. The Board of Education early formed the habit of appointing, annually, a committee to wait on the City Council and re- quest it to levy a tax for the running expenses of the schools and to issue bonds for building schoolhouses. Naturally, under these circumstances the City Council was not long in coming to think that it was the guardian of the Board of Education. As might be expected, a body of men, elected for an entirely different purpose and having nothing to do with the conducting of the schools except to share the pub- lic funds with them when requested, would sooner or later come to the conclusion that the schools were calling for too PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 19 much money, and that it was necessary to exercise their right of guardianship. The following is a good illustration of the attitude of the Board of Education towards the City Council in those days : "Galesburg, 111., Feby 13, 1871. "The Board of Education would respectfully represent to the Honorable Mayor and City Council of the City of Galesburg that the present school accommodations of the Third and Fifth Wards are entirely inadequate to meet the necessities of the case. The Third Ward has one schoolhouse with seats for seventy-two pupils, while the number who ought at the present time to be received there without anticipating future increase, is two hundred and four- teen. In the Fifth Ward the case is still worse. Two hundred pu- pils of the primary and intermediate grades require accommoda- tions here, while there is at present room for but forty and that in a building which for years has with difficulty been kept from falling to pieces of its own weight. A part of these scholars are now re- ceived in the High School building, thus crowding it to excess and overtaxing the teachers. In view of these facts, the Board of Edu- cation respectfully request the Common Council to submit to the voters of Galesburg at the approaching Charter election, a propo- sition to vote the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20.000) for the purpose of building two schoolhouses, one in the Third Ward and one in the Fifth Ward, similar to the one recently completed in the Fourth Ward of this city." The City Council granted the above petition and sub- mitted to the voters at the city election the prop- gnlt osition of raising twenty thousand dollars for new city 1118 * school buildings by a special school tax. There ConnclL were 583 votes cast in favor of the special tax to 398 against it, but the Council refused to canvass the vote. The Board petitioned the Council to canvass the vote, but it still re- fused to do so. The Board then asked the Council to submit the question to arbitration, Judge C. B. Lawrence, a mem- ber of the Supreme Court and a resident of the city, to be the arbitrator. This, also, the Council declined to do. The Board again came to the City Council and petitioned it to 20 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS submit an agreed case to the Supreme Court, but it was of no avail. The City Council would do nothing in the matter. The Board of Education, as a result, was compelled to re- sort to other measures. It presented to the City Council in June, 1871, a tax levy of $28,000 for all school purposes for the coming year. This levy the Council refused to make, whereupon the Board brought suit in the Circuit Court, the result of which, after a jury trial to determine the facts, was a peremptory mandamus issued by Judge A. A. Smith, commanding the City Council to make the tax levy. The case was promptly appealed by the city to the Supreme Court. A different course was pursued with the tax levy of Tax Levy 1872. The Board of Education, on its own ac- of 1872. count, submitted to the voters of the city, July 29th, a proposition to authorize it to raise $13,000 as a spe- cial school tax. There were 192 votes cast in favor of this proposition to 151 against it. A tax of $26,000 for all school purposes was levied this year. The change in the revenue law of 1872 made the point at issue in the case pending in the Supreme Court a matter of no further interest to the Board of Education, and it was accordingly dismissed by the city on the understanding that the Board would not ex- ercise the rights granted by the mandamus. Thus ended the litigation that had extended through fifteen months. At the first regular meeting of the Board after the spe- Fiftn i a l tax f $13,000 had been authorized by the elec- schooi ti n ne ld in July, it was voted, on motion of Di- Buiiding. rector Huntington of the Seventh Ward, to build a schoolhouse in the Fifth Ward. It was more than a year before the building was completed. The plans were made by the Building Committee. The contract was awarded to A. Walbaum for $13,000 and Timothy Nash was appointed superintendent of construction. Furnaces were placed in the building at a cost of $450, and the furniture contract PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 21 was given to the National School Furniture Co. for $1,296.50. The grounds cost $1,650, thus making the total cost of the Fifth Ward School $16,396.50. School was opened in this building in September, 1873. There is an interesting fact connected with the purchase of the lot for this building, illustrating what AStranKe strange mistakes and gross negligence good and Mi take - capable people sometimes fall into and how serious may be the consequences. On July 13, 1868, a lot twelve rods square, on the southeast corner of Academy and Knox streets, was purchased of M. L. Comstock for $1,350; but the schoolhouse stands on the northeast corner of Academy and Second streets, while there is nothing in the County Records to show that the Board of Education ever owned either lot. On the records of the Board for May 8, 1871, however, is an account of an exchange of lots in the "Third Ward" with Mrs. Mary E. Rugar for $300, the difference to be paid her by the Board. There is evidently a mistake in the name of the ward in this record. It should read "Fifth Ward," not "Third Ward," for the County Records show that Knox College deeded' to Mrs. Mary E. Rugar the land where the schoolhouse now stands, but there is no record that she ever deeded it to anyone; while there is a record that she received a deed from Joab Comstock for the lot twelve rods square on the southeast corner of Academy and Knox streets, the land originally purchased by the Board of Education. The mistake in the name of the ward in the Records of the Board may be explained by the fact that the committee which selected the present school site in the Fifth Ward, on the same trip of inspection examined several locations in the Third Ward for the purpose of de- termining, if possible, a school site in that ward. Thus the two wards separated by the diagonal of the city, one being in the southwest part and the other in the northeast part, were brought together in thought, and their names were ex- changed by the person making the record. 22 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The last action taken in this period to provide school Third accommodations was on February 14, 1874, wnen four lots on the southeast corner of Cherry chased. an( j Selden streets were purchased for $1,200 as a location for the Third Ward School. The first janitor employed by the Board of Education was Nels Swanson, and he continued to do all the janitor work for the schools in the central part of the city to January, 1874, when he resigned, and John Mo- burg was appointed in his place. He never had fewer than two, and sometimes had three buildings to care for. The first year he took care of the old Academy and the Colton building for $15 per month. His salary was gradually in- creased, until, in 1867, it was fixed at $600 for the entire year, but after that year he received $50 per month while the schools were in session, and $20 a month during va- cation. The janitor work in the branch schools was done by boys who were paid, at first, twenty-five cents a week. In 1865, when the Board was paying sixteen cents a bushel for coal, these boys received twenty-five to fifty cents a week for their services. In those days boys of well-to-do parents were glad to do such work; Wm. D. Sanborn, for example, was voted the sum of three dollars and twenty- five cents for ten weeks' service as janitor. It reminds one of what General Grant says in his Memoirs about his boy- hood days, "I did not like to work ; but I did as much of it, while young, as grown men can be hired to do in these days, and attended school at the same time. It was only the very poor who were exempt from labor." The value of trees for shade and ornament was not un- Tnn known in those early days. Messrs Allen, Arnold, Planting. an( j Qaycomb gave some trees to the teachers and pupils of the Fourth Ward School, who planted them with proper exercises; and all the parties received a vote of thanks from the Board of Education. When the High School building was completed in 1867, Director J. V. N. PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 23 Standish was added to the Committee on Buildings and Grounds for the express purpose of ornamenting the High School grounds. This was all before Arbor Day was heard of. During the twelve years of this period the Board of Ed- ucation built the Depot School at a cost of $435 ; purchased the grounds and erected the High School, a ten-room building, with a chapel, costing $59,269.62; the Fourth Ward School, a four-room building costing $12,144.62; the Fifth Ward School, another four- room building costing $16,396.50; also purchased the old Baptist Church building for $1,100, and later the grounds for $2,500, and the site for the Third Ward School for $1,200. This makes a total investment of $93,046.03 in per- manent improvements during the entire period. 3. THE BOARD AND ITS RESPONSIBILITIES. The organization of the schools was, of course, a distinc- tive and prominent feature of this period. The AI1 Mat . patrons, the Board of Education, the Superintend- j^J^, ent, the teachers and the pupils, were the parties i Board. involved. During the time in which they were learning the scope of their rights and duties by actual experience, some confusion and friction unavoidably occurred. This sig- nificant entry is made in the records of these early years: "It was voted that the Clerk is hereby directed to publish in the Free Democrat the monthly proceedings of this Board, omitting such personal matters as he may deem not ex- pedient to publish." The Board of Education being the source of all power and authority, at first everyone in doubt or trouble went to it for guidance or relief. The parent whose child had not been advanced or had been, in his judgment, mistreated by the teacher, appeared before the Board and made complaint, In all such cases a committee would be appointed to investi- 24 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS gate and make its report at the next meeting. There is a record of at least sixteen such cases in the first few years. In most of the cases the teacher was sustained, but in three of them she was censured by a vote of the Board, and the Clerk was directed to notify her of its action. Three peti- tions signed by citizens, asking for the transfer or dismissal of teachers, were presented to the Board. This course of action, in time, bore its fruit. In 1864 two of the teachers were taken into court and fined. The climax had been reached. Professor George Churchill, a member of the Board, arose to the occasion. At the December meeting in 1864 he presented the following ringing resolution. It no doubt expressed the best opinion of the community at that time, and it has represented the attitude of the Board on school discipline from that day to this. The resolution on school discipline offered by Professor Resolution Churchill and adopted by the Board in December, 1864, was as follows : "Inasmuch as two of our teachers have been in- volved in legal prosecutions by reason of inflicting corporal punish- ment upon their pupils, we deem it proper to give our teachers some rule of action in regard to it. And first, we wish it distinctly understood that good order must always be maintained in all the schools. To accomplish this we urge upon the teachers the use of their tact, kindness and firmness; appeals to the nobler nature of the scholar, and a generous trust in his honor. But when all these fail, as fail they sometimes will, one of two courses must be re- sorted to expulsion, or corporal punishment. The former we cannot recommend, as school is the proper place for the cultivation of good manners and morals, which such scholars especially need. Hence, the latter becomes a necessity. And we distinctly say to both teachers and scholars, that we stand by and defend the teachers in the use of corporal punishment when it seems absolutely necessary to the maintainance of good order in the school, cautioning the teachers in its use to temper it with the most prudent measures the circumstances will allow; while at the same time, they promptly, completely and unconditionally subdue the pupil under discipline. Furthermore we request parents feeling aggrieved at the course of any of our teachers, to enter complaints to the Board of Education PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 25 rather than attempt to seek redress before a legal tribunal, thus breaking down the authority of the teacher over all the pupils, and directly tending to destroy good order and discipline in all the schools." It would not be correct to infer from the foregoing reso- lution that pupils in those days were never ex- pelled from school, for there are records of several sometimes , . , , . r~i r 11 Expelled. cases of suspensions and expulsions. The follow- ing rule was adopted in May, 1865, on motion of Professor Churchill himself: "Any scholar convicted of presenting forged excuses to a teacher shall be expelled from school without power of re-instatement except by a unanimous vote of the entire Board of Education." As late as 1870, Professor Churchill and Superintendent Roberts were ap- pointed a committee to prepare and have printed a "Circular to Parents on the Duties of Parents and the Manner of Con- ducting Schools." The teacher as well as the parent came to the Board, and on some very trivial matters, as, for example, to r Teachers ask for a day s leave of absence or to have the come to desks in her room rearranged. Two teachers occu- pying the same room could not agree as to the way the desks should be arranged, and they brought the problem to the Board for its decision. To decide this momentous ques- tion the following resolution was adopted : "Resolved, That Professor Standish of Lombard University, Professor Corn- stock of Knox College, and 1 J. H. Knapp, County Superin- tendent of Schools, be, and are hereby appointed a Commit- tee to decide how the seats shall be arranged in the room occupied by the two lady teachers and that their decision shall be final." This was in 1864, and it is interesting to note that the resolution provided for both of the colleges being represented in the case. It would be interesting to know how much of this rest- lessness under restraint was due to the new conditions, how 26 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS much to the severity of the rules, and how much to the spirit of the times. The length of the noon recess seems to have given the Noon Board some trouble. It was made at first a half Recess. hour ; in a short time it was changed to an hour; and the next month it was made an hour and a half. An at- tempt was made apparently to adjust it to the varying length of the days, for this formula was repeated several times. The question was permanently settled in November, 1864, on motion of Professor Churchill. The noon recess was made an hour and a half at that time, and it has remained so to the present time. No other single act of the Board has contributed so much to the health of the pupils. The time is sufficiently long to allow a pupil living in any part of the city to walk to his home, get his usual meal and return in time for the afternoon session. In order to conserve his health what does the pupil need more, after being confined in the schoolroom during the morning session, than to fol- low this program; and what would better prepare him for doing effective work in the afternoon session? This is par- ticularly true in regard to the High School students. Examinations played a prominent part in those days. Apparently nothing in the whole system was quite so important, and the greatest care was exercised in seeing that they were conducted without prejudice, for it was a process of sifting the chaff from the grain. One of the standing committees of the Board was the Examining Com- mittee. It was composed of five members ; two citizens, two members of the Board, and the Superintendent of the Schools. Its duty was to examine all applicants for positions as teachers in the schools, and it held meetings for this purpose at stated times, due no- tice of which appeared in the city paper. With all this effort to be fair and just, the Board did not escape criticism. It was said, "Is not a majority of the committee connected with the Board?" The advisability of appointing PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 27 an examining committee composed entirely of members out- side of the Board, was at one time seriously considered. However, in 1865 and thereafter, three members of the Board and the Superintendent of Schools were made the Examining Committee. All pupils admitted to the High School were examined by a committee of the Board and the Superintendent. There were two regular examinations each year in the grades ; one at the close of the first term in De- cember, which, so far as practicable, was written; and one, at the close of the second term, which was oral and to which parents and friends were especially invited. For a pupil to be absent from one of these examinations meant suspension from school. The Board of Education was slow in learning to use its standing committees to do the detail work. It at- Absenc* tempted to attend to everything itself as a body, of Not until June, 1873, did it have a committee to recommend the appointment of teachers; and then it was made only a special committee for that year. It was ap- pointed on the motion of Director Fred A. Willoughby. Previous to this time there was no particular method of se- lecting the teachers. They were elected singly, or in groups, at different meetings during the vacation, on motion of some member of the Board. The informal ballot was called for in some of the elections. The assignment of the teachers to their positions was made at a different time, in the same way by a vote of the Board; frequently the salaries were determined at still another meeting. There were years when scarcely a meeting was held at which some member did not move to have the salary of some certain teacher in- creased. At the end of a term it was not unusual, by vote of the Board, to change the positions of several teachers. Nothing ever seemed settled for the year. This method of doing business was either the source or the result of a great deal of unrest and dissatisfaction among the teachers. As the Board gradually learned to delegate some of its powers 28 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS to its committees, superintendent and teachers, an orderly system of school management was developed. 4. POSITION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT; REGULATIONS FOR TEACHERS AND PUPILS. The head of the school system, Mr. J. B. Roberts, was at first called Principal, then Principal-Superintendent and finally Superintendent. These names indicate the evolution of the office; they appear, however, interchangeably from the first. In re-electing Mr. Roberts in 1866, the term "Superintendent of City Schools" was first formally used. The record reads, "It was voted, on motion of Professor Standish, that Mr. Roberts be hereby continued as Superin- tendent of City Schools until otherwise ordered by the Board." This settled the tenure of the superintendency for Mr. Roberts, for he continued to fill that office without re- election for eight years, or until he handed in his resigna- tion in 1874. Mr. Roberts was at first Principal of the High School and devoted his time mainly to teaching, having only a very general and limited supervision of the primary schools, or branch schools, as the ward schools were orig- inally called. The Grammar School in the Colton building was independent of his jurisdiction during the time Mr. Blunt was in charge of it. At the November meeting in 1862, Mr. Roberts was given the authority to make such changes among the super- the teachers in the graded schools and require intendent. such duties of the teachers in the primary schools as, in his judgment, the interests of the schools demanded. At the next regular meeting he was given power to grade the schools according to his judgment; no pupil could be transferred from one room to another without his permis- sion. Before this school year closed, the rules of the Board were so amended that the Superintendent could make such reports to the Board as he might desire, exactly as if he were a member of the Board. The earliest printed rules and PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 29 regulations that can now be found were adopted in June, 1863. Of the eight rules denning the duties of the Superin- tendent, the first six remain unchanged to this day. Mr. Roberts was given power in 1864 to employ substitutes when teachers were sick. He was authorized in 1868 to have the necessary repairs made upon the several school- houses. Superintendent Roberts continued to give the most of his time as teacher in the High School until August, 1868, when, on motion of Henry R. Sanderson, it was voted that, in the opinion of the Board, the time of the Superintendent for the ensuing year should be wholly devoted to the general supervision of the schools. The salary of the Principal, or Superintendent, of Schools, was made, in 1862, $55 per month for the time the . .._ Salary of schools were in session ; this amounted to $550 for superin- the year. In 1863 it was made $700; in 1864, $1,000; in 1865, $1,200; in 1867, $1,400; and in 1871 it was fixed at $1,800. When a person was appointed as a teacher, neither the salary nor the position was determined ; these were 111 t -i 1 Teachers, settled later. Teachers were required to teach six Their DU- full hours each day, three in the forenoon and three in the afternoon. The teachers in the primary divis- ions were allowed to close their schools thirty minutes earl- ier each session, but they were required to hold themselves in readiness to render such assistance in the other rooms as might be required of them during the remainder of the ses- sion. In 1865 this provision was so changed as to allow them to take the entire hour from the afternoon session, which was certainly not a part of wisdom, if the shortening of the school hours was for the benefit of the pupils. All the schools closed a half hour earlier on Friday afternoons. Teachers who were absent for a day, or any part of a day, forfeited their wages for the time absent ; but the sum of such forfeitures might be restored by a vote of the Board. There was a positive rule that the Board would not pay for 30 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS the substitute when a teacher was absent on account of sick- ness, but there are some cases on record where the teachers prevailed upon the Board to make exceptions to this rule. The teachers were required in 1867 to meet once in two weeks on Friday afternoon at three o'clock, and it was made the duty of the Superintendent to report to the Board the names of any teachers who were absent from these meet- ings. They were given two half days each term for the purpose of visiting the rooms of the other teachers. They could not read nor distribute any advertisement, nor allow any advertisement to be read or distributed in any school- room or upon any of the school premises without permission from the Superintendent. All teachers above the primary division were required to make out, from time to time, a report of the attendance and scholarship of their pupils and to send a copy of the same to the parents. They were al- lowed to detain a pupil for a reasonable length of time after the regular hour for dismissing school, either for purpose of discipline or to make up neglected lessons. In cases of will- ful and' persistent violations of any of the rules prescribed by the Board, teachers were given the power to suspend such pupils, but they were required to notify immediately the parent and the Superintendent, stating the cause of the suspension. Under certain conditions they were also al- lowed to suspend pupils who were not provided with the books required by the Board. The question of salaries caused the Board of Education no end of trouble. It came up in some form or Salaries o* other at almost every meeting for years. If it Teachers. ... , was not a petition from all the teachers or from a group of them, it would be from some individual teacher or from some member of the Board moving that the wages of a certain teacher be increased to a stated amount. It is not surprising that the question was not allowed to rest, when the smallness of the salary paid at that time is considered. The first member of the Board to champion the cause of the PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 31 teachers in their efforts to secure better pay, was Dr. I. N. Candee, a member from the Fifth Ward. After Professor Churchill was elected to the Board, he became their chief advocate. For the first four years of this period the teach- ers were employed by the week, the year consisting of forty weeks. Five dollars a week was the "wages" paid all teach- ers in 1862, except the assistant in the High School, who re- ceived six dollars a week. A committee was appointed in December, 1862, on motion of Dr. Candee, to inquire into the expediency of raising the wages of the teachers. A pe- tition asking for an advance in wages was received by the Board (from the lady teachers) in January, 1863. The sub- ject was considered at some length, but no action was taken. In July, 1863, Dr. Candee again asked that a committee be appointed to investigate the question of the adjustment of teachers' salaries. Such a committee was appointed and or- d'ered to report at the next meeting. It reported in favor of paying the assistant in the High School seven dollars a week and the assistant in the grammar department six dol- lars a week. This report, which thus recommended an in- crease of one dollar a week for two teachers, was adopted. In this year, one teacher, who seems to have been more per- sistent than the others, filed a separate petition to have her salary increased. The matter was referred to one of the directors who reported at the next meeting that he had made an arrangement whereby the teacher was to receive three dollars a week over and above the amount paid for her board and washing. The first advance of salaries worth mentioning was made in June, 1864. The salaries of two teachers were raised to eight dollars a week; those of four teachers, to seven dollars a week ; and those of all the other teachers, to six dollars a week. In January, 1865, on mo- tion of Professor Churchill, it was voted to raise the sal- aries of all teachers who were receiving six dollars a week, to seven dollars. In February, 1865, seven teachers peti- tioned to have their salaries increased and, on motion of 32 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Professor Churchill, it was voted to make the salaries of all teachers eight dollars a week. When the teachers were ap- pointed for the next year there was no increase of salaries, but during the year several teachers succeeded in having their salaries raised on separate motions made at different times. A decided advance in salaries was made in July, 1866, as may be seen by the following action of the Board which was taken on motion of Professor Churchill, viz: "That the salaries in the intermediate and primary depart- ments be $450 per year, and that the teachers be required to obey fully and literally the regulations of the Board con- cerning the attendance upon Teachers' Institutes and shall not teach select or private schools during any vacation." The next year brought the election of 1867, and no further advance in salaries could be expected after that date. It would have been surprising if they had not been reduced. When the reactionary Board came into full control the sal- aries of the teachers were cut ten per cent, but it was done in a way that did not reduce the size of their orders. In June, 1869, the Board voted to employ the teachers by school tne mon th ; and then, at the same meeting, it voted shortened. to have not less than nine months of school. The length of the school year up to this date had been ten months. This brought from the teachers a general petition to have their salaries increased, which was respectfully denied. Many requests for the use of schoolrooms for private schools were made by the teachers; and during the year many applied separately to the Board asking for an in- crease of salary. The result of this agitation was that the schools were in session for nine and one-half months that year, and for the following year nine months and three weeks. The third year, however, the schools were in session for nine months. For the next three years the schools were in session for nine and one-half months, when, in 1876, the school year was reduced to nine months. In 1879 the 5EO. W. BROWN J. V. N. 5^AND!S^ SEO. W. FOOTE O. F. PRICE M. EVELYN STROr> G. WENZE FIRST WARD The Representatives of the First Ward on the Board of Education since its First Organization in June, 1861. Trie Of Iht OF iu!ts PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 33 schools were in session nine months and one week; after which date to the present time, the school year has been nine months. Thus the action of the Board in 1869 in shortening the school year one month, finally won the de- liberate approval of the people; and thus a measure orig- inally inaugurated for economy was eventually accepted for educational reasons. The time and method of paying the teachers varied greatly. In 1862 the Clerk was ordered to pay the . . , - Payment salaries at such times and for such amounts as the of sai- teachers desired, provided the amount paid did not exceed in any case the wages due. At the beginning of one year it was voted to pay the salaries at the end of the win- ter term and after that monthly for the remainder of the year. At another time the Clerk was directed to issue or- ders monthly to teachers who might desire their pay. The salaries were allowed monthly by the auditing committee in 1867. This was done because there was frequently no quo- rum at the regular meeting of the Board. It was not until 1868 that money could not be drawn from the treasury with- out an order signed by the President and by the Secretary, and duly authorized by the Board of Education. This rule was made on motion of Director Alfred Knowles. In the later years of this period and for many years thereafter the salaries were allowed whenever the Board met, for the length of time the teachers had taught since the last meet- ing. The Knox County Institute was an influential organiza- tion in those days, and it did much to advance the . Knox cause of public education by stimulating the county . . Institute. teachers to greater proficiency in their work and by awakening the public mind to the importance of the common schools. The faculties of Knox and Lombard took a prominent part in its annual deliberations and the teach- ers of the city schools generally attended. The Board of 34 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Education appreciated its work. In 1863 it gave the teach- ers two days to attend 1 the sessions of the County Institute at Wataga; in 1865 it closed the schools and requested the teachers to attend the Institute at Oneida; and in 1872 the schools were closed and the teachers required to attend the sessions of the Institute held in the High School building. The teachers petitioned the Board to be excused from at- tending its meeting in Knoxville in 1868. At one time the Board provided educational journals for the teachers. At the January meeting in 1867, on Educa- * ' tionai motion of Professor Churchill, it voted to sub- Journals, scribe for fifteen copies of the Illinois Teacher, two copies of the Massachusetts Teacher, one copy each of the New York Teacher, the New York Educational Monthly, and Barnard's Journal of Education twenty copies in all. There were many rules for governing the pupils adopted during this period, some of which were very strict ; a few of these still remain among the pres- ent printed rules and regulations, obsolete, though never formally repealed. In 1862 the Board voted that the boys and the girls should not be permitted to have their recesses at the same time. This rule did not apply tp the branch schools. A rule requiring all pupils to be vac- cinated before entering school was adopted in December, 1865. When the High School building was opened this was the rule for tardiness : "Tardy pupils are not to loiter about the doors nor in the yard; but, immediately upon arriving, they shall enter the basement and there remain quietly un- til called to the Principal's room, where they must receive a pass before entering their rooms." Stringent as was this rule, it did not prove effective, for under it tardiness flour- ished to an alarming extent. As many as a thousand cases of tardiness occurred in a single month, which is as large a number as now occurs in a year, with more than twice the number of pupils enrolled. PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 35 5. COURSE OF STUDY. In the Public Library is a single copy of the Superin- tendent's Report for the school year ending June, 1865, and in this little pamphlet of twenty-two pages is contained the only copy, so far as is known, of a course of study pursued in the schools during this period. From this Report it is learned that the work below the High School, in 1865, re- quired only seven years, and it was arranged in three divis- ions: the primary division, comprising grades seventh and sixth; the intermediate division, grades fifth, fourth, and third; and the grammar division, grades second and first. It will be seen that the grades were then numbered in the reverse order from what they are to-day. Grade one, for example, was then the last year in the elementary schools, while to-day it is the first. In analyzing the course of study, the present method of numbering the grades will be used as it will make for clearness. In the first grade, or year, the pupils were taught read- ing from the blackboard and chart, Primer and Beading. First Reader; in the second grade, the Second Reader and part of the Third ; in the third grade the Third Reader was completed, with punctuation, definitions and parts of speech; in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades the Fourth Reader was used, with punctuation and elementary sounds; in the seventh grade the Fifth Reader was used. Wilson's Readers were the text-books in use. Much empha- sis was placed on good oral reading. The Board voted at different times the sum of five or ten dollars to be given as prizes for the best readers. In the fall of 1870 the teachers were requested by the Board to meet every second week on Thursday evening to practice reading. Arithmetic was taught in all the grades. Pupils were taught in the first grade to count, to add with ob- j^^. jects, and to use a table book; in the second mctic - grade they completed the table book and took up combina- 36 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS tion of numbers and the multiplication table; in the third grade, the first half of the primary arithmetic, and rudi- ments of arithmetic to long division ; in the fourth grade primary arithmetic was completed, with rapid combination of numbers, and rudiments of arithmetic to decimal frac- tions; in the fifth grade rudiments of arithmetic was com- pleted and intellectual arithmetic begun; in the sixth grade they were given practical arithmetic to longitude and time, with review, and intellectual arithmetic to percent- age; in the seventh grade practical arithmetic was com- pleted and reviewed, together with intellectual arithmetic. Robinson's Arithmetics were the series of text-books in use. Geography was taught in all the grades except the first. The primary geography was completed in the second grade; in the third grade the first half of the introductory geography; in the fourth grade the intro- ductory geography was completed, with mapping; in the sixth grade geography to Asia, with review, and map draw- ing ; in the seventh grade geography was completed and re- viewed, with map drawing from memory. The geographies used were Allen's Primary, Colton and Fitch's Intro- ductory, and Mitchell's New Intermediate. Some language work was probably taught in connection Grammar, with reading and spelling in the first three grades. Parts of speech were taught in the fourth grade ; in the fifth grade parts of speech, compositions and decla- mations and analysis ; in the sixth grade Clark's Grammar to syntax, with review; and in the seventh grade Clark's Grammar was completed and reviewed. Spelling was taught by letters and sounds in the first year; in the second grade written and oral spell- ing, the latter both by letters and sounds ; in the third and fourth grades by letters and sounds, with Primary Speller, and with formation of sentences ; and in the fifth and sixth grades both oral and written, with definitions from speller and reader. Spelling was not taught in the seventh PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 37 grade, or year. The text-books used were Wilson's Primary Speller, Saunders' Speller, and Parker and Watson's Speller. All pupils above the second grade were required to be provided with dictionaries. Goodrich's United States History was begun laneous . Branches. and completed in the seventh grade. Writing was taught throughout the grammar and inter- mediate divisions, that is, in all the grades above the sec- ond. In the first grade were frequent physical exercises, marching, singing, and recitations. Geometry was taught in the last four years of the ele- mentary school. Oral lessons were given from Hill's First Lessons in Geometry in grades four and five, and the book was used as a regular text in the hands of the pupils in grades six and seven. Oral instruction was given in the first five grades, or years, as follows : first grade, common things, Oral Jn _ form, color, animals, size, general qualities of mat- "traction, ter, trades, professions, morals and manners; second grade, the five senses, sound, light, air, water, printing, writing and measurements; third grade, form, animals, foreign pro- ducts, etc.; fourth grade, historical sketches, minerals, sound, light, forces of nature and oral lessons in geometry; fifth grade, properties of matter, laws of motion, physiology and hygiene, and Hill's First Lessons in Geometry. This was the course of study in 1865. What changes were made in it during the nine remaining years of this period, there is no means of knowing, as the Grades , , , Below records of the Board are silent on the matter and High . School. no copies of any reports printed in those days are extant. However, from the attendance records for June, 1874, it would seem that there were ten grades below the High School. This was probably the case, as it is known that at that date there were as many as twelve grades in some cities below what was called the High School. 38 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS 6. THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THE COLLEGES. The High School was the department of the free school High system which the colleges, from the first, did not school. look U p On w jth favor, thinking no doubt that it might do some of their work and consequently might get some of their students. Such danger was minimized in this period by the fact that the Board of Education was under the influence of the colleges, and as a result perfect har- mony prevailed among the three institutions. The tuition for the High School was made the same as that at Knox Academy; the High School carefully observed the customs of the colleges, for example, closing on the Day of Prayer for Colleges and Seminaries of Learning ; and the following agreement was entered into by all, as reported to the Board, October 10, 1864 : "We have consulted with the faculties of the colleges, and with their concurrence agree that no pupil under censure from either one of said schools shall be re- ceived into the other schools during the passing term in which they have been censured, and the teacher of any school which shall have a pupil under censure, shall inform the faculties of the other schools of said fact." There is a record that the President of one of the colleges was notified by the Board that by allowing a certain student to attend his college he was violating this agreement. While there was much care exercised in fixing the rate Effect of f tuition, yet it never amounted in any one year school to so mucn as seventy-five dollars generally le^At- much less. Thus it is evident that the High School tendance, ^id not a ff ec t the attendance at the colleges from this source to any appreciable extent, nor did it detract very materially from the attendance of the resident students, for its highest enrollment in any month of this entire period was only eighty pupils; it was generally about sixty. It is true that the attendance at Knox Academy was reduced two hundred by the opening of the public schools. Less than PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 39 one-third of these could have entered the High School ; the others must have gone into the grades. The High School was opened October 14, 1861, in the old Academy building on the north side of the Public Square, west of Broad street, where it re- mained four years, when it was moved to the old Baptist Church, on the northwest corner of Broad and Tompkins streets. Here it held half-day sessions for a year and a half, when, in January, 1867, it was moved into the High School building, now the Churchill School. At first it occupied Room E in this building, but in January, 1868, it was transferred to what was then called the Chapel, which was the east half of the third floor of the High School build- ing. This last change was caused by the crowded condition of the schools at that time. After the Fifth Ward School was opened, the High School was moved back to Room E. The Superintendent acted as Principal until June, 1868, when Edward Hayes was elected Principal at a Principals salary of $1,200 a year. Mr. Hayes served one of High ' ' School. year, when Mrs. Sarah M. McCall was appointed Principal at a salary of sixty dollars per month. Mrs. McCall was Principal for seven years. The attendance of pupils decreased in the latter part of this period. The future of the High School was mgh anything but encouraging at this time. No one ffjjj 001 * was graduated from the High School in 1870; F *t> l * r - there was only one graduate in 1871, and none in 1872. The Teachers' Committee was directed, in July, 1872, to inquire if the services of the assistant could not be dispensed with, and in June, 1873, the Committee on Rules and Regulations was directed to report at the next meeting on the advisa- bility of discontinuing the study of Latin and German in the High School. The question was under discussion at two meetings of the Board, and it was finally decided to drop the German but to continue the study of Latin. This oppo- 40 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS sition to the High School was not confined to Galesburg; it was general throughout the state at that time. There were no graduating exercises in this period. Di- plomas were not given until Tune, 1865. At this Gradual- & . J . , ing EX- date diplomas were issued to six persons for the Class of 1863, five persons for the Class of 1864, and five persons for the Class of 1865. The number of per- sons who graduated from the High School in this period of twelve years was thirty. In the Report published in 1865, appears the following course of statement as a preface to the course of study : study. "Pupils are admitted to the High School upon passing examinations in the subjects of the grammar de- partment. The present course of study can be completed in about two years. It is proposed to add another year to the course when our High School will compare favorably with similar institutions in other cities. The course is designed to embrace all that pertains to a fair English education, and to fit those who complete it for business or teaching." Mathematics in this course consisted of seven months of algebra, seven months of geometry, and three months of arithmetical exercises; Latin was given seventeen months; the sciences consisted of natural philosophy and astron- omy, which were given seven months each, natural history, physiology, botany and physical geography three months each; three months of rhetoric constituted the course in English; and three months were given to the Constitution of the United States. The following note is added : "Com- positions, declamations, reading, spelling, writing, drawing and bookkeeping, will form a part of the stated general ex- ercises throughout the course." In 1867 the boys of the High School organized a literary i-iterary society, which met once a week for the purpose of society. improvement in public speaking and debating. PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 41 A word should be spoken of the third year that was to be added. At a meeting of the Board in Decem- TheThird ber, 1866, according to the following record, "It Year - was voted that Messrs. Churchill, Roberts and Standish prepare a program of studies for a third year in the course and submit the same to this Board at their earliest con- venience." There is no record that this committee ever made its report. A possible explanation of its failure to re- port may be due to the fact that within six months of its appointment the reactionary period set in. There is no record of the third year until 1878. 7. THE QUESTION OF COLOR. The school charter, which was granted by the Legisla- ture in 1859, contains no provision for the education of col- ored children. This was a strange omission, considering that Galesburg was, at that time, noted for its abolition sen- timent and was one of the stations on the Underground Railroad. In providing for taking the school census, the charter uses the term "white children" only; and in defin- ing the qualifications for admission to the schools, the phrase, "all free white persons" is used. The subject of a separate school for the benefit of the colored children of the city was introduced at a First meeting of the Board of Education held July 22, colored School* 1863, and, after some discussion, it was voted that the Board would furnish a teacher and pay all the ex- penses of conducting such a school, if the colored people would furnish a suitable room for the purpose at their own expense. This would seem to indicate that the idea of a separate school for colored children originated with the col- ored people themselves, which would not be at all strange. A separate school for colored children was opened in Sep- tember, 1863, with Miss Mary Allen West as teacher. In September of this year the Board voted, "That the colored children in the district are expected to attend the school pro- 42 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS vided for them, and no other." There is no record indicat- ing the location of this school. It was probably in the old Post Office building on South Broad street. There were sixty pupils enrolled the first month and ninety-five the fourth month, when the smaller children were dismissed at noon and all the time in the afternoon was devoted to the larger ones. The total number of colored pupils enrolled this year was reported to be 134. The total enrollment for 1910 was 110. The colored population of the city at that time was 357, of whom 185 were under twenty-one years of age. Miss West received for her services the munificent sum of six dollars a week. This is the Mary Allen West who lived to achieve a state, if not a national, reputation as an educator and temperance worker. The colored school was moved in January, 1866, to the south room of the Monmouth Street School, and it Colored Teachers was placed in charge of C. A. Williams, a colored colored man. It would seem that the Board this year Schools. . . . tried the experiment of having the colored pupils taught by teachers of their own race. In addition to the school taught by Mr. Williams, there was at the same time a colored school on Mulberry street, taught by Mrs. Eliza- beth Mitchem, a colored woman, and another in the "west part of the city," taught by Miss Calkins. There were as many as eight different colored teachers employed that year to teach those three schools, some teaching not longer than a week. The plan was evidently unsatisfactory, as it was abandoned when the High School building was opened in January, 1867. On the opening of the High School, the Simmons Street School was made a colored school for the primary children, while those of the advanced grades were street 1 * 1 " sent to tne other regular schools. It was voted by s^hoohl. the Board in January, 1868, "That in view of the present crowded condition of the rooms in the High School building and that the rooms in the colored PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 43 school are not full, that classes of a higher grade be organ- ized in the colored school and that all be required to attend there until the building is filled." When the Fourth Ward School was opened in January, 1870, the Brick School, or East Main Street School, was made a colored school ; and it continued as such to the close of the school year in June, 1875, when all attempts to have a separate school for the col- ored children were abandoned. The resolution which placed a colored school in the East Main Street schoolhouse di- rected the Superintendent to see that all the colored children should attend their own separate schools. Richard Worthington et al, by their attorneys, Clark and Leach, appeared before the Board of Educa- tion on November 13, 1871, and made a demand in Threat- ened, writing that their children be admitted into all the schools, and that separate schools for colored children be abolished. This called forth a discussion that lasted until midnight. The Board finally voted, "To lay the whole mat- ter on the table until the first regular meeting of the Board next after the adjournment of the winter session of the State Legislature, or until some general law shall be enacted by the Legislature." Clark and Leach then filed a written no- tice that they would apply to the Circuit Court for a writ of mandamus. Nothing more about this suit appears on the records of the Board. The question of separate colored schools was again brought before the Board at the January meeting, Huntln 1872, by the request of a colored man who asked ton's Kes- ' . olutlon. to have his boy transferred from the Simmons Street School to the Monmouth Street School, when it was voted, "That the interests of education in the city would be best subserved by not making any change in the present rules regarding colored pupils." The following resolution was offered by Director Huntington at the October meet- ing, 1872: 44 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS "Resolved, That Superintendent Roberts be instructed by the Board to arrange as far as practicable for the admission of any or all colored children under twelve years of age into the schoolroom nearest their residence, provided such school is of the proper grade and, if not, then to the nearest room in which they can be graded." There was evident justice in this resolution, for some of the colored children were practically deprived of school privileges on account of the great distance they lived from either of the colored schools. The resolution was referred, on motion of Director F. A. Willoughby, to a special com- mittee to be appointed by the chairman of the meeting. Directors Willoughby, Huntington and Churchill were ap- pointed as this committee. At the November meeting, the majority of the committee not being ready to report, Mr. Willoughby submitted the following as the report of the minority : "The undersigned, one of the Committee to whom was refer- red the following resolution [the Huntington resolution as given above], begs leave to report that, owing to the absence of Mr. Churchill, of the Committee, a consultation has taken place be- tween two only of the Committee, viz: Mr. Huntington and the un- dersigned, who being unable to agree, the undersigned recommends that the resolution referred to the Committee be rejected and the accompanying resolution passed in lieu thereof. Respectfully submitted, FRED A. WILLOUGHBY, of the Committee." "Resolved, First, that so long as the colored citizens of this The wu- school district are compelled to pay taxes with the white Resold citizens to support common schools, their children ought tion. to receive equally with the white children the benefits of a common school education. "Resolved, Second, that to limit the admission of colored chil- dren of tender years to the colored schools, in cases where said colored schools are so far remote from the residence of such col- ored children that they cannot attend them without endangering their health, is virtually depriving such children of the benefits of the common schools. PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 45 "Resolved, Third, that in carrying out the spirit and intent of the foregoing resolutions, if it becomes necessary to admit colored children to schools other than those set apart for them, no distinc- tion ought to be made between the schools in the central portion of the city and the other public schools. "Resolved, Fourth, that all orders and resolutions heretofore passed by the Board in reference to colored children be, and they hereby are, modified so as to conform to these resolutions, and the Superintendent of Public Schools is hereby directed to carry out these resolutions according to the true spirit and intent of the same." After the reading of this minority report, a lively par- liamentary struggle ensued. A motion was first made to lay the report on the table until the majority of the com- mittee could make its report, but this was lost by a vote of three to three. After some further discussion a motion to refer the question of admission of colored children to the schools, to the Superintendent of Schools with power to act, was lost by a vote of three to three. The next motion was to postpone action until the next regular meeting, but it was defeated by a vote of three to three. Mr. Willoughby then secured a vote on each resolution separately. The first resolution was adopted by a unanimous vote; the sec- ond, by a vote of five to one ; the third, by a vote of five to one ; and the fourth, by a vote of four to two. The roll was called for on each of these seven questions, and it is remark- able that the alignment was different on every vote. The effect of adopting this report was to place the schools in the central part of the city, where were the greater number of the schools, upon the same basis as the ward schools, or the branch schools, as they were sometimes more properly called. This virtually settled the question of separate schools for the colored children, as it practically threw open all the schools of the city to the colored pupils. No matter what may be the preference or prejudice of anyone on this question, he must admit, if he be fair-minded, that it is practically impossible for a city of this size, with the colored 46 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS population not segregated, to have separate schools for col- ored children, without doing a great injustice to some of them especially those of tender years. The credit of final- ly settling this question, which had been a constant source of trouble for a decade, belongs largely to Mr. Fred A. Wil- loughby. Mr. Willoughby was then a young attorney, who had recently come from Connecticut. He was cultured, with a philosophic mind and a poetic temperament. He afterwards achieved distinction in the practice of law. He was the leading attorney for the city in the celebrated Shel- don Water-works case, perhaps the most important suit to which the city was ever a party. It may be of interest, in connection with the school case, to know that Mr. Wil- loughby, in politics, was a democrat. The colored school was continued in the Simmons Street schoolhouse until February 27, 1874, when it was colored destroyed by fire. As the Board received only ten house* dollars for the wreckage, either the fire must have been very destructive, or the building was of little value. The school was not abandoned at this time, but it was transferred to the Monmouth Street schoolhouse. This building was burned, April 3, 1874, and it proved to be the final argument in the case, for the pupils were then dis- tributed to the other schools. The colored school in the East Main Street schoolhouse was continued until June, 1875, when it was abandoned, the daily attendance having dropped to only twelve pupils. Thus closed the history of separate schools for colored children in Galesburg. 8. SPECIAL SCHOOLS. Galesburg once had a German School as a part of its German public school system. It came about in this way. school. At a meeting of the Board of Education in May, 1869, a petition was presented from the German citizens of the city, asking that a schoolroom be furnished by the Board, and supplied with a teacher by the petitioners. The PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 47 petition was granted, and a committee was appointed to confer with the petitioners in regard to the location of the room. The committee, according to its instructions, rented a room for one year, but its location cannot now be de- termined. A petition signed by S. Beches and other Ger- man citizens, asking that Professor Carl Eduard be ap- pointed the teacher of this school on certain conditions, was received by the Board and referred to a special committee for a report. Director M. D. Cooke, as chairman of this committee, made the following report : "Professor Eduard is employed at a salary of $700 per year, $500 to be paid out of the public funds and $200 to be paid by the scholars at- tending the school, the Board to be responsible to Professor Eduard for his salary, and to charge such tuition as may be necessary to pay the $200 the tuition fee to be charged specially for instruction in German. No scholars will be allowed to attend the school except those wishing to learn the German language in connection with the English, un- less the number of such be less than seventy-five. The school shall be under the general control of the Board of Education and under the immediate supervision of the Su- perintendent of Schools, subject to him in all respects the same as other schools." This report was accepted and adopted. The Committee on Buildings and Grounds was instructed to finish the west basement room of the Fourth Ward schoolhouse and furnish the same at the lowest pos- sible figure, for the German School. The tuition, which was to be paid in advance, was fixed at $1.25 per quarter, or ten weeks. The German citizens seem to have had a great deal of trouble in getting their school affairs adjusted, and they were certainly unfortunate in the end as the sequence shows. The German citizens again petitioned the Board in Octo- ber, 1871. This time it was in regard to paying ^n^d,^ tuition at their school. The special committee, to Scho l - which was referred this petition, reported at the next meet- 48 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS ing the following plan for an ungraded department to be taught by Professor Carl Eduard : "First, The members in this department shall not exceed sixty. "Second, Whenever it may be necessary to make room for scholars who shall be sent to this room for irregular attendance or bad conduct, the German children now in attendance and reading in the Primer or First Reader shall be sent to other schools. "Third, Pupils may be sent to this school by the Superin- tendent for continued irregularity of attendance, ungovernable be- havior, idleness, or for such other reasons as he may deem suffic- ient. "Fourth, Professor Eduard shall teach a class in the High School in German whenever, in the judgment of the Board, it may be thought best." This is certainly an instance in which it would be diffi- cult for the petitioners to recognize the answer to their prayer. It was truly an example of arrested development, not of evolution. Two years later German was, on vote of the Board, discontinued. The school in the basement of the Fourth Ward under Mr. Eduard went on until May, 1874, when on petition of C. P. Stringham, J. M. Morse, H. W. Belden, and one hundred others, to provide a better room for the school taught by Professor Eduard, it was transfer- red to some other place not named, or abandoned altogether. It is surprising that a thousand citizens did not, years be- fore, petition to have this uncomfortable and unhealthful room vacated. At a special meeting of the Board of Education in No- Night vember, 1871, Director Churchill and Superintend- schooi. ent Roberts were appointed a committee to report at the December meeting a plan for a night school. The committee made the following report: The night school was to be under the direct supervision of the Superintend- ent of Public Schools; Rooms F and G and a recitation room were to be furnished with suitable lights; the school W. S. PURINC-1 SECOND WARD The Representatives of the Second Ward on the Board of Education since its First Organization in June, 1861. THE LIBRAftY OFM UNIVERSITY OF PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 49 was to be held Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings of each week, from seven o'clock until nine o'clock; the as- sistants, whose compensation was not to exceed fifty cents each, per evening, were to be employed at the discretion of the Superintendent; and no pupil under fourteen years of age was to be admitted except by permission of the Teach- ers' Committee. The school opened January 9, 1872, and continued without interruption until April 26th, sixteen weeks in all. The whole number of pupils enrolled was 117, the largest attendance at one time being 98, and the aver- age attendance for the whole time, 71. Of the whole num- ber enrolled, 75 were males and 42 females. The whole number of teachers employed was twelve, only six of whom were in service at one time. On account of the unlike at- tainments of the pupils, little of the teaching was done in classes, and this made it necessary to have one teacher for every ten or twelve pupils. The studies pursued were chiefly arithmetic, reading, spelling and writing. A few pupils studied geometry, and there was a class in mechan- ical drawing, and one in bookkeeping. Forty-five of the young men in attendance were in the employ of the railroad company, most of them in the shops; some of them, how- ever, worked on the section. Eighteen came from other shops of the city, while of the remaining number the ma- jority were clerks in the stores. The attendance of the young women was entirely unexpected, and they were more regular in attendance than were the young men. Several did not miss an evening while the school continued. Most of these young women were working out at service in the families of the city. The Superintendent reported that the young men and women, with scarcely an exception, were orderly, attentive to business, courteous, and very much in earnest; and that the government of the school never oc- casioned a moment's anxiety. The running expenses of the school for teachers and lights were exactly two hundred dollars, or fifty dollars per month. The experiment proved SO GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS far more successful than it was thought at all probable, and a night school was conducted during four of the winter and spring months for the remaining two years of this period. Owing to the meager records of these years little can be learned of its history ; but the little that can be found, would indicate that its first year was its best. 9. SPECIAL BRANCHES. Of the different branches taught in the schools, that of Pen- penmanship was most frequently before the Board f or consideration. Judging from the number of changes made in the methods of teaching it, the penmanship of the pupils was never satisfactory for any length of time. Penmanship was taught the first year by the regular teach- ers. A special teacher, Mrs. Gross, was employed the sec- ond year, but before the school year closed her services were dispensed with, at a special meeting of the Board called to consider the subject of penmanship. At the beginning of the third year the Spencerian System of Penmanship was adopted on the recommendation of Director J. V. N. Stand- ish, who had carefully examined the different systems of- fered for consideration. The regular teachers taught the subject this year. At the beginning of the fourth year, 1865, Henry E. Hayes was employed for ten weeks to teach pen- manship in the schools. A year and a half later, Mr. Ed- ward Hayes was employed, on motion of Professor Stand- ish, but at the end of three months his services were dis- continued. The subject was allowed to rest for three years, with the regular teachers giving the instruction. A special committee was appointed in 1870 to investigate the subject and report on the advisability of securing a special teacher of penmanship. On the recommendation of this committee Mr. F. R. Poole was engaged. At the end of a year and four months the Board, by a vote of four to two, decided not to continue the services of Mr. Poole. In May of this same year, 1871, a Mr. Babbitt presented a proposition to intro- PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 51 duce his writing books and system of penmanship into the schools, which was accepted. The teachers were directed to dismiss their schools for a half day to attend a drill ex- ercise to be conducted by Mr. Babbitt. This system was eminently unsatisfactory, for, before the school-year closed, a special committee on system of penmanship was ap- pointed to investigate the Babbittonian System of writing. The committee reported that having made, as they consid- ered, a contract with Mr. Babbitt, the Board was bound to fulfill its part of the contract and give his system a fair trial. The Babbittonian System was, however, displaced in Jan- uary, 1872, and Payson, Dunton and Scribner's writing books were adopted. This system of penmanship continued two and a half years of this period, with no special teacher of the subject employed. Thus, in twelve years, three dif- ferent systems of penmanship were tried, and four different special teachers employed. It was not unusual for the Board to adopt two plans for teaching the subject in one year. However, there was at one time a period of three years in which no change was made. Penmanship seems to be subjected to more frequent and radical changes in its methods of presentation than any other subject taught in the schools. It required the Board of Education a long time to come to the conclusion that music had a place in the Music. public schools. No other subject was compelled to stand and knock so long before the door was opened. It gained an entrance only by having a champion of unusual strength and energy. To Mrs. M. D. Cooke, who is still liv- ing in the city and has never lost her interest in the welfare of our public schools, belongs the honor of persuading the Board to admit music as a branch of study in the common schools. In October, 1862, Mrs. Cooke was allowed, on mo- tion of Dr. Candee, to occupy one room in the Colton build- ing, and that for only a half hour each day, "provided she would in no way interfere with the regular school duties." 52 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The next year she was given, by vote of the Board, a room in which to teach a class in singing. This was a distinct gain on the part of Mrs. Cooke and her cause. It might seem that the Board took a backward step in 1865, when it re- fused to allow Mrs. Cooke the use of one of the schoolrooms for the purpose of teaching singing; but it should be re- membered that this was the time when all the schools in the central part of the city were having only half-day sessions. They had left the old Academy and the Colton building, and were waiting for the High School building to be completed. There was no room or time then for the encouragement of "fads." In the fall of 1867, when the schools had become corn- Mrs, cooke fortably settled in their new building, Mrs. Cooke byThe yed was regularly employed by the Board as a teacher Board. o f mus i c j n the schools. This was a great victory, and it would have been complete had not her compensation been made to depend upon a tuition fee to be collected by herself from each pupil. This plan was continued for three years, when, in 1870, vocal music was made a regular study in the schools, and Mrs. M. D. Cooke was appointed as the teacher at a salary of fifty dollars per month. This was her reward for eight years of missionary work. The next year, 1871, however, the Board decided, by a vote of three to two, to discontinue the special teacher of music. Mrs. Cooke appears not to have been completely discouraged, for in January, 1872, she again began the teaching of music classes in the High School chapel. In July, 1872, the tide turned once more in her favor and she was employed as the special teacher of music. It was for only one year, however, as in August, 1873, it was again voted to dispense with the ser- vices of a special teacher of music. At this time the Board was without a settled policy on many other questions as well as on the subject of music. PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 53 The most surprising find in the records of this period is an account of the introduction of supplementary reading- matter in March, 1871. It reads as if it mentary _ Beading. might have been written twenty-five years later, for that was about the time when supplementary readers came into use. It is surprising that such a rational method of teaching reading could have ever been faithfully and in- telligently tried, and then dropped and forgotten. Such is, the case, however, in this instance, for twenty-five years ago supplementary reading books were unknown in the schools, and their introduction later was considered something new. The resolution was introduced by Professor Churchill, and it is another instance of his comprehensive vision on educa- tional questions. The resolution, which deserves a place in this history, is as follows : "Good reading is one of the highest accomplishments of a scholar, yet the art is one so difficult that good readers churchiu are the exceptions and not the rule. This fact should Resolution on Supple- urge all interested to devise and resort to all possible mentary aids to secure so desirable an end. Every one knows Beadlng ' that reading old and oft repeated stories fails to interest the reader, and hence, from want of interest, no progress will be made, while if the matter were new and interesting, an enthusiasm could be waked up in the reader which would aid much in giving the art of reading well. In most of our schools the books are read and re- read until it is an irksome task for the scholar to repeat the read- ing and the buying of new books is so objected to on the part of parents that the teachers and directors feel obliged to forego the gain in reading for the sake of saving the small price of the book. To avoid this, many schools are now buying sets of readers which, owned by the school boards, are circulated to the different rooms to supply the various grades with new and interesting matters out- side of their regular reading books, and this is done in grades read- ing the Second and Third Readers. Now, Resolved by the Board, that the Superintendent be instructed to procure one hundred each of any Second and Third Readers not now used in our schools, to be used as above suggested, and that he also be instructed to sub- scribe for twenty-five copies of a magazine called 'The Nursery,' for the use of the primary grades, and that the money received from tuition be appropriated for the purchase of said books." 54 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS In February, 1872, a request was made by Mme. Sey- Oym _ mour for the use of the High School chapel in which to give lessons in gymnastics. This re- quest the Board refused to grant, by a vote of three to two. In September of the same year, however, it voted on mo- tion of Director F. A. Willoughby, to erect gymnastic ap- paratus at the High School and at the Fourth Ward School, at an expense not to exceed forty dollars. There is no evi- dence that any of this apparatus was ever installed. It appears by the records that drawing was introduced into the schools in 1869 : for at the August meeting Drawing, Bookkeep- of that year the Board adopted the Bartholomew in*, Etc. J f . Series of Drawing Books. Bookkeeping was also taught in the High School for a few months at different times. It would seem, from the following entry in the rec- ords of February, 1872, that mechanical drawing was taught for a while in the High School. "The Superintend- ent was authorized to procure books and instruments nec- essary in teaching mechanical drawing, at a cost not ex- ceeding twenty dollars. 10. PRINCIPALS. There was a strong sentiment from the very first that MOT for tne head of the Grammar School should be a man, principals. as was t h e p r i nc ip a i o f t he High School. When the schools were organized, the grammar department was placed in the Colton building and A. E. Blunt was made Principal. When Mr. Blunt resigned, in January, 1863, the Board, not being able to get a man for the vacancy thus caused, after much hesitation made Mrs. R. K. Colby head of the department for the remainder of the school year. Mr. Edward H. Curtis was elected Principal for the next year, with Mrs. Colby as his assistant. This action of the Board caused the resignation of Mrs. Colby and, apparently, that of two or three other teachers. Mr. Curtis held the po- sition but one year, and, from that date, the place has been PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 SS held by a woman. When Edward Hayes resigned as Prin- cipal of the High School, in 1869, that position was also filled by a woman and continued to be so filled for twenty- six years. When the Fourth Ward School was opened in January, 1870, Miss Wheelock was made the Principal, but three years later, when the Fifth Ward School was opened, Mr. Patrick Talent was placed at its head. At the close of this period there were three men connected with the schools : J. B. Roberts, Superintendent of Schools, Patrick Talent, Principal of the Fifth Ward School, and LeRoy S. Bates, a teacher in one of the grades in the High School building. 11. LIBRARY. The Free School Law of 1855 gave districts the right to buy libraries; and in accordance with this provision some, at least, of the eight independent districts into which the present school district was then divided, purchased libraries. These libraries became the property of the union school district when it was formed by the consolidation of these eight districts. When the school system was organized un- der the charter, it came into possession of this library, which was said to consist of 600 volumes. The Board of Educa- tion employed S. A. Gross to keep the library and he was paid twenty-five dollars a year for his services as librarian. At the March meeting in 1863, the Board received a com- munication from the Young Men's Library Association ask- ing that it might have the position of librarian to the Board and that the books might be removed to its hall. This re- quest was granted and the Young Men's Library Associa- tion was the custodian of the school library for four years, for which it received twenty-five dollars a year. When the books were delivered to Professor A. Hurd, the librarian of this Association, he found they invoiced 293 instead of 600. The library was taken over by the Board of Education in 1867, when the High School building was opened. Here it 56 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS remained until it was moved with the High School to its new building in 1888, where it was totally destroyed by the fire of 1904. 12. LIMITATIONS. The charter provided that children over the age of five years and under the age of twenty-one should be School J , * . / Age admitted to school. This was the same as the Changed .. ., to six provision in the Free School Law of the state, adopted in 1855. The Board of Education voted in May, 1864, on motion of Professor Churchill, that six years should be the age of admission to the schools. This action was considered necessary, at the time, on account of the crowded condition of the primary grades; now it is recog- nized as wisdom. The tax limit originally fixed by the charter was one- Tax half of one per cent. This, from the first, proved Limit. to k e inadequate, and in December, 1864, it was voted, on motion of Professor Standish, then a member of the Board, to ask the Legislature so to amend the charter as to give the Board of Education the power to levy a tax of one per cent for school purposes. The amendment was passed and approved, February 14, 1865. This limit was in- creased again in 1899, by an act of the Legislature, enabling all Boards of Education acting under special charters to make the same levy for school purposes as is provided by the general law, viz: two and one-half per cent for educa- tional purposes and two and one-half for building purposes. It was the custom of the Board of Education in this salary period to pay the city clerk a salary of $50 to $100 cuJrk and P et " vear f r ms services as clerk of the Board, and Treasurer. tne c j t y treasurer a salary of $25 to $50 per year as treasurer of the Board. The year the High School build- ing was completed the clerk received $200 and the treas- urer, $100. PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 57 The Board tried the experiment of having only one ses- sion a day in the latter part of the spring term of 1874. Schools commenced at eight o'clock in the sion a* 8 morning and closed at noon, for the day. This was certainly a poor argument for a ten months' school, which was strongly advocated by some at that time. One of the duties of the Superintendent of Schools is to prepare annually a report of the schools and to submit it to the Board of Education at its Tune tendent's , . Report. meeting. Of the twelve reports of this period only three were printed in pamphlet form for distribution; the first was in 1862, the second in 1863, and the third in 1865. No report of the schools was ordered published by the Board in the last eight years. As far as it is known, no copies of the reports of 1862 and 1863 are now in existence, and only one copy of the report of 1865 has been preserved. It is in the Public Library. This single copy, printed in 1865, is the only official statement of the schools, in print, for all this period. This, together with the fact that there is no file of any of the Galesburg newspapers of this period except for the last four years and there are very few refer- ences to the schools in those years leaves the minutes kept by the clerk of the Board as the sole source of information concerning this important period in the history of the schools. The number of teachers required in the first year of this period was eighteen, and the largest enrollment of pupils in any one month was 1,073, or an average x^{ 9 f enrollment of 59.6 to the teacher. The number of teachers required in the last year was twenty-eight, and the largest monthly enrollment in that year was 1,752, or an average of 62.5 to the teacher. The number of different teachers employed during these twelve years was one hun- dred and nineteen, of whom thirty-six taught less than one year, the average length of service being about two years. No teacher taught the entire period of twelve years. 58 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The number of different men who served as members of the Board of Education during the twelve years of ta h thf* ^is period was twenty-four, which made an aver- Membere a g e o f t w o new members each year. For the last Board of twenty-five years there has been, on an average, Education. * " one new member each year. Most of those who served one term in those days did not apparently wish an- other, or, at least, they were not candidates for re-election. There were seven members re-elected once, in those twelve years. One member, George Churchill, was re-elected three times. He was a constant as well as a potential factor, serving all those years save the first and the last. The Board of Education was defeated at the polls on only two occasions when its outgoing members were candidates for re-election. The first defeat was in 1867, after it had built the High School at a cost of over $59,000 and when it was proposing to build two other schoolhouses. The sec- ond defeat was in 1873, after it had spent $16,000 on the Fifth Ward School, while only $13,000 was voted for that purpose, and when it was preparing to build the Third Ward School. 13. RESIGNATION OF SUPERINTENDENT ROBERTS. When the schools opened in September, 1873, Superin- tendent Roberts was evidently undecided about continuing his connection with the schools. The last representative of the original policy dominating the Board of Education was removed by the defeat of Professor Churchill at the previous June election. This severing of the old ties, thus making everything here uncertain, and some tempting offers com- ing to him from other cities, gave Mr. Roberts a feeling of doubt and unrest. At the November meeting, Mr. Roberts tendered his resignation as Superintendent of Schools, which the Board promptly and unanimously refused to accept. By this action it was plainly indicated that no change of policy was intended here ; but in July of the following year, when PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 59 he was tendered the Principalship of the Indianapolis High School, he handed in his resignation, which was accepted. "Gentlemen of the Board of Education: It is now twelve years since I first entered upon the duties of Superin- ^ et ** r of tendent of the Galesburg Public Schools, uniting with tion. that office that of Acting Principal of the High School. During the first year there were upon the rolls fourteen teachers and 1,264 pupils. During the past year there have been thirty teachers and 2,268 pupils. Not one of the original teachers, however, and, so far as I know, not one of the pupils of that first year remaining upon the rolls. Scarcely less sweeping has been the change in school buildings. The old brick schoolhouse on East Main street is the only building remaining upon its original site. Besides this, two other schoolhouses remain in existence and are still in use, viz: the one on Maple avenue, which was removed from West Main street, and the North Depot, or Seventh Ward Schoolhouse, which former- ly stood upon the present site of the First Baptist Church. The High School and higher grades were 'accommodated' in the old Academy which has since given place to the Union Hotel, and in the store-rooms now occupied by Dieterich and Hoover. The thought of all these changes and this growth, together with a thousand other reminiscences in which far more of pleasure than of pain is mingled, crowd upon me and cause me to linger be- fore pronouncing the final word which must at last be spoken. Gentlemen, accept my profound thanks for all the courtesies, kind- ness and hearty co-operation which I have received at your hands in my laborious work. Of you as a Board and as men and also of your predecessors in office I shall carry with me none but the most grateful recollections. To the Citizens of Galesburg, who have borne generously with my failures and defects which no one has understood and felt so keenly as myself, I hereby express my hearty gratitude. With me, leaving Galesburg is leaving home with all its hallowed associa- tions. In regard to my teachers and pupils I can only say that to bid them this abrupt and unexpected good-bye is one of the hard- est experiences of my life. One can form no conception of the strength of these ties until an effort is made to sunder them. With this, perhaps unnecessarily long preface, gentlemen, I hereby resign my office as Superintendent of the Public Schools of Galesburg. J. B. ROBERTS." Galesburg, July 20, 1874. 60 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Director M. D. Cooke offered the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted: "Resolved, That in accepting the resignation of Professor J. B. Roberts, we tender him our sincere thanks for the noble work he has accomplished in our Public Schools in bringing them up to their present high standard of excellence, and that we deeply regret our inability to make it an object for him to remain with us longer, for our own sakes as also for the sake of the general educational interests of the State, with which he has been identified as an able and efficient worker; that in leaving us. for his new field of labor, he will carry with him the highest esteem and confidence of this Board and this community." There was perhaps as little of the formal and perfunctory in the above communication and resolution as can be found in any other document of like character, for there is not a single line in all the records to indicate that Mr. Roberts, at any time, did not have the full sympathy, the hearty sup- port and the entire confidence of the Board of Education. 14. SUMMARY. One to-day in reading these records may sometimes smile at the awkward manner in which things were oc- casionally done and at the tendency in some instances to magnify the unimportant, but he should remember that the present generation has the advantage of nearly half a cen- tury of school administration. It was a period full of edu- cational activity and progress. It was noted, also, for the number of experiments tried. A short account of these has already been given, but a grouping of them here will not be without its value. There was the colored school, the German school, the ungraded school for truants and incor- rigibles, the night school, the teaching of elementary geom- etry in the last three years of the graded schools, and the ordering of gymnastic apparatus for the play grounds of the two new schools. These experiments were all finally dropped; none of them has been reinstated, and most of them have been completely forgotten. Then there was sup- PERIOD OF COLLEGE CONTROL: 1862-1874 61 plementary reading, bookkeeping and mechanical drawing in the High School, free-hand drawing in the grades, and music, which may properly be included in this list. These, also, were tried and dropped but in later years introduced into the schools as important features of modern education. Those who are advocating a special school for the truant and the incorrigible of these degenerate days will be sur- prised to find that in those good old times of forty years ago and more there were truants and incorrigibles, and a sep- arate school provided for them by the Board of Education. The teaching of the elements of geometry in the grades, partially anticipated the popular plea of President Eliot and others, made thirty years later, for enriching the curriculum by bringing the elements of some of the High School studies into the grades. The resolution of the Board of Education ordering the playgrounds of the High School and the Fourth Ward to be provided with gymnastic apparatus, pre- ceded by a third of a century the movement that is now sweeping over the country to establish public playgrounds and to equip them with physical apparatus. In those days there were surely plenty of fads "fad" being a generic term for anything new. All honor to those times for what was so courageously attempted as well as for what was so nobly done. TAX LEVIES. 1861 $4,193.71 1862 $ 4,600.00 1868 $15,609.00 1863 4,773.86 1869 16,425.37 1864 5,000.00 1870 22,000.00 1865 8,607.24 1871 17,237.00 1866 11,793.45 1872 26,000.00 1867 14,000.00 1873 25,000.00 1874 $35,000.00 62 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS BONDS ISSUED. $40,000. Authorized Nov. 21, 1864, by a vote of 947 for, to 16 against. $10,000. Authorized Oct. 13, 1866, by a vote of 22 for, to none against. $13,000. Authorized July 29, 1872, by a vote of 192 for, to 151 against. MATTHEW ANDREWS Superintendent of Schools 1874-1885 CHAPTER III PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885. 1. School Buildings in Third, Sixth and Seventh Wards. 2. Losses by Fire. 3. The Board and Its Activities. 4. Teachers' Meetings and Voluntary Training. 5. Courses of Study. 6. Special Schools. 1. Special Features of Organization. 8. Improvements and Alterations. 9. The High School. 10. Resignation of Superintendent Andrews. 11. Summary. After a period of active organization involving an un- usual expenditure of money, such as has been de- J Character scribed in the last chapter, would naturally come of the , '. * Period. one of more or less reaction and retrenchment. This is a law of institutional growth and it is well illustrated in at least the first half of this period. There were two other causes that contributed to the general movement, either of which alone would have been sufficient to bring about a reaction. When Professor George Churchill re- tired from the Board of Education in June, 1873, and Mr. J. B. Roberts from the Superintendency a year later, the man- agement of the schools passed completely into the control, as it were, of another generation. There was then no one left in the management of the schools who thoroughly un- derstood their organization and who could, consequently, be in special sympathy with it. This was the first of the contributory causes. The second was the financial panic that swept over the country at that time, paralyzing busi- ness and institutions of all kinds. The people of those days did not seem to be conscious that their actions were being guided and controlled by such deep-rooted and inexorable forces, but they were inclined rather to attribute the trend of affairs to the natural perversity of the individuals who were in control. The conditions made retrenchment imper- (63) 64 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS ative and it is not strange that under the circumstances cheapness became the chief consideration in the manage- ment of the schools. The course of study was pruned, all spe- cial subjects were lopped off, special teachers dropped, and all salaries greatly reduced ; every schoolhouse built cost less than the preceding one ; the same was true of the furniture purchased, and the amount expended on repairs was prac- tically nothing. The policy of economy continued until the tax levy was reduced almost one-half. All this could not be done without much friction, which was manifested in the meetings of the Board and at the school elections. In those years the people took a lively interest in the school elec- tions, at one or two of which more votes were polled than at the municipal elections. About the beginning of the sec- ond half of this period affairs began to improve and by the time it closed the schools were in good condition, having made substantial improvement along some important lines which will be noted later. The Board was not long in securing a successor to Mr. A New J- B - Roberts. He resigned July 20, 1874, and tendetS" at tnat meeting a committee, consisting of the Employed. Mayor, Mr. Johnson, and School Directors Leach and Cooke, was appointed to find a superintendent. Two days later this committee made the following report at a special meeting of the Board, "That M. Andrews, of Ma- comb, be invited to take the place of Superintendent of Schools vacated by Mr. J. B. Roberts." On motion of Mr. Leach the report was adopted. The records do not state the time nor the salary for which Mr. Andrews was em- ployed. Other sources show that his salary was $1,800, the same as Mr. Roberts was receiving when he resigned, and the time for which he was appointed was during the pleas- ure of the Board. Mr. Andrews' appointment was uni- versally regarded as an excellent one, he being a man in the prime of life with years of successful experience in super- PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 65 vising schools. At the time of his appointment he was su- perintendent of schools at Macomb. 1. SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN THIRD, SIXTH AND SEVENTH WARDS. At the beginning of this period there were three sections of the city, the Third, the Sixth, and the Seventh wards, that had not been supplied with new s'iludLgg. schoolhouses as the other parts of the city had been. The claims of these wards could not longer be ignored. Their schoolhouses were not only wretched build- ings, but they were notoriously inadequate. The energy displayed by the Board in providing new buildings for these parts of the city was commendable, but a serious mistake was made in not employing an architect to design them or to prepare their plans and specifications. This work was done by the regular Building Committee, assisted in some cases by J. P. Chapman, who had been the superintendent of the construction of the woodwork in the High School building. All were four-room brick buildings similar in ex- terior architecture to the Fifth Ward School, but each was different in interior arrangement. While they were palaces compared with the ones whose places they took, they were as cheaply constructed as knowledge of the building art at that time would permit. Each cost from $1,100 to $4,500 less than the one after which they were patterned. All these buildings were located in what were then the outskirts of the city. The Third Ward School building was the first one to be built. The land for this school, consisting of three Third lots on the southeast corner of Cherry and Selden ward J Building. streets, had been purchased in February, 1874, for $1,200. In December of this year the Building Committee prepared plans and specifications for this building and sub- mitted them at the meeting in January, 1875. The contract was let in February to Ira R. Stevens for $11,900, the building to be completed in time for the opening of schools 66 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS the following September. John McFarland was employed to superintend its construction. The contract for heating and ventilating was let for $850 to the Ruttan Heating and Ventilating Co., which installed its system of tubular furnaces. The Sterling School Furniture Co. was given the furniture contract for $875 which was about $400 cheaper than the Board had ever paid for a like amount of furniture. It is thus seen that the Third Ward School cost, including grounds, building, heating and furniture, $14,- 825. School was opened in it September 6, 1875, with Miss Emma J. Becker as Principal. Probably the next schoolhouse would have been built in origin of tne Sixth Ward had not one of the two one-room c ^ was disposed to act upon all matters that tion of came before it as a body and not to make use of a Commit- tees. committee for anything. This method of transact- ing business where the volume is small is the best, but for the Board of Education, with the amount of business that comes before it, to attempt to act upon every detail as a body was out of the question. Committees must be used to collect, sift and classify the facts pertaining to the ques- tions that come before the Board, and to make definite recommendations in regard to the action to be taken. When an organization once learns the use and convenience of the committee, it is likely to act too much through its commit- tees. That was just what happened in this period. The Board fell into the habit of referring many things to the dif- ferent committees with power to act, without requiring them to report back the action taken, and that was the last ever heard of the matter, so far as the records show. When the matter referred involved paying a bill, fixing a salary, or letting a contract, it was quite important, for more reasons than one, that the records show what action was taken. In PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 73 many cases it is impossible for one to determine by the rec- ords what action was taken, or what amount of money was paid out. By way of illustration, two entries, which are by no means exceptional, are here given from the records: "June 11, 1877 It was voted that the sum of $4,000 be placed to the credit of the Building Committee to be ap- plied on the Sixth Ward School building, in such sums and at such times as they approve." "July 14, 1874 The prop- ositions and contracts of Haxtun Steam Heater Co. to fur- nish a new boiler for the Fourth Ward building and put the pipes, etc., in proper condition for heating, and to furnish, put in and complete steam heating apparatus for the Seventh Ward School, were accepted and the Mayor and Clerk were authorized to sign said contract on behalf of the Board and to issue warrants thereon." No further entries in the records show what was done in either of these cases. Besides the manifest convenience of thus doing business a further reason for giving such powers to a committee may be the fact that no quorum might be present at the next regular meeting, which was frequently the case in those days. As late as March, 1885, the Republican-Register com- mented as follows : "There was no quorum of the Board of Education present at the time of the last meeting and busi- ness relating to the schools had been lingering along for two, or three months without being attended to." For the past twenty-five years there has been but one regular meeting of the Board at which a quorum was not present. Among the standing committees of the Board of Educa- tion from its first organization was one called the Teacher9 Examining Committee, whose duty it was to give Examined, an examination to all applicants for positions in the schools and to issue certificates to such as in its judgment were qualified. A person was required to have such a certificate before he or she could be appointed. It was apparently the custom of this committee to hold an examination only once a year and that at the close of the schools in June. This ac- 74 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS commodated those who were appointed at the regular time, but when it became necessary to fill a vacancy that occurred after the opening of schools in September, it was not al- ways possible to secure one who held a certificate from the Examining Committee. In the course of years quite a number of teachers got into the schools in this way without certificates, and having proved themselves competent in the school room, no examination was required of them later. This caused dissatisfaction among applicants who held no certificates and who wanted to escape the examination. Their claim was that while there were regular teachers in the schools who held no certificates, "Why should we be re- quired to secure them?" The fact was that the Examining Committee had come to be looked upon as a device invoked by the Board to relieve its members from the importunities of undesirable applicants and their friends, rather than as a means of determining the qualifications of those applying for positions. To free itself from this criticism, the Board in appointing the teachers in June, 1877, made all the ap- pointments, that of the Superintendent included, subject to an examination. The effect of this action was the reverse of what the Board had expected. It was designed to allay the dissatisfaction of a comparatively few applicants and their friends, but it aroused the indignation and called forth the denunciation of all the teachers and their host of friends. This was a turbulent year in the Board anyway, and one thing more did not at first seem to make any difference with the members. For weeks the subject was thoroughly dis- cussed in the public press by the reporters, the teachers, the Superintendent and "The Occasional Contributor." Many uncomplimentary reflections were made. Even the integ- rity of the Superintendent was called into question. When the examination was held many of the teachers did not at- tend. It appears by the public press that those who held certificates were not notified of the examination. When the majority of the committee made its report to the Board, the PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 75 minority members publicly charged that "the report was crooked," that it contained the names of teachers as having passed the examination who were not even present at any time during the progress of the examination. The Board doubtless felt like the boy who, while wandering in the blacksmith shop picked up a piece of hot iron the blacksmith had recently cast aside. At the meeting of the Board in August all the teachers were appointed on the recommenda- tion of the committee, which saved itself and the Board by recommending the adoption of the following rule: "No teacher shall be employed to teach in any of the public schools of this city unless they hold a certificate from the Teachers' Committee, and such certificates shall be good for the term of three years. This rule to take effect and be in force January 1st, 1878." The subject was finally dismissed at this meeting of the Board by "Superintendent Andrews making a brief personal explanation respecting the integrity of his intentions in the conduct of the famous examina- tions." All the teachers were again required to be examined for certificates in September, 1883. This time it was Teachers A grain by the County Superintendent of Schools. It Examined, came about in this way. At a meeting of the Board, when some of the members were not present, a teacher was ap- pointed who held a certificate only from the County Super- intendent. At the next meeting objection was made to this appointment on the grounds that the person did not hold a certificate from the Examining Committee of the Board. The question was referred to the State Superintendent for his decision. He rendered an opinion that no one who did not hold either a county or state certificate could teach in the public schools of the city. As the Board of Education was drawing at that time about $5,000 from the state fund, there was nothing to do but to have the teachers com- ply with the decision of the State Superintendent, which they did, on September 7, 1883, as before stated. The 76 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Board not being fully satisfied with the opinion of the state department employed Mr. Fred A. Willoughby to take up the question on an agreed case to the Supreme Court for a decision. The Court sustained the opinion of the State Su- perintendent. The effect of this decision made an examin- ation by the Examining Committee unnecessary and it ac- cordingly ceased without any action of the Board to exer- cise that power, and the name was changed to "Teachers' Committee." All the salaries varied greatly at different times in this period. In 1874 the salary of the Superintendent was made $1,800; in 1877, $1,500; in 1879, $1,400; in 1880, $1,500; in 1881, $1,600; in 1882, $1,700. During the first year there was a campaign to increase salaries tne sa l a " es f tne teachers which was successful. increased, ^t the October meeting of the Board "It was voted, on motion of Director Knowles, that the salary of teachers who received $40 per month last year be in- creased to $45 per month and, on motion of Director Cooke, the salary of all present teachers who received $45 per month last year be increased to $48 per month." The question of a further increase of salaries continued to be agitated throughout this year. A special committee was appointed in April to investigate the subject and to report a revised schedule of salaries. In July this committee recom- mended that the salaries of the principals of the Third, Fourth and Fifth wards and also that of the teacher of the Grammar School (Room F, High School building) be made $60 per month. No recommendation as to the salaries of the other teachers was made. This report was adopted, and here the increase of salaries stops for this period. At the meeting in September "The Superintendent was instructed to notify the teachers that this Board does not wish to en- tertain the subject of increase of salaries during the next eight months." PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 77 In June, 1877, that fateful year, the Board made its first reduction in salaries, fixing that of the Superin- tendent at $1,500, the Principal of the High School at $70 per month, those of the principals of the ward schools at $54 per month, and those of the grade teachers at $45 and $35 per month. This was designed to be a ten per cent reduction. When the teachers were appointed in June, 1879, Director Stone moved that the salaries be the same as they were the year before, but before a vote could be taken on this motion, the following schedule of salaries was proposed and adopted, Directors Stone and Arnold be- ing the only members voting against it : Superintendent of Schools, $1,400; Principal of High School, $580; As- sistant Principal, $427.50 ; Principal, Assistant Principal and first grammar room teacher of Fourth Ward, $450 each; general teachers, $380; principals of Third, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh wards, $450 each; teachers for the first year, $270; and teachers for the second year, $315. This was intended for another ten per cent reduction. Thus, in two years all salaries were reduced twenty per cent or more, dropping from the highest point to the lowest. As far as the records show no protest was made and the public press appears to have been silent on the subject. When the teachers were appointed in 1880 some few re- ceived a slight increase in their salaries and the galarie9 same was true in 1881. At the November meet- B* 8 * 01 " 63 - ing in 1881 Director Stone moved "That for the remainder of the year the salaries of all teachers and janitors be in- creased ten per cent." Pending the consideration of the question the Board virtually restored the old salaries on the recommendation of the Examining Committee, and they re- mained unchanged to the end of the period. The salaries were as follows: Superintendent of Schools, $1,700; Prin- cipal of the High School, $700; the two assistants in the High School, the teachers of the eighth grade, and the ward 78 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS principals, $540 ; two of the grade teachers, $495 ; fourteen, $450 ; five, $405 ; and six, $360. If it were true, as it is frequently stated, that the num- c . , ber of votes polled at the school election measures School Elections. t h e interest the people take in public education, then the citizens of Galesburg have never been so interested in their schools as they were in those years. There were 681 votes cast at the school election in 1875; in 1876, 867; in 1878, 1,464; and 1,326 in 1879. The editorial comment on this subject in the Republican-Register of June 1, 1878, is worthy of a place here : "On Monday next our citizens will be called upon to elect three members of the Board of Education, one each from the Third and Sixth Wards, to serve a full term of three years, and one from the Second Ward to fill a vacancy. If there are positions that only 'the best men' should be selected to fill, they are those connected with our schools, and especially do we need our 'best men' to serve ori the Board not only men who are friendly to our system of schools, and who possess the confidence of the people, but who are qualified by education and experience to discharge the duties of the office intelligently, wisely, and without partiality or prejudice. The questions commonly dividing our citizens in the City and Ward elections, should not be permitted to intrude themselves when it comes to the selection of school officers; and the friendship to com- mon schools of the man who does intrude them, is to be seriously questioned. The idea that 'any person is good enough for a school director' is a mistaken one. ... It is a most important po- sition, morally, politically, and financially. School Boards can be improved upon; and all should strive, no matter how good the present may be, to make the incoming always better than the out- going Board. We trust our people Monday will agree upon a ticket composed of good men, and elect it without contest." The first time the Board of Education received an order vaccina- from the State Board of Health requiring all tion - school children to be vaccinated, was in December, 1881. A special meeting of the Board was immediately called, and on motion of Director Stone it was voted "That the Superintendent be instructed to direct each teacher to carry out the requirements of the State Board of Health PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 79 concerning the vaccination of pupils." The subject of vac- cination was subsequently before the Board many times for discussion in the other years of this period, and it was the source of much friction between the school authorities the teachers in particular on the one hand, and the parents and physicians on the other. The order was, however, kept in force. There was a time in the public schools, and it was a long time too, when the promotion of a pupil depended Ezamllia . entirely upon how well he answered a set of ques- tioiw< tions, generally ten in number, in each subject, on a certain day at the close of the year. How well he had done his work all the other days of the year was as nothing when compared with his work on the day of final examination. Nothing could have been more unreasonable or better de- signed to make nervous wrecks of the pupils than such a plan. This cruel and wicked system was abolished by the Board of Education at its August meeting in 1884, as the following entry from its records shows : "Director Stone moved that the rule concerning the average standing of pupils be amended so as to provide that in determining the standing of pupils for promotion or graduation the year's work in each study shall be taken into consideration." This action was all the more significant as it was the only instance where the records indicate that the Board of Education ever took special action in reference to the classi- fication and promotion of pupils. The habit the people had formed in the early years of coming to the Board with complaints, continued Com _ to some extent through this period. There were P laint8 - only two years in which one or more parents did not appear before the Board with complaints against the teachers or the Superintendent. There were, altogether, sixteen such complaints; of course 1877 was the banner year in this respect, one-third of all these cases occurring in it. Trouble for those connected with the schools seems to have been in 80 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS the air that year. The last petition to be signed by parents, asking to have a teacher dismissed from the schools, was presented to the Board in 1880. It was during this period that most of the lots originally owned and used for school purposes were disposed Lot* Sold. , ,. j r .tu -D j i^ of. The records of the Board are very incomplete as to the disposition made of these lots. Most of the follow- ing facts were obtained from the county records. The lot in the Third Ward on the southwest corner of Kellogg and Losey streets, six by twelve rods, was sold in 1875 for $825; the lot on Simmons street, between West and Acad- emy streets, three by ten rods, was sold in 1877 for $350; the Sixth Ward lot on the northeast corner of Maple ave- nue and North street, four by nine rods, was sold in 1878 for $300 ; the lot in the Fifth Ward, fourteen rods on Mon- mouth street and twelve rods on Brooks street, was sold in 1882 for $125 ; and in the same year the one in the Seventh Ward, on First street between Seminary and Chambers streets, five by eighteen rods, was sold for $400. A lot on Cedar street, joining the High School grounds on the south, was purchased in 1878 for $1,000. 4. TEACHERS' MEETINGS AND VOLUNTARY TRAINING. The rules of the Board provide for general meetings of Teachers' tne teachers. At the first meeting of the teachers Meetings. j n September of each year one of their own num- ber is elected secretary, who keeps a more or less complete record of the meetings for the year. These records have all been preserved and from them can be gathered a fair idea of what is considered from time to time as important in the theory and practice of conducting schools. The meetings of this period were mostly devoted to the practical every day work of the schoolroom, to discussing the best methods of teaching the different topics in the various branches. The topics would be assigned at one meeting to certain teachers who would present them at the next, after which a general *"* THIRD WARD The Representatives of the Third Ward on the Board of Education since its First Organization in June, 1861. ISiZ LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 81 discussion would follow. In one or two instances a teacher brought her class of pupils before the meeting and con- ducted a recitation illustrating thus her method of teaching. Teachers, after visiting schools in other cities, would give an extended report of what they had seen. The work of the schools in St. Louis, Chicago, Brooklyn and Aurora was re- ported in this way. Discipline, oral instruction, prize read- ing, Friday afternoon exercises, examinations and ventila- tion of the schoolroom were some of the subjects most fre- quently up for discussion. All the teachers expressed them- selves as in favor of the Friday afternoon exercises, but they were strongly opposed to doing away with examinations, which was a popular movement in 1883 among the schools of the country. Some formal papers were prepared and read by the teachers on subjects such as "Geology of Knox Coun- ty," and "The Practical in Education," by Mr. F. R. Jelliff ; "The Ocean Currents," by Mr. O. P. Bostwick; "Teaching and Training," by Miss Ida M. McCall ; "Reading," by Miss K. G. Clarke; and "Writing in the Lower Grades," by Mr. G. H. Bridge. One year a committee of the teachers made out the programs for the meetings. Only three persons from the outside addressed the teachers in these eleven years. They were Dr. J. V. N. Standish, on "The Louvre;" Rev. Mr. Shrimpton, Rector of Grace Church, and Miss Mathilda H. Ross, on "Kindergarten Work." From the organization of the schools in 1862 to February, 1877, these meetings had been held twice a month, convening on Friday at 3 :30 p. m. After that date they were held once a month. There is an interesting bit of history connected with this change in the number of meetings required. It was voted at a meeting of the Board in December, 1876, "That the rule of the Board in regard to teachers' meetings be so changed as to require such meetings to be held on Saturdays." Director Cooke was the only member who voted against this resolution. All the teachers attended the first meeting held on Satur- day, but there were thirteen who were not present at the 82 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS next meeting to respond to their names when the roll was called. This had the desired effect. The Board changed the time of meeting back to Friday and made the number of meetings required one instead of two each month. The secretary wrote in the records of the next meeting "Joy was written on the faces of all as a result of the fact that teach- ers' meetings were to be held on Saturday no longer." The last meeting of each year was spent in reading the names of pupils registered in the schools during the year with the age at the time of entering. It was in this way that the total number enrolled during the year was determined. In addition to the professional training received from Professor t ^ ie teachers' meetings, Professor S. S. Hamill, an Kamiii. elocutionist of reputed merit, was employed by the teachers in February, 1880, to give them a course of ten les- sons in voice culture and reading. In this way they hoped the better to qualify themselves for imparting like instruc- tion to their pupils. For these lectures the teachers paid Professor Hamill $100. He gave a public reading at the close, the receipts of which went toward paying this amount. Such special work as this by teachers, especially when of their own initiative, is life-giving and deserving of encour- agement. The good effects of these lectures were felt in the schools for years. 5. COURSES OF STUDY. A course of study was printed in 1878. For some time course of P rev i us to that date the Board of Education had i87 y * ^ e ^ tne nee( l f having the rules and regulations revised and printed, and when they were issued in pamphlet form in that year the Superintendent succeeded in having included a course of study. This was the second course of study to be printed, the first one being in 1865. It is interesting to note the changes made in the school work in those thirteen years, and it is rather remarkable that the changes here mentioned were made apparently without any PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 83 action of the Board of Education; at least no reference to them is contained in the records. It is a good illustration that sometimes in the growth of an institution vital changes occur without receiving official sanction. In this course of study of 1865 there were seven years in the grades and two years in the High School ; in 1878 there were eight years in the grades and three years in the High School an addition of one year to each department. The attendance record shows that in 1874 there were ten grades below the High School. The records of the Board are silent about why and when these important changes were made. In 1865 the seven years of work in the grades were subdivided into the primary division, the intermediate division, and the gram- mar division, and the different grades were numbered from one to seven, beginning with the last year. In 1878 these subdivisions had disappeared and the grades were numbered from one to eight, beginning with the first year of school; for example, a pupil in grade one in 1865 did the last year's work below the High School, while in 1878 a pupil in grade one did the work of the first year of school. The course of study in 1878 contained quite a full outline of work to be done in reading, arithmetic, grammar, geography, his- tory, spelling, drawing and oral work. The pupils were taught to read by the word and phonetic method, Leigh's Primer, a book in which an at- Reading, tempt was made to represent, to a limited extent, the pho- netic sounds of some of the letters by slightly modifying their forms, being used. A First Reader, containing a vocabulary of about seven hundred words, was also read in this grade. The Second Reader was begun and completed in the second grade. The Third Reader was taken up in the third grade but only one hundred and seventy-five pages of it were read. It was completed in the fourth grade and the Fourth Reader begun. While the Fourth Reader thus furnished a part of the reading for the fourth grade, it also furnished all the reading for the fifth and sixth grades. The 84 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Fifth Reader was read in the seventh and eighth grades. The five reading books used were so divided that each of the eight grades had about one hundred and seventy-five pages of reading matter. Vocal culture received much at- tention in the teaching of reading; pupils of the third grade, for instance, were expected to understand and define artic- ulation, emphasis, rate, accent and inflection; those of the fifth grade, pitch, force, volume and quality of voice. A book on arithmetic was not placed in the hands of the Arith- pupils until they reached the sixth grade. The metic. work in the first five grades, which was largely abstract, was oral and it was called "numbers." It was based on the Grube method. The multiplication table was learned in the second and third grades, the same as now. The work of the fourth grade included the fundamental rules; the fifth grade, common fractions; the sixth grade, decimal fractions and measurements ; the seventh grade, percentage and interest; the eighth grade, the applications of percentage, square and cube root. A text-book on grammar was used in the seventh and eighth grades. Below these grades the work was Grammar. all done orally under the name of "language les- sons;" while there was some writing of compositions in each of these grades, the work was, however, largely tech- nical grammar. Five years were devoted to geography. Oral lessons Geog- were given throughout the third year; a Primary Geography was taught in the fourth and fifth years, and a Comprehensive Geography in the sixth and seventh years. Map drawing was called for each year, and much emphasis was placed on imaginary journeys between places studied. Spelling was taught in all the grades but no spelling spelling. book was at that time in the schools. The words for spelling were selected from the books used in the grades. There is, perhaps, no better method of teaching PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 85 spelling, provided the teacher appreciates the importance of the subject and takes sufficient time and care for the work, which she is not likely to do when the program be- comes crowded. At one of the teachers' meetings, after a spirited discussion, a vote was taken whether or not the syllables of a word should be pronounced in spelling. Thir- teen teachers were in favor of the practice and eighteen against it. The systematic teaching of penmanship, or "writing," was begun in the fourth grade and continued Pen _ throughout the other grades. A copy book was man8hi p- used. The pupils first used pen and ink in the fourth grade. A course was outlined in drawing for each grade. Be- ginning with the third grade, two drawing books were used each year; synthetic in the third and fourth, analytic in the fifth and sixth, and perspective in the seventh and eighth. The teacher was expected to write out the work she did on each of the subjects in a blank book provided for her. As there were only three hundred copies of the course of study printed in 1878, the supply probably became , J .. J .. . Course f exhausted in six years and a new edition was nee- study J . of 1884. essary. At any rate another course of study quite similar to that of 1878 was printed in 1884. The pamphlet was twice as large. This was due to the fact that it was a manual as well as a course of study. In those six years there had been a decided change in the amount of work to be done orally and in the text-books; a spelling book was now in the hands of the pupils in the last three grades, while in 1878 there was no spelling book in any grade ; a book on arithmetic was taken up three years earlier, in the third grade in place of the sixth ; a language book was begun a year earlier; the dictionary was introduced in the third grade instead of the fourth. Penmanship above the second grade was taught by a special teacher. Drawing books had been changed and the Bartholomew system of drawing was 86 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS again in the schools. There was no outline nor direction given in this subject further than the number of the two books to be used in the grade. The Fourth Reader was completed in the fifth grade, and "Readings in Nature" was the text-book for the sixth grade. Two pages were given to an outline of civil government for the use of teachers and pupils in the grades below the High School, and one page to a list of authors in the different departments of lit- erature, for the purpose of aiding the teachers in directing their pupils to a course of reading and the formation of a good library. Penmanship was taught by the regular teachers with Pen- copy books for the first six years of this period, manship. At the August meeting of the Board in 1880, it was voted, on motion of Director Murdoch, to employ a special teacher of penmanship for that year. Mr. J. M. Martin, who was conducting the Western Business College in the city at that time, was employed for the fall term to spend several hours daily in the schools, for which he was paid forty-five dollars a month. Mr. G. H. Bridge was made special teacher of penmanship in January, 1881, which po- sition he filled not only for the remainder of this period, but also for several succeeding years. He gave two lessons a week in each room, beginning with the third grade. He soon discarded the copy book. There was an effort made in this period to teach draw- Drawing. m ' k ut according to the records of the teachers' meetings it was not successfully taught. The Bartholomew system of drawing was re-adopted in Jan- uary, 1884, on motion of Director Murdoch. The Repub- lican-Register in commenting on this action of the Board said : "This action, in effect, introduces instruction on this important subject." The work was begun immediately but only in the second, third, fourth and fifth grades. It made but little headway. There was no special teacher for the PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 87 subject and the Board at no time considered the advisability of appointing one. There were several unsuccessful attempts made in this period to have music taught in the schools. At the September meeting of 1878 Mrs. M. D. Cooke personally appeared and addressed the Board on the desir- ability of introducing the teaching of vocal music in the schools. The subject was referred to the Teachers' Com- mittee to report at the next meeting, which it did by recom- mending that the question be postponed until an appropria- tion could be made and included in the tax levy. The ques- tion was again before the Board in August, 1880. At that meeting a motion, made by Director Murdoch, to employ a teacher for the ensuing year to conduct "Mason's Musical Course" was adopted by a vote of four to one. At the next meeting of the Board, however, this action was rescinded. Later in that year Director Murdoch made several efforts to have music introduced in the schools but they were all of no avail. The study of the principles of the kindergarten and the application of its methods to public school work, which have so changed the methods of instruction garten and the spirit of public schools, began the latter part of this period. This movement originated entirely with the teachers, and the Sixth Ward School led the way. In 1880 Miss F. Lilian Taylor was Principal of that school and Miss Clara O. Horton the primary teacher. Miss Horton provided herself with a superior kindergarten table of her own design and began giving some kindergarten work and applying some of its methods to the regular work of the grade. Miss Taylor discovered that she could use some of the kindergarten materials and methods in her work with the fifth and sixth grades, particularly in arithmetic. About this time Miss Anna M. Armstrong began the work in her room in the Fifth Ward School. Considerable interest in the work must have been awakened at that time as in 88 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS November, 1882, the Board of Education referred the mat- ter of providing each primary room with a kindergarten table to the Committee on Supplies to report the cost. The next year it was decided at a teachers' meeting to introduce among the smaller children the simpler forms of kindergar- ten work. In January, 1885, Miss Mathilda H. Ross of the St. Louis Kindergarten addressed the teachers and also the Board of Education on "The Value of the Kindergarten." The Board was favorably impressed by Miss Ross's address, voted her its thanks, and, on motion of Director Stone, it voted to furnish the primary schools "with apparatus for partial kindergarten work." Later in the year it provided five kindergarten tables at a cost of forty-nine dollars. The kind of work done was paper folding, paper cutting, mat weaving, card sewing and clay modeling; and the testi- mony of the teachers was that instead of losing time from their studies the children were inspired with greater zeal and love for study by these simple manual and mental exer- cises. This movement, if it did not originate with, certainly received its inspiration and assistance from, Miss M. Evelyn Strong who was then conducting a private kindergarten in the city, in which there was a normal department where the teachers could receive special instruction in this work. Dur- ing the decade following 1885 many of the teachers took a complete normal course in Miss Strong's school, Miss F. Lilian Taylor and Miss May T. Williams being the first to graduate and receive kindergarten diplomas. The effect of this movement was to cause the teachers to make a study of the child and to present the subject to be taught from the viewpoint of the child, which two features really con- stitute what is known as the "New Education." The following text-books were adopted in this period: Text- Montieth's Elementary Geography, in August, Ad^ted. 1875; Monroe ' s Series of Readers, in September, 1875; Quackenbos' United States History, in April, 1878; Harper's Geographies, in August, 1882; Bar- PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 89 tholomew's Drawing Books, January, 1884; Fish's Arith- metics, February, 1884. Webster's Dictionary was adopted as the standard, September, 1880, on motion of Director Stone. Monroe's Speller came into the schools sometime between 1878 and 1884, but there is no record of its adoption nor even its reference to a committee. Swinton's Language Books must have been adopted sometime in this period previous to 1884, but there is no mention of the fact con- tained in the records of the Board. The changes made necessary by the adoption of some of these books called forth severe criticism, and in some cases the criticism went so far as to impugn the motive of those instrumental in making the changes. There is no more un- thinking and unreasonable criticism than that frequently made on the change of text-books. The cost of school books is a burden on many homes but the prevailing notion that a change of books greatly increases that burden, is wrong. There has not been a change of text-books in the Galesburg schools within the past twenty-five years that has added to the usual expenses, with but one exception ; that was in the High School, and it occurred through a mistake. The books were changed on the progressive plan, that is, as the pupils were promoted and a new book of some kind was necessary. The cost of school books is caused not by the adoption of new books by the Board, but by the promotion of the pupils. It is an incident in the advancement of the child. The importance of this question to public educa- tion may be realized when one considers the improvement made in the text-books within the last thirty years. A care- ful comparison of the books in use to-day with those of that date will convince anyone that there has been no greater im- provement made within that period in the implements of the farm, in the tools of the shop, or in the conveniences of the modern home, than in the text-books of the school. 90 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Of the eleven annual reports which Superintendent An- drews made to the Board of Education, only that Publica- tions. O f iggo was printed m pamphlet form ; the others were given to the papers for publication and four of them may be found in the files of the Republican-Register for 1876, 1878, 1879 and 1883. There were two pamphlets printed containing the course of study and the rules and regulations, one in 1878 and the other in 1884. These were all the publications issued by the Board in this period. 6. SPECIAL SCHOOLS. There was a night school during the winter months of Night some of the years in this period, but it is difficult school. to determine in which years the school was held, as the Superintendent made no report of it to the Board that found a place in its records. There was such a school conducted the first winter, for the Republican-Register of February 6, 1875, refers to the school as follows: "The night school does not appear to be as highly appreciated or liberally patronized as it should be, when we consider that it offers an education free to those who by circumstances are unable to attend day school. This is the third year the night school has been run, and each year there has been a falling off, when one would naturally suppose that the pat- ronage would increase." No trace of a night school can be found for the next five years. The Superintendent in No- vember, 1877, recommended that one be opened that win- ter but no action was taken by the Board. The last night school conducted by the Board of Education was held in the winter of 1880-81. For such cities as Galesburg the need of a night school passed with the coming of the compulsory educational law. At different times Superintendent Andrews urged the ungraded Boaf d to establish an ungraded school for boys. The object of such a school as stated by him was, "to accommodate a large number of boys who can attend PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 91 school only during the winter months and who, on account of their age and book knowledge, cannot be advantageously classified with the other pupils." He made his last appeal in January, 1878, but no action was taken at that meeting of the Board. At the next meeting Dr. Foote succeeded in getting the question referred to the Teachers' Committee, where apparently it was allowed to rest. 7. SPECIAL FEATURES OF ORGANIZATION. Two features of the present organization originated in this period, one of them possibly earlier ; and they Cla8gifl . are deserving of special notice as they are peculiar catlon - to the Galesburg schools and are designed to relieve the un- desirable stress incident to education in the mass which, it should always be remembered, has its great virtues as well as its serious faults. One of these features is the system of classification. The classes are so arranged as to be on an average only three months apart in each grade. This makes it possible, and entirely practicable, to transfer or hold back, a pupil whenever it is to his best interests to do so ; this cannot be done where the classes are a whole grade or half a grade apart, without great danger of doing more injury than would be wrought by the evil sought to be rem- edied. This method of classification was introduced by Su- perintendent Andrews in 1876, for in his annual report for that year to the Board of Education he says : "I have tried during the past year so to arrange the classes in the different grades that there shall not be more than a difference of three months between them." There is nothing of more value in the organization of the Galesburg schools than this system of classification, for records carefully kept for the last fifteen years show that on an average in all the grades one pupil out of every three has taken either more or less time than that required by the course of study for each grade. The only objection to the method is that it complicates the work of supervision and increases the work of instruction. 92 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The other feature is the custom of two dismissals at the TWO Dis- c l se f ^e afternoon session. Those who are missals. we u U p m their work and who have had good les- sons during the day are dismissed at 3 :30, while the others remain a half hour longer for individual instruction. In this way those who find their work hard from any cause can re- ceive the help needed to keep them in their classes. It is better to keep pupils from becoming laggards than to estab- lish a school for them after they have been allowed to de- velop a notion that seems popular to-day. It cannot be determined who was the author of this plan, or when it was introduced into the schools. As early as 1875 it was refer- red to in an incidental way in a teachers' meeting. Like all good things there is danger of its being neglected or abused, and the temptation to do so is sometimes very strong at the close of a hard day's work. During this period one or more stated substitutes were substi- employed each year at the time the regular teach- tuteu. ers were elected. They received twenty-five dol- lars a month. When a substitute taught for a regular teacher her pay was deducted from the salary of that teacher. There were some exceptions to this rule, however. There were a few instances when a regular teacher was granted a leave of absence with the understanding that she would do substitute work when necessary, and in such cases the pay was larger than the usual salary of the substitute, but it was always at the expense of the teacher for whom the work was done, the principle observed being that no ab- sence of a teacher for any cause should be allowed to in- crease the cost of instruction fixed at the time the teachers were employed. Superintendent Andrews began his administration by Attend- opening war on irregularity of attendance, and he kept it up for years with a persistency worthy of commendation. He talked about it in the teachers' meet- ings, constantly referred to it in his monthly reports to the PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 93 Board, and gave great emphasis to it in his annual reports. In his report for 1879 he recommended that truants be ar- rested. All of this had its effect, for the cases of tardiness which had been as many as a thousand in one month were reduced in three years to fewer than one thousand for the entire year. There is no way of determining the effect it had on truancy, though it must have been good. It is safe to say that in three years a spirit of indifference had been changed to a habit of punctuality. This was a great thing to ac- complish, for it is doubtful if any element enters more largely into the success of a school than that of punctuality, but not for the reasons generally assigned such as that tar- diness and absence spoil the record of the school, or that they cause the pupil to fall behind by reason of his missing valuable instruction given to the class. The fact is that neither of these reasons is very important, and the child and the parents do not generally feel that they are; the all-im- portant point is that the child is likely to lose his interest in school and, with his interest gone, there is practically noth- ing left for him, for nothing is so deadening to one's inter- est in anything as neglecting the opportunities it offers. For some years Friday afternoon exercises in which the pupils were trained to speak in public were quite gpecial general in the schools. The teachers considered Features - them of much value to the pupils. Out of these exercises sprang a custom in 1883 which certainly possessed much merit for the older pupils, at least, called Book Day, the ob- ject of which was to cultivate in the pupils the habit of read- ing good books. On these days the pupils would report the books they had read and give a review of them. In the High School this custom took another phase. The pupils were encouraged to form the habit of reading for twenty minutes every day, by having them give to the school in reviews and essays a report of what they had read. 94 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS 8. IMPROVEMENTS AND ALTERATIONS. Telephones were first installed in the different schools in the summer of 1882. They were not originally Tclfr* phones. placed in the buildings for school purposes or by order of the Board of Education, but for fire and police pur- poses and by order of the City Council, a key to the building being left at the nearest residence. The Board afterwards, however, voted to bear half of the expense of maintaining them. The first school building to be provided with city water city f r drinking and fire purposes was the High wate*. School, now the Churchill School. The Board or- dered this improvement, on motion of Director Murdoch, in December, 1883. The other buildings were similarly equipped as soon as the water mains were extended past them. Perhaps no single improvement was more frequently 3^ discussed and so often postponed as the placing of Escape. a g re esca p e on the High School building. Every fire that occurred brought the question before the Board for discussion. Finally, at the same meeting at which the water system was ordered connected with the building, it was voted, on motion of Director Brown, to place a fire escape on it as provided for by the city ordinances, which was done the following June at a cost of $50.20. The outside doors of the building were changed in the other summer of 1877 so as to open outward, and, at the SeStT*" be g mnm g of schools this year, a clock and a dic- tionary were ordered placed in each schoolroom. The following year the bell on the High School that had done service for twelve years, lost its musical tone by being cracked and it was replaced by a new one at a cost of $109.60. PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 95 In this period the Board was interested in the appear- ance of the school grounds and took the necessary , ... , , . Beautify- steps to make them beautiful. It voted, on motion ing school *. ir -r^. *~> i T-X Grounds. of Director M. D. Cooke, at the December meeting of 1875, "That the Building Committee be instructed to take necessary steps to embellish the grounds of the new school- houses with shade and ornamental trees," and again in March, 1879, it was voted, on motion of Director Stone, "That the Building Committee provide shade trees for the school grounds." The advisability of making two schoolrooms of the chapel, which occupied the east half of the third floor of the High School building, was under con- chapei ... ^ Divided. sideration by the Board for a year or two. The proposition met with much opposition. A strong article against it from the pen of Miss Mary Allen West appeared in the press. The Building Committee, however, recom- mended in July, 1878, that it be divided by a partition into two rooms. This recommendation was concurred in by the Board after it was changed, on motion of Director Nelson, so as to mean that the partition was to be only a temporary one. When the rules were revised for publication in 1878 and were before the Board for final action, Di- rector Murdoch offered the following amendment: J^ercfse* "At the opening of each session of the schools, at least ten verses of the Bible shall be read to the pupils by the principal, or, in his absence, by one of the assistants. A suitable hymn may be sung." The amendment was referred apparently without discussion to the Committee on Rules for a recommendation, and the motion to adopt the rules, subject to the report of the Committee, then prevailed. At the next meeting the Committee recommended that the whole matter of opening the daily sessions of the schools with religious exercises be referred to the Superintendent 96 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS of Schools, which was concurred in by the Board. The Su- perintendent evidently left the question to the discretion of the individual teachers as is indicated by the following entry from the secretary's record of the next teachers' meeting: "The rules on opening exercises are wisely silent not any rather than those repugnant to pupils and patrons." At the request of the County Superintendent of Schools and the recommendation of Superintendent An- niai EX- drews the Board had photographs of the school buildings taken for the educational department of the Centennial Exposition, held in Philadelphia in 1876. There is no evidence that the work of the schools was rep- resented in any way at that exposition. The fiscal year which formerly closed September 30th Fiscal was changed by resolution of the Board, March Year - 14, 1882, to end June 30th. This was done to have it correspond with the school year of the general school law. 9. THE HIGH SCHOOL. The average monthly enrollment of the High School for the first year of this period was seventy-four, and Growth. J J . for the last year one hundred and eleven. This made an increase in the High School of fifty per cent, while the grades decreased during the same time three per cent. The total number enrolled for any one of these years is not known except for 1880, when it was 119. The number to graduate in this period was 151. A third teacher was added, probably in 1875. It was then the custom to promote pupils to the High School twice a year. In the thirteen years following 1865 there were doubtless course of some changes made in the course of study, but ady> what they were there are no means of determin- ing; for the second printed course did not appear until 1878. PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 97 It consisted of one course of three years, which was divided as follows: First Year. Algebra and reading, each for the entire year ; physical geography and English grammar for seven months each; zoology and composition for two months each. Second Year. Latin for the entire year; arithmetic and physiology for four months; botany and select readings for two months each. Third Year. Latin for the entire year; geometry for seven months; science of government and English liter- ature each four months; chemistry for two months; re- view of geography and history for three months. There were abstracts, essays, declamations and select readings throughout the course. It would seem that this was a new course of study adopted that year, for a note appended reads : "No change from previous arrangement of studies shall interfere with the advancement of pupils now in the High School." In this period the High School was generally regarded as an institution whose purpose was to prepare its students for college. Superintendent Andrews school recommended in his annual report for 1880 that tory for College. the course be extended to four years, and that Greek be introduced so that students might be thoroughly prepared for the Freshman class in the classified course of the colleges. At the same time he recommended that Book- keeping be made a part of the curriculum. There is no record that the Board adopted either of these recommenda- tions. In 1883 the Board appointed "the Teachers' Com- mittee with the Superintendent to confer with such com- mittees as may be appointed by Knox and Lombard in re- lation to books and studies in the High School department, with a view of making the studies uniform for those who may desire to pass from the High School to either institu- tion." This committee never made any report to the Board. 98 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS In 1884 appeared the third printed course of study. The principal difference between it and the course of course of 1878 was that the year of reading, the seven months of English grammar, and the review of geography and United States history were omitted, while a year of Latin was added and the study of English classics for five months in the first and second years was introduced. Natural philosophy appeared here for the first time under its present name, physics. There was still but one course offered. However, some choice was allowed as is shown by the following note at the end of the course, "Those taking Latin shall omit one of the English studies ; but algebra and geometry are obligatory." Requiring the pupils actually to read at least one complete production, or book, of the rep- resentative authors studied, a practice introduced in 1884 by the study of English classics, was the beginning of the present rational method of teaching English. The first year the High School held graduating exercises by itself was in June, 1876. Previous to that time Gradua- tion EX- the graduates read their essays or delivered their ercises. orations as a part of the "Annual Exhibition' which was held at the close of schools in the chapel of the High School. In addition to the original productions of the graduates these exhibitions consisted of prize speaking by some fifteen to twenty-five pupils from the grades. The Board awarded the prizes, generally voting ten dollars for that purpose. The last of these "Annual Exhibitions" with prize speaking as a leading feature was held in the old First Church, in 1875. The next year the High School met by itself in the chapel of the High School building, the four graduates reading their essays and some of the other stu- dents delivering declamations. The class of 1877 was a large one, numbering fourteen, and the graduating exercises were held in the old First Church. The next year the ex- PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 99 ercises were held in the Opera House which the Board rented for fifteen dollars. In 1879 a brass band from Abing- don was imported by the Board for the occasion at an ex- pense of twenty-five dollars. The class of 1880, numbering twenty-one, was the largest class that had been graduated up to that time, and its graduating exercises occupied three hours. In the following class was Belle W. Allen, the first colored student to graduate from the High School. Some sixty to seventy of the leading citizens desirous of showing their appreciation of her successful school career and of the example she had thus set as to how to secure the proper rec- ognition of her race, purchased a valuable gold watch and chain and presented them to her on that day. The class of 1885 was the last and largest class to be graduated in this period. There were twenty-eight in the class, eighteen young women and ten young men. After 1877 the graduat- ing exercises were held in the Opera House, and it was never large enough to accommodate all who desired to at- tend. It is thus seen that these public exercises of the High School were popular from the first. Four prizes were given by citizens to members of the graduating class of 1879, two for excellence in , . Prizes to scholarship and two for the best essays. Dr. oradu- George W. Foote, a member of the Board, gave the prizes for scholarship, the first prize being Macaulay's "England," which went to Fred W. Sisson; the second be- ing Gibbon's "Rome," which Flora A. Ward received. The prizes for the best essays were given by Mr. John C. Fahne- stock and Mr. Parley M. Johnson. The first prize, English Pictures, was awarded to May T. Sullivan and the second prize, Whittier's Poems, to Mary E. Hunt. As far as it is known this is the only instance where prizes have been given to persons graduating from the High School, except when a college has awarded a scholarship to the one taking first honors. 100 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Dr. George W. Foote retired from the Board of Educa- tion in Tune, 1879. As he had been an active mem- Aliiinru J ^ 880 Si a " ber of the Board and had taken a special interest in tion Or- ganized, the class that was graduated that year on account of its having entered the High School the year he became a member of the Board, the members of the Board of Educa- tion and the graduating class, desirous to show their appre- ciation of his services and interest, assembled on the even- ing of graduation day at the residence of Mr. A. Jacobi on Broad street, and proceeded in a "solid column" to the Doctor's residence on Kellogg street. It was a complete surprise to him and his wife, but they gave their guests a royal welcome; the result was the most pleasant time the members of the Board, the teachers and the members of the graduating class ever enjoyed together. So pleased was the Doctor with the occasion that the- next year he gave a recep- tion at the close of schools to the members of the Board of Education, the teachers of the public schools and the grad- uates of the High School. Some thirty-five of the former graduates were present and the idea of organizing an Alumni Association suggested itself to them. At this re- ception they took the preliminary steps by electing Mr. T. D. Stevens, of the class of '68, President, and Mr. E. K. Hoover, of the class of 77, Secretary. A committee con- sisting of Mr. James B. Ayres, Miss Eva Billings and Miss Lottie Stilson was appointed to draft a constitution and re- port the next year, which they did at a similar reception given by Director G. A. Murdoch at his residence on Prairie street, June 3, 1881. The constitution as reported was adopted, and the "Alumni Association of the Galesburg High School" was thus permanently formed. The first of- ficers under the constitution were then elected as follows : Mr. James B. Ayres, President. Miss Anna Schryver, Vice President. Mr. Charles Dunn, Secretary. Mr. Curtis Daugherty, Treasurer. PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 101 10. RESIGNATION OF SUPERINTENDENT M. ANDREWS. While Mr. Andrews met with considerable opposition in the first years of his service as Superintendent of Schools, yet in the last half of his term of service he grew stronger year by year and when he resigned in June, 1885, it was with sincere regret to the members of the Board of Edu- cation and to the people generally. He had done much for the schools, particularly in the line of discipline. He was strong with the teachers. In June, 1881, they presented him with a purse of one hundred and forty-two dollars and re- quested him to spend it in seeking rest and recreation dur- ing the summer. In the records of the Teachers' Meetings is found the following: "With feelings of deep regret and sadness at parting from a Superintendent who has done' such efficient work for the public schools of Galesburg, the teachers met Saturday, June 13, (1885), and passed the following resolutions: WHEREAS, Mr. Andrews, after an association of eleven years with the Galesburg Public Schools, deems it best to sever this con- nection and accept the Superintendency of the Oakland schools, and WHEREAS, Our relations with him as teachers have been most pleasant and satisfactory and such as to inspire in us both respect and feelings of the deepest regard, and WHEREAS, By the faithful, efficient and general discharge of his duties he has raised the standard of the city schools so that his loss seems almost irreparable; therefore, be it Resolved, That we the teachers of the Galesburg Public Schools hereby express our regret at the separation and rejoice in the prospect that his future work will be less arduous and more remunerative, and Resolved, That we tender him our heartfelt thanks for the support which, without crushing our individuality, he has uniformly extended both in discipline and mental training, and Resolved, That we hereby commend him to the hearty sup- port of his future associates, assured that time will but deepen the feeling of confidence, and 102 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to Mr. Andrews, to the President of the Board of Education of Oakland schools, and to our city papers for publication. Signed: (Mas.) M. E. GETTEMY. IDA M. McCALL. FANNIE M. HAGUE. 11. SUMMARY. Twenty-three different men served on the Board of Ed- ucation during these eleven years, which means "duration that, on an average, there were two new members each year. Of these twenty-three Geo. L. Arnold of the Fourth Ward was the only one whose services ex- tended through the entire period. S. J. Parry, G. A. Mur- doch and L. T. Stone were the only other members who were re-elected and served two terms. Three of these four men were members of the Board at the end of the period, Mr. Murdoch having retired at the close of his second term of service, in June, 1884. On his retirement the Board gave him a vote of thanks for his active and efficient services. This was the first instance when the Board of Education ex- tended this courtesy to one of its retiring members. The number of pupils registered during this period of _. eleven years remained about the same from year Growth. J J to year. The whole number enrolled for the first year was 2,196 and the number for the last year was 2,112, a decrease of eighty-four pupils. There would have been a gain of eleven pupils for the entire period, one for each year, had not the Catholics opened their parochial school, St. Joseph's Academy, in the fall of 1879, which caused a de- crease in the enrollment for that year of 226. The number of teachers the first year was twenty-eight, and the number the last year (not including the special teacher of penmanship) was thirty-six, which made an in- crease of eight teachers. It is thus seen that the number of teachers was increased twenty-eight per cent, while the number of pupils actually decreased some three per cent, PERIOD OF RETRENCHMENT: 1874-1885 103 which means that the number of pupils to a teacher was de- creased in this period, on an average, twenty-five per cent. Of the eight teachers added, five were placed in the north part of the city. TAX LEVIES. 1874 $35,000 1879 $16,000 1875 30,000 1880 16,000 1876 30,000 1881 16,000 1877 16,000 1882 18,000 1878 18,000 1883 18,000 1884 $20,000 CHAPTER IV PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911- 1. School Buildings. 2. Other Permanent Improvements. 3. Protection from Fire. 4. Music, Drawing and Physical Training. 5. The Training School. 6. Methods. 7. The Teachers and Means for Their Improvement. 8. Pupils and Their Special Activities. 9. Text-Books. 10. Administrative Measures. 11. Salaries. 12. The High School and Development of its Activities. 13. The Elective System. 14. The Board and Its Experiences. 15. The Semi-Centennial. 16. Summary. The schools, having passed through the period of organ- ization and the reactionary years that followed, Favorable ' * con- now entered on one most favorable to their steady ditions. growth and development. During these twenty- six years the Board of Education pursued a policy that re- ceived the support of the people, for its membership, with one exception, remained unchanged save by death, resigna- tion or removal from the city. Under these conditions whatsoever plans the Board may have had it could mature and carry through to completion, an ideal state of affairs and one usually calculated to produce the best results. Cer- tainly whatever shortcomings there may have been in this period were chargeable to the Board of Education. 1. SCHOOL BUILDINGS. Providing sufficient and proper school accommodations is one of the important problems with which a Board of Education is required to deal, and in a growing city it is practically a constant one. The simple location of a school building involves questions of sanitation, economics and sociology; and its construction those of hygiene, school management and pedagogy, as well as of architecture and finance. It is a fact that the internal (104) Superintendent of Schools Appointed July, 1885 PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 105 arrangement of a building often places limitations on the kind of work that can be done in it. The cost and architect- ure, usually considered as the most important questions in erecting a school building, should be made subordinate. During this period all the present school buildings in the city were either built or remodeled and en- larged, except the Churchill School, and that was D considerably improved. In 1885 all the ward schools were four-room buildings, excepting the Fourth Ward School which had six rooms. In these schools the children were advanced to the fifth grade when they were transferred to the Churchill School, then known as the High School building. This building was at that time designed to accommodate not only the high school pupils of the city and the children of all the grades above the second living in the central part of the city, but also the overflow from the ward schools. When the city grew in population this building became overcrowded. It became imperative in 1887 to relieve it, for there were from sixty to sixty-five pupils in each of its twelve rooms. The Board remembering the severe criticism and determined opposi- tion aroused by the building of the last schoolhouse, the Sixth Ward building, a decade before, approached the sub- ject with great caution. It first took the position that not more than forty to forty-five pupils should be assigned to any teacher, a plan which seemed to meet with the approval of the public generally. To carry out this policy a new schoolhouse was a necessity. Where it should be built was the next question to be settled. Standing on the northwest corner of Broad and Tompkins streets was the old Baptist Church, which for years had been the property of the Board and had been used for the first and second grades of the cen- tral part of the city. It had become known as the Central Primary. As the building was rather dilapidated and as it stood on one of the most prominent corners of the city, the Board's decision to erect the new building on that site met 106 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS with the cordial approval of the citizens. The Board de- cided to ask the people to grant it authority to issue bonds to the amount of $25,000 for the purpose of building and equipping a new school building, which permission was given by a vote of 567 to 141, at an election held for that purpose, April 11, 1887. When the vote was taken it was understood that the new building was intended to accommodate the High School and Central Primary and that the old High School building would be the Grammar School for the pupils of the entire city and for those in the intermediate grades living in the Central Primary district. However, shortly after the election there was a movement started by the people living in the east part of the city to have the $25,000 divided into two equal parts, one to be used for erecting a four-room building on the Central Primary lot and the other for another four-room building to be located in the east part of the city. Fortunately for the good of the schools at that time and for all time, the $25,000 was not divided but it was all placed in a High School building on the site originally proposed. The Board satisfied the oppo- sition by purchasing in December, 1887, a lot on the south- west corner of Losey and Rio streets for $750 and promising to build a schoolhouse thereon in the immediate future. There was a bit of local history in this opposition to the placing of $25,000 in a High School building on the corner of Broad and Tompkins streets, and the action of the Board at this time was full of significance. The same question arose at the time of locating the old High School building, those living in the east part of town wanting to place it on the northwest corner of Main and Chambers streets. This site Mrs. Silas Willard offered to donate for that purpose but the Board paid $2,000 for the location on the corner of Broad and Simmons streets. In later years the location of the High School was no small factor in determining the site of the Post Office and that of the Public Library. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 107 Before deciding on the plans for the new building the Board displayed great wisdom by voting, on mo- tion of Director Parry, to visit such cities as Makesit? seemed desirable, for the purpose of examining **"* to school buildings of recent construction. It is as ^MM necessary for a Board of Education to visit other cities at times to see what is being done as it is for teachers to visit schools and to attend educational associations. A reasonable amount of the public funds expended by a Board in trips of inspection is one of the best investments of school money that can be made. Practically all the improvements that were made in the school buildings of the city during this period came in this way, and the cost was insignificant. At that time the Building Committee and the Superintend- ent visited the school buildings in Moline, Davenport and some of the suburbs of Chicago. The expense of the trip was $64.75. As a result a professional school architect was employed and a system of ventilation that was measurably satisfactory was installed in the new building. At that time there was no attempt at ventilation in any of the buildings in the city, most of the Board not believing that such a thing was possible. After that date no building was erected in which the most improved system was not installed. In this building the toilet rooms were for the first time brought into the schoolhouse, doing away with the outside closets, one of the most offensive and demoralizing institutions ever con- nected with the public schools. Mr. J. W. Ross, of Davenport, Iowa, was employed as the architect and was paid $250 for his services. Plan of The cost of the building was limited to $20,000. theBuiid- As it was to accommodate both the high school and primary pupils, one of the principal features in its plan was the keeping of these two classes of pupils as separate as possible. The second floor was given to the High School, and it was reached by a stairway at either end of the build- ing. The first floor was for the Primary School and its 108 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS entrance was in the central part of the building. On the lower floor a hall ran lengthwise of the building near its center, connecting it with the stairways (at the ends) lead- ing to the High School, but separated from them by swing- ing doors. In this way it was possible for each of the schools to follow a program of its own without any refer- ence to that of the other and without interfering with the other. The Board found it impossible to let the contract for $20,000. After modifying the plans twice and advertising for bids three times, the contract was finally awarded to A. P. Anderson for $23,500, June 22, 1887. The contract for heating and ventilating was let to the Ruttan Manufactur- ing Co. for $1,920. The plans were afterwards changed so as to use the attic for a manual training shop. This change cost $500. Mr. N. C. Wood was employed to superintend the construction. He received for his services $345. The building when completed cost $24,595, the furniture $1,153, and the heating and ventilating $1,920, making in all $27,- 668. It was first occupied by the High School and the Cen- tral Primary at the opening of schools in September, 1888. When the High School moved into its new home at that changes time it had its first experience with a large study ji*{| e hall, one of the features for which it was afterward school. to become noted. A second course of study, called English in contradistinction to the Latin which had been the only course up to that time, was added to its curriculum. The work of instruction was for the first time divided into departments. By the time the new building, which was designed to re- lieve the crowded condition in the old High selecting School was completed, the enrollment in the a New Third Ward and Fourth Ward schools averaged School- . & house. sixty pupils to a room. It will be remembered that when the new High School building was de- cided on the Board promised to build in the near future a PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 109 schoolhouse in the east part of the city, and a lot for that purpose was purchased at that time. Under these circum- stances there was nothing for the Board to do but to build a schoolhouse in the east part of the city, presumably on the lot selected in 1887, provided the funds could be raised. Accordingly it asked for authority to issue bonds to the amount of $16,000 for the purpose of building a new school- house. This authority was given by a vote of 146 to 12 at an election held for the purpose, May 13, 1889. The lot on the southwest corner of Losey and Rio streets which had been purchased for the site of the proposed building, was, after a thorough examination into the situation, decided by the Board to be undesirable as a location for a school build- ing. There were two reasons for this decision. The first was its nearness to the railroad. All the trains coming from Chicago whistled for the station while passing that place. This of itself was enough to condemn it as a location for a schoolhouse. The Fifth Ward School was at that time a good object lesson on this point. The second reason was that the building was intended to relieve the Fourth Ward School as well as the Third Ward. To do this it must take the pupils living north of Main street and east of the Bur- lington railroad. The only way for the children to come to the proposed new school from that section was through the viaduct on North street. Accordingly in March, 1889, three lots on the northeast corner of North and Pearl streets were purchased of George F. Peck for $2,050. The lot on Losey street was deeded back to Mr. Peck on his surrendering the note of $750, which was the price the Board had agreed to pay for it. This change of location stirred up a vigorous opposition on the part of some. A petition protesting strongly against the change was filed with the Board, but it wisely stood firm on the question, being satisfied that its decision was right. 110 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The plans of the new school, which was to be a four- room brick building, were made by J. W. Ross, of The Lincoln Davenport, Iowa, at a cost of $150. After chang- School. . ,, ,, ...,., . mg the plans once and advertising for bids twice, the contract was finally let, May 27, 1889, to T. M. Mercer, of Lewistown, 111., for $12,420. The Ruttan Manufacturing Co. was given the contract for heating and ventilating for $941.25. The seating of the building cost $550. F. S. Bart- lett was paid $100 for superintending the construction. The total cost of this school when completed, including the lot, was $16,211.25. The building was to be ready for occu- pancy by the first of January, 1890, but the contractor did not get it completed until the middle of the month. For this delay he was required to forfeit $200. The school was named, on motion of Director Murdoch, the Lincoln School, and a stone tablet bearing the name and date of erection was placed over the entrance. When the building was ac- cepted from the contractor Director Murdoch presented the Board of Education with a flag to float over it. In present- ing it he suggested that each of the public schools should be supplied with a flagstaff and a United States flag to be dis- played on national holidays and on special occasions. This suggestion was afterwards carried out. It was at that time that the different ward schools were Naming gi yen their present names in place of the ward srhooin number. At the time many thought this was one of the fads of the Board, a useless display of senti- ment, an attempt to honor some one. Sentiment may have suggested the names given the different schools, but it was common sense that suggested that the schools should no longer be known by the names of the political wards. The reason for doing it, however, was that after the building of the Lincoln School the boundaries of the schools were so changed that none of them any longer corresponded to the ward boundaries. It was misleading and caused no little confusion among the people to call a school by the ward PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 111 number and to tell some of the children living in that ward that they must attend another school. It was perplexing to the mind of the foreigner, and it had the appearance of favoritism. At the January meeting of 1890 Director O. F. Price of- fered the following resolutions : "Resolved, That in honor of the late J. P. Weston, once distinguished president of Lombard University, the Fourth Ward School be named and hereafter known as the 'Weston School' : That in honor of the late George W. Gale, a former distinguished citizen and honored founder of the city, the Third Ward School be named and hereafter known as the 'Gale School' : That in honor of the late Charles B. Lawrence, a former citizen and honored judge of the Circuit Court of this Judicial Circuit and afterwards a distinguished Justice of our State Supreme Court, the Sixth Ward School be named and hereafter known as the 'Lawrence School'." At the request of Mr. Price the resolution was laid over for final action until the regular meeting in March. At the meeting in March Director G. A. Murdoch suggested the following names for the schools: for the Third Ward, the "Brown School," in honor of George W. Brown ; for the Fourth Ward, the "Wes- ton School," in honor of the late James P. Weston ; for the Fifth Ward, the "Cooke School," in honor of the late Milo D. Cooke; for the Sixth Ward, the "Bateman School," in honor of Newton Bateman; for the Seventh Ward, the "Logan School," in honor of the late General John A. Logan. Director F. F. Cooke suggested that one of the schools be named in honor of the late H. H. Hitchcock. On motion of Director Price "the petitions and resolutions in reference to the naming of the school buildings were laid over until the regular meeting in May." At the May meet- ing the resolutions of Directors Price and Murdoch for nam- ing the schoolhouses were taken up and after some discus- sion and amendments the following names were given by the Board of Education to the different schools : On motion 112 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS of Director Price the Fourth Ward School was named the Weston School in honor of James P. Weston. On motion of Director F. F. Cooke the Third Ward School was named the Hitchcock School in honor of the late H. H. Hitchcock. On motion of Director Murdoch the Sixth Ward School was named the Bateman School. On motion of Director Mur- doch the Fifth Ward School was named the Cooke School in honor of the late M. D. Cooke. On motion of Director Price the Seventh Ward School was named the Douglas School in honor of the late Stephen A. Douglas. In 1896 at the suggestion of Director Mrs. Henry W. Read the Grammar School, by which designation the old High School building was known after the High School moved into the new High School building in 1888, was named the Churchill School, in honor of Professor George Churchill, who was then living. If the policy of reducing the number of pupils in a room to forty was to be carried out a dozen more school- Bond* to rooms were needed in 1892. The Board was will- be Issued. . . mg to provide these additional rooms if the neces- sary funds could be raised. A bonded indebtedness of $41,000 had been placed on the district in the last four years by building the new High School and the Lincoln School. The running expenses of the schools had also been greatly increased by the additional teachers required for these schools. The Board remembering the experience it had passed through in building the ward schools, determined if possible to avoid having it repeated. It decided not to ask for the authority to issue any more bonds, but to pay for the buildings as they were erected by spreading the cost of each over two tax levies. The next question to be decided was the size and loca- NewPoi- tion of the bui l din gs. The Board finally deter- s C i B of to mme d n an entirely different policy from that B lldln * which had been followed in the past, and the effect Adopted. . . . of its decision marks a distinctly new era in the PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 113 history of our schools. When the district was organ- ized the first building to be erected was a large central one, called the High School, now the Churchill School. As the city grew small buildings of four rooms each were built in the different parts of the district. When these buildings became crowded the more advanced pupils were transferred to the large central building, this transfer of pupils gener- ally occurring at the close of the fifth grade. This required children of ten or twelve years of age to come from the ex- treme limits of the district to the High School building. This plan, which was suggested by Horace Mann in his ad- dress at the old First Church, was an excellent one when the district had a population of six thousand or less, but when it grew to have more than double that population the policy became an unwise one. As the city increased in num- bers its population became more dense. The territory which at one time had not enough children to fill a four- room building, in some cases soon had pupils enough to fill a building twice as large. For the purpose of the best class- ification of pupils a school building should be large enough to accommodate all the eight grades below the high school and allow each grade to be divided into at least two classes three would be better. In order to do this it requires a building of at least eight rooms preferably twelve. The Board in adopting the policy of putting up large buildings was influenced not a little by financial reasons. The grounds for a large building would cost no more than for a small one. The cost of construction would be less in proportion to its size than that of a smaller building, and the expense of maintaining it, providing fuel, janitor service, etc., would also be less. Again, if large buildings were more desirable for school purposes, the logical thing to do would be to build on to the present ones. To do this it would not be necessary to purchase any land, which would be a saving of two thousand dollars or more for each build- ing. Another reason that influenced the Board was that the 114 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS buildings of the city at that time were lacking in some im- portant features that time and experience had demonstrated as most essential, such as methods of lighting, heating, ventilation, and toilet accommodations. Building an ad- dition to a school would give the Board an opportunity to make the entire structure modern. For these reasons the Board felt justified in making an experiment at least with one building, and at the November meeting of 1892 the matter was referred to the Building Committee, on motion of Director L. T. Stone. The committee reported in favor of building an addition of five rooms and an office to the Hitchcock tion Made School, thus making it a nine-room building. N. mtchcock K. Aldrich was employed as the architect to pre- School. . . pare the plans and superintend the construction, for which services he received $250. The contract for building the addition, which was to be completed by the first of September, 1893, was let to Peter T. Olson on April 20th of that year, for $10,963. Extras amounting to $450 were afterwards added. The heating plant in the old build- ing, which was a Haxtun steam heater, was enlarged suf- ficiently to heat the new part and to provide a system of "direct-indirect ventilation" for the entire building. The cost was $1,199. The Smead dry closet system was installed at a cost of $385. The furniture for the new part was pur- chased of the U. S. School Furniture Co. for $600. The total cost of the addition amounted to $13,847. School was opened in all the eight grades in September, 1893. The experiment of converting the Hitchcock building The Dia- * nto a g rammar school, that is, a school which P re P ares the pupils for admission to the High changing School, was a decided success from the first, and Schools ^ * h * h especially popular with the patrons. They con- s *dered it a great advantage to have their children prepared for the High School in their own local district. The other sections of the city soon made it known PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 115 that they, too, wanted their buildings enlarged into gram- mar schools, and the Board accordingly enlarged the other buildings from time to time when it became necessary to provide additional school accommodations. This changing of the ward schools into grammar schools has no doubt added two to three years to the school life of many children, for a certain class of parents feel that when their children have gone through the local school it is time for them to go to work. Then, too, there is no period in the school life of children when they are so willing to leave school as in the fourth and fifth grades. They have gotten a general knowl- edge of the mechanical part of the work but they have not yet grasped the thought part. They have gone long enough to know what school is, but not far enough to know what it means. Pupils in any grade as a rule dislike to go to a new school and when the change comes in these grades some of those left largely to their own wills quit school entirely. In June, 1894, the Board began to plan for making an ad- dition to the Weston School. Wm. Wolf was en- Addition gaged as architect and superintendent of construe- to weston tion, for which he was paid $300. The different systems of heating and ventilating then in use were thoroughly investigated. A committee consisting of Direc- tor L. N. Thompson and the Superintendent visited a num- ber of school buildings in Chicago, Grand Rapids, Muske- gon and Peoria in which different systems of heating and ventilating were used; and on their return reported to the Board that in their opinion the Johnson Blast System was the best, the Smead Fan System second, and the Dickson System third. The bid of the Southern Smead Heating and Ventilating Co. for $3,297 was accepted on motion of Di- rector Stone. At that time this was a great step in advance for the Board of Education to take in the matter of venti- lation. The system then installed in the Weston School was doing service at the close of this period. The contract for building this addition was awarded to A. C. Johnson, 116 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS February 15, 1895, for $17,400. The school was closed two weeks earlier than usual in the spring in order to give the contractor time to have the building completed for the open- ing of schools the following September. The addition con- sisted of seven rooms, an auditorium and an office, and the old part was so completely transformed that the teachers and pupils could with difficulty find and recognize their former rooms. The Johnson Automatic Temperature Reg- ulation was placed in each of the thirteen rooms at an ex- pense of $850. The contract for furniture was given to the Piqua School Furniture Co. for $633.99, and the seating of the auditorium was done by the U. S. School Furniture Co. for $316.15. The Weston School was at that date the larg- est and most imposing school building in the city, and in its construction three distinctly new features were introduced all of which have been placed in every building since erected, with one exception. These new features were: mechanical ventilation, automatic temperature regulation, and an auditorium. The total cost of enlarging and remod- eling the Weston School was $22,797.14. Before the addition to the Weston School was com- pleted the attention of the Board was again called tion Made to the needs of the High School and the Central to the High Primary for a larger building. Temporary relief was provided in the summer of 1895 by purchasing the Jacobi property situated between the High School and the Grammar School. This property cost $5,000, and a part of the Central Primary was transferred to it at the opening of schools in September, 1895. At the regular meeting in November, 1895, a special committee consisting of Directors L. T. Stone and J. W. Hammond was appointed to examine into the needs of the schools for more room and to report at the next regular meeting. The report of that committee is here given as it is a statement of the conditions then exist- ing, made at that time by members of the Board; and for this reason it is deemed worthy of preservation as being a PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 117 good example of how the Board in those days prepared for a possible crisis. Its policy was one of educating the peo- ple in advance. "REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE. Galesburg, 111., Dec. 9, 1895. Honorable Board of Education. Ladies and Gentlemen: Your Special Committee appointed at the November meeting of the Board to examine into the need of more school accommodations and to report at this meeting, would ask leave to make the following report: According to the Novem- ber report which has been read to-night, there are 281 pupils in the High School. The building now contains 285 desks, or sittings, but there are fifty more desks in the Study Hall than there should be. The increase this year over last year is sixty-one pupils, and pro- vision should be made for the fifty extra desks now in the Study Hall. This would require accommodation to be made for 111 ad- ditional pupils. It is pertinent to ask here if it is reasonable to ex- pect the High School to increase as much next year. In the past ten years the High School has grown from 90 to 281, an increase of 191, or 212 per cent. These facts would seem to make it im- perative on this Board to provide for at least one hundred addi- tional sittings for the High School. While this is being done would it not be good policy, viewed from every standpoint, to make a rea- sonable provision for the future? Your committee is of the opinion that an addition can be made to the present High School building which will give it capacity to accommodate 450 to 500 pupils, and it recommends that an architect be consulted to determine if such a plan is practicable, and the cost of the same. It is the opinion of your committee that something must be done to increase the capac- ity of the High School and that before September, 1896. Further than this more room is needed for the grades. It goes without questioning that justice cannot be done to pupils where there are more than forty in a room. On this basis eight additional rooms are needed now, to say nothing of the future. Still further your committee believes that the manual training department should have larger and better accommodations. To do all this will require a large amount of money. Your committee is not prepared to make any further recommendations, but it feels that these facts should be made known to the people and carefully considered by this Board. Signed, L. T. STONE. J. W. HAMMOND." 118 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The committee was continued and instructed to consult an architect to see if the proposed addition to the the Ad 21 0- Th e High School building had now become too large to be heated satisfactorily with furnaces and it was necessary to change the heating plant to steam. The American Warming and Ventilating Co. was given the contract to make this change for $6,000, in the summer of 1901. This included a fan system of venti- lation. The additional thermostats required cost $400, and the furniture $400, making the improvements on the High' School at that time amount to $9,010. After spending such a large amount of money on the Addition Lincoln addition and the High School improve- DoSias ments in 1901, had the Board followed its usual school. custom, it would have waited a year or two before making other improvements; but the demand for more school accommodations in the Douglas district was so urgent that it built an addition to that school in the summer of 1902. Wm. Wolf was the architect and superintendent of construction, and was paid $250. Peter T. Olson was the contractor, his bid of $9,367 being the lowest. When his work was completed he was allowed $332.50 additional for extra work. Dry closets had been placed in all the buildings remodeled up to that date, but it was decided to install a system of water closets in the Douglas School. Some thought this was making a great improvement, but the clos- PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 121 ets proved to be the most unsanitary and unsatisfactory of any used in the schools. This was because they were not ventilated. The contract for enlarging the heating plant when this addition was built, was given to C. S. Telford for $700. A. H. Anderson & Co. received the furniture con- tract, which amounted to $318.90. The total cost of this ad- dition, consisting of three schoolrooms, an auditorium and an office, amounted to $10,968.40. The time for the Central Primary School to have a new building arrived at last in 1903. All the other Bullding schools in the city had had their buildings either *^* ** built new, or remodeled, since the beginning of mary ' the second era of schoolhouse building in 1888. During all these years the Central Primary waited patiently, accommo- dating itself the best it could in an old church or in old dwelling houses, except for a few years when it had for its own home the first floor of the High School building. As the Board thought that with the erection of a building for the Central Primary its work of providing schoolhouses would be completed for some years, it determined to make amends for its past neglect of this school by now building for it the best school home in the city. At the March meet- ing of 1903 it was voted, on motion of Director Stone, "That the Board proceed to erect a Primary School building this year." More troubles and delays were encountered in the construction of this building than in all the others com- bined. The first difficulty arose over the selection of an archi- tect. With the exception of the Hitchcock School, Choosing Wm. Wolf had been the architect to make the an Arch- plans for remodeling all the other buildings. It is true his plans had been adopted in competition with other architects, as in the cases of the High School and the Bate- man School. Now that a new building was to be erected there was a strong competition among the architects. Mr. Wolf claimed that as he had done all the "patchwork" for 122 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS the Board, he should in justice be given the new building to show what he could do when he was not limited in his arch- itectural plans by having to make them conform in some degree to an old building. His competitors and their friends claimed that it should be given to one of them, as Mr. Wolf had already had his share of the school work. It was finally decided in favor of Mr. Wolf. For his plans and for super- intending the work he was paid $582.71. The next trouble arose when it became time to decide on the kind of material to be used in the construction The Ma- . . teriai of the building. The contract, as let in June, 1903, to Peter T. Olson for $33,597 this being the lowest bid called for a brick building with a stone en- trance. Later the Board voted to make the entire building a stone veneer, and the contract was accordingly changed. The stone chosen did not please the unsuccessful bidders. They and their friends protested vigorously against the use of the stone selected. Finally a legal question was raised by the objectors and, as a result, the Board decided to change back to brick and finish the building in accord- ance with the original contract. The contract for heating and ventilating was originally other l et f r a furnace blast system, to Lewis and Kitch- contracts. en f or $3^8. This included a system of ventilated water closets. The plan for heating was afterwards changed to a steam system and connected with the McKinley city heating system at an additional cost of $1,361.38. The con- tract for temperature regulation was let for $685. The total contracts for this building amounted to $40,144.09. On mo- tion of Director Stone it was named the Central School. It was rather remarkable that all the discussion in conse- quence of these changes caused no division in the Board at any time when it came to act. The building would have been completed by Christmas f 1903 ' had ** not been for the dela y s caused by the changes made. As it was, only the first story PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 123 was completed when cold weather put an end to the work for that year. The work had hardly been resumed in the spring of 1904 when the High School building standing a few feet south of it was totally destroyed by fire. The Cen- tral School was completed during the summer of 1904, and it was occupied for nearly two years by the High School while its own home was in the process of construction. In the meantime the pupils of the Central Primary were ac- commodated in the same rooms they had occupied the previous two years two rooms in the Churchill and the frame "Annex" on Cedar street. For several years the Board of Education had been look- ing forward to the completion of a Central Primary building as a time for general relaxation in the District building line; and now because of the entire de- Prepared struction of the High School building by fire on nigh School. the night of April 10, 1904, the Board and the people of Galesburg were called to meet a really great and important building proposition, all their former experiences of that kind being insignificant in comparison with it. The situation was not, however, without its elements of advant- age. The extensive experience the Board had had in build- ing was a good preparation for undertaking a work of such magnitude. Then, also, the policy of paying for each build- ing as it was constructed, which had been followed for years, found the district at that time free from indebted- ness This is a good example of unconscious preparation for an emergency. This made it possible for the Board, provided the people were willing, to issue bonds sufficient to build a high school of the finest type. Had a different course been followed, had bonds been issued for making the improvements of the previous ten years, the district would have been hopelessly handicapped at a critical time. As it was, everything was favorable to the erecting of just such a building as the people desired. 124 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS It should be remembered that the importance of the high school in public education was not then so Galesburg ".. nig* generally recognized as it is to-day. At that time Building no city in the state had erected a really fine and a Pioneer. ., ,. - . , . , , , n-> modern building for its high school. There was one such building in Joliet, but it was a township high school. The high school was still generally regarded as merely a college preparatory school and did not appeal strongly to the people as their school. When one of the larger cities of Illinois to-day builds a high school, it makes it the finest public building in the city. It was not so when the present Galesburg High School was built. That build- ing was the pioneer of high school buildings in the state. The Board and the people have since had reason to con- gratulate themselves on having had a vision and rising to it. At a meeting of the Board of Education, held five days after the fire, for the purpose of determining what Hundred steps should be taken to secure a new building, it was conceded by all that it would be necessary to ra i se tne money by an issue of bonds. The only BrihUng question was the amount to ask for. The sum first suggested was $60,000, but as the different members of the Board discussed the future needs of the school as well as those of the present, its relation to the other schools of the city, the well known pride the people take in education, and the prominence that even the location would give to the building, the amount rose until $100,000 was thought to be needed ; and the Board with all the mem- bers present decided by a unanimous vote to ask the citizens for the authority to issue bonds to the amount of $100,000 for a new High School building. The election was called for April 2nd. The proposition was thoroughly discussed by the city press and the people on the streets. At one time many thought that a sentiment unfavorable to the issuing of the bonds was forming. The Board met informally with all the members present and prepared a statement of the situa- BUILDINGS USED BY THK HIGH SCHOOL. 1888-1896 HIGH SCHOOL 1-896 TO APRIL. 1O, 19O4 BUILDINGS USED BY THE HIGH SCHOOL. i Iff w r*" - ! S n ' 8 5T K M'2 P S^_B KM 5 =X - 00^ jLO 0* o "2-^jr m LIBRARY GMhc BMVEftSlTY Of ILUNOIS PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 125 tion for the public which was printed in the city papers. When the election day came great interest was taken in the voting, and the favorable attitude of the people towards is- suing the bonds was shown by 1,198 votes cast for the bonds to 160 against. The bonds were to draw four and one-half per cent inter- est and to be paid in amounts of $10.000 on Sep- r , * r^. Selling tember of every year, beginning with 1907. The of the e r Bonds. condition of the money market was not favorable at that time for the selling of bonds and it was predicted by some that they could not be sold at par, in which case they could not be issued. The Board felt greatly relieved, when the date for selling the bonds arrived, to get a bid from the First National Bank of Chicago for the entire amount with $2,500 premium, the bank to furnish the bonds free of charge to the Board of Education. The bid was accepted on condition that the bank would pay three per cent interest on monthly balances until the money was all drawn. As the money was not expended for nearly two years the arrange- ment brought into the treasury of the Board of Education a little over $3,000. Thus the bonds were disposed of in a way that netted the district $5,500 more than par. Director L. F. Wertman was chairman of the Finance Committee at that time, and he took great interest in securing for the Board the most favorable sale of the bonds. With the bonds sold, the next thing to do was to get the plans for the building. This was done not accord- ^^ ing to the usual custom of advertising for plans obtsiniius to be submitted by different architects, over which the plan8 - to wrangle and finally to select one only partially satisfac- tory to the Board and entirely objectionable in the opinion of the architects whose plans were not accepted, but by choos- ing a competent architect and having him incorporate the ideas of the Board into his plans. A committee consisting of Director L. F. Wertman, J. Grant Beadle, the architect, the Superintendent of Schools and the Principal of the High 126 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS School, made a tour of inspection. They examined a half dozen buildings recently constructed and had the architect carefully note the desirable features and as carefully those to be avoided. In this way the interior arrangement of the building was determined but the exterior was left entirely to the architect. As is usually the case when it came to opening the bids for the building the plans were found to be too the expensive. They were modified and other bids were called for, as a result of which the contract was let, July 27, 1904, to Davidson and Rundquist, the low- est bidders, for $95,923. The stone was afterwards changed from Lake Superior rain drop stone to Berea sand stone, which reduced the above bid to $89,623. Plate glass was later sustituted for the common glass at an additional cost of $3,000. Separate contracts were made for lockers, $1,502; hardware, $1,017; light fixtures, $697; and other extras, $994. J. Grant Beadle was paid $500 for the plans and two and one-half per cent, or $2,500, for superin- tending the construction; he to furnish a competent man, acceptable to the Board, who should be on the grounds every hour that work was in progress. The gymnasium and shower baths, which were finished sometime after the build- ing was occupied, cost $1,606. The sum of these different items amounted to $11,816, which, added to the original con- tract $89,633, made the building alone cost $101,439. The heating and ventilating, which was a steam blast system, was let to Lewis and Kitchen for $11,833. This contract of Lewis and Kitchen included the radiation, fans, motors, heat regulation and the closets with the necessary plumb- ing. In order to have sufficient ground on which to place the building it was necessary to secure the Strong property, which joined the original High School lot on the west. This was purchased May 9, 1904, for $5,500. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 127 The Board had an interesting experience in purchasing the furniture. The law requiring- all state institu- . ... . . Fornlsh- tions to buy their furniture of the prison industries ing th . Building. went into effect July 1, 1904, and it was held at that time that the law applied to the public schools. To equip such a building with furniture made by convicts did not seem to be the fitting thing to do, and there was a dis- position to avoid it if possible. The matter was taken up by a special committee with the Prison Board of Industries. A release from purchasing the prison-made desks was obtained on the ground that a particular kind of desk, the manu- facture of which was covered by patents, was wanted de- manded even. The committee also secured from the Prison Board the prices it would charge for the furniture for the laboratories and the commercial department, for the reason that it was necessary to know the cost before placing the order as the price might have much to do in determining the amount purchased. Bids for exactly the same pieces of furniture as shown by blue-prints furnished all the parties, were obtained from two well known manufacturers. The price for the prison-made furniture was $3,441.45, and the bid of Knostman-Peterson Furniture Co., of Davenport, Iowa, for the same kind and amount was $2,306.94. The bid of the Quincy Show Case Works was just $3,000. The Board referred the matter back to the committee with power to act, but before any action was taken by the com- mittee a temporary injunction was issued by the Circuit Court on the petition of George Shumway, Esq., restraining the Board of Education from buying furniture from any but the lowest responsible bidder. By default on the part of the Board of Education the injunction was made permanent. In this way was the Board released from purchasing prison- made furniture, much to the financial benefit of the district. The furniture for the laboratories and commercial depart- ment cost $2,306.94, and the other furniture for the building 128 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS $2,840.60, making the total cost of the furniture when the school was first opened, $5,147.54. The cost of the High School plant when completed was : Total Building $101,439.00 cost. Heating and ventilating apparatus lo- cated in the building 11,833.00 Furniture 5,147.54 Land purchased 5,500.00 Total amount $123,919.54 There were some interesting facts connected with the A Het- building of the heating plant. It is a good ex- am ple of the way in which an emergency was met. When the High School building was burned the Board at first thought that it would be a good plan to build a separate heating plant to furnish the heat for the three school buildings which would be situated on that block. A committee was appointed to investigate the subject, but the cost was found to be so great that it seemed unadvisable to consider the matter further. The McKinley city heating plant came forward at that time with a plausible solution. It proposed to furnish the heat by extending one of its mains past the three buildings. The public, which was tak- ing a lively interest in the matter, thought that this was un- doubtedly the thing to do. The company was heating the business houses satisfactorily, and it was claimed that it could heat the schoolhouses just as well and much more cheaply than the Board could do it with its own heating plant, which would cost thousands of dollars to build and which would be a constant source of expense to maintain. There was one important item which was not considered, namely, that the business houses were heated by direct radi- ation, while the schoolhouses would be heated by blast sys- tems, by fans driving the cold air over the radiating coils. Public opinion soon became so pronounced that the wise PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 129 thing to do was at least to give the McKinley plant a trial. This could be done at no great expense with the Central School, which was then in process of construction. A con- tract was accordingly made with the McKinley company to heat the Central School for $503 a year, and a proposition to heat the High School for $2,330.73 per year was accepted. As a result of this contract the plans of the High School build- ing were drawn without making any provision for placing a heating plant in the building. By the time the winter of 1904-05 was over, every one, even the company itself, was convinced that it was impossible to heat the school build- ings from the city heating plant. There had not been a week for months when it was not necessary to close the school for one or more half days. The McKinley company notified the Board of Education that it would not undertake to heat the High School and that it would not renew its con- tract for heating the Central School for another year. The High School building would be completed within a few months and there was no provision in the construction for a heating plant. This was also true of the Central School. The only possible thing to do under these circumstances was to build a separate heating plant. That which a year before was regarded as impossible was now the only thing that could be done. But where was the money to come from? There had been no provision made in the tax levy for such an expenditure, and the Board would not entertain the idea of asking for more bonds. The heating plant was built in the summer of 1905, and it was paid for with the money already in the How the treasury reserved for the purpose of paying the ^>* ey teachers' salaries until the next taxes became due. 1R&i * d - The teachers also received their salaries as usual when they became due. There is a provision in the school law that al- lows boards of education, when the salary of a teacher be- comes due and there is no money in the treasury, to write on the back of the order, "No Funds" and it draws interest 130 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS at the rate of seven per cent. The finance committee ar- ranged to have these orders cashed at six per cent interest. No interest on the money thus used for the heating plant began to accrue until October, when the first pay-roll be- came due, and then only on the amount of one month's salary. This amount was increased every thirty days by another month's salary until sufficient taxes came in to meet the pay-roll. The interest thus paid on the money used to build the heating plant amounted in all to less than $500. This was certainly a much cheaper way to pay for the build- ing than to issue bonds. This method of meeting an unex- pected expenditure was frequently resorted to during this period. It is certainly a sensible and economical way to do in such cases, and there can be no legal objection to trans- ferring money from one of the two school funds to the other so long as the sum used in any one year does not exceed the amount the law allows to be used for that purpose. The contract for the building and the stack of the heat- Buiiding ln S plant was let to Peter T. Olson, for $8,563, Heating an( ^ tne contract for the equipment was given to riant. Lewis and Kitchen, of Chicago, for $11,676, these being the lowest bids. M. E. Sweeney was paid $300 for superintending the work of construction. Thus the total cost of the heating plant was $20,539. This plant furnishes the heat, the light and the power for the High School, the Central School and the Churchill School. Since it began operation in the fall of 1905 it has given what might be called perfect satisfaction at all times and in all respects, thus proving itself to be one of the best investments the Board ever made. The care that has always been exercised in operating the plant and the perfect condition in which it has been kept by Wm. Richardson, the engineer in charge, demonstrates that the public can conduct such an enterprise as successfully and economically as a private party. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 131 The High School building was completed and opened on Lincoln's birthday. February 12, 1906, with ap- . . Opening propriate ceremonies. The State Superintendent, of the Hon. Alfred Bayliss, and William Hawley Smith school delivered the principal addresses. On the after- noon and evening of that day some five thousand citizens inspected the building. Nothing but words of satisfaction and praise were heard from any one, and the verdict of that day has not been changed. It is worth mentioning here, as showing the spirit of the school, that the boys of the manual training department transferred all the desks and furniture they had been using in the Central School to the High School building, doing all the work and doing it in one day. With the completion of the new High School in February, 1906, ended the second period of schoolhouse building. By 1910 the three schools north of Main street had be- come so crowded that it was imperative for the The Board to provide more school accommodations. Famham As a partial relief of the conditions, the Farnham School, a four-room building, was built in 1910-11. In Sep- tember, 1910, three lots on the northwest corner of Farnham and Summit streets were purchased for $2,300 as grounds for this school. Two members of the Board, Directors Berry and Purington, and the Superintendent, with N. K. Aldrich, who had been chosen as the architect, were sent to Oak Park, Illinois, to examine some schoolhouses of a new type of architecture, that had been recently built. The Farnham School, which is an entirely different style of building from the others in the city, was the result of this trip. The contract for the building was let to John J. Dahl- burg for $17,150, the contract for heating and ventilating, including toilets and heat regulation, to Lewis and Kitchen for $2,990, and the furniture contract to the Peabody School Furniture Co. for $492.40, these being the lowest bids sub- mitted. N. K. Aldrich was paid $343 for the plans and specifications. W. M. Woolsey received $50 for superin- 132 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS tending the construction. The window shades cost $77.35 ; the electric wiring and fixtures, $134.80; the grading, $107.50; the walks, $654.90; the sewer, $241.40; extras on the general contract, $81 ; the teachers' chairs, $27.50 ; the clocks, $14.50 ; the examination of title and recording deeds, $27.40. Thus the Farnham School, including every item of expense, cost $24,291.75. The school was, on motion of Director L. T. Stone, named the Farnham School in honor of the late Eli Farnham, who taught the first public school in Galesburg, and whose residence was only a few rods north of where the schoolhouse stands. 2. OTHER PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS. A system of dry closets was installed in the Grammar churohiu (Churchill) School by the Smead Heating and Building Ventilating Co. in the summer of 1892, for $825. cioseta. At the time it was made this was a great im- provement. Prior to that date the closets had been in out- buildings, and their condition was a disgrace to a civilized community. For years one of the annual acts of the Board of Health had been to issue an order declaring them a public nuisance. The Board of Education was powerless to do anything as there were neither sewers, nor a water system, in the city. When the first investigating committee was sent out in 1887 to examine some recently constructed buildings, with a view of obtaining the latest ideas on school architecture and of incorporating them into the plans of the proposed new High School building, it found this system of closets in the Hyde Park High School. These closets had been in use a year, and they were considered by the author- ities there as one of the marvels of the age. These closets were incorporated in the plans of the new High School building as one of the latest and best of the modern im- provements. They proved satisfactory in that building, and no time was lost in placing them in the Grammar School after the Smead Company decided it was possible to PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 133 do so. It was not long before the dry closet system was generally condemned in the large cities, especially by plumbers. The closets, however, proved satisfactory wher- ever they were placed in a school building in Galesburg. The system is much more satisfactory and sanitary than the ordinary unventilated water closet. This was thoroughly demonstrated at the Douglas School, where it became nec- essary to tear out a system of water closets because they were not ventilated. No closet that is not ventilated is san- itary. The schoolhouses in the city had like those of to-day high basements, but the steps leading to the first floor were all on the outside of the building. These steps, six to ten in number, generally made of stone and un- covered, were really dangerous to the pupils in the winter season. During the other seasons of the year, they were convenient and attractive places for rowdies and disrep- utable characters to congregate in the evenings. This led at times to the defacement of school property. The Gram- mar School had three such unsafe and undesirable en- trances. In 1894 these steps had become so decayed that it was necessary to replace them with new ones. The Board took this opportunity to place them inside the building, an- other idea the committee had brought back from its trip of inspection. In making this change in the steps, all the en- trances were made to open to the east, the object being to reduce as much as possible the drafts which blew through the halls in cold weather and which were a constant menace to the health of the teachers on the lower floor while they were attending to their hall duties at dismissions and recess. Wm. Wolf made the plans for remodeling these entrances and O. C. Housel, contractor, did the work for $689. In May, 1895, after the schools had closed for the year, the tower on the building was partially destroyed Tower of ~ . . & . J J Churchill by a fire of unknown origin. The contract for re- school . . Damaged pairing and remodeling it was let to Peter McL. by Fire. 134 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Davidson for $545. The amount expended on the Churchill building in this period, for permanent improvements, was $2,059. Cooke School was connected with the city water system im rove- m ^ e summer f 1896. When it became neces- ments on sary, in 1897, to rebuild the steps of this building school. t h e entrances were remodeled and the steps were placed within the building, which was a great improvement. The plans for this change were made by Wm. Wolf for $25, and the contract for the work was let to A. C. Phillipson for $594. At the same time a system of dry closets was placed in the building by A. A. Ames for $250. The Hitchcock building was the first to be remodeled and enlarged. At that date the ventilation of A Modem schoolhouses was in its infancy. As good a sys- System ., . * , J , of venti- tern of ventilation as was then known was placed lating In- .... . stalled in m the building, but in time, as improvements in Hitchcock school. ventilation were made, this system came, properly enough, to be regarded by the patrons as very poor. In the fall of 1908 it at last got on the nerves of the people, and the Board decided to give the desired relief at once by installing during the Christmas vacation of that year the most improved blast system of ventilation, to- gether with water closets and heat regulation. This im- provement, which was made by Lewis and Kitchen, cost, when completed, $5,219.95. The manual training quarters in the basement of the High School had always been objectionable on account of the noise made by the machinery. Then, too, they were neither large enough nor adapted to accommodate all the different kinds of work desired to be done in that department. In 1910 it was decided to build a separate manual training building, connecting it to the rooms used for that purpose in the High School building. Another object of building this addition was to have room enough to give manual PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 135 training to the boys in the seventh and eighth grades, thus making it a manual training center for the boys of the higher grades in the grammar schools. A strip of land 71 by 54% feet, lying between the High School and the heat- ing plant, on which the building was placed, was purchased of S. C. Ayres for $1,300. The plans and specifications for the building were made by J. Grant Beadle, at a cost of $15L38. The contract for the building was let to P. O. Munson for $5,475. This amount included the cost of the bridge connecting the High School with the Central School, which was estimated at $300 by one of the bidders. The heating contract was let to Joseph Quigley for $494.40, and the plumbing contract to the C. S. Telford Co. for $490.15, thus making the total cost of this improvement amount to $7,910.93. The smoke from the heating plant was a source of real inconvenience to the people of that neighborhood, A Smoke and occasionally some one would serve notice on consumer ....... for the the Board, threatening it with the direst conse- Heating ... . Plant. quences if the nuisance was not abated. There was no time when the Board would not have been glad to remove the cause of complaint had it known how to do it. In December, 1909, the G. H. Scharf Co. presented the merits of the automatic smoke consumer to the Board, with the proposition to install the device for $480, no money to be paid until the Board was satisfied that it would do all that was claimed for it. The proposition was accepted, and the smoke nuisance soon became a thing of the past. By 1909 the water closets placed in the Douglas School at the time it was remodeled had become so un- ... , Improve- sanitary that it was necessary to replace them ments . ; *. Made at with others. Another system of water closets was Dousia* ... . School. installed and ventilation was provided for them by building a stack up through the central part of the building. This stack and the new closets cost $1,001. The stack was designed to be used as a flue for the heating apparatus and 136 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS to take care of a system of ventilation for the building. These two provisions made it more expensive than it would otherwise have been. In the winter of 1910-11 some of the people in the Bate- man district thought that their school building Humidity was not properly ventilated. The Board employed Device In- _, _ _ r . J . *. * stalled in S. R. Lewis, an expert heating and ventilating Bateman . , ' . . & school. engineer of Chicago, to examine and test the ap- paratus. He reported that the volume of fresh air furnished each room, with one exception, was sufficient, but that the air, on account of the manner in which it was heated, was too dry. He recommended that a humidity de- vice be installed in connection with the heating apparatus and also that an electric fan be placed in the intake duct of the room that was not receiving enough fresh air. On mo- tion of Director Wertman the building committee was di- rected to install a humidistat and an electric fan as recom- mended by Mr. Lewis. The cost of this improvement was $458.92. At the February meeting of 1898 the Allen property, consisting of a house and lot joining the Weston Mid*" 00 School grounds on the east and fronting on Mul- welton berry street, was purchased for $1,600. The ob- orounds J ect m buying this property was to enlarge the playgrounds. This was a good illustration of how public sentiment on the question of the size of school grounds had changed within thirty years. In 1868 the Board seriously considered selling a lot from the grounds they then had ; in 1898 it bought a lot to add to it. In July of 1898 the Hunt property, joining the Churchill Additi grounds on the south and fronting on Cedar street, Made was bought for $4,000. The immediate object of to the churchm this purchase was to use the house as an annex Grounds. for the Central Primary, while the ultimate end in view was the enlarging of the Churchill playgrounds. These were the only pieces of land purchased in this period PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 137 solely for the purpose of having more grounds for the build- ings and pupils. It would be wisdom on the part of the Board to-day if it would adopt the policy of buying property adjoining any of the school grounds as it conies on the mar- ket, until every school in the city has an adequate play- ground. The amounts invested in permanent improvements in the different periods of these fifty years are here summary i-> 1-11 i F i* Invest- given. Each total includes the cost of the land, ments in .... . ... Perma- buildmg, heating and ventilating apparatus, clos- nent im- . r * * * prove- ets and furniture ; and the amount of each of these ments. items may be learned by referring to the paragraphs that give an account of the construction of the building. TABLE SHOWING COST OF PROPERTY OWNED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION IN 1911: 1st Period 1861-1862 Is is |C _ tion requiring each school to have at least one fire- Dri118 - drill every week was adopted. The resolution was soon amended by changing the fire-drills to once in two weeks. In 1908 the resolution was still further amended by requir- ing two fire-drills in each month of the fall terms and one in each month of the other two terms. The resolution made it the duty of the Superintendent to report monthly to the Board the number of fire-drills in each of the buildings. There was only one serious fire in this period. It is true that before the shingle roofs were displaced by tin and slate, it was not an uncommon occurrence to have a fire start on the roof of a schoolhouse, but these were always discovered and put out before any damage worth mentioning was done. There was a fire in the Douglas School, when it was known as the Seventh Ward School, that de- Flreg. stroyed the floor in the room above the boiler, damaging the desks and books to a great extent. This fire occurred at night. In 1895, on Monday, June 3rd, after the schools had closed for the year, the tower on the Grammar (Churchill) School was damaged by fire to the extent of about $500. The burning of the High School building, however, was one of the most serious fires Galesburg ever had. It occurred on Sunday night, April 10, 1904, the alarm of fire being given at eight o'clock. The fire started in the basement and the origin of it was never definitely deter- 140 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS mined; the theory, however, that generally prevailed was that it was caused by spontaneous combustion of waste that had been used in cleaning the machinery. Owing to the size and construction of the building, the fire department, though it fought valiantly, was unable to get control of the fire and by twelve o'clock midnight the building was in ruins. When the west wall of the building fell, two men lost their lives : John B. Slater, the oldest member of the fire depart- ment, and Frank G. Stromsted, a citizen who was assisting in removing the goods from the Kindergarten Normal, which stood a few feet to the west of the building. The rec- ords of the school were the only thing saved, and these were secured by the Principal of the school, Mr. Frank D. Thom- son, who entered the office, which was on the second floor, by means of a ladder, a difficult and dangerous undertaking on account of the dense smoke in that part of the building. The loss was estimated at that time to be $70,000, but it could not have been over $55,000. The amount of insurance on the building and contents was $24,500, which was paid in full. Some $800 worth of text-books belonging to the pupils were burned, but, through the good offices of the Text-book Committee, the publishers, without exception, were kind and generous enough to loan the pupils books with which to complete the work of the year. These books were all re- turned. 4. MUSIC, DRAWING AND PHYSICAL TRAINING. The question of teaching vocal music was taken up in introdnc- ^ s pri n g term of 1887. At a meeting of the Board in June of that year Mr. G. R. Housel pre- sented the matter and submitted a proposition to furnish the books and to teach the subject. On motion of Director Merrill, his proposition was referred to the Teach- ers' Committee on a tie vote, the Mayor casting his vote in the affirmative. At the July meeting the proposition was re- jected on the recommendation of the Teachers' Committee. OEO. H. WARD BEiVJ S. STANI EY R. O. AHUENIUS FOURTH WARD The Representatives of the Fourth Ward on the Hoard of Education since its First Organization in June, 1861. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 141 One year after the subject was first brought formally be- fore the Board, a special committee composed of Directors Cooke, Price and Woods was appointed to consider the question of music in the schools; and at the next meeting, July 9, 1888, the committee reported in favor of the intro- duction of music and the employment of G. R. Housel as supervisor of the subject. Since that date music has been in the schools continually under the direction of a special supervisor and the question of discontinuing it has never been raised, its value as a branch of school work being fully recognized. In these twenty-three years there were only two supervisors of music, Mr. G. R. Housel and Miss Glaze Strong. While drawing had nominally been in the schools for several years, its introduction may properly be Introduc- considered to date from the adoption of the Prang tion of Drawing. System of drawing, in June, 1891. A special su- pervisor, who gave but a small portion of her time to the Galesburg schools, was provided by the Prang Company, the Board of Education paying for her services. Drawing, from that date, became in reality a part of the education of the child, and its value was no longer questioned. This re- sult could never have been obtained without the direction and help of a special supervisor of the subject. In the years to come it will be considered strange that the importance of physical culture as a part of the work of the public schools was not recognized earlier. The introduction of this subject found a strong advocate in Director Charles E. Johnson ; and it was finally placed in the Galesburg schools in September, 1905, under the direction of Miss Soflena Mathis as supervisor. The importance of the care and development of the body will yet receive greater recognition by the public and by those in charge of educational institutions. The delay in introducing music, drawing and physical culture was no doubt largely due to the lack of the neces- 142 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS sary preparation and training on the part of the regular teachers to do the work. To employ a sufficient number of specially trained instructors to pass from room to room and teach these subjects, entailed an expense that was pro- hibitive. The solution was found when it was demonstrated that the regular teacher could do the work under the super- vision of a competent director of the subject. Competency in the supervisor was found to be a much more important factor than the amount of time she gave to supervision. At no time did the supervisor give more than three days in a week to the schools, some gave only two days. The super- visor always found it quite possible to arrange with some other city for the remainder of her time. In this way it is possible for a city the size of Galesburg to have as expert supervision as the the larger cities that pay the best sal- aries and more of it when the comparative number of teachers is considered. For example, Miss Katherine K. Ball and Miss Jessie Buckner, who for years supervised the Drawing in the schools, are now and have been for years the supervisors of drawing in San Francisco and the State Normal School at Macomb, Illinois, respectively. 5. THE TRAINING SCHOOL. Of all the different elements that enter into the making ^ a system of good schools, the character of the corps of teachers is the most important. The real value of everything connected with a school sys- tem is determined by the quality of the work done by the individual teachers. The securing of good teachers is the most difficult, as well as the most important, problem a board of education has to solve. Wherever the appointing power may be lodged, however it may be surrounded by rules and regulations, and no matter how conscientiously it may be exercised, mistakes will be made; and it will not PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 143 be sufficient of itself to provide the most desirable teachers; for teachers, like persons in every form of activity, are made, developed in and by their work, and much depends on the start they get and the atmosphere in which they labor. In order that the persons appointed as teachers might begin their work under favorable conditions, the Training School was organized. In a city as large as Galesburg, with its two colleges which offer a liberal education but afford no special training for teaching, and from which most of the teachers of the schools would naturally come, such a school for theory and practice of teaching, under the direction of one exper- ienced and skilled in the art, is particularly needed. When the Central Primary moved into its new home, the first floor of the new High School building, in September, 1888, it was made a Training School for teachers, not for all who desired to become teachers, but for those only whom the Board ex- pected to appoint as regular teachers, should they show themselves fitted. To get a position in the Training School one was required to have a regular certificate from the County Superintendent and be appointed by the Board of Education. The merits of the applicant were as carefully scrutinized as if she were being appointed to a position as regular teacher. Each year there were appointed from four to seven such persons, the number of vacancies estimated to occur annually in the teaching force. These persons were paid a salary of $20 or $25 a month, according to their prep- aration. The general plan of the work for the school was divided into two parts, theory and practice. Under theory, plan Halleck's Psychology, Baldwin's School Manage- l^taia* ment, Page's Theory and Practice of Teaching SchooL were studied and also the Course of Study used in the Galesburg schools. Each week four meetings of the class were held for recitation. Under practice, each member of 144 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS the class had charge of a room of from twenty to twenty- five pupils for, at least, one term ; they filled the temporary vacancies caused by the absence of the regular teachers and assisted in the different schools whenever over-crowding of pupils made such help necessary. This assistance was usu- ally limited to the forenoon session. About one hundred pupils were taught by these teachers in training, and in this way they saved the salary paid them. It was feared that parents would object to having their children thus experi- mented with, but no such complaint was ever made, owing no doubt to the close and careful supervision of the work by the Training Teacher. The advantages of the Training School were many. At the end of the year the young ladies entered on J tages . , , of the their work as regular teachers with some concep- Tralning ... , . school. tion of its meaning; they had some understanding of the Course of Study, the methods of instruction and the ways of management; they had to some extent become im- bued with the spirit of the schools; and, above all, it had been discovered what grade of work each was best adapted by nature to do, which in many cases was a revelation to the teachers themselves. The occasion for the organization of the Training School was the introduction of kindergarten work and methods, which began in the last year of the previous period. The teachers felt the need of help in be- ginning the Kindergarten work, and some of them at their own expense took a course in the Kindergarten Normal. Miss F. Lilian Taylor was one of these, and after she grad- uated from the school she began to assist some of the teach- ers on Saturdays. This led, in 1886, to the Board's allowing time to Miss Taylor to give lessons in this work to such teachers as desired it. Her work was found to be so valu- able that the Training School was organized in 1888, with Miss Taylor as the Training Teacher, which position she continued to hold through this period and in which she rendered the schools great service. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 145 6. METHODS. In this period there were many changes in the methods of teaching most of the subjects. Reading was 1 . & Beading. considered the most important branch of study, and in the first three grades promotion depended mainly on the ability of the pupil to read. In the early years of this period reading was taught in the first grade, or year, from Leigh's Primer and a first reader. Miss Lucia L. Pettee was the first teacher to discard the use of this Primer with its peculiar type that represented to some extent the pho- netic sounds of the letters, and to teach the pupils entirely from the blackboard until they were able to begin a first reader. Gradually the other teachers of the first grade were given the same privilege as they became convinced that they could do the work better in that way and were anxious to try it. It was one of the characteristics of this period that, as a rule, all changes in methods of teaching in the schools were brought about in this way, that is, by de- grees as each teacher came to feel that she could do the work better by the new method. The doing away with ruled slates in the first grades came about in the same way as did also the substitution, in all the grades, of paper in place of slates. Generally each teacher was free to use her own methods so long as she succeeded in getting the work done. Rarely was any special method insisted on. The poorest work is sometimes done according to the best method where the method is not understood by the teacher. It was gradually discovered that the best way to teach children to read was to have them read read many books of a similar grade ; and the time-honored custom of keeping them an entire year in conning over one reader in each grade was dropped, particularly in the first three grades; and the practice of giving them several books to read in place of one was adopted. It was not uncommon for classes in the first grade to read as many as a dozen differ- 146 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS ent books. The pupils were required to buy but one of these books, the others being supplied by the Board of Education. The Board began buying books for this purpose in De- suppie- cember, 1886, and after 1900 one hundred dollars a Beading, year was annually appropriated for their purchase. Twenty-five copies of practically all the best first readers published, and many others known as supplementary read- ers for that grade, were purchased for the pupils to read in the first grade. A liberal supply was also bought for each of the other grades. In the upper grades they were of a character to supplement the regular work, principally the work in geography and history, though some were selected for their literary merit alone. These books were kept in the Superintendent's office and the teachers sent for them as they were wanted, and returned them as soon as they had been read. Thus the same set of readers was read by as many as a half dozen different classes in one year. It was remarkable how long these books, which were the property of the Board and cared for by the teachers, lasted. A set of supplementary readers would last from three to ten years; and would be read by twenty to thirty different classes, which is certainly one good reason for district ownership of schoolbooks. During this period it was the custom of the Superintend- ent to hear the pupils read when they completed a grade. For some years, beginning with 1900, the pupils of each room were required to memorize one poem each month as a part of their reading. The treatment of arithmetic underwent quite a change Arith _ in this period. The former method which had metic. been used from time immemorial was to treat each division of the subject by itself and to hold the pupils on it until they were thought to have mastered it. For example, the fourth year was devoted entirely to the fundamental rules, the fifth year to fractions, the sixth year to decimals and measurements, the seventh year to percentage, and the PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 147 eighth year to the applications of percentage, square and cube root, mensuration, etc. There was no recognition of the fact that fractions are only a different form of division, and percentage another form of fractions, and that each is made up, as it were, of a series of layers increasing in de- grees of difficulty and capable of being adapted to the de- veloping capacity of the child ; or, in other words, there was no attempt to present the simplest elements of these sub- divisions to the child when he began the study of arithme- tic and to advance him in them step by step as his mind developed. He was required to understand all of one sub- division before he was given the simplest elements of the next. Mastery of each topic was expected to be gained by working a great number of examples and problems accord- ing to the sample carefully worked out and placed at the beginning of the topic; and the numbers used in most of these examples and problems were far beyond the compre- hension of the pupils. Thus the tendency of the work in arithmetic was to develop the powers of imitation in the child rather than his reasoning faculties. This tendency was still further increased by the conditions given in most of the problems, these being beyond the experience of the pupil. The universal criticism on the teaching of arithmetic had been for years that the results did not justify the time given to the subject, that at the best most pupils learned only to juggle with figures. To Professor Frank H. Hall is due the credit of being the first to break away from this traditional treatment of arithmetic and to write a series of books on an entirely new plan, named by him the "Spiral Method," in which arithmetic was treated as a unit and not as composed of a number of independent parts. He sim- plified the numbers used, brought the conditions of the problems within the range of the child's experience, and dis- carded the plan of arranging the examples and problems in groups according to the method of solving them, with an example of each worked out as a sample to be followed. 148 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Thus he made the treatment of the subject one that would naturally tend to develop thought processes rather than to acquire the ability of juggling with figures. That the method, where it is strictly followed, is a great improve- ment on the old there can be no doubt, if the aim in arith- metic be to teach the pupils to think in numbers. So radical a change, any change for that matter, would naturally meet with some opposition, especially from those who attempted to do the impossible, namely, to teach the new books by the old method. Such was the experience in the Galesburg schools when the Hall arithmetics were adopted in 1901. In 1885 there was a language book in the sixth and seventh grades, and a grammar in the eighth, the language work in the other five grades being done orally. There was at that time practically no graduation in this oral work, it being much the same in all the grades. As a result the work was unsatisfactory to the teachers and without interest to the pupils. In 1886 a definite outline for the oral work in language was prepared and printed. This outline was not made by the Superintendent but by the teachers. It was prepared in this way. The teachers of the first grade were called together, and they agreed on certain language facts that naturally came in their grade and which they thought could be easily taught. These facts they were more than willing to undertake to teach. The teachers of the second grade were then asked to meet and were given the language facts the teachers of the first grade proposed to teach. They were requested to add such additional facts as came naturally in their grade and were in their opinion within the range of the pupils' understanding. For the teaching of these facts the teachers of the second grade will- ingly agreed to be responsible. In this way the work for each of the other grades was determined. Six of the best language books then published were selected and carefully examined to find the page where any of the language facts in the proposed course of study were treated. The appro- PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 149 priate reference was printed below each fact given in the outline. A set of these books was purchased by the Board for each teacher and placed on her desk. By referring to these books the teachers could see how each fact was pre- sented by one skilled in the teaching of language. This outline for oral language work was a great success from the first, and it may be found, slightly modified, in the course of study in use at the close of this period. In 1894 a carefully arranged and detailed course in composition was added to each grade. It consisted of exercises in dictation, reproduction, invention (a story suggested by a picture), description and letter-writing, with references to selections well adapted to each purpose, that could be found in the readers used. One exercise in each of these forms of com- position was required every month from each pupil. In the first part of this period four years were given to geography beginning with the fourth grade, and history was begun and completed in the eighth and , . . . , History. year. Later this was considered to be too much time for geography and not enough for history. In 1897 the primary geography was placed in the fourth grade and the advanced geography in the fifth and sixth grades, to be reviewed in the last half of the eighth grade. At the same time a grammar school history was placed in the seventh and eighth grades. As early as 1889, a primary history was introduced in the fourth grade to be read as a supplementary reader, the books being furnished by the Board of Educa- tion. At the beginning of this period a spelling book was used only in the seventh and eighth grades, spelling in the other grades being taught incidentally from the other text-books; particularly from the readers. In December, 1886, Sheldon's Word Study, a spelling book, was introduced in the schools on the recommendation of the Text-book Committee. It was placed in all the grades above the third. The teachers worked faithfully to teach spelling 150 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS from this book, but it was never a success. It was allowed gradually to drop out of the lower grades, but it was con- tinued in the seventh and eighth grades until 1899. In that year a new method of teaching this subject was begun. The pupils of each grade were required to find for them- selves the misspelled words in all their written work. These words were placed on the blackboard where they remained for one week, being used for lessons in spelling. At the end of the week each teacher selected from the list in her room ten words that she considered as the most common to the grade. From these lists of words sent in by the different teachers of each grade, fifty words were selected and given to all the rooms of the same grade for a competitive test in spelling. This method brought to bear on the words which the children used and frequently misspelled the drill of the spelling book and the competition of the old-time spelling school. In the opinion of many teachers better results in spelling were obtained by this method than by any other. In the course of five years each grade had thus secured a list of about a thousand words, which was then printed by the Board and one copy was given free to each pupil when he began the grade. There are many advantages in thus having in each grade a spelling book containing only the words to be mastered in that grade. At the close of this period spelling was taught in the first five grades of the schools according to this method. In 1905 a spelling book was again placed in the three upper grades. Mr. G. H. Bridge was the teacher of penmanship in all Penman- tne grades until the opening of schools in Septem- ship. b er> 1396^ w hen all his time was required to teach manual training and bookkeeping in the High School. At that time vertical writing, which had been adopted by most of the schools in the country, was introduced in the Galesburg schools. A system of copy books, something not known in the schools for fifteen years, was also adopted. While it is generally conceded that the handwriting of a PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 151 pupil is formed by the writing he does in his daily work, copy books are needed where no special teacher of pen- manship is employed, in order that the pupil may have a standard by which to judge his writing and correct his er- rors as they appear before they become confirmed by habit. There was of course always some opposition to vertical writing, and, in 1907, a modified system, in which a letter nearly vertical was used in the primary grades and one with a modified slant in the advanced grades, was adopted; There was no special teacher of penmanship in the schools from 1896 to the close of this period. There was no year in this period in which a definite amount of physiology and hygiene was not taught somewhere in the grades. Previous to oiosy and 1894, a primary physiology was read in the fifth grade as a supplementary reader. From that date to 1898, when the present law regulating the teaching of physiology and hygiene went into effect, a primary work on the sub- ject was studied in the eighth grade in addition to the book read in the fifth grade. After 1898 the subject was taught as required by the state law. A rather full outline calling for oral instruction in phys- iology, botany, zoology and physics, was a part of Natnre the course of study at the close of the previous stud y- period ; but it had proved unsatisfactory and it was not gen- erally followed by the teachers. However much children may enjoy nature, its classified facts do not interest them. In the early '90's an earnest effort was made to teach what was then known as nature study, that is, to have the pupils learn to recognize at all seasons of the year the different trees and shrubs they daily see, the flowers in the home and by the wayside, the birds as they come and go, the animals, wild and tame, the changes of the sun and moon, the wind and sky that make the weather of the day and the seasons of the year, etc,, etc. A full outline of this kind of work was prepared, printed and placed in the schools. This outline of 152 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS nature study may be found in the Report of 1898. At first the results appeared to be good, but within five years, save in exceptional cases, it had lost its grip on the schools al- most as completely as the classified facts of science which it had been designed to supplant. Any work to be done successfully in the schools must be with the aid of a text- book or in the hands of a special teacher, or supervisor. 7. THE TEACHERS AND MEANS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT. There is a provision in the rules of the Board of Educa- Teachen' ^ on ^ or holding Teachers' Meetings once a month Meeting* on Friday afternoons at 3 :30 o'clock. At times it was thought best, for various reasons, not to have these meetings every month. There were years in this period when not more than two such meetings were held in a term. The object sought to be accomplished in these meetings was to spread the good, to make it become contagious, to foster unity in the work and harmony among the workers, to broaden the conception of the teacher's work, to develop a professional and public spirit, and above all to create an atmosphere in the schools that would be congenial alike to pupils and teachers, and thus to bring about the proper at- titude on the part of both, the aim in all being to increase the efficiency of the schools. At these general meetings, in addition to the Superintendent's outlining the general pol- icy of the schools and discussing such principles and meth- ods as were applicable to all grades of work, the program frequently contained other features, some of which are mentioned here. At different times some professional book was selected and made the subject of the year's study by the ona?~ teachers. The method pursued was to have each studied teacher buy a copy of the book and read it care- Meetings. ^ U ^Y- At each of the monthly meetings a chapter or section of the book would be reviewed by a teacher previously appointed for that purpose, and a gen- PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 153 eral discussion would frequently follow. In this way the Principles and Practice of Teaching, by James Johonnot, was studied in 1886; Compayre's History of Pedagogy, by W. H. Payne, in 1889; Quick's Educational Reformers, in 1891 ; School Management, by Emerson E. White, in 1894 ; Kidd's Social Evolution, in 1895 ; Report of the Committee of Fifteen on the Educational Values of the Common Branches, in 1896; The Critical Period of American His- tory, by John Fiske, in 1898 ; Teaching the Language-Arts, by B. A. Hinsdale, in 1900; The Art of Study, by B. A. Hins- dale, in 1902 ; and The Basis of Practical Teaching, by E. B. Bryan, in 1907. Other professional books when they were first issued were made the subject of one meeting. The year 1908 was devoted to the study of the different educational theories and systems that have largely in- fluenced the history of the world. Each system was as- signed to some teacher who would give an explanation and history of it, after which a general discussion would usually follow. This feature of the monthly meetings frequently proved to be interesting and certainly did much to enlarge the educational conceptions of the teachers. Another annual feature which was interesting and help- ful was the reports given by those who attended the national and state associations, of the principal 2^^ discussions held at these educational meetings. f^ (S 1 ^f >b " Not less interesting and instructive were the re- ports given by the teachers of what they had seen and learned while visiting other schools. In the year 1905 the teachers of each school furnished the second part of the program for one of these . T . Program general meetings. In two instances the teachers Furnished assembled at the ward schools, the Weston and ferent the Bateman. With the exception of the High School, when the Principal, Mr. F. D. Thomson, gave the address, and the Weston School, when Miss Johanna Lind 154 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS gave readings and there were piano solos by Miss Lillian Lindquist and Miss Edith Tryner, each school imported a speaker for the occasion. The teachers of the Churchill School had Dr. C. A. Vincent ; the Hitchcock School, Dr. W. Hamilton Spence; the Central School, Dr. L. B. Fisher; the Douglas and Cooke schools, which united, Professor Stans- bury Norse; and the Bateman School, Mrs. G. W. Thomp- son, a member of the Board of Education. One of the novel features of the meetings was the serving of refreshments by the different schools. These added much to the sociability of the occasions. The teachers were never so well acquainted with one another as they were that year. A number of teachers visited Europe in the summer of 1910, and the teachers in the following school year tag AC- had the pleasure of taking a most delightful trip counts of , r . & ,, . journeys through Greece with Miss Marian Nelson, one through Italy with Miss Alice Bergland, and one through the art galleries of Europe with Miss Ida Glenn. Miss Myra H. Patch also gave a most excellent account of the meeting of the National Educational Association that year in Boston. These four papers were read at as many meetings held that year and, in addition to the interesting information they contained, they were veritable literary treats. Whenever the teachers took part on the program by reviewing a chapter or a book of pedagogy, by giving an ac- count of a meeting they had attended, a school they had visited, or a trip they had taken, they spared no labor in making the presentation of their subject worthy of the time and attention of any audience. Dr. Richard Edwards, Henry Raab, J. H. Freeman, Al- fred Bayliss and Francis G. Blair, each while he was State Superintendent of Public Instruction, by Promi- nent Edu- addressed the teachers at one of these meetings. the state. In the school year of 1904-05, Dr. John W. Cooke, President of the Northern Illinois Normal, Mr. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 155 John W. Henninger, Principal of the Western Illinois Nor- mal, Dr. Livingston C. Lord, President of the Eastern Illi- nois Normal, and Mr. David Felmley, President of the State Normal University, favored the teachers with addresses that would have been worth attending a State Association to hear. In April, 1902, Enoch A. Gastman, Superintendent of Decatur Schools, gave a talk on the "Public Schools of the Early Days." In 1903-04, J. H. Collins, Superintendent of the Springfield Schools, N. C. Dougherty, Superintendent of the Peoria Schools, and J. B. Stableton, Superintendent of the Bloomington Schools, addressed the teachers on some of the problems involved in the daily work of the schools. Some of the best addresses delivered at these meetings were by the ministers of the city. In 1887, Dr. A. Addre8ge8 R. Thain, pastor of the old First Church, gave an p^ 8 t^ of address on the "Education of the Will ;" in 1888, the c y- Rev. J. W. Bradshaw, pastor of the First Congregational Church, on "What Manner of Child Shall This Be;" in 1890, Dr. John Hood, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, on "What Makes the Successful Teacher;" and Rev. H. A. Bushnell, pastor of the First Congregational Church, on "Criticism." In 1891, Dr. J. M. Sturtevant, pastor of the old First Church, delivered an address on "Surnames," and Rev. E. J. Chaffee, pastor of the Universalist Church, on "Habit in Education." In 1892, Dr. C. W. Blodgett, pastor of the Methodist Church, addressed the teachers and the pupils of the schools in the Court House Park on Colum- bus day. In 1897, Rev. W. H. Geistweit, pastor of the Bap- tist Church, addressed the teachers on the "Personality, Sympathy, Consciousness and Character of the Teacher." In 1909-10, the following ministers addressed the teachers: Rev. J. M. Maxon, rector of Grace Episcopal Church, on "Some Ideals in Child Training;" Rev. J. P. Huget, pastor of the Central Church, on the "Practical Value of the Ideal ;" Dr. Stuart M. Campbell, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, on the "Four Great Influences in Society;" Dr. S. 156 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Van Pelt, pastor of the Methodist Church, on "The Founda- tion of the State in the Education of its Youth." Two especially practical and helpful addresses were given by physicians; one by Dr. L. R. Ryan in 1894, on "The Abuse of the Eyes," and the other ricians. . an( J to Meet Them." Other speakers who addressed these meetings were George P. Brown, editor of the Illinois School Jour- speakera na ^' * n 1890; Matthew Andrews, County Superin- tendent of Schools of Knox County, in 1892; Dr. pick on the "Cultivation of the Memory," in 1894; Mrs. Martha H. Read, member of the Board of Ed- ucation, in 1895, on the "Formation of an Anti-Cigarette League," which was organized and flourished for several years; Miss M. Evelyn Strong, member of the Board of Ed- ucation, on "Nature Study," in 1896; Congressman Geo. W. Prince, on "The Method by which a Measure Becomes a Law," in 1899; Dr. J. V. N. Standish, on "Beautifying the City," in 1902 ; James Speed, on "Nature Study," in 1907 ; and Dr. Thomas McClelland, President of Knox College, on "The Relation of the College to the Public Schools," in 1909. In 1896-7, through the courtesy of Dr. John H. Finley, President of Knox College, and the liberality of the Board of Education, the teachers enjoyed, without charge, a course of University Extension Lectures. These lectures were given in the study hall of the High School. Some of the most helpful work was done in the grade Grade meetings. Beginning in 1887, one or more series Meetings. o f g ra( j e meetings were held each year during this period. They frequently took the place of the general meetings. All the teachers of a grade would come together at 4 p. m. on a school day in the office of the Superintendent, to talk over the work of that particular grade. When a new PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 157 book was introduced it would be gone over in these meet- ings. The changes in the course of study were suggested and discussed there. The most helpful form of these meet- ings was when all the teachers of a grade, excepting one, closed their schools for a half day and visited that teacher at work. At the close of the sessions the teachers would re- main and discuss what they had seen and heard. Such meetings were not popular with the teachers whose rooms were thus visited, on account of the strain imposed upon them ; and for this reason not so many of these meetings as were desirable were held. In these general and grade meetings the spirit and tone that characterized the schools of this period were formed. The Teachers' Library, which was designed to consist of only professional books and which now numbers Teacher8 . over three hundred volumes, was begun in 1894 Llbrar y- by each teacher contributing fifty cents for that purpose. After that date it was the custom to make this contribution annually. Some years it was reduced to twenty-five cents, and in some years the money was used to pay the traveling expenses of the speakers who addressed the teachers. In this way the teachers, at a small expense, had the oppor- tunity of reading and consulting the latest educational works, something which every teacher who does not wish to grow out of date in the profession ought to do. The library was always kept in the office of the Superintendent of Schools. The Central Illinois Teachers' Association, which was the first of the five great sectional associations of the state to be organized, held its fourth annual minois Teachers' meeting in Galesburg, in March, 1888. When this Associa- Association met here the second time, in 1896, over one thousand teachers attended, which at that date was the largest educational meeting that had ever been held in the state. This Association met for the third time in Galesburg in 1907. 158 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The Military Tract Educational Association was organ- Military ized in Galesburg, in October, 1908, and held its first two annual meetings here with an attendance of about a thousand teachers at each meeting. 8. PUPILS AND THEIR SPECIAL ACTIVITIES. There is no more important feature in a system of Method schools than the method of promoting pupils. Premature promotions have wrecked the scholar- s hip and even the education of many pupils, and yet more pupils have left school and grown up in compara- tive ignorance on account of being denied promotion than from any other cause. Holding one child back in his grade may be the making of him, while the same treatment of an- other may be his ruination. Rules for promotion should be flexible and used with the greatest judgment. Prior to 1890 all promotions were determined by a final examination com- bined with the standing of the pupil for the year. After that date a pupil who received each month in the year a card marked "excellent" or "good" in both scholarship and de- portment and who was not absent more than ten days in the year, was promoted without an examination. Certainly a pupil who does good work throughout the year should be promoted when the work of the grade is completed. When a pupil failed to be promoted by his daily work or by his examination, he might even then be advanced if, in the judgment of his teacher, it was thought best. In exercising this judgment the grade, the previous opportunities, the ability to do part of the work, the age and size of the pupil, and the probable length of time he would remain in school, were some of the things considered. At the close of the school year the High School always Exhibit! kad * ts graduation day, which was a great event of school to the pupils of the school and made an appropri- ate ending of the year's work; but the graded schools had no such exercises, nothing, in fact, to give em.- PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 159 phasis and significance to the event schools simply closed a little earlier that day and the pupils went home. Begin- ning with 1892, an effort was made to make the closing of the school year an important event to the pupils of the grades, to have them leave their schoolrooms with the con- sciousness of having accomplished something during the year that had ended. This was done by having an exhibi- tion in every room of the best work done by each pupil during the year, this work having been preserved from time to time by the teacher. On the last day of school the par- ents were especially invited to come and inspect the work. Many parents took advantage of these occasions and went home feeling that the money spent and the sacrifices made had been worth while. The pupils were also greatly bene- fited by seeing not only what progress they had made bat what others had done and what they themselves should make as they advanced from grade to grade. If the work exhibited on these occasions had not been samples of the best daily work, but had been done especially for the exhi- bition, then it would have been of little value. With the introduction of drawing, or art work, in 1891, there came the desire on the part of the teachers School to decorate the schoolrooms and halls of their Entertain- ., ,. , . ,. , ments. buildings; and m a few years there was not a schoolroom or a hall in any of the schools that had not some decorations, many of the pictures being expensive as well as beautiful. Of the ten schools in the city, eight have one or two pianos of their own, and with one exception these were all purchased in this period. None of these pictures and pianos cost the Board of Education one dollar. They were secured through the efforts of the teachers and pupils by means of school entertainments, given by the pu- pils themselves. Nothing does more to bring teachers and pupils and parents together in friendly and sympathetic re- lations than a school entertainment properly conducted. When money obtained from a school entertainment is used 160 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS for purchasing a picture, a piano or books for the school, or flowers and shrubbery for the school grounds, point and sig- nificance are given to the enterprise. Moreover, nothing adds so much to the pupils' appreciation and enjoyment of such things as the feeling that they themselves had a part in securing them. School entertainments of course, like all good things, may be overdone, but such is not often the case. Time spent in teaching pupils to work together, to play together for that matter, with the view of accomplish- ing a worthy end, is generally not time misspent. If there were more things connected with school life to-day, in which the children could see the object to be accomplished by the work required, it would be better. Thanksgiving day, Decoration day, Washington's birth- day and Lincoln's birthday were generally ob- Teaching ,.,,. . , . Patriot- served in the different rooms with appropriate ex- ercises. On Decoration day in each year several hundred of the school children would assemble on the Churchill School grounds in the afternoon, and join in the procession to the cemetery, under the escort of the Super- intendent of Schools and members of the Board of Educa- tion ; and there they strewed the graves of the soldiers with flowers. For the last few years members of the Grand Army of the Republic visited the different schools on the day before Decoration day, and talked entertainingly on patriotic subjects. In addition to these exercises which came every year, other notable historical events were celebrated as they occurred. On April 30, 1889, the one hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, exercises commemorating the event were held in each school ; and the Board of Edu- cation presented each pupil with a book-mark as a souvenir, on one side of which was a picture of the first President, to- gether with the first stanza of Whittier's Centennial Hymn and the name of the pupil ; on the reverse side was printed the Preamble of the Constitution. ^pW T& C E. SWITZER MRS. M. W. READ FIFTH WARD The Representatives of the Fifth Ward on the Board of Education since its First Organization in June, 1861. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 161 Columbus day, October 12, 1892, the 400th anniver- sary of the discovery of America, was observed by each school. Each building was handsomely decorated with flags and bunting. Portraits of Columbus, Washington and other heroes were stenciled or drawn on the blackboards, graphic representations of the voyages and events in the life of Columbus were also placed on the boards in colors, as were the extent and importance of his discoveries. After suitable programs were given in each building, all the pupils of the schools assembled by rooms and buildings in the park north of the Court House where they were joined by the pupils of St. Joseph's Academy and the students of Knox and Lom- bard Colleges. Here the Rev. C. W. Blodgett delivered the address of the day. When the State Encampment of the G. A. R. first met in Galesburg, April, 1897, all the pupils of the schools were brought together by schools on the grounds east of the school buildings on South Broad street, where elevated seats had been provided for them by the Board of Educa- tion, and where they sang war songs and waved Old Glory as the veterans marched by. Each pupil wore a beautiful badge presented him by his teacher as a souvenir of the oc- casion. When the Encampment met in Galesburg for the second time in May, 1906, a similar greeting was given the "soldier boys," but on a more elaborate scale. A stand was erected on Broad street in front of the High School build- ing, where over a thousand pupils were formed into a living flag by each pupil wearing a cape and cap of the proper color. Each pupil was furnished with a flag, and as the soldiers marched by, they all waved these flags and sang the war songs of '61 and '65. It was the event of the encamp- ment, thoroughly appreciated by the veterans and greatly enjoyed by the pupils and the citizens, who packed the grounds in the immediate vicinity by the thousands. October 19, 1898, was LaFayette day in the schools and appropriate exercises commemorating his life and the serv- 162 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS ices which this man rendered America were given in the dif- ferent schools. A collection was taken that day in the schools which went towards the erection of a monument in Paris, to the memory of LaFayette. This was Galesburg's part in a national movement of that day. The school children were reviewed by President Harri- son in 1890, when he visited Galesburg to lay the corner stone of the Alumni Building of Knox College, and again by President McKinley with his Cabinet, when he was present at the anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas Debate, in 1899. When the Liberty Bell was taken to the Louisiana Pur- chase Exposition at St. Louis in 1904, the train was stopped in the city long enough for all the school children to have the opportunity of passing through the car and seeing the Bell whose ringing announced the adoption of the Declara- tion of Independence by the Continental Congress, July 4, 1776. In 1895 was begun the custom of remembering the poor of each district on Thanksgiving day. On the ^ternoon of the day before, the pupils would bring provisions or money to the school where it Day? g was divided and carried by the pupils themselves to the different homes of want. The pupils took great pleasure in doing these acts of kindness. In later years the distribution was made by the Free Kindergarten Association. In this way, no doubt, a better use was made of what was contributed, but what of the lesson the children would learn at such times if they did it all them- selves? When the Galesburg Hospital was being equipped in 1895, the pupils were allowed by the Board of Education to give a penny or more toward fur- rushing a Children's Room in the hospital. This collection was taken annually for several years and it generally amounted to about fifty dollars. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 163 In 1900 Alvin Peterson, a boy about eight years old, at- tending the Lincoln School, was run over by a Santa Fe train and both his legs were cut off a few inches from his body. He was taken to the room which the school children had furnished in the hospital and there received every attention. In a remark- ably short time he was able to be taken to his home, but he was a helpless, and to a great extent a dependent child. A collection for buying him artificial limbs was taken in the schools. The amount received from the pupils for this pur- pose was $166.29. The artificial limbs cost $164.39, and the boy soon learned to use them with comparative ease. He was sent by the Board of Supervisors to the Manual Train- ing School at Glenwood, where he was learning the shoe- maker's trade when he was taken by his parents to the Pacific Coast. In the spring of 1911 Charlie Becker, a little boy in the primary room of the Bateman School, was run J ' Another over by a street car on his way home from school Boy Helped. and lost one foot by the accident. His was a case that appealed strongly to public sympathy, and the school children contributed $99.47, by a collection taken in the schools for his benefit. The High School did many acts of benevolence, of which two will be mentioned here. In 1900 it repeated Benevo _ one of its entertainments, which netted about $100, {^H^ for the benefit of the Free Kindergarten. In the School ~ fall of 1909 the teachers of the High School gave a play for the benefit of a kind and faithful janitor who had been rendered helpless by sickness. The net proceeds amounted to about $155, which was deposited in the bank to his credit. There were three other collections taken in the schools in this period; one, in 1893, for the Children's Building at the World's Fair, another, in 1900, for coiu- the Galveston sufferers, and the third, in 1902, for the McKinley Memorial Fund. All of these collections 164 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS were authorized by the Board of Education before they were taken. The first time in this period that the schools took part in a national exhibition of school work was in 1887, Exhibition , -..T T-.< i* of school when the National Educational Association met first in Chicago. The work consisted principally of examination papers accompanied by printed copies of the questions. It was not bound in a substantial manner and nothing of it remains to-day. The second exhibition was made at the World's Fair in Chicago, in 1893. It was much more complete. There were twenty-nine small neatly bound volumes, one for each grade in arithmetic, lan- guage, geography, history and penmanship. Each volume was made up of a printed outline of the work done in the grade, a group picture of those pupils whose work had been selected from all the subjects of that particular grade, and pictures of some of the school buildings. The work itself consisted of the best samples of the actual daily written exercises of the pupils done in the different topics of the grade during the fall and winter terms of that school year. Thus not only the daily work of the schoolroom but sam- ples of work from all parts of the grade were shown. The number of pupils represented in each grade was from fifty to sixty. Eleven years later, in 1904, the third exhibition was work at made at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. It was much more elaborate than either of t jje O ther two. There were two large volumes each of arithmetic, language, spelling and drawing, and one each of geography and history. The volumes were substan- tially and handsomely bound. The aim was to show what was done by each grade in these several branches and the method of doing it. Every different topic of any import- ance in the grade was represented by the work of some pu- pil, which had been selected from time to time during the year from the regular daily work, and had been copied on PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 165 the regulation paper without correction. To give an idea of the maturity and every day appearance of the pupils and to add interest and attractiveness to the work, the picture of each child was placed on his paper. Of the two large volumes of drawings one was in black and white and the other in water colors. The outline for each grade and sam- ples of the work may be found in each of these volumes. Photographs, eight by ten inches, of all the school buildings and of every room in each building with the pupils at work, and graphic representations of the growth and methods of the schools, were mounted on cardboard, twenty-two by twenty-eight inches, and placed in a cabinet with swinging leaves. All of this work and that sent to the World's Fair in 1893 are preserved in the rooms of the Board of Edu- cation, and may be seen there any day. A large display of manual training work was also made at the St. Louis Expo- sition. In each case, before the work was sent to the Expo- sition it was publicly exhibited in the city and was examined with interest by hundreds of the citizens. Such exhibitions involve a great amount of extra labor, but when they are made only occasionally they pay for the time and work given them. 9. TEXT-BOOKS. In November, 1885, the Sheldon Readers were adopted in place of the Monroe Readers. After these read- Beaders ers had been in use for seventeen years, they were U8ed * exchanged, without any cost to the pupils, for the Progress- ive Readers, which were the basal readers at the end of this period. The Home and School First Reader was adopted for the first grade in July, 1898. In August, 1905, this book was displaced by the Taylor First Reader. At the same date, Williams' Choice Literature, Book I, was adopted for the eighth grade, the Progressive Fifth Reader being com- pleted in the seventh grade. 166 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Sheldon's Word Study, a spelling book, was adopted in spelling December, 1886, for all the grades above the third. Books. jt displaced the Monroe Speller in grades seven and eight. It was from the first an unsatisfactory book and gradually it ceased to be used. In August, 1905, the Pro- gressive Speller, Part II, was adopted for the seventh and eighth grades. It was afterwards placed in the sixth grade. Much attention was given to spelling in all the grades, and the method by which it was taught may be seen by referring to the subject of spelling in the course of study already treated. In August, 1887, Barnes' History of the United States was introduced in place of Quackenbos. In 1895, Histories. . . this history was displaced by Montgomery's Lead- ing Facts in American History, which is the text-book on history to-day. Housel's Music Readers were adopted for the grades Music above the first in July, 1888. These books con- Books, tinued in use until August, 1901, when the Normal Music Course was adopted. The Modern Music Series was substituted for the Normal Music Course in August, 1905. Prang's System of Drawing, Shorter Course, was Drawing adopted in June, 1891, and was displaced by Books. Prang's Text-Books of Art Education in August, 1905. These books were used for five years, when the Ap- plied Arts Series was adopted in June, 1910. Smith's Primer of Physiology was adopted in August, physioio- 1892, for the primary grades, and No. Ill of the gies. Union Series of Physiologies, in February, 1894, for the eighth grade. A Primer of Health, and Healthy Body, by Stowell, and How We Live, by Blaisdell, were adopted in 1898, when the law making the teaching of phys- iology compulsory went into effect. In January, 1908, these books were displaced by the Coleman Series of Physiologies. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 167 The Sheldon's Advanced Language Lessons was adopted in August, 1895, to take the place of the Swinton Grammar. This book continued in use until June, 1911, when Rowe and Peterson's Grammar was adopted in its place. Swinton's New Language Lessons, which was in the schools in 1885, still continues to be the text-book for the sixth and seventh grades. The Fish Arithmetics were exchanged, without cost to the pupils, for the New Franklin Arithmetics in Arith . November, 1895. A change was made to the Hall metlcs - Arithmetics, the books now in use, in 1901. Milne's Ele- ments of Algebra was adopted for the eighth grade in De- cember, 1896. After it had been used for four years, the subject of algebra, except as it is treated in the Hall Arith- metics, was dropped from the grades. After the Harper Geographies had been used in the schools for nineteen years, the Morton Geogra- GeoKra _ phies, the present books, were adopted in 1901. phles - The Sheldon Vertical Writing Books were adopted in August, 1896; the Medial Writing Books, in 1907; Copy and the Economy System of Penmanship, in June, Book8 - 1911. A significant rule in regard to the change of text-books may be found in the records. At the September meeting in 1888 the Board adopted a resolution, Govern* which was introduced by Director F. S. Bartlett, Cha requiring that no change be made in the text- books unless the matter was brought before the Board at a regular meeting and laid over for thirty days. There was no end to the number of ingenious devices, such as charts and various kinds of apparatus for teaching the different subjects, which were offered ratus. for sale to the Board of Education by the special agent, but not many of such were bought. The Board confined itself mainly to the purchasing of maps and globes, dictionaries and cyclopaedias, with which every school should be sup- 168 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS plied. However valuable special devices may be made to appear by the agent, they are as a rule short-lived and are soon relegated to the basement or garret by the regular teacher. The following were the principal supplies furnished each building, the object of naming them here being to give an idea not only of what was furnished, but how long such arti- cles will last when properly cared for. Twice in this period have the schools been supplied with wall maps; first in 1888, and second in 1909, when the Johnson Imperial Maps, the largest and best maps made, were purchased. In 1890 a set of Colonel Parker's relief maps was bought for the Churchill School. Four years later the other schools were provided with the relief maps made by the Central School Supply Co. In 1905 each building was supplied with an 18-inch pendant globe. In 1893 Webster's Unabridged Dictionary was placed in each building, and a copy of Webster's High School Diction- ary, on the desk of each teacher. In the same year a set of Persons and Places, and Com- mon Things was furnished each room where geography or history was taught. A set of International Cyclopaedias was purchased for each school in 1894, and, in 1908, a set of Young Folks' Cyclopaedias, which took the place of Persons and Places, and Common Things, the latter being then worn out. A set of Ellis' United States History was bought in 1900 for each building where history was taught. In 1886 Yaggy's Anatomical Chart was purchased for each building, for the purpose of aiding in the teaching of physiology ; and, in 1894, a set of weights and measures for each building. A scientific cabinet was bought in 1898 to aid in the teaching of nature study and geography, and in 1903 the different schools were supplied with Mountjoy's Nature Chart. From the first, pens were furnished the pupils, and after 1886 penholders and drawing pencils were bought by the PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 169 Board. Kindergarten supplies, drawing paper for practice, and material for exercises in industrial work, were also furnished the pupils. The first supplementary readers to be bought by the Board of Education were purchased in De- cember, 1886. 10. ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES. The rule of the Board requiring all pupils to be vacci- nated before being admitted to school was a Vacci . source of frequent protests from parents who ** tion > thought it was unnecessary. However, it continued to be enforced until the courts held that the enforcement of such a rule was not lawful, unless it could be shown that the pu- pils were in danger of contracting smallpox. Under this ruling of the courts, the Board of Health called for the en- forcement of the rule in certain schools in 1902, 1904, 1905 and 1906. Some parents refused to acquiesce even under these conditions. This was particularly true in December, 1902, when Dr. Wm. O'R. Bradley was mayor. He called for the vaccination of the pupils in the High School, Church- ill, Central and Cooke schools. The Board of Education supported him unanimously in his action. The question was thrashed out again in December, 1906, with the same results, when the Board of Health ordered the vaccination of the pupils in the Weston, Douglas and Cooke schools. At that time the doctors of two different schools of medi- cine joined with some patrons of the schools in the protest. It was necessary at different times during this period, when some of the schoolrooms became over- crowded, to resort to half-day sessions. By trans- ferring pupils, it was always arranged so that these half-day sessions occurred only in the primary rooms of the building and generally only in the spring term of the year. There were such sessions in the Weston School in 1890; in the Hitchcock, Lincoln and Weston schools, in 1900 ; and again, in 1904, in the Lincoln and Weston schools. There may I7t GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS have been a few other such instances, but the records do not make mention of them. The flag offered by the Youth's Companion in 1889, as a premium to each of the forty-two states for the fr the best essay upon "The Influence of the United States Flag When Floated Over a Public School Building," was won for the state of Illinois by Miss Lizzie Hazzard, a member of the Galesburg High School. This was the first flag to float over a school building in the city. Within three years from that time, flag staffs were placed on all the school buildings and a flag was provided for each. Director G. A. Murdoch presented the Lincoln School with its flag, and Mrs. Henry Hitchcock, in memory of her hus- band, for whom the school was named, gave the Hitchcock School a beautiful flag. The other flags were provided by the Board of Education. The records of this period contain but two instances Parent* when parents appeared before the Board to com- comphiin. pj am o f the administration of the schools, and in each case it was for suspension of pupils, made by the Su- perintendent. In each of the cases the action of the Super- intendent was approved and the reinstatement of the pupils left to his discretion. From 1889 to 1903 spasmodic efforts were made to en- Truant force the compulsory educational law through the officer. police department. The co-operation of the police force was most cordial. In September, 1903, the Board voted to employ a truant officer for half time, and arrange- ments were made with Mayor Shumway to detail a regular policeman whose sole duty for half his time was to act as truant officer, the Board of Education paying his salary for the time served. This arrangement proved quite satisfac- tory and it was continued for six years. The policeman de- tailed for the service was always a man who showed tact and sympathy with the boys. One reason for employing a member of the police force as a truant officer was that many PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 171 of the truants had a police record. The report of the officer for the first year showed that this was true in twenty per cent of the cases. The Visiting Nurse Association, an organization of the women's clubs of the city, found in its work the ^booi need of a school nurse. In order to demonstrate NurM >- the value of such an official, the Association made a propo- sition to the Board of Education in June, 1909, that the As- sociation would pay half the salary of a school nurse for one year, if the Board would pay the other half. Granting that such an officer was desirable, two questions were nat- urally raised by the Board ; the first a legal one had it the right to use public funds for such a purpose, the school law being silent on the subject; and second, would it be justified in making this additional cost to the expense of the schools? Both of these questions could be answered if the school nurse could do the work of the truant officer. It was finally agreed by all parties interested that this could be done, and, on motion of Director R. O. Ahlenius, at the December meeting in 1909, it was voted to employ Miss Hoge as tru- ant officer. Since that date the work of both offices has been performed with satisfaction by the same officer. Leav- ing out of consideration the protection a school nurse af- fords and considering her work solely from a humane point of view, there can be no question of the value and desira- bility of having such work done as has been performed by the school nurse. In perfecting the arrangement by which the school nurse was secured and finally made a part of the school organization in Galesburg, Mrs. H. W. Read, a mem- ber of the Board and an officer in the Visiting Nurse Asso- ciation, was especially helpful. Appropriate resolutions of respect and sympathy were adopted by the Board of Education on the death of the following: Mr. John Moburg, janitor of the tions of High School building, in January, 1888; M. D. and sym- Cooke, Esq., member of the Board of Education, 172 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS at a special meeting in May, 1889; Mrs. W. L. Steele, wife of the Superintendent of Schools, in May, 1893; Professor George Churchill, at a special meeting in September, 1899; Mr. John B. Slater and Mr. Frank G. Stromsted, the two men killed by the burning of the High School, in April, 1904; Miss M. Evelyn Strong, a former member of the Board of Education, at a special meeting in October, 1903; Mr. J. W. Hammond, a member of the Board of Education, in September, 1904; Mr. Gust Stromgren, for seventeen years janitor of the Churchill School, in February, 1905 ; and Miss Anna M. Sisson, a teacher of the High School, in August, 1910. As an added mark of respect to the memory of Mr. Cooke, Professor Churchill, Miss Strong and Mr. Hammond, the public schools of the city were closed by the order of the Board on the afternoon of the funeral. When Dr. Newton Bateman, President Emeritus of Knox College and former State Superintendent of Public Instruction, died in October, 1897, all the public schools of the city were closed on the afternoon of the day of his funeral without formal action of the Board. In like manner, when Mr. G. A. Murdoch, a former member of the Board from the Third Ward, died in March, 1899, the Hitchcock School and the High School were closed on the afternoon of the day of his funeral. The High School faculty and the students attended the services in a body, occupying the entire balcony of the Presbyterian Church. There were three issues of bonds in this period. The Bond fi rst i ssue was f r $25,000 in 1887, for a new High issues. School building. There were 567 votes cast in favor of the bonds to 141 against. The second issue was for $16,000 in 1889, for building the Lincoln School. There were 146 votes for, to 12 against issuing these bonds. The third issue was for $100,000 in 1904, for the erection of the present High School building. The number of votes cast in favor of issuing these bonds was 1,198 and there were 168 against issuing them. The charter of the schools provides PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 173 two methods of issuing bonds after they have been author- ized by a vote of the people, one by the City Council and the other by the Board of Education. The first two issues were made by the City Council. When the interest and principal of these bonds became due, the Board found that it had to provide the money, and so, when the High School bonds were voted, it decided to issue its own bonds, the ad- vantage being that the Board would then have a voice in selling them and fixing the dates of payment. The last $10,000 of the first two issues was paid in June, 1897. In the $100,000 issue of 1904, it was stipulated that, beginning with 1907, ten bonds, or $10,000, would be paid on the first day of September of each and every year thereafter until all the bonds were paid. In the tax levy of 1910 the fifth payment was provided for, which left at the end of this period $50,000 yet to be raised. The three lots on which the Lincoln School stands were purchased of the Peck estate in 1889, for $2,050. . Land Pur- The Jacobi property on Broad street, the site of ched the Central School building, was bought in 1895, for $5,000; the Allen propery on Mulberry street, joining the original Weston School grounds on the east, in 1898, for $1,600; the Hunt property on Cedar street, joining the Churchill School grounds on the south, in 1898, for $4,000; the Strong lot on Tompkins street, joining the High School grounds on the west, in 1904, for $5,500; a strip of land 71 by 52^4 feet, lying between the High School and the heat- ing plant, the site of the Manual Training addition, in 1910, for $1,300; and three lots on the northwest corner of Farn- ham and Summit streets, for the Farnham School, in 1910, for $2,300. In February, 1891, a fraction of a lot three by nine rods, on the southwest corner of Main and Pine streets, to which the Board had title by virtue of long possession, was sold to J. W. Hammond for $300. By this sale the Board parted with 174 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS the last piece of land it had inherited from the union of the old independent school districts in 1858. By the rules of the Board of Education, it is one of the Reports duties of the Superintendent of Schools to make Printed. annually a report of the condition of the schools to the Board. This report was usually made at the June meeting. Some of these reports were printed by the Board in pamphlet form for distribution. In this period six reports were printed in pamphlet form. They appeared in the fol- lowing years : 1888, 1890, 1894, 1898, 1903 and 1907. Pre- vious to this period there were four other reports printed: in 1862, 1863, 1865 and 1880. Of these reports there is pre- served in the Public Library one copy of the 1863 report and in the office of the Superintendent, one copy of the 1880 report. The opening exercises in the schools were as a rule of a Beading religious character adapted to the grade of the pu- in e the lble P^ S ' ^ ut their religious nature was not compulsory. schools. A petition numerously signed asking that a rule be adopted requiring the reading of the Bible without note or comment in all the rooms of the public schools of the city at the morning exercises, was presented to the Board of Ed- ucation at its regular meeting in June, 1891. This petition was a part of the A. P. A. movement of that time. It was received and placed on file. On motion of Director G. A. Murdoch the following resolution was adopted without a dissenting vote : "That we as a Board approve of the reading of the Bible in the public schools, yet we do not think it would be wise or practi- cable to pass an arbitrary rule on the subject; therefore, Resolved, That we leave the question as it has been in the past, in the hands of the Superintendent." It was a custom dating from the organization of the Beautify- schools, for the Board to plant trees on and around si-he"'/ 1 tne scno l grounds; but the beautifying of them Grounds. w ith flowers and shrubbery was first begun in the PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 175 spring of 1901. It was not long before all the schools had their shrubbery and beds of flowers. The money was earned and the work done by the pupils and teach- ers, which was a much better way than it would have been had the Board furnished the money and the janitors done the work. In this way the children learned some val- uable lessons which they would never forget and which they doubtless applied at their homes. There is little danger of over-emphasizing and encouraging this kind of ornamenta- tion. The law abolishing the public drinking cup was passed by the legislature in the spring of 1911, but foun- tains were ordered placed in all the school build- Ji^JS^fg. ings of Galesburg, on motion of Director R. O. Ahlenius, at the December meeting of the Board in 1909. They were installed in the different buildings before the opening of schools in September, 1910. The fountains used were devised by J. A. Anderson, janitor of the Bate- man School, and they possessed points of superiority over any then on the market. Non-resident pupils always paid tuition. The rate was fifty cents a week in all departments until July, tf * J :' Tuition. 1908, when it was made, on motion of Director R. O. Ahlenius, seventy-five cents per week in the High School. The income to the district from this source was in- significant until within recent years. There were several reasons for this. Previous to 1887 the city treasurer, who is ex-officio treasurer of the Board of Education, collected the tuition. His official duties did not bring him into close contact with the schools. There were no records of the pu- pils kept in his office. It was not strange under such cir- cumstances that he collected little or nothing. In 1887 the Board placed the collection of tuition in the hands of the Superintendent. The first year he collected $60; the second, $61, and the third, $134. It was not until 1901 that as much as $500 was received in one year. After that date it in- 176 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS creased rapidly, and in 1910-11 the tuition collected amounted to $2,426. Practically all the tuition comes from the High School, and the growth of that institution ac- counts largely for the increase in the amount collected. It is a matter, however, that someone must watch closely, for there are persons who regard tuition in the same way that they do taxes as something to be avoided if possible ; and there are some cases where it is really difficult to determine whether or not tuition is due. For the first thirty-six years the Board of Education held its meetings in the City Council room, though Board of . . . Education there were times in this period when it met in Booing. the office of the Superintendent of Schools, which was in the Churchill School. At the meeting in August of 1897 it was voted, on motion of Director J. W. Hammond, to lease the rooms over the First National Bank on the northeast corner of Main and Cherry streets as a place of meeting for the Board and for the office of the Superintend- ent of Schools. When the bank building was remodeled in 1901, the Board returned to the City Council room and the Superintendent to his old office in the Churchill building. When the present building of the Galesburg Public Library was in the process of construction in 1901, the Library Board asked the Board of Education to occupy one-fourth of the first floor and offered to divide it into such rooms as would be desirable. This generous offer was accepted with appreciation, and the present ideal quarters were first oc- cupied by the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools in the latter part of December, 1901. It is an ad- vantage as well as a convenience in school administration for a Board of Education to have a local habitation as well as a name. It is a serious mistake in a system of schools to have the office of the superintendent of schools in any one of the school buildings. - c a T* C 2 M b- PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 177 Whenever opportunity offered, the schools took great pleasure in contributing their share to the public Public good. The moving of the Public Library by the High School pupils in May, 1902, from East Main street to the new library building on the southeast corner of Broad and Simmons streets, a distance of about four blocks, was an example of this. The mere moving of so many books was no slight task but the value of the service rendered consisted in transferring them without disarrang- ing their order. This they succeeded in doing. Under the direction of Miss Anna Hoover, the librarian, and her assistants, and of the High School teachers, the pupils marched single file from the old library rooms to the new library building, carrying the books in their arms. As each pupil passed in to get a supply of books he was given a number, and the order in which the books were to be depos- ited on the shelves of the new library was determined by this number. Every time a pupil made a trip he was given a different number. The library corps had planned where each shelf of books in the old rooms was to be placed in the new. The carrying began on the morning of May 22, 1902, and continued until noon. It was resumed on the afternoon of the next day when it was completed. Five teachers assisted at the old library and five at the new, while seven teachers stationed themselves along the streets, keeping the lines moving and in order. In this way fifteen thousand, one hundred and fifty-two books were moved by three hundred and seventy-one pupils, two thousand and seventy-five trips being made. The highest number of trips made by any pu- pil was eleven and the greatest number of books carried by anyone was one hundred and thirty-four. The work was entirely voluntary on the part of the pu- pils, and three hundred and seventy-one of those enrolled that month took part. Boys and girls enjoy doing things, even where hard work is involved. All they need is a 178 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS chance, a little encouragement and direction. It is question- able if modern education with all its manifest improvements has yet contributed to the development of the child anything to compensate for what modern civilization has deprived him of, the opportunity of assisting his parents in their work. The close relation which the Children's Reading Room in the Public Library sustains to the schools is no dren's iA- doubt due to the fact that the Board of Education Beading has its offices in the Library building. The Li- brary Board and the Board of Education, when they came together in the same building, soon found that they were related members of the same body, one neces- sary to the other. For the library to fulfill its mission, each generation must form the habit of reading books; and for the school to fulfill its mission, it must not only teach each generation how to read, but instill in it the love of reading. In the school the child acquires the ability to read and in the library he forms the habit of reading. The library is thus the complement of the school. The architect of the Library building made a significant suggestion by marking the room across the hall f r o m the offices of the Board of Education, "Children's Room." This room stood vacant for months and the question one asked on entering the building was, "What is that room for?" At that time the Public Library had had no experience with a read- ing room for children. It is true it had provided books suit- able for children to read, but it never had furnished a sep- arate room for the children. Now it had the room as well as the books, but it did not have the funds for supplying the additional librarian required. This condition was met in the following manner. A special meeting of the Board of Education was called in September, 1902, by Directors Mer- rill and Stone, to consider the following proposition from the Library Board: PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 179 "It is agreed between the Board of Directors of the Gales- burg Public Library and the Board of Education of the City of Galesburg, that, in establishing a Children's Room in the Library, the Board of Education will provide a librarian satisfactory to the Library Board and subject to its rules and regulations and to pay toward any incidental expenses of that department a sum not ex- ceeding five dollars per month. In consideration of this service the Board of Directors of the Library agree to remit the payment of any further rent for the rooms occupied by the Board of Education while this agreement continues." Signed E. R. DRAKE, W. E. SIMONDS, F. H. SISSON, Committee on Children's Room. The proposition was, on motion of Director Stone, unan- imously adopted. On motion of Director Mrs. Thompson, the Superintendent was instructed to see that the services specified by the Library Board were performed and was authorized to transfer Miss Harriet Stone to this branch of work. In 1911 there were some four thousand volumes in the Children's Library, and the number of books ue Made i < i -i til- i* *ke drawn by the pupils exceeded thirty-seven thou- Ubnwy. sand a year. The room was kept open all days and hours when the schools were closed, and the children flocked to it and used it with the feeling that it was a part of the public schools. This feeling on the part of the school children may, to a large extent, be accounted for by the fact that the Librarian was always chosen from the corps of teachers. Useful as this department has been, there is nothing con- nected with the schools capable of greater development. 11. SALARIES. When W. L. Steele was appointed Superintendent of Schools in 1885, his salary was made $1,500: in Sulurv 1886, it was increased to $1,700; in 1888, to $1,800; of the in 1890, to $2,000; in 1901, to $2,200; in 1903, to $2,500; in 1907, to $2,700; and in 1910, to $3,000. 180 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS In 1885, the salary of the Principal of the High School, salaries wno was Mrs. Mary E. Gettemy, was $800; in 1888 Jt was made $9; in 1890 > $1,000. In 1895, ^[ r Frank D. Thomson was made Principal, at a salary of $1,400; in 1897, it was advanced to $1,500; in 1899, to $1,600; in 1901, to $1,700; in 1902, to $1,800; in 1903, to $2,000; in 1906, to $2,300; and in 1909, to $2,500. In 1909, when Mr. Thomson resigned, Mr. A. W. Willis, who was at that time a teacher of Mathematics in the school at a salary of $900, was appointed Principal at a salary of $1,500; and it was increased the next year to $1,800. There was no fixed schedule of salaries for assistants in the High School during this period. The minimum salary of lady teachers was $60 per month. Their salaries ranged from that amount to $100 per month, the prevailing salary being, however, $80 per month. The minimum salary for men was $75 per month. When they remained for several years, their sal- aries went up to $111.11, $122.22, $133.33 and in one in- stance to $200 per month. In 1885, the minimum salary of the grade teachers was salaries $40 per month. It increased $5 per month for two of Grade Teachers, years where it remained unchanged until the end of the tenth year of service, when it was made $55 per month, which was the maximum. There was no change in this schedule of salaries until 1903, when an increase of five per cent was made to the salaries of all teachers who had been in the schools three years or more. The maximum salary was made $57.50 per month at that time. In June, 1906, the grade teachers presented to the Board Petitions a petition asking that their salaries be increased c?ease"of twenty per cent. This petition was received and salaries. referred to the Teachers' Committee, but no action was taken by the Board that year. In June, 1907, an in- crease of $5 per month was made to the salaries of all teach- ers who had taught in the schools three years or more, and a schedule of salaries which provided for a thirteen per cent PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 181 increase was adopted, the maximum salary being made $65 per month. In June, 1910, the teachers presented to the Board their second petition asking for an increase of sal- aries. At that date all grade teachers were given an ad- vance of $5 per month, and the maximum salary was made $70 per month. The schedule of salaries adopted then on the recommendation of the Teachers' Committee was as follows : 1st. Graduates from the city training school, with no previous teaching experience, shall receive $40 per month; where the graduates have had one or more years of successful teaching, they shall re- xjfj ceive $45 per month. 2nd. Graduates from a university or college with one or more years of successful teaching, or from a state normal school, shall receive $50 per month. 3rd. After the first year the salary will be advanced an- nually $5 per month until the teacher reaches $60 per month, provided at the close of the second year she files with the Board a first grade certificate. 4th. The salary will be advanced annually from $60 per month, at the rate of $2.50 per month, until it reaches the maximum, $70. A teacher to receive the benefit of this in- crease must first file with the Board a certificate that she has attended regularly and successfully completed one or more summer courses in some recognized university, college or state normal school. 5th. After a teacher has reached the maximum salary the Board will expect her to file, at least once in five years, a certificate that she has attended regularly and successfully completed one or more summer courses in some recognized university, college or state normal school. 6th. No salary now paid to any teacher shall be dimin- ished by any provision of this schedule. Adopted by the Board of Education, June 22, 1910. 182 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The reason it is so difficult for grade teachers to obtain an increase of salary is that any increase at all u'iMfflcuit amounts in the aggregate to so much. Over crease sai- seventy per cent of the tax levy for operating ex- penses is for teachers' salaries and the grade teach- erSj on acc ount of their numbers, receive the larger part of this amount. In 1885 the janitors of the four four-room buildings were janitors' P a ^ $^5 per month ; the one for the six-room salaries. building, $35 ; and the one for the High School, a twelve-room building, $50. At that time the janitors were employed for only nine months of the year. In 1890 the salaries of all the janitors were increased $5 a month. After that date it is difficult to determine how much of the ad- vance in the salaries was properly an increase, for all the buildings, excepting the Cooke, were enlarged one after an- other, and the service required was not the same in any two of them. If the amount paid the janitor of the Cooke School be taken as a standard of the increase, then it could be de- termined; for the janitor of that building received $25 per month in 1885 ; $32.50, in 1899 ; $40, in 1902 ; and $42.50, in 1908. The engineer of the heating plant began in 1905 with a salary of $70 a month, for a year of twelve months ; in 1906 it was advanced to $80; in 1907, to $90 and in 1909, to $100. It was difficult for the wages paid to secure and keep the best men as janitors when they were given em- Janltora . . Make the ployment for only nine months in the year. For Repairs. this reason the Board decided, in 1907, to have the repair work, such as kalsomining, painting, etc., done by the janitors and thus furnish them employment for eleven or twelve months of the year. This arrangement proved to be a satisfactory adjustment of the question of janitors' sal- aries, and the quality of the repair work did not suffer in the least while the amount of it was greatly increased and the PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 183 buildings were thus made more sanitary and attractive. During the summer vacations all the woodwork, windows, desks and inkwells were as thoroughly cleaned as water and cleansing material could make them. The walls and ceilings of the rooms and halls, when they were not kal- somined, were carefully brushed and the basements were whitewashed. In addition to this, it was the custom in later years to have the Board of Health fumigate all the buildings the week before the schools opened in September. To Gust A. Stromgren, who was janitor of the Churchill School for seventeen years, belongs the credit of instituting the custom of thoroughly renovating Faithful ,,,.,,. . . _-, Janitor. the school buildings in the summer vacation. For many years he was the only janitor employed the year round, and all the buildings and grounds were placed in his charge during the long vacation. The condition in which he found some of the buildings distressed him greatly, for his own was always a model of neatness and cleanliness. His idea was that, if the buildings were turned over neat and clean to the janitors at the opening of schools in Septem- ber, they would certainly try to keep them so during the year. The Board agreed with him and gave him the help he needed to do the work in August. Where it was pos- sible he secured as his help the janitors who were to have charge of the buildings during the school year. Thus he practically conducted for a month each year a normal school for janitors. This was the origin of our clean school build- ings. He showed his superior intelligence in many ways; for example, the noiseless eraser now used in the schools was devised by him, years before there were any such erasers on the market. There are reasons for believing that the idea of a noiseless eraser originated with him. He was thoroughly devoted to his work. The steam pipes never froze in his building, though it required him many a time to remain all night with his heating plant. There was never 184 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS a person employed by the Board of Education who did his work better than Mr. Stromgren. 12. THE HIGH SCHOOL AND DEVELOPMENT OF ITS ACTIVITIES. During this period the changes in the High School were more and greater than those in the grades. This school would naturally be the case, for within this time Changes . ' its the present function of the High School as an m- Fonction. . , . , , _ , _... _ , _ _ . , stitution was largely developed. In 1885 the High School was doing the work of the old academy preparing the few for college and its very existence was at times threatened. That the High School should give instruction suitable to the many who were to enter the varied indus- tries, as well as to the few who were to enter the professions, was not thought of at that time. The Galesburg High School was among the first to recognize its duty to the many as well as to the few, to broaden its scope of work and to adjust its organization so that the most could be made of the greater opportunities. There are many evi- dences that the school met with the approval of the public during this period, one of which was the increased attend- ance. The first year the total enrollment was 117, and the last year, 767, or an increase of five hundred and fifty-five per cent. The grades during the same period increased sixty-two per cent, and the population of the city about the same. In 1888 an English course was added to the curriculum. Previous to that date there had been but one English course in- course, the Latin. The Latin course was designed troduced. f . . for those who were preparing for college and the English course for those who expected to complete their education in the High School. The subjects which were substituted at that time in the place of Latin were physi- ology, bookkeeping, English history, constitution of the United States, chemistry, history of literature and political economy. At that time the work of instruction was first SIXTH WARD The Representatives of the Sixth Ward on the Board of Education since its First Organization in June, 1861. TIE LIBW OF THE UKIVERSITY OF ILUWH* PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 185 divided into departments : Latin, mathematics, English and science. In 1895 the curriculum was again revised and divided into three courses: the Latin, for those who were second Revision preparing for college ; the commercial, for those of the who desired to prepare themselves for business; lum. and the scientific, for those who intended to enter no higher institution of learning but who wanted a broader education than the grades gave. In this revision the time given to many of the subjects that had been in the two courses was lengthened. This was especially true of the departments of science and English. The following subjects were also added: stenography, type-writing, commercial arithmetic, commercial law and mechanical drawing. All the subjects were made elective at that date. The department of public speaking was created in 1895. In 1903 a fourth year was added to the Latin, or col- lege course. At the same time the following A Fonpth subjects were introduced: commercial geog- J^'ed raphy, advanced algebra, solid geometry, business English and United States history. When manual training was begun in the Galesburg High School in 1887, the subject was being gen- Mannal erally discussed at educational meetings and in Jj^.! 11 * the educational press, but. no public high school duced - in the state had introduced it into its curriculum. It is true that previous to that date in a few cities, Galesburg among them, some forms of hand work had been encouraged in the grades much of it being done at home. The introduction of manual training in the Galesburg High School could not have have been more modest ; no public meetings were held ; the Board of Education was not asked for any appro- priation; it was not even consulted in the matter. An old carpenter bench was found in the basement of the Churchill, then called the High School, building, and the boys brought in some tools from home and some were purchased with 186 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS money contributed. Mr. Earle W. Stilson, a former pupil of the school, who had been attending the Chicago Manual Training School founded by the Commercial Club of that city, was at home for a time and generously gave his serv- ices as an instructor for an hour or two a day for a month or more. When he left the city, Mr. G. H. Bridge, then teacher of penmanship, who had become interested in the work he saw the boys doing, volunteered to take the place of Mr. Stilson, the work being all done after school hours. Mem- bers of the Board of Education, hearing of what the boys were doing in the basement, visited them and became inter- ested also. So well pleased were they at the end of the year with the work the boys had done under such unfavorable conditions, that they changed the plans of the High School building, then in process of erection, and made provision for a shop on the third floor, equipping it with benches and tools sufficient to permit ten boys to work at a time; they also employed a teacher for the next year. It was largely due to the active interest of Director N. C. Woods that this pro- vision was made for manual training. The work in this de- partment was, from the first, entirely voluntary on the part of the pupils ; previous to 1895 it was done after school hours and on Saturdays. No credit was given on the rec- ords at that time for the work of this department. There was certainly as much interest displayed by the boys under those conditions as there was in later years when the work was done during school hours and credit was given for it. When the department was thoroughly organized in 1890, the work of the first year consisted of exercises in Work of the D*- planing, sawing, chiseling, boring and turning; in the second year, in joinery and turning; and in the third year, in turning, pattern-making and carving. The number of exercises or problems in each year was twenty- five to thirty, and they were worked out with pieces of lum- ber twelve inches long, which the Board supplied. After the exercises of each year were completed, the principles mas- PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 187 tered and the skill acquired were applied in making some useful article of furniture, the boy purchasing the material and keeping the article made. Such articles were made as hat-racks, book-cases, writing desks, tables, sideboards, etc. An interesting fact in the development of manual train- ing is that at one time it was not considered by the The Fin- schoolmen good pedagogy to have the boys make ihe ~ r ., organiza- 1895, the pupils were encouraged in many ways to improve their musical talents. The first musical organization was a band composed of seventeen boys. Each boy furnished his own instrument and bought his own music. Two of the teachers, Mr. Frank D. Thomson and his brother, Presson, gave their services and instructed the boys one or two evenings a week. This was in 1897, and so well did the boys do that this band furnished the music for the graduating exercises of 1898. Later several of the boys were able to play with credit in similar organizations in the city. The morning exercises in the study hall and the en- tertainments given by the public speaking department, created a demand for music and offered an excellent oppor- tunity for its development. All that was needed was en- couragement and direction, which Mr. Thomson was most able and willing to give. The result was that there were always some musical organizations in the school, generally an orchestra of from ten to twenty pieces, and a girls' glee club and a boys' glee club of from ten to thirty voices each. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 199 Twice a band was organized and in each case it was a suc- cess and was the pride of the school. There is no difficulty in having music in a school provided some of the teachers are able and willing to direct it. While there were the usual athletic organizations in the school, they never came into prominence or .... Athletic achieved any special distinction. The atmosphere organiza- of the school was not conducive to their develop- ment any more than it was to the organization of fraterni- ties and sororities two institutions which, by the way, were never heard of in the Galesburg High School. The students were too much occupied in the manual training de- partment, the print shop and in other groups working along literary lines to become enthusiastic over athletics or social functions and one of the necessary elements of success in any school enterprise is enthusiasm. There is nothing more important in education than physical training, such as is given in the grades where all take part in it and none pur- sue it to exhaustion. The school was a member of the Mil- itary Tract Athletic Association for sixteen years, and in that time it took first place once and second place once. In the Big Eight Association it took first place twice. There were no men teaching in the High School previous to 1895. In that year when Mrs. Mary E. Gettemy Men who had been the efficient Principal for twenty T ach r - years, asked to be relieved of the responsibility of the prin- cipalship, Mr. Frank D. Thomson was made Principal. At the same time it was decided by the Board that the teach- ing force in the future should be, as far as possible, com- posed equally of men and women. There was no thought of making any reflection on either sex in this action. That is the composition of the home, and the normal home is a good model for the school in most respects. This policy was fol- lowed in practice with good results. In 1910 there were sixteen women and eleven men in the corps of teachers. 200 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Special attention was given to those pupils who for any reason and at any time found their work difficult. Individ- T -* 11 mil in- It was a pronounced policy of the school to allow structlon. ..,.,. ., , T no one to fail if it were possible to prevent it. It was considered a mark of superior teaching to hold a pupil in school rather than to allow him to drop out, to get him finally through his work rather than to have him fail in the end. The program was so arranged that each teacher had at least one period a day that was devoted to giving indi- vidual help to such as needed it. It was made impossible for a pupil to lay the cause of his failure on any one but him- self. This helping period no doubt saved many a pupil, and it brought about a relation between the teachers and pupils that was conducive to a proper school spirit. The study hall plan was one of the important features of the school. In place of many class rooms there liaiman! was one study hall that was large enough to ac- commodate every pupil with a seat and desk. There all the pupils assembled twice a day, at the opening of each session; there they went to prepare their lessons when they were not reciting. These daily assemblies gave the Principal an opportunity, such as the head of every in- stitution should have, to direct and mold the sentiment of the students by saying the right word at the right time and in the right way. When a contest or an entertainment was about to take place a mass meeting was frequently held at the close of the morning exercises. At these meetings some of the students would address the school in the interests of the coming event, and a student or a teacher would lead in the school yells which would be given by the entire body with the same feeling of propriety with which they had joined in the morning devotionals. Some of the most inter- esting treats the school enjoyed were the opening exercises which were conducted by the "Lincolns" or the "Lizzies." There were generally two of these each year, and some of r MRS. SARA M. MCCALL 1869-76 F. D. THOMSON > ises-isoa / A. W. WILLIS 19O9- MRS. MARY E. GETTEMY 1S76-95 PRINCIPALS OF THE HIGH SCHOOL. Ittiir flFT "wasnr OF PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 201 them were models of keen wit and sparkling humor. These are good examples of the freedom and initiative which were allowed the students and which were never abused. This close association of the student body also called forth and inspired the musical and literary talents of the pupils. The study hall plan is a great means of unifying the student body and creating an esprit de corps that is invaluable to a school. The object of the school was to make it a place where every one, no matter what type of mind he might have, would find something that appealed to him for the Growth and into which he could throw his energies and of the School. thus discover what manner of person he was. An education that does not reveal to one his special gift is, to say the least, of questionable value. The growth of the High School in this period was phenomenal, amounting to five hundred and fifty-five per cent, while the grades and the population increased but sixty-two per cent. The cause of this growth was frequently the subject of discussion. Different reasons were assigned for it by different persons. To attribute it to any one cause would be to make a striking exhibition of narrowness. The broadened curriculum, with its manual training, domestic science, department of public speaking and commercial branches, such as bookkeeping, stenography, typewriting, etc., the elective system, the study hall plan, the helping periods and the student enterprises, such as debating clubs, print shop, The Budget, dramatic club, literary contests, musical organizations, and the remarkable school spirit with its loyalty and enthusiasm permeating every school activity each of these contributed a part, some more than others. But all of these combined would have fallen short of the suc- cess attained had it not been for the character and person- ality of the man at the head for fourteen years, Mr. Frank D. Thomson. 202 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS The high school holds the significant place in the educa- tional institutions of this country. A good high niflcanf" school in a community, that is, a high school doing of la the good work and whose attendance approximates school ** s proportion of the school population, is con- clusive evidence that the elementary schools in that community are in good condition ; for it is from these schools that all the material of the high school comes as, on the other hand, the high school now supplies the colleges and universities with their students. For this reason a board of education should never hesitate to expend on its high school whatever money is needed to make it the very best, provided always that the attendance approximates its proportion of the school population of the district. If the time and money now expended by teachers of the high school and those who are directly responsible for its man- agement in gaining a knowledge of college requirements and in adapting their work to these requirements, were given to a first hand study of the conditions and problems that the elementary schools must meet and to a like study of the industrial and social conditions of the community, it would be better for the interests of education because the relations of the high school to these institutions and condi- tions are vital. The measure of the vital relation of the high school to the college and university is the proportionate number of its students who enter these institutions. The number of such students has greatly increased within recent years and it will continue to increase as the high school grows, but the ratio of those entering the college or uni- versity to those attending the high school is small and will become less as the high school develops in efficiency effi- ciency that meets the needs of the people. For this reason the high school of the future, as well as of the present, should make the social and economic conditions of the com- munity its great subject of study rather than the require- ments of the college and university. PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 203 13. THE ELECTIVE SYSTEM. All the studies in the Galesburg High School were made elective in 1895. As this was the first high school . P , . . AU Stud- tO recognize and adopt the elective principle in its te* Made 11 11 1 T Elective. curriculum and as practically all high schools later adopted it to some extent at least, it may be worth while to give a few of the reasons that led to this radical departure from the traditions of the past. A careful record which had been kept of the previous five years showed that forty per cent of those en- . , . Reasons tenng the school dropped out during the first year, for Mak- Of this number over one-half left school because studies .,. , . . Elective. they were failing to do the work in some subject. They knew that failure in any subject meant that they could never receive a diploma from the school. Yet failure in any subject, important though it might be, did not seem to be a sufficient reason for discouraging a pupil in his effort to get an education. A wise parent would not treat his own child in that way. For this very reason he would make all the more effort to find some other line of work that the child could follow advantageously. A school should treat its pupils as a wise parent does his child. It was thought by the Board that nothing could be more absurd than to think of education as consisting of a knowledge of certain subjects, unless it might be to insist on giving all types of mind the same training. It was certainly a recognition of these two absurdities when the high schools first divided their cur- riculum into two or more courses of study. If no pupil took all the subjects taught in the school, why not allow him to choose those that appealed to him, those that enlisted his interest and for which he was naturally equipped? There was certainly nothing sacred in the different courses of study, either as to subjects taught or in their arrangement, for at that time there were hardly two high schools in the country in which similar courses were composed throughout 204 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS of the same subjects. Neither were the subjects arranged in the same sequence. This was in the days when high schools were not standardized by universities and colleges. In order that the diploma given might not be deceptive, Form of a certain number of credits was assigned to each Diploma . . , ued. subject and, when a required number of these credits was made by the pupil, he was given a diploma in which each subject he had completed, with the number of credits assigned to it, was written. Thus the door to hon- orable graduation was never closed on the pupil by the school. No objection was made to this plan in Galesburg by the OPPO- teachers, the pupils or the parents, but it was too radical a departure from the beaten path to be ac- cepted by the profession, even with modifications, without much opposition. The discussion began in 1899, when the Superintendent of the Galesburg Schools read a paper on the subject before the Department of Superintend- ence of the National Educational Association at Columbus, Ohio. Within two years following this meeting he was called to present the subject at our State University before its Conference of High Schools, at Chicago University be- fore the Conference of Affiliated and Accredited Schools, and before the Illinois State Teachers' Association. A warm discussion, participated in by many, followed the presenta- tion of the subject at each of these meetings. The elective plan met strong opposition generally from college men, but it found friends among superintendents and high school men. Under this system a pupil on entering the High School, with the advice of his parents and eighth grade Elective ;. system teacher, selects the studies he wishes to pursue, Explained. , . . . the same freedom being given the pupil in the se- lection of a subject that has always been given him under the prescribed course system in choosing his entire course. In one case he chooses the course for a term, in the other for PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 205 three or four years. The same freedom allowed at the be- ginning is granted whenever a subject is completed and an- other one is to be taken up. The value of each subject is con- stantly explained and impressed upon the pupil. This method affords an opportunity of adapting the work to a pupil as his type of mind is revealed and his capacity is manifested. In less than two years after this system was adopted the school building had to be more than doubled in Effects capacity to accommodate those applying for ad- on At- . . J T . tendance. mission. In this time there was practically no in- crease in the enrollment in the grades. Another matter that brought on the school considerable criticism from the profession was the three-year Criticism course of study. Previous to 1903 there were only of the Throe- three years in the course of study. The reason for Year - T.I Course. this was simple and certainly sufficient. The two colleges in the city each had a preparatory department which consisted of three years. Under these circumstances the only practical thing to do was to have the course in the High School three years also. When the two colleges lengthened their preparatory courses to four years, then, in 1903, a fourth year was added to the Latin, or college course, in the High School. At the same time the three- year course was retained, and it was this fact that caused the criticism to be renewed. No other high school in any city of considerable size in the state had at that time any- thing but a four-year course. It was claimed by the profes- sion, especially by the colleges, that such a course was low- ering the standard of education. The North Central Asso- ciation of Colleges and Secondary Schools refused to place the Galesburg High School on its accredited list, though no one at that time had asked to have it accredited. By some people much was made of this fact. When their criticism reached the members of the Board of Education and the cit- izens it naturally had the desired effect on some, and in a 206 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS moment of weakness the three-year course came near to be- ing sacrificed. At that critical time, March, 1910, the mat- ter was taken up with Dr. H. A. Hollister, High School Visitor of the University of Illinois, who was that year a member of the committee that was to make the report on the schools to be accredited. The following letter was writ- ten to him at that time : "Galesburg, 111., March 18, 1910. "Mr. H. A. Hollister, High School Visitor, University of Illinois, Champaign, 111. Dear Mr. Hollister: Last Monday, largely by chance, I had an informal conference with three members of our Board of Educa- tion on the advisability of adding another year to our Three Year Course. They said to me, "If you will make such a recommenda- tion to-night at the Board meeting, it will no doubt be adopted." After talking with the Principal of the High School and some of the teachers who are recognized as very competent and have been connected with the school many years and understand thoroughly its workings, I could not persuade myself to make the recommenda- tion, though I could see the points in its favor. I am going to write you quite a long letter in explanation, and give you the situation as it is to-day in our High School. The enrollment for February was 690; of these pupils 240 are doing their first year's work. 192 are doing their second year's work. 135 are doing their third year's work. 123 are doing their fourth year's work. The number who are expecting to graduate this year is 151, and I inclose a tabulation of these which I hope you will examine care- fully. You will see that 62 of these have completed the four year course and that 26 of those who will receive a Three Year diploma have been in the school four years. Thus 88 of the class have had the benefit of four years of training in the High School. You will notice that the enrollment of the school by classes shows that there are 123 in the 4th year. Subtracting the 88 who are to graduate, from this number, leaves 35 in the 4th year to be accounted for. Seventeen of these thirty-five graduated last year, receiving a Three PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 207 Year diploma, and returned this year to do the 4th year's work. This leaves 18 in the 4th year who are doing special work and will receive no diploma. I want to call your special attention to the 26 who are grad- uating as 3rd year students but have been in the school four years. It is the opinion f the teachers that most of these would have dropped out of school two years ago, had there been only a four year course, their parents being, in many cases, unable to send them five years saying nothing about those who could not have been in- duced to spend that length of time in High School. My contention is, that, by having one of the courses in the High School a three year course, it holds a large number of pupils in school one to three years longer, these 26 in the present grad- uating class being one illustration. Our city has, probably, a population of 25,000. Last month the total enrollment of pupils was 3,501, of whom 690, or 19.7 per cent are in the High School. The average for the year will be, and has been for years, 20 per cent. I believe you would find that the attendance at our High School is 50 per cent greater than at other High Schools in cities of approximately our size. That it does not, on the other hand, lower the standard of the school nor work injury to the other pupils by causing them to cut short their course (the form of the two diplomas being such as to indicate exactly what each graduate has done), I submit the record of the present graduating class as evidence. The number of pupils in our High School who complete the four years' work is as great as in other cities the size of Galesburg. The number of three year graduates is, practically, clear gain over other schools. They might be considered as a by-product, as what is done in Galesburg with that which would otherwise be treated as waste. I cannot conceive that the work of the Galesburg High School would not meet with the cordial approval and endorsement, even, of the educators who comprise the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, if these facts were properly presented to them. While a school is doing the work required of secondary schools by this Association and while as many are taking advantage of it as in other cities of like size, its policy cannot be to discourage or limit any work such a school can do for that great number who are destined never to enter a college. This Associa- tion, by placing on its accredited list all of our neighboring High Schools and leaving off the Galesburg High School, is putting an unmerited stigma upon it and upon the city which has done and is 208 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS doing as much for education as any city of its size within the limits of the Association. Will you kindly bring this matter before the proper com- mittee of the Association and ask them to lift the ban which is heavy as heavy as the influence of the Association? You have my permission to use this letter in any way you may desire. Trusting that this may not only meet with your favor, but that you will be able to present the facts to the North Central As- sociation of Colleges and Secondary Schools in such a way as to gain both their approval and endorsement of the Galesburg High School, I am, Yours very truly, W. L. STEELE." To the credit of the open-mindedness of the committee and the members of the Association, the Galesburg High School was placed on the accredited list of the North Cen- tral Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, March 25, 1910. There can be no question that there is a place in the high school for a short course. The length of the course of study in a system of popular education is not so impor- tant as the number of those who take full advantage of it; that is basic. When it comes to higher education, that is another and a different question, a fact the failure to recog- nize which has caused the development of a system of pop- ular education in many respects unsuited to the needs of the people. It is significant that Chicago placed a two-year course in its high school in 1910 and that St. Louis has done the same. 14. THE BOARD AND ITS EXPERIENCES. Faithfulness, harmony and permanency characterized the membership of the Board of Education in this Board Members period. The members were faithful in attending Faithful. the meetings of the Board. Seldom was a member absent when he was in the city and not confined to his home by illness. In twenty-six years there was only one regular meeting at which there was not a quorum present, and that W. S. PURINGTON L-. F. WERTf. BOARD OF EDUCATION At close of the Half-Century, June 12, 1911. OFTKfc P PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 209 was the August meeting of 1907. In addition to the regular committee work, it was a custom of the Board as a body to inspect annually all the buildings at the close of the school year and to decide at such times what repairs and improve- ments should be made on each. In this way every member had a personal knowledge of the conditions of the different buildings. As each member is, by the rules of the Board, constituted a local committee to have charge of the build- ings in his ward, this information was particularly valuable. It was the custom of the Board not to act on any im- portant matter until all the members could concur t i i r Harmony m the action. No member ever thought of getting in the _ & . . & Board. a measure through the Board by a bare majority vote. In the work of the committees the same was true. If any member of the Teachers' Committee for example, ob- jected to the appointment of an applicant, that person would not be appointed. As a result there were never any factions in the Board and every member, realizing the consideration given his vote, exercised the greatest care in forming his opinion. This state of harmony could not have prevailed had the members been elected by factions, political and oth- erwise, that are found in every city, or had they sought the office for personal reasons. Propositions that were right and wise would naturally under such conditions get a favor- able hearing. Faithfulness and harmony made the membership of the Board very properly permanent. In these twenty- Perma _ six years there were only twenty-seven different members. Four persons served as directors from the First Ward: Mr. S. J. Parry, two years; Hon. O. F. Price, seven years; Miss M. Evelyn Strong, eight years; and Mrs. G. W. Thompson, nine years. Six served from the Second Ward: Mr. C. C. Merrill, fifteen years; Mr. L. N. Thompson, three years ; Mr. J. C. Tunnicliff, one year ; Mr. J. W. Hammond, three months; Mr. Charles E. Johnson, five years; and Mr. W. S. Purington, two years. Three 210 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS served from the Third Ward : Mr. N. C. Woods, four years ; Mr. G. A. Murdoch, seven years; and Mr. L. F. Wertman, fifteen years. Four served from the Fourth Ward: Mr. G. L. Arnold, one year; Mr. F. S. Bartlett, nine years; Mr. J. W. Hammond, twelve years; and Mr. R. O. Ahlenius, four years. Four served from the Fifth Ward: M. D. Cooke, Esq., four years; Hon. F. F. Cooke, two years; Mr. C. E. Switzer, four years; and Mrs. H. W. Read, sixteen years. The Sixth Ward had but one director in these twenty-six years, Mr. L. T. Stone. Four served from the Seventh Ward: Mr. S. B. Inman, twelve years; Mr. Charles Van Brunt, eight years ; Mr. W. A. Marshall, two years ; and Mr. J. J. Berry, four years. Of these members Mr. Parry had served eight years in the previous period ; Mr. Murdoch, six years ; Mr. Arnold, eleven years ; Mr. Cooke, nine years ; and Mr. Stone, seven years. To Mr. Stone belongs the dis- tinguished honor of having served on the Board of Educa- tion longer than any other citizen thirty-three consecutive years. In June, 1911, he was elected for the twelfth term. Miss M. Evelyn Strong, of the First Ward, was the first women woman to be elected a member of the Board of on the Board of Education. This was in Tune, 1894. The following Kduoa- J "on. year Mrs. Henry W. Read, of the Fifth Ward, was elected a member. When Miss Strong resigned in May, 1902, Mrs. G. W. Thompson was elected as her successor. These three ladies demonstrated thoroughly that a woman can render valuable service on a board of education. During this period, no members of the Board who were candidates for re-election were defeated except in How changes one year, and yet there was on an average one new In Effi- . . . dent member each year, owing to resignation, removal Boards , rr-** should from the city, or death. This was making changes be Made. . in the right way and they were frequent enough. The success of a commercial enterprise, or of any institu- tion, is endangered whenever a change in the governing body is brought about through strife and contest. This is PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 211 just as true of a school system. The somewhat prevalent idea that a community does not have an interest in its schools unless it holds exciting elections and changes the members of the Board frequently, is a mistaken and danger- ous one. It means that something is wrong somewhere, and the result must be a board governed by factions which par- alyze its efficiency. When a board of education is efficient the voters show their wisdom by continuing its members. Changes will come as they have in Galesburg in this period frequently enough from other causes. The exception referred to, when two members of the Board were defeated for re-election, occurred in 1894. The cause of it was the A. P. A. movement that was then sweeping the country. These mem- bers were defeated by a vote of 1,718 to 1,066, the largest ever polled at a school election in the city. This was the first time the women took an active part in the school election. Strange as it may seem the policy of the Board continued without opposition, practically unchanged after the election. The few Catholic teachers in the school were not disturbed. This was no doubt due to their super- ior fitness for the positions they held. 15. THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. When the Galesburg Public Schools closed for the year on June 2, 1911, they completed the first half century of their history. This event was celebrated by the grades, the High School and the alumni, A field day, in which all the grades and practically all the pupils participated, was held on Wil- lard Field on the afternoon of May 26th, under the direction of Miss Soflena Mathis, the director of physical training in the schools. The girls in the first and second grades were costumed as "sunbonnet babies" and the boys in the same grades as "overall boys." The boys and girls of the third grade were dressed as Indians. The girls of the fourth and fifth grades wore "middy suits" with blue collars and white 212 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS hair ribbons. The girls of the sixth grade were dressed in white and carried garlands of pink and white flowers, while the girls in the seventh and eighth grades wore peasant costumes. Fifty high school girls were dressed as Highland lassies. The boys above the third grade wore white blouses. When these children, more than twenty-five hundred in number, thus costumed entered Willard Field Events of . the Field from the west eight abreast led by a band playing "Marching Through Georgia," and marched with a rhythm and swing one would think impossible for children, across the center of the field to the place where Miss Mathis was standing and, dividing, countermarched to the rear, it was a sight more beautiful than any which Galesburg had ever seen. It was witnessed by a crowd estimated at seven thousand. Then followed in rapid succession the games of the sunbonnet babies and overall boys divided into six groups ; the Indians in their camps with their dances and yells; the exercises with dumb-bells, wands and Indian clubs, some four to five hundred taking part in each under a leader from their own number; the maypole dance around six giant poles, by the girls of the sixth and seventh grades ; the folk dances by the girls of the eighth grade, some two hundred of them ; and the highland fling by the girls of the High School. Each ward had a booth at which were sold refreshments, souvenirs and toys of the noise making va- riety. These booths which were conducted by the ladies of the wards, yielded a good profit. This event would have been impossible had not the par- ents, the mothers in particular, united most heart- Gi 8 ven ance ity with the teachers and the pupils in preparing Patrons ^ or ** ^ involved a great amount of labor and schwis. considerable expense. Mrs. Anna Chappell Gun- nell was the one who organized the parents and she worked through the women's clubs of the city. She succeeded in enlisting in each ward literally scores of women from all the walks of life, who most generously and PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 213 enthusiastically gave their time, talents and energies to the work. Mrs. Gunnell also rendered the teachers invaluable services by meeting with them many times and giving them the benefit of her knowledge and experience in planning such a feat; she is a rare artist in any work of that char- acter. The net proceeds of this field day were to be used for equipping public playgrounds with apparatus. A OrKanUa _ Public Playgrounds Association was accordingly p^ y . of organized. Mr. W. J. Hayward was elected Pres- 2^*. ident; Mrs. O. C. Gordon, Vice-President ; Mrs. tlon - J. C. Toler, Secretary, and Mr. Charles E. Johnson, Treas- urer. The net proceeds, amounting to something near one thousand dollars, were turned over to this Association. The High School this year dedicated its annual, The Reflector, to the Alumni Association and devoted Th- many of its pages to giving a history of the school K* ***'- with its student organizations. The Reflector is a volume of a hundred pages or more issued annually by the students. It requires no little amount of literary talent as well as bus- iness ability to conduct its publication. The issue of 1911 was Volume V. The exercises connected with the Semi-Centennial Anni- versary were brought to a close with a banquet by A!,,,,^ the Alumni Association held on the evening of BMM et - June 2nd, in the Galesburg Club. Two hundred and fifty- seven were seated at the tables, among whom were many of the earlier graduates. All the industries and professions were represented by them. After the different courses of the banquet were served, the President of the Association, Lyman P. Wilson, Esq., introduced as the Toastmaster of the evening, Hon. Wilfred Arnold, who, after making some introductory remarks, announced the following toasts and introduced the speakers in the happy and humorous way for which he is noted : 214 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS PROGRAM "Most welcome! Be sprightly, for ye fall among friends." BUSINESS MEETING "To thee and thy company I bid a hearty welcome." PRES. LYMAN P. WILSON "The office of President is not a little honorable, but jointly therewith tedious and burdensome" - ROBERT RYAN Piano Solo -------- HELEN ADAMS Toastmaster ------- WILFRED ARNOLD "He had a head to contrive, a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute." "Whose words all ears took captive" - MRS. H. W. READ "What's to come is still unsure" - - - - E. T. S. MASON "Let the sky rain potatoes" - - - - - R. O. AHLENIUS Vocal Solo - - WINIFRED JOHNSTON "A chiel's amang ye takin' notes and, faith, he'll prent it." ROBERT SWITZER "Physicians mend or end us" - DR. JOHN BARTLETT "What a pulpit the editor mounts daily" - - F. R. JELLIFF Violin Solo -- LULU HINCHLIFF "With loads of lumber in his head" - WILLIS TERRY, JR. "Tutored in the rudiments of many desperate studies." Miss ALICE BERGLAND "A college joke to cure the dumps" - REUBEN ERICKSON "Join we together for the public good in what we can." SUPT. W. L. STEELE "Gude nicht, and joy be wi' you a'," 16. SUMMARY. Time and change are natural companions. One would not expect to find anything in the schools, from the build- ings to the methods of instruction in the different branches, remaining unchanged through twenty-six years. Without attempting to enumerate all the changes, those that gave character to the period and that will perhaps remain a per- PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: 1885-1911 215 manent part of the schools are here named. While all the buildings save one have been erected, enlarged or remodeled at a cost of approximately four hundred thousand dollars, the High School and the heating plant were its chief addi- tion to the physical equipment. The installation of sanitary closets in place of the unhealthful and demoralizing out- houses, mechanical ventilation, automatic temperature con- trol, the method of admitting light into the schoolrooms, the drinking fountains and the school nurse, were its con- tribution to sanitation. No serious attention was paid to sanitation in the schools prior to 1888. The introduction of music, drawing, physical training, manual training and do- mestic science came in this period; as also supplementary reading, the removal of the fetish of examinations, and the articulation of the schools with the Public Library by means of the Children's Reading Room. During this period also the average monthly enrollment of pupils to a room was re- duced from forty-eight in 1885 to forty-one in 1910, or more than fourteen per cent; the maximum salary in the grades was raised from $55 to $70 per month, or more than twenty- seven per cent; and a training school for teachers was es- tablished. The inauguration of the elective system and the development of the High School into an institution adapted to the needs of the many who wish to prepare themselves for the manual, mechanical and commercial pursuits of life, as well as to the relatively few who desire to prepare for col- lege, was the most distinctive work of the period. The Board of Education may not at times have moved as fast as it might have done or have accomplished all it was possible to do ; twenty-six years is a long time. It had the satisfac- tion, however, of always moving forward without ever being halted or reversed by the people ; every step in advance was followed by another ; the last building to be erected was al- ways the best. 216 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS TAX LEVIES. YEAR OPERATING EXPENSES BUILDING PURPOSES TOTAL 1885 $ 22,000.00 1886 25,000.00 1887 25,000.00 1888 25,000.00 1889 30,000.00 1890 32,000.00 1891 34,500.00 1892 42,500.00 1893 $46,000.00 $16,000.00 62,000.00 1894 38,500.00 18,000.00 56,500.00 1895 48,603.00 14,897.00 63,500.00 1896 42,711.88 30,000.00 72,711.88 1897 48,595.10 9,154.80 57,749.90 1898 50,000.00 12,236.10 62,236.10 1899 54,000.00 15,126.85 69,126.85 1900 52,854.19 19,240.00 72,094.19 1901 61,241.32 14,212.39 75,453.71 1902 56,001.26 25,355.00 81,356.26 1903 64,180.00 25,000.00 89,180.00 1904 65,000.00 12,000.00 77,000.00 1905 63,240.00 30,000.00 93,240.00 1906 65,000.00 30,000.00 95,000.00 1907 68,088.00 26,300.00 94,388.00 1908 71,500.00 26,000.00 97,500.00 1909 86,250.00 18,850.00 105,100.00 1910 90,000.00 54,000.00 144,000.00 Superintendent of Schools 1911 Wi LIBHMIY OFTKE IWIYBSITY OF IU.WM* CHAPTER V. GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS: 1840-61. NOTE This paper was prepared by W. L. Steele, Superin- tendent of the Galesburg Schools since 1885, at the request of the Knox County Historical Society. Mr. Steele read it at a meeting of the Society held in the Board of Education rooms at the Public Library, on the evening of April 14, 1910. At its conclusion the Society extended to Mr. Steele a vote of thanks and requested him to continue the History of the Public Schools of Galesburg down to the present time. Republican-Register, April 15, 1910. The history of the public schools of Galesburg is divided into three periods : 1, that covering the regime of the dis- trict schools, 2, that of the union graded schools, and 3, that of the schools under the present charter. Of the first period, that of district schools, no official records can be found.* The first district was organized, probably, in 1840, when the village of Galesburg numbered 272 souls. As the popula- tion increased it was subdivided, from time to time, until there were eight independent school districts, each having its own board of directors and a little schoolhouse of one department, when in 1858 they were all united into one dis- trict, comprising the territory within the present limits of Galesburg and known as the Union Graded School District No. 1. During the nineteen years which this period covers the population of the city had grown to nearly 5,000. A pop- ulation of 5,000 with only eight schoolrooms, where three times that number would be required to-day, calls for an explanation which will be given farther on. THE FIRST SCHOOLHOUSE. The first public school building, according to tradition, for there are no records preserved and no account of it was (217) 218 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS committed to print for more than a quarter of a century after the event, was built on the north side of the square, east of Broad street, in 1840. It was soon afterwards moved to the north side of Ferris street, between Broad and Cherry streets. It was constructed in accordance with the ideas of Mr. C. S. Colton, one of the directors, and the very novelty of the plan has preserved it from the common oblivion of the school architecture of that period. The floor was an inclined plane sloping from the rear to the front where the teacher's desk was placed, the object being to have the pupils in full view of the teacher. The pupils who attended that school all remember what a capital place the aisles were to slide down hill, and on this account it has not been forgot- ten. Mr. Colton, it is said, afterwards regretted that all the schoolhouses were not built on this plan. It would seat sixty pupils. THE FIRST TEACHER. Mr. Eli Farnham taught the first school in this build- ing in the winter of 1840-41. The school was in session from four to six months each year; the teacher was generally a college student who was in need of money to complete his education. Prof. George Churchill, when a boy, went to this school in the winter of 1840-41 and taught it in the winter of 1848-49, when he was a sophomore in college. He received a dollar a day and boarded around, sleeping at home. One of his pupils was Miss Mary Allen West. LOCATION OF SCHOOLHOUSES. Some fifteen years ago the writer had several conversa- tions with Professor Churchill in regard to the first public schools in Galesburg, with the view of printing the facts irt a school report. The information, though never used, was carefully preserved, and from it he is now able to give, with other interesting facts, the names and the locations of the different school buildings at the time the districts were con- PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 219 solidated in 1858. Professor Churchill was one of the three directors of the new district thus formed. They were as follows : Ferris Street School, on the north side of Ferris street, west of Cherry street ; East Main Street School, sometimes called the Brick School, on the southwest corner of Main and Pine streets; West Main Street School, sometimes known as the Parker School, on the south side of Main street, just east of Walnut avenue; Simmons Street School, known for a time as the Blanchard School, on the north side of Simmons street east of Academy street; Tompkins Street School, where the First Baptist Church now stands ; Monmouth Street School at the junction of Monmouth and Brooks streets; Chambers Street School, known as the De- pot School on First street just west of Chambers street* Kellogg Street School, on the southwest corner of Kellogg and Losey streets. COUNTY RECORDS. If the future historian of the public schools of Gales- burg goes to the county records for his information con- cerning the first schools, he will be mystified and misinform 7 ed. He will find that the first conveyance was made by Knox College in 1850 to school district No. 8, for $50. This was for the Ferris Street School, and ten years after it was organized. The next deed was by F. H. Pond in 1853 to school district No. 1, for $300. This was the Tompkins Street School. The next school site deeded was in 1854, to school district No. 11, which was the Simmons Street School. The deed was made by J. P. Frost and the consideration was $450. The West Main Street School secured its site from Elisha Kurd in 1855 as school district No. 9, for $200. The land for the Monmouth Street School was purchased from Phoebe A. Hoi ton in 1858, as school district No. 1, for $200. The site of the East Main Street School was not bought till 1867, and then by the Board of Education from 220 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS Bethany Mitchell, for $75. The land on which the Depot School stood was purchased by the Board of Education in 1863, from Knox College, for $150. The Kellogg, or Losey Street School, did not get its deed till 1868. It, too, was made to the Board of Education by Z. P. McMillen, for $850. Am- non Gaston, as early as 1849, made a deed to James Grant, James H. Noteware and W. Selden Gale, as trustees, for school district No. 1, consideration $114, but there is no description of the property deeded further than the town- ship. There is other evidence on the record, sufficient per- haps to warrant one in saying that the deed was for the se- cond four rods south of Simmons street on Broad street, where the Churchill School now stands. A schoolhouse was probably there in an early day. The Board of Educa- tion, however, purchased twelve rods square on this corner at a much later date, from Timothy Moshier for $2,000, he having obtained it, apparently, by a tax title. So far as showing when the first schools were established in Gales- burg, these records are entirely misleading as to dates and thoroughly mystifying as to the numbering of the school districts. All this may be of no interest or value as school history, but it is an excellent illustration of how unerringly one may be, sometimes, conducted to the truth by the pro- cess of original research, about which we hear so much and by which so many of our cherished beliefs and ideals are being shattered. It is interesting to note in passing, that there is not a school building located to-day where one stood in 1860, when Galesburg was a city of 5,000 people only fifty years ago and the population one-fifth as large as now. POVERTY OF THE DISTRICTS. Comparing the dates of the purchase of the different school sites, with the years when it is certainly known schools were conducted on these premises, it is evident that the first schoolhouses were "squatters" the town being too poor to own the land on which they stood. The buildings PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 221 themselves gave evidence of their poverty. The Galesburg Free Democrat, in its issue of November 13, 1856, says edi- torially, "Our present school pens should be sold for coal houses." These conditions can easily be accounted for. The people of Illinois did not believe in common schools at that date; there was no free school law in Illinois till 1855, nine- teen years after the settlement of the Galesburg colony. It is true, a free school law was enacted by the legislature in 1825. SCHOOL LAWS OF 1825. This law provided that common schools should be established free and open to every class of white citizens be- tween the ages of five and twenty-one years. The legal voters were empowered at the annual meeting to levy a tax of one-half of one per cent, subject to a maximum limitation of $10 to any one person. An appropriation was made by the state of $2 out of every $100 received into the treasury. This, together with the interest on the state common school fund which consisted of three per cent of the net proceeds of the sales of public lands, two townships donated for founding and maintaining a seminary of learning, and the surplus revenue of the United States distributed by act of Congress in 1837, made possible quite a complete system of public schools. To this must be added, of course, the in- come from the 16th section of every township the most munificent donation ever made to public education by a government. This came from Congress in compliance with the Ordinance of 1787, which enjoined that "schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." But the law was so amended in 1827 as virtually to nullify it by pro- viding that no person should be taxed for the maintenance of any school unless his consent was first obtained in writ- ing, and the continuance of the state appropriation of $2 out of every $100 received into the treasury, being its very life, was denied. In 1845 even the interest on the state fund was 222 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS suspended, owing to the embarrassed condition of the finan- ces this state, like many others, having stopped paying in- terest on her public debt. From this date, 1827, to 1855, there were repeated amendments, and revisions of the school law by the legislature, but they had no effect upon the schools, for they all wanted the vital principle of the tax- ing power. As late as 1852 the total local tax for school purposes in the whole state of Illinois amounted to only fifty-one thousand dollars. The school law remained a dead letter for twenty-eight years ; and it was during this period that the Galesburg colony was founded and grew to have a population of three thousand. Under these conditions it is no wonder that the schoolhouses of Galesburg were but little better than coal houses and that in only three cases did the town own the land on which they stood. THE SCHOOL SECTION. The income from the 16th section was, practically, all the support upon which the schools could depend till 1855, or rather 1856, when the tax provided by the law of 1855 be- came available. Thus the 16th section was a matter of great importance at that time. Where it was, what disposition was made of it, and how much was realized from it, forms part of the school history of those days ; and it is certainly a matter of interest to us to-day, as we receive annually the income from that portion of this fund which we got when it was divided between Galesburg and the remainder of the township. In an article, "A Brief History of Knox College," pre- pared by the Rev. Geo. W. Gale in 1845, "for the double pur- pose of public information and a document of reference," he says, "The school section (640 acres) given by the govern- ment for primary schools, fell near the town, and has yield- ed a permanent fund of $7,000, the interest of which with the annual state appropriations, nearly furnishes gratuitous instruction to every child in the township. Some two hun- PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 223 dred children now profit by this fund." This was written nine years from the founding of the colony. The greater part of the school section lies within the city limits. Main street, west from Henderson street to Lin- wood Cemetery, is its north boundary; and Henderson street, south from Main street to Fifth street, is its east boundary. Among the old books in the office of the county superintendent of schools was discovered, by rare chance, a book in which the school commissioner of Knox county, Wm. McMurtry, had carefully kept the records of those days. In it is a complete record of the disposition of Sec. 16, R. 11 N., 1 E. of the 4th P. M. ; and here may be found a plat of the section as made by the five trustees: Leonard Chappel, Chauncey S. Colton, James Bunce, Isaiah Smelser and Nehemiah H. Losey. Each lot is numbered, the ap- praisement given, the price for which it was sold indicated, and the name of the original purchaser written down. AMOUNT REALIZED FROM SCHOOL SECTION. The section is divided into 28 ten-acre lots and 18 twenty-acre lots. The first 16 ten-acre lots front on Main street, each being 20 rods east and west and 80 rods north and south ; the other 12 ten-acre lots face on Henderson street, each being 20 rods north and south and 80 rods east and west. The 18 twenty-acre lots are 40 rods east and west and 80 rods north and south, with two exceptions. The greater number of these lots were sold on March 4, 1839, the last two being disposed of May 11, 1848. The ten- acre lots sold for from $7.50 to $16.90 per acre, and the twen- ty-acre lots for from $3.50 to $11 per acre. The sale of all the lots amounted to $5,660.50 not $7,000, as stated by Rev. George W. Gale, in 1845. When this fund was divided be- tween the city and the township, there is no record of the amount that came to the city. Whatever that amount was, the Board of Education has to-day $5,133.55 which is this 224 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS fund plus $221.20, Galesburg's share of the county fund that was distributed in 1908 by the county superintendent. INCOME FROM TOWNSHIP FUND. The records of those days show that school funds were loaned at ten per cent. Thus the net income from the town- ship fund would be about $550 annually. This was practi- cally the amount of available funds for school purposes from 1839 to 1855. The population of the township in 1840, including the village of Galesburg, was 516, and in 1855 the population of the village alone was 2,916. During these fif- teen years the public schools of the village and township of Galesburg, with a population never less than 500 and reach- ing 4,000, had for their support but little more than $500 a year not enough to provide for more than two schools where there should have been from three to twenty. That the public school accommodations were entirely inadequate and miserably poor in Galesburg prior to 1855, is no reflec- tion on the intelligence or public spirit of the good people of that time. After this date, however, when the present free school law was enacted, one would naturally expect to find in this community good schools with sufficient accom- modations. It would require some temerity in one, if the evi- dence could not be produced, to intimate to-day that there ever was a time in the history of Galesburg when public education was not in favor, when the public school was looked upon at least with indifference, if not with positive hostility; but such is the fact, judging from the local and state press of the times. PUBLIC INDIFFERENCE TO SCHOOLS. There is a complete file of the Galesburg Free Demo- crat from January 5, 1854, to September 28, 1860, excepting the first eight months of 1858, in the Knox College Library. A careful examination of these files reveals a deplorable want of interest in public education. In the issue of Janu- PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 225 ary 1, 1857, is an article signed by "E. S. W." (E. S. Will- cox, Professor of Modern Languages in Knox College), in which he advocates forming union graded schools and pro- nounces the present schools inefficient, worse than useless a shame to the community. In the issue of April 13, 1859, is an article signed "Tax-Payer" in which the writer says, "I believe I may safely assert that there is not another town in the State of Illinois having as large a population as Galesburg, that has done so little, directly, for the improve- ment of its common schools." In an editorial of September 3, 1859, appears the following : "The fair name of the 'Col- lege City' is being tarnished by our shameful negligence of the interests of our common schools. While we rejoice in the higher educational facilities afforded by our colleges and seminaries, let us no longer disgrace ourselves by neglecting the masses in our midst, whose right training is more inti- mately connected with our future prosperity than that of any other class." In an article on Union Graded Schools by Professor Churchill, November 20, 1856, is this sentence: "A schoolhouse could be built which instead of being a burning disgrace to us would be our brightest glory." He must then have had a vision of that schoolhouse which was built ten years later and which to-day bears his name. JOHN F. EBERHART. In the Editor's Table of the Illinois Teacher, February 27, 1857, is an article on Galesburg by John F. Eberhart, one of the distinguished educational pioneers of Illinois, a pro- moter of the union graded school system, in which may be found the following: "Galesburg is a pleasant city, and has already acquired a merited fame for literary enterprise. Lombard University, Knox Male and Female Colleges all school buildings nearly completed are institutions of a high grade, and throw a halo of light about the place. The citizens are generally intelligent and kind, and probably think less of money and more of mind than is customary for 226 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS a western city. However, amid all their aspirations for the formation of an intelligent community and the full develop- ment of true man and womanhood, one very important feat- ure has, until lately, been overlooked. Their ambition has soared above the common schools. The dilapidated condi- tion of the public schools bears a woeful testimony of their neglect. The buildings are poor, the teachers receive poor wages, and the result is that they have poor schools." SIMEON WRIGHT. Simeon Wright, another of our distinguished education- al pioneers, as State Agent of the Illinois Teacher, wrote up Galesburg for the July (1858) issue as follows: "I am on classic ground. The very atmosphere breathes incense to the goddess of letters and science. The severe elegance of Knox College and fair proportions of Lombard University are the material embodiment of the spirit of the place. Here are the higher institutions of learning just emerging from infancy in all the vigor of a young giantess, and here, also, are eight overshadowed public schools, and until recently there were as many directors." After referring, in compli- mentary terms, to Professors Churchill, Standish and Will- cox as educators who most fully recognized the dependence of the college on the common school, he makes this plea for the eight overshadowed public schools. "Would the college raise the standard of scholarship? Raise the standard of elementary education. Would she gain more students? Elevate the common school. Would she extend her influ- ence? Extend sympathy and aid to the common schools. The more good public schools there are, the more minds will feel the kindling fire and gaze longingly toward the higher hills of science. The college must grow with the growth of popular knowledge. Franklin once said: 'Take care of the dimes ; the dollars will take care of them- selves.' Take care of the common schools and the colleges will take care of themselves." PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 227 ATTITUDE OF THE COLLEGE. That it was thought necessary to make such a plea as this to college men and to a college community seems strange; for one would naturally think that the common school was the child of the college, but history tells a differ- ent story. The two institutions had different origins, with little in common. Governor Berkeley who thanked God that there were no free schools in Virginia and hoped that there would be none for a hundred years to come, contributed to the founding of a college, William and Mary's, and that without any feeling of inconsistency. Happily, with the world's broader vision, all this is changed now, and colleges and universities, especially state universities, for the best of reasons are the friends of the public schools. There were several causes operating to produce this hostility to public schools. In the first place, as Professor Churchill says, "Every man, woman and child came here to build up Knox College. They were more interested in this even than in founding the city. Whenever a child had learned to read, write and spell, and was ready to study arithmetic and grammar, he was entered in the preparatory department of the college. As a rule children entered the academy when they were ten years of age." Under these conditions the people did not feel the need of public schools and naturally enough they regarded them as a competitor to their favorite institution. Professor Churchill was warn- ed time and again by some of the close friends of the college that he was injuring that institution and jeopardizing his own position by his activity in promoting public schools. Their fears were not altogether groundless. The year before the union graded schools were organized, Knox Academy enrolled over 350 students as compared to 60 in the college ; the following year the enrollment was less than 150. PRIVATE SCHOOLS. The income from the township fund being inadequate to furnish all the children what in those days was regarded 228 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS as primary education, private schools, or select schools, as they preferred to call themselves, sprang up. Mrs. George A. Tryon, who started such a school in 1856, told the writer that she could recall four others in the village at that time. For twenty years the people had to depend, to a great ex- tent, upon these schools; they were a power whose inter- ests were antagonistic to free schools, and that had to be reckoned with when it came to forming the free union graded schools. Even after the districts were united, such was the influence of these select schools and so strong was the feeling in their behalf that, in order to get the children to attend the new schools, it was necessary for the directors to incorporate, as it were, some of these schools into the new system of free public schools. Professor Churchill, who was one of the three directors that organized the union graded schools, is the authority for this statement. Mrs. Tryon had a private school of eighty pupils at that time, and she took fifty of them with her to the old Post Office build- ing, and they were placed, without examination, in the grammar department, of which she was made principal ; an excellent person she was for this position, having had ex- perience in graded schools in Ohio. Private schools of this type, or better designated as select schools, died hard, the last one not passing away until the late 80's. THE MONEYED INTERESTS. Another source of opposition were the "moneyed men with Herrick & Co. patent fire-proof money safes," as the Free Press of that day called them in discussing this ques- tion. There were, however, some notable exceptions Mr. Silas Willard being one. That this class was active and powerful is clearly revealed in that section of the school charter which limits the rate of taxation. There was no tax limit in the free school law of that day, nor was there any limit by statute until 1872; but these men went back twenty-five years to the first free school law, to find a rate. PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 229 The rate named there was one-half of one per cent, the low- est rate that ever found its way into a school law of Illinois, and it was incorporated in the Galesburg school charter as the limit of taxation for school purposes. The records of later years show that to Dr. J. V. N. Standish belongs the honor of having initiated the movement that increased it to one per cent. JEALOUSY OF THE DISTRICT. The fact that the city was divided into eight separate and independent districts, each with its rights, its interests, its jealousies, was another source of opposition. The reason this opposition alone did not prove to be insurmountable, was due to the poverty of the districts, they not having enough property to quarrel over. CONDITIONS OPPOSED TO FREE SCHOOLS. These were the conditions that caused Galesburg to move slowly in forming a system of public education after the free school law was adopted in 1855 ; and the fact that it was a comparatively old settled community, with three to five thousand inhabitants, with its habits of thought and its local institutions formed and adjusted to a different state of things, would tend to retard any radical change. To satisfy the college, to placate the private schools, to quiet the fears of capital, and to convince the eight districts that the inter- ests of each would be served better by one united district, was an undertaking of the first magnitude, compared to which any other event in the history of our schools is insig- nificant. PROFESSOR CHURCHILL. It is perfectly evident that this movement could never have been successful without a great leader, a man with a vision, broad-minded, progressive, patient, good-natured, forgetful of self, believing profoundly in education, and in closest sympathy with his fellowmen, and that man was 230 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS George Churchill. Others, of course, there were who render- ed noble service to the cause, but in every step taken to or- ganize the union graded schools and to secure the pres- ent charter, he led the way. Professor George Churchill is as truly the founder of the public schools of Galesburg as the Rev. George W. Gale is the founder of the city. When the time comes in the history of Galesburg for erecting monuments to its great characters the first should have carved on it "Rev. George W. Gale, Founder of the City," and the second should bear the name "George Churchill, Founder of the Public Schools." He was endowed by nature and qualified by training for the part he took in this great work. At ten years of age he came with his parents to Galesburg in 1839 three years after the first settlers. He attended the first public school taught in Galesburg in the winter of 1840-41. He taught the same school in the winter of 1848-49 when a sophomore in college. After graduating from Knox College, he taught a year in Farmington. He then spent a year in Europe de- voting much of his time to the public schools of Germany especially to the Frederick William Gymnasium, a graded school of four thousand students from seven to seventeen years of age. He said it was here that he first imbibed his enthusiasm for graded public schools. Full of this spirit he returned to Galesburg and took charge of Knox Academy in 1855 the very year the free school law was passed. In the winter of this year, he attended the State Teachers' As- sociation at Bloomington. He met Dr. Bateman there and came home with fresh enthusiasm, and began writing arti- cles for the Galesburg Free Democrat to show the advan- tages of graded schools and a consolidated district. HENRY BARNARD. In December, 1856, he read a paper on German schools at the State Teachers' Association in Chicago. Henry Barnard, who was present and heard this paper, at once be- PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 231 came interested in the young man from Galesburg; and there was no man in this country, engaged in public school work, whose friendship could be so valuable to one in Pro- fessor Churchill's position, wrestling with the problem of organizing and grading a system of schools. Henry Barn- ard was the pioneer of educational journalism in America, and he had done for the scfiooTs of Connecticut what Horace Mann did for the schools of Massachusetts organized and graded them. Before the sessions of this meeting had ad- journed, he promised Professor Churchill to aid him in get- ting men of recognized ability and great experience in or- ganizing and grading schools, to come to Galesburg and con- duct an educational campaign. Before returning home Pro-i fessor Churchill, on the advice of Professor Barnard, en- gaged Mr. W. S. Baker, who had been one of Barnard's lieutenants in Connecticut, for six weeks, agreeing to pay him one hundred dollars and his board. w. s. BAKER. Mr. Baker began his six weeks' campaign in Galesburg in January, 1857. He would go to a school for a half day or more at a time and impart enthusiasm to teacher and pupils. Then he would visit the leading members of the district and explain to them the advantages of consolidation. Afternoon meetings were also held in the old First Church to which came parents and children until the church was filled, and Mr. Baker would address them on the benefits of a union graded school system. Professor Churchill boarded Mr. Baker while in this city and paid half his salary besides. HORACE MANN In the following March Horace Mann, the greatest edu- cator America has produced, a most eloquent and irresisti- ble speaker, was induced to come to Galesburg and deliver two lectures on free graded schools. These lectures were also delivered in the old First Church, and their result, 232 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS following as they did so closely the work of Mr. Baker, was a complete moral victory of consolidated dist- ricts and graded schools, though formal and official action was not taken till May or June of the next year. From a report of these lectures made to the Illinois Teacher by "E. S. W." is taken the following to show that the Galesburg schools for a generation or more were mould- ed by Horace Mann. He was really the architect of the present Churchill building. " 'Consolidate the districts. On the most conveniently central grounds erect one large building, large enough to accommodate all the pupils of the city, beautiful enough to be an ornament and pride and with the necessary conveniences to make it best possibly adapted to the purposes of instruction. Let it be larger than your present wants, large enough to accommodate prospective wants. If a tax would fall too heavily now, borrow the necessary funds and require those who may hereafter be attracted hither by these educational advantages, to pay their proportion in lifting the debt in the future. Lay out and plant the grounds about the union schoolhouse in the most attractive manner possible. Hire one experienced head teacher, or superintendent, at a salary sufficient to com- mand the best talents. Support him by an efficient corps of lady assistants.' He strongly advocated the erection of but one central edifice, and some of his best applied remarks went to show the advantages, even to young scholars, of walking some little distance to school. As a rule, those pupils who walked a half mile or more were the brightest in their recitations, and on that very account." SILAS WILLARD. There was another remarkable result of these lectures, Mr. Silas Willard, in the prime of life, perhaps the leading merchant of the city, dying at his home of tuberculosis, re- quested Horace Mann to call on him the morning after his second lecture, which he did in company with Professor PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 233 Churchill. At the close of this conference, Mr. Willard said that he would provide in his will thirty thousand dollars for building a union graded school, and he thought he would donate two or three acres of ground on the northwest corner of Main and Chambers streets for the building site. The Galesburg Free Democrat of March 31, 1857, closes an edi- torial with this sentence : "Silas Willard was buried in the old cemetery to-day and was followed to the grave by the largest concourse which ever turned out in Galesburg to honor the dead." Mr. Willard did provide in his will thirty thousand dollars for building a union graded school, but there is no record of the district receiving the money. Even if the city did not get the thirty thousand dollars, his prom- ise had, nevertheless, the effect of stimulating the people to action, for in the Illinois Teacher of April, 1858, is this item : "Meetings of citizens of Galesburg have been held to initiate measures for the establishment of a -system of union graded schools in that city, and for obtaining the benefit of the be- quest of the late Silas Willard." The school records do show" that his widow did offer to give the land on the northwest corner of Main and Chambers streets for a building site for the new schoolhouse, but the Board of Education, for rea- sons not given in the records, purchased instead the lot on the southwest corner of Broad and Simmons streets. Why not name the next school building the Silas Willard School? UNION GRADED SCHOOLS ADOPTED. The exact date on which the eight districts were con- solidated into one cannot be determined. In a statistical paper printed with a Historical Discourse delivered by Rev. Flavel Bascom in the old First Church, July 22, 1866, Mr. J. B. Roberts, then Superintendent of Schools, is represent- ed as saying that these eight districts were united into one in 1856. The fact that this statement was made within ten years of the time when the event was supposed to have oc- curred, and by a man who had been superintendent of the 234 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS schools since 1862, would be strongly in favor of its being correct. Mr. Roberts was either incorrectly reported or he erred in giving the date. It could not have been in 1856, for the law providing for union graded schools was not passed until 1857. No record of the event can be found in the local paper, the Galesburg Free Democrat, and its files are com- plete from January, 1854, to September, 1860, with the ex- ception of the first eight months of 1858. The inference from this would be that the consolidation took place some time during these eight months, for it is scarcely believable that an event of this interest and importance could occur without being noticed in the local paper. According to the Illinois Teacher, a reliable monthly magazine, having for its Galesburg correspondent "E. S. W." the people of Galesburg were holding meetings in April, 1858, for the purpose of establishing a system of union graded schools; and in its July issue, 1858, is the statement that eight school districts have recently been united into one. This fixes May or June, 1858, as the time when the union graded school system was officially adopted. It was a very easy matter in those early days for several districts to be consolidated into one, no petitioning nor vot- ing by the people being necessary. The law read, "A major- ity of the directors of each of two or more districts may con- solidate such districts and appoint three directors for the union district so formed, who shall be styled 'Directors of Union District No. Township No. , who shall have all the powers conferred by law upon other school directors." The consolidation became effective upon a written agree- ment signed by a majority of each of the concurring boards and a report of the proceedings delivered to the trustees of the schools, with a map of the new district thus formed. In this way the districts must have been united, but no such record can be found; and for that matter, so far as it is known, there are no records whatever of the union graded schools in existence to-day. This system came into being in PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 235 May or June, 1858, and ceased to exist June 11, 1861, when the present system was organized. Apparently no attempt was made to grade the schools during the first year of this period. In fact the people did not seem anxious to conduct them according to the new system after it was adopted. There were several provisions in the law that made it unde- sirable, and they thought the best way to remedy these would be to secure a school charter from the legislature. THE SCHOOL CHARTER. For this purpose a series of mass meetings was held in the early part of 1858. At one of these meetings a com- mittee of fifteen was appointed to draft a charter to present to the legislature. On this committee were Dr. Skinner of Lombard, and Judge Lanphere. Professor Churchill was made chairman of the committee. Judge Lanphere was made chairman of a sub-committee to draw up a charter and present it to the legislature. The bill providing for a spe- cial charter to the School District of the City of Galesburg met with unexpected opposition at Springfield. OPPOSITION IN THE LEGISLATURE. The Galesburg Free Democrat of February 2, 1859, gives an account of a mass meeting of the citizens held January 31, 1859, in the basement of Dr. Beecher's church, for the purpose of considering the action of the legislature in refer- ence to the proposed charter. A. A. Smith presided and Charles Faxon acted as secretary. Mr. M. K. Taylor and O. S. Pitcher were called upon to state the object of" the meeting. Mr. Pitcher, who was then city clerk, stated that the legislature had laid the charter on the table and that the object of the meeting was to take steps to have it passed. He said the charter had been prepared nearly a year ago, that it was copied mainly from the Springfield charter, and he then stated its principal provisions. He explained that the objections 236 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS made were chiefly the unlimited nature of the provis- ion for raising money by taxation, and the fact that the charter had not been submitted to a vote of the people and that it contained no provision for such submission. The meeting, after some discussion, adjourned until the next evening when these three amendments to the proposed char- ter were adopted : 1st. The charter shall be submitted to a vote of the people. 2nd. The Board of Education shall not have power to levy a tax to exceed one-half of one per cent without a direct vote of the people. 3rd. It shall be the duty of the board to provide a school for colored children. THREE AMENDMENTS MADE. It was voted that these amendments be forwarded to our representative at Springfield, with a request to him to in- corporate them in the bill and to use his best efforts to get it from the table and to have it passed. It was also voted that Judge Lanphere and S. W. Brown be requested to take the amendments to Springfield and to work for the passage of the bill. That there was great interest manifested in the charter at these meetings is evident from the fact that the Free Democrat reported remarks made by the following men: George Churchill, H. N. Bancroft, C. M. Carr, S. W. Brown, Rev. S. A. Kingsberry, O. S. Pitcher, J. H. Knapp, Dr. A. B. McChesney, Riley Root, Dr. Bunce, R. C. Whit- ney, A. B. Campbell, Dr. M. K. Taylor, D. W. Seider, Mr. Fuller and Mr. Clark. CAUSE OF DELAY AT SPRINGFIELD. Hon. S. W. Brown, who was then mayor of the city, took the amendments to Springfield. He soon learned that letters written by persons in Galesburg objecting to the passage of the bill had been received by Mr. Gowdy, chair- man of the Senate committee to which the bill had been re- ferred, and that this was the cause of its being laid on the table. Mr. Brown wrote a letter from Springfield fully ex- a. B. IMMAN W. A MAR; J. J. BERRY SEVENTH WARD The Representatives on the Board of Education from the Seventh Ward since 1870, the year that section of the city was made a separate Ward, except H. D. Burlingham, who served as Director for five months in 1870. PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 237 plaining the situation there, which was not very compli- mentary to some of the citizens of Galesburg. This letter was published in the Galesburg Free Democrat, February 19, 1859. The bill passed the legislature and was approved February 18, 1859. TWO JOKERS IN THE CHARTER. There were two significant provisions inserted in the last section of the charter which were the means of delaying its going into operation for two years and seven months. The first of these provisos was, that the Act shall not take effect or be in force without the majority of the legal voters shall decide in its favor; the usual form would have been to re- quire a majority of the votes cast at the election. The sec- ond proviso was, that the election for this purpose must be held at such a time and conducted in such a manner as the council of said city may direct. Both of these provisions were innocent looking, and they are customary in such in- struments, but each contained a joker, showing the charac- ter of the opposition, which was composed of men who were always on the alert and especially skillful the "standpat- ters" of those days, but, as it will be seen, they were fight- ing for a losing cause. ELECTION DENIED BY COUNCIL. Early in the spring of 1859, the friends of the charter or those, as the Free Democrat puts it, who wanted more than six months of school in a year for the children of the city, appealed to the City Council to submit the adoption of the charter to a vote of the people, but it, in its wisdom, refused to call an election for that purpose. SCHOOL DIRECTORS ELECTED. The friends of free graded schools having spent a year, since the consolidation of the districts, in trying to secure a charter that would give more liberal provisions for public 238 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS schools than were contained in the union graded school act, and seeing no hope in the immediate future that the City Council would allow a vote to be taken on the charter, determined to do the best that could be done with the law they had. An election for school directors for School Dist- rict No. 1, comprising all the schools of the city, was held on the first Monday of September, 1859. This was the regular time for holding school elections in those days. George Churchill, A. B. Campbell and J. H. Knapp were nominated at a called meeting of the citizens held on the Saturday evening before. There were two hundred and fifty votes cast, and these men were elected by a majority of sixty- three votes. UNION GRADED SCHOOLS ORGANIZED. The Board of Directors went to work immediately to organize a system of graded schools, free to all citizens of Galesburg between five and twenty-one years of age. The schools up to that time had been mixed schools, having the advanced scholars in the same room with those learning their A. B. C's ; and the variety of text-books was said to be some less than the number of pupils. The first thing the Board did, was to grade the scholars, according to advance- ment in studies, into four departments: primary, second- ary, grammar and high school. Many scholars, it was said, had been educated in one branch and neglected in others; hence a regular course of study was outlined, and uniform text-books were adopted. UNION GRADED SCHOOLS OPENED. The primary and secondary schools were opened Mon- day, September 19, 1859, in the eight schoolhouses that had come to the Board by the consolidation of the districts. There were eight teachers in these schools ; 400 pupils were enrolled the first week, and 639 during the year. The ad- vanced departments, grammar and high school, were opened PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 239 Wednesday, September 28, 1859, in rooms rented by the Board. Three of these rooms were in the old Post Office building on South Broad street, opposite the old First Church. The Board rented three other rooms this year, but where is uncertain; probably two of them were on the northwest corner of the Square, the property of Mr. C. S. Colton, for the advanced departments, and the other perhaps was in an outlying section, for the ele- mentary grades. The number of pupils enrolled during the year in the high school department was 60, and in the grammar department, 160, making a total enrollment of 859 for the year, in all departments. The number of teachers was fourteen, and they received $2,197.90 in salaries. The total cost of the schools for the year was $3,176.89. MRS. TRYON PRECEPTRESS. The only reference to employment of these teachers that could be found is the following from the Free Democrat of September 21, 1858: "We are glad to learn that our well known teacher, Mrs. Tryon, has been engaged as Precept- ress in the higher department of our union graded schools. Mrs. Tryon has built up a large and flourishing school in the north part of the city, by her own merits as a teacher. She now leaves this to aid in our public schools." Mrs. Tryon was placed at the head of the school in the Post Office build-- ing, which was, without doubt, the most advanced depart- ment in the school system, and she was paid $50 per month. SUBJECTS TAUGHT. From a conference the writer had with Mrs. Tryon, some fifteen years ago, and which was written down at the time, the following facts concerning this school are here given. Pupils from all parts of the city were admitted to this school upon examination. Mrs. Tryon took 50 of her own pupils with her, and there were 150 in all. The first or highest room, called "A" grade, was under Mrs. Tryon ; 240 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS the second room, called "B" grade, was taught by Miss Nettie Smith ; the third room, called "C" grade, was taught by Mrs. Kendall. The three rooms met together for opening exercises in Mrs. Tryon's room. All the common branches were taught ; mathematics as high as algebra. The sciences were represented by a small class in philosophy ; there were three classes in Latin; one class in physical geography. A great deal of rhetorical work was done. Essays and decla- mations, in which all took part, were the regular Friday afternoon exercises. A daily ten-minute exercise in compo- sition was given in Mrs. Tryon's room; all had the same subject, which was announced by Mrs. Tryon; and all the work was done in the room and it was completed in ten minutes. CLOSING EXERCISES OF THE TERM. The first term of the schools, which ended at Christmas, closed in the following manner. Mrs. Tryon's school gave a free entertainment at Dunn's Hall. It was a drama gotten up on a week's notice. At least half of it was improvised on the stage, there not being time enough to commit it. After the entertainment they had a free supper, and after the sup- per a speech by J. H. Knapp who was a good talker, a mem- ber of the Board and looked upon as the Superintendent. The following local from the Free Democrat of December 28, 1859, is no doubt its account of this exhibition. "The Central School. This school did honor to itself on Friday evening (December 23) by appropriate compositions, decla- mations, tableaux and singing. At the close of the exercises the audience, numbering about 600, joined in the festivities of the evening. All were served with an abundance of the nicest kind of refreshments, and the poor of the city were made glad the next day by several baskets of the fragments." The same issue of this paper gives a long and glowing ac- count of a spelling match on the afternoon of that Friday, in which the eight primary and secondary schools took part. PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 241 Mr. Knapp and Professor Churchill pronounced the words. Mary Campbell, a girl of eleven years, won first place and George S. Raymond, the second. THE CHARTER ADOPTED. The City Council, which had refused in 1859 to allow the people the privilege of voting on the charter, had a change of heart the next year after the city elections and de- cided to submit the charter to a vote of the people, calling an election for that purpose to be held on Saturday, June 30, 1860. The friends of the charter immediately inaugurated a campaign in its favor but they were fearful of the result, for they labored under a great disadvantage as they had to get all their voters to the polls on election day, whereas their opponents had only to remain away from the polls. The Free Democrat on the evening before the election said, edi- torially, "To-morrow (Saturday) has been set apart by our City Fathers for a vote upon the new school charter. It will be noticed that a majority of all the legal voters must vote for it in order to make it a law. Its adoption will, therefore, require nearly 600 votes in its favor, and its friends will, no doubt, realize the necessity of untiring vigilance ; every vot- er who stays at home practically votes against it." On elec- tion day there were cast 505 votes for the act and 55 votes against the act. The friends of the charter were satisfied and its opponents were silenced as the majority was so de- cisive that any contest was out of the question, the highest number of votes cast at the last election being 629. The City Council, accordingly, on July 3, 1860, having canvassed the votes as above, declared the school charter legally adopt- ed and a part of the law of the city. This was in July, 1860 ; but the schools were not organized under the charter until September, 1861. The explanation of this is, that the char- ter provides for the election of directors on the first Monday in June; hence, a Board of Education could not be elected until June, 1861. 242 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS LAST YEAR OF UNION GRADED SCHOOLS. There was nothing to do but to continue the union graded schools for another year, which was done, with R. B. Guild as Superintendent of Instruction and seventeen lady assistants, being an increase of four teachers over the prev- ious year. A complete roster of these teachers may be found in Root's Galesburg City Directory for the year 1861, a copy of which is in the Public Library. There were nine buildings for the primary and secondary schools, with twelve teachers. The Central School, for the grammar and high school departments, was held this year on the west side of the Square, with five teachers, in rooms rented from Mr. C. S. Colton. There was a special teacher of penman- ship : the German language and the rudiments of vocal music were taught ; declamations and compositions were re- quired weekly; and a teachers' class was formed in the fall and spring for the especial benefit of those wishing to teach. With this year the union graded school system, originally the ideal system of public schools, came to an end, having been in operation only two years ; but a stronger, better and more complete system took its place the present one, which came into existence on the first Monday of June, 1861, by the election of the Board of Education of the Gales- burg School District. ADVANTAGES OF THE CHARTER. Long as this paper is, it cannot be brought to a close without a few words on the great value of the charter and on the first significant act of the Board of Education, under it. The provision of the charter that makes the treas- urer and the clerk of the city, ex-officio, treasurer and clerk of the Board of Education has, in a large meas- ure, preserved the schools in the past from political domin- ation, by taking away the "sinews" of political warfare. If the Board appointed its own treasurer, as it would do under the general law, then all the banks and their officials would PERIOD OF 1840 TO 1861. 243 be interested in the membership of the Board, not for the good of the schools, particularly, but for their own benefit, as the school fund is one of the best deposits. If it appoint- ed its own clerk, as it would do under the general law, then the politician for revenue would be interested in who is elected to the Board, for that office is good for from a thou- sand to fifteen hundred dollars salary, under political man- agement. As it is, there is nothing in the management of the schools by the Board of Education, organized under the charter, to call forth the legitimate interest of anyone, except the welfare of the schools alone. The provision that empowers the Board to locate the school buildings without submitting each to a vote of the people, as it would be required to do under the general law, has saved the schools, and the city too, from much bitter and needless strife. Nothing so paralyzes the efficiency of a school as the warring of antagonistic interests in its admin- istration. THE LAST BATTLE FOR FREE SCHOOLS. At the third meeting of the Board of Education, held on July 9, 1861, the last move in the battle against free schools, that had been so persistently and ably waged since 1855, was begun. In a section of the charter, which declares that the schools shall be free, follows this clause, "or upon the payment of such rates of tuition as the Board shall prescribe." All the facts in the history of the case being con- sidered, this looks very much like another joker. In accord- ance with this provision the following resolution was in- troduced : "Resolved, That all student residents attending the Central School shall pay the sum of fifty cents per quarter tuition, and all attending other schools shall pay twenty-five cents per quarter, all to be paid in advance." Both the wording and the spirit of this resolution are an echo from a past age. On motion of Mr. Clement Leach, the member from the Fifth Ward, it was laid on the table 244 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS until the next meeting. At the next meeting, July 15th, the motion was taken up for consideration and after a full dis- cussion the vote was finally called, when it stood three yeas and three nays. Hon. Alfred Knowles, who was then mayor of the city, was presiding, and it fell to him to cast the deciding vote, which he did, on the side of the negative, in favor of free schools. Thus Mr. Knowles had the honor of firing the last shot in the battle for free schools, and, be- cause he fired it in the right direction, his name will never be allowed to die. I u s. ^ ~ I =' 3 ,. u> "if iif Ih ISHlVERSITt OF CHAPTER VI SCHOOL CHARTER. At one time there were seventy-three school districts in the state with special charters. Now there are not more than thirty-five such districts. These charters greatly com- plicate the school law and thus add to the work of the State Department of Public Education. For years it has been the policy of that department to encourage the abrogation of special charters. Time has certainly shown that the charter of "The Board of Education of Galesburg School District" is superior to the general school law in the following re- spects : 1st. By providing that each ward shall have a repre- sentative in the Board and by requiring each member of the Board to submit his election to the voters of the entire city. Each member is thus made to feel that his duty is to look to the interests of the whole district as well as to those of his ward an admirable adjustment of centralized and local government. 2nd. By giving the Board of Education the power to locate and build schoolhouses, it removes a prolific source of antagonism that would array one section of the city against the other. 3rd. By making the City Clerk ex-officio Clerk of the Board of Education, it offers no reward to the politicians to make the result of a school election merely a question of who shall draw a good salary for doing a comparatively lit- tle clerical work. (245) 246 GALESBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS 4th. By making the City Treasurer ex-officio Treasurer of the Board of Education, it does not invite the banking in- terests of the city to make the issue of the school election simply one of who shall handle the funds. On account of these last two conditions, no question that does not directly involve the educational policy of the schools is likely to become an issue in a school election. The time for holding the election, coming as it does on the first Monday after the schools have closed for the year, is also a wise provision of the charter. Certainly there could be no better time in the school year than at its close for the people to pass on the policy of conducting the schools. THE CHARTER. An act for the establishment of a system of Graded Schools in the City of Galesburg. SECTION. 1. Boundaries of school district. 2. Division of property. 3. Transfer of school funds. 4. Board of Education. 5. Powers of Board. 6. Same. 7. Determining amount of school tax.* 8. Assessment for schools. 9. Census of children. 10. Borrowing money. 11. Election of directors. 12 Treasurer and clerk. SECTION. 13. Loaning permanent fund. 14. Security for loans. 16. Preferring school debts. 16. Collection of school moneys. 17. Judgments and interest. 18. Increasing securities. 19. Annual report. 20. Admission of scholars. 21. Qualifications for admission. 22. Purchasing grounds and build- ings. 23. Act, part of the charter. 24. Mode of taking effect. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, that all the territory within the limits of the city of Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois, according to its present or future boundaries, is hereby erected into a common school district, to be known as Galesburg School District. 'School Law, Art. VIII, Sec. 202: For the purpose of establishing and sup- porting free schools for not less than six nor more than nine months in each year, and defraying all the expenses of the same of every description, for the pur- pose of repairing and improving schoolhouses, of procuring furniture, fuel, li- braries and apparatus, and for all other necessary incidental expenses in each district, village or city, anything _ in any special charter to the contrary notwith- standing, the directors of such district and the authorities of such village or city shall be authorized to levy a tax annually upon all the taxable property of the district, village or city not to exceed two and one-half per cent, for educational and two and one-half per cent, for building purposes (except to pay indebtedness contracted previous to the passage of this act), the valuation to be ascertained by the last assessment for state and county taxes; Provided, that in cities having a population exceeding one hundred thousand inhabitants the Board of Education may establish and maintain vacation schools and play grounds under such rules as it shall prescribe, [As amended by Act approved April 21, 1899. In force July 1, 1899.] SCHOOL CHARTER. 247 SEC. 2. All school lands, school funds, and other real or person- al estate, notes, bonds or obligations, belonging to township number eleven north, and range one east, of the fourth principal meridian, Knox County, Illinois, held or owned for school purposes, shall be divided between the city of Galesburg and the portion of the town- ship without the same, in the proportion and manner following: The school trustees for said township shall, within thirty days after the first election contemplated by this act appoint two com- missioners who are freeholders, one a resident of said city, and the other of said township without the city; who, after being sworn well and truly to discharge their duties, shall ascertain the whole num- ber of white persons under the age of twenty-one years, residing in the whole of said township, and the whole number in said city, and in the