Bridgewater State University - Alpha Yearbook (Bridgewater, MA)

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I-IORACE MANN

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DEDICATION to I-IORACE IVIANN And the nine decades of growth In Normal Schools Which his vision and courage Have made possible

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I-IORACE MANN Turning back in history to the hfth century B. C. we come to that leaf upon which is written the name of Socrates, one of the world's great educational leaders, who through all the intervening ages continues to hold such a firm grasp upon our affections. As his world was Athens, so is America the world of Horace Mann, the educator who has been likened to a voice crying in the wilderness, whom men did hear, whom men did heed, and to whom men did respond. That men espoused the cause of education under such a leader is not strange. His life regarded in its most cursory aspects was commanding, since from his earliest years he was impressed with the importance of moral wealth and love of knowledge, while those years immediately following, when only hard work on his part earned textbooks, made him realize the sweetness of that mighty, compelling force,-education. Pure integrity of purpose enabled him to enter college only six months from the time he first saw a Latin grammar, and to graduate first in his class. Demosthenes is not the only man to be held up anew to each generation of youth as a guide in the path to success, because of the exercises and labors by which he achieved excellence in his art. To have known Horace Mann,-even to read of him,-is to experience in some degree his personal magnetism. A liberal mind, a generous heart, and refinement of ideals made him admired by his constituents and deeply loved by his friends. His tastes were marked by simplicity, the benevolence of his nature ever appeared in benefactions to individuals and to society. In fact, his ideals of the possibilities in human nature were so high that they caused him to be constantly disappointed by the failure of his fellowmen to reach a standard which seemed possible to him. On accepting the office of Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837, he Wrote in his diary: Henceforth as long as I hold this office I devote myself to the sup- remest Welfare of mankind on earth. My effort may do apparently but little, yet a mere beginning in a good cause is never little. If we can get this vast wheel into any motion, we shall have accomplished much. With these words expressing his great humanitarian sympathies, there is permitted only one last stroke of the brush to complete the picture which he himself has painted on the canvas of education: the mission to influence by enlightening rather than to control by authority is very near to the precepts of the Great Teacher. MARY ELIZABETH HAYES