Eastern Michigan University - Aurora Yearbook (Ypsilanti, MI)

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Igrvaihvnt E. 15. 31111125 ' v ' D 0 ir A 0 X 9 nf , ,,. -XFX, f N THE early his- W, Q i li tory of our country 0 0 ' 1 0 a family of Welsh X! 1 1 , lx! Quakers by the f . f ' 0 name of Jones came lv p - If A to America an d i ' 9 V4 O settled in the Caro- , N 'sf 4 E 'v t C! linas. Alittle later, s. is L ,gg H probably being Q f Q ' 5 fv-htm , ' 0 ' crowded out by slave labor as so many of the small farmers and free laborers of the Carolinas were, they joined the movement westward and found anew home in Tennessee, near Knoxville. Here they remained until the early thirties, when the head of the familv became active in the anti-slavery movement and so antagonized the slavery sentiment of his neighbors that the family was driven out of Tennessee and moved northward into Indiana. Of this stock L. H. Jones was born-the grandson of the anti-slavery agitator. His early education was in the common schools of the state, and in one of the many academies which preceded and corresponded to the high schools in our western states. From here he was attracted to the Oswego Normal School, the representative of Pesta- lozzianism in this country at that time, where he was gradu- ated from both the elementary and advanced courses. From the Oswego Normal he went to Harvard, where he had the rare opportunity of studying science under the great naturalist, Agassiz. With this great teacher, Mr. Jones' work was turned so strongly into the scientihc lines that when he left Harvard to begin his professional career. it was to take the chair of natural science in the State Nor- mal School at Terre Haute. After spending four years at Terre Haute, Mr. Jones was called to a position in the high school of Indianapolis, and a little later was made principal of the Normal Train- ing School of that city, where he served for eight years. He was then made superintendent of the Indianapolis sys- tem of schools and in this position, during the ten years following, he gained a training and experience which fitted him for the accomplishment. of a task in the schools of Cleveland, Ohio, which was of very great significance in the history of public education of the United States. The problem of directing successfully the school system of a great city and at the same time conciliating and harmon- izing the discordant and many times selfish political forces that are placed in authority over the superintendent, is a well nigh hopeless task. There is a constant temptation for the superintendent to View every policy in the light of its effect upon a political clique rather than upon the schools. while the superintendent who honestly seeks to serve the schools too frequently falls a victim to the politician. Thus in many of our cities the superintendency has come into the hands of Wire pullers, to the innnite detriment of the schools. Only in rare cases have really great educators succeeded in holding these positions for a sufficient length of time to work o11t a successful policy. And, even where

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PRES! DENT I. H4 JONES

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they have in a measure succeeded, they have been con- stantly hampered by the tactics of the ward politician. The mixing of politics and education, and the lack of central- ized authority and responsibility have seriously weakened the educational work of our great cities. This was the situation that Mr. .Tones found at Indian- apolis and he met it with courage and skill. He developed comprehensive plans for building up and systematizing the schools of the city. He determined that his teachers should stand or fall upon their merits as teachers-not upon the number of votes that they could control. In doing this he found it necessary to use about one-half of his time in securing authority to carry out his plans, but in spite of this dificulty he placed the schools of Indianapolis among the very Hrst in the country. In the meantime, the people of Cleveland had deter- mined to overthrow the old system which had reached the liniit of endurance. The old board of twenty-one members was abolished and a new council of seven was created, with a director as president, who had authority to appoint and remove the superintendent, while to the superintendent was given authority to employ, promote, or dismiss his teachers without appeal to the board. The superintendency was offered to Mr. Jones and he saw its possibilities. Here was an opportunity for an educator to devote his entire time and energy to the internal interests of the schools. His theory was that if a superintendent should once show the people what could be done under such conditions they would never be satisfied with a lower standard. He undertook the task and achieved a remarkable success, so that Cleveland has served as a model to other cities in the reorganization of their school systems. V Of Mr. Jones' work as president of the Normal College, but little need be said as many of his policies are only now beginning to bear fruit. Before coming here he had received exceptional training for his work. As a student in the common school, academy, normal school, and university, as a teacher in the high school, as principal in the normal training school, and as superintendent of two great city systems, he had had an opportunity to view the problem of education from every angle. Soon after coming to Ypsilanti, he realized the 'unity of the educational system of the state and, as a consequence, a large part of his effort has been directed toward bringing the Normal College into vital relation to the schools of the state, and many of his policies which seem to be following different lines ind their unifying principle in this idea. Of his personality since he is with us we shall not speak. It is enough to say that we love and respect him. J. STUART LATHERS.