Central Manual Training High School - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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ing of the methods and progress of manufacturing gives him a weight and importance which, at the beginning of their career, comparatively few business executives have possessed. He is not infre- quently found to be competent to act either as superintendent or as manager. The Central Manual Training High School of Philadelphia was established in September, 1885. Mainly as the result of the efforts of the president of our school, it at once took rank among the best exponents of modern educational movements, a position which it has since that time steadily main- tained. The promoters of the idea secured the use of an almost condemned elementary school build- ing at the corner of Seventeenth and Wood streets, and inaugurated the school with a complement of one hundred pupils. This meagre shell was, and, unfortunately still is, the Central Manual Training High School of one of the few cities of the first rank in the United States. To-day, one or more hight grade manual training equipments have been built in almost every city of the United States. What was something of an experiment in 1885, is now one of the most potent factors in modern education. Yet the pioneer school, in spite of the splendid results that have since redounded to the credit of its originators, is to-day, from the standpoint of physical housing, the sorriest spectacle in the whole category of modern manual training high schools. When the enor- mous growth of the school is considered, when this growth is known to be the result of sustained and solid educational worth, it is to be deplored that the physical needs of the school are not made a matter of paramount popular concern. In the miserable building in which this foremost of manual training high schools is forced to house itself, it is already impossible to accommodate the large in- coming classes that are annually clamoring for admission to its privileges. As for ourselves, personally, when we ask the question: Has the manual training high school idea sufficiently prepared us to cope with the difficulties that we are to encounter?-we find the answer suggested by examining the records of those graduates who have preceded us. Eighty per cent. of those are engaged in pursuits which require an alert and trained intelligence. We find that we, as members of the graduating class of nineteen hundred and nine, will at least attempt to main- tain the credit and dignity of our Alma Mater. 68

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demonstrated himself to be capable of occupying a position where executive ability is required. For this reason, as experience has shown, the manual training idea has created a favorable impression in the world of affairs. Consequently it has taken a firm root in the plans of educational experts throughout the country, and, as a corollary of this, its scope and field has greatly broadened. More- over, it is a further object of the manual training academic idea to enable the student of average capability to conjoin his hand and head in sympathetic co-operation with the industrial and civil insti- tutions of his city, state, and nation. The manual training system as it is here known and dehned is characteristic of the expansion and development of our national ideas. The trade and technical schools of Europe are devoted more es- pecially to instruction in some handicraftsmanship which does not necessarily involve the higher edu- cation and general culture. ' Considering the matter from a negative point of view. it is likewise plain that. as a result of having smothered whatever latent impulses of unity in the development of hand and eye and brain that they may possess, students of the obsolescent type of grammar and high school, such schools as are founded merely upon one-sided academic ideas, are necessarily not sufficiently developed or en- lightened in regard to their native bents to make a judicious choice of a profession. The pupils of such antiquated systems are familiar with neither their innate personal possibilities nor with the scope and limitations of the various types of industrial and professional activity. It is one of the ends of modern manual training schools, however, to instruct the student in the application of his book knowledge to the practical affairs of life. He takes a greater joy in his work. because he sees something concrete and original forming under his hands. If he enter the diverse field of mechanical arts, he is not compelled to learn the rudiments of a particular manufacturer. He has already acquired the general dexterity that is necessary before he could otherwise be advanced. Taking his place beside others of his own age, who have not had his training, he, in consequence of his superior initial equipment, naturally exhibits better handicraftsman- ship and secures more rapid promotion. Or, if he enter the business world, his general understand- 67 '

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Halehgnrg Ladies and Gentlemen: To-day, you as our public and we as a class, are here together for the tlrst and oddly enough. for the last time. On such an occasion therefore, it is only Fitting that we should express our appreciation of the great interest you have taken in us. Not only have you been devoted to our interests as a class, but you have observed with sympathy and understanding our progress and development as individuals. When we recall the raw material out of which we were fashioned in the difficult process to which we have been subjected, we are all the more impressed by your sympathy and support. You have encouraged us in those dubious times when the spinster of that trio of Fates has woven the dark thread more readily than the light. Without this encour- agement and help, we might perchance, have lost faith in ourselves and given up our faint hope for the future light. Speaking for my classmates, it is my privilege to express to you our appreciation for what you have done for us in this regard. There have been times, in the exuberance of our feelings when, through some deviation from the straight and narrow way we have justly earned your reprobation. These times, on the whole have been few, but we have never felt, upon due reflection that your cen- sure was misplaced. There are, however, other things for which we are grateful. Among you, no doubt, there are not a few who have had to make sacrifices in order that some of us might reap the benefits of the systematic and advantageous training in the courses of the institution from which we have just been graduated. Such voluntary sacrifices as these have been made with perfect willingness on your part, although you might have easily evaded them to your greater ease. In recognizing such an obligation to your sons. however, you may be justly proud of the silent performance of the really Hue duty of American citizenship-the bestowal of the boon of opportunity, through the gateway of the great American public schools, on those who constitute the men of to-morrow. 69