Ferris State University - Ferriscope Yearbook (Big Rapids, MI)

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quainted with the teachers of the county, in view of the fact that the Ferris Industrial School was to open the first Monday' in Sepember. Two small rooms were rented on the second floor of the Vandersluis block on South Michi- gan avenue. On the first day fifteen students presented themselves. Mrs, Ferris and I did the teaching. The larger part of the work was along two lines, normal and com- mercial. The school soon outgrew the two rooms. After considerable urging, I rented from the Masons the entire third floor of the building now occupied by the Citizens State Bank. In January, 1885, we began work in our more commodious quarters. A year after, in spite of local dis- couragement, the school grew and the third floor of the Roof block was added, a portion of the second floor of the bank building and a portion of the second floor of the Roof block and finally the third floor of the XVilcox block. New teachers were added as the attendance increased. One of the first teachers was Mrs. Anna F. Pease, who re- mained connected with the school for several years. Mrs. Pease taught in all of the departments of the school, the commercial excepted. Mr. C. A, VVessel entered the school in 1889 and remained in full charge of the commercial de- partment for fifteen years. Mr. Robert Stackable, now in Honolulu, taught one year while the school was in the bank block. Miss Goodison, of the State Normal College of Ypsilanti, taught history and geography four months. Mr. Charles Carlisle became acquainted with the Ferris In- dustrial School through its summer sessions. He was able to carry on his regular work during the year in the Ionia public schools and give us the beneht of his summers. In September, 81892, Mr. Charles Carlisle became one of our regular teachers. He has been with us for seventeen years. Several other teachers were associated with the school be- fore it moved to its present quarters. In 1892 I accepted the democratic nomination for Con- gress in the Eleventh District. My opponent was Dr. -Iohn Avery, of Greenville, Michigan. It is needless for me to add that I was defeated in this election. After all, some- thing was gained by way of personal acquaintances through- out the twelve counties. In 1893 the main building of the Ferris Institute was constructed. It was during the autumn of 1893 that the Norhern National Bank failed. I had only drawn one check payable to the builder when this disaster came. Through the fidelity of former students, thousands of dollars came in for my use. Bankruptcy would have been inevitable had it not been for this timely aid. This money was borrowed on a 4? basis and paid according to the provisions of the certificates that were issued. In 1894 the institution was incorporated, capital stock S5o,ooo. Even at this time it retained its original name, the Ferris Industrial School. In 1900 the name was changed to The Ferris Institute. From time to time new buildings have been added. Their value, at a conservative estimate, is SIO0,000. In all 4,389 shares fSIO eachj of stock have actually been sold. For seven or eight years dividends of 8 per cent. have been paid annually. The larger part of the stock is owned by myself. For several years the Ferris Insti- tute has maintained sixteen departments: English, Pharmacy, Commercial, Shorthand, Typewriting, Civil Service, Pen- manship, Telegraphy, Elocution, Vocal Music, Drawing, Kindergarten, Physical Culture, Professional Preparatory, College Preparatory and Normal.

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Principal of the Normal Department. As nearly as I can remember we entered upon our duties as instructors in April, 1876. This venture proved a failure. The University was little better than a well-organized academy. We failed to receive a11y considerable part of our salaries. NVe con- cluded at the end of 1877 to discontinue work at the Uni- versity and organize a private academy down town. Justin L. Hartwell, then Superintendent of Schools in North Dix- on, Illinois, joined me in this new enterprise. At the end of the year we dissolved partnership. Mrs. Ferris and my- self continued the work. This enterprise was fairly success- ful. I saw that, sooner or later, Rock River University would pass out of the hands of Dr. Tooke and some man of means would in all probability monopolize the private school field. VVe concluded, therefore, to close the Dixon Business College and Academy in the summer of 1879. On September 18, 1876, our first child, Carleton G. Ferris, was born. During our stay of a little more than three years in Dixon we led a strenuous life. After all, we look back to delightful friendships, to tl1e days and hours whose inliuence is a part of our very lives at the present time. It was during this period that I drove to Sterling, sixteen miles or thereabouts from Dixon, to hear Theodore Tilton give his lecture entitled The Human Mind . The most powerful factors in my work as teacher originated in the turn that this lecture gave to my forces. I now have in my possession a beautiful letter written by Theodore Tilton from his rooms in Paris, thanking me for calling his attention to the inliuence of this particular ad- dress. ln this lecture he made it clear to me that the ap- proach to the human mind is through the heart, that the springs of action are man's desires and aspirations and not his intellect. It is from this viewpoint that I have attempted to do my best work as a teacher. In the fall of 1879 I accepted a position as Superintend- ent of the city schools of Pittsfield, Illinois, in which posi- tion I remained for five years. Mrs. Ferris did not teach while we lived at Pittsfield. I was twenty-six years of age when I began my work as superintendent. I was aggres- sive, earnest, diligent, enthusiastic. Probably no five years of my teaching ever bore more and better fruit than the five years at Pittsfleld. The reader will not care to read the de- tails concerning what I aimed to accomplish as city Super- intendent. I was a follower, not a leader, in educational thought. I believed that the Superintendents in the larger cities knew what the public schools needed and I, therefore, fell in line and attempted in my own weak way to imitate them. Although twenty-hve years have passed, both Mrs. Ferris and myself recall with wonderful distinctness our social relations in this little city of Illinois. It was in Pittsfield, June 3, 1881, that our second son, Clifford, was born. It was on September 2o, 1881, that he died. In the fall of 1884 we concluded to leave Pittsneld and organize a private school at llig Rapids, Michigan. W'e had had this plan in mind for a year. The Olllj' question that remained for consideration was where we would locate. XVe had three cities under consideration-Fargo, Dakotag Duluth, Minnesota, and Big Rapids. Other cities were visited, but the choice narrowed down to three. On May 16, 1884, we arrived in the city of Big Rapids. During the summer I worked in a summer school conducted by P. M. Iirown and C. E. Tuck. At that time, C. E. Tuck was Principal of the school at Mecosta, Mich. I received noth- ing for my services, because I was anxious to become ac- vt.,

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To-day the school is favorably known throughout the United States. Our graduates bear the marks of thorough- ness. The present year exceeds all previous years in at- tendance. 1 Cn April 16, 1889, our third son, Phelps Fitch Ferris was born. In 1901 Mrs. Ferris withdrew from the active teaching force of the Ferris Institute. Possibly no teacher in the twenty-hve years has wielded a more potent influ- ence for good than has Mrs. Ferris. In the fall of 1904 the Democrats, in convention assem- bled at Grand Rapids, nominated me for Governor of Michi- gan. This did not originate in any desire on my part to enter politics. It was a question of expediency. I opened the campaign on August 23, IQO4, at Detroit. Notwith- standing the fact that I had the support of the leading newspapers of Michigan and the assistance of thousands of Republicans, my opponent, Fred M. XVarner, was elected by 42,877 majority. Possibly some satisfaction is to be gained through the fact that Mr. XVarner ran 169,337 be- hind his ticket. The truth of the matter is that if I had political aspirations they would be of no value to me. In Michigan there is a scarcity of Democrats that makes poli- tics profitable only for the man who calls himself a Repub- lican. V During all of these twenty-hve years I have lectured in nearly every city and village in Michigan, also in some of the important cities of adjoining states. My work is not the work of a prodigyg it is the work of one who has ordinary ability. I have simply furnished another illustration of what persistent, systematic effort will do. In a word, the Ferris Institute is an awakener. It is not a college, it is a great secondary school, that has for its mission the feeding of the hungry, regardless of their age, race and previous condition. VVhat the Ferris Institute will attain in the future, the writer doesn't pretend to foretell. at 7 ELEN Gillespie Ferris was born K-f-3 .9 ,'-QT 3 en, . 0 EG- 5 ' 1 3 St If A JL Y in New Haven, IN. Y., Septem- ber 7, 1853, where the first ten years of her life were spent. Her father, wishing for better educa- tional advantages for his children, then moved to Fulton, N. Y. where the daughters were placed in Mrs. Caldwellfs priv- ate school for girls. Two years' training in this school was followed by three years in Falley Seminary. She then taught one HELEN GILLESPIE mums term in a rural school, thus demonstrating sat- isfactorily to her parents'that she had talent for teaching. She entered upon a course of training for her chosen work,