Salem State University - Clipper Yearbook

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A CENTURY OF PROGRESS AND A CENTURY OF DECLINE OR TWO CENTURIES OF PROGRESS -WHICH? MassachuseTTs has always been considered one of The leading sTaTes, in all meas- ures reflecTing inTelligence, leadership, economic efficiency, and relaTive freedom from crime. Indeed, in a survey made by William C. Bagley in which Ten measures of This kind were combined, MassachuseTTs ranked firsT. No doubT This is The resulT of her fine sysTem of educaTion. AlThough she has The second largesT immigraTion handicap of any sTaTe, her public schools have Turned This inTo an asseT. WhaT is iT ThaT makes These public schools so fine? IT is in parT due To our Teachers colleges. The esTablishmenT or public normal schools is one of The Things in which Massa- chuseTTs was firsT-firsT in America. The movemenT sTarTed abouT i824 when James CarTer of LancasTer and The Reverend Charles Brooks of Hingham began To publish arTicles asking for beTTer Teachers. AlThough The'BosTon LaTin School had been esTablished in I635 in MassachuseTTs Bay Colony, presumably To educaTe young men To become minisTers and Teachers, There had never been any real Teacher Training. Would-be Teachers learned Their sub- iecT maTTer and caughT Their pedagogy from Their Teachers. OfTen Teachers of The ele- menTary school had no educaTion above high school, and someTimes noT even ThaT. As Professor Francis Bowen of Harvard said in l85O: The common school sysTem of New England lin The early I83O'sl had degeneraTed inTo rouTine and was sTarved by parsimony. Any hovel would answer for a schoolhouse, any primer would do for a TexTbook, and any farmer's apprenTice was compeTenT To keep school. IT was because of such condiTions as These, ThaT CarTer and Brooks were proTesT- ing. In I837, a Board of EducaTion was esTablished wiTh Horace Mann as SecreTary. Mann, TogeTher wiTh CarTer and Brooks, was successful in persuading The sTaTe of MassachuseTTs To duplicaTe The offer of Sl0,000, which Edmund DwighT, a BosTon merchanT, agreed To donaTe for The esTablishmenT of Teacher-Training insTiTuTionsg consequenTly, The Board of EducaTion voTed To esTablish Three schools as follows: l. l.exingTon lnow Framinghaml, July 3, IB39 2. Barre lnow WesTfieldl, SepTember I4, I839 3. BridgewaTer, SepTember 9, l84O The diary of Cyrus Pierce of NanTuckeT, The firsT principal of LexingTon, records The evenT in The following manner: LexingTon, July 3d, T839 This day The Normal School, The firsT in The counTry, commenced. Three pupils- Misseg Hawkins, SmiTh, and Damon were examined by The Board of VisiTors and ad- miTTe . The nexT five or Ten years were years of experimenT and conTroversy. Many said The cosT was Too high or ThaT if Teachers knew Their subiecT maTTer, They could Teach easily enough. Some recommended The aboliTion of boTh The normal schools and The Board of EducaTion. In spiTe of all This opposiTion, however, The schools passed Through The original Three-year probaTion period and iT was agreed To conTinue Them anoTher Three years. Meanwhile They were becoming more popular and as more sTudenTs came To Them, The good effeci' was felT ThroughouT The sTaTe. In The original discussion iT had been proposed ThaT four normal schools be esTab- lished, The fourTh To be aT Salem, buT because of expense, This one was noT esTablished unTil l854, fifTeen years aTTer The esTablishmenT of The firsT. These four were noT enough To saTisfy The people of MassachuseTTs, so four more were esTablished aT The close of The cenTury: FiTchburg, in l895g Lowell, Hyannis, and NorTh Adams in I897. In all The years we have noT deparTed from The idea ThaT The normal schools are for The Training of Teachers. They are professional schools-noT secondary schools or col- leges of liberal arTs. 29

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fa T'-Ji QL H? w 7' HORACE MANN TRAINING SCHOOL 28 x 1 ':1'4 2' - -

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Lef us now follow fhe evolufion of Salem-nof only because if is of special infer- esf fo us buf also because if is fypical of all fhe normal schools in Massachuseffs. On Sepfember I4, l854, fhe Salem Normal School was opened in a building on fhe corner of Summer and Broad Sfreefs, lfhe building now occupied by fhe adminis- frafion office of fhe school deparfmenfl. lf is inferesfing fo nofe 'rhaf 'rhe Easfern Railway Corporafion confribufed 52,000 fo 'rhe expense of fhis building. If opened wifh a principal and one assisfanf feacher, bofh of whom were graduafes of Bridge- wafer. There were sevenfy-fwo sfudenfs of whom forfy-eighf were graduafed. Then followed a period of sfeady developmenf: l866-The course was exfended from one-and-one-half fo fwo years. l87O-The presenf building was erecfed, fhe lower floor being occupied by 'rhe elemenfary grades of fhe pracfice school. l9l0-High school graduafion was firsf required for enfrance. Up fo fhis fime, be- cause of fhe scarcify and diversify of high schools if had nof been possible fo insisf upon fhis. l908-The Commercial Deparfmenf was founded-fhe firsf in fhe counfry fo com- bine fechnical and professional fraining of commercial feachers. I9I2-The presenf fraining school was builf, half fhe cosf being paid by fhe cify of Salem and half by fhe Sfafe. Gradually fhe curricula have grown from a fwo-year fo a four-year course in all cleparfmenfs wifh a Bachelor of Science degree presenfed af graduafion. Recenfly Junior High and Special Educafion courses have been offered, bringing fhe old Salem Normal School fo ifs presenf sfafus under ifs new name, Sfafe Teachers College af Salem. Our pride in our own sfafe should nof allow us fo overlook enfirely fhe worlc going on in ofher parfs of fhe counfry. The ofher New England sfafes were nof far behind Massachuseffs in esfablishing af leasf one sfafe normal school. The remaining sfafes followed suif: New York, l844g Michigan, I849: and Illinois, l857. Several ofher sfafes including Pennsylvania, California, and Wisconsin gof along for some fime wifh privafe insfifufions. The developmenf of normal schools in fhe Soufh was somewhaf slower, parfly because of fhe Civil War, and parfly because many children received fheir elemen- fary educafion in fheir own homes. Norfh Carolina made a preliminary affempf fo esfablish a normal school in I853, buf did nofhing furfher unfil l876. Ofher sfafes fol- lowed her lead: Virginia, l854: Louisiana, l884g Florida, l887g Soufh Carolina, l895. Af fhe presenf dale fhe educafional sysfems of fhe Soufh are sfill far behind fhe Norfh in many respecfs. A direcfory published by fhe Unifed Sfafes Office of Educafion in I936 lisfs l58 sfafes and municipal 'reachers colleges besides some normal schools and privafe feacher colleges bringing fhe number up fo almosf 400 in all. From fhe fhree sfudenfs enfering fhe firsf feachers college, fhe number has grown fo 3000 in Massachuseffs and 25,300 in fhe Unifed Sfafes according fo figures for l930. The course offered foday varies greafly from fhe course of IB39. ln fhe maiorify of cases if is fhree or four years in lengfh. In many sfafes, a Bachelor of Science degree is presenfed on complefion of a four-year course, as is fhe procedure af Salem, for fhe normal schools have now become 'reachers colleges. Some feachers colleges have power fo presenf lv1asfer's degrees. In many colleges summer courses or exfension courses are given, fhus greafly exfending fhe usefulness of fhese insfifufions. Thus in fhe shorf space of one hundred years fhe normal school has experienced alrnosf unbelievable progress. ls This cenfury of progress going fo be followed by a period of decline? Massachuseffs was fhe pioneer in fhis movemenf, and she has lcepf her place as leader all fhrough fhis cenfury of developmenf. ls she going fo sif baclr now and lei some ofher sfafe falre away her laurels? lf is for her cifizens fo decide. Can fhey afford fo economize af fhe expense of a priceless educafional sysfem? 30