West Chester University - Serpentine Yearbook (West Chester, PA)

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School. He assumed the duties of this position in the summer of 1899. It was a source of keen regret to the people of West Chester, when he severed his coii- neetion with their State Normal School, ami especiall.v so to his colleagues to whom he had endeared himself by so many years of companionahle association, l)ut they felt tiiat he had done his duty in obeying the call to the higher position and their prayers and best wishes attended Dr. and IMi ' s. Smith, as they entered upon their new field of labor. l Ui we pause in this biograph,v long enough to whispei ' to our readers that in 1S86, when the young man, Andrew Thomas Smith, was elected Professor of Pedagogy, Cupid ' s darts were tiying thick and fast, and the one hurled by the talented Elizabeth F. Ogden, a daughter of one of the leading business men of Cape Ma.y, N. -f., and a member of the class of 1886, pierced the heart of the brilliant young Piofessor, and in 1888 Professor Smith and I Iiss Ogden were united in matrimony. Mrs. Smith had been for several years a successful teacher and took high rank in her class. She was for three years a most efficient mem- ber of the Normal School Faculty. ' Mrs. Smith ' s taste h as made the study of literature a .special delight to her, and her uuiuy original poems have been greatly enjo.ved by her friends and have proved that her poetic gift is of the most re- fined and elevated type. As will be noted with appreciation, later, Mrs. Smith proved to be a worthy lu ' lp unite to her husband, sparing neither time nor energies to support him in everything pertaining to the vital interests of the scliool, whether social, religious, or more distinctively academic and professional. Dr. Smith, therefore, entered upon the duties of the Principalship of the Mansfield State Normal School with all the vigor of his young manhood, and Pa e Ten

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In ISSG. he was cK ' t-ti ' d Prol ' t ' ssor of Pedagogy ami a liltli ' latiT 1)ffame also ' ice-Priiieipal of the institution, serving in this hist capacity npwards of ten years. During the snnnner of 1885 and 188(3, he devoted himself to the fur- ther stndy of Pedagogy under that famous teacher, William H. Payne, LL. D., Chancellor of the Univei ' sity of Nashville, Tennessee, and continued to pursue advanced studies in ilathematics and Sciences in connection with special work in higher Pedagogy, during succeeding suiinners. . In 1892, Profe.ssor Sinilli was granted a year ' s leave of aliscnce from the school in order that he miglit become a resident student in the New York Uni- versity and complete the course leading to the degree of Doctor of Pedagogy, which he had been pursuing, in absi iilia. He entered the University in the fall of 1892. completed all the re(|uired courses and presented his thesis for which the degree of Doctor of Pedagogy was conferred npon him in June. 1893. This was a notable achievement for a young man not yet thirty-one years of age, who had graduated from the State Normal School just ten years before, and the University especially honored the young doctor liy selecting his thesis as one of the two which were to be published to represent its pedagogical work in the edu- cational world, — a fitting triinite to the mental acumen, pains-taking effort, re- solute determination and high ambition of one whose personal worth was each year inerea.singly manifesting itself. In the fall of 1893, Doctoi ' Smith resumed his work in the school as Vice- Principal and Head of the Department of Pedagogy. Later, he studied one year with Dr. George S. Fullerton. the eminent professor of Philosojihy in the Uni- versity, of Pennsylvania. The work with the New York University and the University of Pennsylvania was reflected in the class-room with great benefit to prospective teachers and in a very tangible way in a text-book on Systematic ] lethotlology. which was adopted in the State Normal School several years ago and has met with nnich favor in educational circles elsewhere. While speaking of Dr. Smith as an author, we may add that he prepared the beautiful booklet Quarto-Centennial History of the West Chester State Normal School, in 1896. and the Historian of the (|Uarto-centennial of 1896 was destined to be the Principal at the semi-centennial in lf)21. In 1898. Dr. Smith was maile Acting-Principal during the absence of the Principal. Dr. Philips, in Europe, foi- a [leriod of four months. ' It will be es- pecially interesting, in the light of subse(|Uent events, to ((uote hei ' e a few lines from the October number of the Amulet, which voiced the sentiments of all, when it remarked, editoi ' ially, — The events of the past two months have made it apparent to all, trustees, faculty, patrons, and students alike, that Dr. Smith, now Acting-Principal, merits to tiie fullest extent the confidence reposed in him by his chief. Dr. Smith has risen grandly to the occasion and won anew the love and esteem of all. In all the vai ' ious duties incinnbi ' ut uiion a Pi ' incipal, he has shown that he jiossesses adiniiiistr;ilivc ability of the highest order. Coming ' events seemed, indei ' d. to be casting a shadow bcfoi ' e. for in less than six months frem the time that Dr. Smith laid down the duties of Acting- Principal, he was called to the Pi-incii)alshii) of Ihe JIansfield (Pa.) State Normal Page Nine

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with the deti ' i-niination to help those entrusted to his care, to realize their highest jiossihilities, and lieconie teachers capable of rendering titling sei-vice to the State, both by preeept and example. In this he was eminently suceesst ' ul. as the records of the school will show during his fifteen years of service. These years stand as a monument to the constructive work, organizing ability and wise and sym- jiathetie direction of Dr. Smith, as he sought to lift young men and young women to a plain of independent and correct thinking, forceful and healthy initiative and adaptability, along all lines of endeavor and conduct, thus enabling them to becouu ' more useful and trustworthy members of society, more substantial citi- zens, more agreeable companions and better men and women in the most com- prehensive sense, with a good all-round education fitted to cope with as many exigencies of the day as possible. After this long period of service. Dr. Smith, at a special meeting of the Mansfield Board of Tru.stees, held Decemlier Tl, 11113, stated that he had been called to the Princijialship of the Clarion (Pa.) State Xornui! School, under conditions that appealed favorably to him, and asked the Boar ' d to release him from the Mansfield School as soon as practicable, whereupon resolutions were unanimously adopted, accepting with regret Dr. Smith ' s resignation, and as- .suring him that it was with the best of good feeling and only at his request that such action was taken. When the resignation of Dr. Smith became known, the various press com- ments, resolutions from organizations of all kinds, and private letters showed the esteem in which Dr. and ] Irs. Smith were held. A leading Philadelphia paper remarked, editorially, — The resignation of Di-. Andrew Thonms Smith. for fifteen years the successful Principal of the State Xormal School of the Fifth District at Mansfield, was received with reluctance by the trustees and with regret by the people of Northern Penn.sylvania. Dr. Smith has brought the IMansfield School to the very climax of educational usefulness and etficienc.v. His liberal views, progressive work, and successful administi ' ation have fixed the asceudenc.v of this popular educational institution firmer in the galaxy of ' best Normals ' i ' l the State and his withdrawal at his own volition and sugges- tion is a distinct loss to Tioga County. A home paper stated it tersely as fol- lows, — When Dr. Smith retires from JIansfield, his work here will have rounded out a period of nearly fifteen years. And superb service it has been. The best wishes of the Mansfield people go with him and Mrs. Smith for the rewards that ma.v fittingly crown the lives of those who have given so much of themselves to others. ' ' The limitations of this sketch make it possible to do little more than give a few lines from the many strong testimonials touching the labors of Dr. and Jlrs. Smith at Man.sfield, and the affectionate regard in which the - were held. Til the l ' ,ieulty of the school, theii ' departure meant losing the helpful companionship of true friends and the beautiful words of Thomas Hughes were an embodiment of their feeling, — Friendship involves many things, but above all the power of going out of one ' s self and appreciating whatever is noble and lovin T in another. The tribute significantlv adds. — And that both Dr. and Page Eleven