The development of primary and secondary public education in Michigan. A historical sketch

Preface

Excellent histories of the University and of higher education in Michigan have been published, but no connected history of the development of primary and secondary education in the State has appeared.- Such history is found only in multifarious reports and other documents of a more or less permanent character. The lack of any history of this kind has been a matter of regret and inconvenience, and occasionally of reproach to the commonwealth. In a correspendence with the lamented Dr. B. A. Hinsdale, a short time previous to his death, he expressed his sense of the want of such a work, and urged some reasons why the present writer should undertake to supply it. Until that time I had formed no definite purpose of preparing this volume. Some circumstances, however, favored the undertaking.

In the performance of my official duties, it had been necessary for me to acquaint myself with the school laws and educational institutions of the State ; and in the preparation of histories of the normal school, of the institute work, of the educational funds, and of the State Teachers' Association, I had collected a considerable amount of material for such a history, and had discovered where still more material could be found. I have arranged this material in such form as, on the whole, seemed best adapted to the end in view. The plan adopted has necessitated occasionally a little repetition, and sometimes the separation of closely related matters. But it is believed that these disadvantages are not serious, and are more than compensated by offsetting advantages.

iii iv PREFACE

It will be observed tbat I have quoted literally and freely from reports and other documents. This has been done of set purpose. I have preferred to allow men, as far as possil.'lc, to state their own position and express their own opinions in their own words. This enables the reader to form a judgment of his own relative to men and measures, instead of compellirig him to accept or reject the ready-made judgment of the writer.

It has been my good fortune to have some personal knowledge of all the Michigan Superintendents of Public Instruction, wath the single exception of Mr. Sawyer. Superintendent Pierce was a neighbor for several years. I was intimately associated with Superintendents Gregory and Hosford during fourteen eventful years in the educational history of the State. Through personal intercourse it is possible to gather impressions and information which have never been committed to writing, and to get a more correct understanding of men and measures than can be obtained from printed documents. It will be generally admitted that one should profit by such opportunities.

No one can be more sensible of the inadequacy of this presentation of the progressive development of the primary and secondary public school system of Michigan than the writer, but he hopes, nevertheless, that it may have something of interest and value to the teachers and to the people of the State generally. The preparation of this little volume practically closes a term of service in the educational work of my adopted State extending over a period of a half century. I commit it to the charitable judgment of those who may read it, and myself to the kindly remembrance of the many whom I have had the pleasure of knowing in the various relations wdiich teachers and pupils sustain to one another.

Normal College, Ypsilanti, 1904.

Contents

EDUCATION IN THE TKRRlTORIAIv PERIOD.

Chapter J.

Topics :

Chapter ii. Views of Superintendent Pierce

Normal department in the Branches.

Views of Governor Mason.

Views of Superintendents Sawyer and Comstock.

Superintendent Mayhew's efforts.

Teachers' Institutes.

Legislative act establishing Institutes.

Enactment of 1877.

Number of Institutes.

Normal schools recommended.

Act for establishing school at Ypsilanti.

Dedication of the first Building.

First teachers in the school.

Number of graduates to the year 1899.

Efforts for additional normal schools.

Central Normal School at Mt. Pleasant.

Northern Normal School at Marquette.

System of Normal Schools.

Science and art of teaching in the University.

Teachers' Courses in the Colleges.

Summary of facilities for the preparation of teachers.

CERTIFICATES OF TEACHERS AND SUPERVISION OE SCHOOLS.

Chapter 12.

Township school inspectors.

County Superintendents.

Grades of Certificates.

Visiting the schools.

Township Superintendents.

County Examiners and Township Superintendents.

Provision for County Supervision.

County Commissioners of Schools.

Qualifications of County Commissioners.

Grades of Certificates.

State Board of Education grants certificates.

Normal School diplomas and certificates.

Certificates for College graduates.

X CONTENTS

Certificates from the University.

Certificates in some cities.

Teachers of Kindergarten, of Music, and Drawing.

Chapter 13.

Condition as to text-books at first.

First act relating to text-books.

Proposed plan to supply text-books.

State Superintendent to recommend a list of books.

Recommendation of Superintendent Mayhew.

District boards directed to prescribe text-books.

List of books in the schools.

Statement of Superintendent Hosford.

Discussion by Superintendent Tarbell.

Free text-books as the best solution.

Report of Superintendent Gass.

Law of 1883 as to physiology, hygiene, etc.

Free text-books at Saginaw, 1885.

General law for free text-books, 1889.

What books may be furnished free.

Statute of 1897 ; repealed in following year.

General result of the free text-book law.

Present conditions as to text-books.

THE LIBRARY SYSTEM.

Chapter 14.

Constitutional provisions.

Recommendations of Superintendent Pierce. Slow progress of libraries.

Township or district libraries.

Recommendations of Superintendent Gregory. State Board of Education to recommend books. Superintendent Hosford's statements.

Superintendent Gower's statements.

Statistics in the report of 1890.

Present provisions of law.

Teachings of experience.

CONTENTS xi

EQUALITY OF KDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES. Chapter 15. '

No extended history of the struggle for equality.

Co-education not necessarily identical education.

Conditions in the early history of the country.

Education of girls in the early public schools.

Mrs. Allen's account of her education.

Instruction of girls in private schools.

Education of girls in Michigan during the Territorial

period.

Girls in the branches of the University. Girls in the early graded schools.

Opinions respecting co-education.

Demand that the State furnish equal facilities for women. Opinions of Superintendents Shearman and Mayhew. Discussions in State Teachers' Association. Report of committee of Board of Regents in 1859. View of President Haven.

University opened to women in 1870.

AS TO MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.

Chapter 16.

The religious instinct fundamental in the soul.

Religious sentiment taken into account.

Views of Superintendent Pierce.

Action of Board of Regents in relation to teachers.

Views of Rev. Dr. Duffield.

Religious instruction in the early public schools of the

country.

Earliest controversies as to religious instruction. Conditions in Massachusetts and New York in 1837. Criticisms upon Horace Mann.

The controversy in New York.

Constitutional provisions in Michigan.

Criticisms upon the University.

Report of the President and faculties.

Changed conditions and changed methods. The religious question in the primary schools.

xii CONTENTS

Superintendent Sawyer's investigations. Replies to Mr. Sawyer's inquiries.

Views of Superintendent Comstock.

Conflict in the City of Detroit ; final result. Efforts for division of proceeds of school funds . Extracts from a report to the Legislature. Discussions in State Teachers' Association. Resolution adopted in 1859.

Address by Prof. Joseph Estabrook in 1869. Convictions as to proper ethical instruction.

state; supii:RiNT£:NDKNT AND state: board of education.

Chapter 17.

Constitutional provisions as to Superintendent.

Views of Superintendent Shearman.

First duties of the Superintendent.

Duties prescribed by statute in 1850.

Creation of the Board of Education in 1849.

Made a constitutional board in 1850.

Office and Salary of the Superintendent.

Views of Superintendent Shearman in 1854.

Views of Superintendent Mayhew, 1855-56.

Deputy Superintendent authorized in 1859.

Board of Education and the Agricultural College.

Duty of the Board to recommend Library Books.

State Superintendent and Teachers' Institutes.

State Teachers' Certificates.

Questions for Teachers' Examinations.

Duties of Superintendent and Board greatly increased.

Chapter 18.

The State Agricultural College.

The School for the Deaf.

The School for the Blind.

The Industrial School for Boys.

The Industrial Home for Girls,

CONTENTS

The State Public School.

The Home for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic.

SOME GENERAL STATISTICS AND REFERENCES. Chapter ig.

School reports in early years imperfect. Table relating to Children.

Table relating to "Teachers and Wages.

Table showing financial conditions.

References and authorities.

Addenda— School funds.

Appendix

School legislation of 1903.

County Normal training classes.

Controlled by a county board.

Form of organization.

Qualifications for admission.

-Courses of study. ~ Character of certificates.

Supported by State, county, and district. Additional Normal School.

Powers of Board of Education enlarged.

Employment Institution for the Blind.

Tuition and transportation of pupils.

Change of time for examinations.

Changes in law as to libraries.

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER.

Sketch of State Teachers' Association.

Organization and early members.

Brief notices of individuals.

Journal of Education.

Topics discussed and acted upon.

The Bible in the Schools.

Efforts for Teachers' Institutes.

Equal educational opportunities,

CONTENTS

Improved Supervision of Schools.

Township School districts.

The "rate bill" Free Schools.

Decline of the Association.

Educational State officers.

Beginnings of improvement in Association.

Additional names of members.

Fiftieth annual meeting at Saginaw.

Some things accomplished by the Association.

Presidents during first twenty-five years.

Index

CHAPTER I.

EDUCATION IN THE TERRITORIAL PERIOD.

The flags of three nations have successively represented sovereignty and civilization in Michigan. Each flag has symbolized certain principles and characteristics of political, civil, religious, and educational administration. French population and French principles and modes of administration predominated for more than a century after the founding of Detroit by Cadillac in 1701. The transfer of the territory to English rule made no essential change in the management of local affairs, and the subsequent transfer to the United States produced no immediate revolution in previously established methods of local governm.ent.

Under the French regime centralization was the fundamental principle in all affairs. The military commandant was supreme in the State, and the priest or bishop in the church. Education was a function of the church. The initiative in everything was in the officials, not in the people. There were no semi-independent local organizations, like the New England towns to provide for the management and support of schools. This, fact must be kept in mind in order to understand and judge fairly the educational measures of the early Territorial government. The educational methods of the older States could not success-

2 EARLY ATTENTION TO EDUCATION.

fully adopted until the ininiigration of American population should give predominance to American ideas and to American modes of local org"anization. At first few townships and no school districts existed.

There is evidence, however, that some attention was given to education even in the earliest period of the French settlement. Two years after the founding of Detroit, Cadillac, the commandant, in a communication to Count Pontchartrain, wrote: "Permit me to insist upon the great necessity there is for the esta1:)lishment of a Seminary at this place for the instruction of children of the savages with those of the French, instrui:ting them in piety and, at the same time, teaching them our language."'*'

It is doubtful if this recommendation produced any immediate results, as Silas Farmer states that no indication of schools or teachers can be found until 1755, a half century later. At the close of another half century in 1804, a Ladies' Academy and a School for young men were opened by "Father Richard.'' These, of course, were church schools.

In 1808 Father Richard presented to the officers of the Territorial government a full report of the cliaracter and condition of the Catholic Schools in Detroit and vicinity. Besides the English schools in Detroit, there were four primary schools for boys and two for young ladies. Some of these were taught by natives of the country. In one of the schools were several young Indians of the Pottowatamie tribe. In an Academy for young ladies more than thirty young girls were taught knitting, sewing, spinning and other occupations in addition to the ordinary common

*Farmer's History of Detroit, p. 720.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS 3

school studies. There were in two schools three dozen spinning wheels and a loom ; and a spinning machine of about a hundred spindles had been ordered from New York. Father Richard had in view plans for an Academy or high school for boys and the beginnings of a public library. He seems to have been a practical advocate of industrial education and to have been a progressive educator in other directions.

Private schools of varying degrees of excellence are reported to have existed from 1775. Most of these w^ere short-lived and of inferior character. It does not fall within our purpose to trace their history or to estimate their value in the community. They are mentioned, in connection with the parochial schools, to show that, while no public provision had yet been made for education, the better informed of the people were alive to its importance, and were becoming ready to co-operate wdth the authorities whenever some feasible plan should be presented. Conditions were such that the initiative could come only from the Territorial government.

The form of this government was peculiar. It was highly centralized, and had few features which would today be regarded as democratic. Legislative, executive, and judicial authority was entirely vested in a Governor and three Judges appointed by the President with the consent and approval of the Senate. A Secretary w^as added who became acting Governor in the absence of that officer. All local offices were created by the governor and all local officers were appointed by him. The people generally "had no feeling of responsibility in respect to public and governmental concerns, and submitted cheerfully and without ques-

4 FIRST SCHOOL LAW.

tion to the authorities placed over them."

The character and habits of the people, and the condition of local affairs in the Territory, naturally determined the form of school legislation and the provisions for the organization, management, and support of schools. The peculiar features of the enactments of 1817 and 1821 become partially intelligible at least in view of these facts.

The first law relating to schools was promulgated in February, 1809: this act seems not to have been printed and no copy of it is known to be in existence. In the introductory explanation to the "Territorial Laws" it is spoken of as ''missing." Justice Cooley in his History of Michigan, gives a synopsis of the law, but I am unable to ascertain the source from which he received his information. He states that ''the act provided for the laying off into school districts of all the settled portions of the territory, and for an enumeration of the children between the ages of four and eighteen in each of the districts. From these districts annual reports were required of the moneys expended in the support of schools and the construction of school buildings, and the territorial government was to levy an annual tax of not less than two nor more than four dollars for each child reported within the ages mentioned. The sum collected was to be apportioned among the districts ; not, however, in proportion to the number of children in them respectively, but in proportion to the sums expended in the year preceding for school purposes."

It will be observed that funds for school purposes were to be raised by a general tax upon the property of the territory and not by local taxation. There is, however, an implication that money might be raised in the districts, but

STATUTE OF 1817 5

probably by voluntary contributions. No mention is made of local officers or of tbe qualifications or employment of of teachers. Planner's History of Detroit states that the overseers of the poor were to form school districts out of their own districts and act as trustees of the same, and that Judges of District Courts were to appropriate the moneys. The people of the various localities had no voice in the organization and nianagement of schools. There is no evidence that any school districts were formed or any schools organized under that act. In all probability the law was a dead letter from the first. No further legislation appears to have taken place until 1817. Meanwhile private and church schools furnished whatever education the people had. Rev. John ]\Iontieth, a Presbyterian clergyman, a graduate of Princeton college, came to Detroit in 1816 and gathered a congregation of Protestants to whom he ministered for several years. In connection with the catholic priest "Father Richard," he succeeded in stirring up the Territorial government to make some provision for public education. Governor Lewis Cass, a native of New Hampshire, seven years a student in the Academy at Exeter, then under the Principalship of the famous Benjamin Abbott, was more than ready to second any feasible efiforts for the instruction of the children of the common people. In August, 181 7, an act was passed by the Territorial government incorporating an institution called the "Catholipistemead, or University of Michigania." The pedantic and absurd nomenclature of this act is accounted for by the fact that it was drawn up by the eccentric Judge Woodward and enacted during the temporary absence of the Governor. We are here concerned with this law only so far as it affected sec-

6 POWERS OF THE FACULTY

ondary and primary education. It provides not merely for the establishment of a single institution, of high rank, but also a unique and complete school system for the whole Territory. The President and Professors of the institution were to be appointed by the Governor and their salaries were to be paid from the treasury of the territory. Thirteen professorships were provided for, but the same individual might be appointed to several chairs. Mr. Montieth was appointed President and was given seven professorships : Father Richard was made Vice President and held the other six professorships. Consequently the faculty consisted of two men, a Presbyterian and a Roman Catholic. There is no report of discord or conflict in the faculty. In addition to managing the affairs of the University proper, the faculty, that is, these two individuals, were empowered ''to establish colleges, academies, schools, libraries, museums, botanic gardens, laboratories, and other useful literary and scientific institutions consonant to the laws of the United vStates of America and of Michigan," and to appoint teachers and other school officers in all the counties, towns, and cities of the territory. All teachers of every grade were to be paid from the public treasury. Fifteen per cent of the public taxes was set apart for the support of schools. It will be observed that the whole educational system of the Territory and all schools from the University to the lowest primary, were made subject to the immediate and absolute control of a small central board, and this board was appointed by the Governor, and the Governor was appointed by the President. The people had "no part or lot in the matter" except to pay the taxes. And yet this system was not out of harmonv with the then existing condition of affairs; the con-

A COMPLETE SCHOOL SYSTEM 7

dition soon changed and naturally the system changed with it.

It has been the fashion of most writers to see in this act of 1817 only fit material for ridicule and sarcasm. That its verbiage affords good excuse for such treatment cannot be denied ; but it contained the essential principles which are embodied in the present school system of this State, and which have been incorporated into the systems of many of the newer vStates. It made education the business of the State : it provided for the organization, management, and support of schools of all grades by the State ; it aimed to secure an organic connection between the various parts of the school system. Justice Cooley says "The plan was crude and pedantic, but its author had grasped certain principles which were of the very highest importance, and which from this time became incorporated in the polity of the Territory, and subsequently of the State also. In every State, as he believed, the education of the people is important to the State itself, and should be assumed as a State duty. It should not be restricted to elementary education merely, but the State ought to place within the reach of its youth such higher education also as is commonly given by the colleges of the land. And this education should be nonsectarian."'''-

The affairs of the LIniversity were conducted with a stiff formality appropriate to a great institution, but Mr. Montieth and Father Richard appear to have understood that the immediate need of the Territory was some provision for elementary education. They accordingly at once opened some primary schools in Detroit, Monroe, and Mackinaw,

'Cooky's Michigan, p. 310.

8 g^ STATUTE OF 1821

in which the usual branches were taught, and provided for secondary instruction by estabhshing an academy in Detroit in which English, French, Latin and ''Greek antiquities" were to be taught. It was directed that the "Sacred Scriptures shall constitute part of the reading from the beginning to the end of the course." A university building, twentyfour by fifty feet, two stories in height, was soon erected with funds derived mostly from private subscriptions. A school conducted on the Lancasterian plan, w^as opened in the building in 18 18, which increased during the year from eleven scholars to one hundred and eighty-three. A tuition fee was charged varying from one dollar to three dollars and a half per quarter, but in many cases parents failed to pay the required fee.

In 1 821 the act of 18 17 was superseded by a statute, written in the ordinary English language, providing for the establishment of a University to be under the control of a board of twenty-one trustees of wdiich the Governor was a member ex-officio. The idea of a central institution of high rank and of subordinate schools of various grades imder the same management was retained ; but the authority to establish and manage such schools was vested in the board of trustees and not in the faculty of the University. The trustees were empowered to organize such colleges, academies, and schools as they deemed proper and to apply funds for the "promotion of literature and the advancement of useful knowledge within the territory." All public education in the territory remained under the control of a single central board. The work and methods of the new corporation were essentially the same as those of the previous body ; but an important change was made in respect

PATERNAL GOVERNMENT 9

to funds for the support of educational work. The provision for a g-eneral tax upon the property of the Territory was repealed and the trustees were left to depend upon the income from lands specially devoted to educational purposes and upon voluntary contributions from private individuals.

No change was made in the educational policy or educational machinery of the territory until 1827. The people had little or nothing to do with public school affairs, or indeed with any of the affairs of the government, until 1823. The ordinance of 1787, which was in effect the constitution of the territory of Michigan, provided that when there were five thousand free male inhabitants in the territory they might elect a legislative assembly. In 1818 the population had increased to that number, and the question was subsubmitted to a popular vote, whether provision should be made for the election of such an assembly, and it was voted down by a large majority.

The French element and French ideas were still predominant. The time for public schools under local management had not yet come. ''It is difficult for us who have been educated under a system of self-g"overnment to comprehend the feelings of those who have been brought up under a paternal government. The brief period of representation in the Assembly of the Northwest Territory had not habituated the French settlers to our notions. And the absence of any local system in township and county administration left them entirely ignorant of its advantages. Those who reached middle age before the people in the territory became entitled to vote for their own officers, were not always pleased with the change, and some of them who survived to a very recent period, never ceased to sigh

10 VIEWS OF GOVERNOR CASS

for the good old days, when the commanding- officer was the whole government."'^

In 1823 Congress modified the character of the Territorial government, transferring the legislative authority to the Governor and a Council of nine members parLiaiiy elected by the people, and in 1827 increased the number to thirteen fully elected by the people. Provision was also made for the division of the Territory into townships and for the election of township officers. The way was now open for the establishment of public primary schools tmder the control of local authorities.

Much credit is due to Governer Cass for his earnest and continued efi^orts to induce the Council to make immediate and adequate provision for the organization and support of schools. In his message to the first Council, in 1824, after referring to the funds from lands donated by Congress for educational purposes, he said : "whatever beyond these the state of the country may require must be furnished by the application of individual contribution, or by county or township assessments authorized by law. The importance of this subject to our present and future prosperity must be too well appreciated to require .any observations from me. A practical and well digested system, which should extend to all the advantages of education, would be of inestimable value to this young and growingcommunity. A more acceptable service could not be rendered to our fellow citizens. And no vaovq equable tax can be levied in any country than one whose application is directed to preparing, its citizens for appreciating and preserving the l)lessing-s of self-government." The Gover-

♦Campbell's History of Michigan, pp. 391-2.

VIEWS OF GOVERNOR CASS II

nor's appeal, however, produced no action from the Council at that session. Public sentiment did not yet make any imperative demand.

At the next session he returned to the subject of education, and even more earnestly urged the Council to take some action. After referring to the additional township of land donated by Congress, and to the authority given to locate the land in small tracts, the Governor said : "When the country becomes improved, a revenue will probably be derived from these reservations, amounting to almost one thirtieth part of the Territory, adequate to the great purpose of public instruction. But until then we shall in vain look for any vigorous or systematic effort upon this subject, without the powerful intervention of the legislature. ^ ^ ^ The wealthy will provide for their own children, but those who are less fortunate in life must look to their country for assistance. * * * It appears to me that a plan must be devised, which will not press too heavily upon the means of the country, and vvhich will insure a complete portion of education to all the youth of the Territory ; and I recommend the subject to your serious consideration.". The importunity and zeal of the Governor, reenforced doubtless by a growing public sentiment among mo: the new settlers in the Territory, at length induced the Council to act. A law was enacted in 1827 providing for the establishment of common schools throughout the Territory, and making such schools independent of the control of the trustees of the University. The period of centralization had passed; local democracy was to have its opportunity. The people had made some progress in the management of local township affairs througli officers of their own choice.

12 STATUTE OF 1827

The statute of 1827 was essentially a reproduction of an early school law of the Massachusetts colony, with some features 1)orrowetl from New York, and was not well adapted to the condition of the Territory or to the habits of the people ; but it afforded an opportunity for a bei^inning of iniblic elementary education under the immediate control of the people.

This act required every township containing fifty families to support a school, in which "reading , writing, orthography, arithmetic, and decent behavior should be taught." The teaching might be either in the French or English language. The term of school was to be equivalent to six months ; an.d the wording of the statute implied that this term might l)e divided into two or more periods, and that the school might be kept, during the. different periods in different parts of the township. Townships containing a hundred families were required to support a school twelve months, with the same provision as to periocts and locations. Townships vvith a hundred and fifty families were required to su])]iort a primary school for six months, and a school of a little more advanced character for twelve months. This last school was required to have a teacher who could instruct in the English language. Townships containing two hundred families were required, in addition to schools previously mentioned to employ "a grammar school-master of good morals, well instructed in the Eatin, French, and English languages," for a period ecjuivalent to twelve months in the year.

The grammar school of that day was equal to an academy or high school of moderate grade, and offered the advantages of secondary education including preparation

SCHOOL OFFICERS 13

for the University. This statute combined with the act of 1 82 1, gave the Territory, on paper, a tolerably complete system of public instruction.

It will be observed that this law dealt with townships and not with school districts. The system was a township svstem, with the proviso that the voters of the township might order a division of the township into districts, the local affairs of such districts being managed by a board of three trustees elected annually. The township school officers consisted of a board of inspectors, not exceeding five in number, who examined teachers and exercised a general supervision over the schools. Public sentiment in relation to education in the Territory was indicated by the last section of the law, which read : "Nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to make it obligatory on any townships of this Territory to employ teachers as provided bv this act ; Provided that the electors at the annual meeting, by a vote of two-thirds of all the electors present at such meeting, shall determine that they wili not comply with the provisions of this act for that year." It is apparent that this section was added from deference (i) to those who preferred church and private schools, and (2) to those who were opposed to general taxation for the supy port of schools. The legislation of the next year shows that serious obstacles were encountered in the efforts to enforce the somewhat complicated provisions of this law ; and that many townships had neglected to comply with its requirements without the safeguard of the two-thirds vote. On the whole the practical workings of the system provided for by the act of 1827 were unsatisfactory.