(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) AND corporation CITIZENS - 175 our eastern female seminaries. Tuition per quarter, $3.00 to $5.00, according to studies pursued. Music, including use of piano, $8.00." Besides such schools as these, dependent solely upon individual enterprise, there were others with more formal organization and backed by leading citizens. One called the Akron High School was under the management of a board of trustees consisting of leading citizens of Akron and vicinity, with S. L. Sawtell, a graduate of an eastern college, as principal instructor. This school flourished about 1838, but it was not long-lived. In 1845, a stock company was formed for the organization of a permanent high school to be known as "The Akron Institution." A charter was procured, which authorized the conferring of degrees, with Simon Perkins, Eliakim Crosby, Edwin Angel, Henry W. King, James R. Ford, Lucius V. Bierce and Samuel A. Wheeler as corporators. The stockholders affected an organization, and a board of trustees was elected; but it does not appear that any measures were taken looking toward the founding of such a school as the charter contemplated. It is not improbable that the enterprise was over-shadowed by the approach of a popular movement in the interest of Akron's public school system —a movement which resulted in the enactment of what has ever since been known as THE AKRON SCHOOL LAW. This law not only gave form and substance to Akron's system of graded union schools, but it became the pattern after which the graded school system of the State of Ohio was in large measure modeled. From the beginning, there had been those among Akron's leading citizens who maintained that the wealth of the State should educate its children. Opposed to this doctrine were most of the childless property owners and many of the larger tax-payers. The issue was joined and the discussion went on. At length, in May, 1846, a large and enthusiastic meeting of citizens was held, at which a committee was appointed to take into consideration our present educational provisions and the improvement, if any, which may be made therein. Rev. Isaac Jennings, then pastor of the Congregational Church, was chairman of this committee. He took a deep interest in the movement, and gave much time and thought to collecting information, maturing plans and formulating and elaborating the report which was submitted to an adjourned meeting of citizens some months later. It has been claimed that Mr. Jennings was the father and founder of the Akron school system, and that "whatever credit and distinction Akron may have for being the first to adopt the principle of free graded schools in Ohio is due to him ." The committee's report, submitted to an adjourned meeting in November, 1846, was unanimously approved and adopted by the meeting, and a committee consisting of R. P. Spalding, H. W. King, H. B. Spellman and L. V. Bierce was appointed to secure the necessary legislation. This committee embodied the recommendations of the report in a bill which was enacted into a law by the Legislature, February 8, 1847. The chief provisions of the law are as follows: 1. All the school districts of the village are united into one, known as the "Akron School District." 2. A board of education consisting of six members, two elected each year, is empowered to establish schools, build schoolhouses, employ teachers, receive and disburse funds, make necessary rules and regulations for the government of the schools, etc. 3. Sufficient primary schools are to be so located within the district as best to accommodate the pupils of that department; and one grammar school centrally located is to be open to all the school youth of the district who satisfactorily complete the work of the primary schools. 4. The town council is charged with the duty of levying on the property of the district an annual tax of five mills on the dollar. to supplement the amount received from the State and other sources. This tax levy was 176 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY subsequently reduced to four mills, in response to the clamor of the taxpayers. 5. The town council is also required to appoint three school examiners to examine teachers, grant certificates and maintain supervisory oversight of the instruction and discipline of the schools. 6. Provision is made for the thorough classification of all the pupils, "as the best good of the schools may seem to require." The new plan was promptly inaugurated, and met with the approval of a majority of the people. The board was fortunate in securing the services of M. D. Leggett, late Commissioner of Patents at Washington, as head teacher and superintendent, at an annual salary of $500. His two assistants in the upper department received $150 and $200 respectively, and the primary schools were taught by young women, at $3.50 a week. In its first annual report, the board expressed its satisfaction with the success of the new system. There were large increase of attendance and better instruction, at a cost considerably less than under the old regime. Nearly 200 pupils were enrolled in the grammar school and 880 in the primary schools, some of whom resided without the district. These gratifying results were not secured without strong opposition from some of the taxpayers. It was a sore grievance to them that their property should be taxed for the education of their neighbors' children. The clamor here and elsewhere was such as to lead the legislature to reduce the State levy for school purposes, and the local levy was kept at the minimum. The rapid growth of the schools made new schoolhouses and additional teachers necessary. The state of the board's treasury compelled the exercise of an economy bordering on parsimony. The grammar school had to be suspended for a time, and the valuable services of Mr. Leg-get, the superintendent, were dispensed with for want of money to pay him an adequate salary. Despite the unfavorable conditions, the schools steadily increased numerically and gained in popular regard. In 1849, Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Palmer took charge of the gr mar school, under an engagement for tw years, at a joint annual salary of $600. Mr. Palmer's health failing before the expiration of his engagement, Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Olmstead were employed at a joint salary of $50 a month, to teach a high grade primary or secondary school, which took the place of the grammar school. Meantime, the board had purchased a lot containing about two and a half acres, fronting on Mill Street between Summit and Prospect Streets. On this a two-story brick building 70 by 50 feet was erected, at a cost of $9,250. This building contained two large school-rooms, each with a seating capacity of 150 pupils, and each having two recitation rooms attached. It was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies October 13, 1853. The upper room with its recitation rooms was occupied by the high school, in charge of Mr. Samuel F. Cooper and two assistant teachers. The grammar school occupied the lower room with its recitation rooms, under Miss Codding and two assistants. In 1856-7, Mr. H. B. Foster, of Hudson, a graduate of Western Reserve college, served for a short time as principal of the high school and superintendent of all the schools; but, declining a re-engagement, Mr. Olmstead was employed to take his place, and Mr. J. Park Alexander was put in charge of the grammar school at $35 a month. In a report about this time, the board deplores the evils resulting from frequent changes of superintendents and teachers, expresses the conviction that the employment of the cheapest teachers is not the most economical, and maintains that such liberal compensation should be paid superintendent and teachers as to secure the highest ability and skill in every department. In the same report, the expense of running the schools for the ensuing year, "including incidentals," is estimated at $4,200. Manifestly, the board shows wisdom in its effort to prepare the public mind for the payment of better salaries. It shows wisdom, too, in its expressed deter- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 177 urination "to employ no teachers in the Akron schools but those of ripe age, ample experience, successful tact and good common sense." In 1857, a change was made in the organization making permanent provision for .a secondary grade between the primary department and the grammar school. A general scheme of studies was outlined for the different departments. Reading and spelling and general practical oral lessons were assigned to the primary department; to these writing was added for the secondary grade; pupils in the grammar school must be taught to read and spell the fourth reader fluently, master the first half of Stoddard's Intellectual Arithmetic, Tracy's and Stoddard's "Practical" as fax as interest, the general definitions in grammar, Colton and Fitch's Modern School Geography with map-drawing, daily practice in writing, and declamation and composition one hour each week ; for the high school, practice in intellectual arithmetic, the more advanced subjects of written arithmetic, English grammar, including parsing; geography and mapdrawing, philosophy, history, physiology, algebra, chemistry, astronomy, geometry, botany, declamation and composition, with practice in reading, spelling and writing. By resolution of the board, all the teachers were authorized but not required to read a short passage of Scripture and repeat the Lord's Prayer with the pupils, without note or comment, at the opening of school each day. Latin and Greek were taught in the high school spasmodically, the board sometimes approving and sometimes declaring that "a good practical English education is all that any one has a right to expect or exact at the hands of a generous public." In the first ten years of Akron's graded school system, the supervision of the schools was more nominal than real. Five or six different superintendents, so called, had been employed, but their time was so fully taken up with teaching in the department under their immediate charge that an occasional hurried visit to the other schools was all that was possible, and this to little purpose. The necessity for more efficient supervision became more and more manifest. "The schools had not at all times maintained the prestige they at first enjoyed, nor the pre-eminence to which they were entitled as the pioneer free graded schools of Ohio." The idea of supervision was a gradual growth. While the superintendent continued to act as principal of the high school, he was given an assistant capable of taking charge of the high school temporarily in his absence. A little later, a separate principal of the high school was employed, the superintendent continuing to teach a portion of his time, conducting his recitations in a class-room. in 1870, the superintendent was relieved from all regular class-room work, and thereafter gave his entire time to the work of supervision. About 1854, and for some years following, a plan was operated for increasing interest and improving the teaching, which seems to merit mention. Observation schools or teachers' institutes were conducted every Saturday morning in term-time, in the presence of all the teachers, members of the board and others interested. One teacher, by previous appointment, holds a session of her school, giving lessons or conducting exercises in one or more subjects. After dismissal of the pupils, lectures and discussions follow. We find the board expressing approval, and saying that the plan "worked admirably." The next superintendent in order was Mr. T. C. Pooler, a teacher of experience, from the State of New York. He received a salary of $1,000. Besides acting as principal of the high school, it was required by the rules of the board to visit each school at least once in four weeks, and advise and direct the teachers in regard to classifying and disciplining their schools. After three years of service, he declined a re-engagement, and was succeeded in September, 1860, by Mr. I. P. Hole. Like most of his predecessors, Mr. Hole served in the double capacity of superintendent and principal of the high school. His salary was fixed at $900 at first, but in the course of his 178 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY eight years' term of service it was increased from time to time until it reached $1,500. This increase in salary was no doubt in large measure due to the increased cost of living which prevailed in the time of the Civil War; but it seems fair to infer that there was in it also an expression of approval and endorsement of Mr. Hole's work. There is abundant evidence that he was a capable, industrious and efficient worker. His term was a period of growth. The village of Akron had become a prosperous little city of nearly 10,000 people The youth of school age had increased from less than 700 in 1846 to 3,000. The schools had become crowded. Enlarged school accommodations had become a necessity. To meet this need the board issued bonds to the amount of $15,000, and made an addition of four rooms to the high school building. Each of these rooms had a seating capacity of 80 or 90 pupils and a recitation room attached. These new rooms were occupied by the secondary schools and the overflow from the grammar school. Each of these rooms had a principal teacher and one assistant, while the high school and grammar school had each a principal and two assistants. The primary schools were housed in small one-room buildings, so located as to be most accessible to the little ones. Tardiness and irregularity of attendance constituted a source of annoyance and hindrance from the first organization of the schools. To correct these evils the board from time to time resorted to various devices. At one time the expedient was tried of closing the doors against tardy pupils, shutting them out until recess. This caused a good deal of irritation and dissatisfaction without curing the evil. In 1864 the board adopted a rule authorizing the suspension of pupils for three absences in one month, pupils so suspended being required to make application for restoration at a subsequent meeting of the board. This rule is said to have resulted in improved attendance. In 1847-8 the percentage of attendance was 55% in the primary schools and 88 in the grammar schools, while in 1866 the attendance reached 90 per cent in all the schools. The statute under which the free graded school system of Akron was organized contained a provision for the periodical visitation of the schools by persons appointed by the council and mayor. There seems to be in this provision some recognition of the necessity of supervision in a system of public schools An unpaid school visitor was a cheap substitute for an expert salaried superintend. ent. In its eleventh annual report the board calls attention of the council to this feature of the law, saying that "while exclusive control of the schools is given to the board of education, the school visitor might be the means of bringing to the aid of the board the best light and the highest intelligence on the subject of ,education, with all improved methods of instruction, discipline and management of schools" Some such visitors were appointed. The board's fifteenth annual report contains the report of R. O. Hammond, Esq., as school visitor, in which he commends warmly and censures sharply. Among other recommendations, he urges regular and thorough instruction in vocal music. "This, in my judgment," he says, "should be taught in our schools as a component part of daily instruction. I mean that the principles of music should be taught —taught as a science. In this way, at a small expense, singers with well cultivated voices, able to read music readily, may be fitted for the choir, the concert and the parlor." The tables accompanying the reports of Mr. Hole as superintendent show that the attendance in the grades below the high school steadily increased, while the attendance at the high school steadily diminished. This falling off in the attendance at the high school arrests our attention, and we naturally inquire for the cause. We discover that early in Mr. Hole's administration the course of study for the high school was expanded into a four-years' course, and was made to include nearly all the studies of a college course save the AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 179 classics. Among the requirements were such studies as political economy, logic, moral science, mental philosophy, evidences of Christianity, astronomy, domestic economy and geology. The first graduation from the high school occurred in 1864. There was at that time but one graduate, Miss Pamela H, Goodwin, and up to and including 1868, there had been but fifteen graduates. The high school at that time may have been ideal in its organization and appointments, but manifestly it was not meeting the popular demand. The records for one term show an average attendance of four males and twenty-one females. A complaint not unfrequently heard was to the effect that after spending so long a time in completing the high school course of study, those who wished to go to college were compelled then to seek admission to a preparatory school to secure fitness for college entrance This touches the important question of the harmonizing and adaptation of high school and college courses of study—a question much discussed in recent years, with profit to both high schools-and colleges. About the time we are now considering, .a great deal of difficulty was experienced in the management of the grammar school. The room occupied was large and often much crowded, sometimes containing two hundred or more pupils, and it was not easy to secure either man or woman equal to the task of handling such a school. Of this department we find the president of the board saying in a printed report: "Its fortunes have been as checkered as those of some of the many who have taught or kept it, being by turns a small success and a great failure." Fortunately, school authorities have grown wiser than to attempt to conduct schools in that way. In 1868, after a term of service of eight years, Mr. Hole declined re-election, and in June of that year he and all the teachers associated with him in both the high and grammar departments retired. AN EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL. The school year opening in September, 1868, was the beginning of a new period in the history of the Akron schools. It was a period of change, revival, progress. Akron was now a city. Its growth and promise had brought in new men, and with new business prosperity and success, larger and more liberal views prevailed. In order to have a full understanding of this period, it seems desirable to notice some things not primarily connected with Akron schools. In the summer of 1867, an educational revival started in Cleveland, which soon spread throughout and beyond Ohio. While it is probable that the work done in the Cleveland schools in that day was not below the prevalent standard of the time, the impression prevailed that something better was attainable. It was under the impulse of this impression that, in June, 1867, two of Cleveland's principals, Henry M. James and Samuel Findley, with the approval of the board of education, made a pilgrimage to the normal school at Oswego, New York, in search of new light. As a result of this pilgrimage, a corps of instructors from the Oswego Normal School came to Cleveland in the following August and held a teachers' institute for one week. Those composing this body of educational missionaries were Professors Krusi and Poucher, Mrs. Mary Howe Smith, and Misses Lathrop, Cooper and Seaver. The fame of this movement having reached Cincinnati, the president of the Cincinnati school board came to Cleveland and persuaded the same corps of instructors to do missionary work in Cincinnati the following week. It was about this time that that stalwart educational reformer, Andrew J. Rickoff, was called to succeed Dr. Anson Smyth in the superintendency of the Cleveland schools, and it was in the midst of the session of this institute that he entered upon the duties of the position. These two events, the coming of the Oswego missionaries, and the coming of Andrew. J. Rickoff, mark the beginnings of an educational revival which extended beyond 180 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY the limits of the city of Cleveland, and beyond the limits of Ohio, and which, we may not doubt, is still a living educational force. Something of the bearing of these events upon the educational interests of Akron may be understood when it is known that, a year later, Samuel Findley, one of the two Cleveland principals who made the pilgrimage to Oswego, was called to the superintendency of the Akron schools at a salary of $2,500. Prior to his engagement in Cleveland, he had been engaged in the schools of Xenia and Columbus, Ohio, and during his last year in Cleveland he had some part in the work of reconstruction undertaken by Superintendent Rickoff in the Cleveland schools. The period of his superintendency of the Akron schools was fifteen years. At the time of Superintendent Findley's call to Akron several specially strong teachers were also employed. Of these, Mrs. N. A. Stone, a woman of strong character and liberal culture, was made principal of the high school, and Miss E. A. Herdman, a graduate of Monmouth College (Ill.), was made principal of the grammar department. Great credit is due to these two ladies for the high degree of success attained by their respective departments. Mrs. Stone's salary, at first $1,200, was afterwards increased to $1,400; Miss Herdman's salary started at $900, and was soon after increased to $1,000. The school system at this time consisted of eleven primary schools housed in eleven small one-room buildings, and the high school. grammar school and secondary schools in the one central brick building. The schools opened in September, 1868, with twenty-three teachers besides the superintendent, who, for the time being, heard two or three daily recitations in the high school. It is to be noted in this connection that in this year there were but forty-one pupils pursuing high school studies. As a matter of expediency, the pupils of the A grammar grade occupied the upper room with the high school pupils, and were taught by high school teachers. No radical changes in classification, course of study, or methods of instruction, were made at the opening. The schools were started in their accustomed grooves, and changes were made from time to time as occasion seemed to demand. The first matter of importance to which the superintendent directed his attention was the classification of the primary schools. A loose classification had prevailed in these schools, so that in most of them there were six or seven different grades or classes of pupils, ranging from beginners to third reader classes. Of course, it was impossible for the teachers to secure the best results under such conditions. There were obstacles in the way of remedying the evils, chief of which were the extended territory and scattered population of some portions of the city. Proper classification would necessitate the separation of children of the same family who had hitherto attended the same school, and in many cases would require them to go a. greater distance to school. But it was believed that the advantages to be gained would far more than counterbalance these inconveniences, and the city was divided into six primary-school districts instead of eleven, giving to each district two schools, with one exception. In one of these two schools was placed all the more advanced pupils of both, and in the other all the less advanced of both, reducing each school to half its former number of grades, and nearly or quite doubling the teaching force without any increase in the number of teachers or any additional expense. From this time (1868) onward, the following general classification has prevailed in the Akron schools: Primary grades, four years. Grammar grades, four years. High school grades, three or four years. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. In the autumn of 1868 the course of study for all grades below the high school was thoroughly revised. The course was divided into yearly steps or grades, and the work for AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 183 each grade was prescribed in detail, thus setting up a standard of attainment for teachers and pupils. SEMI-ANNUAL CLASSIFICATION AND PROMOTION. Four or five years later the course of study was broken into semi-annual steps, and promotions were made semi-annually instead of once a year.- This made the classification much more flexible. Because of the shorter steps, strong, bright and industrious pupils could and often did overtake the next grade ahead, and pupils who failed of promotion found the fall to the next grade below much more endurable than when they were compelled to fall back an entire year. When the semi-annual plan was first adopted, there was some apprehension that it might work mischief when it came to the high school. It would double the number of classes, and necessitate the employment of more teachers. But the problem solved itself. As population grew, high school attendance increased, until ere long it would have been necessary to break the annual classes into sections for purposes of recitation alone. Thus, almost of necessity, came to pass semi-annual promotions and graduation in the high school, and so the practice is unto this day. ORAL INSTRUCTION. The revised course of study provided, almost exclusively, for oral teaching in the primary grades, or first four years of the course. The reader was about the only book used in these grades. The spelling book was discarded in all grades. Instead of wasting time over long columns of words without meaning to the pupils, the plan was to secure thorough drill in the spelling of words within the pupils' vocabulary, each being held accountable for the correct spelling of all the words he uses. There were daily oral lessons in number from the start, but no text-book in arithmetic was used until the fourth or fifth year. First lessons in geography were also oral, a primary text-book being introduced about the fifth year. SCHOOL HOURS. On the recommendation of the superintendent, the daily sessions of the schools were shortened. The school day for all grades had been six hours. With the adoption of oral and objective methods of instruction, came a necessity for shorter hours, for the sake both of pupils and teachers. For the children of the first and second years there were provided two daily sessions of two hours each. For all other grades there was a morning session of three hours and an afternoon session of two hours. There was no perceptible diminution in the amount of work accomplished, and both teachers and pupils manifested greater vigor and interest in the work. EFFORTS IN BEHALF OF THE HIGH SCHOOL. We have seen that for considerable time the high school, with its protracted and heavy course of study, did not seem to meet the popular demand. Few pupils seemed disposed to remain long enough to complete the course and graduate. With a view to popularizing the school and securing larger attendance, the course of study was revised, the more advanced studies were eliminated, and the whole was reduced to a three-years' course. The effect of this was immediate. Seventeen pupils graduated in 1872, whereas the largest number of graduates in any previous year was five. And in the six years ending in 1875, the number attending the high school increased 234 per cent, while the increase in all the schools for the same period was only 50 per cent. Another measure which added considerably to the interest of the high school and proved of permanent value, was the organization of two literary societies, one for each sex, known as the Academic and Philomathean societies. Friday afternoons were devoted to the sessions of these societies, under the general 184 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY oversight of the principal and teachers. Each society adopted a constitution, elected its own officers and prepared and carried out its own program. The program usually consisted of essays, declamations, debates, reports of critics, miscellaneous, etc. Many of the members gained considerable facility in extempore speaking, and most gained more or less familiarity with parliamentary usage. Some have testified in after years that the best part of their high school training came from the Friday afternoons in the literary society. These societies have existed for almost forty years, and are still successfully operated. WOMEN AS TEACHERS. A feature of the school management at this period was the almost exclusive employment of women. At one time no man was employed in the department of instruction, except the superintendent. In the annual report for 1874-5 are found these statements: "The testimony of all familiar with the schools is that the discipline has been uniformly better under the management of women than formerly when under masculine rule. . . . The experiment we have made for several years of employing none but women as teachers has been eminently successful." Whatever may have seemed to be the teaching of this experiment, it is noticeable that as the system has grown in size and become more stable in its appointments, men and women have been employed as principals and high school teachers in about equal numbers, with little, if any, discrimination in salaries, as between the sexes. VOCAL MUSIC. It was about the year 1870 that vocal music was made a part of the regular course' of instruction in the schools of Akron. No doubt, there had been from the beginning more or less of practice in singing school songs. But after the subject was given its place in the list of required branches, thoroughly graded music lessons were given daily, beginning in the lowest primary grades with the simplest exercises in distinguishing and making musical sounds, and advancing by regular gradation to the practice of classic music in the high school. Opposition arose. A good many people, among them some members of the board, looked upon the movement as a waste of time and effort. They believed musical talent a special gift, possessed only by the favored few in sufficient degree -to make its cultivation desirable. Opposed to this view was that of those who maintained that the Creator has distributed musical talent among men about as generally as he has mathematical talent, and that any person who has the ordinary vocal organs, with power to use them so as to make the varying tones used in common conversation, may learn to sing with as much facility as he learns to read. We find the 'superintendent saying, after the experiment had been continued four or five years, that among the pupils of the lower grades, who have been carefully trained from the time of their entrance at school, we find none unable to learn to sing. In view of the agitation of the subject and the opposition developed in some quarters, it was deemed desirable to know what rank the subject of vocal music held in the school systems of other cities, and the estimation in which it was held by leading educators of the country. Accordingly, a list of questions was mailed to the superintendents of leading cities throughout the country, to which over a hundred replies were received. About four-fifths of the cities and towns responding reported that vocal music was included among the required branches of the regular course of instruction, and that the results in music were about equal to those attained in other branches. There was great unanimity of sentiment among the superintendents as to the value of music as a branch of study in public schools. From such responses as these there was no dissent: H. P. Wilson, Superintendent Public Instruction, State of Minnesota: "It should be taught in every grade of schools, as it is in Prussia." John B. Peaslee, Cincin AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 185 nati: "It is almost indispensable." Daniel Worley, Canton, Ohio: "For discipline, culture and general influence upon pupils, I place a very high estimate upon it." J. L. Pickard, Chicago: "Its value cannot be overestimated." Edward Smith, Syracuse, New York: "I would as soon recommend the discontinuance of any other branch." William T. Harris, St. Louis, now National Commissioner of Education, Washington, D. C.: "I consider it of great importance for its moral effect in softening the disposition and rendering it teachable, and in cultivating the higher sentiments." A. M. Gow, Evansville, Indiana: "It is invaluable to the individual, to the school and to society." The board was very fortunate, at the out set, in securing Mr. W. L. Glover as music master. Besides high attainment in his specialty and great skill in the work of instruction, he has everywhere and always exhibited true manliness and strength of character. No other person has had so long a term of service in connection with the Akron schools. THE STUDY OF GERMAN. The question of German in public schools has received more or less consideration in the board and in the community from time to time. In 1877 the question came before the board in the form of a petition from citizens, asking that the German language be given a regular place in the course of study. The matter was referred to a committee consisting of three members of the board, two citizens outside of the board and the superintendent of instruction. Deeply sensible of the importance and delicacy of the subject, the committee entered upon its investigation in the spirit of candor, and with the determination to reach, if possible, a conclusion based solely upon the merits of the case. By means of personal conference with leading citizens, by visiting neighboring cities which have made provision for instruction in the German language, by correspondence with college presidents and with superintendents of instruction in all the more important cities and towns of this State, by examination of various school reports, and by full and free discussion of the subject in its various phases, the committee sought to gain a comprehensive and correct view of the whole question. As was to be expected, the investigations revealed great diversity of sentiment on the subject, ranging all the way from strong opposition to the introduction of German into any grade of our public schools, to a strong desire to see it introduced into every grade. And this diversity of sentiment was found no less among educators and others who have made the subject a special study, than among those who have bestowed but little thought on the subject. After many meetings and much discussion, majority and minority reports were submitted. The majority report, signed by four members of the committee, may be thus summarized: The study of the German language should be pursued in the schools of this country for purposes of higher culture, by those who seek a liberal education, rather than for purposes of practical utility, by those whose means and opportunities can afford them only a limited education. We conclude : I. The German language may, with propriety, be made an elective study in the higher grades of our public schools. II. It is inexpedient to provide instruction in German for the pupils in the lower grades. These conclusions were well sustained in the report by terse and cogent reasoning. The minority reported to the effect that it is inexpedient and impracticable to introduce the study of the German language into any of the grades of our public schools. These reports were received and printed in full in the thirty-first annual report of the board of education. No formal action was taken at once, but the policy advocated in the majority report has prevailed in the schools ever since. 188 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. This subject has received considerable attention from time to time. The following was one of the standing rules of the board for a good many years: "It shall be a duty of the first importance, on the part of teachers, to exercise constant supervision and care over the general conduct of their scholars, and they are specially enjoined to avail themselves of every opportunity to inculate the observance of correct manners, habits and principles." The syllabus of instruction at one time made this provision, under the head of morals and manners: "Inculate reverance and love for God as the father of all, obedience to parents and teachers, and a kind and forgiving spirit toward brothers and sisters and schoolmates. Memorize verses and maxims. Use Bible and other stories to illustrate principles in morals and manners." We find frequent allusions to the subject in the printed reports of boards and superintendents. In the twenty-fourth annual report, issued in 1871, occurs this passage: "Moral and intellectual culture are inseparable. . . . Of the two, the former has the higher claim to a place •in any system of popular education, since it is far more important to society that its members possess hearts of love to God and man than that they be giants in intellect. But it is idle to talk about making the instruction in the schools purely secular. We could not do it if we would. Tender and impressible as are the hearts of the young, every teacher cannot but exert over the moral nature of his pupils an influence either good or bad. A silent unconscious influence goes out from the inner life and character of the teacher which cannot be measured. "It remains for us to see that a healthy, moral influence permeates all the instruction and all the discipline of the schools. And this can be done without any infringement or violation of the principle of religious liberty. It does not require the teaching of creeds or catechisms, nor the inculcation of the peen- liar dogmas of any sect. Nor do I believe it requires the enforced reading of the Bible in schools. Better than the Bible in schools is its spirit in the hearts of the teachers. Bible reading in public schools should not, in my opinion, be enforced, neither should it be prohibited by either State or local enactment." The question of prohibiting the use of the Bible in the schools was once before the board. After considerable discussion, it was laid on the table, where it still rests. WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS AND PROMOTIONS. In the twenty-fourth annual report (year 1870-71), the superintendent makes mention of this subject. It had been the practice for some time to conduct monthly examinations in all the grades. This had become burdensome to the teachers, and the number of examinations was reduced to two each term. This seemed sufficient to keep up the pupils' interest, and to test the thoroughness of the instruction. About 85 per cent of all the pupils examined were promoted. The same subject receives attention in the thirty-first annual report, as follows: Regular examinations were held every tenth week, making four in the year, and two general promotions were made, namely, at the middle and at the close of the year. There are thus two examinations for each promotion. Before commencing the examination immediately preceding each promotion of pupils, the teachers have been required to report a list of the names of their pupils, together with an estimate of the attainments and capabilities of each. The promotion of a pupil is thus made to depend an the result of two examinations, taken in connection with his teachers' estimate of his fitness. The plan of semi-annual promotion in our schools has been productive of good results. It affords better classification, and more fully adapts the instruction to the wants of all classes of pupils. The shorter intervals between grades afford better facilities for the brighter and stronger pupils to advance according to their attainments and abilities, and, AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 187 at the same time, it is better for those who fail of promotion, permitting them to go over again the work of a half year only, instead of throwing them back an entire year. At the middle of the school year promotions were made as follows, high school not included: Whole number examined - 1924 Number not promoted - 245 Per cent of promotions - 86.3 Number advanced two grades - 44 Number withdrawn because not promoted - 4 At the close of the year the promotions in all grades below the high school were as follows: Whole number examined - 1840 Number not promoted - 147 Per cent of promotions - 92 Number withdrawn because not promoted - 2 It is a noticeable fact that the average age of pupils not promoted exceeds that of those of same grade promoted. MIDDLEBURY ANNEXED-BOARD ENLARGED. The village of Middlebury became a part of the city of Akron by annexation in 1872, adding four schools and four teachers to Akron's system, besides a: considerable addition to the high school. About the same time, the statute was so altered as to enlarge the board of education to twelve members. From its first organization under the Akron school law to this time, the board consisted of six members, two elected at large each year. Under the later statute the board consisted of two members from each ward, one elected each year. The city having six wards, the board consisted of twelve members. When, a few years later, the number of wards was increased to eight, the board had sixteen members. This was a gain in quantity, but a loss in quality. When two men were chosen each year from the city at large, representative men were usually chosen—men of enlarged views, but when each ward chose its man to represent it, it seemed to be the small politician's opportunity. Men of small caliber and little fitness were often able to push them- selves in. A change in the spirit and policy of the board was soon apparent. Personal and local interests often prevailed against the general good. Fortunately, a recent revision of the statute has virtually restored former conditions. TEACHERS. The necessity of well qualified teachers for the schools was the burden of nearly every report in the period now under consideration. It is declared to be the most important of all subjects connected with public education. "The selection of teachers is the. vital point in our common school system. . . The necessity of employing untrained and inexperienced teachers is the greatest evil with which we have to contend. . . . The loss of time to the pupils, to say nothing of the idle and vicious habits formed, during the apprenticeship of our young girl teachers, is a serious evil, and I often wonder at the patience of the pupils and their parents under it. . . . I have little hope of further progress until some decided steps are taken in this matter." Measures were considered from time to time in mitigation of the evil complained of. At one time we find the superintendent suggesting, "as the least that we should do under our present circumstances, that our young graduates, who desire to teach, be required, before receiving appointments, to spend at least one year in the study of pedagogy, including the human powers and the means and methods of their development and training, in the more minute and thorough study of the common branches with reference to teachig them, and in such observation of the best methods of teaching and such practice under experienced teachers as our own•schools might afford." This seems like groping in the right direction—groping which, a few years later, resulted in a well-equipped normal school. Meanwhile, so great seemed the need, resort was had to a temporary expedient, which had the merit of originality and simplicity, and which gave promise of good results. A new building of eight rooms was converted into a quasi-training school. Sev- 188 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY eral young ladies, graduates of the high school, without experience in teaching, were employed at a nominal salary, and set to teaching. Over them was placed a teacher of experience and approved skill and ability to direct their work day by day. The plan was inexpensive and met with favor to the extent that it was subsequently adopted in another building. It was with the same end in view that a little later a. woman of marked ability and success in teaching was employed as supervisor of primary instruction. All these efforts to secure better teachers and improve the teaching tended in the same direction, namely, •the establishing of a normal department as a permanent part of the city school system. THE MORALE OF THE SCHOOLS. A characteristic of the period of Akron school history now under consideration was an improved and improving moral tone. There was a general toning up all along the line. Citizens spoke of the improved bearing of the pupils on the street. There was more prompt and regular attendance. For example, with 1,541 pupils enrolled in the school year ending in June, 1869, there were 6,006 cases of tardiness reported; with 3,005 pupils enrolled for year ending June, 1880, there were 1,223 cases of tardiness. There was less of severity and more of gentleness in the government of the schools. It became a rare thing for any case of discipline to be brought before the board of education. These gains were largely due to the high character of the teachers employed. It is a rare thing to find so much strength and goodness of character in a corps of public school teachers. Mrs. N. A. Stone, already mentioned, continued in charge of the high school, with marked ability and success, until 1873, a period of five years. Of her a leading member of the Akron bar said that she had the intellect of a great, strong man, and the heart of a refined, gentle woman. Mrs. Stone retired for a year of rest and travel, and was succeeded by Miss Maria Parsons, who was eminently faithful and eminently successful. Too much cannot be said in her praise. Under her management the high school continued to grow in interest as well as in numbers. After seven years of very exhausting labor, she declined re-election, and was succeeded by Wilbur V. Rood, the first man called to the position since Superintendent I. P. Hole. Mr. Rood was not a man of great physical strength, but he conducted the school with a good degree of success for eighteen years. Just as he was completing the work of his eighteenth year, only two or three days before commencement, he was suddenly called home. His years of service in the Akron high school were characterized by great faithfulness. Well done, good and faithful servant, is the verdict in his case. Miss E. A. Herdman, who became principal of the senior grammar school in the autumn of 1868, and managed it with phenomenal success, continued in charge of that department, with the same eminent success that marked her first year, until the spring of 1874, when she retired on account of ill health, and died in November following. Her strength of character, combined with fervent affection and genial humor, gave her great power over her pupils. She governed by the strength of her own personality, rather than by the infliction of pains and penalties. Miss Herdman was succeeded by Miss Kate Urner, and she by Miss Josephine A. Newberry. These two last named were strong and successful teachers. COLLEGE PREPARATION. It was about 1874 that four lads from the Akron high school passed the entrance examination and were admitted to Western Reserve College at Hudson, Ohio. These are probably the first students prepared for college in the Akron high school. They prepared in Greek under Miss Oburn, one of the assistants in the high school, in part out of regular school hours. Three of the four completed the college course and were graduated with credit. Subsequently, an advantageous arrange- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 189 meat was effected with Buchtel College, whereby high school students wishing to prepare for college were admitted to the regular preparatory Greek classes in the college without cost, the Greek thus acquired being accepted as an equivalent for such part of the high school course as might be agreed upon. This arrangement continued in force for a good many years and proved mutually advantageous to high school and college, as well as to those students who availed themselves of the privilege. After fifteen years of continuous service, Superintendent Findley declined a re-election and retired. His term began in 1868 and ended in 1883, starting with twenty-two teachers and ending with sixty-two. Within this period, two hundred and eighty-nine pupils were graduated from the high school, making a total of three hundred and four, including fifteen graduated prior to 1869 The following named two-story brick buildings were erected, nearly all the small, frame buildings previously used having been abandoned: Bowen, Crosby, Perkins, Howe, Allen, Spicer, Kent, Henry. These buildings contained at first from four to eight rooms each. They have since been enlarged by additions, one containing eighteen rooms; several others, twelve rooms. PROF. FRAUNFELTER'S SUPERINTENDENCY. Elias Fraunfelter entered upon the superintendency of the Akron schools in September, 1883. After three years of service in the Union army, he taught in Vermillion Institute and Savannah Academy, subsequently filling the chair of mathematic in Buchtel College for ten years. He filled the office of superintendent very acceptably for fourteen years, being compelled to retire on account of failing health, and dying soon after. Owing to the fact that no report, in form to be preserved, was published in the time of his term of service, no very full nor detailed account of Superintendent Fraunfelter's administration can be here given. No radical changes were inaugurated at the outset nor, indeed, at any time. The same general organization of the schools, the same classification and the same principles and methods of instruction in vogue in recent years were continued. There was no disposition to make changes, merely for the sake of change. The period, as a whole, was one of harmony and success. The school system grew rapidly and maintained a high place in public estimation. NEW HIGH SCHOOL AND OTHER NEW BUILDINGS. The need of more school rooms had been frequently brought to the attention of the board. Many of the schools were overcrowded. It had been shown that to assign to each teacher only a suitable number of pupils would require the. employment of twenty additional teachers, and the providing of a corresponding number of additional school rooms. And besides, the unsuitableness of the rooms occupied by the high school, the very defective beating and ventilation of the entire high school building, and its close proximity to railroads, mills, depot, etc., rendered it very unfit for school purposes. The location and construction of a new high school building had been under consideration for some time, but the matter was taken up in earnest in 1883. Conflicting interests, and diversity of opinion, both as to location and character and style of structure, caused considerable delay. A lot was selected and purchased at a cost of $19,000. A contract for the erection of the building was entered into in 1885, and the whole was completed and ready to occupy in September, 1886. The entire cost, including heating apparatus and furniture, was about $135,000. Besides twelve commodious school rooms with their appurtenances, there were a large assembly room, offices for the board of education, the superintendent of instruction, the high school principal, clerk of the board, truant officer, etc., teachers' parlor and rooms for literary societies, library, museum, etc. When first occupied the new building con- 190 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY tained, besides the high school, a considerable number of upper grade grammar school -pupils, but it was not long until the entire building was required for the high school, and provision had to be made elsewhere for the grammar school pupils. At the present time (1907) the high school has outgrown the building, and a large addition is almost completed. Other new buildings erected in this period are those known as the Grace, the Leggett and the Bryan. COURSE OF STUDY CHANGED. Near the end of the old century the course of study in the high school was restored to a four-years' course. This was done in response to the requirements of the Ohio College Association. A committee of college men had visited the high schools of the State, and proposed to admit to college, without examination, students from those high schools whose course of study and teaching were found to be of sufficiently high grade. The Akron high school was thus placed in the list of accredited schools. It was felt that the reduction to a three-years' course had accomplished its purpose of popularizing the school and building it up in numbers. MANUAL TRAINING. About the same time steps were taken in the direction of manual training. Special teachers were employed, and the girls received lessons in cooking and sewing, and the boys, in wood-working. The work along these lines was conducted with considerable interest for a time, but the interest waned, and the work was discontinued, with a view to being resumed later with better equipment. FREE TEXT-BOOKS. Various remedies had been proposed from time to time for the evils growing out of the adoption of text-books for use in the schools. It was even proposed that the State should secure copyrights and publish all the books necessary to supply the schools. A law was enacted requiring boards of education to purchase the books at wholesale and sell them to the pupils at cost. This plan was followed in the Akron schools for a time, but it had many drawbacks, and was, on the whole, unsatisfactory. At length, a law was passed granting to boards of education the option of adopting the free text-book plan. Akron was among the first to adopt the plan: First, as applicable to all grades below the high school. This proving satisfactory, the high school was subsequently included, so that, at this writing, the text-books used in all grades of the schools are purchased and held as the property of the board and furnished for free use by the pupils. The plan has decided advantages, and gives general satisfaction. EXAMINATIONS AND PROMOTIONS. There seems to be an ebb and flow in the management of schools as in most human affairs. There was a time when it seemed that written examinations might prove the specific for most of the ailments of school management. At one time the president of the Akron board of education suggested the substitution of written examinations for the daily recitation in all grades above the primary. But in the period now under consideration, about 1890, we find it announced as a "valuable advance," that "formal examinations for promotion" have been dispensed with, that promotions are made on the recommendation of the teachers and principals of the several schools, and that "the plan has so far worked most admirably." The pendulum has since swung back. Examinations still have a place in the Akron schools. NORMAL SCHOOL. The supply of qualified teachers for the schools has continued to engage the attention of school officials through all the years. Almost every conceivable expedient has been tried for providing the necessary training AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 191 without undue expense. One of the latest experiments was the employment of one student teacher for each building to be in daily attendance, and to act as substitute in case of the absence of a regular teacher, from sickness or other cause. At length, in 1896, a normal training department of the city schools was established. A two-years' course of study was prescribed, with practice under a critic teacher. The school was a success from the start. It was not long after the opening of the school, when twenty-five of its graduates were employed as teachers in the schools within a single year. This is undoubtedly a wise measure—one having in it much of promise to the schools of the city. TRUANT OFFICER. About this time a law was passed requiring compulsory attendance at school. The taxpayers' money was forcibly taken to maintain schools for the education of the children. It is right to see that the end sought be not defeated by the indifference or waywardness of the children, or the negligence or cupidity of their parents. Of necessity there must be a truant officer to enforce the law. Perhaps the following report of that officer for a year will give a fair idea of the working of the law: