Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-06-28
COMMENCEMENT DAY.
Exercises of the State
Normal School.
THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.
The Sisters SchoOl-Three Exhibi
tiOns. Youth Furnish the
Entertainment.

0LAl6 NOThhl DClOOl WIZ dIC ~ Ah0ho
their start in the world as school teachers
in few months entertained large and
cultured audience at the Grand
Opera House yesterday afternoon with
their graduating exercises. The curtain
rose at O'Clock revealing to the crowded
auditorium the stage handsomely
decorated with flowers, upon which were
seated the graduating class and the
members of the faculty of the State Nor
NAL School. The class numbers twenty
three young ladies, who were all prettily
arrayed in light dresses upon this occa-
sion, and eight intellectual-looking men.
This is the semi-annual commencement.
The same institution graduated class of
twenty-six at the end of the winter term.
The programme as arranged upon a
unique plan, which does great credit to
its designers, Prof. Moore and the other
members of the faculty. Instead Of the
old. fashioned plan of having complete
essays upon variety of subjects, inter-
spersed with recitations and other exer-
cises of that character, the audience was
treated to q complete and exhaustive
discussion of the Comparative Value OF
Mans Work and Woman's Work in
Education in which each member of
the class took part. The young women
presented the case from the general
point of view of the woman's superiority,
and the young men defended, or rather
upheld, their own eek. Each speaker
was limited to three minutes, the whole
entertainment lasting about an hour and
a half. 1t was received by the audience
with profound interest. To vary what
might have proved the tedium of the
programme, occasional choruses and
other features were introduced.
None of the speakers were introduced !,
and the entire performance went off auto
matically and smoothly. AS soon as the
curtain rose, Miss May King stepped
forward, and in few words explained to
the audience the plan of the discussion,
the subject and the scope which the
arguments would be allowed to cover.
The first general division of the discus
sion was upon 1.-The Qualifications of a
Teacher" and Miss Nettie johnson set
forth the special qualifications with which
nature has endowed the mind and char
acter Of woman, making her more fitted
than man to undertake the work of
instructing the young. She was followed
by Fred Billings, who endeavored to show
that man had certain qualities, partly
inherent in his sex and partly acquired
by the more independent nature of his life,
that gave him the advantage of the woman
as teacher. Probably one of the great
est of these was his physical strength,
and that was the subject taken up by
the next speaker, Miss Dora Brown, who
explained that correct regime of life
would place woman on level with man
as far as the strength actually needed
was concerned.
Miss Agnes Blakeley discussed the
matter of political knowledge and execu-
tive ability, wherein woman in these
times of enlightenment might readily be-
come the equal or superior of man.
Albert Sheldon then segregated those
lines of power which we're specially char
acteristic of each sex, and undertook to
show that those possessed by the man
were the most efficient in the profession /;
and Miss Angie Farnsworth went over
the same ground, presenting the case
from the standpoint Of the other sex.
After a chorus by the entire class,
"March of the Men of Harlech," Miss
Myra King read an original poem, en-
titled ga Day in Teachers Life" The
verses were smooth and melodious and
of excellent merit. The second grand
division Of the discussion was then en-.
tered Upon: "The Education Of the
Present." The first speaker was Hattie
Freeman, who spoke of wonan's inssIc-
ence in home-trainlpg. Fred Hazard,
who followed, explained how the man
was the final arbiter in family discipline.
Miss Jennie Chambers compared the
schools of Europe and America, showing
that one of the reasons for the excellence
of those in this country was that
such large per cent. of the teachers
were women. Miss Minnie Stout spoke
of the kindergarten, which was specifi-
cally a woman's field of work, and Miss
Emma Barron, of primary school work
in general, which she described as the
foundation of all educational work.
Miss Mary L. Hayes, who followed,
called attention to the fact that almost
all of the primary work was in the
hands of women.
The trio, "Queen of the Night" was
then rendered by three of the ladies OF
the class. The discussion went on,
Charles Huey taking up the question of
the higher schools and colleges, in
which men were principally engaged,
and Miss Fannie Cox, who followed,
showed how women were doing superior
work in this field also. Miss Annie
REYNOLDS took up the question OF
whether teaching should be regarded as
q stepping stone or a permanency,
and Miss Ada Williams explained
the position of women teachers in
this regard. Ed. S. Butterworth attacked
the matter OF after culture, and Miss Ella
Kane called attention to the work done
by women in the education which comes
when the school work is over.
Two of the young ladies rendered q
piano duet, the Radiance Grand
Waltz" by Gottschalk. The third divi'
sion of the symposium, "The Education
of the Past" was now reached, and John
Sutton treated of the subject in general
way. He was followed by Nellie Barra-
clough, who described the work of wo-
man in the past, and Minnie Taylor, who
gave several points from history of wo-
mans work. Miss Maggie Cummins
discussed the matter of prejudice and
public opinion.
In the next division OF the discussion,
Miss Nellie Davis compared the past ana
present Of education. Pliny Gregory
showed some of the causes which have
led to the great advance in thenscience OF
which men were the promoters and Miss
Emma Ham maintained that woman
was often the original inspiration of the
advance.
Miss Lena Corder gave the audience
an Interesting look into the education OF