The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-07-06
HISTORY on oUR owS STATE.


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u Warrington
ne Hsstury q Our Own sssAs In the
ecboosF - - title ef . briee address de-
hvered By Edmond d Meany. regfstras
OF the state university before the Wash
sngson State Teache-1' Association. which
nAs Jnse closed tn labors at Spokane TIE
outline OF the address vas THAI leading
>N1casors all over the United Seates are
advocating tia more extended teaching
q history IN the public schools. more par
sicnlarty the history Of our own country.
and In uns with this suggestion. re-
hevs that 81 least for one pear u the
school course. preferably me iAst one.
the particular branch Of history to b
taught shoul4 b. <Aas OF the state In which
the pupil rezsdea These suggestions Mr..
Aeany heartily oclncideo with particu-
'ariy the Latter one-ths teaching OF local
history He pointed our the fact that few
states have more interesting history. Or
one 80 Little known. a. the state OF Wash
tngton- As illustrations OF both points hs
alluded TO the fact THAI Abraham Lincoln
was ence rendered the poeiron Of gcv-
ernor cf Oregon. which at that time In
Guided all OF what Is now Washington.
also to the debate In congress when the
territory was originally organized. the
Columbia" that beinx the name sug.
gested end desired By the settlers them
selves Representative Stanton. Of Ken
lucky. however. when the measure was
pending, offered IN amendment changing
the name TO Washington and 1t was
promptly adopted. Mr.. Meany said
s7eak.ng Of these incidents:
These are bat two small items Of moro
Or less obscure Or forgotten history. There
are many othAr facts OF SURPRISING in
teresE, and your attention could undouot-
ediy BE- held by their recital much longer
than the limits Of time expected to b
reached by this number en- the pro-
Gramms-"
He alluded to the natural difficulty
which hay In the way Of properly teach
ing this branch OF history. through the
absence Of proper text books. difficulty
which could only be met by lectures and
theses ANY instructor. whose classes
ara old enough to retain the information.
can by q series OF talks or lectures. awak-
en- an interest in the study, and by deep
ening and developing the work. as the
classes progress, the foundation can be
Laid for more important research work
when the students enter thu colleges OF
universities
Mr.. Meanv reminded his auditors that
this branch OF study Is already being pur-
sued as an eclsctic course. In the Univer-
sity Of Washingt ton. by weekly lecture4
accompanied by thesis work. The subject
was pursued under the i've general topics:
Historical and Photographed survey,
voyages Of discovery. exploration ana oc-
cupation 1850 To lS5A: settlement OF
boundaries. 1s03-1s73: territorial days. He
concluded By saying:
'"rhe opportunity Is here: the material
Is rich. abundant and important II SIM
ply remains for the instructors IN our
schools 70 awaken an interest. and TO
guide the workers into this field. rich In .
welcoming harvest"
The discussion Of the paper was opened
by Superintendent J. III. Hit. or Whatcom
county, and. as is the custom. was closed
by Mr.. Meany. 1t was apparently new
ana interesting subject TO the teachers as
sembled. At the close Of the discussion
AIR. MeanY was invited by superintendent
II. r. Cox to give a similar address al
the teachers institute Of Pierce county,
to be held In Tacoma on August IL he
was also introduced 10 Mrs. c. 5. Pringle.
q pioneer now living In Spokane. Mrs.
Pringle was the eldest OF the hve orphan
ed children or the Sa~ers. immigrants.
who were adopted by Marcus Whitman
and wife. She was present at the Whit
man massacre was stolen BY the Indians.
terribly mistreated. was rescued. and not
a great while afterward she married Mr.
Pringie. She L. now about 10 years oId.
but she can entertain an audience al any
time with her thrilling accounts or those
history-making days. She has promised
Mr.. Meany some copies OF important
manuscripts for his library on the early
history OF Washington