The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-10
EX-SUPT. VIRGIL G. CURTIS
ELECTED SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ST. PAUL.

The Distinguished Honor Won by Form CT New Haven Superintendent of Schools What is Said Regarding Election and Other Matters Pertaining to St. Paurs New Chief of It's Schools,
 The St. Paul Globe of December an- nounces the election of Virgil G. Curtis, late superintendent of schools in New Haven, to be superintendent of St. Pauls public schools Accompanying it's account of the election is a sketch of MT. Curtis, together with picture of MT. Curtis, which is tolerably recog- nizable. The Globes article will be of interest to many in this city, and the larger part of it is as follows
 "Closeted in executive session the board of school inspectors yesterday decided the problem fraught with so much moment to the citizens of St. Pauline selection of a superintendent of the city schools. ....
 After five ballots Virgil G. Curtis was unanimously agreed upon as the coming man. Prof. Curtis is not 8 stranger in Minnesota, having been su- perintendent of schools at Saltwater and afterward at Winona, the identical position from which St. Paul secured the services of Prof. c. B. Gilbert, who recently retired
 Since leaving Minnesota Prof. Cur tis has been principal superintendent of school at New Haven, Conn.,, but two years ago declined to become a candi- date for reelection, and the position was offered to a number of prominent educators, among them Prof. Gilbert, then of this city.
 Prof Curtis went abroad and spent two years or whereabouts in pedagogi- cal study, and on his return applied for the position made vacant by Super intendent Gilbert. He seems to have convinced the members of the board that he was the man for the place, as was evidenced by the balloting
 "On the fifth ballot Inspector Scholl moved the unanimous election of MT. Curtis; seconded by Inspector McNair. The motion was carried and the entire vote of the board cast for Prof Curtis. Virgil G. Curtis has a national rep utation in education circles. In ap- pointing him to the important trust, the board of education secured man who combines rare qualities for the work before him. To be the superin- tendent of a school system such as is boasted of by St. Paul. requires many sided man. It requires a three-cornered man, so to speak A man must be a scholar, a keen business man and dip on at rI fhpca p11alifjaS are all believed to be present in MT, Curtis.
 MT. Curtis is fifty-one years old, but he looks younger. His hair Is steel gray and every spear of it appears to be in place, for there is not trace of badness on his classic head. Then, again, the new superintendent is vi vacious talker, a splendid conversa- tionalist, natural diplomat, polished, suave and unaffected.
 As an educator he ranks among the foremost in the country. He has held many important positions, and each has been higher and more responsible than the one preceding. He began where dozens of other educators have begun, teaching a country school for years, but all the time rising above his surroundings and improving his mind so that when the opportunity present. ed itself, he might step into higher post.
 He Is progressive man whose am- bition is to place the schools under his charge on the topmost round. He comes to St. Paul realizing that the schools of the city rank at the head of any in the country but his pluck tells him that they may still be made bet ter. Yet MT. Curtis cannot be said to be a revolutionist He approves of many modern reforms, but he is said to have a faculty of introducing them without friction and without sacrificing those traditions of school education which are precious and dear to the hearts of the people.
 Mr. Curtis is not a faddist, for the reason he believes there are no fads in existence, so far as public schools are concerned. He is an earnest advocate of manual training in the public schools and during his five years con- nection with the public schools of New Haven, Conn, he placed the manual training department in that city at the head of any in the east He believes that the teaching of mechanical arts in the public schools is a prime requisite to well rounded education. MT. Curtis is further, an ardent believer in the theory that any special trait which is developed in a school should be cul- tivated to its fullest limit, and that a prescribed course of study maintained as matter of form, against the nat ural tastes and inclinations of the stu dent, is a crime against that student In other words the new superintendent Is a. believer in individuality. Where ever he has laibored in the cause of education, he has followed out this Idea During the past year MT. Curtis has traveled largely in Europe, and while Investigating the schools of Ger many he found much to corroborate this idea that the individual Is greater than the text book. The policy of cul- tivating the individual is followed closely in the Fatherland. It has pro- duced many of the worlds greatest artists and masters. T believe in extending the scope and broadness of all lines of modern edu- cational thought" said MT. Curtis last evening. ''The kindergarten is the place to commence the study of the in- dividual mind. Even here the natural