Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-06-13

superintendent f
schools. The following are some extracts
from this paper:
Neither the trainers of the Constitution
nor the earlier Congresses contemplated
the exercise of exclusive municipal Iegis-
laton for the District of Columbia directly
by the Congress, and hence as early as
practicable after the removal of the seat
of government here the Congress ordained
a municipal government for the city of
Washington. and i'll 1904 by an amend
nent to its charter provided for the
establishment and superintendent of
schools" On the 9Th of December of the
same year the city council passed an act
Ito establish and endow a permanent in
stitution for the education Of youth in
the city of Washington, which provided
for a board of thirteen trustees, seven to
be elected by the joint ballots of the two
chambers of the council, and six to be
chosen by individuals contributing to the
promotion of the schools, as provided for
III said act. For the support of he schools
the act appropriated so much of the net
proceeds of the taxes on slaves and dogs,
and licenses for carriages and hacks. or
dinarIeS and t&VernS, retailing wines and
sprtuous liquors. billiard tables, theatrical
and other amusements, hawkers and ped
dlerS. the trustees might decide to he
necessary for the education of the poor
of the city, not to exceed the sum of 81 800
per annum. The act also provided for the
appointmen Of Il select committee of three
councilmen, whose duty it should be to
solicit provide for soliciting. both at
home and abroad. contributions in money
or lots for the benefit of the schools. One
OF the largest contributions was that of
500, made by Thomas. jefferson.
1t may he stated at the outset that the
colOred children of the District of Columbia
We're not included among the beneiiciaries
of the public schools in any legislation.
either by the Congress or the city councN
prior to tie abolition OF slavery, in 1862.
The first board of trustees consisted of
Thomas jefferson, Thomas Monroe. Gabriel
Duvall. Thomas Tingey, Joseph Bromley,
John Tayloe. Robert Brent. William Brent,
Samuel II Smith, William Cranch, George
Blagden, John Dempsie and Nc holas King
The Early school system.
this school system as originally devised for
the city of Washneton:
FIRST, it was IN some points of view very
ambitious. There to be so-callsd
academy, under which term was included
what are now generally designated primary,
grammar and high schools, or elementary
and secondary schools. a college and a
university, each with functions similar to
those of like institutions at the present
day, and public city library. Only the
most elementary part of the academy was
established at first: the college and the
university have come into existence entire
II Independent of governmental aid: and
the public library is still on the list of
things prayed for. The children of the poor
alone were to receive tuition free of ex-
pense even i'll the lowest grade of schools.
and their period OF attendance at times
was limited TO a term of two years. The
price of tuition to other pupils was fixed
at 81 a quarter.
Second, The founders of this school sys-
tenn appear to have thought it neither
right nor expedent directly to tax the
general property of the municipality for
the education of even poor children, and
they made their scant appropriations fer
this object out OF the revenues derived
from taxes on specialties and licenses.
most CT which were in the nature of a Spe-
CHIC tariff on social evils. They probably
considered themselves warranted al least
in applying the homeopathic principle OF
simiia simiibus curantur, curing a social
evil with a social evil.
Between 1872 and ISIS. fourteen joint reso-
lutions authorizing and regulating lotter-
les for the benefit of the public schools
were passed by the Congress. A portion of
the revenues derived from this source was
invested in corporation or other safe stocks
end designated the school fund" The in
tercst on these stocks was for many years
applied to the support of the schools.
This school fund. created for the most
elementary education of ''pauper pupils"
existed intact when in 1874 government
of the District by the Congress superseded
all local autonomy, and when in 1878 that
body began to make specific appropriate
for the schools without reference to the
school fund. In 1880 it amounted to about
$4,000. The Congress at that time was
averse to making any direct appropriation
for much-needed high school building
but when attention was called TO the eX
istence of such fund, 1t was induced to
authorize its application to this object by
an act, approved March 3, 1881: and so the
first high school building came into being.
Sites for Buildings.
A Western School and an Eastern School
were established, and the first teacher to
Commence work. Janury. 1906. was Rich
ard White. principal teacher of the West
ern School, whose salary was to be $500
FER annum.
On October 81 1905. the board authorized
the erection Of the first two school houses.
to be located on lots owned by the United
States, the use of which for this purpose
had been granted by President jefferson
These school houses might have been
modelled after Noahs ark for we are told
that they We're built of wood. one story
high, fifty feet long twenty feet WIDE and
cost, together, 81. 5S9.41.
The western school house appears to
have been located on lot p, square 121, now
occupied by the residence of MIR. Anthony
Pollock, No. 1900 | street northwest. This
lot, containing about $500 square feet, was
purchased by the corporation from the
United States government, Sam Lane, COM
missioner or public buildings, in 1871, for
800; the money was applied to the building
OF an iron fence to inclose the park around
the Capitol. The corpora ion, John P. Van
Ness, mayor, sold it with the improve
ments. in 1892, for 5000
In 1911 Mr.. Robert OuId was sent out
from England by Mr.. Lancaster to take
charge of a Lancasterian school. estab-
ished in Georgetown He was the father
of Robert Guild. who, graduating from the
Columbian College, became a prominent
lawyer United States attorney for the Dis
trict of Columbia under President Bu-
chanaa, then going south at the begin
ming OF the civil war, the confederate as
sistant secretary of war, and agent for the
exchange of prisoners. The fame of this
school reached the ears of the Washington
school authorities, who in 1872 established
a similar school in thisAcity, and, on the
recommendation of MIR. Lancaster, brought
over from England Mr. Henry Ould a
brother of the Georgetown teacher, and
placed him in charge of the Washingt on
school.
In 1913 Mr.. Henry ould made the first
report OF Washington public school of
which we have any record. 1t reads in
part follows:
This day twelve months ago I had the
pleasure of opening, under your auspices,
the second genuine Lancasterian school in
America. The system was set in operation
1as lar as the nature of the room would
admit in this city on the 10th of February,
lSl2, IN an lnconyenent house opposite the
ar