Evening star., 1907-09-01
EDUCATION IN SOUTH
Section Is Awakening to the
Popular Needs.
PROGRESS ON new LINES
Commercial, Agricultural and Manu-
featuring Activities.
CONDITIONS ON B0RDERLAND
Development in District Of Columbia,
Maryland and Virginiafhe-
nomenal Strides Made.
CONDITIONS ON B0RDERLAND

to the popular needs q grasp Of the essen
tials of training, q recognition OF fne DE-
mands citizenship and individuality make
for every growing boy and 8iri-enat is'
general consciousness of school aimS-s
the peculiar and probably the most indica-
tive movement. according to all Keen oo-
servers and thinkers. which today oharac-
terizes the south. Maryland, Virginia ana
the District of Columbia, in the borderiand
Of northern and southern tradition, ana
particularly Washington. q field OF na-
tional association. are sensitive to the IN
fluences which tend to mold the dinerent
sections Of the country. and in marked
manner display the phenomenal strides
which education Is now making.
Historically. Virginia with her proud
record of William and Mary" and Mary
land with old "St. Johns" have nothing
to concede to New England in the matter
of priority of interest in letters and learn
ing. Harvard itself is hardly older. The
Crimson can be spoken Of only as con-
temporary. But 1t must be conceded that
while the south was sending the sons OF
planters to England and France. the north
was building up a chain of colleges and
promoting popular education in manner
which almost entities it to be considered
the foster mother Of education for the en-
tire land
New Tide Of Activity.
But the ante-bellum south is laid away
in rose leaves and lavender. and the south
of reconstruction is forgotten in a new tide
of commercial, manufacturing and agricul-
tural activity which permits no time to
consider the romance or the suffering of
ho In
many possibilities have been recognized.
so many opportunities perceived that every
party, sect and coterie is on the alert to
gain something from the general energy
and to assist in the general well-being.
In all the new south there is nothing SO
spectacular as its interest in education,
and certainly nothing more sincere.
Washington, northern and southern by
location, and made up Of thoroughly cos
mopolitan population. with home ties in
probably every county in every state of
the Union, is in a marked degree the di-
gester of all sectional impulses and thought
and the assimilator Of all ideas. The gov
ernmental center of the country by enact
ment, Washington is rapidly becoming the
social and educational center as well, and
educators in general agree with Andrew
d. White that by reason of its location
and its character 1t must necessarily be-
come the unique source of all that blending
and modifying Of sectional differences
which is necessary to promote a national
spirit.
Change in Conditions.
There was a time when a gentleman
learned, as the privilege of his birthright,
the fine, culturing flavor of the classics.
His Latinity was a measure of his social
position. In the north 1t had a religious
cast; in the south there was about 1t the
legal perfume of old calfskin My lady, for
her part seldom delved into the masculine
abstrusenesses of law, theology or Latin,
but, with her arms laden with premiums,
came from her institute with sweet de-
corum, a tucker which was her own fine
needlework and a consciousness of being
prepared to conduct the home. with a
knowledge Of cooking. painting and astron-
omy. She could sing a song, play a piano
forte piece with variations, paint in oils
for the adornment Of the walls and talk
about the consultations.
But the young woman Of Virginia. of
Maryland and Of the wide countryside, who
finishes her training in Washington today,
has long since smiled with tolerant amuse-
and the young man of the day has no
idea that the total circle of culture is drawn
from the classics as center.
Specialization today in education can be
well inferred by examining any newspaper
to see the opportunities offered by the
various schools and colleges. The list is
long and the general excellence Of the
schools well assured. 1t Is not only that
there universities
institutes, preparatory, military, naval. art,
musical and business schools, but there are
an array OF normal home and kindergar-
ten opportunities which in toto would seem
to be able to take care of the whole popu-
lation between three and thirty.
And there can be no question that all the
learned profession. the ministry, law. med
icine and letters are we'll provided with
fitting and proper schools.
Famous Training Ground.
Old historic Georgetown. like the Univer-
sity OF Virginia and st. Johns, or the Uni
versity Of Maryland, has been a training
ground Of many of the nations most IA
nous men. Now the Catholic University
at Brookland, with its affiliated colleges
of the Paulists, Dominicans, Holy Cross,
Marists and the Franciscan home, is a
CentcT IOr SatnOlC STUDY. Nearby Is the
fine college Of the Sisters of Namur, where
the higher training of women is main
tanned. Throughout the city are other in
stitutions, like the Georgetown Convent,
the Visitation, the Immaculate, the Holy
Cross Academy. st. Johns. Gonzaga and
others. which show how the Capital has
attracted the Catholic denomination.
George Washington University. while ex-
panding its courses and providing oppor-
tunities for scientific study. the classics,
medicine, law, pharmacy. diplomacy let
ters. history. engineering, electricity, in a
broad, unsectarian spirit, in its Columbian
College has maintained home where the
Baptists may find congenial influences.
Building out on the Loughborough road
continues, and in the American University
the Methodists will soon have a splendid
institution devoted to higher learning. Let
ters of incorporation have been taken out
by Bishop Satterlee and others, SO that
with the new cathedral, the Boys Choir
School. the Girls Cathedral School, which
Miss Bangs and Miss Wilton, before leav-
Ing Washington, brought to such an en-