Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-07-18

offered brough: marked results to wo-
men as teachers. and teaching from
being despised as calling has come
to be one OF the most respected pro-
LESSONS.
From time long past woman has had
charge Of the education Of woman, but
under the direction OF man; women
have taught women. but Aaturally
could impart no more than they knew.
But they gave much more than mere
knowledge. Would any teacher today
wish an epitaph finer than that OF
Mrs. Murray, found In . Cambridge
church yard?
This good school dame
No longer school must keep
Which gives US cause
For children's sake to weep
had legal recognition as teachers.
could collect wages under the law.
From this time on their recognition and
standing rapidly improved. With In.
crease Of opportunity for learning
there came naturally and inevitably an
Many causes have tended to the
enormous increase in the number OF
women teachers-the establishment OF
the common schools and the cOnse-
quent great demand for teachers; the
fact that women could be had for
smaller wage than men and proved as
tonishingly satisfactory: the civil war.
throwing many women on their own
resources; the great increase In the
number OF schools opened due to i'm
migration; compulsory education laws.
public kindergartens. etc. Not only
number Of women teachers. but they
have increased in knowledge. in abili-
ty, in power, until from having been
merely tolerated as teachers OF their
own sex alone. they to-day dominate
the teaching field both OF girls and
boys and the generic term for teacher
has changed from he" to she" They
have risen from the place Of mere
teacher to positions requiring execu-
tive ability Of the highest order. AS
organizers. principals. supervisors. su-
perintendents and in city. county and
state offices they are making a rec
ord of which they may we'll be proud.
They have a deep sense of the
meaning of education and Of the re-
sponsibility and dignity Of their posi-
ton as molders the new woman of
tomorrow. To-day teaching Is not
merely an avocation chosen to gain
a livelihood but the chosen vocation
of many who, seeking an outlet for
their energies, see in 1t the means OF
highest usefulness to race and state.
Women are In the vanguard Of all ad-
vance movement, seeking to dignity
aad perfect to the highest the men,
bers of their profession that they may
bring to those under their care the
best and wisest service.
Receptiveness and synthesis ara
not only the Inheritance of women
through training but are her inherent
Qualities, the value of which has
scarcely been fully understood until
the last decade.
These qualities may account for the
fact that she has been follower rather
than leader in the field Of education.
her natural place that Of cherishing
mother in the mental as in the spirit
ual and physical world, taking in and
fructifying in her bosom the ideals
sent forth by the great prophets in ed
ucation. 1t is a fact worth bordering
that in these men there has always
been largely developed the feminine
quality of cherishing tenderness
need we instance more than Pestaloz-
ri and Froebel, whose teachings wo-
men have done SO much to put into
actual practice? These men saw with
the larger vision the happy land
where men and women could develop
the best that is in them to their own
perfection and the service OF their fel-
lows; they started up the trail lead
ing to 1t, stumbling over the rough
places which women. following with
deep faith and insight. moving surely
and steadily on, have trodden, often
with weary feet. into a path on which
others may walk with ease.
The Introduction OF the kndergar-
ten and its growth have been due al
most entirely to women. in which
teachers and mothers In fact and in
spirit have Joined. To the latter is
due the founding Of some Of the earli-
est and the best manual training
schools. Their greatest work. how
ever. is done through the womens
clubs, which have through organiza-
ton concentrated and converted into
power the forces formerly exerted
here and there by individuals.
In order to use this power inteM-
gently. women are studying the whole
subject of education. preparing them
selves to be proper guides, educating
themselves that they may carry out
0Hvor Wendell Holunes' Injunction 10