Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-02
Washington's New Superintendent of Schools Be

He held the Topeka SUPPLEMENTARY until
1904, when he was elected superintendent
of instruction at Omaha, Neb He now
leaves Omaha to take charge OF all the
public schools Of the Capital city of
the nation at the age Of forty-eight.
DIR. Davidson was married in 1883 to
Nettie Adams of Quincy, ILL.,. and has one
daughter, Helen, student in Vassar
College, Poughkeepsie, n. Y.
1T is clear that your business has been
that Of teaching or directing teaching all
your life, DR.. Davidson. Did you intend
to be a teacher when you were child?'
4 X
when l started of to school," he re-
piled, II expected to be lawyer. My
sister. however, was eager to be teach
er, and | went with her to the normal
school After one term there, In 1882, l
was engaged for three months to teach
a rural school near Emporia, Kan. In
those three months / got a real passion
for the work of teaching, and I have had
that passion ever since. and have never
been able to get out of it. l would not
change my vocation for any other in the
world / did follow up my idea of being
a lawyer to the point Of being examined
for admission to the bar, but l stopped
there: My profession Is teaching.
Why onctinued DR.. Davidson, en-
Enthusiastically. there is nothing, In my
estimation comparable in interest to the
public school system Merely the pusl-
ness side of the public schools Is In my
opinion one of the most important buS1-
nesses in every community. 1t requires
interest, ability skill and even genius on
the part of officers and teachers to man
age that business successfully.
But the public schools are far more
than business institutions. We teachers
must never forget that the thing or
greatest value in our school work is the
human touch. I mean that we must all
appreciate the fact that both course OF
study and text book. in their relation TO
the work of instruction. are meaningless
and lifeless until vitalized and touched
into being by a deep devotion TO our call
ing by a real and abiding interest In the
work. and by constant cohviction tnal
our work must be we'll done if the COM
munity and the naton-because so much
radiates from Westinghouse to be
blessed with useful. upright and happy
citizens.
Our ideal in teaching must always be
that moral instruction is the most i'm
portant of all instruction, and that char
acter building is the chief end OF our
work. Not what We are today. but what
our ideals are today, determine what we
shall be as a nation tomorrow. The re-
su,ts OF our efforts will not be lasting.
however. ii the child's home does not CO.
operate with us The home and the school
are more concerned with the child's well
fare than any other agency in the world.
and the two are In duty bound to CO.
operate in the work of training the child
4 boy. for instance says to his teacher
7 won't The boys father says, You
will Those two forces are very apt to
break down that boys opposition and to
turn him right. But there must be team
work to reach the goal, and our goal Is
that boy"
When DIR. Davidson was called to the
Omaha superintendency of schools. In
1904 II is said that he found there u con-
dition of personal favortism and politi-
cal wire pulling. The school officers were
working at cross purposes. the teachers
were terrorized and the schools thor
oughly demon allied. But DR.. Davidson
soon had things running smoothly. He
didn't get harmony with big stick"
..He fought not In anger, but In a con-
ciliatory manner He Investigated all
sides Of question. He combined the
good points of each faction and mapped
out q course that he thought would re-