Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-11-19

Some reflections on the public
schols of Harrisburg, past and pre-
sent.
/ have been asked to consume
about fifteen minutes of your time
with something about the pubic
schools of Harrisburg, and as this
is a Historical Society, l assume
it is meant that [ shall, somewhat
at least, deal with the past.
History is variously defined and
has a variety of uses. When we
were in the lower grades at school,
| presume we all thought it consist
ed principally of names, dates ana
something about generals and bat
ties, and presidents and kings and
that it was altogether bothersome
and useless. We will hardly agree
with the cynical definition of Vol
,taire that history is little else than
a picture of human crimes and mis-
fortunes" We may be in fuller
agreement with the definition of Wis.,
count Bolingbroke that history is
philosophy teaching by examples"
Anyway, we can at least fully agree,
for our simple and limited purpose
this evening, that it is q collection of
facts and figures relating to a phase
of life that we can use to see how
far and how fast we have travelled
and at what point we have arrived.
am prone to think of the public
school system as one of the fine
flowers of democracy, and as at once
an evidence of the truth of the
statement in the Declaration that
"all men are created equal" and a
medium through which this truth
may be brought home to all the
world and the universal democracy
of ideals, political, social and indus
trial, be eventually realized and es-
tablished.
Without attempting to develop
this thought and without paying too
much regard to what is cause and
what is effect-for l can only skim
the surface-let me refresh your
memories with few facts and fig
ures that,indicate that we have made
progress along this road so far as
education is concerned.
For instance, consider as an eff
feet of the development of the
democratic idea the transition of the
public school from an institution for
the education of the poor to one in
which all young people, without re-
gard to class or condition, are given
the advantage of primary and sec
OHudEN 6uuCdIlO1 dI puDilC cApSllSc'
Pretty far back, substantially all
education was conducted under the
auspices of religious bodies. There
was some public support of educa-
ton in Pennsylvania as early as the
beginning of the last century, but
aid was extended and free tuition
was provided only for those who
could not afford to pay. AS late as
the constitution of 1898 and legisla-
ton following it, State aid was given
specifically for the encouragement
of schools provided for the educa-
ton of the poor" using that word.
Free education in this city was pro-
vided for the poor. only until about
the middle of the last century. Up
to that time only those who were
willing to put themselves in the de-
graded category of paupers were
entitled to the benefit of what were
then usually referred to as the COM
mon schools. To-day neither parent
nor child needs to humiliate himself
to take advantage of the publicly
provided schools, but they are pa
tronized alike by the wealthy and the
poor. and are looked upon by all of
our citizens as offering a great op-
portunity and, as Well, as a valued
right vouchsafed to them by the
mere fact of their membership in
the community. This is the demo-
cratic idea of "all for each and each
for all" working out in the matter
of public education.
Furthermore, in the early history
of this Commonwealth, and of this
city as well. educational facilities
were wholly. as / have indicated,
and later largely. provided by pri-
vate enterprise, through institutions
forming a part of the activities of
religious bodies, or conducted for
profit. Not many years ago there
was scarcely a village in the Com
monwealth that did not boast of one
or more seminaries or academies.
In the little Lancaster county town
of less than 1000, in which spent
part of my boyhood, there was an
academy and a seminary in the
earlier days, and their fame had
not died out when lived there. As
late as 1869, perhaps twelve to