Evening star., 1923-09-16

ment never failed to bear a worthy
harvest in after life"
Public school pupils of a hundred
years ago were much poorer than
those of today. This was the greatest
obstacle to progress of the early COM
mon school. Congress helped produce
an idea that public school is a
pauper school by wording of the act
creating ID. c. schools. 1t stated that
poor children should be taught read
ing. writing, and grammar"
BY barring from public school pupils
whose parents could pay for their
education, the school board furthered
this conception.
mo scholar. whose parents income
exceeds s1.50 a day. can attend pub
lie school. unless there are more than
four children in the family" the
school board ruled as late as 1881.
TN 1885. schools were open only to
children of widows, or those whose
fathers pay was less than 20
cents a day for each member of his
family. At a single board meeting
that year. twelve pupils were expelled
because it was discovered their faith
ers' incomes exceeded this sum.
"The popular belief that public and
pauper are synonymous was not over
come until during the civil war.
Less than per cent of Washington's
school population attended public
schools. at times. before that" Assis-
tant Supt Stuart said.
~ Whether the difficulty be refusal of
The community to support schools,
lack of funds, or want of buildings.
the public schools of Washington al
ways have found friends in Execu-
tive Mansion. on Supreme court
bench. or in Congress chambers,
who made matters a little better.
After Jefferson and the other
pioneers in Washington. who provid-
ed education for the National Capitafs
children before the city was five
years old, came other nationally
famed men to help our public schools
through their infancy.
Among tire most active were Presi-
dents John Quincy Adams and James
Monroe, Justice Woodbury.. Caleb
Cushing. Prof. Joseph Henry, head
of the Smithsonian Institution; George
]. Abbott, private secretary to Daniel
Webster; George Watterson. first
librarian of Congress; Daniel Carroll.
one of the original proprietors of the
District of Columbia; Rev. Andrew T.
Mccormick and Rev. William Mat
thews, distinguished clergymen; Will
liam Seaton. an editor of the National
Intelligence, and mayors of Wash
ington, Robert Brent, John P. Van
Ness, Roger C. Weightman, William
A. Smallwood, Peter Force and John
w. Maury.
Congress- personal interest in the
local school system was capitalized
the ambitious school board strove to
obtain funds to establish college
here. The board circular letter con-
tanned this paragraph:
The parent who sends his son to
will find for him in his
to Congress a guardian
and a friend who, during large part
of the year, will be his associate, will
observe his progress in his studies,
superintend his morals and perceive
the real condition and character of
the seminary; and thus be able. from
time to time, to satisfy parental in
quiry."
In the quarter century following
the civil war, Congress and the school
board took five steps which caused.
the entire community to respect and
support it's public schools. These ad-
vances wereE
1. Appointment of superintendent
of schools.
2. Introduction of the graded sys-
tenn.
8. Construction of larger and better
equipped school buildings.
4. Establishment of normal school.
5. Establishment of a high school.
TINE first superintendent of schools,
l. appointed in 1869, was zalmon
Richards, one of the founders of the
National Education Association and
for years a successful private school
teacher here. He served a near and
was succeeded by J. Ormond Wilson,
formerly a member of the school
board.
Mr. Wilson was the master or
ganizer of the school system as It
exists today. He introduced the
graded system and manual training.
normal and high schools.
and was the prime mover in the plan
to give Washington better school
For him Wilson Normal
school was named Assistant Supt
Stuart said,
The Richard Wallace School, sth
street and Pennsylvania avenue
southeast, was the first large brick
to be erected in Wash
ington. 1t still is occupied by ten
full of children.
when finished in 1864. 1t was not
only the pride of Washington. but
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