Evening star., 1949-01-30
Schools Get Films, History Volumes as Gift From Star
Continued From First Page.)

tatd the ulmS would DE welcome
indeed" They are very popular,
particularly with grade school chill
dren.
Increasing emphasis on visual
aids to education have found the
department quite short Of material
from time to time, she explained.
Requests Turned Down.
. During the last semester, for ex-
ample, 426 requests for the films in
the Chronicles Of America Photo
plays" series were received by her
department. Unfortunately, 155 re-
quests had to be turned down be-
cause there just weren't enough
prints available.
As . result, some children did not
get quite as much from history
studies as they should have, Miss
Riordan said.
The department has two sets of
the complete series, she said. The
ii films The Star donated are
duplicate copies of nine of the
most popular Aims. They will be
used to meet the ever growing de-
nnand.
The titles are Daniel Boone, Co.
lumbus, Declaration of Independ-
ence, Frontier Woman, Gateway to
the West, Jamestown, Pilgrims, Eve
Of the Revolution and Wolfe and
Montcalm.
After proper preparation by the
teacher in the subject matter, the
children, through the films, then
actually see the history they have
been studying.
Corning Appreciative.
School Supt. Hobart M. Corning,
in reporting The Stars gift to the
Board Of Education, said:
In the Judgment of the super
intendent and the school officers,
this is very outstanding gift and
On behalf Of the officers and teach
ers, the superintendent expresses
his appreciation to The Evening
Star Newspaper Co. for their gen.
erosity and for their interest in
the schools as manifest by the gift"
Some senior and junior high
schools already had sets of the
Pageant Of America" books in their
libraries. The II sets donated by
The Star will 60 to those schools
without them, thus giving each at
least one set.
The schools which will get the
sets of books are Woodrow Wilson,
Anacostia, Armstrong and Dunbar
High Schools; Phelps and Washing
ton Vocational High Schools; Deal,
Gordon, Jefferson, Kramer, Paul,
Stuart, Banneker and Randall Jun
ior High Schools as well as Merritt,
Turner and Thomas Schools which
are used as Junior high UNITS.
Years Of Research Involved.
The Aims were produced by the
Yale University Press after years
Of research. Each Is historically ac-
curate and was made under the
supervision of a board Of scholars.
One handful Of the thousands of
perplexing problems which arose
and were answered-by researchers
for the films follows:
Did an Indian in Colonial times
draw his bow clear back to his ear
or was 1t merely short pull? How
did . soldier in 1750 salute his su-
perior officer? Would the horses in
a Virginia fox-hunt in 1850 have
natural tails according to the Eng
lish custom or docked tails? Over
which eye did the commandant of
iort. LeBoeM wear a black patch?
The series has been standard
.sual education material in school
stems over the country for years.
= Used Mostly in Grade Schools.
They will be used mostly in the
.ade schools for it is said to be
ere that the most good Is OBJ
aimed. A moderate use of the films
IS expected in the high schools.
History is introduced to the young
children early in school through
well-known stories of the United
States and its famous men. DR.. Carl
Hansen, associate superintendent in
charge Of curriculum revision, ex-
planned.
In the fourth and fifth grades, the
first direct emphasis is placed on
American history. In the seventh
grade. American history up to 1850
is taught while in the eighth grade
it is continued from 1850 to the
present.
Each of these films will be used as
the subject it deals with are touched
on. he said.
In the high schools, the American
history course formerly included a
study Of the Constitution and Gov
eminent. But now the additional
half-year required course will cover
the Constitution and workings of
the Government. In addition, a
generous amount Of time will be
given to the District Government.
George j. Jones, one of the his
tory department heads, pointed out
that students In high school during
the fall term would not be required
to take the extra half-year under
the school board ruling. For them
1t will be an elective course.
This was necessary to avoid dis
rupting planned schedules of study
and possibly holding many of them
In high school an extra semester.
"All win be urged to take the
course" he declared
pnvrnII Cfnmne