Title: Educational documents
Description: This volume is a collection of documents related to the formation of the University of Wisconsin and the public school system shortly after Wisconsin became a State in 1848. These documents report on progress of the University and school system, and lay out visions for the future of education in Wisconsin.

In January 1850 John H. Lathrop was inaugurated as the first chancellor, and the first documents are speeches from that event; one by a Board representative and the other by the Chancellor. Both are inspiring speeches that describe the men’s visions of the role of universities in the modern world and the advancement of the U.S., as well as the expected contribution to the people of Wisconsin.

The Second Annual Report of the Board describes progress in making the new University of Wisconsin operational. Parts of the report address selecting and acquiring a site for the campus, decisions about type, size and location of buildings, a construction plan (“erection of edifices”) , plan of organization of colleges and departments, and more specific academic details on establishing for professorships, creating a Normal School (for teacher training), and setting up departments of Law and Medicine. The report also addresses Board views on the appropriate relationship between the University and other educational institutions in the state.

The next major document is the first annual report to the State Legislature by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Most common schools had begun operating when Wisconsin was still a Territory, but new procedures and reporting requirements were required by the State Legislature. The first part of the report contains data about schooling being provided to children. The Superintendent estimated that there were 80,000 children between ages 4 and 20 in the state, and 46,000 of them attended school in the past year, for a bit less than four months on average.

The Superintendent’s report also included a brief description of what had been achieved thus far, and then an extensive portion of the report was devoted to proposals for improving the education system. He included with his own proposals a number of letters from educators in New England and New York, including Horace Mann, and also a proposed system of teacher training from the new UW Chancellor.
Subjects: Education, University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Schools
Places: Wisconsin
People: John Hiram Lathrop (1799-1866. [from old catalog])
Time periods: 1840s