STATE NORMAL SCHOOL

AT SALEM, MASS.

HISTORY.

ON account of an earnest demand made by the people in the northeastern part of the State in 1853, the Board of Education recommended to the Legislature the establishment of a fourth Normal School, to be located in Essex County. In accordance with the recommendation, an appropriation of $6,000 was promptly made. The advantages presented by the city of Salem for the accommodation of a State School were so manifest, and the liberality which the city extended to the school was so satisfactory, that the Board of Education determined to locate a Normal School for female teachers at Salem. The authorities of the city furnished a suitable lot of land, and erected thereon an acceptable and properly furnished building, at an expense of $12,000 beyond the 6,000 appropriated by the State, and $2,000 contributed to the enterprise by the Eastern Railroad Company. The building was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, Sept. 14, 1854. Governor Washburn presided on the occasion, and a formal Address was delivered by Ex-Governor Geo. L. Boutwell. The school opened under favorable auspices; sixty-two young ladies were admitted on the first day, and thirteen afterwards joined the class.

ORGANIZATION AND INSTRUCTION.

Candidates for admission must be at least sixteen years of age; must present a satisfactory certificate of good moral character; must declare their full intention of faithfully observing the regulations of the school, during their connection with it, and of afterwards teaching in the public schools of Massachusetts; and must pass a satisfactory examination in Geography, the History of the United States, and Algebra (through Equations of the First Degree with one unknown quantity).

Pupils are admitted from any State without charge for tuition, in case they declare their purpose to teach in the public schools of Massachusetts. Young ladies who intend to teach in private schools, or in other States, are allowed the privileges of the school on paying a tuition fee of $30.00 a year.

To all pupils who propose to teach in the public schools of the State, tuition is free; and to all the members of the school, the requisite textbooks are, with few exceptions, furnished gratuitously. To defray incidental expenses, $2.00 a term is paid by each pupil.

For the assistance of those who would find even the moderate expenses of the school burdensome, the Commonwealth makes an annual appro

priation of a thousand dollars. One half of this amount is distributed at the close of each term, among pupils from Massachusetts who may merit and need the aid, in sums varying according to the distance of their residence from Salem, and their necessary expenses in attending the school, but not exceeding in any case $1.50 per week. In this distribution, the first term of the pupil's connection with the school is not reckoned, unless she enters prepared to complete the prescribed course of study in less than two years.

Aid is also rendered, in case of special merit and need, from the income of a fund of five thousand dollars, for which the school is indebted to the munificent bequest of Nathaniel I. Bowditch, Esq., of Brookline.

School Terms-Studies.

The regular course of study, from the organization of the school down to 1865, occupied three terms of twenty weeks each, the terms at first beginning respectively, on the second Wednesday of March and the second Wednesday of September.

Commencing with 1865, the regular course of study has occupied two years, or four terms, each of twenty weeks. This change was made for the purpose of allowing more ample time for thorough instruction and training in the various subjects taught.

Advanced Class.

Ladies who have successfully completed the regular course of study, are allowed to remain in school and pursue a higher course. Former studies are carried on to a greater extent, and new studies, such as belong to a High School course, are introduced. Three terms were assigned to the course until 1866, when it was reduced to two terms.

Course of Study.

Some studies are attended to through the entire course, viz: Reading, Spelling, Etymologies, Rhetoric, English Composition, Mental Arithmetic, Drawing, (including pencil, crayon, and black-board drawing), Vocal Music, and Physical Culture.

In addition to the foregoing, the studies pursued during the successive terms, are as follows:

First Term. Arithmetic, Algebra, English Grammar, Geography of the Western Continent, History of the United States, Writing, (with especial reference to the way of teaching it), Anatomy and Physiology, and Chemistry.

Second Term.

Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, English Language, (its History and Construction), Geography of the Eastern Continent, and Botany.

Third Term. Arithmetic, Algebra, Natural Philosophy, Mental Philosophy, English Literature, General History.

Fourth Term. Astronomy, Geology, Physical Geography, Mental Philosophy, Logic, Constitution of the United States, School Laws of

Massachusetts, and Principles and Methods of Teaching, and of School Management.

Optional Studies.

Soon after the commencement of each term, pupils who are able to do more than the work assigned in the regular course, are formed into special classes, in the French and Latin languages, attention being chiefly given to the modes of teaching those languages.

Advanced Course.

Graduates of the regular course are permitted to remain in the school one additional year. During this time they attend to the Higher Mathematics, (including Plane and Spherical Trigonometry), English Literature, Latin and French, and pursue to a greater extent some of the studies of the undergraduate course, especially Natural Philosophy and Chemistry.

Aims and Methods of Study and Training.

The ends aimed at in this school are chiefly two, viz: The acquisition of the necessary knowledge, and art of teaching.

From the beginning to the end of the course, all studies are conducted with especial reference to the best ways of teaching them. Recitations alone, however excellent, are not satisfactory, unless every pupil is able to teach others that which she has herself learned. In every study, the pupils in turn occupy temporarily the place of teacher of their classmates, and are subjected to their criticisms as well as those of the regular teacher. Teaching exercises of various kinds form a large and important part of the school work. During the Senior term, object lessons are daily given to classes of children from an adjacent primary school, so that every pupil obtains, before graduating, considerable experience in teaching young children to observe, think and give expression to thought.

Text-books

Nearly all the studies are conducted upon the topical plan. are used chiefly as books of reference. Topics are assigned from day to day by the teacher, and the scholars are required to obtain the requisite knowledge from the various sources at command. The committing of text-books to memory is avoided as far as possible, the scholars being trained to depend upon thoughts rather than words.

The great object of the school is to make the pupils investigate, think and speak for themselves; to make them independent, self-reliant, and ready to meet whatever difficulties may arise.

Discipline.

The discipline of the school is made as simple as possible. Pupils are expected to govern themselves; to do without compulsion what is required, and to refrain voluntarily from all improprieties. Those who are unwilling to conform cheerfully to the known wishes of the Principal and his Assistants, are presumed to be unfit to become teachers.

It is not deemed necessary to awaken a feeling of emulation in order to induce the scholars to perform their duties faithfully. The ranking of

scholars according to their comparative success in studies, is not here allowed. Faithful attention to duty is encouraged for its own sake, not for the purpose of obtaining certain marks of credit.

Promotions and Graduations.

Promotions from one class to another are made by means of an elaborate written examination at the close of each term. These examinations cover every study pursued during the term, and the result in each study must be satisfactory, to entitle the pupil to advance to the study next in order. A general failure on the part of a pupil compels her to retake the entire work of the term. In case of a partial failure, reexaminations are allowed.

In the Senior term, a special examination is had in all the branches taught in the common schools, and only those who pass it successfully are permitted to graduate.

The whole number of pupils in the School from its establishment in September, 1854, to July 1, 1867, is 1041. The whole number of graduates to the same date, is 453. The number present during the term ending at the latter date, was 149, the largest number present during any term.

PRINCIPALS

On the opening of the Normal School in 1854, Richard Edwards was appointed Principal. He resigned in 1854, to accept an appointment to the charge of the City Normal School of St. Louis. He left the latter place in 1862, to accept the Presidency of the Illinois Normal University. Alpheus Crosby, formerly Professor in Dartmouth College, was appointed Principal in 1857, and entered upon the duties in the school in October of that year. Prof. Crosby resigned in 1865, and Daniel P. Hagar, Principal of the High School in Jamaica Plains, was appointed his suc

cessor.

EXTRACT FROM AN ADDRESS

BY EX-GOVERNOR GEORGE S. BOUTWELL,

AT THE DEDICATION OF THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT SALEM,

August 19th, 1854.

THE house you have erected is not so much dedicated to the School as to the public; the institution here set up is not so much for the benefit of the young men and women who may become pupils, as for the benefit of the public which they represent. The appeal is, therefore, to the public to furnish such pupils, in number and character, that the institution may soon successfully enter upon the work for which it is properly designed. But the character and value of this school depend on the quality of its teachers more than on all things else. They should be thoroughly instructed, not only in the branches taught, but in the art of teaching them. The teacher ought to have attained much that the pupil is yet to learn; if he has not, he can not utter words of encouragement, nor estimate the chances of success. It is not enough to know what is contained in the text-book; the pupil should know that at least; the teacher should know a great deal more. A person is not qualified for the office of teacher when he has mastered the contents of a book; and has, in fact, no right to instruct others until he has mastered the subject." Here then seems to be the gist of the whole matter. We in Maine have at length an opportunity to do something which may be made of great benefit to the public schools of the State, and, through them, to the cause of general good learning. This is to be done through the instrumentality of an institution-the Normal School. Very largely is this trust committed to the hands of the educational men of the present day among us. Future generations will hold us responsible for a right discharge of our duties. Let us not prove recreant to our sacred trust.

When that great educator, who has left a bright and ineffaceable record upon the annals of the present age, heard of his election as master of the School at Rugby, he wrote to Dr. Hawkins, whose recommendation, in which he expressed his belief that Arnold would revolutionize the system of public instruction in Europe-had done most towards securing his appointment, in the following touching words:

"I need not tell you how unexpected this result [my election] has been to me, and I hope I need not say also what a solemn and overwhelming responsibility is imposed upon me. I would hope to have the prayers of my friends, together with my own, for a supply of that true wisdom which is required for such a business." The position of a Normal School teacher is one of "solemn and overwhelming responsibility," and the person occupying it needs a wisdom that comes through communion with the Divine One. This institution, like the noble, the lamented Arnold, is nothing less than revolutionary in its relationship to the Common Schools. It will fail to accomplish its mission, or it will regenerate. It will give life, or it itself will die.

It remains to be said-if indeed that be necessary-that I believe with De Gasparin and De Tocqueville, that in the universality of common instruction is the true superiority of Americans: that I believe, with the leading patriots of my country, that republican institutions can not exist for any length of time except they be enshrined in the hearts of an intelligent, liberty-loving people; that to retain the true superiority of which we, as a nation, are acknowledged to be possessed, we must retain and improve its cause-the public school system; that I believe, with the lamented Mann and Page, the living Barnard, the patriotic and eloquent Everett, and a host of other eminent educators, that the Normal School is a necessity-a sine qua non-for the perfection of a system of instruction for the people; and lastly, and consequently, that I would give to