Springfield Township (part 43 of 69)

charm seems to have been attained in the third effort. It requires finances to keep any organization intact, and W. J. Fraser, who is still a Springfield citizen, was the first paid general secretary who devoted his full time to it. The organization was effected in 1887, in the Clark County courthouse, and it was sheltered there until it began activities by increasing its membership, and sought other quarters. From the beginning, including Mr. Fraser, the Springfield Young Men's Christian Association has had four general secretaries, Mr. Fraser remaining till 1903; T. T. Long till 1904; A. E. Flint till 1911, and the present incumbent John L. Dorst coming at that time.

When the Young Men's Christian Association left the courthouse it occupied a hall on Market Street (Fountain Avenue), and in 1900 the corner stone was laid for the building; it was completed in 1901, and there was an entire week of dedicatory service. It was fittingly launched into its field of usefulness, among the speakers being the world famous evangelist, Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, Gov. James A. Weaver of Pennsylvania, Capt. Richmond P. Hobson, Dr. Henry Barrows of Oberlin College, and Pres. W. O. Thompson of Ohio State University. Mr. Fraser was secretary through the building period, and Hon. Asa S. Bushnell was the honorary presiding officer through the dedicatory service. Mr. Bushnell and Edwin S. Kelly had each given $5,000 toward the enterprise.

While the cost of the Young Men's Christian Association building approximated $70,000, and Dr. John H. Rodgers who was association president throughout the building period, as well as other citizens of Springfield, thought the community had built for the future, twenty years later building plans are under consideration again. The association has outgrown its building and a site had been acquired at the southwest corner of Center and High streets ; its building project was delayed by war-time activities, its members again being called to arms as in the '60s when the first association functioned, the whole community expending its energy and its money in other channels.

Notwithstanding the delay a drive was made for funds resulting in a $200,000 subscription toward a new building and plans have been approved for an edifice costing $500,000 to become a reality in the near future. With $200,000 as a nucleus, and with the building now in use to be converted into collateral, there will not be tedious delay in beginning the new structure. When a drive was made in March, 1922, for $30,000, it went uover the top," amounting to $30,559, the whole community responding to it. In its latest organization, George W. Winger, who was identified with association work in its first and second efforts, is its president; he was elected president for the fifth consecutive year, and being a pioneer Y. M. C. A. man, he will be a valuable member of the board through its building era again.

The first and second vice presidents of the association are: C. L. Bauer and Dr. R. E. Tulloss; the corresponding secretary is C. H. Rhodes; the treasurer is George S. Raup, and the general secretary Mr. Dorst. The local association entertained the state association in its annual convention recently, and Mr. Bauer was honored by being elected its president. In 1892 the Springfield association instituted voca- tional education work in advance of the public schools or other educational institutions ; the first teacher was a skilled mechanic, D. F. Graham, and the classes were conducted in a room in a factory. It was the beginning of night school in Springfield. Men and boys enrolled in numbers, and since then the association has maintained gymnasiums for both men and boys.

The Springfield Young Men's Christian Association numbers 1,400 active members and 2,000 contributing members ; for want of accommodations it does not push the industrial features, but Bible classes are maintained with special attention given the Sunday afternoon religious meetings. Good speakers are furnished, and these meetings are growing in popularity; they are maintained only through the winter months. There are only twenty-eight dormitory rooms, but the new building will house many non-resident members who become residents of Springfield. The gymnasium sometimes becomes a banquet room, and the Young Men's Christian Association is the recognized social center for the young men of Springfield.

Four times has the Ohio Young Men's Christian Association held its annual meetings in Springfield, and when the new building is completed it will become ambitious again. The association met in Springfield in 1891, 1897, 1912, and again in 1921, and the homes of the city were thrown open to delegates. The Hi Y is an accomplishment of the Springfield association, there being ninety-eight such clubs with a membership numbering 2,000 in Ohio. A Hi Y speaker before the convention, said: "Real religion is a manly thing," and there is demand for Hi Y secretaries. When the Older Boys' conference was held in Dayton, a torch was brought from Columbus and a relay of Springfield boys carried it to Dayton, the torch having been carried between many cities by members of the Older Boys' conference, as an effective method of advertising the convention ; the boys were distributed a mile apart, and each boy ran one mile with the torch, giving it to the boy in waiting; except running one mile, the boys were carried to Dayton in automobiles.

The Negroes of Springfield support the Center Street Branch of the Young Men's Christian Association and are active in all departments. They maintain a Dunbar and Washington debating society, and a Hi Y club. Their reports are separate from the Springfield association. The Ohio Young Men's Christian Association is raising $150,000 for the foreign work of the organization and $4,000 has been asked of the Springfield association. A summer camp for boys is planned by the association and special attention is given Y work in Wittenberg College. If a church has collateral significance - and all real estate dealers point out the churches and schools to prospective citizens, then the Young Men's Christian Association is an investment, and attracts people to the community.

The organization, Boy Scouts of America, was incorporated February 8, 1910, and it was granted a Federal charter by Congress June 15, 1916, and Warren G. Harding is the honorary president with William H.

Taft and Woodrow Wilson as vice presidents. Rev. Harry Trust, president of the Springfield Boy Scout Association is unable to supply the data concerning its local organization, but there is considerable activity among Springfield Boy Scouts. The Exchange Club is financing the organization, and the local troops observe National Boy Scout week with enthusiasm. Rallies are held and programs are arranged and there is an increased interest since the Exchange Club has fostered the Scout organization. Hikes are enjoyed, and a Scout camp is an assured thing; the appeal is made through the churches, and eight troops are under process. In Springfield there are 3,600 boys of Scout age, and other boys are invited to ally themselves with Springfield Scout organizations. William Smack is chief scoutmaster and instructor.

In a surprisingly short time Boy Scouts become Junior Y's, and the Scout oath and Scout law put the boys into the highway toward good citizenship. "Teachers in the Boy Scout movement must build Americans who will stand for a united humanity; one of the great forces for good in the movement is the democratic spirit which permeates it. * * * Boy Scout activities kills the influence of the 'gang* spirit, and teaches boys they can be redblooded - that they can be regular he-men, and still be pure and virtuous." A Scout keeps clean in body and in thought; he stands for clean speech, clean sport, clean habits, and travels with a clean crowd. Now that the Exchange Club is big brother to 'the Boy Scouts, some record will be kept of the organization.

The Young Women's Christian Association, including administration building, residence and cafeteria, is located at 250 East High Street, Springfield. It is the outgrowth of work done by the Woman's Christian Association organized November 6, 1896; it has served the community in different locations, but since 1913 in its High Street property that was once occupied by a private educational institution. While the organization was known as the Woman's Christian Association, Mrs. Fannie P. Watkins was its secretary for thirteen years, and its mission was to aid indigent but worthy women. It promoted the moral, social and physical welfare of women and girls; it cared for children whose mothers worked, and dispensed the most practical charity. Its first president was Mrs. Rebecca Brewster, and the leading women of Springfield supported it.

Mrs. F. L. Davies reviews the history of the Woman's Christian Association, saying it was started as a home for girls and later the aid of the churches was asked by the women supporting the effort; the furniture was secured from the Deaconess Home, and the real organization was effected in the home of Mrs. Sarah Willis, and a home was opened on the site of the I. C. & E. Traction station. A group of women assumed the expense, and every week they went out and solicited the necessary money. As their needs increased they moved into more commodious quarters, and finally enough younger women became members that the organization was changed and today it is the Young Women's Christian Association. In the beginning the young women met for pastime, but they began sewing for the Association and a real spirit of helpfulness was soon awakened in them. For a time they called them-

Mrs. Watkins has been mentioned as secretary of the original organ* ization, and when it merged with the Y in 1909, Miss Eleanor Taft served for two years as secretary, and after a lapse of a short time Miss Rosetta Reynolds was secured, and she remained two years. After another interim without a secretary, Miss Marjorie Williams assumed the duties in 1915, and there has been constant growth at the Central Y, and in its branch departments. The Young Women's Christian Association has the supervision of the Clark Memorial Home, Lagonda Center and Clark Street Branch, and many people frequent the different centers. The community has pride in the organization and when f unds are needed drives are made and it is given the necessary financial support. It maintains a cafeteria, and a great many patronize it. The annual meetings are open to the public, one having been held in Memorial Hall, when a program was given that attracted many visitors. It was in the nature of a jubilee, the organization having been effected twenty-five years ago.

Chapter Xx Salvation Army In Springfield

While the Salvation Army has been in Springfield since the *90s, Adjutant E. D. Dinkelacker and wife who have teen at the local post since July 1, 1921, have no definite record of its beginning; it has a fluctuating membership, there being twenty-nine enrolled at the time of the inquiry. The Salvation Army owns its own home at Columbia and Fisher streets, it having once been the Evangelical Lutheran Church property. It is centrally located, and there is a standing offer of $16,000 for it ; in time it will be sold and something better suited to the requirements will be secured. The Army holds regular street meetings on the esplanade, and meetings are held in its auditorium.

While the organization in Springfield has never lapsed, it has been at low ebb and up again; its welfare work is extensive, although it co-operates with other Springfield agencies - the social service department correlating all charities. For a number of years the local Army has used the unique boiling pot as its symbol, and the citizens assist in keeping the fires burning by dropping money in it. "It takes a hardened individual to pass one of those tripods with the pot suspended, and the woman or man in attendance half frozen under the chill blasts of winter ; it is the penny or nickel the passerby drops into the pot that swells the Christmas dinner for those unable to provide it themselves. At Thanksgiving and Christmas the Salvation Army provides for those who would pass the day without the holiday cheer.

Commander Evangeline Booth says the story of the Salvation Army is like the wildest of dreams come true ; the beggar has been raised from the dust and set among princes. The Salvation Army band is the poor man's organ ; to the dying outcast it is the heavenly music of the angelic choir. It maintains 26,181 bandsmen, 750 day schools and 41 naval and military schools scattered all over the world. The Salvation Army endeared itself to the soldiers in the World war by its untiring efforts as a relief agency.

Chapter Xxi Superintendent

There was an educational provision in the famous ordinance of 1787, under which the Northwest Territory was organized, and thus Ohio and the other states carved out of the Old Northwest attracted the best class of settlers; in Clark County, as in other counties, one section of land in each township consisting of thirty-six sections is set apart for the support of the common school; this was written into the first Ohio Constitution in 1802, and it is still embodied in it although it has been revised twice - in 1851, and again in 1912; it is decreed that section No. 16 in each Congressional township shall be the school land, and one who has distinctive remembrance of the three R's as the entire educational curriculum, is inclined to take some note of the panorama - the evolution of the educational system in Clark County.

An investment in the mind and heart of the child, is laying up treasure where moth and rust do not corrupt; the school should develop in the youth a sense of responsibility for the welfare of the community. In the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin there is an income from the land alone amounting to $5,000,000, and from the beginning these states have led the world in educational progress. In Athens ' County, Ohio University occupies one of those school sections, and since it is the oldest university west of the Alleghany Mountains the fact is significant. One writer says : "From select to free ; from schoolmaster to teacher; from academy to high school, education has been no laggard in the march of progress," and since in the beginning there was little taxable property there were select schools.

In 1806 Nathaniel Pinkered opened the first school in Springfield; it was in a log- school house on the northeast corner of Main and Market streets, and since this building was used for religious meetings, it was the community center of Springfield. It is referred to as Pinkered's school, leaving the impression that it was private property. Without question it was a subscription school. William Bloxum who was an early teacher received $1.50 tuition for sixty days for each scholar; it was customary in such schools to admit younger children as halfscholars, although no mention is made of it. Some of the burly young men were inclined to rowdyism, and when they defied Mr. Bloxum he said he "would have order if he stood in blood to his eye brows; he gave the ring leader a severe whipping, and there was no more trouble." It seems that the "Master" had more need of muscle than of mental attainment, carrying out the saying: "Lickin* and larnin' are inseparable."

The earlier Clark County histories do not carry much information about the pioneer schools, but there were enterprising teachers who combined training the young idea with other occupations; it was necessary to "make both ends meet," and an Englishman named Samuel Smith served as a justice of the peace while teaching school in Springfield.

He was a hustling, square-shouldered man of "no ordinary talents," and "Treat 'em rough," was his method ; he regarded "flogging" as an indispensable part of discipline, and full grown young men and women were often compelled to stand and receive the savage strokes of his ferrule. In the language of a popular cartoonist : "Them days is gone forever." Justice of the Peace Pedagogue Smith had nicknames for boys: Lucius, Mark Anthony, Julius Caesar, Pompey, etc., and while he was a man of truth and veracity as far as business was concerned, he had a passion for telling marvelous stories; had there been such publications in his day, he would have been a fiction writer. Stories of doubtful origin were always attributed to Smith; for ten years his school was regarded as the highest seat of learning in Springfield. Smith's wife, a tall, sharp-nosed Yankee woman, assisted him in teaching the smaller children ; the school was in their cabin. One Christmas when Smith was locked out to compel him to treat, he visited Granny Icenbarger's cabin, and the youngsters had visions of cakes and apples, but they "reckoned without their host," for when he came back he climbed to the roof and dropped brimstone on the fire, laying a board on the chimney. They soon tumbled out of the windows, and they never locked that justice-ofthe-peace out again.

While local government was established in Clark County, January 1, 1818, within a week from its organization, there was no common school legislation until January 22, 1821, three years later, when an act to provide for the regulation and support of the common schools was passed, and in February, 1825, an act to provide for the support and better regulation of the common schools, and finally January 30, 1827, an act was passed establishing a fund for the support of the common schools, and until money was appropriated there was little progress. When Nathaniel Pinkered opened his school, Springfield was in Champaign County, but under state law the conditions must have been similar in different counties.

At all events the Pinkered school was the beginning of a splendid educational system in Springfield and Clark County; the people were not inclined to live in ignorance. The intellectual and moral conditions are similar in different frontier communities; settlers are deprived of many privileges when they come into the wilderness. The church and the school are regarded as collateral in any community, and as it advances morally and intellectually, crime and pauperism decrease; in the beginning the school term was usually thirteen weeks, the teacher agreeing to "keep school," and the parents obligating themselves to send their children and pay for it. Each school was a separate business enterprise, and one who mastered the three R's - readin', 'ritin and 'rithmetic, had a liberal education.

There were no blackboard, maps or other school house fixtures because there were no school houses; there are few and perhaps none lingering in 'Clark County today who tell of the dirt floors, greased paper windows and smoky rooms; what if the school houses did not have modern advantages? There were no unpleasant comparisons when their homes were like them. It is a far cry from the style of rural school building as described by Judge William A. Rockel : "A log was omitted for the light, and in this space single window panes were used end to end, and the windows were so high that the little fellows could only see the sky; below the windows were broad boards for desks, and the larger pupils sat there facing the light," contrary to the conditions existing under the Smith-Hughes law in Clark County at present.

While not much is on record about those who "taught the young idea the use of fire arms," years ago, when he was a young man of nineteen, the Hon. Whitelaw Reid was a teacher in Sduth Charleston; he wore his hair long and was of distinctive type. In an early day teaching was a stepping stone to the professions, and aged men in Springfield wielded the birch while acquiring further education. Under existing conditions, with teaching itself a profession, not so many qualify as teachers unless they continue in the vocation ; too many technicalities are required for young men to use it today as a means of attaining to some other line of activity. When the writing desks were against the walls and the children sat on puncheon benches, there were fewer swindles in the sale of school accessories than at present. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," and as civilization advances educational methods advance with it ; the school is among the greatest agencies of advancement. It is only since 1914 that there has been public supervision of rural schools in Clark County, the changed Ohio Constitution in 1912 allowing the State Legislature to provide for it. Prof. J. M. Collins as county superintendent of schools, has supervision of all schools in Clark County outside of the City of Springfield ; he is the first and only superintendent since the enactment of the law establishing the office; he received his appointment from the county board of education, which is composed of five members and under its last organization they are: E. H. Florence, Grant Neer, C. D. Shellabarger, Ezra King and Harry Mellinger. The board holds monthly meetings and has the oversight of educational affairs ; it is the plan to keep education out of politics, and professional interest, experience and competency enter into the consideration when selecting a school superintendent.

The three assistants to the county school superintendent are: Prof. O. T. Hawke, who has fifty-one teachers; Prof. F. S. Ryan, forty-one teachers ; and Prof. J. K. Hertzinger with thirty-five teachers ; the three districts are east, middle and west, and the South Charleston, Selma and New Carlisle schools all have local superintendents ; there are supervisors of music in each subdivision, and Professor Collins as county superintendent has supervision of all. Under existing conditions, at little or no expense to himself, a man may educate a family; while there are free schools it is through taxation, and in establishing the free educational system, the government was carrying out the injunction of the father of his country, George Washington, who said: "Promote then as an object of primary importance institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge; in proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened," and the public school is the hope of the future.

None will gainsay the statement that a liberal education increases the opportunities for success ; it paves the way for usefulness and influence in the community. In the way of professional interest, public school teachers are required to have thirty-six weeks of Normal training beside a high school education; the scholarship certificate is not issued until the teacher has the necessary professional training. When professional interest and moral conduct warrant it, teachers are exempt from recurrent examinations. Their certificates are renewed from time to time as per requirements. While a good many traditions cling about the oneroom school - the "little red school house," and it has been the theme of song and story, it is soon to become a thing of the past in Clark County. There are already many abandoned school houses, the consolidated school serving the purpose today.

There has been little opposition to the consolidated or centralized school in Clark County. The first centralized school in Ohio was in Ashtabula County in 1892, and the system has found favor in many localities. When the new school code came into action in 1914, many county superintendents immediately began centralization projects. The Clark County citizens recognized the advantages to be derived under the Smith-Hughes law - manual training and domestic science teachers being partly paid by the state a possibility, and the only way the question was ever before the voters was for appropriations ; they understood the issue and supported the measure. Centralization brings high school advantages within the reach of all.

It is remembered that Governor J. M. Cox called the Ohio Assembly into extraordinary session, in order to enact the new school code in Ohio; it has been said: "Governor Cox was keenly conscious of the great importance of the movement to organize rural life, and he realized that a high school system commensurate in efficiency with the importance of rural life and its industries was necessary and fundamental to the progress of such a movement, and that the country boys and girls were not getting a square deal because the so-called system then in use was inadequate to their needs and interests and failed to reveal to them the possibilities of rural life and rural activities." The governor vigilantly guarded the new law against reactionary influences and measures, and its wisdom has since been vindicated in the minds of Ohio educators. In writing of centralization, a leading educator says : "It has proved beyond the anticipation of its most ardent advocates its worth in meeting the rural conditions. When fully and properly administered, it is a corrective agency for the readjustment of the affairs of rural life; fortunate are the children whose heritage it is to have the opportunities made possible by its provisions, and only the coming years can reveal the full measure of its benefits.,, The first effort toward consolidation in Clark County was made at Selma, where four wagons are in use, although in the county fifty-one trucks are utilized in transporting children to centralized schools.

South Charleston is now the centr^bVed school of Madison Township, the school corporation havinsr been abolished and the school is operated by the township: the countv board of education created a new district by combining the town and township. New Carlisle still operates its separate school, althoueh there are some transfers from the townships near it. It draws from North Bethel and Pike, althoueh Bethel has another centralized school at Olive Branch or Forgy; the town is Forgy and the school is Olive Branch. The forty-four schools in Clark County outside of Springfield accommodate approximately 4,000 pupils, the monthly statement for December, 1921, showing an enrollment of 4,271 with an average attendance of 3,968, which is 95.12 per cent perfect - regarded by the superintendent as a good showing; in the whole month only 174 were late. Those coming in trucks are never late, and thus centralization eliminates tardiness; in the month of December 3,853 were neither absent nor tardy.

State Superintendent Vernon S. Reigel reports that Clark is the only Ohio county that never voted on the question of centralization, although its people voted on bond issues which involved consolidation.

In a sense all high schools are centralized automatically, and December 31, 1921, there were only five one-room schools with the prospect that Fairview in German Township will be the last. It is not situated to combine well with another school, there being a number of two and three-room schools which will be continued indefinitely. Aside from Selma, practically all the centralization has developed under the leadership of Superintendent Collins. Eighth grade graduates receive diplomas and they are encouraged to enter high school and finally go to college. Wittenberg College is the objective point of many Clark County graduates.

Miss Agnes Kyle, who visits the rural schools and advises with teachers and pupils relative to sanitary and health conditions, is not a teacher; she is employed by the Clark County Health Board and conservation of health is the object. She emphasizes the need of cleanliness and suggests to parents the proper diet when under-nourished children are discovered. There are many of them and in homes of plenty, but their food is not selected with regard to their particular needs. The health supervisor is not paid from the school fund, although she does much to increase regular attendance. Slates and slate rags and sponges are eliminated ; the coat sleeves that were once used to clean the slates - just allow the imagination full play - and think how much better it is for the child to use pencils and tablets, with waste paper baskets for the accumulation when it has served its purpose. Aye, some of the old-time teachers would become bewildered in the school rooms of today. They would say "Backward, turn backward," but they certainly served their day and generation acceptably.

There is a rural welfare doctor as well as a rural advisory nurse, and in case of epidemic it becomes his duty to explain that children are safe in school because those exposed to disease are in quarantine. Both Clark County and the City of Springfield had much difficulty with epidemics in 1921, many being quarantined with scarlet fever and with smallpox. It is said there are 11,000,000 children in the United States attending rural schools, and in Ohio sanitary and health conditions - thanks to the magnificent program launched a number of years ago - are far above the average.

Along in the early 70s - the reconstruction period following the Civil war - the country schoolhouses were the community centers. There were few neighborhood churches and it frequently fell to the lot of the rural pedagogue to clean a school house on Monday morning that had served as a Sunday center. If a pupil was backward in his studies it became the teacher's duty to learn his difficulty; there was no visiting nurse to offer suggestions. When there were subscription schools - scholars and half-scholars - that was a system of grading, and while advance has been noted there was some good in the old-fashioned pedagogical methods. When Clark County teachers boarded around there was little said about the scale of wages. The high cost of living did not disturb them. It was the simple life. While some cling and while some of the adherents assert that children of the past knew more at twelve than they know now when they graduate, they do not take into the account the fact that many studies are being pursued that were unknown to the children of a generation ago.

If the "pupils in our common schools were much better spellers" it is because more emphasis was placed on spelling than on any other accomplishment except "figgers." The teachers of the past were better writers, much of the handwriting of half a century ago being as plain as script of today. There were good spellers and good writers developed in the one-room school houses. There used to be writing school and the teacher was an adept in ornamental penmanship - could make a zebra or spread eagle, but where is the man or woman today who attempts even a slight flourish in his signature? In the old church records and in some of the family Bibles are excellent specimens of penmanship. The fellow still exists who can "read readin' readin', but who cannot read riten readin'." The backwoods school teachers were welcomed into the homes of Clark County but who would board the school teacher today? The centralization plan also takes care of the living necessities of the school teacher.

What has become of the unruly schoolboy who used to terrorize the school teacher? When brawn rather than brain was the qualification of the teacher; when muscular development rather than mental achievement secured recognition, the boys remained in the rural schools longer than today, when they are graduated before they are old enough to intimidate the twentieth century female teacher. While still in the adolescent period, the boy of that type is now pursuing higher studies in other schools and change of environment has changed the "nature of the brute." Disagreeable personality does not assert itself when the boy finds himself in different environment. A boy who is a terror at home is subdued by change of scenery. In the centralized school he may be shifted from pne teacher to another and he loses confidence in himself.

In the days of better chirography and orthography, the children in rural schools memorized much of the New Testament, and on Friday afternoons and in Sunday school they recited it. There were "whisper-^ ing schools" and unless they studied aloud - their lips moved - the teacher was uncertain about their application. Watch the man on the car whose lips move while he reads the newspaper; he went to whispering school. He is unable to grasp the thought unless his lips move in unison with his mentality. Time was when passing the water was the reward for careful study. Now there are sanitary drinking fountains and individual cup service, perhaps not enforced in all rural communities. When the water bucket was filled at a neighboring farm house there were boys who wanted to bring the water in order to escape the humdrum of study.

While spelling schools are reckoned with the habits and customs of the long ago, one of the rural schools at Rockway held a spelling school within the year. They used to go many miles to a spelling school, when district would be pitted against district, and it was wonderful how they would back their champion spellers. They lighted the way to spelling schools with torches and later with lanterns. While Webster's Elementary Speller is an heirloom today, it was once a vital part of the school community. The McGuffy readers had their day, and there never was any uniformity in mathematics until Ray's Practical Arithmetic became the standard. Many adults in Clark County learned what they know of the science of mathematics from Ray's Part III Arithmetic. It was thumbmarked as far as common fractions. It had the multiplication tables in it until they were worn by the pupils in an effort to master them. There were always young people with the commendable ambition to secure a liberal education. Among the older men and women are a few college graduates.

While it is a vaunted educational system, when the World war developed the amount of illiteracy in the country, educators began studying the system. Something was radically wrong when twenty per cent of the young men entering the army were unable to read and write, and the 1920 census reports confirmed the war-time discovery, a Columbus headline reading: "Although in Clark County and in all of the counties adjoining, illiteracy has decreased during the last decade, the state educational survey shows that the campaign against ignorance is not progressing very well. In the decade ending December 31, 1920, illiteracy among the native-born whites in Clark County was reduced from .8 to .7, giving it one of the lowest percentages of illiteracy among the larger communities in Ohio."

The census indicates that both foreign born and colored people show an increased percentage of illiteracy, while native-born whites show a decline, and still there is a field for educators. The census shows 1,009 persons ten years of age and older who are unable to write, most of them in Springfield, and 509 of them being negroes. Between the ages of sixteen and twenty only .3 of one per cent are illiterate. A recent writer says: "Our future leaders who come from agricultural districts will have had access to the centralized school buildings which have become community centers, affording the student body practically every opportunity which the city schools offer to boys and girls. The centralized school law was at once the most practical and progressive measure ever written into the Ohio statutes. One may shed a tear as the little red school house passes into history. It served its generation well but it did not keep up with the spirit of the times."

Commissioner of Education Tigert announces that the cities average $40.59 for the education of each child, while the rural child is educated at an average annual expense of $23.91, the country child having 142 days in school, while the city child averages 182 days, and he points out this difference as a factor in the movement away from the farms.

The foregoing is a state condition that does not seem to hold good in Clark County, where the majority of the farmers are owners of the land, and it points to centralization as a solution of the difficulty. Good roads and centralized schools are two big factors in modern rural education. Centralization means co-operation, whiie the one-room school house means divided effort, and Clark is almost fully consolidated and the question solved itself ; it has not been forced in any community. A new building is ready for dedication in Mad River, and the schools at Pitchin, Oak Grove and Moorefield are being recognized as first class and everything is prosperous in the rural schools of Clark County. Superintendent Collins keeps in touch with drivers of the wagons and trucks, looking to the safety of children in transit, and the speed of the truck does not require children to leave home so early.

On Armistice Day, 1921, the Reid School was dedicated, the occasion attracting many former students and visitors. Superintendent Collins reviewed the history of the public school system, showing its relation to the Ordinance of 1787, providing for educational advantages. Wallace Bird and Miss Laura Maxwell reviewed the community history, and a piano was given the school by Amos Whitely, who was a guest ; he had been a schoolboy there. The Reid School was a community center visited by prominent men, President William McKinley one time delivering a political address there. There is sentiment about every rural school, and in prose verse some one writes: "How dear to our hearts are the things of our childhood, when fond recollection presents them to view! The old district schoolhouse, the pail and the dipper, the same cud of gum which in turn we would chew! No fear of a microbe would ever beset us, no state board of health interfered then at all. We bathed dirty faces in one common basin and turned to the towel that hung on the wall. The old roller towel, the stiff roller towel, the germ-laden towel that hung on the wall."

There is a joint county-city normal school which is growing in popularity. It is a training school for teachers, the state contributing $1,500 toward the salary of the first teacher and $1,000 toward the second teacher, thus relieving the county-city schools of a considerable share of the burden of maintaining a training school for teachers. Miss Maggie Hinkle as director has had twenty-five students fitting themselves for teaching, and applications have been received from many others. If printing "is the art preservative, then teaching is the profession preservative," and it is said: "The future of our country, the Americanization of our newcomers, and the proper direction of our civilization are largely in the hands of the public school teachers."

In one of the booklets is mention of Samuel Harvey as a surveyor and school teacher, who was also author of an arithmetic. His activities were in the vicinity of South Charleston. Rev. John Hunt, in the closing days of 1921, a resident of the I. O. O. F. Home in Springfield, was credited with being the oldest living college graduate from any American college. In 1842 he graduated from Brown University. Clark County has had recognition in the fifty-second annual session of the Central Ohio Teachers' Association, of which Superintendent Collins is president, and O. T. Hawke of the county schools and E. W. Tiffany of the Springfield schools hold committee appointments. Clark County schools were well represented at the meeting held in Dayton. Dr. T. Bruce Birch of Wittenberg College was one of the speakers before

With the co-operation between the public school and the farm bureau, liberal education is being given in the study of agriculture. There are evening classes in some of the centralized schools to which farmers are invited, and soil fertility is a subject under consideration. There is demand for a practical education, and educators are alert for best methods. The primary duty of the public school is to prepare the pupil for self-support, with a knowledge of the origin and use of good English, the essential facts in history, the fundamentals of mathematics, some familiarity with natural science, the evolution of popular government, civic duties and responsibilities, and in an address given in Springfield, Judge Frank W. Geiger declared himself in favor of readjusting the present school system so that children be graded by mentality and not by age, saying that 70,000,000 people in the United States are below the average fifteen-year-old child in mentality.

Chapter Xxii '

A statistical report issued by City Manager Edgar E. Parsons conveys the information that 12,987 students are enrolled in Springfield - 10,312 in public schools, 1,796 in parochial schools, 125 in business college and 636 in Wittenberg College (now 1,220), besides 4,000 pupils enrolled in Clark County outside of Springfield. In round numbers there are 17,000 students, beside the great army of adults who keep up the habits of study. Before the Civil war there was an inclination toward the private school among the well-to-do families - regarded public schools as a form of charity - although when Nathaniel Pinkered opened school in Springfield there had been no tax levy for that purpose.

Samuel Smith's school was among the early select schools in Springfield, that first church erected in 1810 serving as a schoolhouse as well as a house of worship. At one time Reuben Miller, who was an unusual character, and James L. Torbert had private schools under the same roof that were independent of each other. Both taught only advanced pupils, Torbert advertising special instruction in English grammar. Only a hallway separated their school rooms, and there is no record of how they adjusted playground difficulties. Mrs. Ann Warder, a pioneer Springfield woman, brought an instructor from Pennsylvania to teach her own children, and some of her friends were privileged to send their children, and later Mrs. Warder engaged in teaching more advanced pupils, having as her assistants Mr. Lewis and Miss Armstrong. Miss Eunice Strong was another who had private school in Springfield. Miss Parsons was associated with Miss Strong as a teacher.

A Mr. and Miss Elliott and Reverend Presbury had their day and later came Allen Armstrong and Miss Mary Harrison. Miss Hannah Haas taught for many years and a sister, Miss Catharine Haas, and among the primary teachers were Mrs. Lowndes, Miss Lavinia Baird, Misses Laura and Virginia Miller. Miss Baird taught in her own home, accepting children who were unable to pay tuition. She was prompted by the need of doing good in the community. The missionary spirit does not act so strongly in all teachers. Other private teachers were: Miss Vicory, Miss Peet, Miss Emma Way, Orin Stinson, Mrs. Anna Foos, Mr. Cadwallader, Mr. Buchanan, Miss Minerva Aldrich, Miss Gunning, Miss Smith, Mrs. Woodward, Mrs. Donohue, Miss Finley, Rev. Pingree, William Wilson, Miss Ebersole, Miss Doolittle, Isaac Lancey, James Wilson - they all conducted "pay schools."

Some of the pay schools, especially those taught by ministers who sought this method of increasing their exchequer, incorporated the Bible in their course of study. Others who had private schools were Miss Matilda Stout, Mr. McWilliams, William Reid, Jane Reid, Rev. William McGookin, Rev. John Rowe. Miss Anna B. Johnson continued that line of educational work in Springfield until the Seminary property on East High Street was acquired by the Springfield Young Woman's Christian Association. The names of J. Allison Smith, Rev. J. F. Sawyer and Enoch C. Dial are found in the list of private educators. While

Some of the private schools were personal enterprise without much thought of the future, but along in the '40s there was more effort toward organization. There were boarding schools for both sexes. In 1844 Rev. Moore opened a boarding school for girls that was noted for its examinations and for its literary programs. In 1848 Rev. Chandler Robbins opened Greenway Institute, which was a boys' boarding school, a counterpart of the female seminary. The number of pupils was limited, and it was a requirement that they board at the school. The plan was adopted by the professor in order to counteract what he deemed a serious error in the ordinary modes of education. Mental discipline was too often attained at the expense of health and morality. Human happiness depends not so much upon mental acquisitions as upon physical health and moral character. Mr. Robbins later became identified with Springfield public schools, and Greenway Institute was later utilized as the first public hospital in Springfield.

While Cincinnati had graded schools in 1836 and Akron in 1847, it was not until 1850 that such plan was undertaken in Springfield. An act known as the Akron law was extended in 1848 to incorporated towns and cities, and in 1849 it was further embodied in a general law allowing any town of 200 inhabitants to organize and conduct graded schools. The city records show that in 1850, two Springfield citizens were appointed as managers of the public schools. While they had been private enterprises supported in part by subscription, there was also an apportionment of public funds, but disbursed without much supervision. Almost anyone could qualify as a teacher. There is more red tape connected with it now than at the middle of the nineteenth century.

The private schools must have been conducted in private property as are other business enterprises today, since in March, 1851, it was decided by vote to "build two schoolhouses for the purposes of common schools," and by February, 1853, two lots were purchased and in January, 1854, contracts were let for the buildings. In April, 1855, the first board of education was named, as follows : Chandler Robbins, Joseph Brown and C. H. Williams. Because of the German population instruction in German was arranged, although the time came when, because of propagandi, it was not so popular. Provision was also made at the beginning for the education of negroes in Springfield.

The first superintendent of common schools was F. W. Hurt. The principals were John Fulton and Daniel Berger, with R. W. Morris and Samuel Wheeler as assistants. In the course of a few years Chandler Robbins, who had conducted Greenway Institute, became superintendent. From that time on the office was discontinued and members, of the school board performed the duties in connection with the different principals. It is a noteworthy fact that Springfield was granted a city charter in 1850, and that an educational awakening began at that time. Although the office of school superintendent was aban- doned, it was not long until one was employed for part time teaching and the rest of his time given to supervision. In this class were : Charles B. Ruggles, Allen Armstrong, John F. Reinmund and Charles H. Evans.

When J. A. Jackson became superintendent of Springfield schools his entire time was given to it. Since 1875 the office has been filled by W. J. White, A. E. Taylor, W. H. Wier, Carey Boggess, John S. Weaver, Mr. Boggess a second time, and since 1917 Superintendent George E. McCord, who had been teacher in high school for some years. The board acquired property in 1869 that had been transferred in 1841 to the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was controlled by the church body as long as a school of high grade was maintained there, finally reverting back to Springfield. It was in the Y. W. C. A. building which was erected by popular subscription on land belonging to the public schools system. The original school on this site was organized in 1835 by Milo G. Williams, who remained" at its head till 1841, when the control passed to Chandler Robinson. It passed from Robinson to the Ohio Conference March 7, 1842, when a denominational high school was incorporated and Mr. Robbins was succeeded by Rev. Solomon Howard, representing the conference.

While the Ohio conference managed the school, its superintendents were: Reverend Howard, Rev. John W. Weekly, E. G. Dial, Esq., Rev. W. J. Ellsworth and Rev. J. W. Herron. In succession these superintendents managed the affairs of the school until 1869, when the property was leased to the Springfield Board of Education for public school purposes. The building was used for two years by the high school when it again passed into private control, schools for advanced grades being conducted there in succession by Mrs. Ruth A. Worthington, Misses Longwell and Talcott and Miss Johnson, already mentioned as occupying it when the property was acquired by the Young Woman's Christian Association. In 1849, Rev. Jonathan Edwards founded a select school for young women that prospered, and in 1852 a charter was secured for it. For a time it was housed in the First Presbyterian Church, later acquiring property on the site of- the Northern School, which, in turn, had been the site of the original cabin home in Springfield.

This school received the moral support of the Presbyterians of Ohio, and had a season of great popularity. While it was founded by Jonathan Edwards, when it was installed in its own property it was managed by John A. Smith as a denominational school for girls. In 1854, the control was assumed by Rev. L. H. Christian, who two years later was followed by Rev. Charles Sturdevant, who assumed the indebtedness of the institution and operated it alone. In 1857, Rev. James L. Rodgers purchased a half interest in the school, and five years later he owned it all. In 1871, it was acquired by the Board of Education, and thus the Springfield Female Seminary became Northern School. Wittenberg College, which came into existence in the period of so many private schools, is still in the educational field.

While Springfield school history goes back to the log school house with puncheon floors, slab benches without backs, and windows glazed with oil paper, since 1911 the high school has been housed in a splendid new building on South Limestone Street that is patterned after the Con- gressional Library in Washington. The Junior High School on West High Street occupies the building that for many year served as the home of the high school in Springfield. It is still a community center for the schools outside of Springfield, and the public school clinics are conducted there. When the new high school was in process of building, Superintendent McCord was then a science teacher, and he was commissioned by the Board of Education to inspect the building, and see that nothing of inferior material was used in it. Since 1917, his responsibility has been to know that the right kind of training is given in it. The young idea is taught to shoot under his supervision - the firearms being of the most approved workmanship. There is every facility, and since Superintendent McCord witnessed the installation of the equipment, he is capable of directing the use of it.

It is a far cry from the days of the quill pen to the room equipped with modern typewriters in the business department ; from the utter lack of charts and maps to the present day equipment, and Superintendent Wier once said : "The ethics of the school room and play ground were taught by the lecture system. It was often illustrated by wood cuts executed by a species of free hand movement, that sometimes developed into an etching in white and blue bordering on black, knd applied epidemically. For the proper development of the subject, a secluded corner of the basement served as the dark room for bringing out the details effectively," and according to published accounts, the doctrine of "laying on of hands" is still recognized; within one year there were ninety-seven cases of corporal punishment. However, the urchin who gets himself "paddled" now has a champion on the Board of Education in the person of Mrs. Clara A. Fry.

In the November election, 1921, Mrs. Fry and Mrs. Helen B. Garver were elected members of the Springfield Board of Education. In 1897, Mrs. Henrietta G. Moore was a member, and Springfield club women feel that the franchise is worth while in the recognition thus secured for women. They sit on juries as well as on the school board. When Mrs. Fry and Mrs. Garver met with the board, Mrs. Fry remarked: "I noticed in the annual report that there were ninety-seven cases of corporal punishment in the high school last year. I do not think it is necessary. I am not in favor of it." Superintendent McCord replied: "I am not in favor of it, either, but sometimes nothing else will do; some of them need it." The women members of the board have been active in its business affairs, requiring some business formalities not always observed, and they do not hesitate in casting dissenting votes. The meetings are held in the office rooms of the building, and with women on the board competitive bidding is the plan when patronage is given out by the Springfield Board of Education, a news-writer saying: "The ladies are trying to save the town a little money." It was in the purchase of typewriters that the women first "locked horns" with the male members of the board. While Mrs. Fry went on record as opposed to corporal punishment, Mrs. Garver established the competitive bidding precedent. A Springfield club woman remarked: "The women members are to be reckoned with on the Board of Education."

While the Springfield school board thought it was building for the future when planning its splendid high school building, within ten years the crying need was more room. While the contract price for the building was $270,000, an additional appropriation of $70,000 was made, and the investment reached $340,000 without furnishings, and in the office of Superintendent McCord is some of the furniture from the old building. With an auditorium seating 1,160 persons, and modern equipment in all of the departments, considerable money was spent for furniture. Under Smith-Hughes conditions much equipment is manufactured by students in the manual training department. When Superintendent McCord submits a design, the furniture is manufactured in the building. An old account says: "These were the days of quill pens with the teacher as maker and mender. While making his rounds of inspection and correction, the teacher was wont to fix the damaged quills passed up to him. A good pen knife with proper edge and temper was, therefore, an essential in the equipment of the master. His skill and speed in the art of pen-cutting counted for much in his qualifications. He would thrust quills into his hair till some one wanted them. He would make quills and write copy," but Superintendent McCord delegates all those minor details to others.

Children are coming and going, and by shifting the hours of attendance, they are accommodated. There are 292 teachers, forty-eight in high school and 244 in the grades. High school teachers must be college graduates, and they must have experience elsewhere. Preference is given to outside teachers because they sometimes bring new methods. The high school teacher must have the A. B. degree two years' experience, although the experience may be gained as a grade teacher. Grade teachers of ability are advanced to high school positions when they have the requisite qualifications. Junior High School teachers must have college degrees, and hold state certificates, thus high school teachers may be employed anywhere in Ohio. All grade teachers in Springfield must be graduates of an approved high school, and must have two years normal training. Many local graduates teach in the grades.

While the Springfield High School is without further designation, the grade schools are: Bushnell, with eight rooms; Elmwood, with eleven rooms ; Emerson, with sixteen rooms ; Fulton, with twelve rooms ; Garfield, with eight rooms; Gray, with thirteen rooms; Jefferson, with eleven rooms; Henry L. Schaefer Junior High, thirteen rooms; Highlands, twelve rooms ; I. Ward Frey, thirteen rooms ; Central Junior High, twenty-four rooms (old high school); Lagonda, eight rooms; Lincoln, eleven rooms ; McKinley, eight rooms ; Melrose, one room ; Northern, nineteen rooms (old Springfield Female Seminary) ; Northern Heights, twelve rooms (old county infirmary) ; Snyder Park Junior High, fourteen rooms; Southern, eight rooms; Warder Park, thirteen rooms; Washington, fourteen rooms; Western, ten rooms. While a few names suggest locality, others commemorate individuals both of local and national repute. Sometimes special favors are thus acknowledged, grateful recognition being small recompense. The Board of Education, superintendent of schools, business manager, clerk and truant officer have offices on the ground floor of the high school building on South Limestone Street.

While there is street car service, the Board of Education has provided Superintendent McCord with an automobile in which he visits the different schools. In 1921, the high school enrollment reached 1,360. with an average daily attendance of 1,212. With an enrollment of 697 in junior high schools, and with 7,608 pupils in the grades, the superintendent has 10,000 pupils under his direction, and the automobile serves an excellent purpose. The superintendent is working under twentieth century conditions. The Junior High School receives pupils in the seventh and eighth grades, and it has been demonstrated that pupils having advance high school training are apt to remain fmd complete the high school training. The old idea that high school education was a luxury enjoyed by but few is thus overcome, and its privileges are shared by some who would otherwise leave school when completing the eighth grade. A noticeable feature - there are as many men as women employed in the Springfield High School.

While the classical schools were the fore-runners of the present effective high school system in Springfield, and courses of study were sustained in moral philosophy, chemistry, and ancient languages - rhetoric, criticism, mathematics, elocution, piano, melodeon, French and German, the teachers of that period would be nonplussed by the outlines of study pursued in public schools in Springfield. Bible was a text book in the classical schools, and Superintendent McCord retains it, notwithstanding the agitation against it. The teachers read from it at pleasure in the daily routine of service. .While there were substantial educators, there was not much sentiment for a high school course of instruction until 1873, when C. H. Evans was at the helm. When high school was inaugurated, sessions were held in the office of Dr. Isaac Kay and in the Congregational Church ; today an immense army attends the high school sessions in Springfield.

The course of study contemplates twelve years in public school, and including junior high one-half the period is spent in high school, if the pupil is able to make the grade as planned by the Board of Education. There are two attendance officers - one a vocational officer, and attendance is compulsory until eighteen years of age; the officer must know why a child is absent, and the industrial situation does not offer much difficulty. Manufacturers understand the situation, and child labor is not used in competition with educational opportunities. The war labor shortage made some difference, children wanting to work when fabulous wages were paid in the factories. Sometimes there is work for children, when men do not have employment. Women find employment when men are idle, and in some homes men get children ready for school while women work in factories; the vocational officer knows about it.

In high school all teachers do departmental work, and there are supervisors in the different departments. Teachers specialize in language, mathematics, science - and the pupils come to their rooms. Their study periods are passed in the auditorium assembly room, where a supervisor of study is in attendance. The industrial features claim much attention in the Springfield public schools; much expense is saved to the Board of Education by having work done by pupils, and the selfsame pupils are mastering a craft while doing it. Nothing is done competitively, and while the Typographical Unions are not favorable to school printing, the students are not apprentices. A master printer is- in charge of the department. Modern shops of all kinds are installed in the basement, and teachers are practical men from the factories. When a good workman with teaching ability is discovered, he is offered a position in the industrial department of the public schools.

The high school molders and iron workers make their own equipment, each student spending one and one-half hours in manual training. This industrial feature holds many boys in school who would enter factories without completing their high school studies. When the pioneers needed some article of equipment they made it themselves; the boys in manual training do the same thing. The Smith-Hughes law provides for the education of the hand as well as of the head, and the boy with manual training opportunities becomes independent - does things for himself. The pioneer necessity was followed by an era of buying everything, but the pendulum has swung back again ; the boy makes what he wants instead of buying it.

The study of economic conditions reveals the fact that the boys who enter manual training come from the homes of working men rather than professional people. Business and professional people live in certain localities, and children from such homes take the classical instruction, while boys from the homes of laboring men consider industrial advantages. The different homes furnish children of different inclinations, although sometimes the professional man comes out of the industrial environment; the mechanic springs from the professional or business atmosphere. It is the duty of educators to supply the necessary technical training whatever the home influence ; the boys learn theory, and practice is acquired later. The industrial experiment in Springfield was installed in 1917, and has proven satisfactory. Girls are given similar advantages in domestic science and needle work, but the race question enters into it and some girls are deterred because Negro girls are inclined toward the household arts. It is an elective course, and girls learn millinery as well as cookery.

A spinning wheel standi in one of the sewing rooms, and the girls are thus brought face to face with the changed conditions surrounding the lives of their mothers and grandmothers. Fruits are canned, and while the girls are learning how they are also learning why - and that constitutes domestic science. While mothers know how, they do not always know why, and thus the next generation will be superior as homemakers and housekeepers. The arts are taught, and basketry has its appeal to most young girls. The school cafeteria has demonstrated its economic usefulness, and with a man and his wife in charge there are no flirtations. While nearby children go home for their dinners, those remaining are served in three sections so there is no rush in the dining rootn, and food is supplied at cost. In order to encourage the use of soups at the noon-day luncheons, the price was reduced from 5 to 2 cents, thereby encouraging them to have something warm rather than the cold dishes available. In some cities the" question of validity has been raised where high schools serve lunches ; a suit has been brought in Cleveland to test it.

In some of the Springfield schools because of unusual living conditions, lunches of milk and wafers have been served free, the number availing themselves of the privilege surprising the board. One criticism has been offered that too little attention has been given to what should constitute the child's diet, and adults have no knowledge of comparative food values. The pioneer mother who understood balanced rations had very little illness in her family, while other families had sickness all of the time. Domestic science is overcoming that difficulty. When women plan their menus intelligently digestion is better, and correctives are

As early as 1906, the Springfield public schools engaged in the sale of Christmas seals in the warfare against tuberculosis, and precaution is taken against contagion of whatever the nature. When children enter school at six years of age, boys average a pound heavier than girls, and they are half an inch taller. Statistics show that girls make better averages in their studies than boys. It was under the direction of Superintendent Boggess that clinics was installed, and pupils are advised in medicine and dentistry ; special attention is given the eye, ear, nose and throat at the free clinics. While the clinic was instituted for the benefit of those who are unable to pay for professional service, the children of well-to-do families avail themselves of the privilege. There is always a waiting list with clinics every morning and one afternoon; two doctors and one dentist give part-time service, and two nurses give full time to the work of the health department. The nurses visit the different schools, and when necessary they investigate home conditions. In most instances parents show a willingness to cooperate with them.

The modern schools have rest rooms provided, and health questions are considered. While there is some opposition to vaccination, the doctors perform that service at the clinics. A typical monthly report filed for January, 1922, shows 366 clinic cases attended to, with 297 carried over from December; eighty-seven new cases with twenty-four cases discharged, and 332 cases left over for February. Nurses and doctors visited 166 class rooms within the month, giving seven talks and making many examinations. The doctors examined 805 students, and the nurses 111, and they discovered 670 defectives. There were eleven dental clinics with an average of ten pupils receiving attention. Forty-one children remained out of school from want of clothing, and 257 cases were investigated by the attendance officers ; some had passed the age requirement, and others returned to school under compulsion.

Through the business office of the public school an immense volume of business is transacted - a million dollars in receipts and disbursements every year, and an auditing committee goes through all the details. The public school is a vast industrial center, and business methods are necessary in operating it. Superintendent McCord has surrounded himself with supervisors, teachers and executives, and organization is everywhere apparent. Athletics are duly recognized as elsewhere mentioned, and when teachers have given a lifetime to service they are placed on a pension list, the system becoming uniform in Springfield September 1, 1920. While a number of teachers receive pensions, some have taken employment elsewhere and thus receive both salary and pension. When a teacher has served thirty-six years, the pension relieves him of further teaching service. It is known as the State Teachers' Retirement System, and those planning to take advantage of it contribute four percent of their annual salaries toward it, thus establishing a savings account for themselves.

Every question that comes up for consideration anywhere is sure to come up in Springfield, and with parent-teacher cooperation it seems that all are amicably settled. While not all finish high school, many who do attend college, and with Wittenberg available they obtain a liberal education without quitting Clark County. With day and night school a liberal education is a possibility, and with Wittenberg and numerous other colleges at hand, Clark County young people are availing themselves of the splendid opportunity. Ohio leads the country with fortyone young men having availed themselves of the Cecil Rhodes scholarship, and Springfield and Clark County rank high in the number of high school and college graduates.

The Ridgewood Select School was established in 1919, to fill a need recognized by many parents in Springfield. While it only serves a limited number of children, it admits of individual attention. It is not a commercial enterprise, and profits above expenses are applied on building and equipment. The principal is Miss Marthena Winger. She is assisted by teachers who specialize in Kindergarten, French, music and physical culture. The limit is sixty-five pupils and a sufficient number of teachers are employed to insure personal attention to each child, which is impossible under average conditions in a crowded school room.

The Ridgewood School is located on North Fountain Boulevard, and is the result of the plans and efforts of those interested in the project. It admits both boys and girls from kindergarten to the fourth grade, inclusive, the course of study being planned to meet preparatory requirements. Nature study is related to the seasons, and the school gardens are cared for by the children under the personal direction of a teacher. Physical training is given daily, and chapel exercise is of a nature adapted to the understanding of the children. Children from different parts of Springfield attend the Ridgewood School, and the experiment is satisfactory to those promoting it.

Chapter Xxiii

The epigram: "A bigger and better Springfield through a greater Wittenberg/' is reversible ; it reflects the attitude of the city toward the college, and of the college toward the city. There is no apparent lack of loyalty.

There is college sentiment afield, and Wittenberg day is observed in many communities. The annual report of the Synod of Ohio says of Wittenberg : "The outstanding institution on the territory of our Synod," and the dean of another institution of learning exclaims: "Of all the colleges of the state, not one has a better balanced faculty than Wittenberg ; it stands out strongly among the faculties of Ohio colleges." This sketch of Wittenberg is adapted from an earlier one written by Dr. B. F. Prince, who as president of the Clark County Historical Society, is supervising editor of this history: Springfield and Clark County. In 1865, he graduated from the college, and one year later he became identifield with its faculty. Since he is the senior member, and has spent more than half a century in its service. Dr. Prince is sometimes designated: "The Grand Old Man of Wittenberg."

As early as 1830, there was a sentiment for a Lutheran institution of learning in the West - then Ohio and Indiana. The Evangelical Lutherans realized that if they were to maintain a permanent footing, they must meet the educational need ; while the church advocated the education of the masses, the immediate need was the training of ministers. They wanted a centrally located institution. While the first effort was in the interest of Germans, they soon recognized the many who were relinquishing the German and learning the English language. While their first thought was instruction in theology, they soon included the laity who sought scientific knowledge; they wanted an education fitting them for the channels of business and trade.

When the Evangelical Lutherans were planning a college. Wooster, Canton, Xenia and Springfield were under consideration. Rev. Ezra Keller, D. D., who was representing the Pennsylvania Ministerium as a missionary and visiting churches in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, was a young man of zeal and ability. He was recognized as a theologian and as a practical preacher. The country was filling up rapidly, and as a man of vision Doctor Keller recognized the importance of training young men for the ministry in the territory where their activities were needed. There was need of leaders both in church and state, and the church must educate them ; it must educate both the ministry and the laity.

When the Lutherans were considering a college, it was the prevalent feeling that Doctor Keller should become its president ; he was active in church and community affairs. When the Wittenberg fund amounted to $10,000, a school was opened at Wooster in 1844, although Doctor Keller, who then served the Lutheran Church organized in 1841 in Springfield, thought of it as the logical site of such institution. It was farther south and west, and nearer those who would be attracted to it. While the Lutherans had little money, they had hope and great expectations. On March 11, 1845, Wittenberg College was chartered by the State Legislature and located at Springfield. While Doctor Keller accepted a call to the faculty, it was not as president of the college.

When the college opened at Wooster, there were seventeen students enrolled in the classical, and four in the theological department; it was not then co-educational. Two of the divinity students, David Earhart and Isaac Culler, were licensed by the English Synod, and they entered the ministry with one year's training; the others, David Harbaugh and Adam Helwig, transferred to Springfield. After the college had received its charter and a campus secured, some preliminary work was necessary ; while "the groves were God's first temples," Wittenberg campus needed some improvements. It was always a beauty spot - the handiwork of Mother Nature, yet- Father Time must accomplish something before school was opened there, and building began on the campus the second year Wittenberg was in Springfield.

./ While the First Lutheran Church of Springfield was unfinished, it was utilized by the college. When school opened November 3, 1845, there were five students present the first hour with four more enrolling later in the day. There were seventy students the first year Wittenberg was in Springfield; there are now more than fifteen times that number of young men and women in the college. While it is strictly a denominational school, not all who study in Wittenberg are Lutherans. A recent survey shows the following denominations matriculated : Adventist, Baptist, Catholic, Christian, Church of Christ, Christian Science, Congregationalism Episcopalian, Evangelical, Friends, Greek Orthodox, Jewish, Lutheran, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant, Moravian, Presbyterian, Reformed, United Brethern, United Presbyterian, and sixteen students who have no church affiliation. While the Lutherans are in the majority, Wittenberg is a community educational center.

When Wittenberg firfct opened its doors in Springfield, domitory privileges were furnished in the unfinished church and in private homes; some of the students furnished their own rooms according to their own ability. They used heating stoves for cooking, and sperm, corn oil and lard were used for lighting the rooms. The Simon family undertook boarding students at the rate of 873^ cents a week, but they soon raised the price to $1.25 - now the price of a single meal in Springfield. The simple life then prevailed in Clark County and the rest of the territory served by Wittenberg College.

Wittenberg College campus includes about fifty acres - hills and dales, and climbing the hills of .the campus and the hills of difficulty are alike invigorating, and Doctor Keller was indefatigable; lack of funds did not deter him. The people in the Great Miami Valley were prosperous in material things, and the Pennsylvania Ministerium was gratified with results; it has supplied the missionaries who awakened the religious interest, and one of them had aroused an educational interest. While others organized churches, it had remained for Doctor Keller to organize Wittenberg College. Within a few months he secured the necessary cooperation in Springfield and Clark County, and all along friends have taken care of the finance ; men and women leave their money to Wittenberg. It has always had the confidence and support of Lutherans, and they give their farms toward its endowment. Its charter provides for theological and scientific education ; the classes and the masses are educated at Wittenberg College.

While Doctor Keller had the necessary vision, he did not possess the necessary physique; his strength was not equal to the manifold duties required of him. While he had offered his service as professor of theol- ogy, because of the pressure of financial and administrative duties, the Board of Directors soon imposed upon him the duties of president. The college was already established, and housing it was the next problem confronting the board. Building started on Wittenberg campus in 1846, and for the first forty years in college history, what is now Myers Hall was Wittenberg ; the name Myers has been attached in honor of those who refitted it, making of it a dormitory accommodating more than 100 students. While it requires climbing to reach it, a happy group of students finds economic shelter there.

In the spring of 1847, Doctor Keller assumed full financial responsibility ; the builders must proceed with the construction, and they must be paid; he would trust to the future. He was the minister in the local Lutheran Church, and he was now president of Wittenberg College. The duties were too exacting and numerous for this frail man; the responsibility reduced his strength, and he fell an easy prey to disease. In December, 1848, Doctor Keller contracted typhoid fever, and in his weakened condition his system offered little resistance. On December 29 he died and a grave was made for him in the northwest corner of Wittenberg campus. The spot was dear 'to him in life, and on New Year's Day, 1849, he was laid to rest there until the opening of Ferncliff Cemetery when his dust was transferred; his mortal remains still overshadowed by Wittenberg College. They said of Doctor Keller that he was a Saint in the House of Israel. He had endeared himself to all who knew him, and in the midst of his usefulness he had been stricken from them.

stop; he would not have wished it. In June, the Rev. Samuel Sprecher of Pennsylvania responded to the call of the board and assumed the duties as president of Wittenberg. He proved himself the right man, having both executive ability and being an excellent teacher. Doctor Keller had been popular, and the work of his successor was more closely scrutinized because of it, but he soon demonstrated his capability both in the college and the seminary ; the board had made no mistake in choosing him to administer the affairs of the institution. An admiring writer exclaims of Doctor Sprecher: "His was the master mind that lived in regions of broad expanse of thought and Christian philosophy, and which he opened to delight those who sat at his feet as learners."

When Doctor Sprecher came to Wittenberg there was unfinished work. There was an unfinished building and there was money needed to complete it. While it seemed an impossible task, within two years he had accomplished it, and in 1851 the first class graduated from the college. It numbered eight members, four of them ministers, two lawyers, one physician and one entered upon a business career. While half the original class entered the ministry, at the present time with 1,500 vacant pulpits in the United States, and with one in eight Lutheran pulpits vacant, effort is now being concentrated toward securing students for Hamma Divinity School. The college is making a drive to induce more young men to enter the ministry. Father and son banquets are being held throughout Wittenberg territory, with gratifying results. Hundreds of men and boys attend the banquets, and Wittenberg films are used by field secretaries, the films showing campus activities and arousing much interest in the college.

For many years Wittenberg College struggled for its existence ; while it had slender means at hand, endowments came later, and its history shows how much may be accomplished in awakening ambition without lavish expenditure of money. Finance has always been a pressing question, and when needed most of it has always been forthcoming. While cheap scholarships were offered as an inducement, they proved a disappointment to the board. When Doctor Sprecher went into the field to secure the necessary funds, he also interested Lutherans in the endowment plan; he was building for the future. Coming to the presidency of Wittenberg College in 1849, and remaining at the helm through the strenuous days of the Civil war, Doctor Sprecher fully demonstrated his efficiency; the people then used the word ability. There were not so many psychologists floating around discussing efficiency.

When the Civil war came . on it reduced the attendance and the resources of the college. Wittenberg students went to war in such numbers as to call forth the commendation of the United States Government; twice since then has it contributed the flower of its student body to the call of their country. While the Spanish-American war did not attract so many, Wittenberg rallied to the call when soldiers were needed in the World war. The college was founded while the Mexican war was in progress, and three wars have drawn recruits from it. Doctor Sprecher remained as president twenty-five years, and a high grade scholarship was established and maintained by him. He was the embodiment of high thinking, and he was an inspiration to others.

When Doctor Sprecher resigned as president in 1874, Rev. John B. Helwig, D. D., served in that relation for eight years. He was an earnest worker and built up the institution. While he was president, Wittenberg became co-educational and young women were admitted to the college as students, rendering a more extensive and flexible curriculum necessary. The school was iii better financial condition, and when buildings were needed they were provided ; a building era ensued. The necessary labor connected with the administrative duties weighed heavily upon President Helwig. In 1882 he resigned, not wishing to assume the strain of building responsibilities. Some men have capacity for one thing, and Dr. Helwig knew his human limitations ; he was not a builder.

The vacancy in the president's office was filled by the promotion of Rev. Samuel A. Ort, who, for two years, had filled the chair of theology. He assumed his duties immediately, and soon secured the necessary building funds. By April the following year construction was under way; however, the building designated as Recitation Hall was not ready for occupancy until September, 1886, there being delays from various causes. When finally completed, this building meant much to the faculty as well as the whole student body. It has an auditorium and affords better class room facilities. The money for building it was raised mostly in Springfield and Clark County. It is a community center used for many things. The chapel meetings and lectures are held in this auditorium, and to many college visitors it is Wittenberg.

In the meantime the field of instruction was broadened; in science, the opportunities became more practical and extensive, there were new methods of study, and students themselves became investigators. They were inclined to find out scientific truths - were learning to think things out for themselves. "Think for thyself one good idea, yet known to be thine own," and Wittenberg students were learning that, "It is better far than fields by others sown," and thus education was serving its highest purpose. Better working facilities were followed by better results, and Wittenberg had become a prosperous school. After the women were admitted the attendance increased, more non-resident students being attracted to the college, and the housing problem became acute. When

In June, 1887, the board decided to construct a suitable building for the co-eds; it was necessary to provide for the young women within a reasonable distance from the college. Mothers want to know the influences surrounding their daughters, and Ferncliff Hall, just outside the campus, was ready for occupancy in 1888; it was opened in September of that year. Since then applications are made in advance, and many young women must find other accommodations; the fraternities and sororities help to solve the housing problem in the neighborhood of the college. Social life is under college supervision, Miss Grace Clark Webb coming as the first dean of women. She has charge of disciplinary work, having assumed her duties in March, 1922. She shares responsibility with Dean C. G. Shatzer, who has been disciplinarian of the college.

However, it is said that morality standards are higher among college students than in any other group of corresponding numbers. It has been said, "American colleges are the best expressions of democracy that we have in this country," and the question concerning the faculty is : "What kind of men and women will be produced under these conditions?"

It was in 1889 that the cornerstone was laid for Hamma Divinity Hall on the Wittenberg campus. In 1890 it was opened, and "supplied a long felt want," as it enabled young men to pursue special studies in preparation for the ministry. The teaching force was enlarged, and the building offered many advantages. It was named in honor of Rev. M. W. Hamma, D. D., who endowed it. but in December, 1900. it was destroyed by fire. The college had attained to a point where it could survive losses better, and in 1901, Hamma Divinity Hall was built again. Seminary features have been incorporated, and the course of study appeals to would-be ministers. The legacy left to the seminary by Rev. Charles Stroud enables it to offer the best possible course of instruction in theology, and while it has an excellent faculty, it suffered an irreparable loss in the death of Dean D. H. Bauslin recently. For years he had been at the head of Hamma Divinity School, the seminary branch of Wittenberg. Death came to him in Bucyrus where he had gone to conduct the funeral services of an old friend.

While it is elsewhere mentioned, there is an excellent working library accessible to Wittenberg College students. It is housed in a stone building occupying one of the most commanding sites on the campus, and is a gift from John L. Zimmerman commemorating his brother, Rev. Joseph Clark Zimmerman. The library affords a restful nook, and a glimpse of the sunset rewards the tourist for visiting the spot at eventide. It is a quiet place to commune with master minds, and became a reality there in 1891-2, with Miss Grace Prince as librarian. Until it had its own building, the books constituting the library had different custodians, no one giving full time to the care of them.

After eighteen years as president of Wittenberg, Doctor Ort severed that connection with the college; in 1900 he offered his resignation. Doctor Ort was promoted from the faculty of the seminary to the presidency, and returned to it, occupying^ the chair of theology in the seminary and of philosophy in the college* While he was president the institution was prosperous, but he desired to be relieved of so much responsibility. When Doctor Ruthrauff was installed as president in 1900, he was relieved of the duty of teaching; the previous presidents all had given much time to pedagogics, but as business manager he immediately began advancing the finances of the college. The growing needs of the school required an executive to give all of his time to financing the institution. The Rev. J. Mosheim Ruthrauff displayed commendable zeal, but his labors were destined to short duration. With suddenness that

It was one year from the time of the death of Doctor Ruthrauff until Wittenberg named his successor ; in the meantime Doctor Ort was acting president. In the spring of 1903, Dr. Charles G. Heckert, D. D., who occupied the chair of English and logic in the college, was elected to the vacancy. He accepted the honor under condition that he continue teaching until the annual commencement time, and his wish was granted by the board. For fourteen years Doctor Heckert had been an instructor, and he knew the Requirements of the presidency. While he entered upon the duties without needing a period of tutelage, he wanted to remain with the class until it left the college. When Doctor Heckert entered upon the duties of the presidency, he displayed the same loyalty to the entire college that he had shown to his classes.

It was at a time of great material prosperity, and under the Heckert regime Wittenberg advanced in many ways. Through his earnest efforts the Carnegie Science Hall was secured, and it was fitted up with the most approved equipment. The building stands as a monument to Andrew Carnegie, and to Doctor Heckert. He died December 7, 1920, and after having given many years as professor and as president, he planned to give his accumulated fortune to the college. Under the terms of the will his widow was to hold the property her lifetime, and then it would revert to Wittenberg. She is a business woman, and realizing that property was then at a very high rating, she relinquished her claim, accepting an annuity, and thus more money was added to the Wittenberg endowment fund. While Doctor Heckert was president, he was always alert and about the last thing that actuated him was a financial drive that secured $2,000,000, and $500,000 of the amount came from Lutheran churches.

The Synod report says : "Hamma Divinity School is having the best year of its history, and is the seminary for the young men of Ohio who enter the Christian ministry. We are under obligations to support it." Since Doctor Heckert graduated from Wittenberg in 1886, and from Hamma Divinity School in 1889, and had since been connected with the faculty until he became its president, it seems fitting that he should endow it with the money that had come to him from it. As the sixth president of Wittenberg College, Doctor Heckert left the indelible impression of a strong, wise and effective executive, the Synod report saying further, that under his applied energy and business management he prepared Wittenberg College for the progressive movement that has awakened our churches to the value, power, possibility and achievement that properly belongs to our beloved Wittenberg.

And this further tribute from the Synod report: President Heckert was more than a scholastic executive or institutional administrator; he was a living citizen. He recognized his obligation to the Community; he paid the same with an energetic, sacrificial devotion of himself to his civilian duty. He won the admiration and confidence of those who formed the bone and sinew of Springfield's public and community life. In his duplex position - collegian and civilian, he rapidly expended the forces of his physical vitality, and hastened the termination of his life.

The seventh president of Wittenberg College is Dr. Rees Edgar Tulloss. In 1921 he succeeded Doctor Heckert. He ^graduated from the college in 1906, and entered upon a business career in Cadiz. He is the inventor of a system of shorthand - the Tulloss System - which has been on the market since 1901, being a copyrighted correspondence course, and he was invited to become president because of his well known executive ability. Doctor Tulloss does not sustain a teaching relation to the college, but he does have the confidence and support of the community. While he is in the full strength of his manhood, before him is the example of six college presidents who gave their all to Wittenberg. In their zeal for the college, they did not husband their own strength. While one or two resigned, it was after physical exhaustion had come to them. The maxim holds : "Better wear out that rust out," but men of today have learned to "know themselves."

Not so much is required of the executive; earlier Wittenberg presidents were teachers while looking after all other details, and they rested on Sunday by delivering regular sermons. Dr. Samuel Sprecher served the college through the most strenuous period, and when Myers Hall then known as Wittenberg was placed on the campus, the students were called upon to help elevate the timbers for the cupola. When he had grown old one of them penned the line: "After this exercise we were treated to a liberal quantity of Cronk's beer, a mild effervescent then in vogue, put up in quart stone jugs." That was the first building on the campus, and it was given the most commanding position; the board had not investigated the subject of landscape.. Whenever a new building was to be erected, a committee walked over the campus and located the site for it without regard to other features.

Until recent years none of the American colleges had given any attention to the problem of campus planning; the system of locating drives and placing additional buildings was hit-or-miss, but in view of the unusual possibilities of the Wittenberg campus, definite landscape plans have been developed. A number of noted architects and campus-planning experts have offered suggestions and future development will be with relation to natural advantages as well as in conformity to the buildings already fixtures of the campus. A topographical survey has been made showing the campus with all walks, buildings, roads, etc., and by the aid of the maps the advisory board has been able to agree upon plans for the future development. Buildings in prospect are already located, and toward the western end of the plaza is to stand a bronze statue of Martin Luther. President Tulloss says: "This plan represents the Wittenberg College of the future."

Since that first commencement day in 1851, Wittenberg has distributed ministers and missionaries over four continents. These graduates have been useful citizens, and some have been community builders ; they have made themselves known in state and nation. Among them are manufacturers, business men, lawyers and preachers, and while many graduated with honors others only spent a year or two and were better equipped for service. Many have become an honor to themselves and to

When women were admitted other departments were inaugurated, and from the beginning Wittenberg has maintained an academy. It fits students for college, and recently the department of religious education has been added with Rev. Paul H. Heisey as its first instructor. There are three literary societies: Excelsior, Philosophian and Euterpean and weekly meetings are held by all. College students show talent in writing plays, and the Wittenberg Dramatic Society stages some of them. Students with low grades are dismissed from school, and application is the one method of advancement. The Saturday School attracts manv teachers outside of Springfield who desire credits and to make up back work. They are allowed to pursue three studies for which they receive three semester hours credit. The college maintains a Y. M. C A. and a Y. W. C. A., and it offers social as well as educational advantages.

While some members of the faculty are Wittenberg graduates, many of them have taken post-graduate work in other institutions. The professors from the beginning have been a high type of scholarship and manhood, and they have been given to independent thinking and thorough investigation; that spirit still prevails in Wittenberg. While Doctor Keller and Doctor Sprecher wrought under adverse conditions, they imparted inspiration as well as information. It is the spirit an instructor awakens that counts for most, and while those pioneers wrought under disadvantages, their work was not in vain. Improved equipment is the legacy of the years, and the success desired by Doctor Keller when he fell on his knees on the campus and prayed for direction from Almighty God has already been vouchsafed to Wittenberg College.

The Wittenberg Scenario emphasizes the beauty of the campus, and it is shown to multitudes who gain their first definite knowledge of the college from it. The films were, prepared under faculty supervision, and they show every phase of college activity from the opening of school in the fall to the great Alma Mater festival, and the commencement day ceremonies. It is an effective method of advertising Wittenberg among the Lutherans of the surrounding country.

Chapter Xxiv

The question has been raised as to which is the greatest community influence: church, school or press, and in the May American Magazine a minister says he stepped out of the pulpit and into the newspapers because he wanted all of the world, and the only place to find it was reading the newspapers. Through the syndicated service he is reaching the readers of many newspapers, and no questions are asked of any; there, and there alone, are college professors, elevator boys, hired girls and millionaires. In the newspaper world there is no exclusiveness, no respectability - nothing but just folks.