Abstract
Charles Kendall Adams arrived at the Bay City, Michigan, high school on the morning of June 5, 1884. Adams and his colleague, both professors at the University of Michigan, were there to inspect the school. The visit did not start well. Adams was immediately “impressed by the neglected and unbusiness-like aspect of the Superintendent’s room. The dust of ages seemed to have settled down in the room and to have enjoyed already a long repose,” he described. Adams maintained this critical manner throughout the inspection. Although laced with humor, his description of the physics classroom condemned the lackluster state of the school. “At one side of the room was a case apparently for apparatus in which a few articles were indistinctly visible,” he wrote. “The suspicion was awakened that whatever dust had not succeeded in finding an entrance into the Superintendent’s Room had betaken itself to this case.” Adams concluded his account with ringing disapproval. “We could not escape the impression that there is pervading the school a general listlessness that is quite incompatible with any high grade of scholarship,” but the greatest problem was a rather poor “spirit that seems to have settled down on the pupils, as the dust has settled down in the Room of the Superintendent.”1
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Notes
“Inspection of Bay City” (June 9, 1884), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions. School Visits, 1883/84, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, 4–5, 6–7, 13–15.
Harold Wechsler, The Qualified Student: A History of Selective College Admission in America (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1977), 11–12, 7–24; University of Michigan, Annual Report of the Bureau of Co-operation with Educational Institutions, Box 1, Bureau of School Services (University of Michigan) Records, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, 6; Henry S. Frieze, “President’s Annual Report,” in Thirty-FourthAnnual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan (Lansing: W.S. George & Co., 1870), 209; University of Michigan, The President’s Report to the Board of Regents for the Year Ending June 30, 1871 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1871), 19–22; Ewd. Olney, “The Michigan State University and the High Schools,” Wisconsin Journal of Education 4 (July 1874), 242–243.
James B. Angell, “Inaugural Address, University of Michigan, 1871,” chapter in Selected Addresses (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912), 13–14, 19–21.
“Secondary Education,” in Forty-Fourth Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan (Lansing: W. S. George & Co., 1881), 345–346; “Michigan,” in Report of the Commissioner of Education for the Year 1882–83 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1884), 128; United States Bureau of Education, Commissioner of Education, Report of the Commissioner of Education for the Year 1890–91 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1894), 792–793. As with other statistical data from the late nineteenth century, these figures have to be interpreted cautiously. These figures are based on reports submitted by school districts to the superintendent of public instruction for Michigan, but, as was often the case, not all schools submitted the necessary documents.
James B. Angell, The Reminiscences of James Burrill Angell (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912), 238–239, 255.
Ibid., 236–239.
“Report of Committee on Revision of Requirements for Admission” (June 15, 1881), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, Reports of Committees and Resolutions, 1880/81, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, 2.
University of Michigan, The President’s Report to the Board of Regents for the Year Ending June 30, 1872 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1872), 10. The six Michigan schools and the number of students entering from those schools were Adrian (one), Ann Arbor (twenty-eight), Detroit (three), Flint (eight), Jackson (seven), and Kalamazoo (three); University of Michigan, President’s Report, September 30, 1890, 11. University of Michigan, Calendar of the University of Michigan for 1890–91 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1891), 42. See University of Michigan, Calendar of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1880–1890).
University of Michigan, Calendar of the University of Michigan for 1881–82 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1882), 35; University of Michigan, Calendar of the University of Michigan for 1884–85 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1885), 38; “Untitled document dealing with Report of Committee on Admitting Students from out of State and from other Colleges” (May 14, 1883), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, General, 1882/83, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, 2–3; “Admission of Students from Schools out of the State, or from other Colleges” (January 28, 1884), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, General, 1883/84, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, 1–3.
University of Michigan, The President’s Report to the Board of Regents for the Year Ending September 30, 1891 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1891), 14–15; “The University and the High School: Inspection of Schools— Extension of High School Course,” The University (of Michigan) Record 1 (February 1892), 75.
University of Michigan, Annual Report of the Bureau of Co-operation, 9, 11; Wechsler, Qualified Student, 30–31.
“Inspection of Detroit Schools” (June 14, 1883), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits, 1882/83, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“Inspection of Detroit Schools” (two reports, one undated, other dated June 14, 1883), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits, 1882/83, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“Report of Inspecting Committee upon the High School at Big Rapids” (April 10, 1893), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits 1892/93, Box 8, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“Inspection of Alpena” (June 9, 1884), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits, 1883/84, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“Lansing High School Inspection” (March 9, 1885), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits, 1884/85, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“Report of Inspecting Committee upon the High School at Corunna” (April 20, 1892), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits (folder 1), 1891/92, Box 8, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan; “Report of the Inspecting Committee upon the High School at Corunna” (April 20, 1893), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits, 1892/93, Box 8, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“Report of the Inspecting Committee upon the High School at Corunna” (April 20, 1893).
“Records of the Committee on Diploma Schools, 1884–1893 (bound volume),” Box 1, Bureau of School Services (University of Michigan) Records, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, 112–113, 194; “Report of Corunna School” (May 20, 1889), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits (folder 3), 1889/90, Box 8, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan; “Report of Inspecting Committee upon the High School at Corunna” (June 5, 1890), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits (folder 1), 1889/90, Box 8, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan; “Report of Inspecting Committee upon the High School at Corunna” (May 8, 1891), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits (folder 1), 1890/91, Box 8, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan; “Report of Inspecting Committee upon the High School at Corunna” (April 20, 1892); “Report of the Inspecting Committee upon the High School at Corunna” (April 20, 1893).
University of Michigan, President’s Report, June 30, 1871, 20.
James B. Angell, “Relations of the University to Public Education,” in The Addresses and Journal of Proceedings of the National Educational Association, Session of the Year 1887 (Published by the NEA, 1888), 148–149.
See, for instance, “Holly High School Inspection” (May 9, 1884), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits, 1883/84, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, and “Grand Rapids High School Inspection” (May 13, 1887).
Angell, Reminiscences of James Burrill Angell, 245–246; University of Michigan, The President s Report to the Board of Regents for the Year Ending June 30, 1879 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1879), 10–11.
For information on the feminization of teaching and the professionalization of education, see Carl F. Kaestle, Pillars of the Republic (Hill and Wang, 1983); David B. Tyack, The One Best System: A History of American Urban Education (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974); David Tyack and Elisabeth Hansot, Managers of Virtue: Public School Leadership in American, 1820–1980 (New York: Basic Books, 1982).
“Eaton Rapids High School Inspection” (May 6, 1889), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits (folder 3), 1889/90, Box 8, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan; “Report of the Inspecting Committee upon the High School at Eaton Rapids, Michigan” (May 2, 1890), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits (folder 1), 1889/90, Box 8, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“Lansing High School Inspection” (March 9, 1885).
Wechsler, Qualified Student, 17.
Harvard College, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1873–74 (Cambridge: University Press, 1875), 11–12; Charles W. Eliot, “The Gap Between the Elementary Schools and the Colleges,” in The Addresses and Journal of Proceedings of the National Educational Association, Session of the Year 1890 (Published by the NEA, 1890), 530–531.
Charles W. Eliot, “Correspondence—President Eliot’s Consistency,” The Nation 26 (March 28, 1878), 212.
Harvard College, Annual Reports of the President, 1873–74, 11–12; Eliot, “Gap Between the Elementary Schools and the Colleges,” 530–531.
Edwin C. Broome, “A Historical and Critical Discussion of College Admission Requirements” (PhD diss., Columbia University, 1902), 120–121.
Eliot, “Gap Between the Elementary Schools and the Colleges,” 530–531.
For a defense of the Michigan program in light of Eliot’s criticisms, see N. Dougherty, “Discussion,” in The Addresses and Journal of Proceedings of the National Educational Association, Session of the Year 1890 (Published by the NEA, 1890), 534; “Notes,” The Academy 6 (January 1892), 581–584.
Charles K. Adams, “Appendix C: Reports of the Deans of Faculties, and of the Professors of the Academic Faculty,” in The President’s Report to the Board of Regents for the Year Ending June 30, 1880, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1880), 28.
See, e.g., “Ann Arbor High School Inspection” (June 16, 1884), Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, School Visits, 1883/84, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan; “Inspection of Detroit Schools” (two reports, one undated, other dated June 14, 1883); “Report of Inspection of Flint High School,” Faculty Reports, Petitions, and Resolutions, General, 1878/79, Box 7, Office of the Registrar (University of Michigan), Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan; “Grand Rapids High School Inspection” (May 13, 1887).
Adams, “Appendix C: Reports of the Deans of Faculties, and of the Professors of the Academic Faculty,” 28.
Ibid., 26–29.
Marvin Lazerson, “The College Board and American Educational History,” in A Faithful Mirror: Reflections on the College Board and Education in America, edited by Michael C. Johanek (College Entrance Examination Board, 2001), 381; Harold Wechsler, “Eastern Standard Time: High School—College Collaboration and Admission to College, 1880–1930,” in A Faithful Mirror, 54–55; Wechsler, Qualified Student, 21–23; Broome, “College Admission Requirements,” 119–120; Frederick Rudolph, The American College and University: A History (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968), 281–282; Hugh Hawkins, Between Harvard and America: The Educational Leadership of Charles W. Eliot (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972), 228–230.
“Educational Unity: The Harmonizing of Elementary, Secondary, and Collegiate Systems of Education,” Education 3 (November 1882), 177.
Angell, “Relations of the University to Public Education,” 149.
N. Dougherty, “What is the High School?” Journal of Education 31 (April 3, 1890), 213.
Joseph C. Jones, “Address to the State Teachers’ Association,” reprint, University of Michigan, The President’s Report to the Board of Regents for the Year Ending June 30, 1875 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1875), 7.
Ibid.
Olney, “Michigan State University and the High Schools,” 244.
Adams, “Appendix C: Reports of the Deans of Faculties, and of the Professors of the Academic Faculty,” 28.
“Untitled document dealing with Report of Committee on Admitting Students from out of State and from other Colleges” (May 14, 1883), 1–3.
Wechsler, Qualified Student, 27–28.
Angell, “Relations of the University to Public Education,” 149–150.
Ibid.
University of Michigan, The President’s Report to the Board of Regents for the Year Ending June 30, 1873 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1873), 8.
University of Michigan, The President’s Report to the Board of Regents for the Year Ending September 30, 1889 (Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1889), 12–13.
Ibid.
Charles K. Backus, “President’s Report, Detroit Schools,” in Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan (Lansing: W.S. George & Co., 1874), 313.
M. J. Whitney, “Houghton,” in Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan (Lansing: W.S. George & Co., 1875), 288.
T. C. Garner, “Owosso,” in Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan (Lansing: W.S. George & Co., 1875), 309.
“Letter from C. H. McKain to James B. Angell” (February 17, 1890), Correspondence (January–February 1890), Box 3, James B. Angell Papers, 1845–1916, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
Angell, “Relations of the University to Public Education,” 149–150.
Joseph C. Jones, “Pontiac,” in Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan (Lansing: W.S. George & Co., 1874), 349–350.
“Circular of the Union School at Vassar,” in “Letter from E. A. Wilson to James B. Angell” (October 9, 1885), Correspondence (October–December 1885), Box 3, James B. Angell Papers, 1845–1916, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“Announcement of the Vicksburg Graded School,” in “Letter from C. H. McKain to James B. Angell” (February 17, 1890), Correspondence (January–February 1890), Box 3, James B. Angell Papers, 1845–1916, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
W. S. Perry, “Ann Arbor,” in Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan (Lansing: W.S. George & Co., 1875), 260.
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© 2008 Marc A. VanOverbeke
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VanOverbeke, M.A. (2008). Building the University of Michigan on a High School Foundation. In: The Standardization of American Schooling. Secondary Education in a Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230612594_3
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