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ALBERT GARDNER BOYDEN

AND THE

BRIDGEWATER STATE NORMAL SCHOOL

A MEMORIAL VOLUME

Arthur Clarke Boyden, A. M.

Graduate, 1871. Instructor, 1879.
Vice Principal, 1896. Principal, 1906.

ARTHUR H. WILLIS, PRINTIR!

BRIDOIWATIB, MAU.

1919

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t' ' y^S X^ -<- '\.'

ij5kSoco£^

IIJL 8 1919

,v. C^^^^ r-<l>

PREFACE.

The identification of Albert Gardner Boyden with the Bridge-
water Normal School, practically from 1848 until 1915, makes it
possible to write a history of the school largely in his own words.
Selections have been made from a great variety of sources, and or-
ganized in a running narrative. The purpose has been to give
vivid word pictures of the school from period to period as it de-
veloped under his leadership. The continuity of ideals from the
earliest years to the present time is a feature of this school that is
unique. It is hoped that the personal touch will add to its value
among the graduates. Certain characteristics of Mr. Boyden will
be apparent in the narrative, — his strong personal interest in his
students and their success ; the gradual development of his ideas of
teaching into a definite and logical philosophy; his persistent
efforts to build up the material interests of the school in spite of
repeated failures with reluctant Legislatures; the fixed purpose
to prove all things and hold fast to that which he so sincerely
believed to be true; the consistency with which he lived out his
beliefs.

The pen pictures in the last chapter give the reflection of this
life from the eyes of the graduates of different periods, and thus
complete the picture of the history of the school.

This work has been done in loving memory of an honored
father.

..-_.- _ J

ALBERT GARDNER BOYDEN

AND THE

BRIDGEWATER STATE NORMAL SCHOOL

CHAPTER I

Inception of the Bridgewater School

One of the contributions to education by Albert G. Boyden
was the collection and organization of the data regarding the
first steps in the establishment of Normal Schools in Massachu-
setts. Short selections have been made from this material in so
far as it relates to the Bridgewater School.

James G. Carter, of Lancaster, was the first to call public
attention in Massachusetts to the necessity and advantages of
Normal Schools, by a series of articles published in the Boston
Patriot, in the winter of 1824-5, with the signature of "Franklin."
In these he maintained that "the first step toward a reform in our
system of popular education, is the scientific preparation of teach-
ers for the free schools. And the only measure that will insure
to the public the attainment of the object, is to establish an insti-
tution for the very purpose." He then describes the leading
features of an institution for the education of teachers.

In 1830 the American Institute of Instruction was organized.
The professional education of teachers was a constant theme of
discussion in the annual meetings of the Institute, and these dis-
cussions had ^reat influence in arousing public sentiment to the

necessity of special training for teachers. In the years 1835-37
Rev. Charles Brooks of Hingham, having become acquainted, by
a visit to Europe, with the details of the Prussian system of normal
schools, labored earnestly for the establishment of State normal
schools in Massachusetts after the Prussian model, hoping that the
first one. would be located in Plymouth County. He delivered
lectures upon the subject before conventions in nearly all the
towns of this county, and in many other towns in the State and
before the Legislature.

After twelve years of persistent effort by Mr. Carter and
others, the Legislature passed an act establishing the Board of
Education, which was signed by Governor Edward Everett, April
20, 1837. The Board held its first meeting June 29, 1837, chose
Hon. Horace Mann its Secretary, and issued an address to the
people of Massachusetts, asking their co-operation, and calling
conventions for the discussion of the interests of education, which
were held during the autumn of 1837 in every county of the State,
except Suffolk.

The Board recommended the establishment of normal schools ;
and one of its members, Hon. Edmund Dwight of Boston, offered
to give ten thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction
of the Board, for qualifying teachers for our common schools, on
condition that the Legislature should appropriate an equal amount
for the same purpose. The Legislature accepted the proposition
April 19, 1838. The Board thereupon decided to open three
normal schools, each to be continued three years as an experiment.
The people of the Old Colony, under the lead of Rev. Charles
Brooks, were the first to make application, and asked that one of
these schools should be located in Plymouth County. The Board,
at its second annual meeting, May 30, 1838, voted to establish a
normal school in Plymouth County, as soon as suitable buildings,
fixtures and furniture should be provided and placed under the
control of the Board, suggesting that accommodations for one
hundred pupils should be secured. Six months later, on Dec. 23,
1838, the Board voted to open the other two normal schools, one
at Lexington, and the other at Barre.

The Legislature of 1839 incorporated a board of five trustees,

10 '

of whom Hon. Artemas Hale of Bridgewater was president, with
power to provide buildings. The competition for the location of
the school was very strong between Middleborough, Plymouth and
Bridgewater. A public hearing was given before a committee of
three disinterested men selected for the purpose, and their de-
cision was in favor of Bridgewater. The Board voted May 20,
1840, **that the school be established in Bridgewater for the term
of three years, on condition that the people of the town put the
town house in a suitable condition for the use of the school; that
they place at the disposal of the visitors of the school the sum of
five hundred dollars, to be expended in procuring a library and
apparatus; and that they give reasonable assurance that the
scholars shall be accommodated with board within a suitable
distance, at an expense not exceeding two dollars a week."

The First Principal

Mr Mann selected Nicholas Tillinghast for this arduous work.
He was a native of Taunton, Mass., the son of a prominent lawyer,
a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point,
had held command in the army in the west and south-west for five
years, and had been instructor in natural science and ethics in the
Military Academy at West Point for six years. At the time he
was invited to take the principalship of this school he was thirty-
five years of age and the teacher of a private school in Boston,
having resigned his place in the army for the more congenial work
of teaching. After serious consideration, and with great reluct-
ance, Mr. Tillinghast finally decided to accept the post.

The school started on its career Sept. 9, 1840, with twenty-
eight students, — seven men and three times seven women, in an old
town hall, a one-story wooden building, forty by fifty feet, its in-
terior including three rooms, an ante-room for students, an appar-
atus room and the school-room, which had a board partition so
constructed that the lower half could be raised and lowered so
as to make one or two rooms, as the school exercises might require.
Its furniture consisted of pine board seats with straight backs at-

tached to the desks behind. In this simple, bare laboratory the
experiment of a normal school in the Old Colony was successfully
performed by the genius and skill of its Principal.

The course of studies was so arranged as to occupy one year,
but provision was always made for the further instruction of those
pupils, who, with the advice of the Principal, chose to continue in
the school for a longer period. Pupils who had been members of
any of the Normal Schools for one year or more, and had attended
to its rules and studies in a manner satisfactory to the Visitors,
were, on leaving, entitled to a certificate of qualifications, in such
form as the Board, or the visitors, prescribed. The certificate was
given by the Principal, under the direction or by order of the Visit-
ors.

First State Normal School Building in America

In the winter of 1844-45 about forty friends of popular educa-
tion met in Boston to express their sympathy with Mr. Mann, and
the appreciation of his course in the conduct of the great and diffi-
cult work of reforming our common schools, when it was proposed
that no way seemed so well adapted to this purpose asthe placing of
the normal schools upon a firm and lasting basis, by furnishing them
with suitable and permanent buildings. As a result of this meeting,
a memorial was presented to the Legislature of 1845, asking for
the appropriation of five thousand dollars, to be placed at the dis-
posal of the Board of Education, for the purpose of erecting build-
ings for the normal schools at Bridgewater and Westfield, on con-
dition that the same amount, to be obtained by contribution from
the friends of the cause, should also be placed at its disposal for
the same object. The Legislature made an appropriation of five
thousand dollars, and Charles Sumner gave his bond for the five
thousand dollars pledged by the memorialists, that the work might
go on without delay.

The Board of Education appropriated twenty-five hundred
dollars for the school building in Plymouth County, provided the
same amount should be raised by individuals. Bridgewater was

< 3

ready to comply with the conditions, and the decision was in her
favor. The town of Bridgewater paid two thousand dollars, indi-
viduals contributed seven hundred dollars, and Horace Mann ad-
vanced seven hundred dollars" to raise the sum necessary to com-
plete the building. Col. Abram Washburn of Bridgewater gave
the site, one and one-quarter acres of land at the corner of School
and Summer streets, and George B. Emerson of Boston, always a
warm friend of the school, gave the furnace for heating the build-
ing.

The completion of the new edifice for the accommodation of
the School was signalized by appropriate exercises, on the 19th of
August, 1846. Dedicatory addresses were made by Hon. William
G. Bates, of Westfield, and His Excellency, Governor Briggs. The
audience then adjourned to the Unitarian Church, and listened to
an address from Amasa Walker, Esq., of Brookfield, the orator of
the Bridgewater Normal Association, which held its annual con-
vention on this day. After these addresses the company partook
of a collation in the Town Hall, on which occasion the health of
the Secretary of the Board of Education was given by the President
of the day, and received by the company with enthusiastic ap-
plause. To this sentiment Mr. Mann responded as follows:

Mr. President: — Among all the lights and shadows
that ever crossed my path, this day's radiance is the
brightest. Two years ago, I would have been willing to
compromise for ten years' work, as hard as any I had
ever performed, to have been insured that, at the end of
that period, I should see what our eyes this day behold. I
consider this event as marking an era in the progress of
education — which as we all know is the progress of civil-
ization — on this western continent and throughout the
world. It is the completion of the first normal school-
house ever erected in Massachusetts, — in the Union, —
in this hemisphere. It belongs to that class of events
which may happen once but are not capable of being
repeated. Coiled up in this institution, as in a spring,
there is a vigor whose uncoiling may wheel the spheres."

The building was a plain edifice, constructed of wood, two
stories in height. The upper story was divided into a main school-
room and two recitation rooms. This story was designed for the
Normal School. The lower story was divided into a Model School
room, a chemical room, and two ante-rooms. Blackboards ex-
tended entirely around each of the school rooms. Each room was
supplied with neat, new furniture. The location was excellent;
upon a corner lot one and one-fourth acres in extent, and having
an eastern slope. The light, cheerful, convenient rooms and the
pleasant surroundings of the building, made it one of the most
attractive school houses in the State.

Mr. Tillinghast continued in his work as principal thirteen
years, and these were years of severe and exhausting toil, as well
as of pecuniary sacrifice. Such toil, concentrating the work of
many years into a few, was too much for a physical frame already
shaken by the exposure of army service. He was obliged to resign
his situation in July, 1853, and after nearly three years of severe
suffering he passed to his reward in April, 1856, in the fifty-second
year of his age.

The Second Principal

Marshall Conant, second principal of the school, entered upon
his duties in August, 1853. He came to reside in Bridgewater in
1852, and was employed in connection with the Eagle Cotton Gin
Company. His interest in all matters pertaining to education was
so great that it very soon opened the way to a cordial intercourse
with Mr. Tillinghast, and when the latter resigned his position he
recommended Mr. Conant as his successor. Mr. Conant was fifty-
two years of age at this time, and brought to the school the ripe
fruits of a long and varied experience as a civil engineer and
teacher. He was a man of superior ability and knowledge, and
immediately took up the work of his predecessor and carried it
forward in the same spirit.

At the close of the summer term in 1860, Mr. Conant was
compelled, by ill health, to resign his place. The Visitors, in their

report of the school, speak of him in the following language: —
"During his long connection with the school, Mr. Conant, by his
accuracy of scholarship, his skill as an instructor, his industry and
fidelity, had always secured and maintained the high regard of
the pupils and had given entire satisfaction to the Board of Edu-
cation, and his necessary resignation of office was universally
regretted."

Miss Eliza B. Woodward, who was an assistant teacher with Mr.
Conant, spoke thus of him:—

**He was a most enthusiastic and inspiring teacher; he was thor-
ough, exact, and eminently practical, and gave a charm to every subject
which he taught by the store of collateral truths by which he sur-
rounded it. He gave his pupils glimpses of treasures which they could
mine for themselves in the future; he opened side-doors into choice
museums free to be explored by the eager, curious student when the
opportunity should come; so he seldom failed to inspire his pupils with
a desire to obtain a high, liberal education."

In August of 1860, Albert G. Boyden was appointed as the third
principal of the school. During the previous six and one-half years of
service as assistant teacher, he had been called upon to teach nearly
every branch in the course of studies, and to make a careful study of
the principles and method of teaching.

CHAPTER II

Mr. Boyden's Identification with

A remarkable, if not a unique, characteristic of this Normal
School has been the continuity of ideals from the establishment
of the school to the present time. This is due to the fact that Mr.
Boyden served as an assistant under botli the first and second
principals, that he himself was principal from 1860 to 1906, and
that he was a teacher in the school under the title of "Principal
Emeritus" until his death in 1915.

Inspiration to Become a Teacher

Albert Gardner Boyden was born in South Walpole, Massa-
chusetts, on February 5, 1827. From his early boyhood he was
required to rise early, and he was actively employed until bedtime.
He was a leader in the sports of his fellows, and knew the products
of all the fields, woods and streams in the neighborhood of his
native village. He attended the district school summer and winter
until ten years of age, and in winter until eighteen. Under the
inspiration of two teachers whom he honored, he decided at the age
of fourteen to be a teacher. He worked on the farm and in his
father's blacksmith shop until at twenty-one, he had mastered
his trade, and in the meantime, had taught three winters in the
Town of Foxboro. Having saved some money toward paying his
expenses, he entered the State Normal School at Bridgewater,
earning the remainder of his expenses by serving as janitor.

One of the teachers who inspired him with the desire for teach-

ing gave him the following recommendation, which started him
on his career.

*To Whom It May Concern: —

The bearer of this paper, Mr. Albert G. Boyden, is
a young man of industrious habits, superior talents, and
a good moral character. He has distinguished himself
as a scholar of the first order at the school he has at-
tended in this place, and which I have had the pleasure
of teaching for years, and in my opinion is well qualified
to take charge of a Common District School.

I, therefore, hesitate not to recommend him, as one
fully competent to teach the branches taught in our
schools, and as one also that is perfectly worthy of trust
and confidence in any business in which he may see fit
to engage.

JULIUS CARROLL."
South Walpole, Nov. 14, 1845.

Foxboro, Nov. 29, 1845.
We hereby certify that Albert G. Boyden has been
examined respecting his qualifications to teach a com-
mon school in this Town, and the committe consider him
duly qualified to teach all the branches required by law.

WILLARD B. PLYMPTON,
Per order of the School Committee.

Inspiration of Great Personalities

Mr. Boyden entered the Normal School in 1848, graduated
in 1849, then spent an extra postgraduate term, and after teaching
a winter school in Hingham, was called back to serve as assistant
in the Normal School from 1850 to 1853. Mr. Tillinghast's letter
of invitation gives an interesting picture of the conditions in those
early days.

Bridgewater, June 20, 1850.

Dear Sir:

The place of assistant in this school will become
vacant, at the end of this term, by Mr. Colburn's leaving.

The Board of Education has made a change in the
appropriation, which gives the school a principal and
permanent assistant, and a sub-assistant, who receives
a salary of $300 per annum, which may be raised to
$400. This situation I offer to you, and should be very
confident that I subserved the best interests of the school
by obtaining your assistance. You know the situation as
well as I do, and can as accurately measure its advan-
tages and disadvantages. Please write me immediately,
as the term draws to a close.

Yours truly,

N. TILLINGfiAST.

He writes of the influence of Mr. Tillinghast on him as fol-
lows : —

It was my privilege to graduate from the school and take an advanced
course under his tuition, and to be an assistant teacher with him during the last
three years of his principalship. I sat by his side, listened to his devotional
exercises at the opening of the school, so full of the Christian spirit, and was
favored with his wise counsel and sympathetic help in my teaching. I knew the
man. He was an educator, who sought to give his pupils command of them-
selves and the principles of education, so that they might be able to practise the
art of teaching in the education of children. He was a man of strong religious
feeling, pure character, an unflinching devotion to principle, with "a real, heroic
abnegation of self"; modest, accurate, thorough, of great analytical power,
reading character readily and accurately, he had a power over pupils which is
seldom attained. The secret of his power lay in his own personal character;
he was himself what he sought to have his pupils be.

In 1853 Mr. Boyden was appointed Principal of the Classical
and English High School at Salem, where he taught until 1856,
when he was elected sub-master in the Chapman School, Boston.
In 1857 he was called back to the Normal School to act as first

assistant under Marshall Conant. Again he came under the in-
fluence of a man of high professional ideals.

Working with him as first assistant teacher during the first term and again
the last three years of his principalship, I knew him intimately as a man and
teacher. I was all this time his pupil, for he was constantly disbursing to me
from the rich treasury of his experience. With a high ideal of what life should
be, he looked on the bright side, and was sanguine of success even to enthusiasm.
He was high-toned in all his action, and appealed only to worthy motives; keenly
sensitive, thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself and with others, and always
courteous. He was a true gentleman. The crowning traits of his character
were his love of truth and his faith; he sought the truth both in the works and
the word of God. He A^as a man of the largest charity, always kind and liberal
in his judgment of others. His whole mind and strength were given to his
teaching; his genial manner, his ready command of language, his felicity in
illustration, always secured attention from his pupils.

Early Teaching

Mr. Conant's aim, like that of his predecessor, was to make
the normal school in itself a training school. He says in his report
to the visitors, when stating the plan upon which he conducted
the school: *'I have sought to awaken the conscience to feel the
responsibilities and duties that devolve upon the teacher, to draw
out the experience of such as have engaged in the work; and I
have selected indvividuals, eaching taking his turn, to give exer-
cises in teaching before the class, after which I have called for
suggestions and criticisms from members, adding also my own.
In respect to didactics, it seemed to me that they must be given
more or less at every lesson, and in connection with the subjects
in hand. I have so arranged that certain recitations are conducted
by the more advanced students in the classes less advanced. I
have divided a class into sections of five or six pupils each, with a
leading pupil for each section. These leading pupils conduct a
part of the recitations in their own sections in the presence of the
teacher. This affords the teacher an opportunity to discover the
special wants of each pupil, and to adapt his instruction accord-
ingly."

mtm"

The Third Principal Appointed

Mr. Boyden characteristically describes his first experiences:

On the twenty-second of August, 1860, a young man, thirty-three years of
age, was appointed principal of the Bridgewater State Normal School. The
Massachusetts Board of Education had just made the appointment, when the
Treasurer of the Board, Hon. George B. Emerson, coming from the meeting,
met this young man on Tremont Street in Boston, and said to him, — "The Board
has appointed you Principal of the Normal School at Bridgewater ; are you going
to rise up and fill the place?" The young man modestly replied, "I shall do my
best to meet the requirements."

He had taught four winters in ungraded, rural schools, one year as sub-
master in a city grammar school, three years as principal of a city high school,
and six years as assistant in a Normal School. But when he assumed
this new position, he found himself confronted with a task of far
greater magnitude than any which had ever before engaged his attention.
Where shall this young principal turn for a lamp to his feet, a light to his path
to guide him in the performance of this work of infinite importance and deli-
cacy? After much study, much reading, and many failures in his endeavor to
guide his pupils, he found that he must come directly to the study of man, body
and mind — first, to find the forces and powers active in man; second, to find
the conditions and products of this normal activity; third, to find what is peculiar
to the individual man. From this study he derived the principles of education,
which guide the art of teaching and show how to bring up a child in the way he
should go.

Mr. Boyden's Idea of a Normal School

The first normal school of which we have any record was opened in Pales-
tine; its sessions were held upon the hills and plains of Galilee, Samaria, and
Judea. The Great Teacher of the world called to him twelve men and gave
them a three years* course in the study of the great principles of human living,
illustrated by the marvellous power of his own life and teaching, and then gave
them their diplomas, saying, **Go ye, teach all nations, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you."

The Normal School stands for certain definite ideals — first, for the inspira-
tion of its students with the spirit of the true teacher, who has the spirit of ser-
vice, and comes to his pupils as the Great Teacher comes to men that they may
have life and have it abundantly; second, for leading its students through the
philosophic, scientific, and pedagogic study of the subjects of the public school
curriculum; for leading its students through the broader educational study of
man, body and mind, for the principles of teaching which underlie all true teach-
ing; fourth, for leading its students to make a practical study of children under
intelligent suggestion ; fifth, for the leavening of public sentiment with higher ^
ideals of education.

In his report to the Visitors of the School in February, 1861,
Mr. Boyden says: —

We have endeavored to keep constantly before us the main objects of the
Normal School, — the preparation of its members for the work of instruction in
the public schools of the Commonwealth. We have followed, without material
alteration, the course of study marked out for us by the wisdom of our teachers,
the two former principals of the school, and we hope the time will never come
when the traces of their teachings shall not be distinctly visible.

A New Building

The number of students had so increased under Mr. Corant
that the school building and its furnishings were inadequate to
the proper accommodation of the school. Plans for the enlarge-
ment and improvement of the building were prepared and pre-
sented to the Board of Education. These plans were approved,
and the Board made application to the Legislature for the neces-
sary appropriation. By a resolve, approved April 1, 1861, the
Legislature appropriated for the enlargement and repairs of the
Bridgewater Normal School building, a sum not exceeding four
thousand, five hundred dollars.

At the completion of the first enlargement of the original
building in February, 1862, Mr. Boyden outlines a policy of build-
ing which he continued through his long years of service, erecting
and furnishing building afcer building as the school grew.

The school now completes the twenty-first year of its existence. Today it
stands before you in its freedom suit. During the last vacation it took to itself
the wings which are now extended over those who seek its fostering care, and
the old building, endeared to hundreds of the past graduates of the school, is
entirely remodelled so that it is now hardly recognized by them. The school
house, as well as the school teacher, stamps its impress upon the character of the
scholar; it educates his taste and quickens his aspirations. Improvements in the
school building and its furnishings must ever keep pace with improved methods
in teaching and more comprehensive views of the great ends to be attained in
the education of the young.

We now have a hall and recitation rooms of suitable size, easy of access, all
upon the sunny side of the house, properly warmed and ventilated, thus securing
to us those indispensable conditions of bodily and mental vigor, and of a cheerful
soul, a large measure of sunshine and pure air.

In 1862 the Legislature appropriated two hundred dollars
for furniture.

We could not realize our ideal of a school today, in the small badly-warmed,
ill-ventilated school house of the past generation, with its bare walls, its straight-
backed chairs, and rough desks, inviting only the use of the jack-knife. The
attractive school edifice of today, with its comfortable chairs and polished desks,
its apparatus for illustrating the principles of science, and its walls adorned with
works of art that please the eye and quicken the imagination, is the exponent of
a higher life.

Beginning of New Courses

It is interesting to note that in Mr. Boyden's report to the
Board in 1862, he states that new subjects are introduced by
special teachers.

The instructors in the school are Albert G. Boyden, Principal; James H.
Schneider, Eliza B. Woodward, and Charles F. Dexter. Mr. 0. B. Brown of
Boston instructs in vocal music (one day per week). A valuable course of
fifteen lectures was delivered by Professor Sanborn Tenny of Cambridge, on
physical geography and zoology, illustrated by a large number of superior maps
and charts. Mr. James C. Sharp of Dorchester has commenced a course of twelve
lessons in Chemistry.

Semi-Annual Examinations

These began as early as 1856, and occupied two full days.
These exercises attracted the graduates as well as the public, for
they exemplified the new methods used in the preparation of
teachers. A selection from a report of the exercises given in
1863 is typical of those given for many years.

"In Astronomy, the Principal, A. G. Boyden, led the senior
class in an exercise in astronomical definitions, the solar system,
and the phenomena of the earth in its relation to the sun. Well-
drawn chalk diagrams, executed before the visitors, illustrated
every subject of the questions and answers. Geography came
next, Mr. Dexter leading the class in an exercise that was inter-
esting to all present. On Wednesday morning the seniors were

examined in English Literature. The biographies of distinguished
authors, an account of their principal works, readings and ex-
planations of what was read, made up an interesting exercise,
conducted by Mr. Schneider. Then followed the reading by mem-
bers of the middle class, candidates for the Lee prizes. The exer-
cise was conducted by Miss Woodward. An exercise on mental
arithmetic, conducted by Mr. Dexter, followed. This is always
an exciting scene — rapid combinations of numbers, large and
small, involving operations of every kind, keep the attention fully
awake and test the readiness of the pupils.

"Principal Boyden then led the seniors in a conversation on
the theory and art of teaching. The official visitors took part in
it, and the interesting subjects of school discipline and instruction,
qualifications of teachers, etc., were amply and intelligently dis-
cussed. In the afternoon Mr. Boyden made his report, which was
made deeply interesting by notices of the pupils of the school,
who in valiant lives or honorable deaths, have attested their patri-
otism in this day of their country's great trial.'*

CHAPTER III.

First Decade Under Principal Boyden

1860-1869

I860 -^HH 67

1870 ^H-i^-i-iH- 136

1880 ^^— -^M^M 157

1890 ^mm^mammmmm^ama^ 205

1900 ■^-^M^i—— ^■-^^— 287

1910 m^/immmmmmmmmmmmm^mmmmm^^^m 336

1919 B-^H-^HMBIHillHBI— lB-M_-iH-i 415

Growth of the School by Decades.

After the close of the Civil War the school began its more
rapid growth. The conditions of the country were becoming
settled under the new spirit, and there was a growing demand
for trained teachers. During this decade the school grew from 67
to 136, although between 1861 and 1864 thirty-two per cent of
the whole number of young men in attendance entered the army.
The total honor roll of the school includes 115 names, 69 officers
and 46 privates. Of this number 12 gave their lives in the service
of their country. The names of these men, inscribed on a beautiful
marble tablet contributed by the graduates, have been a constant
inspiration to patriotism through all the years since the Civil War.
On the opposite wall of Assembly Hall will be placed, in due time,
a memorial for the men who served in the great international war.

Death of James Henry Schneider, Assistant

Mr. Schneider, a graduate of Yale College, was appointed
first assistant in September, 1860, and at once became the right-
hand man of the principal. In 1863 he was drafted into the ser-
vice of his country ; he regarded the draft as the call of duty, and
resigned his position in the school. He was chosen chaplain of
his regiment, and died of yellow fever in Florida in 1864.

The Visitors of the school, in speaking of his resignation in
their report, say: "His ardent and increasing love for his work,
with his habits of thorough and exact study, and his aptness to
teach, made his services exceedingly valuable, and his resignation
is greatly to be regretted.'*

At the graduation in 1864, Mr. Boyden spoke feelingly of the
loss of Mr. Schneider as follows: —

One year ago, as we were assembled here for the closing exercises of the
term, James Henry Schneider, whom we so deeply esteemed and loved, stood by
our side in the full vigor of his noble manhood. Today he sleeps in the soldiers'
burial place at Key West, and his name is added to the list of those whose heroic
self-sacrifice has ennobled, not them alone, but the whole land and race in the
defence of whose liberties they have fallen. He was daily with us for three
years. He came fresh from his college course to engage in his work here, bring-
ing to it a clear, sharp intellect, a warm and generous heart.

Appointment of George Henry Martin, Assistant

In September, 1864, Mr. Martin, a graduate of the school, and
then principal of a grammar school in Quincy, was appointed by
the Board of Education as instructor in the school. Mr. Martn
graduated as valedictorian of his class in the Lynn High School
in 1855. He prepared for Amherst College, but was unable to
attend because of lack of funds. In 1862 he entered Bridgewater
at the suggestion of William H. Ladd, who had himself gone from
Lynn to Bridgewater seventeen years before, and who loaned him
money for the purpose.

At a complimentary dinner given Dr. Martin at the Boston
City Club on October 28, 1911, Mr. Boyden spoke earnestly of his
great services to education in Massachusetts. In his address he

comments on Dr. Martin as he came to the school in 1864: "He
brought with him a keen intellect, a nimble wit, quick sensibility,
strong will power and a high moral purpose. He was a diligent
and successful student, giving great promise of future usefulness."

Extension of the Course of Study

In 1863 a committee of the Board of Education invited the
Principals of the Normal Schools to meet them with the Secretary
of the Board "to consider if any plan seems feasible for increasing
the amount and elevating the character of the instruction afforded
by said schools.'' . After a day spent in free and full discussion of
the topic, "it was the unanimous opinion that it was not advisable
to enlarge the general course of study, but that a more thorough
mastery of that course in all its steps; and a considerable exten-
sion of it in several important branches of study, in order to meet
the increasing demands of the schools for thoroughly educated
teachers, is greatly desirable. This can only b^ accomplished by
extending the time of the regular course.'' The committee there-
fore recommeded that another term be added to the regular course
of study in the Normal Schools, — thus requiring an attendance of
two years in order to obtain a diploma. This went into effect in all
the Normal Schools in March, 1865. At this time there came into
use the terms applied to the four classes, which are so familiar to
the older graduates, — Junior, ex-Junior, Sub-Senior, and Senior
Classes. Along with this extension of time went a corresponding
purpose to increase the efficiency of the school, as is shown by this
quotation from the principal's report to the Visitors of the school
for 1865:

The Normal Schools of Massachusetts are intended to be model schools.
Their object is not to communicate a very varied or high culture, but to make
teachers. Therefore, we ought to spend the most time in training our pupils
thoroughly in those elementary studies which they are to spend most of their
lives in teaching. The great questions to be solved are in the interest of common
school education, — ^How can little children be most easily and thoroughly taught
how to read, write, and perform the simpler processes of arithmetic? How
can the love of knowledge be communicated to little children? How can a good
moral tone be given to a school? How can a school be governed with the best

mixture of order and freedom, of kindness and firmness? All the best modes of
teaching, be they object lessons, phonic processes, analysis of sounds, drawing on
the blackboard from memory, etc., should be introduced as soon as possible into
our Normal Schools. Every new discovery in education should be at once
naturalized there. In the Normal School every branch of study should be taught
accordin]^ to the best results of the highest and largest experience.

Alongside these earnest appeals for professional advance-
ment came the urgent demands for adequate equipment. In the
same report quoted above was the request that funds be made
available for new apparatus. As in nearly every other case, con-
stant repetition of the needs finally brought relief.

We would again call the attention of the Board to a pressing wiant, pre-
sented in the last report, which needs to be immediately supplied. An addition
to the philosophical and chemical apparatus is very much needed, as well as
suitable cases for properly keeping what the school now has, and the additions
that may be obtained. The supply of apparatus was limited in amount when
purchased, and there have been no additions for twenty years. The want of
suitable means of illustration, which is indispensable to good teaching, is daily
felt in this department. To meet this deficiency, a special appropriation of $500
is needed. It is earnestly hoped that this sum will be appropriated for this pur-
pose the present year.

Changes in Teachers

The school suffered then, as it has since, through the inade^
quate compensation of its teachers. Competent teachers kept
resigning to accept generous offers in other positions. Among
them we find the names of Solon F. Whitney, Elisha H. Barlow,
Hosea E. Holt, Charlotte A. Comstock, Ellen G. Brown, and Eme-
line F. Fisher. No stronger words could be used today than those
expressed in the report for 1866.

We lament the necessity of so many and frequent changes in the corps of
instructors. This, however, will continue until the State enables us to offer
higher salaries to our teachers than they can obtain elsewhere. We lament our
loss, but not the fact that remuneration of skilled instructors is continually
being advanced. The Normal Schools of Massachusetts ought to offer such in-
ducements as to secure the very highest ability in the land, else they cease to be
Normal Schools. Wherever a city or town can obtain better teachers than the
State, the town school passes by ours and becomes the model school. Either the
State schools should be what they profess to be, — the leading schools and ex-
amples of the highest art in education, — or they do not accomplish their ends.

Introduction of Dormitory Life

The last great achievement of this decade was the establish-
ment of the new policy of building dormitories for the students
of the normal schools, similar to the plan developed for many
years in the colleges. The absolute necessity for this step was very
clearly stated by the principal.

During the first eight yea^s of the school, the price of board for the stu-
dents was $2.00 a week, including washing. From the end of this period the
price gradually increased till in 1866 it was $4.00 and $4.25 a week without
washing, fuel, or lights. Board for all the students could not be found at any
price. The young men hired rooms for lodging, and formed a club for table
board. The Principal was obliged to hire rooms and furnish them with the
necessary furniture, in which the young ladies could board themselves, or else
allow them to return home for want of accommodations. So urgent was the
need of boarding accommodations that an effort was made to form an Associa-
tion among the citizens of the town for providing a boarding house to be rented
for the use of the students. This scheme failed, and application for relief was
made to the Legislature of 1867, by the Board of Education, asking for an ap-
propriation of $30,000 for this purpose. The Committee on Education reported
a bill for the appropriation of $15,000 for the erection of a boarding hall for the
school. This bill failed to pass the House.

The Visitors, in their report of the school for 1868, make the
following presentation: — "The increase in the number of pupils
in attendance makes still more urgent the need of providing better
boarding accommodations. A very large proportion are obliged
to board themselves, to the great detriment of their health. And
even suitable accommodations for self-boarding cannot be ob-
tained. The case is so plain that it does not admit of doubt. A
hall for the students is an absolute necessity." A similar want
having been experienced at the Framingham Normal School, the
Board of Education made a strong appeal to the Legislature of
1869, and secured the passage of a resolve authorizing a loan
from the Massachusetts School Fund of $25,000 for this purpose.
The Visitors of the school, including the Secretary of the Board,
were appointed by the Board a Committee with full powers to
erect the building, furnish it, and put it in running order. This
Committee appointed Mr. Boyden, the Principal, superintendent
of the work of building and furnishing, and agent to make all pur-

chases. "The arduous and responsible duties thus imposed upon
him in addition to his exhausting labors as Pri;ncipal of the school,
he has performed in an admirable manner, and to the entire
satisfaction of the Committee, sparing no pains to secure the best
results at the least expense. He has rendered to the Committee
a full report of his doings as superintendent, embracing a descrip-
tion of the building and an account of all the expenditures which
have been incurred in its erection and equipment."

Mr. Boyden's own words express the importance of this step
in the development of the school in his report for 1869. —

The most important event in the history of the school for many years
past, has been the erection during the last year of a boarding hall for the use of
the pupils. The work on the edifice was begun on the 18th of June, and it was
completed on the 20th of November. On the 25th of the same month, the man-
agement of the establishment was organized and the rooms were at once filled
with boarders. It is already evident that it will be highly beneficial to the
school. It affords the young ladies in attendance good rooms and good board
at $1.25 a week less than they have heretofore paid in private families.

As this first decade of Principal Boyden's administration
closed, it found the school firmly established in public confidence,
with a demand for its graduates far beyond the supply. Its policy
of internal and external growth was recognized by the very com-
plimentary words of Hon. John D. Philbrick, the Visitor of the
school, who wrote, — "Its improvement within three or four years
past has been very marked. There has never been a period in its
history when it has not been a school of high excellence, but its
recent record is peculiarly gratifying, and the year just past has
been, without doubt, its most successful and prosperous year, in
all respects. Mr. Boyden has superintended and directed all the
operations of the school with his usual wisdom and firmness, and
his associates have co-operated with him in carrying out all his
plans with the utmost harmony and cordiality. These teachers
are eminently progressive, as all Normal teachers should be; their
growing ability is evident in the fact that during the past year
their work has been larger in amount and better in quality than
it has been in any previous y^ar.''

CHAPTER IV

The Second Decade
1870- 1879

This decade opened with a list of assistant teachers, whose
names are honored by a long list of the older graduates, George H.
Martin, Albert E. Winship, Francis H. Kirmayer, Eliza B. Wood-
ward, Alice Richards, Mary H. Leonard, and Mary A. Currier.
This period was marked by such prominent features as the es-
tablishment of the four-year course, the activity of building oper-
ations, the introduction of the State course in drawing under
Professor Walter Smith, and the formulation of Mr. Boyden's
educational creed, so well remembered by his graduates.

In 1871 Mr. Winship and Miss Richards resigned. Mr. Boyden
said of them^ "They were highly valued by us; they merit our
warmest thanks for their earnest devotion to the interests of the
school.'*

The vacancies were filled by the appointment of Mr. Barrett
B. Russell, principal of a large grammar school in Dedham, and
Miss Clara A. Armes, first assistant in a grammar school in New-
ton. Both were able and successful teachers in the positions from
which they were called, and fully sustained that reputation in their
new work.

Establishment of the Advanced Course

Hon. Joseph White, the Secretary of the Board of Education,
than whom, the Normal Schools have had no truer friend nor
stronger supporter, in his report for 1867, says, "It cannot have

escaped the notice of any who are conversant with the conditions
and wants of our public schools, that, within a few years, a demand
has arisen for a class of teachers, both male and female, who have
a thorough normal training, added to a higher education than our
Normal Schools can give. This demand is rapidly increasing, and
it appears to me that it has now become so urgent, that the proper
measures for supplying the demand ought to be devised without
further delay." To accomplish this object, Mr. .White recom-
mended that "all of the existing Normal Schools be supplied with
such additional teachers and apparatus as shall enable them to
furnish, in connection with the present course of study, instruction
in the higher branches of learning." In accordance with these
recommendations the Board of Education, on February 3, 1869,
voted, "that a supplemental course of study, occupying two years,
be introduced into each of the four Normal Schools, which sh^U
comprise Latin, French, Higher Mathematics, Ethics, Natural
Sciences, and English Literaturer The first regular class under
this Advanced Course was formed in September, 1870.

In his report, for 1872, Mr. Boyden represents the growing
standards of the school in the following words : —

The advanced course of study is becoming each year more attractive to
the students. It is believed that the school is every year approaching nearer to
the true standard of what a Normal School should be. While it aims to impart
knowledge with thoroughness, it places a greater value on right training. It tries
to send out teachers who will love and respect their profession, and who will be
capable of independent thought and action, and capable of judiciously adapting
their plans and efforts to the varying circumstances in which they may be
placed.

Enlargement of Buildings

The difficulties of securing accommodations sufficient to meet
the growth of the school, the patience required, and the persis-
tence which finally wrung from reluctant Legislatures the needed
appropriations, are best told in Mr. Boyden's own words : —

The present edifice was the first building for Normal School purposes
erected in the State, and it was originally designed for only eighty pupils. It

was enlarged in 1861, so as to furnish accommodations for one hundred and
twenty pupils. By covering the main floor with extra desks, one hundred and
forty-two pupils are now furnished with seats. The room is so crowded as to
obstruct the movements of the school. In consequence of the large number of
persons in the room, the air speedily becomes unfit for breathing. The only
practicable remedy is to open the windows, thereby subjecting the pupils to
chilling drafts of air. There are only five class rooms, while there are seven
classes or divisions of pupils, which, were the accommodations adequate, might
take their lessons at the same hour. Some of the more important principles of
physics cannot be illustrated for want of a suitable lecture room. There is no
chemical laboratory for class experiments. For the purpose of facilitating
instruction in natural history, still another room is needed, where a museum
of specimens illustrating the sciences might be so arranged as to be accessible
to classes of pupils. Again, a room should be provided, especially adapted to
instruction in drawing, a branch of education which deserves much more atten-
tion than has as yet been bestowed upon it in our Normal Schools. Finally, the
dressing room is too small to afford room for a separate clothes-hook for each
pupil. All of the rooms need more thorough ventilation than they now have.
The school certainly deserves an edifice more complete in its internal provisions
and more imposing in its external appearance.

The boarding hall is no longer an experiment; its success is beyond
question. A further increase in the number of students is not to be expected
until the additional boarding accommodations are provided. There is now as
much difficulty in obtaining the requisite boarding places outside the hall, as
there was in getting suitable boarding places before the hall was built. Those
who are excluded from the hall are dissatisfied. Already numbers of pupils
have been prevented from entering the school on account of the high prices of
board in private families, and the difficulty in obtaining suitable board at any
price.

.As a result of the continued appeals, the Legislature granted
the requests one by one, and building operations were actively
carried on for five years. A resolve of the Legislature, authorizing
the expenditure of a sum not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars,
for the enlargement and reconstruction of the building, was ap-
proved May 12, 1871. The Committee of the Board appointed to
take charge of this business appointed the principal of the school
as their agent, to superintend the work in all its departments. His
description of the new building will bring up a long list of pleasant
recollections to the different classes who attended the school until
1890.

The plans for the enlargement were carefully matured, after visiting and
examining several school buildings recently erected. The building was enlarged

by adding a story; and greatly improved in external appearance by an observa-
tory on the centre of the new roof.

The first story contains the ante-rooms for the students, four class rooms,
a chemical laboratory, and a room for philosophical apparatus. Upon the second
floor are five commodious class rooms, with alcove,and cases for the library and
cabinets. The third story contains the main school-room, — a spacious hall, well
ventilated, light, and very cheerful, — the senior class-room, and the principal's
room. It is now one of the most pleasant and convenient school buildings in
the State.

The changes in the building created the necessity for new
heating and ventilating apparatus. During the summer vacation
of 1872, a fire-proof boiler house was constructed in the embank-
ment at the south-east corner of the school building, and a com-
plete steam-heating and ventilating apparatus was introduced, at
a cost of six thousand dollars, the sum appropriated by the Legis-
lature for the purpose.

An appropriation of six hundred dollars was made by the
Legislature of 1873 for fitting up an art-room for drawing. This
sum was expended in supplying the room appropriated to this
purpose with drawing desks of the most approved pattern, and
drawing boards and instruments, together with the valuable casts
and models which had previously been imported from London,
thus affording excellent facilities for teaching drawing.

The Legislature of 1873 made an appropriation of $36,000 for
enlarging and furnishing the boarding hall and the Legislature of
1874 passed an additional appropriation of $7,600 for the intro-
duction of gas into the building.

An appropriation of one thousand dollars was made by the
Legislature of 1875, for fitting and furnishing a chemical labora-
tory, combining the most approved modern ideas, in which twenty-
four pupils could work at one time, each pupil himself manipulat-
ing the apparatus and dealing with the substances which he
studied.

The Principal's policy of continued growth was very clearly
stated by him in 1876, at the close of this active period of build-
ing, —

''The first Normal School-house ever erected in this hemisphere" still

stands in the centre and foundation of the present improved school building. It
has increased to the present dimensions as the growth of the school has made
it necessary. With all the enlargements, the school has no more than met the
demands of the public. Additional facilities will always be needed to meet the
constantly increasing demands of an enlightened public sentiment. The outlays
for educational institutions are but "the ounce of prevention," more economical
and far more productive of good than the "pound of cure."

Mr. Boyden's Educational Creed

In 1876 the first "Alumni Record" was prepared as a part of
the centennial celebration of our country's achievements. In this
volume Mr. Boyden stated the aims and methods of the school in
words that are very familiar to all of his graduates.

The ultimate end of school work is the education of the child. The
ultimate object of the Normal School is to make the Normal pupil a skilled
instrument for the education of children, or, in other words, to make him, as far
as possible, an educator.

Education is training all the powers of the child till it gains the. ability
and inclination to make the best use of his powers. The processes of education
are instruction, teaching and training. Right thinking is secured by the right
use of these processes. The product of right thinking is mental power and
knowledge.

The "teacher" is an educator. As such he must know what the different
mental powers are , the order of their development, and how they are called into
right activity. In addition to this knowledge of mind, he must know each pupil
as an individual. Ideas and thoughts are to be gained from the objects of
thought. The right arrangement of ideas must be observed. All lessons are
conducted upon the topical plan. The same method is employed with both sub-
jects and objects. Each is considered as a whole first, and then in its parts. A
subject is presented as a whole by clearly defining it to show what it includes.
It is then analyzed in its main divisions, and each division is outlined in topics
logically arranged. The topics for the study of an object are arranged in the
natural order.

CHAPTER V

The Third Decade
(1880-1889)

This period was marked by distinct professional progress
along lines of scientific study, and by corresponding material
changes.

Several well-known and honored instructors of the previous
decade had resigned and new names were appearing in the yearly
catalogues. In the former class were Barrett B. Russell and Clara
A. Armes, who resigned in 1879 to accept more important positions.
Both were very able teachers. Among the new names were Isa-
belle S. Home, Edith Leonard, Elizabeth H. Hutchinson, Clara C.
Prince, and Arthur C. Boyden.

The standard of the school was gradually rising as shown by
the fact that two-thirds of those admitted to the school at the
opening of this period came from high schools.

Two personal incidents in this decade deserve special notice, —
the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Mr. Boyden's appoint-
ment as principal, in 1885, and the resignation of Miss Woodward
in 1887.

In 1881 Mr. Boyden received from Amherst College the hon-
orary degree of Master of Arts.

Amherst, Mass., July 19, 1881.
My dear sir:

The Trustees of Amherst College, at the recent com-
mencement, voted unanimously to confer the Honorary

Degree of Master of Arts on Mr. Albert G. Boyden of
the State Normal School at Bridgewater, and in their
behalf, I would respectfully ask your acceptance of the
same.

Respectfully and truly,

Your obedient servant,

W. A. STEARNS.

Importance of Trained Teachers

Mr, Boyden was constantly bringing this subject before the
public in his well defined purpose to improve the teaching profes-
sion of the State. A short quotation from his article in the Boston
Journal of September, 1881, illustrates this plan of propaganda.

The training of teachers for our public schools is one of the most import-
ant factors in our system of education. Every teacher in our public schools
should be thoroughly prepared for the work of organizing, governing, and
teaching his school in such a manner that he may train his pupils in the way they
should go.

Among the various methods proposed for the accomplishment of this
object, the one pursued at the State Normal School at Bridgewater is worthy of
thoughtful consideration. The plan of the school includes the preparation of
teachers for all grades of the public schools. The courses of study are adapted
to this end. The two-years* course includes the English branches, and the
four-years' course includes all the branches required to be taught in the public
schools. The pupils are led to make a careful analysis of each branch in the
course to ascertain what is to be taught from the beginning to the end in both
the elementary and advanced portions of the subject; to learn in what order
the different parts of the subject should be taught, and then they are trained in
the best method of teaching each part of the subject, by teaching it to their
fellow students, who are actual pupils, under the criticism of their fellow
students and their teachers. They are thus led to a comprehensive view of each
subject to be taught so that they can teach any part of the subject in its proper
relation to the other parts and to the whole. They enter upon this work of
teaching at the beginning of the course and continue it to the end.

School of Observation .

The early plans of the Board Education provided a Model
School, or school of practice, in connection with each normal
school, composed of children of the neighborhood who were to
be taught by the normal pupils under the eye and direction of
their teachers.

Practice teaching in the model school was not very attractive
to the normal pupils. Those who had taught before coming to
the normal school felt that they were not specially benefited by
this practice, and those who had never taught before, did not
become sufficiently interested to appreciate the work, and some
parents preferred that their children should not be "experimented
with.'' Mr. Tillinghast was quite willing that the school should
be discontinued. It was closed in March, 1850.

The prevailing demand for the closer connection of normal
schools with children led in 1880 to the establishment of a School
of Observation, which became the nucleus of the present training
school. The early principals of this school were Caroline E. Morse,
Clara T. Wing, Caroline L. Wing, and Grace M. Holden. Mr. Boy-
den described the new plan as follows : —

An arrangement has been made with the Town of Bridgewater, by which
one of the schools of the town is to become a school of observation and practice
for the normal school. This arrangement will furnish an opportunity to the
members of the senior class to observe a good school with reference to its
organization, its course of studies, its methods of teaching, and its discipline.
In addition to this, the class will have an opportunity to put to the test under
the direction of skilled teachers, the principles they have learned in the normal
school.

Development of Natural Science

Following the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, there was a
marked expansion of science teaching in the American schools,
and this influence was early reflected in the normal schools. The
serious limitations in this school were overcome by the erection of
a separate laboratory building in 1881. The principal was granted
a leave of absence for six weeks in the early part of the spring

HON. (iKORUE H. J

term. A portion of this time was spent by him in observing other
schools and school buildings, for the purpose of perfecting the
plans for the new chemical and physical laboratories. He de-
scribes the result thus: —

The new building for laboratories was begun in June, and was ready for
occupancy in September. It is a handsome structure, two stories in height,
standing on the south side of the schoolhouse. The rooms on the lower floor
are used for physical laboratories, one for the elementary course, the other
for the advanced, with facilities for microscopic work and for projection. The
rooms in the upper story are used for chemical laboratories, elementary and
advanced. These rooms are furnished with the best modern appliances for
teaching how to study and teach physics and chemistry. Each student has a
place at the tables, and performs the experiments, and is taught how to make
and use simple, inexpensive apparatus, such as he can secure for use in his own
school. Rooms in the main building have been converted into laboratories for
the study of natural history. These improvements have greatly increased the
efiicicncy of the teaching and training, and the students are enthusiastic in
the use of them.

The instruction in the sciences was largely given by Mr. Arthur
C. Boyden and Mr. William D. Jackson. The visitors recom-
mended that each year one pupil of the graduating class, who had
shown fitness for the work, should be retained as an assistant, to
serve for two years at a moderate salary, in the laboratories.
Among those who were chosen for this purpose were Frank W.
Kendall, Joseph Boylston, Charles E. Adams, Harlan P. Shaw,
and Sarah E. Brassill. Four years later the principal reports on
the rapid growth of these departments.

Most marked advance has been made in the increased facilities for teach-
ing the natural sciences. A society called the "Bridgewater Science Club" has
been formed, whose object is to promote the subject of natural science, and to
provide for this school a representative collection of the minerals, plants and
animals of south-eastern Massachusetts. It is of great importance that the
teachers of our country schools should have that familiar acquaintance with
nature which will enable them to be guides and interpreters to the opening minds
of the children.

.•\

Resignation of Mr. Martin

In September, 1882, Mr. G. H. Martin, for eighteen years an
assistant teacher, was appointed Agent of the Board of Educa-
tion. Uis place was filled by the appointment of Mr. William D.
Jackson, a graduate of the four-years' course of the school, and
for more than two years a teacher in the Royal Normal College
for the Blind in London.

The Secretary of the Board, Mr. Dickinson, commended the
work of Mr. Martin in the highest terms, — "His experience as a
teacher of the public schools, and as a teacher of teachers, gives
him a special preparation for a skillful performance of the duties
of his office. He has rendered most valuable aid in organizing
and conducting teachers' institutes, and in meeting the teachers
and school authorities for a discussion of the topics that relate to
the management of the public schools."

of Out-Door Facilities

The acquisition of extensive areas of land for the expanding
interests of the school began during this decade. The Commission
appointed by the Legislature of 1883, to provide a way for utiliz-
ing the sewage for the buildings, purchased four and one-half
acres of land for the State, and prepared it for the reception of
the sewage, which was used for the irrigation of growing crops
and grass land. Thus began the first agricultural venture of the
school. The need of opportunity for out-door exercise led to the
acquisition of the land that now forms the beautiful campus of the
school. Mr. Boyden stated the need very clearly when he said : —

The school grounds include only one and three-eighths acres of land,
and are completely occupied by the school buildings and their approaches. The
little park in the neighborhood and the free country offer attractions to the
students, but it is a serious problem how properly to provide for the systematic,
out-door life and muscular exercise so requisite to students, with their tendency
to sedentary life.

In 1881 a piece of land across the street from the school

premises came upon the market under a mortgagee's sale. Mr.
Boyden purchased the land, amounting to six acres, excavated a
pond, and laid out the grounds as a campus for the school. In
1882 he built the ice house near the pond. All this was done at his
own expense, with the hope that some time in the future the State
of Massachusetts would be willing to purchase the land for the
school. In 1886 the State bought the land, Mr. Boyden contribut-
ing a generous sum for the purpose. The visitors suggested that
this land should be called "Boyden Park," and the name passed
into familiar use. It is interesting to note that, while Mr. Boyden
fully appreciated the great value of the grounds to the school, at
the same time he had his mind on still greater facilities in the near
future. He said: —

The whole area, aside from the pond, is occupied by tennis courts, croquet
grounds, and grounds for ball games and other athletic sports, and the heartiness
with which the students enter into these healthful, out-door sports augurs well
for the intellectual work of the school. The whole school community finds a
tonic in this natural reaction. It is greatly to be hoped that the mild weather
advantages of the campus may be supplemented, before long, by a convenient
gymnasium with simple apparatus, where the students can secure regular exer-
cise during the winter months, thereby adding to their mental and moral vigor,
and at the same time acquiring that substantial acquaintance with the laws of
healthy action which will serve them in such good stead when they come to
have charge of the boys and girls of our common schools.

Foreign Students

In 1885 the first group of foreign students entered the school
under official arrangement with the government of Chile, although
individual students from other countries had graduated from the
school. The circumstances under which the decision in favor of
Bridgewater was made were very gratifying.

A. G. Boyden, Esq.

Principal of the State Normal
School, Bridgewater, Mass.,
Dear Sir:

I hope that you may remember my visit as a Commis-
si

sioner of Education from Chile (S. A.) to the Bridge water
State Normal School in 1880.

After an educational voyage in several States of
America and in Europe, I returned to Chile where I was
appointed Inspector General for our Schools, and my opin-
ion having been asked for the proper place to send two
young Chilean ex-alumni of our Santiago Normal School
in order that they may improve their pedagogical educa-
tion, I recommended at once the Bridgewater State Nor-
mal School as one of the best I had known in the United
States.

These lines will be handed to you by the said ex-
alumni Messrs. Alvarado and Lopez, who have been ap-
pointed by the Government of Chile to pursue the whole
course of studies necessary to qualify themselves as if they
were to become American school teachers, in the Bridge-
water State Normal School, and I beg to recommend them
most earnestly to your kindness and attention as foreign
students, who have made such a long trip to improve,
under your direction, their knowledge of the Science and
Art of Teaching.

I fear you may find Messrs. Alvarado and Lopez not
entirely prepared to answer all the conditions established
for ordinary admission in your Normal School — chiefly
on account of their limited knowledge of English, but I
feel satisfied that both will work hard and make them-
selves worthy of becoming good alumni of such an im-
portant school.

I beg to remain. Dear Sir,
Very respectfully yours,

J. ABELARDO NUNEZ.
No. 37 Agustinas,
Santiago, Chile, June, 10/85.

These young men completed a three-years' course in 1888, in
a manner reflecting the highest credit upon their ability and fidel-
ity. On their return to Chile, Mr. Alvarado was elected by the

government as a professor in the College of Santiago, while Mr.
Lopez was appointed Superintendent of Schools for the northern
provinces of Chile.

Twenty-fifth Anniversary

The meeting of the Alumni Association in June, 1885, was
made a silver jubilee in recognition of the 25th year of service of
Mr. Boyden as principal of the school. Mr. John T. Prince of Wal-
tham, who presided, spoke of the silver jubilee of any man as one
of the happiest events of his life, in that he can then look back
over what he has experienced with the feeling that he is still in the
vigor of life and that he has much still to enjoy; it is also a pleas-
ant event for those who are of his family.

Mr. George H. Martin, who had become an Agent of the
Board of Education, was the speaker of the occasion. He said that
these events have their true importance when considered in con-
nection with those of the period preceding them. Forty-six years
ago the first Normal School was started ; then there was scarcely
any school spirit. There were but 14 High Schools in the State;
now there are 228. Three hundred schools were in one year broken
up by the insubordination of pupils. By 1860 the battle had been
nobly fought and nobly won, and trained teachers were in de-
mand. In 1860 the enemies of the school system made their last
attack, asking the Legislature to abolish the school fund, the
Normal and High Schools and the town system; these petition-
ers were given leave to withdraw their request. Just at this time
Mr. Boyden came to the school. Within a year the buildings were
enlarged, and to this and other improvements Mr. Boyden has con-
tinuously devoted the time of the summer vacations. The work of
the school has been steadily broadening; literature has a term
given to it; chemistry, mineralogy, geology, botany, music and
drawing have all been given places, without neglecting the old
studies; in the full advanced courses of four years the languages
are taught, and seventy pupils have taken it. Early in Mr. Boy-
den's mastership psychology took its place as the basis of instruc-

tion ; that the system pursued is the best possible may not be said,
but it is the best that has yet been devised. Every department of
the school is equipped for practical work ; last of all an industrial
laboratory has been added, in which all the students are taught
the practical use of wood-working tools. But the spirit of the
school is far above its buildings and its appliances in value; the
currents of moral and spiritual life have ever been flowing through
the same deep channels.

Portrait of Mr. Boyden

At this time a movement was started among the graduates to
have Mr. Boyden's portrait painted, the same to be hung in the hall
with those of the other principals. Funds were quickly collected,
arid the work was committed to Dr. Edgar Parker, the well-known
portrait painter. The result was very satisfactory to all concerned,
as delightfully expressed by Dr. Albert E. Winship in a letter to
Mr. Boyden, —

"I am more than satisfied with Dr. Parker's art. I do
n6t see how he could have been more happy in choice of
position, in pose, in expression, in that peculiar individ-
uality of facial expression near the corner of the mouth
with its blending of character and genialitjj^ I am so glad
. that we have it now, so that it will always be with the
full vigor and healthy, hearty expression-.''

The presentation of the portrait was made by Mr. Martin, in
his usual felicitous manner, as shown in the following communica-
tions : —

Bridgewater, April 26, 1886.
Mr. Albert G. Boyden,

Principal of State Normal School,
Dear Sir : —

The portrait of yourself which, in behalf of a Com-
mittee of the Alumni, I have the honor and pleasure of

presenting to you, is a gift from those who have been your
pupils in the Normal School, — an expression of their re-
gard and affection.

It is their wish that at some time in the future, to be
determined by you, the portrait be placed upon the walls
of Normal Hall, to be a perpetual reminder of your long
and honorable service.

Sincerely yours,

GEORGE H. MARTIN.

Bridgewater, Mass., June, 1886.
Mr. George H. Martin,

Chairman of the Committee of the Alumni,
Dear Sir: —

I desire to express through you to those who have
been my pupils in this Normal School my grateful and
tender appreciation of the expression of their regard and
affection, in the gift of the portrait of myself to be placed
upon the walls of Normal Hall, there to greet them when
I shall have left the place of my life work. This gener-
ous and kind expression of your feeling towards me has
given myself and my family, who share my labors, the
highest pleasure.

May the richest blessings of the Good Being who has
permitted us to be co-workers in these halls of our "Alma
Mater*' rest upon you all in this life and in the life to
come.

Sincerely yours,

ALBERT G. BOYDEN.

Moral Training

Public statements were made in the Journal of Education of
1886 that moral education in Massachusetts was a failure because
the statutes did not prescribe definite instruction from a text-book

of morals. These articles gave Mr. Boyden the opportunity to
state his own views of moral training in the public schools.

I venture to affirm that not a day passes in the schoolroom of any teacher
of competent ability and good morals without his pointing many a moral, be-
ginning with the reverent reading of the Word of God, and extending on
through the day. He teaches reverence for God, His name, and His word. He
trains his pupils to obedience, to rightful authority, to truthfulness, honesty,
industry, punctuality, order, cleanliness, neatness; to the observance of the
Golden Rule; to good behavior. The will of the pupil is under constant train-
ing, his conscience is under daily enlightenment. The moral power of a well-
ordered school is very great.

All true teaching is a systematic and harmonious training of intellect, sen-
sibility, and will. The moral element is the leaven hidden in the meal. Does
not the faithful mother build up the moral character of her child by constantly
instilling the principles of morality in the conduct which she encourages and
requires? Does not the unfaithful parent fail by neglecting to do this work?
So it is with the teachers. More attention should be given to moral training;
but, in emphasizing this need, let us be just and give the schools credit for
what they are doing. It is gross injustice to the whole body of faithful teach-
ers to say that there is no systematic, moral training in the public schools, be-
cause "we have not yet a text-book on morals, simplified for beginners."

We have always found that the school child must be taken as a whole ; that
he was not susceptible of separation into thirds, that the child, not a third
part of him, made the choice and performed the moral act. The moral ele-
ment is in the act of willing; and this takes the whole child either on the
right course or on the wrong course. Massachusetts in this question must
mean the people of the State, the families, the churches, the communities, and
the State in its governmental functions. The child is educated under the
combined action of these four agencies, — the family, the church, society, and
the State. The public school is supported by the people as an aid, — an indis-
pensable aid, — to the education of the child. It is dependent upon, and finds its
educational power and limitation in, the action of these agencies; it is what the
public sentiment demands it shall be.

It is time for the friends of public schools, at least, to discriminate, and to
distribute the responsibility for crime in the State upon all the agencies con-
cerned in the formation of the moral character of the criminal. The public
school is not responsible for all the crime of the State.

Resignation of Miss Woodward

Miss Eliza B. Woodward, of revered memory to the older
graduates, graduated from the school in the 47th class, July 28,
1857, under Principal Conant. In September she was invited to

return as an instructor, and taught until July, 1887. She died in
November of the same year. Of many words of sincere apprecia-
tion of Miss Woodward's character, we quote only those of Mr.
Boyden : —

For thirty successive years Miss Eliza B. Woodward has been a teacher in
the school, and for the past twelve years has been a teacher of drawing. In
her long connection with the school, she won the love and honor of all who
were associated with her or came under her care, impressing them with a sense
of her genial sympathy, her thoughtfulness, her ready encouragement, her
faithfulness in teaching, her fidelity to the school, and her fine loyalty to the
truth. Hundreds of teachers who look back to their school days at Bridgewater
will hold in distinctest remembrance Miss Woodward's kindly face.

Agitation for a New Building

By 1888 history was repeating itself in a new demand for en-
largement of facilities to meet the rapidly growing school. Mr.
Boyden, as usual, came forward with unanswerable arguments, but
it took two years to accomplish the result and then only through
the aid of influential members of the Legislature, who were strong
friends of education and of the school.

When the addition of 1881 was made, it was hoped that the school would
be able to accommodate the pupils that would present themselves for many
years to come. The pressure on the school still continues, and there are no
indications that this increase will be lessened. The limit of capacity has now
been reached, as regards the requirements of good teaching. The school-room
and the class-rooms are overcrowded; every available place for case, cabinet,
and closet is full; there is no suitable provision for the growing library, and
the books are scattered inconveniently in different rooms. The work in all the
departments suffers from the friction caused by overcrowding, and the necessity
of constant readjustment of classes. The school buildings should at once be
enlarged, and this enlargement should take into account the certain increase
up to the number of two hundred and fifty pupils. Beyond that, in the opinion
of the Visitors, the school ought not to be allowed to grow.

CHAPTER VI

The Fourth Decade
1890-1899

This period was especially marked by great building pro-
jects, in which brick buildings superseded the old wooden
structures, and also by an equal expansion in professional de-
velopment. Several important incidents made the period one
of great interest.

Trip to Europe

The Principal was granted leave of absence from Febru-
ary to August of 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Boyden spent the most
of this period in Europe, with much profit, and returned with
renewed strength for the discharge of their duties. They vis-
ited the educational centres of England, France, and Scotland,
with special reference to the facilities for the training of teach-
ers. The trip closed with a visit to the noted Lake region of
Scotland, and while there the image of the home school was
still vividly in his mind, as he writes: —

Nestled among the highlands of Scotland is the beautiful Loch Katrine,
the scene of Scott's "Lady of the Lake." Fed by the pure and sparkling
waters from the mountain slopes which surround it, it sends its waters, kept
pure by the sunlight which penetrates its depths and the mountain breezes
which agitate its surface, out through the hills and over the valleys, forty-two
miles away, into the homes of the great city of Glasgow, with its seven hundred
and fifty thousand people engaged in industries which connect them with all
parts of the world.

The normal school, like this beautiful lake is a reservoir of living waters.
Fed by the young lives which come from the happy homes of the surrounding
regions, it trains these young men and women to be living teachers, and sends
them forth with a noble enthusiasm into the pubilc schools to educate the
children coming from the myriads of homes in the villages, towns and cities of
this great Commonwealth.

Let the waters of Loch Katrine cease to flow into the city of Glasgow,
and how soon would all its industries be paralyzed. Let the State cease to train
teachers for its schools, and how soon would all its life feel the blight of ignor-
ance and unrestrained selfishness.

Semi-Centennial

The semi-centennial of the school was celebrated on Aug-
ust 28, 1890, in connection with the biennial convention of the
Normal Association. Mr. Arthur C. Boyden, president of the
Association, conducted the exercises. More than 600 former
members of the school were present, including representatives
of nearly all the classes. Richard Edwards, LL. D., State Sup-
erintendent of Instruction in Illinois, was chosen to give the
principal address. Principal A. G. Boyden gave the historical
address. Secretary Dickinson of the Board gave an address
upon the "Function of the Normal School," which was fol-
lowed by short addresses from invited guests and graduates.

"The buildings and grounds of the school never looked
more beautiful than they did on this morning, when the semi-
centennial celebration was to take place. Arrangements had been
made to carry it out well worthy the cause of normal education,
and never were the graduates prouder of their old school than on
that day. The morning was an auspicious one, and the early trains
were loaded with the students, graduates and visiting friends.
Principal A. G. Boyden was indeed a busy man. In fact, all the
people of Bridgewater manifested great interest. The citizens
recognize its Normal School as an institution worthy of their pride,
and felt a personal interest in having the celebration pass off in the
most successful manner possible. Nor were they disappointed."

Mr. Boyden in his address emphasized the points of progress
in the history of the school.

The same spirit has prevailed in the school during the last thirty years
as that which governed its operations in the preceding twenty years. It has
been conducted on the principle that the ultimate object of the normal school, in
training teachers for the public schools, is to make the normal student, as far
as possible, an educator.

The introduction of the four years' course was the most important step
forward in the history of the school, in the beneficial influence which the ad-
vanced pupils exert upon the tone of feeling in the school, in raising the stand-
aH of scholarship, in drawing in better prepared pupils, in sending out better
trained teachers for the high and normal schools, in giving the school character
and standing in the community. The studies in the whole course required by
statute law to be taught in the public schools cannot be properly considered, in
less than four years.

There has been a vety latge increase in the collections of minerals, plants
and animals, illustrative apparatus and reference books, made necessary by the
objective system of teaching and study. The institution now has seven labora-
tories, well supplied with typical, working and classified collections.

The grounds of the school have increased from one and one-fourth acres
to fourteen acres, and include the school lot of three acres; "Boyden Park,"
containing six acres; "Normal Grove," a half -acre of fine chestnut growth
adjoining the park, the gift of Messrs. Lewis G. Lowe and Samuel P. Gates of
Bridgewater, alumni of the school; and a sewage farm of four and one-half
acres.

Three thousand five hundred sevehty-two students have been members
of the school, two thousand one hundred fifty-two of whom are graduates.
From returns made, it appears that nearly ninety-eight per cent of all who have
been members have engaged in teaching; their work will aggregate at least
twelve thousand years of teaching.

Let us follow them in imagination as they have gone forth to their fields
of labor, company after company, one hundred and thirteen classes of hopeful,
earnest young men and women. They are engaged in all grades of educational
work, — as State superintendents, agents of the State Board of Education,
superintendents of public schools, principals and assistants in normal, training,
high, grammar, primary and country schools; in some of the best private schools;
in schools for deaf mutes, for the blind, and in asylums for the poor and needy.
In Boston, the superintendent of schools, two of the supervisors, fifteen of the
masters and seventeen of the submasters are graduates of this school. Eighteen
have become principals aAd sixty-three others assistants in normal schools. Some
after teaching, have become prominent as lawyers, physicians, clergymen, edi-
tors, and in business. Many of the women as wives and mothers hold prominent
positions and exert a strong educational influence. Some are missionaries in
India, Burmah and Africa; others hold important educational positions in
France, Japan and Chili. Their influence is felt around the globe. What
would the founders of the school say could they stand with us today? Who
can estimate the value of the service rendered to the Old Bay State by these
teachers? We have solid ground for rejoicing today in what has been accom-
plished, and the future of our Alma Mater is full of promise ; but she can sustain

her efficiency and progress only by the diligence and constant vigilance of her
officers and graduates.

We have no cloistered halls whose walls of stone the centuries have begun
to crumble, as have some of the old schools of England, but we have our temple
built from the trees of the forest, and in it, as in those older schools, we have
our historic memorials; upon its walls hang the portraits of our departed
teachers, the memorial tablet of our patriot heroes, the busts of our martyred
presidents, of statesmen, educators, men of science and literature, whose lives
have been to us an inspiration; within its walls our minds have been waked to
higher views of life and its duties; there, has been opened to us a new world
of intellectual life and moral perceptions; there, our souls have been stirred to
higher aspirations, have been roused to nobler purposes. But the school has
outgrown this temple, around which cluster the fondest recollections of its past
life, and a new home for our Alma Mater is going up, deeper, broader, higher
than the old, substantial and beautiful.

Dedication of the New School Building

The following extract from the report of the exercises of
dedication on September 3, 1891, is taken from the columns of
the "Boston Herald."

"The dedication of the new normal school building in this old
town this morning was the occasion for one of the most notable
gatherings ever seen here. Many of the distinguished educators
of the State came down by the early trains to congratulate Prin-
cipal Boyden on the completion of the grand edifice which is such
an honor to the Old Bay State, and also to fhow by their presence
the great interest which they take in general education and in the
training of thoes men who mean to make teaching their life work."

"The hour set for opening of the proceedings at Normal Hall
was 10:30, and every seat, numbering more than eight hundred,
was occupied before that hour by an intelligent and greatly inter-
ested audience, at least two-thirds of whom were ladies, whose
handsome faces and gay attire gave a peculiar charm to the scene."

"Principal Boyden was welcomed with loud applause, upon
the subsidence of which he said, first, and naturally, that it was a
proud day f6r him to be present and look into the faces of so many
friends," he continued: —

Our friends have been many and our friends have been strong. They
have been friends indeed, because they were friends in time of need. We have
had friends in the State Board of Education who have done what they could to
sustain our work year after year; in the secretaries of the State Board of
Education; in the Legislature from year to year; and we have had warm friends
elsewhere. We have had friends among our graduates who are scattered far
and wide, and who have used their influence in distributing information in
regard to the aims and the work of this normal school. All these influences have
worked together for good. We greatly rejoice, therefore, in the possession of
this building. In the simplicity of its arrangements, in its adaptation to school
wants, and in all its appointments, this building which we dedicate today is a
model of which the State may justly be proud.

Gen. Francis A. Walker of Boston, Chairman of the Board of
Visitors, said : "Having, in behalf of the Commonwealth, been in-
strumental in approving" the plans which were drawn and in ap-
proving the contract for this building, it seemed to me that, though
far away in the heart of the White Mountains, I should come down
here to see how many and how great mistakes had been made in
this enterprise on behalf of the Commonwealth. On looking about
this morning I have come to the conclusion that no mistakes were
made ; that the Board of Education made no mistake in giving way
to the urgent appeals of Professor Boyden for this new building,
and that the Legislature made no mistake in granting this munifi-
cent appropriation that would justify the place Massachusetts
holds in educational matters."

Mr. George H. Martin spoke briefly in regard to the earnest-
ness which characterized the early teachers in the school. "I am
sure,'' he said, "that in the future there can be no higher expecta-
tion or hope among those who labor here as teachers or as students
than that they may in some way attain to the same earnestness
which characterized the first principal of this normal school."

Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell said the last time he was at the
school was little more than two years ago, with a committee of
the Legislature, of which he was a member, and spoke of the
pleasant way in which the committee was received; of the mani-
fest need which they found of a new building ; of the recommenda-
tion of the committee that a new building worthy of the State and
of the school should be erected, instead of an extension of the old

wooden building which had done its work; and of his satisfaction
in seeing the recommendations of the committee realized in the
substantial and beautiful new building of today.

Professional Development

The new and enlarged facilities made possible the professional
development which had been waiting its opportunity. A gymnasium
made systematic physical training possible, at first under the direc-
tion of Mr. Frank F. Murdock, one of the regular instructors. In
1894 a specially trained instructor, Miss Bessie L. Barnes, was ap-
pointed, and the new department was launched. The new industrial
laboratory, with Mr. H. P. Shaw as instructor, made possible the or-
ganization of manual training courses. The well-equipped labora-
tories and collections in physical and natural sciences gave a new
impetus to the teaching of elementary science under Mr. William
D. Jackson., Mr. Harlan P. Shaw, and Mr. Arthur C. Boyden. The
drawing course was thoroughly organized by Miss Elizabeth H.
Perry in an art room fitted up with the best type of furniture and
furnished with fine examples of casts and models. Miss Perry was
assisted by Miss L. Eveline Merritt. The library was arranged in two
large rooms, one containing books on history and literature, arranged
with tables for research on the laboratory plan, the other arranged
for general reading and consultation. Card catalogues were ar-
ranged for the direct use of the books in the different departments.
The English courses were carefully developed by Miss Fannie A.
Comstock and Miss Emily C. Fisher, both graduates of the school.
Courses in astronomy and bookkeeping were organized in the care-
ful and thorough manner that was natural to Mr. Frank E. Gurney.
As a part of the professional development the instructors in the
different departments prepared outlines of their courses, which
extended the influence* of the school far beyond its own walls. Mr.
Boyden, in 1894, writes: —

Bridgewater is rendering a substantial public service by conducting a
series of experiments on graded courses of study. These courses it tests in the
model school, and, when perfected, they are furnished on request to teachers
and superintendents. A course of nature study, adapted to the fall, winter and

spring, has been called for very widely. Mr. Murdock has done similar work
in preparing outlines in geography; Miss Perry has prepared courses in drawing
for schools of all grades, and they have been tested by use in the model school,
and in the Bridgewater High School, under her direction.

New Admission Requirements

The forward movement for the professional preparation of
teachers was voiced by Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer in the report
of the Board for 1893. She said, "The Board of Education believes
that the time has come when the standard of admission to the
Normal Schools must be raised, in the interests of the schools of
every grade. They, therefore, announce that on and after Sep-
tember, 1894, all students, before presenting themselves for exam-
ination for admission to the normal schools, shall be graduates of
high schools of a standard satisfactory to the Board, or shall have
had an equivalent education."

The Model School

By far the most far-reaching development for which the new
building provided, was the establishment of a training school in
1891, in place of the former School of Observation. This school
was established through an arrangement with the town, and in-
cluded the different grades of the Centre District, in charge of
Miss Lillian A. Hicks, principal, and four assistants, Misses Martha
W. Alden, Flora M. Stuart, • Charlotte L. Voigt, and Alice M.
Wormwood.

The most important single event of the year 1893 was the
establishment of a kindergarten under the direction of Miss Anne
M. Wells. This was done in spite of many difficulties. There was
no room for this addition, and it was, therefore, decided to give up
temporarily the general library during the morning for the kinder-
garten, since it seemed impossible to longer delay providing
this essential training for the intending teachers. The Legislature
of 1894 appropriated $75,000 for the enlargement of the school

building by the aiddition of a third section, mainly for the use of
the Model School. This made it possible to organize the training
department with a full corps of teachers. The plan and purpose
of this school was carefully described by Mr. Boyden as follows : —

Its purpose is to exemplify the m0de of conducting a good public school,
and to train the normal students in observing and teaching children. The
normal students have a definite course in practical child study, under the careful
direction of Miss Hicks, the principal of the Model School, and make reports
on their study. Such study includes the school as a whole and the details of
school work in the different grades. The study also includes the individual
child, his relation to the class, his physical and intellectual condition, his moral
qualities, his home and social life, and his adaptation to special work, aiming in
each case to find out the cause of his condition, the effect of that condition, and
the remedy for it when abnormal.

At the close of this decade the increase in the number of pupils
in the ninth grade made it necessary to appoint another teacher.
Mr.Brenelle Hunt, a graduate of the four-years' course and a teach-
er of experience in grammar schools, was appointed principal of the
Model School in charge of the executive department of the work,
and Miss Hicks, who had so ably conducted the school for eight
years, was appointed supervisor of the practice work, giving her
whole time to this service. The Model School was now conducted
by a very strong corps of instuctors, who served not only as regular
teachers of the children, but as critics of the student teachers.
The list included, in addition to the principal and supervisor.
Misses Adelaide Reed, Martha M. Burnell, Hannah E. Turner,
Nellie M. Bennett, Jennie Bennett, Mary L. Wallace, Sarah W.
Turner, Sarah E. Pratt, Flora M. Stuart; kindergarten. Misses
Anne M. Wells and Frances P. Keyes.

The Mexican Students

In 1896 correspondence was had with the Governor of the
State of Coahuila, Mexico, in which he asked for the admission of
five young men, graduates from the Normal School of that state, to
take a two-years' course in this school. He said : "We have ob-
served with great interest the rapid growth and prosperity of your

country, and believe this is due to the better public education of
your people. We desire to send these young men to you, that they
may be better fitted to teach in our State. After examining many
catalogues, we have selected your school for this purpose." They
entered Bridgewater in September, 1896, accompanied by Profes-
sor Andres Osuna, one of the instructors in their Normal School,
who also took a two-years' course.

Building Activity Renewed

As already noted, the school building was enlarged in 1894,
but the growth of the school demanded further increase in facili-
ties. In 1895 Mr. Boyden, with the assistance of Senator James
C. Leach, of Bridgewater, obtained an appropriation of $59,000, to
be expended for the erection of two brick buildings, a dormitory
and a laundry, and for the purchase of a large lot on Grove Street,
containing two acres, which was to be used for athletics. The
local paper, in speaking of the prncipaFs activity, said, "His man-
ner of proceeding is apparently a simple one, but it would really
prove tedious and a serious task to the majority of us. The actual
needs of the institution are continually coming to his ever-watchful
eye, and after he has been fully convinced of the things required,
he immediately draws up his plans, obtains estimates, and then
begins his active work of convincing those in authority of the things
he desires."

The new residence hall was named "Tillinghast Hall," in hon-
or of the first principal of the school. Normal Hall was greatly im-
proved by the enlargement of the cooking department and dining
room, and by the conversion of the first floor of the east wing into
a large reception room.

Death of Mrs. A. G. Boyden

Isabella Whitten Clarke Boyden was born in East Newport,
Maine, September 9, 1825, and October 1, 1895 she passed to rest
at the age of 70 years, 22 days. On August 2, 1848, at the age of

twenty-three she entered the State Normal School at Bridge-
water. She stood in the front rank in this school, taking advanced
studies in addition to the regular course. After her graduation
she was a teacher of marked ability in Westerly, R. I., in Hingham,
Mass., and in Wheaton Female Seminary, Norton, Mass. She
married her classmate, Albert G. Boyden, who was then assistant
teacher in the Bridgewater Normal School, in November, 1851.
She was a student as long as she lived ; she studied much in con-
nection with the Normal School. She was a thoughtful reader,
an easy and effective writer.

For thirty-five years the Normal School at Bridgewater was
under the united guidance of Mr. and Mrs. Boyden. At the me-
morial exercises held at the convention of the Normal Association
in 1896, Mr. G. H. Martin paid her a tribute of loving remembrance
in the following words: "My first thoughts on this occasion go
back to my first visit to Bridgewater, when I came, a stranger and
unannounced, to inquire about the Normal School. Mr. Boyden,
whom I came to see, was away. Mrs. Boyden received me most
cordially, made me at home for the long day which I must spend
in town, and gave me the information which I had come for. The
impressions of her character made during that day have only been
deepened by the lapse of years. Most marked of all was her ab-
sorbing interest in this school and its work. She not only knew its
history, but she had imbibed its spirit, and had devoted herself to
its interests. This devotion never weakened. She anticipated
every forward movement with satisfaction, entered unreservedly
into every plan, familiarized herself with every detail of admin-
istration, and contributed of her own ample mental and moral
resources to make this the best possible fitting school for teachers.
Her natural endowments for this work were great. On the intel-
lectual side she was remarkably strong and clear in her thinking,
and pronounced and firm in her judgments. Her moral instincts
were unerring. She was active and interested in all the great
social and religious movements of her generation, and was always
on the side of progress."

of Mr. Murdock

Early in 1897 the Board of Education, by its appointment of
Mr. Frank F. Murdock to the principalship of the new State Nor-
mal School at North Adams, took from this school an efficient
instructor, who had for, twelve years held an honorable position on
the faculty. Mr. Charles P. Sinnott of the Milwaukee Normal
School, a graduate of the four-years' course at Bridgewater and of
Harvard College, was appointed to succeed him. At th^ dedica-
tion of the North Adams School on September 3, 1897, Mr. Boyden
was asked to give an address. He said in part : —

I have a peculiar interest in this school, for the man chosen to be its
principal is my personal friend. He was my pupil for four years and a hearty
co-worker with me as an honored member of the faculty at Bridgewater. He
comes in the full vigor of his manhood to give himself to the planting of an
institution for the training of teachers on this hill top^ which shall be a light
that cannot be hid, and which shall be a blessing to the children of this section
of the -state. I know that ali which energy, ability, fidelity and enthusiasm can
do for this purpose he will accomplish. I come especially to bid him Godspeed
in the great work that has been committed to his hands.

ni[;holak TiLusiiH

ALBKKT li. HOVUKN. AKTHI'R C. BOYUKN

CHAPTER VII

The Fifth Decade

1900-1909

At the opening of this period, the school offered five courses
of study: the two-years' course, which included only English
studies; the four-years' course, which included advanced English
and classical studies in addition to those of the two-years' course ;
the three-years' course, which included the studies of the two-
years' courses with electives from the advanced studies; the kin-
dergarten course; and special elective courses, which were for
graduates of colleges and normal schools, and former teachers of
five years' experience. The attendance steadily increased, not-
withstanding the opening of the four new normal schools in the
State. There had been a noticeable improvement in the qualifica-
tions of candidates for admission.

Several changes in the faculty occurred in the early part of
this per'od. Miss Emily C. Fisher, who had been a most efficient
Instructor in the English department for ten years, was given a
leave of absence, and Miss Mary A. Emerson, a graduate of the
four-years' course and of Wellesley College, who had valuable
experience in teaching, was appointed to this department. Miss
Sarah E. Fratt, a superior teacher in the Model School, was obliged
to relinquish her work, and Miss Clara R. Bennett, a graduate of a
Pennsylvania Normal School and from the special course in this
school was appointed her successor. Miss Hannah E. Turner, an
earnest and faithful teacher in the Model School, resigned, and
Miss Sarah V. Price, a graduate of the special course, tpok her

Men

Women

years

8.5 years

years

9 years

years

8 years

place. Miss Annie L. Sawyer, a recent graduate of the school
from the special course was added to the Model School faculty.

The second general catalogue was issued, to commemorate
the 60th year of the history of the school. A record of nearly 95
per cent of all who had attended the school was obtained.

Table Showing the Average Years of Teaching of the Graduates

Mr. Tillinghast's Administration,
Mr. Conant's Administration,
Mr. Boyden's Administration,

Students Enrolled During Sixty Years

From Massachusetts, 4,107

From 23 Other States, 606

From 11 Foreign Countries, 45

Teachers' Institutes

During all this decade a large number of Institutes for teach-
ers in service were held all over the State under the direction of the
Secretary of the Board of Education. The teachers of the school
were called to act as instructors in a great many of these meetings,
especially in the subjects of nature study, history, geography, ele-
mentary science and English. The influence of the school spread
throughout the State, and the outlines of the different subjects
were in great demand. At this time the nature study movement
was at its height in the country, and Bridgewater was taking a
leading position in its development.

Nature Study Award at St. Louis

At the World's Fair, held in St. Louis, the exhibit of the work
done in the Model School received the grand prize. A full descrip-
tion of the exhibit was given in one of the educational papers, at

the time of the award. The writer said: "While it is true that
the West is more strongly represented than the East, the exhibit
from the State Normal Model School at Bridgewater, is pre-
eminently the fullest and richest and the most carefully prepared
nature-work in the whole educational exhibit. It is arranged
under the personal supervision of Mr. Arthur C. Boyden, who for
twenty-five years has been an enthusiast on Nature Work and is
today the leading exponent of the subject in Massachusetts."

Recognition of Normal Work by Colleges

For a number of years the work of the three and four-year
courses had been recognized and accepted by the Lawrence Scien-
tific School of Harvard University, and scholarships were provided
which made it possible for young men to continue their advanced
work after graduation from the Normal School. A broad culture
or an intensive study of certain subjects was thus added to their
professional preparation. In other colleges abundant credit was
granted to the young men. In 1906 Harvard College opened full
privileges, with credit according to the work done in the Normal
School. A large proportion of the young men, nearly all of whom
held honor distinctions, received their degree from college. In
turn, each year a number of college graduates took their profes-
sional preparation in the normal schools. The official encourage-
ment of this broad equipment for teaching was of great value to
the State and attracted many men to the profession of teaching.
The removal of this encouragement in recent years was a serious
blow to the school. The lifting of the educational interests of the
Commonwealth to a higher plane of service depends on the re-
establishment of broad professional courses leading directly to an
educational degree.

A Gymnasium Building

The last building erected under Mr. Boyden's direction was
the gymnasium. As far back as 1901, he began agitation for a

new building for a gymnasium. He stated the case strongly to the
authorities : —

The school has outgrown the gymnasium in the basement of the school
building. The room is too low and too small, and there are no baths and dress-
ing rooms connected with it. Fortunately, a lot of land just across the street
has come into the market. This land should be purchased to protect the future
interests of the school, and it is well suited for a site for a gymnasium building.
Physical training is indispensable to the complete command of the body as the
instrument of the mind.

The land was purchased, and in 1903 an appropriation was
made for a gymnasium building, which was dedicated on June
24, 1905. Mr. George I. Aldrich, Chairman of the Visitors, who
presided, said : **We have gathered to dedicate Mr. Boyden's lat-
est building enterprise. He first began this enterprising career in
1861, and there has been something doing ever since. His success
has been due to good friends in the Legislature. No enterprise of
his has met with utter defeat. The money given him has always
been judiciously spent, and he never asked for anything that was
not needed."

Mr. Boyden, speaking historically of physical training in the
school, said in part : —

In 1860 we introduced some outdoor sports and gymnastics which were
originated by Dr. Dio Lewis. In 1886 Boyden Park was purchased for the bene-
fit of the school. In 1891 our new building was completed and Swedish gym-
nastics introduced, with Mr. F. F. Murdock as instructor. In 1893 a lady
teacher was appointed. In 1895 the South Field playground was purchased for
baseball and football, and today we have a new gymnasium. This is a day of
great interest to us, and we owe it in a great measure to the Legislature. When
we asked for $55,000 the Legislature was amazed and wanted to know if we
could not get along with a much smaller sum, but I said, "No, we had rather
do without unless we could have a good one." The report on the bill was
against us, and it looked like defeat, but thanks to our good friends in the
Legislature, Senator Pratt and Representative Turner, the matter was recon-
sidered and the bill went through.

Later, the building was officially named by the Board of Edu-
cation **The Albert Gardner Boyden Memorial Gymnasium."

In 1904 Miss Bessie L. Barnes, who had been a valued and be-
loved instructor in physical training for eleven years, resigned

her position for needed rest, and Miss Elizabeth F. Gordon, a teach-
er of successful experience in this work, was appointed her suc-
cessor. Miss Margaret E. Fisher, a recent graduate of the Boston
School of Gymnastics, was appointed assistant instructor in this de-
partment. The physical training of the young men was placed in
charge of Principal Brenelle Hunt of the Model School.

Appointment of Mr. G. H. Martin as Secretary of the Board of

Education

A signal honor came to the school in the selection of Mr.
Martin for this important position. After leaving Bridgewater, he
had served ten years as an Agent of the Board of Education and
twelve years as Supervisor of the Boston Schools. His character,
ability, and varied experience gave him peculiar fitness for the
new position. An editorial in a Boston paper spoke thus of the ap-
pointment: **It is flattering to the standards set in this city that
after scouring the country for a man, who could come up to the
high standard set by the Board, the choice finally fell on a Boston
man." The Board itself said of him, **Mr. Martin brings to the
place a ripe experience, a willing spirit and an energy capable of
accomplishing many things. He has it in his power to broaden
and extend the influence of his office and of the Board."

Gifts of Appreciation

At the 52d annual meeting of the Bridgewater Normal Asso-
ciation, held in Boston in April, 1905, special recognition was made
of the fact that the meeting marked the 50th year of Mr. A. G.
Boyden's connection with the school as a teacher. In recognition
of the event, Mr. George H. Martin, Secretary of the State Board of
Education, presented him, on behalf of the Association, $700 in
gold, as a mark of appreciation.

On Mr. Boyden's 79th birthday, at the close of the opening ex-
ercises, Mr. John E. Keefe, Jr., arose, and, in behalf of the students,
presented their principal with a handsome loving cup, inscribed

with these words: "Greetings to Principal Albert Gardner Boy-
den. From the students of the Bridge water State Normal School,
February 5, 1906."

Resignation of Principal Boyden

On August 1, 1906, Mr. A. G. Boyden resigned from the prin-.
cipalship of the school, a position which he had held for forty-six
years. At the same time he was appointed to the honorable posi-
tion of principal emeritus, with charge of the instruction in the
"educational study of man" and the school laws of Massachusetts.
Mr. Arthur Clarke Boyden, who for a number of years had held the
position of vice-principal of the school, was promoted to the prin-
cipalship.

The Visitors of the school expressed their very high regard
for his long and valuable services. "The Board of Education deep-
ly appreciates the long, unselfish, and eminently successful admin-
istration of Mr. Boyden. He has brought to the school the highest
ideals of the teacher's work, a thorough application of the prin-
ciples of teaching in all the subjects of study, and an eaonomical
administration of its business affairs. To him, in large measure, is
due the high place which the school occupies in the public esti-
mation, and it is a source of congratulation that the institution is
still to have the benefit of his valuable experience."

Mr. Boyden's letter of resignation follows, together with the
letter from the faculty of the school, and his reply : —

Bridgewater, Mass., Jan. 1, 1906.
To the Visitors of the State Normal School, Bridgewater,

Mass.

In accordance with what I have said to you, I here-
by resign the trust committed to my keeping by my ap-
pointment as principal of this school in August, 1860,
This resignation to take effect, if it so please the Board
of Education, on August 1, 1906, at the completion of my
forty-sixth year of service as principal.

I desire to express my grateful appreciation of the

confidence which the Board has reposed in me, of the
courteous consideration which they have given to my
recommendations, and of the cordial support which they
have always given me in my work through all these years
of service.

I am, Respectfully yours,

ALBERT G. BOYDEN.

Bridgewater, Mass., Jan. 12, 1906.
Dear Mr. Boyden :

We regret that the time for a change in our relations
must come soon, as a time for change must come in all
human relations ; we are glad that the time has been long
in coming, and that the change is attended by so many
happy circumstances.

We congratulate you that you have served long
enough to see the abundant fruits of your labors, and that
you have received such assurance that your work has
been appreciated. We are confident that, however ex-
tended the life of the school may be, your administration
will always be memorable, not so much for its duration, as
for the progress which the school has made under your
guidance.

We congratulate you that you are to transfer your
leadership to one who is bound to you by the closest of
ties, who has shown his thorough fitness for the place,
who knows well the high purpose which has guided your
work, and whose own ideals will be equally high.

We congratulate you that you are to continue your
association with the young life with which you have sym-
pathized so heartily, whose elastic spirit you have always
shared, and whose unfolding powers you have trained
for noble ends. You have said that you are never so
happy as when face to face with your class; we hope
that the pleasure which your teaching gives you may
be increased when you are freed from the other respon-
sibilities which you have borne so long and so well.

We appreciate your constant kindness to us individ-
ually, and the strong support which you have given us
in our work. We are glad that you are to continue with
us, that the personal ties which have united us are not to
be weakened, that your presence and your influence are
to be with us still, an example and an inspiration.

Yours with aff§ction and gratitude.

The Normal and Model School Teachers, by

WM. D. JACKSON.

To The Normal and Model School Teachers,
My dear friends: —

Your very kind words of congratulation and appre-
ciation, called forth by my resignation and the appoint-
ment of my successor, have moved me very deeply. Such
words from my associate teachers are exceedingly grate-
ful. I prize them above measure.

I have been abundantly blessed in my labors by your
loyal support, by the love of my pupils, and by the pro-
gress of the school. The Master has taught me, strength-
ened me, and given me His blessing.

I am greatly pleased that my son is to be my suc-
cessor in the principalship, which gives the assurance that
the school will move in the same spirit that has domin-
ated it from the beginning, and with equally high ideals.
It is a great joy to me that I am to continue to have the
privilege of teaching school ; I rejoice greatly in sharing
this young life of these prospective teachers, so full of
promise for the unfolding and perfecting of the life of
the children of the State.

I am very happy that I am to continue my associa-
tion with you who have so ably, so faithfully, and so loyal-
ly supported me in all my work for the school which we
all love so well ; that the personal ties which have united
us will still hold us in loving fellowship.

Yours with reciprocal affection and gratitude,

A. G. BOYDEN.

In a personal letter from Mr. Martin, we find certain words
which we quote : **It will be hard for those of us who have thought
of Bridgewater as "our school" to think of it without you as its
head. It can never again be quite the same to us. But we realize
that you have borne the burden and heat of many days and that you
are entitled to a relief from the most pressing of the cares. We are
glad, too, that the school is not to fall into new and strange hands.
We have the fullest confidence that all its splendid traditions will
be maintained, while it will adapt itself to the changing conditions,
as it has always done."

Ai the convention of the Normal Association in June, 1906,
over 800 graduates returned to pay their Joving respect to the retir-
ing principal. President J. Herbert Tuttle organized a most de-
lightful series of tributes at the convention dinner. Mr. George I.
Aldrich, than whom the school never had a more devoted friend,
spoke for the Board of Education. He said that it had been the
good fortune of the Board to have in Mr. Boyden a principal to
whom they could give great freedom. He rejoiced that there
would be no break between the past and the present.

Walpole Celebration

On the occasion of Mr. Boyden's eightieth birthday, Iiis native
town of Walpole organized a celebration in recognition of the
intellectual and educational work to which he had devoted his
life. Special exercises were held in the Walpole Town Hall on the
afternoon of February 9, 1907. Lifelong friends of the teacher
were present, together with many from the neighboring towns.
Sixty old pupils of Mr. Boyden in Bridgewater, now masters or
sub-masters in the public schools of Boston, were invited. With
the guest of honor on the platform were the town officials, the
local school committee and ministers of different denominations.

Mr. Charles S. Bird, chairman of the committee of arrange-
ments presided. He expressed satisfaction that so large a body of
men, women and children had assembled to show recognition of the
value of a fine unselfish life, devoted for over fifty years to teach-
ing — a calling as great as one can choose — and said that the

coming into this country of all kinds of people, representing many
races, most of whom have not had political, social, or educational
advantages, increased much the responsibility of citizens for the
education of the young.

Said he: "The admixture of the blood of these people — a
fusion greater, perhaps, than ever known before in the history of
the world, — ^will result, if we all do our full duty, in the most virile
and successful democracy the world has ever known. May the life
we are here to commemorate make you teachers feel anew that
you have a responsibility it is almost impossible to overestimate."

George H. Martin, secretary of the State Board of Education,
said, in the course of his address: "If it is true that "we live in
deeds, not years," he is doubly to be congratulated, who, like Mr.
Boyden, has lived in both deeds and years.

For a town to do honor to one of its sons who has achieved
distinction is not uncommon, but it has usually been distinction in
public life, as a soldier or sailor or statesman. To give such honor
to a teacher marks a new and higher ideal of public service. Were
such occasions more common, the profession of teaching might
be more attractive. In honoring the man the town honors its own
past, for every man carries out in his life something of the char-
acteristic of his birthplace."

Fred W. Atkinson Ph. D., president of the Brooklyn Poly-
technic Institute and late superintendent of Public Instruction in
the Philippine Islands, spoke in part as- follows : —

"It is significant that this celebration originated in town
meeting, not in a convention of educators, and doubly significant
that it is a teacher and not a philanthropic capitalist that you
honor thus. The only similar celebration that I recall is the one
which was given in the summer of 1890 in a Swiss valley village
on the shores of Lake Neuf chatel, at the unveiling of the statue of
that great teacher, Pestalozzi.

"Pestalozzi's spirit has been exemplified in Mr. Boyden's
life and work. Both exalted the office of teacher, and both de-
voted their lives to the training of teachers."

After touching on the good teacher's personal characteristics,
Mr. Atkinson said : "In his teaching he insisted on the clearest and

sharpest definition of terms before answering a question or engag-
ing in a discussion, and thus often made the inquirer answer his
own question by an accurate definition. His chief mental char-
acteristic was his power of analyzing a subject. The outline
study or topical analysis of a subject as given by Mr. Boyden has
helped me as much as anything in my work. He seemed to have
the faculty to a wonderful degree of arranging his subject logically
by outline, grouping the important ideas in main divisions, and
the less important ideas, referring to any particular head, in sub-
divisions. This enabled his students to analyze a course of study
and to separate the important from the unimportant.

There was beyond all this a certain power of personal pres-
ence, a force of character and moral strength which lent a tre-
mendous weight to his teaching. Mr. Boyden's graduates show
by their mode of life. that he excelled in training their moral
nature."

The following letter from President Roosevelt was read by Mr.
Plimpton :

January 28, 1907.
The White House,

Washington.

My Dear Mr. Plimpto.n:

I entirely agree with you that it is a mighty good
precedent for any town to celebrate the birthday of so
good a citizen as a man who has lived eighty years, who
has been a teacher for sixty years, and principal of a
State normal school for forty-six years. The town does
itself honor when it celebrates a life as long and as
useful as this. It ought to be proud of a soldier who has
rendered analogous service in war, and it should emphat-
ically be proud of a man who as a teacher has done such
work ; for no work can be more valuable to a community
than the work done by a teacher, and what better thing
could a town do than honor one of its sons who has done
such work?

Surely it is unnecessary to say that every com-
munity owes more to its teachers than to almost any

other set of men or women. The normal citizen is a
father or mother ; therefore the normal citizen must feel,
from the standpoint of the interests of those nearest and
dearest to him or to her, no less than from the standpoint
of the State as a whole, the liveliest concern for the fate
of a future generation; and it is the teachers who do
more than any other one set of their fellow citizens to
determine whether the future generations shall do well or
ill. A life such as that which the town of Walpole pro-
poses to celebrate represents an amount of usefulness to
the community at large, an amount of honorable service,
greater than can be represented by any possible career
spent wholly in money-making, no matter how success-
fully.

With all good wishes.

Sincerely yours,

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

To Mr. George A. Plimpton,
70 Fifth Avenue,

New York, N. Y.

After the reading of this letter Mr. Boyden was introduced
and appropriately responded to the sentiment offered and ex-
pressed his appreciation of the honor shown him.

Later a large number availed themselves of the invitation of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Bird to a tea in their East Walpole home,
where Mr. Boyden had a cordial handshake and characteristically
hearty greeting for everyone.

Two other letters are worthy associating with the one already
mentioned.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Executive Chamber

State House, Boston,

Feb. 8, 1907.
Mr. Charles S. Bird,

Walpole, Mass.
My dear Mr. Bird: —

I am extremely sorry that I cannot attend the public
meeting held in honor of Mr. Albert G. Boyden.

The Boyden family have made themselves notable
among the notable educators in this Commonwealth. I
owe them a debt of gratitude, as the Boyden methods of
hammering mathematics into a very stupid boy's head
gave me honors in mathematics at my entrance into
Harvard, although I have never made a specialty of
that branch of learning.

I am sincerely glad that Mr. Albert Boyden is to
have this reception and regret that I cannot in person
join you in the bestowal of honor so richly deserved.
With cordial personal regards, believe me,

Faithfully yours,

CURTIS GUILD, JR.

Harvard University
Cambridge

February 8, 1907.
My dear Sir : —

Mr. Albert G. Boyden, as principal of the State Nor-
mal school of Bridgewater, built up that school from small
beginnings into a strong and permanent institution which
will render good service to its pupils and to the State
through long generations. I may be allowed to express
strongly my sense of the great service Mr. Boyden has
thus rendered, because I have seen for many years past
a stream of graduates of the Bridgewater Normal School
coming year by year to Harvard University to continue

the studies in which they have been well pounded at
Bridgrewater. They have been intelligent and vigorous
young men who have later gone out from the University
to serve efficiently the cause of education in many parts
of our broad country. The good which Mr. Boyden has
done during his long career is of a singularly fruitful
and multiplying kind.

Wishing you a cheerful and expressive meeting at
Walpole, I am, with hearty congratulations to Mr. Boy-
den.

Sincerely yours,

CHARLES W. ELIOT.
Mr. Charles S. Bird.

Natural Science Garden

The idea of the natural science garden was the outgrowth of
the nature study movement in which Bridgewater took such a
prominent part. It was also the natural expansion of the school
garden movement which had developed so rapidly all over the
country. The purpose of such a garden is three-fold. (1) It is
to serve as an out-of-door laboratory for biological study and ex-
perimentation for normal students and children; (2) It is to train
students in the different phases of school-ground decoration and
in the development of school gardens; (3) It is to furnish such
school gardens for the children as will be practically beneficial in
training them to make their home gardens of the most value,
esthetically and economically.

The scheme of such a garden was made possible through the
generous gift to the school by Mr. Albert G. Boyden of nearly two
acres of land for the purpose. The land adjoined the campus and
was well adapted to this use. It did much to promote the teaching
of the elements of agriculture, horticulture and floriculture.

April 5, 1907.
My dear Mr. Boyden:

I am directed by the Board of Education to convey

to you its grateful acceptance of your generous gift of
land for a natural science garden in connection with the
State Normal School at Bridgewater.

The gift is another indication of what the Board
has for so many years appreciated of your unselfish de-
votion to the cause of normal instruction. It will en-
deavor so to administer the gift that it shall be useful to

all future students.

Yours very sincerely,

C. B. TILLINGHAST.
To Albert G. Boyden, A. M.,

Principal-Emeritus, State Normal School,

Bridgewater, Mass.

Entrance by Certificate

It is universally recognized that Massachusetts was the first
to require first-class high school education for admission to the
normal schools. The adoption of the plan of admission by certi-
fication at once began to attract the stronger students from the
high schools, and it eliminated many of the objections which
always will exist against a system of examinations. The school
increased in size, but the most marked effect was in the quality of
the candidates who were admitted.

Apprentice Teaching

Up to the year 1909 the practice teaching had been conducted
in the Model School. It was seen that there were certain elements
of experience that the amateur teacher might gain more satis-
factorily by going out into other schoolrooms and assisting in
teaching and disciplining. It was found that there were many
towns which would be glad of the assistance of these students, who
had already had the intensive training in the Model School. The
students, in turn, would gain from eflficient teachers much valuable
criticism and experience. This plan was gradually extended until
it included every kind of experience, from the small rural school to
that of the large city.

Faculty Changes

During the latter part of this decade there were a number of
changes in the faculty. The times of these changes are indicated
in the Appendix. Special notice should be made of a few of the
teachers who completed or began their service. Miss Isabelle S.
Home, for thirty years in charge of the department of vocal culture
and reading, resigned in 1906 on account of failing health. By her
faithful service and eminent fitness, she brought this department
to a point of high efficiency. By her refined manner and sympa-
thetic nature, she endeared herself to the students as a personal
friend. Mr. Boyden spoke of her in these words : "In her gracious
personality, her skillful stimulation of the appreciation of noble
literary ideals, her cordial interest in the promotion of all social,
dramatic and generally uplifting enterprises undertaken by the
members of the school, the service she rendered is deserving of
the highest praise."

In September, 1906, a new department of biology and school
gardening was established, and Miss Florence I. Davis, teacher of
biology in the Fall River High School, was appointed as instructor.

In 1908, Miss Adelaide Reed, for many years a most faithful
teacher in the ninth grade of the Model School, resigned. Her
quiet, refined manner and clear teaching left an indelible influence
on a large number of young people.

For many years the courses in penmanship were conducted by
different teachers on the faculty. In 1909, after a period of ex-
perimentation with different styles or systems of penmanship in
the public schools, it was deemed essential that an expert instructor
should be employed to prepare the students to do effective teach-
ing in this subject. Mr. Charles E. Doner, a supervisor of pen-
manship in the public schools for many years, was appointed to
give his time to three of the Normal Schools, — Bridgewater, Fram-
ingham, and Salem. The results at once commended the plan,
both to the Normal School and to the superintendents of schools of
the State.

CHAPTER VIII.

Sixth Decade
1910-1919

The present period, like the previous ones, has been charac-
terized by marked changes in the buildings, by the continued or-
ganization of new departments, and by incidents of interest to the
graduates who follow the development of the school year by year.

Erection of a Greenhouse

The first of the new buildings to be erected was an 84-foot
greenhouse, built in connection with the natural science garden.
This building was the generous gift of Mrs. Elizabeth R. Stevens
of Swansea, who graduated from the school in 1872, and her name
is raised on a tablet over the entrance of the building as a contin-
ued reminder of the fine contribution she has made to the effec-
tiveness of this phase of the activities of the school. Its purpose
is entirely educational, for it has become the working laboratory
for all the classes in biology and gardening. Under the skilled
and experienced direction of Miss Florence I. Davis and Mr. Louis
C. Stearns, courses have been organized in practical botany and
horticulture. The students have had an excellent opportunity to
direct the children in the planning and cultivating of their own lit-
tle gardens. As a result of this training, many of the graduates
have gone forth equipped to superintend and develop home and
school gardens in their own communities. A reunion of this "gar-

den club" is held each year to report on their experiences. Dur-
ing the war a large quantity of fruit and vegetables was raised by
the students for use in the dormitories.

New Dormitories

Normal Hall, erected in 1869, had served its purposes for a
long series of years. It had been the home of a host of students
and teachers, and around it clustered the fond recollections of
school life, but it was entirely inadequate and also was a fire men-
ace. The first attempt to obtain a new building was unsuccessful
as usual, but in 1910 the renewed efforts of the friends of the
school in the Legislature won a hard contest, and an appropria-
tion of $175,000 was made for a dormitory adjoining South Field.
This building was thrown open in September, 1911, and was filled
to its capacity at once. There were rooms for one hundred and
sixty-eight students, with all the conveniences of a modem resid-
ence hall. Later the building was formerly named "Woodward
Hall," in honor of Miss Eliza B. Woodward, who for thirty years
was a beloved teacher in the school.

Old Normal Hall was still used for offices and for all the
domestic departments, but it was to the last degree unsatisfactory.
Finally, in 1916, after a long campaign of education, the Legisla-
ture was convinced that the antiquated and unsafe building should
be replaced by brick buildings, fitted up with the best of modem
facilities. An appropriation of $237,000 was granted. The old
building was torn down and a new Normal Hall rose in its place
and on the same spot. This block was in three parts — a refectory
building with the administration offices and reference library on
the first floor and the large dining room on the second floor, a ser-
vice building, and a dormitory.

Departmental Changes

Many changes in the course of study were made during this
decade. Three distinct curriculums were organized: (1) An
Elementary Curriculum, two years in length, for the preparation of

FAMILIAR SCKNES AROCND NORMAL,

teachers for the first six grades of the public schools ; (2) An Inter-
mediate Curriculum, three years in length, for the preparation of
departmental teachers for the Junior High School; (3) A Kinder-
garten-Primary Curriculum, three years in length, for the prepara-
tion of teachers for the primary grades. In each of these curri-
culums many of the courses were modified or enlarged to meet the
new demands, while some new courses were added.

The space will admit of only a brief mention of some of these
courses: (1) Story-telling, modern methods of teaching reading,
American literature with appropriate dramatization, children's
literature; (2) current events and community civics; (3) black-
board sketching, various handicrafts, art appreciation; (4) gener-
al science, economic chemistry, economic nature study and garden-
ing; (5) children's games, esthetic dancing, anthropometry; (6)
Glee Club and Dramatic Club activities.

Junior High School Curriculum, — The four years' course was
officially dropped with the class graduating in 1917, to the great
disappointment of faculty and students. In its place was estab-
lished a three years' course for those preparing to teach in Junior
High Schools, including the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades.
During the second and third years in this course students could
elect certain major groups of subjects in which to prepare for de-
partmental teaching. The groups usually comprise English and
tistory( including community civics), English and geography,
English and modern languages, geography and history, mathe-
matics and science, science and geography.

Apprentice Teaching, — This is an expansion of the intensive
practice in the training school, and together with the courses in
special method, has been developed under the expert direction of
Miss Cora A. Newton. For one third of a year the students are
assigned as assistants in rooms or buildings, under experienced
teachers approved by the normal school authorities. Here the
student assumes his or her full share in assisting the regular teach-
er in conducting classes and individual teaching. From time to
time the assistant is left in full charge of the room, or serves as a
substitute in the building or in another school of the town as the
superintendent may require. The men act as assistants to the

principal of the building and thus share in supervising and direct-
ing the activities of the school, or act as departmental teachers
in a Junior High School.

Teacher 'Librarian Course, — In the English department there
y^'as established in September, 1917, a new teacher-librarian
course. Miss Martha C. Pritchard was appointed director of the
course. She was engaged in similar work in the Geneseo, N. Y.,
Normal School, and had had most careful training and large ex-
perience in this new line of work which had been established in
only a few of the normal schools in the United States. The course
includes such subjects as the following: Children's literature,
methods of directing children'^s reading; the essentials of good
books, with emphasis on the successive tastes in books the children
have at different ages; the use of reference books and magazines
for professional reading; the organization of bibliographies; in-
struction in library organization ; and library lessons in the diff er-
end grades of schools. All of the graduates will have some definite
knowledge of children's literature, and those of the three-year
students who elect this division of the work will be ready to or-
ganize and supervise libraries in the Junior High Schools.

Faculty Changes

During this period a number of the teachers completed their
service as instructors in the school after many years of great use-
fulness. Miss Elizabeth H. Perry resigned in 1910, owing to ill
health. She died in 1912. "Her wide influence, both in and out
of her profession, was of the highest order. She was both a stu-
dent and an artist, combining the eager open mind of the one with
the enthusiasm and lofty ideals of the other. Nothing short of
excellence contented her. Her teaching was marked by wonder-
ful clarity, penetration and power."

Miss Fannie A. Comstock resigned in 1913, after twenty-five
years of service that won the love and appreciation of a long list
of students. Her instinct of appreciation for the fine points of
character and action, her spirit of refinement in all her teachingi

zoo

and her loyalty to the best interests of the school, grave her an
honored place on the faculty.

On March 29, 1914, the school was shocked at the announce-
ment of the sudden death of Mr. Frank E. Gumey. He had, for
over twenty years, taught mathematics and assisted in the Latin
classes. "There was an affecting scene at the Normal School that
morning, when the students and teachers gathered while Principal
Boyden paid a tribute to the dead instructor. Before he had
ceased speaking many were in tears. The room in which Mr. Gur-
ney held his classes was closed and the silent reminder of his pass-
ing also was most impressive. Principal Boyden spoke of Mr. Gur-
ney's modesty, sincerity, cordiality and helpful nature, and how
ready he was to give others the benefit of his ability and rich men-
tal endowments."

Miss Anna W. Brown came to the school in 1907 as the in-
structor in English expression and dramatization. She resigned in
1915 and died the same year after a long illness. "She was of
pleasing personality, a brilliant teacher, and one who endeared
herself to all, — ^faculty, students and social acquaintances."

Miss Clara C. Prince retired from active teaching in 1916,
after thirty-seven years of devoted service, as a successful teach-
er of mathematics and of music. Her labors had been abundant
and fruitful. Her teaching was exact and forceful, and her loyal-
ty to the best traditions of the school was unremitting.

Miss Alice E. Dickinson, instructor in English composition and
grammar from 1905 till the time of her death in 1917, was a
woman of broad culture and extensive travel. She was a teacher
of marked logical power and clearness. Her work was always
done with the utmost care. She was a favorite among the teachers
and students for her genial wit and humor.

At the close of the school year 1919, Mr. Francis H. Kirmayer
retires from active service with the sincere regard and apprecia-
tion of all who have worked with or under him during these for-
ty-nine years of faithful service. Mr. Kirmayer was born in Bavar-
ia in 1840, and was educated in the universities of Munich and
Giessen. Soon after finishing his university studies, he came to
America, and in 1863 enlisted in the Federal Army. He was

lOI

severely wounded at Kenesaw Mountain on July 3, 1864. In 1867
he returned to Germany to fit himself as a teacher of languages.
He was appointed vice-consul of the United States at Munich, and
while there he was offered an appointment by Hon. J. W. Dickin-
son, as a teacher of languages in the Massachusetts Normal Schools.
He began to teach in Bridgewater in 1870 and has remained ever
since, a respected and honored teacher. "To his wide and pro-
found linguistic acquirements many learned scholars have given
endorsements, and to his steadfast devotion to the interests of his
pupils and of the school, the esteem and affection of hundreds of
teachers who have been his pupils give abundant testimony.'

Complimentary Dinner to Dr.

On October 28, 1911, there gathered at the Boston City Club
a very large and markedly representative body of Massachusetts
educators to do honor to Dr. G. H. Martin at the close of his ser-
vices as Secretary of the Board of Education. Mr. A. G. Boyden
gave the opening address of greeting. This was one of the last of
his public addresses. Among other things he said : —

"For eighteen years we wrought together in building up the.
Normal School. He was a most efficient helper in every way, and
constantly growing in wisdom and stature. Here he wrote his
book on Civil Government and his Manual of the English Language.
His clear thought, his apt illustrations, his masterly command of
English gave him great power with his pupils. It was with them
as with the pupils of Goldsmith's "Village Schoolmaster," "And
still they gazed and still the wonder grew, that one small head
could carry all he knew."

"He came to the office of Secretary of the Board of Education
with equipment second to that of no man among his predecessors,
in his strong grasp of the principles of education, and of the prin-
ciples of civil government, in his knowledge of the system of pub-
lic education in the State, and in his acquaintance with the actual
condition of the public schools; he has discharged the duties of
this high office honorably and efficiently.

"As a man, as a scholar, as a teacher, as an educator, as a

I02

speaker upon educational themes before the State and the Nation,
he has taken his place in the front rank, and has exerted an in-
fluence upon the life of the Commonwealth which will be felt
through all succeeding generations.

"We do well to come together and express personally to Mr.
Martin our high appreciation of his personal merit and the noble
life work he has done. As a personal friend of Mr. Martin of fifty
years standing, I am happy to join with you in doing him honor."

Death of Albert G. Boyden

Mr. Boyden died on May 30, 1915, in his 88th year. He had
continued his teaching until within a short time of his death. The
decline of bodily strength came very rapidly toward the end, al-
though his mental alertness was not dimmed. Many beautiful and
appreciative tributes were paid to his long life of usefulness.

"As a noble example of a life actuated by the highest motives,
as an inspiring teacher for half a .century, and a sincere and help-
ful friend to all his pupils and fellow teachers, I know that he has
awakened in hundreds of hearts a feeling akin to my own as I
write, "He was one of the best personal friends that my life has
known."

"Mr. Boyden was early among those teachers who realized
the advantage of instruction given from the object rather than the
text book. That which is a commonplace now was once a novelty,
and the growth of the method was a triumph of common sense in
education."

By the Central Square Church : "Resolved that we record our
appreciation of his many years of varied and important service to
the church, his deep interest in all that pertained to its material
and spiritual welfare, his constant attendance upon its services, his
high estimate of the value of the christian church to the com-
munity, and his signal constancy in maintaining its honor and en-
hancing its influence in the world by the faith and practice of a
genuine religious life."

105

Seventy-Fifth Anniversary

The seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the school
was celebrated on Saturday, June 19, 1915, by a pageant on the
campus, depicting the history of the school from its beginning.
Mrs. Walter S. Little was the author of the pageant. Miss Lotta
Clark of Boston the director, and Miss Adelaide Moffitt of the
faculty the assistant director. The great success of the pageant
was due, not alone to the untiring efforts of those in charge, but
also to the strength of co-operation and team work of members of
the school and graduates. The first historical address was pre-
pared by Dr. George H. Martin ; in this address the history of the
school was carefully traced, and characteristics of the former prin-
cipals given, with estimates of their work, showing how each one
had helped to make the school the power, educationally, which it
is at the present time. The other historical address was given by
Dr. David Felmley, president of the Illinois Normal University.
He showed, in an interesting manner, the great influence of Bridge-
water graduates in the building up of the Normal Schools in the
West. The sentiment expressed by Mr. Boyden, some years be-
fore, seemed to be that of the whole company assembled: —
"Thank God for the Brdgewater spirit of progress, of enlargement,
of culture, of devotion to service, of inspiration which has quick-
ened so many thousands of young lives."

The chairman of the committee on the pageant, Mrs. Flora
Townsend Little, has well described the fine spirit which charac-
terized the preparation of this elaborate celebration.

"How well the machinery worked, once it was set in motion,
how freely all responded, giving time and strength, is well known,
and makes the achievement one worthy the traditions of the
School. It was decided to transform the ice-house into the time-
dial needed, and to center the action about the south of Campus
Pond, with the pond, the dial, and the trees as background. In
quick succession followed choice of leaders, of dancers, of color-
scheme, work on properties and costumes, rehearsals, and more
rehearsals.

"It would be a pleasure to give credit to each and all ; to note

io6

how many willing hands made the handsome banners and shields,
the grassy dais, and all the numberless properties; how cleverly
patterns for costumes were evolved from pictures and suggestions ;
how many yards of cloth were measured, and how many thousands
of loyal stitches taken. The achievement of Miss Burnell and he«
aids in borrowing, distributing, and returning intact scores of all
kinds of old-fashioned costumes is worth a chronicler. How ad-
mirable was the music of the Glee Club, and the Orchestra; and
what a credit the smooth finished performance of the Pageanters
was to Miss Moffitt's dramatic training! So we might go on and
fill a volume, if the full tale of loyal service were told. It must
suffice to say that it proved a fine school spirit.

"The main theme was this : the Spirit of Enlightenment shows
that page from the book of time which deals with the inception of
normal schools, and with the past growth and present strength of
the Bridgewater School."

Some facts of unusual interest about the school and its career
were compiled at this time, as showing something of its work and
that of its graduates : —

Normal and Training School Principals, 35

Normal school teachers, 150

Superintendents and supervisors, 125

High school teachers, 155

Masters of Boston grammar schools, 58

Masters of other large city grammar schools, 200

Teachers in colleges, 28

State superintendents, 2

Agents of State Board of Education, 6

Whole number of graduates:

Men, 951

Women, 3635

Whole number of years of teaching:

Men, ^ 12425

Women, ' 31191

Average number of years of teaching:

Men, 13

Women, 8.6

109

Death of George H. Martin

Dr. Martin died in Lynn in 1917, at the age of seventy-five
years. He was one of the most honored of Bridgewater's gradu-
ates, and "one of the dozen great schoolmasters that America has
produced." A co-worker said of him: — "If one were to select a
single trait which most distinguished all of his work, that trait
would be clearness; clearness of insight into problems before him,
whether a practical matter in town meeting, a scientific principle,
or an educational theory ; clearness of thought, of utterance, and of
expression; clearness in criticism and in suggestion of remedies
when criticism was adverse." A student under him well expressed
the sentiments of a large number of his former pupils: — "As a
teacher Mr. Martin was unusually clear and logical. His mind in-
stinctively sought the vital point in every piece of work, and a rich
vein of humor lightened up the whole treatment of the subject.
No student ever grew dull or apathetic under his instruction."

Still another pupil of Mr. Martin has written words of genu-
ine appreciation of his ability and spirit : —

"A clear thinker, a forceful speaker, a ready writer, a wise
counsellor, an inspiring teacher, a genial friend, he has left a last-
ing impress upon those whose privilege it was to feel his influence.
Two years ago he wrote the historical address for the seventy-fifth
anniversary of this school. Even then his health was so frail that
he was unable to be present, but his paper was read by one whom
he had selected for that purpose. It is probable that the prepara-
tion of this address was his last important public service. Surely
he would have wished it so : that the school to which he had given
more of his life than to any other cause, and to which he had re-
mained intensely loyal through all the years since he left it, should
be the subject of the last effort of his mind, and hand, and heart."

War Activities

The influence of the war upon the school was felt very early.
On January 19, 1916, Mr. Armenag Chamichian died in a de-
portation camp in Mesopotamia. He graduated from the school in

1909 and received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard
College in 1912. "When he was offered the principalship of the
Cicilian Normal School in Armenia, Mr. Chamichian did not re-
fuse, although he knew that he must leave a country of peace and
liberty for a country of despotism. From the beginning of his
career in 1912 until his tragic death, his life had been a life of
sacrifice, hard labor, and noble service. In two years he had bril-
liantly organized his school, and he was hopeful to see it more
prosperous with the co-operation of six instructors of Armenian
education, two of whom had studied in Bridgewater, then at Har-
vard and Columbia ; but the world war broke out and let loose the
spirit of evil, which swept before it the splendid work and the
worker.*'

On August 29, 1916, Sergeant Robert E. Pellissier, of the
class of 1903, was killed in action at the Somme, by Clery. He
graduated from the four-years' course and entered the senior class
of the Lawrence Scientific School in the fall of 1903, graduating
with honors the following June. After teaching for several years
he returned to Harvard in 1908 and took up graduate work
in the department of Romance Languages. After receiving his
Master's Degree in 1909, he was given an instructorship in Leland
Stamford University. In 1910 he resumed his study at Harvard,
where he remained until he won the degree of Ph. D. Early in
1914 he was appointed Assistant Prof essor of Romance Languages
at Leland Stamford University. "When the war broke out he im-
mediately gave up this work, for which he had so carefully pre-
pared himself, and, although he was not called to the colors, sailed
for France on the first steamer that returned with French reserv-
ists. He was under no legal obligation to join the army; yet his
love for his Fatherland was so strong that he felt it both his duty
and his privilege to serve her to the full extent of his powers. He
was wounded in the shoulder near Steinbach during January, 1915.
After coming out of the hospital, he spent four months in a mili-
tary school for oflftcers. He went back to the front with the rank
of "sergeant." When in action at the Somme, his battalion suf-
fered heavily, he remained until the last, to secure the connection
with the battalion which was to replace his own, and was mortally

III

wounded, dying the same day at the Ambulance Hospital."

"To every person connected with our Alma Mater, the career
of this true son of Bridgewater should be a lasting inspiration.
His keenness of mind, his high ambition, his strength of purpose,
but, above all, his vision of duty, which led him to give even his life
for a noble cause, — ^these constitute an ideal which each one of us
should aim to attain."

On learning of the death of Mr. Pellissier, a committee of the
Alumni organized a campaign to procure a memorial for him, and
$950 was quickly raised. It was decided to use a portion of the
fund for the purchase of an ambulance to be sent over to France
on its errand of mercy. This ambulance reached the front in Sep-
tember, 1917, bearing a name plate which read as follows: —

"Robert Pellissier Memorial Ambulance
Donated by the Graduates and Undergraduates
of the Bridgewater Normal School,
Bridgewater, Massachusetts.'*

It was proposed to use the balance of the fund to erect a suit-
able memorial tablet on the wall of Assembly Hall, as a perpetual
reminder of the noble sacrifice of this graduate for the cause of
world liberty.

By the last of March, 1916, knitting for the Navy League was
begun by the students, without any definite organization. In
April the Normal School Section of the Service Unit of Bridge-
water was organized with about seventy members.

In January, 1918, all the students were called together and
organized into the Normal School Section of the Bridgewater Aux-
iliary of the Taunton Red Cross Chapter. Miss Cora A. Newton
was elected chairman of the Section. Committees were appointed
to take charge of all work. The students pledged a certain amount
of leisure time weekly to the war service work. The Training
School also did its share in this work, turning the drawing, and
manual training classes into war service. The Manual Training
classes in the Normal Department made large contributions for
the hospitals and for refugees; the Household Arts Department
developed the use of substitutes for wheat, butter, etc., and accom-
plished a large amount of work in canning and drying fruits and

xia

vegetables, which were raised by the garden classes; the History
classes expanded their study of current events to the political and
military movements of the world ; the different school organizations
turned all their profits into service contributions; the school be-
came a community centre for public addresses and celebrations;
twice the school went "over the top" in its contribution to the Re-
lief Funds of America, paying in over $1900 for this work.

The service flag of the school has fifty-seven stars upon it.
Four deaths are to be recorded from this list : — Robert E. Pellissier,
(1903) who has been spoken of; Jesse S. Matossian (1903) and
Armenag Chamichian (1910) who were victims of the Turkish
atrocities on the Armenians; and Harold R. Blake (1913), who
died of spinal meningitis in France.

Normal School Conference

A conference of the faculties of the Normal Schools of Massa-
chusetts was held at the school during the first week of September,
1918. The conference was called by the Commissioner of Educa-
tion, for the purpose of bringing the Normal School teachers into
closer acquaintance, and also it was planned to organize a definite
movement toward the standardization of professional preparation
in the State. Addresses were made by eminent educators and com-
mittees were organized for the study of each subject in the course
of study. It is planned to make this an annual occasion at the
Bridgewater school.

CHAPTER IX.

School Organizations

The organizations of the school have developed from two,
that were established in the early days of the school, to a large
number which cover all phases of student activity.

The Normal Lyceum. In the autumn of 1839, several of the
students of the Bridgewater Academy formed themselves into a
society called the "Bridgewater Speaking Club," having for its ob-
ject, as its name indicates, the improvement of its members in the
exercise of declamation. Soon, debating was introduced as a reg-
ular exercise, and much interest was manifested. In 1841, a lec-
ture was delivered before the society on the discovery of America
by the Northmen. This lecture gave so much satisfaction that it
was proposed to have occasional lectures from the members of the
Club. The lectures seemed to give a new life and interest to the
meetings of the society. About this time some of the students of
the Normal School became members of the Club, a new constitu-
tion was formed, and the society adopted the name of "The Bridge-
water Young Men's Lyceum."

In 1844 the constitution was amended so as to have a standing
president and vice-president. On the sixth ballot, Horace Chapin
was elected the first President. The Lyceum had now passed from
the Academy into the hands of the Normal students, although
open to all the young men. Its meetings were often crowded, a
large part of the audience consisting of ladies.

From this time onward the Lyceum continued to hold its meet-
ing^ on Friday evenings during the terms of the school, later on al-

ii6

temate Friday evenings. The "Normal Offering" was read once
in four weeks. Music, declamations, and select readings were in-
terspersed during the exercises. At each regular meeting the dis-
cussion of a question reported at a previous meeting was in order.
The great variety of questions proposed for debate gave ample
scope for the display of learning and skill. Many a triumph was
earned, many a defeat was stoically borne.

In 1870, an exceptionally good paper, prepared under the
editorship of Mr. A. E. Winship, led the proposition to print the
Normal Offering. One interesting issue appeared, but for some
reason the plan of printing was suspended until 1895.

In 1895, the Normal Lyceum was changed to "The Normal
Congress," fashioned after the Congress of the United States. This
Congress gave the young men a clear idea of how business was
transacted by our law makers, and lasting benefits were derived
from the debates. The "Normal Offering" was published monthly
by the Editorial Board. Since the business of the Congress was
transacted by the young men, and since the young ladies, who
formed the larger part of the membership of the school, did not
take a prominent part in the exercises, it was thought best in 1898
to change the Congress into a "Normal Club." Mr. A. C. Boyden
was elected the first president of the club. The object of the club
was threefold: — musical, literary, and social. Three committees
carried out these plans. Entertainments of a high .order were held
on alternate Friday evenings ; the committees vied with each other
to procure the best possible talent in the literary and musical
world. An editorial staff published the "Normal Offering" once a
year at the end of the school year, in the form of an attractive, fine-
ly-illustrated year-book.

With the entertainments given by this club definitely began
the movement which culminated in the formation of the Glee Club,
Orchestra, Dramatic Club, Gurney Debating Teams, and various
social organizations. In 1912, the different functions of the Club
were assumed by these organizations.

In 1899, there was inaugurated a series of Tuesday evening
entertainments, occupying the half-hour directly before seven
o'clock. The aim was to furnish something of general interest to

TT7

the students. The exercises consisted of readings, travel talks,
musical selections, stereopticon views, and social entertainments.
The plan was very successfully executed for several years.

Various festivities have for many years given joy and spice to
student life, notably at Hallowe'en, Christmas, St. Valentine's Day,
and numberless birthdays celebrated in the dining room and dor-
mitories.

Class Day Exercises occur on the afternoon of Graduation
Day, and attract crowds of interested spectators. The Ivy March
is the most spectacular feature of these exercises. "Few of those
who gaze each year at the Ivy March as it is given at the Bridge-
water Normal School understand that it teems throughout with
symbols of our human life. At the appointed time, the members of
the Junior Class are seen forming on either side of the walk that
leads to the school and with oak boughs in hand they form an
arch which represents the living strength of the school. As the
bugle sounds the call to life's duty, the graduating classes, march-
ing two by two, pass to the Campus, the field of life. As they reach
it, the double line changes to one of single file, illustrating the man-
ner in which the individual life begins to count, for, as the com-
rades drop away, we must stand alone and face life's problems on
our own merits. The graduates, ivy garlands in hand, encircle the
Campus Pond, which symbolizes, in the images of themselves
which they see in its cool depths, the truth that all we do is reflect-
ed in life's mirror, to our credit or dishonor. As next they stand in
the grove and listen to the story of what has been and what is to
be, there comes to the listeners the realization that the classroom
of life is resplendent with opportunities, and they who stand on its
threshold have prophetic promises, if they will but lay hold of
them. The march is then resumed, that the sons and daughters
of our beloved school may make their last bequest to those left be-
hind. The ivy is planted, a symbol of love and affection for Alma
Mater."

The Normal Association. In 1842, the number of persons
who had been pupils in the school was one hundred and thirty. As
they were widely scattered, and had few opportunities for perpetu-
ating school friendship, the plan of a Convention was devised, hav-

Ii8

ing for its objects the gathering of the Alumni and pupils of the
school, thus enabling them to spend the day in social intercourse
and Normal enjoyment.

The first convention was held in the school-room at Bridge-
water, August 3, 1842. Ninety-nine of the past members of the
school were present. Joseph Underwood, Jr., presided. After the
transaction of the necessary business, addresses were delivered
by Mr. Tillinghast, the Principal of the school, Hon. Horace Mann,
and others. At noon the Convention proceeded to the Academy
Hall and partook of a collation provided by the Normal students
and their friends. From the Academy the company proceeded to
the Unitarian Church and listened to a lecture on "Punishment,"
delivered by Horace Mann. When Mr. Mann had concluded, Rev.
S. J. May made some remarks on the duties of parents toward
their children, as scholars. The procession then returned to the
school-room, where a committee reported a series of six resolu-
tions complimentary to the following: The Normal School, the
Common School Journal, The Friends and Patrons of the Normal
School, the Board of Education and its Secretary, the Teachers of
the Normal School, and the people of Bridgewater." The Conven-
tion then adjourned for one year.

The Convention continued to be held annually. In 1845, the
Convention formed itself into an Association by adopting a Con-
stitution. From year to year at Bridgewater, until 1858, and bien-
nially since, and also at Boston in the interniediate years since
1883, meetings of this Association have been held. For several
years meetings of the Bridgewater men who resided near Boston
were held under the name of the Normal Club, but later this was
merged with the winter meetings of the Association.

Several worthy efforts have been made by the Association. In
1868, a memorial tablet was placed in the school hall, bearing the
roll of honor of graduates who have served in the Civil War. In
1886, a portrait of Mr. Boyden was painted. Two years later, a
monument and a portrait of Miss Woodward were procured. The
three principals of the school, from time to time, have been re-
membered by substantial testimonials, the last of which was to Mr.
Boyden, in 1905, to mark his fifty years of service in the school.

T2T

In June, 1904, just before the biennial reunion, there appeared
the school song, "Alma Mater." There had been a need long felt
for a song that would express the school loyalty. The words were
written by Miss Zelma Lucas (1904), and the music was composed
by Mr. William L. Bates (1892). The song has proved worthy of
its purpose. "Its theme is loyalty, — not merely the zest of school
spirit which enlivens social life and athletics, but the deep, intense
love which time has no power to change." No gathering is com-
plete without the singing of "Alma Mater."

Religious Organizations. — From an early date religious meet-
ings were held by the students in their rooms, usually on Wednes-
day evenings. A Zenana band was formed for the maintenance of
the "Eliza B. Woodward Scholarship" in a mission school in Cal-
cutta. In due time the Y. P. S. C. E. was organized and held its
meetings every Saturday evening in the vestry of the Central
Square Church, and later in the reception room of Normal Hall.
In 1908, this society was found inadequate to meet the needs of
the school, and a Young People's Union was organized on a basis
broad enough to include every member of the school. Various
committees were selected to carry out the objects of the Union: —
religious, musical, missionary, and social, the last including the
new student committee that welcomes the new class each year.

The Athletic Association has charge of all athletic matters
pertaining to the school. All teams, football, baseball, and basket-
ball, which represent the school, are controlled by this Associa-
tion. Tennis is a branch in athletics in which there has always
been considerable interest in the school; courts are laid out on
the campus, and many tournaments are held during the season. A
tennis club develops the enthusiasm in this sport and has charge
of the courts.

With the acquisition of a campus and gymnasium, basketball
sprang up as a sport enjoyed by a large number of students. Inter-
class tournaments developed a marked interest in this form of phy-
sical exercise. But the great development of basketball came with
the new gymnasium, and since then this has been the branch of
athletics that has awakened the greatest interest among the young
men.

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Out-door Interests. There are many of these that come up in
the memories of the school days at Bridgewater : —

"There is a place we all hold dear
In every season of the year;

As a panacea for every ill

Sure, Carver's Pond will fill the bill."

"How dear to our hearts is the old South Piazza
When fond recollections present it to view."

"The lake familiarly called the "Nip"
Is far-famed for its beauty rare,
You can go by wheel, on foot, or by car.
You're sorry to leave it if once there."

"A geology trip may be recommended as a capital way of
combining business with pleasure."

**0f all the jolly places for a good time the campus is the best.
It affords every form of amusement, from watching the flirtations
of the pollywogs to cheering yourself hoarse over a basketball
match. There are no awe-inspiring signs which confine you to the
walks."

Sprague's Hill. "A landmark famous the standpipe stands.
. . . but above all behold the view."

Social Organizations. — Although there had been for many
years informal social groups, it was in 1900 that these organiza-
tions began to take definite form, when a number of the young
men who had been in the habit of meeting together for the pur-
pose of social intercourse and entertainment, decided to form a
permanent society or fraternity known as "Kappa Delta Phi."
The principal and other members of the faculty are honorary
members of the fraternity. It is a representative body of the male
graduates and undergraduates of the school, "having for its ob-
ject the promotion of all enterprises and activities of merit that
bear the name of the school, and the cultivation of such a whole-
some, loyal, intelligent spirit among its members as shall per-
petuate the fraternity as a worthy exponent of our Alma Mater."

Following the example of the young men, the young ladies
organized local sororities, for the purpose of developing a strong
school spirit, of building up higher ideals of student life, and of

123

encouraging the social life of their members. These organizations
hold reunions during each year, usually at Bridgewater, to per-
petuate the memories and associations of school days.

Various Bridgewater Clubs have been organized in different
cities, to bring about a closer union of the graduates who may be
living in these cities. Notably among these clubs are those of New
York City, Springfield, Cambridge, Haverhill and Fall River. In
1917, Woodward Hall Association was organized for the develop-
ment of self-government among the young ladies in the dormi-
tories. The principal and the dean arQ advisers of the Association,
while the officers are chosen from the student body. Regular
meetings are held weekly.

Many other small companies of congenial spirits unite from
time to time in helpful or social groups. The gymnasium has be-
come the centre for the large social functions of the classes and
organizations, while the social rooms in the dormitories serve the
smaller groups.

124

VV EXERCISES.

CHAPTER X

Personal Words to Graduates

It was a custom at graduation for the principal, at the close
of his formal report to the Visitors of the School, to give words
of appreciation and counsel to the classes about to graduate.
These words revealed Mr. Boyden's philosophy of teaching and
of life. Many of the graduates cherished these farewell words
as choice memories. Selections from a few of these addresses
have been cliosen for this volume.

Twice have the seasons come and gone, with all their varied life, since
you came to us, the first class to enter the school for a two-years' course of
study. Swift as the sunbeams in their flight these years have glided by, and
like the sunbeam, I trust they have shed light and warmth on your life. They
have been faithfully spent in preparing for a work that is worthy of all the
talent, skill and character which you can bring to its performance. You look
into the untried future and long to enter on your chosen profession. Go
forth in all the freshness and vigor of youth, and give your soul to the work.
As teachers of the young, you are to aid in training their intellects, in calling
out their affections, and in establishing the dominion of conscience. (Feb-
ruary, 1866.)

Importance of Normal School Training

There is a growing conviction in the community that teachers should
be thoroughly trained for their work. There is no question that a course of
training in the Normal School is the best preparation a young man or young
woman can make for teaching in the public schools. I do not mean to say that
one cannot be a good teacher without going through the Normal School;
there are many excellent teachers who have never had that privilege. Neither
do I mean to say that every one who goes through a Normal School course
will for that reason be a good teacher. But I do mean to assert that, other
things being equal, a person who spends two years in thorough, earnest,

127

special preparation for teaching will be a vastly better teacher than he ever could
have been without that training. The special object of the Normal School is to
prepare for teaching, and it furnishes facilities for this work which no school
designed for general culture can afford. (July, 1866.)

Importance of Mental Development

I purposely direct your thought to the idea of mental development as a
matter of primary importance. In the short period of school life your pupils
are able to receive but little of all they will need to know as men and women.
Evidently you will do most for the child by putting him in the way to help
himself when he has left your guidance. The waking up of his mind, the
getting command of his powers, the gaining such a love for observation, study
and thought as will lead him to continue the work of self -education through
life are what the child most needs. Direct your best energies to the accom-
plishment of this grand result. Remember that elementary training is the most
important part of your work. Train your pupils to see, to hear, to think, and to
obey the voice of conscience. These are the elements of power in character.
In the different branches of study you may teach, seize upon the fundamental
ideas, the elementary principles, and study them with the greatest care, that
you may present them clearly and forcibly to the minds of your pupils with
the greatest economy of time which the nature of the work would permit.
The grandest monument, the stateliest structure that ever was built had not
so much need of a master workman to lay its foundations as has this work
of forming character which is committed to your hands. (1871.)

The Work of a Teacher

And now, my young friends who are to graduate today, allow me a
parting word as you go from us.

We have endeavored, so far as time would permit, to secure to you a
thorough knowledge of the subjects you are to teach and the best mode of
teaching them, to unfold to you the nature of the work and to deepen your love
for it. You now go forth to enter upon the active duties of your high calling.
Ever bear in mind that your first work is with yourself. Seek first to be true
men and true women. A teacher's life is a fountain either of sweet water or bit-
ter to every one of his pupils. Strive to be all and more than all you would have
your pupils become. The unconscious influence of your life is vastly more to
your pupils than all you can teach of the prescribed branches of study. As
a teacher, aim to be always well prepared for your daily work. Listen not to
the counsel of those who say a teacher does not need to study. Like the
tree, the large roots of past preparation will hold you in your place; it is the
small fibres drawing in the daily supplies of nourishment that will keep you
fresh, growing and attractive to your pupils.

Heartily sustain everything which will advance the interests of your
profession, — attend educational meetings, seek intercourse with your fellow
teachers, read educational journals and other educational literature, seek to
hold pleasant relations with school committees and superintendents under

128

whom you may serve. So far as you can, visit the homes of your pupils.
When the family and school are what they should be each supplements the
other in the education of the child.

And, above all, remember that it is the highest privilege to be co-
workers with the Great Teacher of us all. (1872.)

Meaning of the Normal School Course

You have come today to the last lesson of your course of study in this
school. We have taken the parts of the course one by one. We have con-
sidered the parts in their relation to one another. And now in accordance
with the principle of teaching which we have learned, it remains for us to
review the whole course in its outline that we may ascertain what has been
accomplished in these years of study in the school.

You have learned something of the human mind, something of what
its powers are, and the order and method of calling them into right activity.
You know something of the course of study, which is necesary as a means for
training the young mind to right habits of thought, feeling and action. You
have learned that moral activity must go hand in hand with intellectual
activity; that that only is true intellectual training which awakens those
feelings that move the mind to such choice and action as produces a true and
noble character. You have learned in some good degree how to study, what
objects of thought to select, and how to arrange them in the natural, logical
order for teaching and study. You have learned to some extent what teach-
ing is, — its object, what principles should guide it, and its method. And
you have begun to learn how to teach, for you cannot hope ever to reach
the state in which you will have nothing more to learn in the art of teaching.
You have broader, truer, higher view of life and its work than when you
entered the school. Yon have strong desires for those things which have for
their object the up-building of the perfect mind. You have some knowledge
and some ability to acquire and teach, but not much when compared with
what you will need to carry on the work of educating children. You have
enough to enable you to start upon your career as teachers. (1879.)

Conditions of Success

The first condition of true success in teaching is that you love your
work. This will cause you to look up and not down, to aspire and not despair,
to be hopeful, to look on the bright side of every event. It will open the door
of the hearts of your pupils.

The second condition is that you be willing to work. You will have
only what you work for. The power to work and the opportunity to work is
what you want. The daily preparation of your lessons and of all the details
of your school exercises will call for a large amount of work, but this is not
enough. You must put forth your energy in all directions, that you may be
thoroughly prepared to meet every demand of the growing wants of your
pupils.

The third condition is that you are willing to sacrifice. Your work is to

131

do for others, to give and not to receive. You will have success and joy in
your work in proportion as you work for your pupils and not for yourself.
Working for your pupils will prepare the way for the next condition of suc-
cess, which is that you have love for your pupils. You cannot hope to do
them good unless you feel a personal interest in their welfare. You can
lead the]t)[i to put forth voluntarily the effort necessary to the development of
their minds only as your affection for them awakens in them the desire to
accomplish this end.

In all your work and life, — seek the truth, speak the truth, teach the
truth, live the truth. (1880.)

Learning to Live

We trust you have learned in some good measure that teaching is the
subtle play of the teacher's life upon the pupiPs life, in which the best life of
the teacher flows into the life of the pupil to cause him to know what he would
not by himself acquire; to do what he would not otherwise do; to he what he
would not alone become.

The aim of teaching is not preparation for life, but living itself, now,
under our present conditions. Living is the one great business of every human
being. Living is the conscious exertion and control of all our powers under
the laws of pur being. Self, nature, men, and God are the prime factors of
our life.

Directing the unfolding and perfecting of young human lives is a work
of infinite importance and delicacy. It calls for the most intelligent study of
human life in the present and in the past.

The one thought I wish to emphasize with you as you go from us is
this — Make the most and best of yourself, for your own sake and for the sake
of those whom you will influence. To accomplish this, there are a few things
you must seek with all earnestness.

The first is: — seek to keep your body sound and under complete control,
that it may serve you effectively at all times. It is through the body that all
your life finds expression.

Seek to be habitually hopeful, hopeful for yourself and hopeful for all
with whom you have to do. Cheerfulness is a great promoter of health, it is
sunshine to the soul.

Look well after your thinking. "The secret of great lives is the habit
of thinking great thoughts." Be seekers of truth in all your thinking. "Truth
is the most impprtant thing in the world, since even fiction is governed by it,
and can please only by its resemblance."

Seek refinement of feeling, that you may be quick to appreciate truth,
beauty and goodness. Cultivate a sense of humor, that you may see how
ridiculous and weak is the flippant conceit and censorious spirit which fills the
mouths of shallow thinkers, who find nothing good except in themselves.

Seek decision and energy in your choice and action. "One is made great
or little by his will."

Seek to make an enlightened conscience the supreme ruler of your life.
Make christian morality the standard of your conduct. Horace Mann says,

132

"So far as I have observed in this life, ten men have failed from defects In
morals, where one has failed from defect in intellect."

Be true teachers, you, young men, must be gentlemen; and, you, young
women, must be gentlewomen. If you would have gentleness, seek the wisdom
that is from, above, that is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be en-
treated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

And may the blessing which God gave to the children of Israel through
Moses and Aaron ever abide with each one of you: — "The Lord bless thee,
and keep thee; the Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious
unto thee; the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."
(June, 1901.)

Importance of Right Thinking

If I were to condense into one word what I would say to you today, I
should say, "Think." ;Why are you to think? Because everything in one's
life depends upon one's thinking. Of what would you think? Think of your-
self, of the powers with which you are endowed, of the end for which you
were created, think of the self you are, and of the self that you are not, the
ideal self that you desire to be. Think of your natural environment, of this beau-
tiful world in which we live, in which every natural object around and above
us is the expression of a thought of God, all of which he has made to furnish
this beautiful home for his children. Think of this, that you may love nature
and bring your pupils into sympathy with her.

Think of your human environment, of the men, women, and children
whom you meet, of what they are in their capabilities, of what they have
done for you, of what you can do for them, of how much your own personal
development and theirs depends upon the relations which you hold to one
another. Think of your divine environments, of all the influences from God
which flow in upon you, of the revelation which He has made to you in His
words of truth, promise, and love; think of the Master the highest ideal of
humanity, the one perfect man, who came into this world that we might have
life and have it more abundantly; think of his spirit speaking within your own
soul, and bearing witness with your spirit that you are the child of God.

As a teacher think of your pupils, of what their needs are, of the steps
they must take to satisfy these needs, and of what means you must use to
invite them to take these steps.

What are the fruits of thinking, or not thinking? You know the uni-
versal excuse given for all waywardness of choice and action, "I didn't think."
The switchman didn't think and left the switch open to the side track. The
engineer didn't think to look at his signals, ran his train off the track, and scores
of human beings were killed. The young man didn't think of the consequences,
forged a note and found himself in the State prison. The young woman didn't
think of the outcome of her waywardness and ruined her reputation. The
teacher didn't think of the folly of giving herself up to having a good time
and failed ignominiously.

Sir Isaac Newton did think and he discovered the law of gravitation.
Agassiz, the great naturalist, did think until he could give the whole structure

135

of the fish upon seeing one of his scales. The prodigal son did think of his
father's house from which he had so foolishly wandered and was restored to
his father's favor. (1903.)

"Lest We Forget"

You stand here today the product of all the influences that have acted
upon you up to this present time. This is the best day of your lives. You
are more today than you have ever been before. You have more intelligence,
more will, more character. You have a broader vision. You have more to
look back upon, more to look forward to, more to be thankful for.

Great things will be expected of you as graduates of the Bridgewater
State Normal School. There is no limit to the perfection of qualifications de-
sired by those who are seeking teachers. Some even want to bring the angel
Gabriel right down into their school-room and have him teach on a salary of
six hundred dollars a year.

Remember that life for you means work. Work is an activity for an end.
You can live only as you have a high purpose and strive constantly for its
accomplishment. The hod carrier carries the material up the ladder, the man
at the top does the work. You are the man at the top. If you cannot get the
work you want, get what you can. Work at something.

Be faithful in your work. Do what is intrusted to you to the best of
your ability, then your services will be wanted. "He who never does more
than he is paid for, will never be paid for any more than he does."

Be persistent in your work. Stick to your bush until you get all its
berries. Let your vocation be much more in your thought than your vacation.
The only eight hour day for you is eight hours a day for sleeping. Be diligent
through all your waking hours and when the time for rest comes drop all
thought of your work and rest. "The only work that will tell must cost you
something." Sir Walter Raleigh used to say, "The men who hold the high
places of the earth are men who can "toil terribly."

Remember that you are to work under obedience to the laws of your
being. The greatest freedom is found in obedience to law. The greatest evil
of our times is the strong tendency to lawlessness in human nature. First of
all, you are to feel and teach reverence for law as the great safeguard of
liberty.

Remember that you are a rational soul. That the soul is intellectual,
emotional, moral, and spiritual. That all the good and evil of your life lies in
your power of choice.

Dr. Alexander MacKenzie says, "Our choice in life must be a cubic
choice. It must have three dimensions. First, it must be very high — as high
as I can reach with my life. Next, it must be very broad, covering all the
powers of my life — mind, voice, hands, feet. And then it must be very long —
run out seventy years, if that be the sum of my days on earth."

Remember that you are a social being, that you are to live with and for
others; that you are not to be ministered unto, but to minister.

Remember that you are going out into the public schools to be centers
of power and influence; you are going to act upon the lives of your pupils

136

and through them upon the life of the homes from which they come. You
are to be a factor in the life of the community in which you live, and in the
life of the State, the nation, and the race. Your life is to be tributary to the
great stream of life that is flowing on into the generations which are to come.

Remember that you must be willing to be forgotten. It will surely come
within your experience. Your pupils will forget a large part of the subjects
they have studied under your teaching. These subjects are but the scaffolding
for the character you are building with your pupils.

And yet affection is ours in a large degree. The rewards of the teacher
are the highest rewards on earth. Bonar says, —

"Not myself, but the truth that in life I have spoken.
Not myself, but the seed that in life I have sown.
Shall pass on the ages — all about me forgotten.
Save the truth I have spoken, the things I have done."

(June 1904.)

Making of a Day

I know no theme more interesting or more fascinating to a young
teacher, because the teacher not only makes his own day but he furnishes
impetus and gives coloring to the day of every one of his pupils.

We live by the day, only one day at a time, that we may concentrate
all our power into the effort. Yesterday has flown. Tomorrow has not come.
Today is ours to make or lose. If we lose it we can never make it up.

We work by the day. We spend our energy in the day and have to spend
the night in recuperation. We are all day laborers. If we do a day's work
we get a day's pay. If we stop work the pay stops. We have to work for all
we get.

We make character by the day. By the daily repetition of our acts
either right or wrong, we form habits either good or bad, which determine
our characters. Perfection of character is the end for which all our days
are given.

Each day is cumulative either of progress or of retrogression. "Upon
the stepping stones of our living selves we ever more rise to higher things,"
or upon the stepping stones of our dead selves we ever more sink to lower
levels. The power of each day is the accumulation of the power of all the
preceding days of one's life. Lincoln's wonderful speech at Gettysburg was
the accumulation of his past life. The making of a day is a matter of the
highest moment because it is the making of our life, its present and its future.

In conclusion, let me say that every person makes his own day. Every
one has in himself the elements of success. Every one has also in himself
the elements of failure. Which of these elements shall dominate his life
depends upon which he cultivates. It is not by his heredity, nor by his environ-
ment, nor by his circumstances that one achieves success, but by his own
thoughtfulness, his own regnant conscience and robust will, and faith in God,
which surmount the obstacles that rise before him and overcome the difficulties
which beset him. The kingdom of heaven is taken by conquest; you cannot
drift into it. Every day you must fight if you would win. (June, 1905.)

137

CHAPTER XI

Side-Lights on Normal Life

To give another touch of life to the history of the school, a
few graduates from different periods have been asked to send in
pen pictures of the life at Bridgewater as they saw it. These are
preceded by one from the pen of Mr. Boyden himself, in which
he pictures the life in his early days at the school.

"When I was a pupil in the school in the years 1848-49, the school had
been in its new home, — the first building in this hemisphere erected for a
State Normal School, — two years.

"The personnel of the school included Nicholas Tillinghast, the principal,
Richard Edwards, the first assistant and Dana P. Colburn, the second assistant.
It was a strong faculty, the Principal was a graduate of West Point Military
Academy and each of the assistants became a normal school president in a few
years. The students numbered fifty-six, twenty-seven men and twenty-nine
women. "Co-eds" you will note, with two surplus women for chaperons. It was
a body of working students from the middle rank who knew the value of time and
money."

"The course of studies extended through three consecutive terms of four-
teen weeks each. We had a three hours session each half week day except
Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. We studied Arithmetic very thoroughly,
also Geography and Grammar. For a text book in Geography, we used Mc-
Culloch's Geographical Dictionary, a volume four inches thick. Geography
was considered to be the description of the surface of the earth and its products.
De Sacy's General Grammar and Greene's Analysis were fruitful studies, the
latter included logical analysis of the thought, and grammatical analysis of the
expression. Three of the young men made a Trigonometrical survey of Car-
ver's Pond and mapped it. Psychology had not then come into the course of
study, but Mr. Tillinghast was our text book in the Theory and Art of Teaching
known and read by all of us.

"Horace Mann closed his service as Secretary of the State Board of Edu-
cation in 1848 and was succeeded by Dr. Bamas Sears. He secured for the
school two most fruitful courses of lectures. One by Louis Agassiz, the great

138

naturalist, who had recently come to this country. The first sentence of his
lecture was "I see before me many bright eyes, I have come to help you see."
Then he delineated upon the board a huge grasshopper and showed us how he
lived and used his sense organs. He sowed the seed of the objective study of
natural objects which has sprung up and borne fruit in our courses in Natural
Science. The other course of lectures was by Prof. Arnold Guyot, who came
over with Agassiz, who revolutionized the teaching of geography in this country
by teaching that geography is "the study of the earth as the home of man."

"On Tuesday evenings once a fortnight the students had a social gather-
ing at the house of the Principal, and on alternate Friday evenings we had our
Lyceum meetings, with debates by the young men, and the Normal Offering, a
paper sustained by the women. These were live meetings.

"Most of the students boarded in the families of the village at two dollars
a week. They roomed in chambers mostly. Some were so lofty that they had
attic chambers which looked out upon the front view of life, while some had
to be content with the posterior view. A few boarded themselves. Some of
the men roomed in "Bachelor's Hall," and some formed a Club and Madam
Loring cooked their meals for them.

"Physical exercise was not neglected though we had no gymnasium. The
students knew the names of all the streets, and knew all the roads for miles
around, and many a lesson in nature study was learned in their long walks.
Carver's Pond, in those days, was noted for its lilies and snapping turtles.
Lover's Lane, a cart path through the woods from Bedford Street to South,
was distinguished for its scenic beauty. Round baseball was a regular game
in the spring, and genuine football, without any toggery or rooting, was a
vigorous fall game in which the ball was kicked "sky-high."

"Thank God for the *Bridgewater spirit' of progress, of enlargement, of
culture, of devotion, of service, of inspiration, which has quickened so many
thousands of young lives. It has been the animus of the Institution from its
very beginning, and is marching on to multiply its achievement."

It has never seemed to me to be a wise thing to make unnecessary changes from
place to place. I have always remembered a saying of my father's : ** Stick to your
bush, my boy, until you get all the berries you can from that bush." And so I have
remained here to do whatever I might be able to do for the carrying forward of my
plans to the end.

A member of the school at the time Mr. Boyden was ap-
pointed first assistant under Mr. Conant said of him : — **He raised
that school up on his shoulders like a young Atlas. His spirit be-
gan to make things different almost immediately."

T39

Words of Appreciation by Former Members of the Bridgewater

Normal School

I entered the Bridgewater Normal School in 1861. Mr. Albert
G. Boyden was then Principal, a man of sterling qualities, digni-
fied, kindly, with sympathetic interest in his pupils, always ap-
proachable, and a man of few words. When he spoke he always
said something that demanded attention because of its substance
and simplicity and clearness of style. A precept which he often
gave was **Know what you are going to say and then say it," and
he practiced his precept. Apparently without effort, he inspired
in his pupils absolute confidence in him and a desire to do what-
ever he required.

Unfortunately for me, so far as class fellowship is concerned,
I entered the Union Army in 1862, and when I returned to take
up my work again in the School I went into another class than the
one with which I entered. But throughout the School there was
an excellent school spirit and comradeship, and absolute loyalty
to the School.

I have pleasant memories of all the teachers and pupils con-
nected with the school while I was at Bridgewater. Much might
be said of the earnest young men and women who were members
of the school with me who have gone out into the world and gained
honorable positions which they have filled to the credit of them-
selves and to the honor of the school, but I will only name one,
George H. Martin, who was pre-eminently a student, and one
whose mind was always alert and who possessed high ideals, and
a strong moral character. He graduated with high rank and
studiously took up teaching and afterward school supervision,
reaching a very honorable and distinguished position in the edu-
cational work of this Commonwealth.

All who have come in close relations with these noble men
to know them well must have been wonderfully blessed and up-
lifted. They have greatly honored the Bridgewater Normal
School. It is with gratitude to them, for their friendship, and the
impress they have made upon me, that I write these few words of
appreciation.

Beriah T. Hillman, '61.

The State Normal School at Bridgewater has been a great
benefit to this Commonwealth, more especially to the south-eastern
part, though by no means has its influence been limited even to
the Commonwealth, but it has extended across the continent and
beyond the Atlantic. Its good work has not always been under-
stood, and in the earliest days was not appreciated.

Prior to the establishment of this institution, the schools
throughout the State were mainly rural, or district schools, as there

140

were then only three cities, — Boston, Salem and Lowell, — though
there were many large villages, and the teachers were, in the main,
the product of the schools in the district, but usually the most
scholarly. A few attended the local academy, and, as a result,
were the best teachers. The proportion of college men as teachers
in these schools was very small, and colleges for women were not
yet established. As the outcome of this preparation, or rather,
lack of preparation, each teacher taught about the same as her
predecessors, with very little improvement.

My early teaching was in a district school, where I followed
in the footsteps of my instructors. However, I soon realized that
there must be a better way, and my attention was turned toward
Bridge water, where I entered in 1864, but remained only one term,
and returned in 1867 to complete my course. There were then
the following teachers: — Mr. A. G. Boyden, the principal; Mr.
Solon F. Whitney, Mr. Austin Sanford and Miss Eliza B. Wood-
word, assistants. At that time there were eighty-six pupils in the
school.

I remember visiting the school a short time before I entered
it, and hearing Miss Woodward teach a class in reading. The
method was so much above anything I had ever known, that I
decided, at once, to enroll at the beginning of the next term.

My vision of education, of teaching, and of the work of the
teacher was very much broadened during my course, and I left
the school with a much higher ideal of my life work, both in the
schoolroom and in the community, than when I entered. The
whole atmosphere of the school was elevating and very unlike
anything I had observed in any other school.

During my connection with the school as a pupil, there were
as teachers, besides those already mentioned, — Miss Charlotte A.
Comstock, Elisha H. Barlow, George H. Martin, Edward W.
Stephenson, Albert E. Winship, Mary H. Leonard, Alice Richards,
and the two music teachers, O. B. Brown and Hosea E. Holt. I
think only two of these teachers, Mr. Winship and Miss Leonard,
are now living.

In 1865, the plan of having the pupils go before their classes
and give teaching lessons was adopted. This has always been
an unpleasant task for the beginners, though valuable training
for a teacher, and it has been highly appreciated later when they
had schools of their own.

Up to the time of my graduation in 1869, there was no board-
ing hall, and the pupils boarded in families. During the summer
of this year the first boarding hall was erected, but it has now
been displaced by the new dining hall. At first, only the young
ladies had rooms and lodging there; the young men took their
meals there but roomed in families, as before.

With my return to the school as a teacher in 1871, I came to
know it better and to come into closer relations with it and with the

141

other teachers. The teachers at this time consisted of Mr. A. G.
Boyden, principal ; George H. Martin, Franz H. Kirmayer, Eliza B.
Woodward, Mary H. Leonard, Clara A. Armes, Mary A. Currier
and myself. Later Isabelle S. Home, Edith Leonard, and Eliza-
beth H. Hutchinson were added to our number.

I want to say of these teachers that I have never taught with
a more earnest, more studious, or a more efficient body of teachers
than they were.

Mr. Boyden was a great teacher and a great executive. It
was his wise management and clear insight into the trend of edu-
cation that carried the institution to the front and sent out teach-
ers who were to build up schools even in the most remote parts
of the State and in the most thinly settled sections.

It was in the year, 1871, that the second story was added to
the old two-story wooden building, which will always be remem-
bered by the pupils of that day.

The first chemical laboratory was equipped for individual
work in 1874. This was a great step forward and made the study
of chemistry a reality, and analytical chemistry was then added
to the course for the four years' pupils.

The Lyceum always interested me as a student, and the de-
bates proved of great value to me as a citizen. Then, too, this
organization furnished opportunities for those gifted with the
pen, and many articles appeared in the Normal Offering which
possessed merit. Another side of this organization was the musi-
cal, which furnished pleasure for those who participated, and
entertainment for the others.

When the graduate of the past sees the magnificent build-
ings of the present day, with their generous equipment and the
spacious grounds, he recalls the earlier time with limited ac-
commodations and still more limited equipment, and is led to say
that the pupils of today have better opportunities than were fur-
nished then, and we must expect more of them.

B. B. Russell (1867-69.)

Among my vivid memories are the visits of **The Board," —
that is, of the Secretary of the Board of Education and the special
visitors to our school. They generally gave the school a "talk,"
which was followed by visits to some of the classes.

In my student days the venerable George B. Emerson, who
had long been interested in the Normal Schools, was still a mem-
ber of the Board, and, though not an official visitor of this school,
used to make us appreciative visits.

The first Secretary that I knew was Honorable eloseph White.
His talks were usually on Government, and I associate him with
the 13th Chapter of Romans, "Let every soul be subject to the
higher powers." At this time Dr. James Freeman Clarke and

142

Mr. John D. Philbrick, Superintendent of Schools in Boston, were
our frequent and friendly visitors.

Mr. J. W. Dickinson was a familiar figure in our school, while
still Principal at Westfield. Later he was for many years Secretary
of the Board, and I think he had a good deal of influence on the
policies and methods adopted in Bridgewater.

One of our visitors for a number of years was Mr. Gardner
G. Hubbard. He had a deaf daughter, who married her teacher,
Graham Bell of telephone fame. I suppose that Mr. Hubbard's
appointment on the Board was due largely to his interest in the
education of the deaf, which made him active in establishing the
Clarke Institution for the Deaf at Northampton. Mr. Hubbard
was a man of wealth, who had travelled extensively, and his talks
to us were usually regarding countries which he had seen. In
his choice of classes to visit, he often selected Geography, of which
I was for some years the teacher. This was an easy ordeal for
me, as whatever the subject or country that we were considering,
I could always refer a point to Mr. Hubbard, who then took the
cue and went on talking in an interesting way to the end. of the
period. But one unlucky day he elected to visit my Grammar
Class, and after listening with a bored expression to our teaching
exercises and discussions, he told me at the end of the period that
he did not know what we had been talking about. Needless to
say, he never favored my Grammar Class with another visit.

Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer, the first woman, I think, to be
an official visitor to Bridgewater, came at a later period, and the
valuable services of our own Mr. Martin as Secretary of the Board
was later than my time of teaching in the school.

The visits of the Board were doubtless helpful, but I won-
dered wh'^ther Mr. Boyden felt the same sense of relief that some
of us teachers did, when their visits to our classes were over and
they had gone back to Boston.

Mary H. Leonard

Bridgewater Normal School put out her hand to me long
before I knew her. She drew me into her family circle through
one of her graduates in the winter of 1883 and welcomed me as
a new-born. And it was like being born again. Take a slip of
a girl from an isolated shore home, and place her abruptly in
dormitory life and it is not unlike birth into another world. The
first night was the worst. All that happened there stayed. I
found myself absolutely alone in the reading room of the old
dormitory, filled with girls of my own age, waiting to be assigned
a room-mate. We shared beds in those days and I can
remember distinctly the terror which possessed me as I wondered
which girl I would have for a bed-fellow that night.

If it is true that real training aims to enlarge the withinness
of the teacher, to make him aware of hidden forces unknown be-

fore, to release his capacities and bring them under the law of
orderly progress, if the one aspiring to teach must have big self
to give to the world, then Bridgewater in the early eighties was
well equipped as a Normal School to produce this sort of a
teacher. She sent out to the children of the land young men and
women not only familiar with the rules of pedagogy but steeped
in those unseen things which nourish the souls of men. They
were prepared to let character teach over their heads.

At that time the school was one great family of 150 young
men and women living together with teachers and principal under
one roof, in the old wooden dormitory. There was a teacher in
a strategic corner on each upper floor while the head of the
household with his family occupied a suite on the first. We had
dear appropriate nick names for those set in authority over us.
The Principal and his wife were *Ta" and **Ma" Boyden of course,
and into those two homely words were crowding the loyalty,
love and respect which leaps so spontaneously from young life.
Those who were here since the new dormitories have sprung up
can never feel towards the head of the school what we felt for
Mr.' Boyden. Succeeding principals may be great men but Mr
Boyden was a great father.

It was a well ordered family. Naturally there were rules
and regulations which seemed absurd, severe and withal most
unnecessary. The one requiring the greatest courage to keep
was the silent study hour from 7:00 to 8:30 P. M. At that time
there could be no whispering even between intimate room-mates.
One must bury one's nose in one's book and keep it there no matter
what wild idiotic ideas were pounding through one's brain. All
must attend church on Sunday, must walk or exercise in the open
an hour each day, must refrain from visiting other rooms at cer-
tain prescribed hours. Our relations to the young men were
carefully guarded. I believe we could converse with them for a
short time after sunper in the reading room, but if we wished to
accompany one of them to a public place of amusement our escort
must get a special permit. In spite of this strict surveillance,
however, several romances developed during that period. I do
not quite understand even now why I decided the first week to
obev these rules rather than be a "smasher", a term then applied
to the lawless. It must have been the ring of splendid men and
women about us which made it well nigh impossible to choose to
be dishonorable.

Perhaps the most trying experience which was cruelly pro-
longed throup'h the entire course came from using the class-
room as a trainine school. One w«s obliged to teach one's own
class, the members for the time "becomine as little children."
princinalship, was scarcely less than that of his father. The ad-
miration for him and the devotion to him by both faculty and
students was a striking feature of the school. Among themselves

144

the students referred to him as "Mr. A. C/' or simply as "A. C./*
though always with the greatest respect. Students sought him,
quite as frequently as the principal, for advice concerning their
work in the school or concerning the course to be pursued after
leaving school. His advice was invariably that the students con-
tinue their studies and thus prepare themselves as fully as possible
for their life work. It is very doubtful if any one of the many
students entering Harvard from Bridgewater ever undertook his
Few can estimate the value of this experience for after life. To
mount the platform and brace feet, mind and heart for this diffi-
cult task called continually for a large measure of self-control and
personal power. There is no doubt also but one of the most potent
factors in helping now to keep the State safe for Democracy is
the habit gained by hundreds of Bridgewater graduates in the
eighties of making things plain and intelligible to others. My
own tenacious instinct to make a sermon clear to an audience I
trace to my struggle in Normal School to teach my class-mates
how to square a -|- b. It is of course an advance to enter a real
school and teach real children but some of us cannot help feeling
that the world suffers no loss because we were obliged to practise
upon our contemporaries.

Bridgewater in those days was charged with the religious
spirit, the ideal of which was service. One felt it everywhere
even in the dining room where spiritual considerations are sup-
posed to stop. It is significant that the one thing connected with
that room which reacted most enduringly upon many a student's
life was Mr. Boyden's quiet voice asking grace. The Sunday
sings also fostered the same spirit. It was customary to gather
in thft early Sunday evening in Mr. Boyden's parlor and Jed by
Miss Prince sing the beautiful old hvmns of the Christian church.
I can now after all these years feel the choke in my throat and the
thrill in mv heart and see again the vision of wonderful life while
we sing "There's wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of
the sea." To sine: such hvmns together for two vears could do
no other than prejudice our young lives in favor of truth, beauty,
service, holiness and God. ThoSe were all old fashioned things
which we did and may not be in vogue now but they made for
faith and bigness and were tremendous forces bearing upon minds
and hearts at a most susceptible time.

I cannot remember our courses of study or any particular
examination paper, I do know the spirit, devotion and moral ex-
cellence of the men and women who made un the faculty. Miss
Home, Miss Woodward, Miss Prince, Miss I^eonard, Mr. A. C.
Boyden, Mr. Murdock and Mr. Jackson and Principal Boyden
were the teachers. A young soul couldn't escape its best life
having once entered a world created and largely bound by these
men and women. We were held strongly and gently to the Way
^f Life and at the end of two years were sent out into the world

\ X45

greatened and enriched by these personalities. Supreme because
of his position and most of us believe because of his excellence was
Mr. Boyden the Principal. I was told the first half term not to
get "within range of his eyes"; that they were deep and would
look right through me. They did. But we all discovered soon
that those eyes were windows of a fine soul that not only could
scotch out the petty meannesses and wickednesses of girls and
boys at our age but could gently and strongly bring to the fore the
best and noblest thoughts. Like all great souls he pushed us to
our best and kept us there.

If the other sections of Bridgewater's life have produced as
great a number of men and women of marked ability as the sec-
tion of 83-85, then Bridgewater may well be proud of her share
in shaping America's destiny for her graduates always carry into
the world that type of culture which is known to be peculiarly fine
and spiritual.

Sarah A. Dixon 1883-5

The students at the Bridgewater Normal School from 1890
to 1900 realize anew, as they look back, the value of the prepara-
tion they received for the events of world-wide and age-long im-
portance which have marked the last twenty-five years as unique
in human history. From the first day, when the kind but search-
ing eye of Principal Albert G. Boyden greeted us, until we were
sent out as representatives of Bridgewater's high standards of
living and teaching, we were under the influence of ideals which
made for character and intellectual leadership.

The school was more like a home than an institution. Our
angular natures gave way before the good-natured training of
the large family. Friendships, lifelong and sacred, were formed.
We learned to rejoice in one another's success.

These were years of mind and soul awakening. We came to
love learning for learning's sake. We found that if there were
diversities of gifts, the right spirit was the one thing needful.
What if some of us would never excel in music and drawing, we
could at least strengthen our appreciation of these gifts bv doing
our best. Mr. Boyden's morning question hour shamed the lazy
minds and stirred us all to be alert and observing.

For years we have tried to erive expression to the impressions
we received at Bridgewater. The longer we try, the more we
marvel at the patience our teachers had with us and their faith
in us. As raw material, some of us gave little promise. We
chafed under the accuracy of thought and statement which our
wise instructors insisted upon. However poor may be the super-
structure we are building, the foundation they laid has stood the
test of time. All honor to our teachers!

Our words of anpreciation and expressions of gratitude will
not diifer widely. Students during all the years of Bridjerewater's

146

history acknowledge a debt they can never fully pay. More
than many another student, however, I feel that I touched the
real heart as well as the real mind of Bridgewater. Months of
serious illness during my last year as a student brought into my
life such expressions of unselfish ministry and lofty ideals from
faculty and students that the course of my whole life was changed.
No word of mine, therefore, spoken or written, can adequately
express my gratitude for the permanent, helpful influences of the
Bridgewater Normal School.

Burtt N. Timbie (1894-6.)

My impressions of Bridgewater Normal School are not alone
the result of two years' experience as a mature student. Long
before I entered the school I had heard of Bridgewater through
its graduates who were teaching in other normal schools, through
classmates who had attended the school and who had become
imbued with its spirit, and through the success of men who had
gone out from the school and had become known beyond the
boundaries of the state. Of this latter class George H. Martin
and Grenville T. Fletcher were types.

Whatever the medium by which the impressions of Bridge-
water Normal School came, there were always certain elements
common to them all, the elements of earnestness and sincerity.
As I entered the school I found the chief source of the spirit of the
school to be the principal, Albert G. Boyden. Mr. Boyden im-
pressed me as feeling keenly his great responsibility as a leader
of young people who, as members of the teaching profession, were
to go forth and exert an unbounded influence upon the youth of
the Commonwealth. His dignified presence, his earnestness, his
sincerity, and his untiring devotion to his life work — to him a
sacred calling — could not but make a lasting impression upon ev-
ery student of the school. In the morning talks — which the stu-
dents appreciated, though often dreaded, for fear that they might
be questioned before the whole student body — the superior qual-
ifies of the' man always showed themselves. The purpose of the
talks was to make the student realize the significance of the work
for which he was preparing himself and to enable him to measure
up to his full responsibility. The school was Mr. Boyden's life.
With what pride and pleasure he announced the success or pro-
motion of a graduate of the school! What genuine distress he
showed concerning anything which tended to bring discredit to
the school! The influence of such a man as Albert G. Boyden,
exerted for more than fifty years upon a school, could have but
one eflFect, that of placing it in the front rank of the educational
institutions of the country.

The same spirit which actuated the principal made itself felt
through the members of the faculty. The influence of Mr. Arthur
Boyden, who at that time was assuming some of the duties of the

147

college work without many conferences with "Mr. A. C." I feel
sure that all graduates of the school, who have received from
Mr. Boyden encouragement and inspiration for furtlier study, join
me in an expression of appreciation of his helpfulness.

One could mention other members of the faculty who have
had much to do with shaping the lives of pupils of the school.
Their influence was due, not only to the personality of the men
and women themselves, but to their willingness to give thems-^jH^-^s
without stint to their work and to their pupils. There was man-
ifest a hearty cooperation among the teachers in their attempts
to reach the high standards which they had set for the school.

The spirit of the students was that of loyalty — loyalty to the
leaders of the school and loyalty to the principles of the school
which they learned to appreciate and to admire. In any educa-
tional institution the attitude of the students is determined, not
only by the character of the school itself but also by the standing
and attitude of the graduates. In this latter respect Bridgewater
has long had a strong hold upon its students. Probably no school
has a larger proportion of loyal graduates than Bridgewater.
The graduates realize more fully than the students can possibly
do what the school has done for them. They also realize the
standing of the school in the Commonwealth and the educational
world. They see fellow-graduates occupying the highest posi-
tions open to the teaching profession in city, state, and nation.
Thus among the graduates is produced the attitude of appreciation
and loyalty which in turn is transmitted to the student body. On
the whole it seems to me that that which has made the Bridge-
water Normal School preeminently successful is the spirit of
earnestness and devotion to duty which has characterized its lead-
ers, its faculty, and those who have come under its influence.

Leonard O. Packard, 1898

An excellent description of Mr. Boyden as a teacher was
given by a student while under his instruction.

"Three characteristics of Mr. Boyden as a teacher seem es-
pecially distinctive. First, he is a practical idealist. He com-
bines, in a rare degree, an optimistic, far-reaching grasp of educa-
tional ideals, with a practical, shrewd conservatism. Ahead of
his age, and yet of his age, he moves forward to the goal, "without
haste, without rest." He knows how to dream, to work, and, when
need be, even to wait, for the carrying out of God's great plans.

"Then, too, Mr. Boyden handles men and things with consum-
mate skill and tact. He studies every situation with reference
to the present and the future. He makes up his mind cautiously,
impartially, firmly.

"The third trait of Mr. Boyden's character, and the one which,

Z48

perhaps, we admire the most, is his sympathy with the ambitions,
successes, failures and possibilities of every individual pupil.. If
he ever seems not to recognize a fond desire of ours, it is doubtless
because he wishes to hold us to our best and truest ideals. His
sympathy has a tonic quality, and he always shows us the inspira-
tion of a great trust/'

Normal Offering, 1903

The good fortune of knowing the classes of one's Alma Mater
for a period of six years came as a surprising compensation to one
whose school course was broken midway by necessity. It was a
great privilege to know the school through a period which included
an acquaintance with the classes numbering from eighty-four to
one hundred. It is only natural to think of one's own time in the
school as one of the greatest opportunity. We know indeed that to-
day is the accepted time, that the growth of a larger Bridgewater,
with its up-to-date methods and modern equipment, is the joy of
every loyal graduate, but when on festival days we are asked to
write of the Bridgewater we knew best, — then for a little space
we forget the present, and revel in the satisfaction of a reasonable
pride. What indeed was the purpose of that wonderful "Who's
Who," that noble "Register of Graduates" published at the Sev-
enty-fifth Anniversary, if not to confirm us in the knowledge of
our own grandeur? "Other classes" do you say? What are
others, compared with the numbers from eighty-four to one hun-
dred? What would Simmons College be today without the early
work of its untiring Dean who planned so wisely for its courses
long before its walls were raised? What were all our Normal
Schools without our Bridgewater graduates of this period? Fif-
teen masters of the Boston schools are upon our shining pages.
The Brookline schools have a woman principal who drew inspira-
tion from the halls of Bridgewater. When we think of the dis-
tinguished masters and teachers throughout the country belonging*
to our favored day, when we remember the superintendents of
schools, the directors of training schools, the ministers and the
deans of religious schools, the doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs,
all the better for Bridgewater training, — the editors, the orators,
the fathers and the mothers and the children, we are consumed
with the zeal of our own house, and dare not consult other pages
of the School Register lest our glory should suffer eclipse. For
one little hour may we not be "clouded by our own conceit?" Do
we not own the Boston Herald?

Of another glory we are proudly secure. To what group of
students was ever vouchsafed such a leading of superior teachers?
To have been a pupil of Albert G. Boyden in his very prime — ^to
have been touched by his rare equanimity, his searching judg-
ment, his enduring courage and his unfailing goodwill — was cause

T49

for lifelong gratitude. How truly each and all may think of his
protecting spirit, and reverently say,

"He wrapped one in his great man's doublet,
Careless did it fit or no."

Again to have been touched by the creative mind of George
H. Martin, to have been quickened by his teaching, cheered by
his ready wit, chastened by his healthful criticism, to have been a
sharer of his culture, — was not this a remembrance for all the
years to come ?

"He lives, he wakes — *tis Death is dead, not he."

To our day was given the great satisfaction of enjoying the
first teaching of Arthur C. Boyden in the Bridgewater school. He
came to us from Amherst College, with "The flame of freedom in
his soul and the light of knowledge in his eyes" and was the prom-
ise of "a good time coming." His discriminating mind and his
ease in teaching were at once our admiration and despair. It all
seemed so simple until we tried to emulate his skill !

How gratefully our period remembers Eliza B. Woodward
with her great-hearted, motherly ways, her keen insight into all
our difficulties, and her ready moods of helpfulness! "Tell me
all about it," she would say, "My heart is full of graves." That
was her playful way of assuring us that secrets would be kept
securely forever and ever. Nor can we forget that we knew Isa-
belle S. Home in the height of her power and charm, as a teacher
of voice culture, and have been benefitted by her teaching all our
days. We learned of Mary H. Leonard to follow the stars in their
courses, to teach the wonders of the hemispheres, and to learn
that our bodies were fearfully and wonderfully made, nor were
we permitted to forget the informing spirit. We treasure the
true and gentle ways of gifted Edith Leonard, whose missionary
spirit took her far away from our halls of learning. We remem-
ber the definite, thorough teaching of Clara A. Armes, and later
the persuasive teaching of Clara C. Prince, who convinced us that
we could sing aright if we would only try. We recall very grate-
fully the teaching of Barrett B. Russell and his constant efforts to
make us accurate. Afterward we had reason to know him gladly
as the able superintendent of the public schools of Lawrence and
of Brockton. Never shall we forget the marvel of Francis H. Kir-
mayer's linguistic mind, so arranged in compartments that the
many languages he had at command were kept perfectly distinct,
and ready for immediate use. We were reverent, too, of his sac-
rifice for our country. How impressed we were when we saw all
of these teachers on the platform before us in the devotional ex-
ercises of the school ! We had not then learned to say with Mat-
thew Arnold, as later years have taught us : —

150

"For vigorous teachers seized my youth,
And purged its faith, and trimmed its fire,
Showed me the high, white star of truth.
There bid me gaze and there aspire."

Even now, as then, we feel how still and reverent was the
place, when Mr. Boyden read the words from the Bible that told us
to "be strong and very courageous," when he led the school in
prayer, and when we all sang together, "In the morning I will
pray." The great branches of the trees were swaying about the
windows, moved gently by the breezes, or rudely by the storm
winds, telling us the brave message that through their struggles
they were strong.

And even now, as then, we can see Mr. Boyden leading in
the general exercises, helping us to rapid arithmetical calcula-
tions, teaching us lessons from the observations of nature; or we
can behold Mr. Martin unfolding a survey of the early history of
America. Tremulous moments those, when our names might be
called at any moment to answer a searching question, and when,
alas, at that very moment of our need, our wits might miserably
forsake us!

In those early days of a smaller school, we re-assembled at
late afternoon for a closing hymn. Some of us still remember the
appropriateness of the lines, —

"Veil the day's distracting sights;
Show me heaven's eternal lights."

This hymn was especially soothing at the close of a day when
a teaching exercise, perfected in the quiet of the study-hour, had
gone wide astray under the test of the class-room.

The smaller school, also, made possible the homelike atmos-
phere of our one dormitory. Normal Hall. There lived Mr. and
Mrs. Boyden and their son, Wallace, who was at that time a stu-
dent in the school. In their living rooms were held the Sunday
evenings' hours of song and other social gatherings. In the dining
room at their table with the students, their presence was felt as a
blessing. Here, standing at the head of the table, Mr. Boyden
was able to give to us, after meal times, many a needed word of
friendly admonition. We sometimes wonder, too, how we could
ever have behaved aright without Mrs. Coding's brisk and fear-
less ordering of our ways. We owed much to our good matron's
decisive manner and to her atmosphere of work and cheer.

I do not forget the early days of the lyceum with its "Nor-
mal Offering'*, and with its opportunities for dramatic and literary
expression. Friday evening lectures at the Town Hall brought
to us among other distinguished speakers, — Wendell Phillips and
John D. Long.

Graduation Days for a series of years gave us the presence of
John W. Dickinson and Christopher C. Hussey, who presented to

151

us our diplomas, with the congratulations of the State Board of
Education, which they represented so eminently. Alumni gather-
ings rejoiced in the presence of the distinguished superintendent
of the Boston schools, Mr. Edwin P. Seaver, and that of his genial
and gifted co-worker, the Boston supervisor, Mr. Robert C. Met-
calf. The Allen brothers of the West Newton Schools were other
welcome graduates, who returned to us at Alumni gatherings with
words of inspiring cheer.

Altogether the years of our connection with the school were
rich with priceless treasure. The town, with its steeples pointed
heavenward ; the quiet homesteads, whose doors swung open at our
coming; the streets, with their over-arching elm trees; the green
pastures; and the still waters whither we were so often led, — all
made an appropriate setting for the hallowed walls that aimed to
teach first of all a reverence for God and a faith in man, a know-
ledge of life's principles and a brave self-reliance, that should
make teachers of youth and leaders of men.

"We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Clara Bancroft Beatley. (1877-1882.)

152

APPENDIX

♦ALBERT G. BOYDEN, Principal, August, 1860, to August, 1906. Principal
Emeritus, August, 1906, to 1915. d. May 30, 1915.

Assistants

♦ELIZA B. WOODWARD, (47). September, 1857, to July, 1877. d. November

2, 1887.
♦CHARLES F. DEXTER, (52). March, 1860, to May, 1863. d. Dec. 21, 1904.
♦O. B. BROWN, Special teacher of Music, 1860 to 1864.
♦JAMES H. SCHNEIDER, A.B. September, 1860, to September, 1863. d.

April 26, 1864.
♦AUSTIN SANFORD, (52). June, 1863, to July, 1864. d. December 28, 1908.
♦SOLON F. WHITNEY, A. M. September, 1863 to March, 1866.
♦CHARLOTTE A. COMSTOCK, (56). May, 1864, to July, 1866. Mrs. Charles

Tomlinson.
♦GEORGE H. MARTIN, (59). September, 1864, to August, 1882. d. March

28, 1917.
♦HOSEA E. HOLT. Special teacher of Jklusic, 1864, to 1868.
ELLEN G. BROWN, (63). March, 186.6, to Dec. 1866. Mrs. Nelson D. Pratt.
♦EMMELINE F. FISHER, (63). March, 1866, to February, 1867. Mrs. Francis

C. Tucker, d. 1902. ^

♦ELISHA H. BARLOW, A. B. September, 1866, to January, 1868.
♦EDWARD W. STEPHENSON, (63). April 1867, to November, 1867. d. Nov-
ember, 1867.
♦ALICE RICHARDS, (66). December, 1867, to September, 1871. Mrs. James

S. Allen, d. July 24, 1901.
ALBERT F. WINSHIP, (61). February, 1868, to July, 1871.
MARY H. LEONARD, (65). April, 1868, to February, 1882, and September,

1883, to July, 1884.
♦MARY A. CURRIER. February, 1869, to July, 1875.

FRANCIS H. KIRMAYER. Ph.D. October, 1870, to — . Instructor in Latin
and Modern Languages.

'53

BARRETT B. RUSSELL, (69). September, 1871, to May, 1879.
♦CLARA A. ARMES, (69). September, 1871, to July, 1879. Mrs. A. G. Boy-
den, d. April, 1904.
*ISABELLE S. HORNE. September, 1875, to July, 1905. d. December 31,

1907.
EDITH LEONARD, (77). December, 1878, to February, 1882, and in 1883.
ELIZABETH H. HUTCHINSON, (84). December, 1878, to July, 1880, and

.September 1885, to July, 1889. Mrs. Eugene C. Murdock.
ARTHUR C. BOYDEN, (74). May, 1879, to July, 1896. Vice Principal, July,

1896, to August, 1906.
CLARA C. PRINCE, (76). September, 1879, to September, 1916.
CYRUS A. COLE, (62). September, 1880, to July, 1884.
WILLIAM D. JACKSON, (87). February, 1883, to, — . Instructor in science

and mathematics.
FRANK F. MURDOCK, (86). September, 1884, to February, 1897.
FRANK W. KENDALL, (94). September, 1885, to July, 1887.
JOSEPH BOYLSTON, (101). February, 1887, to July, 1887.
ABBY M. SPALTER. September, 1887, to March, 1888. Mrs. Jerome C.

Field.
SARAH E. BRASSILL, (106). October, 1887, to July, 1890.
FANNY A. COMSTOCK, (81). February, 1888, to May, 1913.
♦MRS. EMMA F. BOWLER. September, 1898, to July, 1891.
EMILY C. FISHER, (102). September, 1889, to July, 1901.
HARLAN P. SHAW, (108). September, 1890, to — . Instructor in chemistry

and physiography.
♦FRANK E. GURNEY, (108). September, 1891, to March, 1914. d. March 28,

1914.
♦ELIZABETH H. PERRY. March, 1888, to July, 1888, and September, 1891,

to July, 1910. d. March 20, 1912.
SUMNER W. HINES, (106). February, 1890, to July, 1890.
LILLIAN A. HICKS, (81). September, 1891, to April, 1910. Prin. Training

School, September, 1891, to September, 1899. Supervisor of Training.

September, 1899, to April, 1910.
ANNE M. WELLS. September, 1893, to — . Head of Kindergarten-Primary

Course.
BESSIE L. BARNES. September, 1893, to July, 1904.
L. EVELINE MERRITT, (116). September, 1895, to July, 1907.
MILDRED L. HUNTER, (112). September, 1895, to July, 1897. Mrs. Mildred

L. Sinnott.
CHARLES P. SINNOTT, (90). B.S. February, 1897, to — . Instructor in

Geography and Physiology,
M. ALICE EMERSON, (100). A.B. September, 1901, to July, 1905.
ELIZABETH F. GORDON, September, 1904, to — . Senior Instructor in

Physical Training.
MARGARET E. FISHER. September, 1904, to July, 1907. Mrs. Margaret

E. Williams.
♦ALICE E. DICKINSON. December, 1905, to August, 1917. d. August, 1917.
CAROLINE A. HARDWICK. October, 1905, to July, 1907.

154

ARTHUR C. BOYDEN, A.M. Principal, August, 1906, to — .

Assistants

FLORENCE I. DAVIS, (91). September, 1906, to — . Instructor Biology and
School Gardening.

RUTH W. SMITH. September, 1907, to July, 1908.

GRACE C. SMITH. September, 1907, to January, 1909.
*ANNA W. BROWN. September, 1907, to February, 1915. d. May 15, 1915.

GERTRUDE OSTERHOUDT. September, 1908, to July, 1910. Mrs. G. W.
Watson.

CHARLES E. DONER. September, 1909, to — . Instructor in Penmanship.

RUTH F. ATKINSON. September, 1910, to July, 1913.

ELIN JONSEN. January, 1910, to July, 1913. Mrs. Elin J. Grev6.

MABEL B. SOPER. April, 1910, to — . Senior Instructor in Drawing.

MABEL L. HOBBS. September, 1910, to July, 1912. Mrs. Arthur Veasey.

CORA A. NEWTON. September, 1912, to — . Supervisor of Training.

ADELAIDE MOFFITT. September, 1912, to — . Instructor in Oral Expres-
sion.

EDITH W. MOSES, B.S. September, 1912, to — . Instructor in Literature.

BERTHA S. BADGER. September, 1912, to August 31, 1914.

ETHEL M. FLOWER, (140). September, 1912, to August 31, 1914. Mrs.
Roy T. Sheldon.

FREDERICK M. WILDER. September, 1912, to September, 1913.

LELIA E. BROUGHTON. September, 1913, to September, 1916.

FLORENCE A. FLETCHER, A.B. April, 1914, to — . Instructor in History.

FRILL G. BECKWITH. September, 1914, to — . Instructor in Manual Arts.

DOROTHEA DAVIS. September, 1914, to September, 1916.

CHESTER R. STACY. September, 1915, to October, 1918.

HARRIET W. FARNHAM. September, 1916, to September, 1918.

BRENELLE HUNT, (120). October, 1918, to — . Instructor in Psychology
and School Management.

FRIEDA RAND, A.B. September, 1918, to — . Instructor in Music.

MARY A. PREVOST. September, 1916, to — . Assistant Instructor in Draw-
ing.

BRETA W. GUILDS, A.B. September, 1916, to September, 1917.

EDITH L. PINNICK. September, 1916, to — . Assistant Instructor in Gym-
nastics.

JOSEPH W. CORLEY. September, 1916, to September, 1917.

JOHN J. KELLY. September, 1917, to — . Instructor in Practical Arts.

MARTHA C. PRITCHARD. September, 1917, to — . Instructor in Library
Methods.

155

TRAINING SCHOOL TEACHERS.

CAROLINE E. MORSE, (82). September, 1882, to September, 1883.
CLARA T. WING, (88). September, 1883, to September, 1885. Mrs. Clara

T. Guild.
CAROLINE E. WING, (96). September, 1885, to September, 1887. Mrs.

C. E. Parker.
♦GRACE M. HOLDEN, (102). September, 1887, to January, 1891. d. April

4, 1893.
ANNIE W. COBB, (98). September, 1887, to January, 1890.
MARTHA W. ALDEN, (106). January, 1890, to October, 1898.
FLORA M. STUART, (101). February, 1891, to — . Grade 1.
LILLIAN A. HICKS, (81). Principal, September, 1891, to September, 1899.
CHARLOTTE L. VOIGT, (94). September, 1891 to July 1894.
ALICE M. WORMWOOD. September 1892, to July, 1894.
ANNE M.' WELLS. September, 1893, to — . Head of Kindergarten-Primary

Department.
ANNIE S. REALS, (107). September, 1894, to May, 1896. Mrs. George

Knight.
EMMA M. MAGUIRE, (110). September, 1894, to July, 1895.
MARY F. BOSWORTH, 110). October, 1894, to July, 1896. Mrs. Franklin

A. Park.
ALICE V. WINSLOW, (102). September, 1895, to July, 1897.
MARTHA M. BURNELL, (120). September, 1895 to — . Grade VIIL
MARY L. WALLACE, (117). September, 1895, to March, 1906. Mrs. Rev.

Harrison L. Packard.
FRANCES P. KEYES. September, 1895, to — . Kindergarten.
SARAH W. TURNER, (88). May, 1896, to November 30, 1913. Mrs. Fred-
erick B. Cudworth.
♦ADELAIDE REED, (62). September, 1896, to July, 1908. d. 1911.
NELLIE M. BENNETT, (108). September, 1896, to — . Grade VL
SARAH E. PRATT, (69). September, 1897, to July, 1901.
HANNAH E. TURNER, (88). December, 1897, to July, 1902.
JENNIE BENNETT, (104). October, 1898, to — . Grade V.
BRENELLE HUNT, (120). Principal, September, 1899, to October, 1918.
CLARA R. BENNETT, (130). September, 1901, to July, 1906. Mrs. Louis

H. Stilman.
SARAH V. PRICE, (129). September, 1904, to May, 1906.
FLORA P. LITTLE, (118). September, 1902, to — . Asst. in Drawing.
ANNIE L. SAWYER, (130). January, 1903, to July, 1907.
♦MYRA E. HUNT, (122). March, 1906, to July, 1912, d. January 27, 1919.
MAY L. PERHAM, (125). September, 1906, to July, 1909.
SARAH L. WILSON, (128). October, 1906, to July, 1907. Mrs. John H.

Caton.
NEVA L LOCKWOOD, (136). September, 1907, to — . Grade IL
ETHEL P. WHEELER. September, 1908, to July, 1914. Mrs. Warren C.

Tudbury.

156

BERTHA 0. METCALF, (137). September, 1908, to —. Grade IV.

RUTH B. DAVIS, (135), September, 1911. to — . Grade I.

BERTHA S. DAVIS. September, 1912, to — . Grade VII.

RUTH W. MOODIE. February, 1914, to January, 1919. Mrs. R. W. Fillmore.

S. ELIZABETH POPE. September, 1914, to — . Grade IX.

BERNICE E. BARROWS, (141). September, 1914, to — . Non English

Grade.
MARY L. HASTINGS. February, 1919, to — . Grade III.

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