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A Plan for the 
 Study of 
 
 Local History 
 and Kindred Subjects 
 
 In the Public Schools 
 
 By the State Superintendent 
 of Public Schools 
 of Maine. 
 
 AUGUSTA 
 1901 
 
\# 
 
 
 The Educational Department is prepared to send copies of this 
 document free of charge on application. 
 
 W. W. STETSON, 
 State Superintendent of Public Schools. 
 Augusta, Maine. 
 
 b D.ofD.. 
 
A PLAN FOR THE STUDY OF LOCAL HISTORY AND 
 KINDRED SUBJECTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The following outline is not prepared for the purpose of arranging 
 for an additional branch of study in our public schools. It is desirable 
 that the regular work in rending, spelling, penmanship, geography, 
 arithmetic, history and language shall receive most of the effort of the 
 children. No school can serve the children best which fails to have 
 systematic, thorough drill in these studies. 
 
 The children should be provided with text-books. Lessons should be 
 assigned and studied. The principles and processes must be mastered. 
 Frequent reviews should be given, and recitations conducted for the pur- 
 pose of extending the child's information, and also furnishing him with 
 opportunities to state in his own words the facts learned and the ideas 
 evolved. 
 
 While the child should devote much time to text-books, yet it is neces- 
 sary for him to have an opportunity to discover that they treat of facts 
 which concern him in his daily life, and persons of whom he should 
 have some personal knowledge. That this training may be provided, 
 the following outlines have been prepared. 
 
 The work suggested will furnish opportunities for testing the child's 
 ability to write paragraphs ; to spell the words he has occasion to use 
 in ordinary correspondence ; to apply in a practical way the rules learned 
 in grammar ; to discover that, what he studies in geography is a descrip- 
 tion of forms of nature which are found in miniature in his immediate 
 vicinity ; to use in a practical way the principles found in his arithmetic ; 
 and more than all. and perhaps best of all, to learn that history contains 
 a record of the persons who have been specially prominent in bringing 
 about the social conditions in which we live, formulating the laws by 
 which we are governed, and evolving, the language, literature and civili- 
 zation with which we are blest. 
 
 It is hoped that this direct contact with the environment of the child, 
 and this somewhat detailed study of the persons, places, institutions and 
 industries by which he is surrounded will develop in him the ability tc 
 observe, the habit of reading, a judgment which will enable him to 
 arrive at safe conclusions, and above all help him to form intelligent 
 estimates, and thus become better fitted to judge of those facts and 
 
conditions which are found in their larger manifestations in the nation 
 and in the world. 
 
 Critics of the work of the puhlic school claim that the children have 
 not the power of initiative, and hence are lacking in the ability to do 
 independent thinking; that they need too much guidance and assistance; 
 that they can read books, but cannot pull the pith out of what is read 
 or pass judgment upon it. Some think they are wanting in sterling 
 qualities because they have had too much transcendental psychology 
 and too little practical activity. It is urged that while they have a super- 
 ficial knowledge of the ends of the earth and the islands of the sea, they 
 know practically nothing about the things with which they come in daily 
 contact ; that they have read statements concerning the stars above their 
 heads and the soil beneath their feet, but they have never looked intel- 
 ligently at the one or made personal investigations of the other; that 
 they are able to recite many paragraphs concerning the pre-historic man, 
 but know little about the man whom they meet on the street; that they 
 do not investigate, but instead take the ipse dixit of another ;, that what 
 is printed is sacred; but what is, has no concern for them. In a word, 
 they can read, but they cannot think; they can look at things, but they 
 fail to see them either with their natural eyes, or appreciate through 
 their mental vision the life they embody. 
 
 Not all of this criticism is based upon fact. If any part of it is true, 
 then we need to set the children to a study of the forms of matter by 
 which they are surrounded, the facts of history with which they are 
 most directly associated, and the institutions by which they are now 
 governed, and in the administration of which they are to have so large 
 a share in the future. 
 
 The children should learn something about the hills, valleys, lakes, 
 rivers, islands, soil, industries and people of their native town, even if 
 they spend less time on far away countries. It cannot be otherwise than 
 useful to them to know somewhat in detail the form of government to 
 which they are most directly responsible, although they may study less 
 the earlier forms of misrule. It is better to know somewhat of the 
 origin and organization of a town meeting, and be familiar with the 
 duties of the officials of a municipality, even though you have to forego 
 the pleasure of knowing many things of doubtful correctness as to how 
 the Babylonians administered their local affairs. It is important to have 
 a personal acquaintance with the quality, character, hardships and expe- 
 riences of the early settlers of one's own section, even though that 
 acquaintance may be acquired at the expense of an intimate knowledge 
 of ancient or mediaeval history. 
 
 A child's preparation for the text-book study of geography should 
 give him ideas of direction, distance, form, surface, elevation, contour, 
 division of surface into land and water, with the forms and aspects of 
 vegetable and animal life, and he should also know something of man 
 ici his industrial and social relations. 
 
 To study history intelligently, he must know men in their personal 
 activities, observe what they have wrought out into permanent industrial 
 
and social forms, and become acquainted with the customs and institu- 
 tions within which they have lived. 
 
 In civics the nature of the local government, its functions, powers 
 and methods of procedure should be understood. 
 
 The methods by which this knowledge must be acquired are such as 
 to make the process of acquisition of special value as a disciplinary force. 
 The instruction must necessarily be almost wholly oral and objective. 
 The pupil is to be encouraged to observe and investigate the things 
 about him. He is to go to the original sources for his facts. Under 
 the direction of the teacher he is to get for himself at first hand 
 the material with which he is to work in his mastery of the subject 
 studied. Such training will compel the weighing of facts, and will beget 
 habits of analysis and classification, and all of this will better enable him 
 to study from books the geography, history, and governments of the 
 state and nation, and also of the world. It will induce an interest in 
 local affairs, and a pride in the town and state and will, in the end. 
 make intelligent and safe citizens. It will also be of great value in the 
 regular work in reading, spelling, geography, history, language and 
 arithmetic. If properly conducted the child is forced to begin at the 
 beginning of things, and to build firm foundations for his future work. 
 He finds it necessary to collect data by personal effort and on these he 
 can base opinions and estimates, and thus gain intelligent ideas of things 
 which he cannot see. but must imagine. In time he will see that geog- 
 raphy deals with the earth he inhabits and with the elements with which 
 he is familiar; that history deals with men who have lived or are living, 
 who are his kindred and related to him in their qualities, characteristics, 
 habits, abilities ; and that civics deals with rules of conduct, customs and 
 social methods and institutions, having their like in those which sur- 
 round him, and are affecting his conduct and that of the living men and 
 women who are his companions and associates. 
 
 Such a course of instruction as is here outlined would seem to have 
 almost self evident claims to a place in every public school. Feeling that 
 these claims are valid, the following scheme of study has been prepared 
 for the consideration of school officials and teachers. It is not expected 
 that any school will carry on more than one of the lines of work indi- 
 cated at any one time. It is doubtful if any school will be able to do 
 all the work outlined. A great variety is submitted so that the different 
 tastes and aptitudes of all classes of pupils may find profitable employ- 
 ment. 
 
I. 
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 School building: Make diagram showing location of halls, dressing- 
 rooms, closets, doors, windows, schoolrooms, platforms, teachers' desks, 
 settees, stoves, radiators, ventilators, etc. 
 
 School yard : Draw plan showing boundary lines, entrances, drives, 
 walks, location of schoolhouse, outbuildings, trees, flower beds, play- 
 grounds, etc. Draw plan of the same as you would like to have it. 
 
 Town : Draw a map showing the boundaries, hills, mountains, lakes, 
 ponds, streams. Also draw map showing villages of centers .. of popula- 
 tion and business ; carnage, steam and electric roads : location of public 
 buildings ; schools, and especially the pupil's own. Also draw map of 
 pupil's own school precinct showing school building, roads leading to 
 the same, residences, etc. 
 
 Draw map of city showing ward divisions, principal streets, public 
 buildings, including schoolhouses, railroad lines and stations, electric 
 roads, public parks, etc. 
 
 Physical features : Name, locate and give oral or written descriptions 
 of mountains, lakes, ponds, rivers, bays, islands, peninsulas, etc. State 
 size and importance of each. Describe in detail remarkable or specially 
 notable physical features. If town is a summer resort, describe the 
 special features which make it attractive to visitors. 
 
 Carriage roads in town : Number of miles of — condition of same, and 
 annual cost of keeping in repair. 
 
 Steam roads : Names of roads — number of miles in town — number, 
 location and character of stations. 
 
 Electric roads : Number of miles in town ; location of lines — places 
 with which they connect the town. 
 
 Location of town in county: Direction from county seat — description 
 of imaginary trip to county seat by usual method of travel, naming 
 towns passed through. Direction and distance of town from State capi- 
 tal — method of traveling thither — important places, and for what noted, 
 on the route. Proportional part of town under cultivation — used for 
 grazing purposes — part in forest — part waste land — part occupied by 
 water surfaces. 
 
 General fitness of soil for agriculture — differences in soil in different 
 sections, and analysis of. 
 
 General character of farm products. Estimated quantity of different 
 kinds annually produced — value of same. Value of products annually 
 sold — where marketed. 
 
 Number each of neat cattle, horses, sheep and swine in town last 
 year — value of each. Leading breeds of cattle and sheep raised. 
 
Character of woodlands— distribution or location in town. Estimated 
 annual cut of fuel in cords— of timber in Ms.— value of each marketedn- 
 where marketed. 
 
 Name wild animals and birds found in town— characteristics and 
 habits of those best known — those whose killing is prohibited or regu- 
 lated by law. 
 
 Name principal wild flowers found in town— analyze best known varie- 
 ties — which of them are noxious weeds. 
 
 Fish in lakes, streams and shore water: Quantities of each — food 
 varieties, kinds caught for sport chiefly— kinds marketed— kinds whose 
 capture is regulated by law — give regulations. 
 
II. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 Name: Give present name of town or city — former name or names — 
 origin or meaning of the present name — if named for person, give 
 sketch of that person. 
 
 Settlement: Date of first settlement — origin and circumstances of — 
 names and character of first settlers — hardships and difficulties experi- 
 enced — anecdotes and stories of. Describe early homes and home life, 
 and give stories of. 
 
 Early growth of settlement: First school — date of establishing — 
 character of — sketches of early teachers — character and experiences of. 
 
 First church: Date of organization — denomination — first meeting- 
 house — date of erection and description of — first settled minister — sketch 
 of. 
 
 First mill or other manufactory : When, where and by whom built. 
 
 First road : When constructed — connecting what points — character of. 
 
 Incorporation : Dates of organization as plantation or incorporation 
 as town or city. Names of first assessors — first selectmen — first mayor — 
 sketches of same. If originally part of another town, name of such 
 towns, and date of separation. 
 
 Present area in square miles and acres. Greatest average length and 
 width in miles. 
 
 Changes in population and valuation — tabulated by decades. 
 
 Changes in centres of population and business — describe. 
 
 First post office : Tell where and when established — present number 
 and location of post offices. 
 
 Important manufactures : Kind and location — when established — 
 capital invested in — number of persons employed in — annual value of 
 products. 
 
 Farms : Number and value of those occupied — same of those unoccu- 
 pied — annual value of all farm products. 
 
 Other productive industries : Kind — location — number of — persons 
 employed in — annual value of products. 
 
 Public schools : Number of graded and ungraded — high, location of — 
 when established — average attendance — number of teachers — scope of 
 instruction. 
 
 Number of persons of school age — annual average attendance in all 
 public schools — annual expenditures made for public schools — amounts 
 voted by town — received from State — derived from local funds. 
 
 State school lots, so called: Present condition of — if sold, for what 
 sum — how invested — yearly income therefrom. 
 
Other permanent school funds: Whence derived — how invested — 
 income therefrom — amount of, and how used. 
 
 Private schools: Academies, seminaries, colleges: Names of — loca- 
 tion of each — number and description of buildings occupied — scope of 
 instruction — number of instructors — annual attendance of students. 
 
 Public libraries : Name and location of — number of volumes — condi- 
 tions of use by general public— by school children. 
 
 Churches: Number of — location of; denomination of each — number 
 of members in each — average attendance upon services in each. 
 
 Societies : Social, benevolent, literary, etc. Names of — location of 
 each — character of buildings or halls owned or occupied by each — num- 
 ber of members in each. 
 
 Other facts of importance or interest as showing the present, individ- 
 ual, business, educational, moral and social condition of town. 
 
 Military : Early conflicts with Indians — events, incidents, and stories 
 of. 
 
 Colonial Wars : Part taken by the town — number of persons serving 
 in — lost in — names of persons killed or dying in — stories of. 
 
 Revolutionary War : Soldiers furnished for — officers serving in — 
 number of person's killed or dying in service — local incidents and 
 stories of. 
 
 War of 1812: Number of men furnished for — names of officers — num- 
 ber of men killed or dying in service — local events of importance or 
 interest — hardships resulting from war — stories relating to. 
 
 Aroostook War : Cause of — men furnished for — results of — local inci- 
 dents and stories of. 
 
 Mexican War: Part taken by town — men entering service — officers 
 from town — number killed or dying in service. 
 
 Civil War : Number of volunteers entering service — number of men 
 drafted for — officers entering service or made by promotion during ser- 
 vice — sketch of privates and officers who won distinction — number of 
 men and officers killed or dying in service — number who suffered in 
 Southern prisons — local incidents and stories. 
 
 Spanish War : Number entering service — number killed or dying in 
 service — anecdotes and stories. 
 
 Other important or interesting facts relating to military or naval his- 
 tory of town. 
 
 Biographical : List of persons born in or at any time residents of the 
 town who have attained distinction in literature, art, science, the legal, 
 medical, clerical, or educational professions, business or any industrial 
 pursuit. 
 
 Sketches of each, using so far as convenient the following outline: 
 
 Names of grandparents and parents — maiden name of grandmother 
 and mother, and some idea of the quality and ability of each — account of 
 boyhood and early training of person of whom sketch is given — success 
 attained by him — work in which he engaged, giving length of time 
 devoted to each kind — the field in which he gained distinction — value of 
 his services — such incidents, anecdotes and stories as will give clear 
 ideas of the person. 
 
For further outlines, consult directions given for these sketches under 
 history topics in Course of Study for the Common Schools. (This 
 pamphlet will be furnished free of charge to all persons applying for the- 
 same). 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Give extended sketches of great disasters and extraordinary events 
 occurring in town. Accounts of visits made to the town by persons of 
 note, with statement of reasons for, and incidents of such visit. 
 
 Titles, with names of authors of all histories, pamphlets, articles, and 
 other documents relating to the town, which have been issued. 
 
 Detailed outline of legends, traditions, stories and anecdotes connected 
 with town and people who have lived in it. 
 
 Full sketch of odd, striking or noted characters who have lived in 
 town. 
 
 Write brief statement to show how the geographical location and 
 physical features of the town have affected its settlements, its industries, 
 its general prosperity, its peculiar social and educational conditions ; 
 also how the same causes are likely to affect it in the future. 
 
12 
 
 III. 
 
 CIVCS. 
 
 Plantation : How organized — corporate powers and duties — officers 
 and their duties — qualifications of voters. 
 
 Town : Plow incorporated — corporate powers and duties, specially 
 indicating those additional to those of the plantation — list of officers 
 annually chosen — those chosen by written ballot — terms for which chosen 
 — duties performed by each, specifying particularly those of school com- 
 mittee and superintendent — salaries paid each officer. 
 
 Qualifications of voter in town affairs — annual town meeting — when 
 and how called — how opened, conducted and closed. 
 
 Make warrant containing the usual necessary articles for the town 
 meeting. 
 
 City : How incorporated — powers and duties other than those of 
 town — officers and their duties — manner of election, and the terms for 
 which elected — salaries. 
 
 Wards : Ward meetings — ward officers — names of those in the pupil's 
 own ward. 
 
 City government : Aldermen — councilmen — mayor — meetings of — 
 methods of transacting business. Illustrate by describing the making 
 of appropriations — make schedule of ordinary appropriations. 
 
 List of names of the principal officers of the pupil's own city — write 
 brief sketch of present mayor. 
 
 Classify statement of all expenditures made by the pupil's plantation, 
 town or city for the last fiscal year as shown by annual reports. 
 
 Taxation : Poll tax — property tax — real estate tax — personal property. 
 
 Inventory — Amount of assessment — overlay — rate of assessment, how 
 found — any person's tax, how determined — commitment — collection, how 
 enforced — abatements. 
 
1 3 
 
 SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 It is hoped that the following suggestions may be found helpful. 
 
 i. Make careful preparation for the assignment of work to be done 
 by pupils, and be sure that the topics selected are adapted to their capaci- 
 ties. Be certain of the sources of information to which you direct them. 
 There will be but little difficulty in studying the schoolroom, school yard, 
 school precinct. Those relating to the town or city as a whole will 
 present more difficulties. A map of the town or city should be prepared 
 by the teacher, or by the pupils under her direction. A day may be 
 profitably spent by the teacher and pupils in making explorations of the 
 town or city. 
 
 In history the teacher must furnish more assistance than she will be 
 called upon to give in the work in geography. It will be necessary for 
 her to procure for the use of the children the published histories, if any 
 there be, of the tov/n and county. The pupils must also consult the 
 older people in the neighborhood. The most of these will be glad to 
 help their young friends in learning the early history of the town and 
 of the persons who were its early settlers. Many of the historical and 
 geographical facts needed for answering the questions indicated above 
 can be found in any year's issue of the Maine State Register. It is also 
 suggested that the pupils consult the records of the town, in the hands 
 of the town clerk, and also that they read carefully town reports and the 
 sketches, articles, pamphlets and histories which contain accounts of 
 persons, places, settlements, etc., of their town. 
 
 2. So conduct the work both in assigning lessons and hearing recita- 
 tions that the pupils must find out for themselves the specific facts for 
 which they are searching. Do not tell them anything they can discover 
 by their own research. Send them to original sources of information. 
 Have them study these exhaustively. See that they are sure of their 
 facts. Accuracy is of the utmost importance. If you find they are 
 uncertain in statement, require further study. Have them make esti- 
 mates of the value and significance of statistics collected. See that they 
 select the essential and drop the unimportant. Have them make col- 
 lections of objects of interest, such as specimens of natural history, 
 implements and utensils of the olden time, pictures of persons and places, 
 and diagrams, drafts and plans of objects of interest. Arrange these 
 about the schoolroom in attractive forms, and make them subjects of 
 study. 
 
 3. Have pupils prepare careful descriptions of noticeable natural 
 features of the town, and sketches of events of special historical interest, 
 for publication in local papers whenever practicable. When these 
 sketches cannot be published, devote an occasional school session to the 
 
14 
 
 reading of such descriptions and sketches, inviting the parents and 
 friends of the pupils to be present. A specially interesting exercise of 
 this kind may consist of descriptions by pupils of the implements, uten- 
 sils, pictures and documents which have been collected by them. A 
 valuable general exercise in civics may consist in holding a town meet- 
 ing, or meeting of the city government, conducted by the pupils. In all 
 work of this kind see that the pupils make careful preparation, and that 
 they do the best of which they are capable. 
 
IN CONCLUSION. 
 
 Instead of spending so much time upon the physical features of South 
 America, Africa and Asia, and giving so much time to the study of the 
 Jiistory and people of these distant countries, give the children a chance 
 to learn something about the land and water surface by which they are 
 surrounded, the schoolroom and yard in which they spend so much of 
 their time, the homes in which they live, the industries in which their 
 parents and friends are engaged, the settlers and settlements in the 
 town in which they reside, the history out of which their lives have 
 come, and the incidents, anecdotes, traditions, legends and stories which 
 give tone and atmosphere to the communities of which they are a part. 
 
 It is further urged that the local school be the local museum for 
 storing of old time implements and utensils, also the repository of the 
 pamphlets, books, documents and objects of interest which the teacher 
 and pupils collect. 
 
 In a word, collect your material; investigate your data; read what 
 others have written concerning them ; talk over your conclusions ; write 
 out an outline of your work ; print the results of your labors. 
 
 You are requested to furnish the department with printed accounts of 
 the work you are able to do along the lines indicated above, or to send 
 •manuscript sketches of the same. 
 
 W. W. STETSON, 
 State Superintendent of Public Schools. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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