Compniments of /he o.lulho'.
HISTORY
OF THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
OF
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.,
From  A4tgst, 180o, to.Augtst, 1875, wvritter at request azd
published  by or/er of the (Board of Trulstees of?Public
Schools, for the JNational Ceinteznial Year, 18 76,
BY
SAMUEL YORKE AT LEE.
Extracted and printed separately, by permission, from the TWENTY-EIGHTH REPORT OF THE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, for the Cententnial Year, 1876.
i'I(;ILL & WITHEROW, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS, WASHINGTON, D. C.
B^ r,,                                       ____________________________________________________________________________ 
1^^'~~lrr c~ns-  ~~ -                                                                     ^P.^  w~rresae c~~~r~~jr~s








HISTORY
OF
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF WASHINGTON CITY,
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
FROM AUGUST, I805, TO AUGUST, 1875, WRITTEN, AT REQUEST AND PUBLISHED
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS, FOR
THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR, 1876,
BY SAMUEL YORKE AT LEE.
The Municipal Government of the city of Washington was ordained in
1802; and by an amended charter in 1804, it was authorized to provide
"for the establishment and superintendence of schools;" the mode of
which was thus prescribed by an act of December 5, 1804, "to establish
and endow a permanent institution of youth in the city of Washington,"
as follows:
"Impressed with a sense of the inseparable connection between the
education of youth and the prevalence of pure morality, and with the duty
of all communities to place within the reach of the poor, as well as the rich,
the inestimable blessings of knowledge, and with the high necessity of
establishing, at the seat of the General Government, proper seminaries of
learning; the City Council of Washington do pass the following act:
"SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the First and Second Chambers of the
City Council of Washington that the superintendence of Public Schools
within the city of Washington shall be placed under the direction of a
Board of Thirteen Trustees, whereof seven shall be annually chosen, by
the joint ballots of the Council, from among the residents of the city,
and six be annually chosen by individuals contributing to the promotion
of schools, as hereinafter provided. A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum. The Board shall appoint a President and Treasurer; the
former of whom shall be of their own body, who shall remain in office
until a new election of President, which shall take place at the pleasure
of the Board. He shall vote on all questions, and have, also, a casting
vote in all cases of equal division. The Board shall have power to pass
all necessary By-Laws not inconsistent with this act; to receive donations;
and to vest and apply the funds placed under their care, in such manner as they shall see fit. They shall make an adequate provision, and pay
at such rates as they deem reasonable and proper, for the education of
children residing in the city whose parents or guardians are unable to
defray the expense of their education. They shall keep a journal of their
proceedings, and shall, on the second Mondays of June, in each year, make
a full report of them to the Council, excepting the names of those children
who shall receive education without any charge being made therefor.
" SEc. 2. That so much of the net proceeds of taxes laid or to be laid
on slaves, dogs, licenses for carriages and hacks, for ordinaries and taverns,
for retailing wines and spirituous liquors, for billiard tables, for theatrical
and other amusements, and for hawkers and peddlers, be appropriated as
(001)




002               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
the Trustees may decide to be necessary for the education of the poor of
the city, payable by the Treasurer of the city to the Treasurer of the Board
of Trustees, in four quarterly payments on the first Mondays of January,
April, July, and October, respectively: the first quarterly payment to be
made on the first Monday of October, 1805; provided, that if the said net
proceeds exceed, annually, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, the surplus
shall be retained by the Treasurer of the city, subject to the disposition
of the Council.'SEC. 3. That, within one week after the passage of this act, the two
chambers of the Council shall meet together, and by joint ballot appoint three
of their members, who shall be authorized to take all the necessary preliminary steps for carrying this plan into effect. They shall solicit, themselves, or name others to solicit, contributions in money or in lots; and
the money shall be payable at such times, after the first Monday in May
next, and in such installments, as they shall prescribe. It shall be paid to
the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees; and the lots shall be transferred
to the institution in such manner as the Board shall direct. Contributions
to any amount shall be received. The Committee may employ agents to
solicit subscriptions at a distance, and the sum of two hundred dollars is
hereby appropriated to defray such expenses as may be thereby incurred;
payable out of the proceeds of the aforesaid taxes: which sum the Treasurer
is hereby authorized to pay. They shall, on the first Monday of May, make
a Report of their proceedings to the Council; and shall, forthwith, give
public notice to the contributors to assemble, on the third Monday of July
ensuing, at such place as they shall name; at which time and place the
individuals who shall have contributed ten dollars or upwards shall, in
person or by proxy, elect six Trustees, to hold their appointments for one
year: of which election the Committee shall be judges; and each contributor shall have as many votes as he shall have contributed sums of ten
dollars. The judges of election shall notify the persons elected to convene
at the Capitol, on the first Monday of August following. The Council of
the city shall, on the fourth Monday of July next, elect by joint ballot,
seven Trustees, who shall hold their appointments until the second Monday
of July, on which day a new election shall be held; which shall be repeated
on the same day in each succeeding year. The Secretary of the first
chamber shall immediately notify the persons elected to meet at the Capitol on the first Monday of August: on which day the Committee shall
deliver over to the Board of Trustees all the original papers in their possession together with the journal of their proceedings: and the entire
direction of Public Schools shall thereupon devolve on the said Board.
All subsequent elections by the contributors shall be held in such manner
as the Board of Trustees shall prescribe."
The Committee of three, appointed by the Council for soliciting subscriptions, reported a contribution of $3,782 from 191 persons, of which
President Thomas Jefferson paid $200.
In pursuance of the act, the contributors elected, on the third Monday of
July 1805, the following six Trustees: Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Monroe,
Gabriel Duvall, Thomas Tingey, Joseph Brombey and John Tayloe; and
on the ensuing Monday the Council completed the Board by electing
Bobert Brent, William Brent, Samuel H. Smith, William Cranch, George
IBlagden, John Dempsie, and Nicholas King.
First Board of Trustees, 1805-6.
AITOGST 5, 1805.-The Board met, was called to order by Robert Brent,
chairman, and organized by the election of Thomas Jefferson President,
and Nicholas King Secretary pro tern.
At the next meeting, September 2d, Robert Brent, the chairman, presented the following letter from President Jefferson accepting the office of'President of the Board:




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                      003
MONTICELLO, August 14, 1805.
SIR: A considerable journey southwardly from this has prevented my
sooner acknowledging letters from yourself, from Mr. Gardiner, and from
Mr. S. H. Smith, announcing that I had been elected, by the City Council,
a trustee for the Public Schools to be established at Washington, and, by
the Trustees, to preside at their Board.
I receive, with due sensibility, these proofs of confidence from the City
Council and from the Board of Trustees, and ask the favor of you to tender them my just acknowledgments.
Sincerely believing that knowledge promotes the happiness of man, I
shall ever be disposed to contribute my endeavors towards its extension;
and, in the instance under consideration wil ill illingly undertake the duties
proposed to me, so far as others of paramount obligation will permit my
attention to them.
I pray you to accept my friendly salutations, and my assurances of great
respect and esteem.                         THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ROBERT BRENT, Esq.,
Chairman 8cc.
The President's letter was, by order, recorded in the journal.
Robert Brent was elected Vice President and Washington Boyd was
elected Treasurer. Rules for the government of the Board were adopted,
and a committee appointed to submit for consideration such measures as
it is expedient to take for carrying into effect the act "to establish and
endow a permanent institution for the education of youth," &c., made a
report which, after some alteration, was laid over until September 19th,
when it was adopted as follows:
"That the provisions of the act under which the Board exercise their
power, contemplate the establishment of an institution in which every
species of knowledge essential to the liberal education of youth may,
eventually, be acquired.'"That such an institution embraces three great departments-Schools
for teaching the rudiments of knowledge necessary to the common purposes of life; a College in which the higher branches may be taught;
and a University, in which the highest and most splendid attainments may
be acquired.
" The benefits of Schools being, in great measurelocal, they will probably derive their principal support from the District; those of a College and
more especially of a University being likely to be coextensive with the
United States and countries in their vicinity, they may eventually claim
the beneficence of liberal and public spirited men throughout the whole
extent of the Union, and justify the hope of national assistance.
"The eventual success of this institution, in the opinion of your Committee, greatlydepends on the cautious, gradual, and progressive disclosure
of its features, as time and circumstances shall dictate. While, therefore,
it would seem to be the duty of the Board to keep constantly in view, in
every step they may take, the great objects enumerated, it is, perhaps,
sound policy to undertake nothing which they do not actually possess the
means of effecting, and rather to retard than to precipitate the accomplishment of objects for which they have not the necessary resources. By these
means the institution will command the public confidence; and the liberal
friends of science will, without distrust, bestow their patronage. It ought
not to be forgotten that most of the plans projected in the city have failed,
principally, from undertaking them before the necessary means were acquired. By avoiding this common error of sanguine minds, by commencing
their arrangements on a moderate scale, by attending, in the first instance,
more to objects of utility than of show, and by rejecting all indulgences
of visionary hopes, the Board will be most likely to dissipate the apprehension that this institution may share a like fate with many of those that
have preceded it; and, by these means, perhaps, even accelerate, and cer



004               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
tainly render more certain the ultimate rise of those structures which the
metropolis, from her local situation, has a right to expect.
"Plan of an Academy.
"1. The Academy shall consist of as many schools as circumstances may
require; to be limited, at present, to two: one of which shall be situated
east of the Capitol, and within half a mile of it, and the other within half a
mile of the President's Ilouse; it being understood that these positions
are considered by the Board as temporary, and, consequently, subject at
any future time to alteration.'2. In these schools poor children shall be taught reading, writing,
grammar, arithmetic, and such branches of the mathematics as may qualify them for the professions they are intended to follow; and they shall
receive such other instruction as is given to pay pupils, as the Board may,
from time to time, direct; and pay pupils shall, besides, be instructed in
Geography, and in the Latin language. The schools shall be open each day,
Sundays excepted, eight hours in summer, and six hours in winter, to be
distributed throughout the day as shall be fixed by the Board, except
during vacation, which shall not commence prior to the first of August,
nor continue after the 10th of September, and whose duration shall be
fixed by the Board. In each school the Principal Teacher shall be under
an obligation to instruct as many poor children as may be offered, provided
the whole course of instruction does not exceed one hundred and twenty
quarters of full tuition in each year.
"3. Poor children shall be educated free from expense; the price of
tuition to other pupils shall be five dollars a quarter, payable at the expiration thereof to the Principal Teacher of each school, and accounted for
by him to the Treasurer.
4. There shall be appointed by the Board for each school a Principal
Teacher who shall, in connection with the Superintending Committee,
have the direction of the school, subject in all respects to the intervention
of the Board. He shall, in full compensation of his services, receive an
annual salary of $500, payable quarterly, on the third Monday of January,
April, July, and October, and the entire amount of tuition money, until
the number of pay pupils amounts to fifty, and beyond that number as may
be fixed by the Board. It shall be his duty, out of this sum, to pay for
the rent of a school house, for the fuel consumed, for all other expenses
incidental to a school, and for such assistant teachers as may be necessary:
it being understood that, according to the number and age of the scholars,
they shall be instructed in separate apartments by persons properly qualified. The number of assistants required, their qualifications, as well as
other details, to be settled with the concurrence of the Superintending
Committee and the Principal Teacher.
"5. For paper, pens, ink, and books necessary for the instruction of
poor children, there shall be annually appropriated the sumbf $50, for each
school, for the expenditure of which the Principal Teacher shall account
with the Treasurer.
"6. There shall be annually chosen by ballot for each school a committee composed of three members, who shall, in addition to the foregoing
authority, have the power of admitting poor children into the school placed
under their superintendence, under such regulations as the Board may prescribe: provided, that neither they nor the Principal Teacher, to whom alone
the circumstance shall be communicated, shall disclose a knowledge of those
who are educated as poor children. They shall visit the schools at least
once a month, without, in general, giving previous notice; and shall, halfyearly, in the months of January and July, make a report to the Board of
their proceedings and of the state of the school.
"7. There shall be, annually, on the second Saturday in January, after
the ensuing year, a public examination and exhibition of all the pupils, at
such place as may be provided by the Board.




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                       005
"8. The Academy shall be opened on the first Monday in January next,
and applications for the place of Principal Teacher, addressed to the Secretary of the Board, are invited until the first Monday in December."
OCTOBER 7.-A committee was instructed to memorialize Congress, representing the steps taken by the Board, and soliciting their aid by the appropriation of lots, the allowance of a lottery, or in such other way as may
be agreeable to them.
OCTOBER 14.-It was ordered that a committee be instructed to open
a new subscription for further contributions, for the erection of a College, to distribute a Circular Letter, and to take all necessary measures for
promoting the views of the Board. The draft of the Circular Letter was
agreed on, in which, amongst others, the following arguments were set
forth:' The seat of Government, where the Legislature and Supreme Judiciary
annually assemble, and which is the constant residence of the high executive officers and the occasional resort of citizens and strangers of distinction, must afford the best practical school for the instruction of those who
are destined to discharge the arduous duties of public life. It is here, on
contemplating the brightest displays of talent, the applause that crowns
them, and the rivalry and animation of popular assemblies, that a generous
ambition will be awakened more calculated to insure the unremitted labors
of the student than all the precepts of the closet. When to these advantages shall be added that of acquiring, hand in hand, academic instruction
in its various departments, the system would seem to be complete; or,
should the views of the student be directed to the bar, where else could
he find such an opportunity to qualify himself for future eminence as by
listening to the pleadings of the most eminent counsel and hearing the
decisions of the highest tribunals of justice in the Union? "
"He who, with the promise of success, aspires to that eminence which
shall qualify him for rendering service to his fellow-men, must, in his early
years, receive an education exempt from  local prejudice and narrow
views; and, without derogating from the respect deservedly cherished for
State institutions, it may be confidently affirmed that no place in the
Union is so well fitted for this purpose as the city of Washington. The
reluctance naturally felt by a parent to send a son from his own to a
remote State whose institutions, manners and habits perhaps widely differ,
will in a great degree, if not altogether, be inapplicable to a Seminary not
established insubservience to State views, and the Professors in which
will, as it is probable, be drawn from various States of the Union.
" There is another consideration which cannot fail to entitle such an
institution to the decided preference of a large portion of citizens. The
parent who sends his son to Washington will find for him, in his Representative to Congress, a guardian and a friend who, during a large part
of the year, will be his associate, will observe his progress in his studies,
superintend his morals, and perceive the real condition and character of
the Seminary; and thus be able, from time to time, to satisfy parental
inquiry and solicitude."
NOVEMBER 4.-Five candidates sent applications for the appointment
of Principal Teacher, and the first Monday of December was designated for
election; but it was postponed until the 13th, when one of the places was
filled by the election of the Rev. William Bentley.
The following rules in regard to the admission of poor children were
adopted.'"1. That, immediately after every election of a Superintending Committee, the names of the members shall be published, representing that
they are authorized to receive applications for the admission of poor children.
"2. That the Committee shall, at each monthly meeting of the Board,
lay before them the names of the applicants.




006               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
"3. Admission shall, thereupon, be determined by the ballot of the
Board-unless dispensed with by unanhnous consent: the applicants being
balloted for in the order in which each application was made, a majority of
votes being requisite for admission.
"4. In case there is not a quorum of the Board when the Committee are
ready to report, the Committee may admit such as they think proper;
reporting the same to the Board at the next meeting.
"5. No poor pupil shall continue in the school longer than two years
without the special order of the Board. When pupils are admitted, they
shall, subject to this limitation, be entitled to the benefits of the Academy,
until a discontinuance of their tuition be recommended by the Superintending Committee and sanctioned by a majority of the Board."
A memorial to Congress, asking a donation of lots and suggesting the
authorization of a lottery in behalf of the projected University, was
adopted, and a committee instructed to present it.
Superintending Committees were elected for the Eastern and Western
Schools.
DECEMBER 31.-Richard White was elected a Principal Teacher of the
Western School, and on January the 15th, 1806, the house taken by him for
school purposes was approved by the Board: a quarter's salary of $125 was
ordered to be advanced to him, and $25 were allowed for furniture.
FEBRUARY 3, 1806.-          Conroy was elected Principal Teacher of
the Eastern School in place of Mr. Bentley who had declined the position.
The Superintending Committee of the Western School reported sundry
applicants for admission.
FEBRUARY 24.-Robert Elliot was elected Principal Teacher of the Eastern School in place of   ~  Conroy, who had declined the position.
An appropriation was made of $40 to purchase globes for the Western
School, and a like appropriation was made May 5th, for the Eastern
School.
JUNE 9.-The Secretary was instructed to transmit to the City Council the report of the proceedings of the Board to the 2d instant.
Judges were appointed for the election by the Contributors.
Second Board of Trustees, 1806-7.
AUGUST 4, 1806. —Met and organized.
The Principal Teacher of the Eastern School was allowed $25 for furniture.
SEPTEMBER 1.-A committee was instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing a City Library in connection with the Schools;
whose report, made on the 13th of October, was laid on the table.
It was ordered that the Superintending Committee report such measures
as may appear to be expedient relative to the pronunciation of the English
language: which order seems to have fallen into disuse, as no further notice
is taken of the subject. It originated from some transitory cause not mentioned in the journal.
It was ordered that each of the Principal Teachers be paid $50 annually,
to be accounted for by him to the Treasurer quarterly.
It was resolved to be expedient to erect two school houses in the Eastern
and Western parts of the city; and a committee was instructed to ascertain from whom leave could be obtained for building the school houses on
suitable vacant lots in the city area.
A letter was received from the Principal Teacher of the Eastern School
asking an allowance for fuel, whereupon the amount of $30 was ordered to
be paid to each Principal Teacher for the winter supply.
OCTOBER 27.-The Committee appointed for such purpose reported that
the right of appropriating the vacant ground of the city had been, with certain restrictions, exercised by the President of the United States: whereupon Committees were instructed to obtain leave to occupy sites for school




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                      007
buildings in the eastern and western parts of the city, to collect contributions therefor, and to contract for such buildings, which were not to exceed
fifty feet in length nor twenty feet in width; the cost of each not to exceed
$1,200.
NOVEMBER 10. —Another committee was appointed to seek aid from Congress.
The Board suspended the By-Law requiring a public examination in January, 1807.
MAY 11, 1807.-Ordered, that the Annual Report be transmitted by the
Secretary to the City Council.
Ordered, that from and after the first day of October next the compensation paid to the Principal Teachers for the tuition of poor scholars shall
be at the same rate paid for pay scholars; and shall be paid to said Teachers quarterly by the Treasurer, and that from said date the salary of $500,
now paid to them, shall cease.
A list of poor scholars was reported by the Principal Teacher of the
Eastern School, who also asked reimbursement of money spent by him for
benches.
A statement of the condition of the Western School was received from
the Principal Teacher thereof.
MAY 15.-The Treasurer reported the expenditure of $1,589.41 on the
two new school houses.
Third Board of Trustees, 1807-8.
AUGUST 3, 1807.-The Board met, but for want of a quorum did not
organize until September 4, when the resignation of the Principal Teacher
of the Western School, to take effect October 1st proximo, was received;
with a prayer for pecuniary assistance from the Board to enable him to
remove his family from Washington. The Board appropriated $100 for his
benefit; but the order was reconsidered and not agreed to.
OCTOBER 12.-Hugh Maguire was elected to succeed the Principal
Teacher of the Western School.
FEBRUARY 18, 1808.-A communication was received from the Principal
Teacher of the Eastern School "containing a list of the paupers under his
tuition," with mention of sundry other matters.
MAY 30.-The Annual Report to the Council ordered to be sent.
Thirty dollars were appropriated as the Secretary's compensation; but
the order was reconsidered and disagreed to, on the, ground that no Secretary was allowed to the Board, the duties of which office being vested, ex
officio, in the Treasurer.
No proceedings are recorded between May 30, 1808 and January 17,
1809.
Fourth Board of Trustees, 1808-9.
JANUARY 26, 1809.-The Board met, but for want of a quorum did not
organize until January 26.
Ordered, That $100 be paid to each of the Principal Teachers on account
of claims against the Board.
A committee was instructed to ascertain what arrangements ought to
be made for the payment of the Principal Teachers, in consequence of the
reduction of the sum formerly granted by the Council, which had repealed
the subsidy of $1,500 out of taxes on slaves, &c., and had appropriated
only the gross sum of $800 for the two schools.
FEBRUARY 13.-Ordered, That there be paid to the* Principal Teacher
of the Western School $185, due January 1, ult., for 37 pupils at $5,
and to the Principal Teacher of the Eastern School, due at same
date, $135 for 27 pupils at $5 a quarter. The teachers were to be directed
to annex to their accounts, hereafter, the recommendations of the Superintending Committees for the admission of each scholar charged for; otherwise no tuition fee should be allowed.




008               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The Committee appointed on the 26th of January reported that, in their
opinion, the institution for the education of youth could not be supported
in anything like a state of respectability, according to the plan now in
operation, for the reason that no teacher possessing requisite talents and
character could be induced to take the principal charge of either branch of
the institution for the sum produced from the grant of the corporation and
the fees of pay scholars; and the Committee were constrained to suggest,
as the only mode of preserving the institution, the merging of the two
schools into one Central Academy; as the salary which the Trustees could
afford to give might be enough to procure the services of one Principal
Teacher of eminent talents and character, but would be altogether inadequate for the maintenance of two.
MAY I.-The Board having come to the conclusion that the course
suggested was the only mode of saving the institution, instructed a committee to prepare a suitable plan of a Central Academy, on which a "partial Report" was made on the 11th, was recommitted, and was produced
October 9th, in the shape of a By-Law, entitled: "An act to found a
College in the city of Washington," which provided the following curriculum: the English, Latin, and Greek languages, Mathematics, Geography,
Natural Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Jurisprudence, Geometry, Astronomy, Navigation, Surveying, Drawing, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Botany,
and Zoology; that application be made to Congress for incorporation,
and that, meanwhile, subscriptions be opened in the District, and in other
suitable places, for the endowment of the College; and that it be optional
to the subscribers to pay immediately or in six quarterly installments.
The Committee, also, submitted an Address, which was approved and
ordered to be published.
It was further ordered, that poor scholars should continue to receive
instructions, provided that their continuance does not extend beyond three
years.
Fifth Board of Trustees, 1809-10.
AUGUST 8, 1809.-Met and organized.
JANUARY 8, 1810.-Hugh Maguire's resignation as Principal Teacher of
the Western School was received and accepted; but a committee was
instructed to "inquire into the circumstances attending his precipitate
abdication."
JULY 2.-Ordered, That until a successor to Mr. Maguire be appointed, Mr. Gray be permitted to occupy the school house, on condition of his keeping it in repair, and of his educating such poor children as
may be sent to him on the terms at present allowed.
Sixth Board of Trustees, 1810-11.
AUG(UST 6, 1810.-Met and organized.
James T. Ferguson was elected Principal Teacher of the Western
School.
The rates of tuition for pay pupils were fixed at from five to seven dollars a quarter, according to the grade of studies.
A committee was instructed to represent to the City Council the situation of the institution, and to request an increase of the stun annually
allowed.
DECEMBER 18.-Ordered, That the appointment, by the Superintending
Committee, of Mr. Williamson, as Principal Teacher of the Western School,
be confirmed, and that said Teacher be allowed $400 a year.
A committee was instructed to urge the act of incorporation for a College
by Congress.
Seventh Board of Trustees, 1811-12.
AUGUST 7, 1811.-Met, but lacking a quorum was not organized until
September 16.




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                     009
Ordered, That the Superintending Committees have power to expend
money for school house repairs, fuel, books, and stationery, and make quarterly Reports thereof to the Board.
Ordered, That from and after this day the offices of Secretary and Treasurer be distinct.
A letter was received from Mr. Dashiell, teacher of the Lancasterian
School in Georgetown, suggesting a similar school in Washington; which
was referred to a committee to report thereon.
NOVEMBER 11.-The Committee on Mr. Dashiell's proposition submitted a Report; and, after debate thereon, the Board ordered that there
shall be one school in the city of Washington, as near as practicable
in the center thereof; to be conducted on the plan of, and as nearly correspondent as may be with, the forms observed in the Lancasterian
School: and a Superintending Committee was elected, and authorized to
provide a suitable building, to engage a teacher, and to put such school
into full operation; all previous laws concerning the Eastern and Western
Schools being thereby repealed.
APRIL 13, 1812.-The Superintending Committee reported as follows:
" That they had procured a house for the Lancasterian School at $80 a year,
and engaged a teacher sent out by Mr. Lancaster, for two years, at a
salary of $500 a year, his expenses from England to be paid by the Board:
one moiety during the first quarter of 1812, and the remaining moiety
during the first quarter of 1813.
"That the necessary repairs had been made to the house; benches and
desks for 200 scholars completed; the necessary stationery, except slates,
purchased; a set of lessons on boards, and a stove with pipe for $25; and
that tickets of admission had been issued to 58 boys and 32 girls."
The Report having been adopted, it was ordered that pay scholars be
admitted at $2.50 a quarter.
A committee was instructed to inquire into the powers of the Board in
relation to the teachers and property of the Eastern and Western Schools.
JUNE 18.-The Committee reported that they construed the term
Public School to mean a school supported wholly or in part at public
expense; that, therefore, as the Board has withdrawn the public
funds from the support of the Eastern and Western Schools, they can no
longer be considered as Public Schools, and are no longer under the supervision nor control of the Board, further than to permit said school houses
to be occupied by teachers, on terms to be prescribed by contract or
agreement.
That the Board has the entire disposal of the school houses erected with
the contributions of individuals, under sanction of law; and may sell the
same and apply the proceeds to the erection of one large Central school on
the Lancasterian plan. It was thereupon ordered to sell said school
houses, and to apply the proceeds as recommended: and that application
be made to the City Council for aid in accomplishing such purpose.
Eighth Board of Trustees, 1812-13.
AUGUST 3, 1812.-Met and organized.
Ordered, That the action of the Committee to sell the two school houses,
and to apply the proceeds thereof, &c., be suspended.
A committee was instructed to pray the City Council to revive the law
granting a subsidy of $1,500 out of certain taxes, and to ask further aid for
the establishment of two Laneasterian Schools: whose Report was submitted on the 10th of August, unanimously approved, and, by order, was
transmitted to the City Council. The Report is as follows:
" To the Board of Aldermen and Board of Common Council
of the city of Washington:
" The dissemination of learning in a free country is, indisputably, an object




010               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
of eminent importance, and ought to be liberally provided for in the capital of this rising empire. With a view to this great object, the Congress
of the United States have empowered the Corporation of Washington to
establish, superintend, and support Public Schools: and the City Council,
by their act of 5th December, 1804, with a liberality seldom  exceeded, if
we take into consideration the then precuniary resources of the city,
appropriated no less a sum than $1,500 annually for the support of Public
Schools.
" The first Boards of Trustees, appointed under this act, had many inconveniences and disadvantages to encounter in establishing the institution,
from the want of proper characters for teachers, in the city or its vicinity,
and from the widely scattered situation of its population; and, with all the
economy they could use, the whole appropriation seems not to have been
more than sufficient for the purchase of furniture, maps, globes, books
and stationery for the schools, the necessary repairs of the houses, and for
the tuition of about sixty pupils.
"This apparent profusion in the expenditure of the public money was
loudly complained of, and in 1808 the Council reduced the appropriation
to $800. This sum has been found to be altogether inadequate for the
education of those for whose benefit it was intended; for with the increase
of population in the city has been the increase of applications for tuition
of poor children. Consequently, the Board of Trustees for 1808-9 were
under the necessity of not only reducing the price of tuition below the
customary rates, but of limiting the period of instruction of each pupil to
two years; so that all might have the same opportunity of participating in
the advantages to be derived from the institution.  Still, however, they
were unable to increase the number of pupils to be admitted at any one
time above the former number; and it was not until the last year that
they had any prospect of so doing. A school, during the autumn of 1811,
was established in Georgetown on the Lancasterian system, at which are
now taught, in one room, about 350 pupils. This suggested the propriety
of establishing a similar school in this city, for the education of the poor.
Two schools would have been preferred, but the smallness of the funds
would not admit of it.  A house was accordingly procured in a central
situation, and a teacher, sent out by Mr. Lancaster, was employed to
superintend it; at which are now educated 110 poor and 13 pay scholars:
but the Superintending Committee have not been able, for want of a larger
house, to accommodate more than half of the poor children who have
applied for admission. The benefits which will result from the establishment of two schools on the Lancasterian plan, one in each section of the
city, especially to the poor, must be obvious to every discerning mind.
The two houses already built, by private contributions, are not adapted to
the Lancasterian system; and, besides, as they have been erected out of
the money subscribed by individuals many of whom have children now
educated in them, and as it is desirable, for various and obvious reasons,
that, at the seat of the General Government, schools of that description
should be promoted, it is thought to be advisable that houses suitable for
the Lancasterian plan should be erected to accomplish this object.
"The undersigned, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, respectfully
solicit such aid as the City Council shall deem adequate. They have, also,
to solicit the revival of the second section of the act of December 5, 1804,
repealed by the act of October 29, 1808; by which they will be enabled to
educate all the poor children who may apply for the benefits of the institution.
" With great deference to the opinions of the members of the late Council who passed the repealing act of October 29, 1808, the undersigned
cannot but suggest their opinion, that the act of December 5, 1804, permanently subjected the sum of $1,500 to the disposition of the Board of Trustees. It subjects the net proceeds of taxes arising on certain specified
articles, to the amount of $1,500, to the appropriation of the Trustees, in




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                      011
such manner as they may decide to be necessary for the education of the
poor of this city; it directs the Treasurer of the corporation to pay over
the aforesaid sum to the Treasurer of the Trustees, annually, in four quarterly payments; and he is directed to retain the surplus only.'"The language of the second section of the act of 1804 is strongly indicative of the intention of the law-makers. A contrary construction may, in
effect, nullify the act and destroy the good intention of the framers. It is
evident that, if a subsequent Council could legally reduce the appropriation
to $800, they could reduce it to $100, and thus annihilate it altogether.
The law is not susceptible of a construction which could thus defeat the
purposes of the institution which it was meant to establish.  The law of
1804 submits, in the opinion of the undersigned, a proposition to the consideration of the public.  The liberal appropriation of that act was the
inducement to the Contributors to give their money in aid of the plan of
education proposed by it. Without that appropriation, their contributions
would have been wholly ineffectual; and it cannot be supposed that any
person would have given his money, except under an expectation and in
the confidence that such appropriation was intended to be permanent.
"Every circumstance concurred to inculcate this opinion.  In a republican government education is deemed all-important. A.plan to establish
a public seminary is proposed by competent authority, and a definite sum
of money is appropriated, to be annually paid over to the order of certain
Trustees and applied as they shall direct. In consideration of these legal
provisions, a number of benevolent persons liberally subscribe their money
towards completing so desirable an object; viewing the law as the foundation of the seminary and the whole transaction in the nature of a compact
between the Corporation and themselves. Their contributions are gone
and can never be recalled.  They were freely given, under a conviction
that the system would never be changed without the assent of a majority
of all the parties interested.
" The undersigned entertain a hope that the Board of Aldermen and the
Board of Common Council may, after review of the subject, restore to the
institution the original appropriation."
This report was signed by Messrs. Laurie, Gilliss and Duvall. No relief
was extended by the Council; but, on the 12th of ensuing November,
Congress passed the first joint resolution authorizing a lottery for raising
$10,000 for two Lancasterian schools.
NOVEMBER 23.-A committee was instructed to report on the expediency of establishing a Lancasterian School in the eastern part of the
city, at which poor children may be educated, or of procuring education
for them at some other school already established.
Ordered, That the Superintending Committee of the Lancasterian School
appoint a person to collect the tuition money of the pay pupils; and that
all whose bills are not paid on demand shall be dismissed.
A committee was instructed to urge the incorporation, by Congress, of
a College.
APRIL 15, 1813. —M. Oulld, teacher of the Lancasterian School, submitted the following report, dated February 10, 1813:
"GENTLEMEN: This day twelve months ago I had the pleasure of
opening, under your auspices, the second genuine Lancasterian School in
America. The system was set in operation, as far as the nature of the
room would admit, in an inconvenient house opposite to the General Post
Office; but, notwithstanding, there were 120 scholars entered on the list
during the first three months. I was then under the necessity of delaying
the admission of scholars, as the room would not accommodate more than
80 to 100 scholars. It now becomes my duty to lay before you an account of
the improvement of the scholars placed under my direction: which I shall
do in the following order:
" One hundred and thirty scholars have been admitted since February




012               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
10, 1812, 82 males and 48 females; out of which number 2 have died, and
37 have left the school for various employments, after passing thro gh
several grades of studies; leaving 91 on the list.
"Fifty-five have learned to read in the Old and New Testaments, 26
are now learning to read Dr. Watts's Hymns, and 10 are learning words of
four or five letters. Out of 59 of the whole number admitted who did not
know a single letter, 20 read in the Bible, 29 in Watts's Hymns, and 10
spell words of four and five letters.  Fifty-five scholars are able to
write on paper, many of them, also, in German text, who never attempted to form such characters before entering the school; 26 write
words of two or three syllables on slates, and 10 are writing words of
two or five letters.  All the scholars who left the school could write a
tolerable and many of them a capital hand. Twenty-six scholars are in
Reduction, Single and Double Rule of Three, direct and practice, and 23
are rapidly progressing through the first four rules of Arithmetic, both
simple and compound."
This Report was ordered to be published.
Ordered, That fifty poor pupils principally from the First and Second
Wards, may be admitted into the Lancasterian School already established,
and that the school be filled up with pay scholars at $2.50 a quarter.
The Treasurer reported that the aggregate sum drawn from the City
Treasury from the beginning to October 12. 1812, had been $6,364, and
that there was now due to the schools the amount of $1,336.
JUNE 2.-The Assistant Teacher in the Western School was dismissed,
on account of extreme severity, and improper treatment of the scholars,
and the Principal Teacher instructed to appoint a successor as soon as
practicable.
Ninth Board of Trustees, 1813-14.
AUGUST 4, 1813.-Met and organized.
At the meeting of the Ninth Board. the members were designated in the
Journal according to the Wards in which they respectively resided. Officers were elected and Superintending Committees were appointed for the
Eastern and the Western Schools, and for the Eastern and Western Lancasterian Schools.
A committee was instructed to report a plan for the moral instruction
and care of the poor children in the city, and for putting them out as
apprentices.
JANUARY 17, 1814.-Ordered, That Mr. Ould, Teacher of the Western
Lancasterian School, be offered $600 for his services in the year 1814, or
$400 for teaching 40 charity scholars; with the privilege of taking 40 pay
scholars on his own account.
A committee was instructed to urge the incorporation, by Congress, of
a College.
Tenth Board of Trustees, 1814-15.
AUGUST 1, 1814.-Met, but for want of a qourom did not convene until
August 11, when they organized; and instructed a committee to urge the
incorporation, by Congress, of a College.
OCTOBER 24.-A committee was instructed to request the Mayor to pay
over to the Treasurer the amount remaining due from the appropriations
made by Council.
A protest was entered against the occupation of the Lancasterian School
house by the Military Guard, and the Superintending Committee were
directed to forbid the same in future.
NOVEMBER 22.-A committee was instructed to represent to the Council
the inadequacy of the allowance to the Public Schools, and to ask further
aid.
The bills against the pay pupils in the Lancasterian School were, ordered
to be made out in favor of Mr. Ould, the Teacher thereof.




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                     013
The Committee to urge the incorporation of the College were further
instructed to ask the revival of marriage licenses in the county of Washington, and to appropriate at least one moiety of the proceeds thereof to
the support of the Lancasterian School in this city.
Eleventh Board of Trustees, 1815-16.
AUGUST 7, 1815.-Met and organized.
A committee was instructed to examine whether the Board has a just
claim on the Corporation for the $1,500 appropriated for the use of schools,
out of certain taxes granted in the original act, establishing a permanent
institution for the education of youth.
OCTOBER 9.-No quorum; but the members present, aware that the
Lancasterian School had been for some time and still was discontinued for
want of a room, authorized the Treasurer to purchase of Mr. R. Brent,
his house opposite to the prison, and if the purchase be effected, Trustees
Matthews and Young to have the same put in proper order for immediate
occupation, which action to be subject to confirmation by the Board.
OCTOBER 16.-Mr. Young having reported that Mr. Brent's house would
require a greater expenditure for repairs and alteration than the present
resources of the Board would warrant, the proposed purchase was given
up; but a committee was instructed to obtain, if possible, a room for the
school, in the Great Hotel, during the ensuing winter.
A new code of By-Laws was adopted, which differed in a few points
from those theretofore in force, viz: A Committee of Funds, to be appointed
annually, who should audit accounts, and be the general fiscal agents of
the Board.
Absence from three consecutive meetings vacated the seat of a Trustee.
A non-quorum meeting might legislate, but their proceedings must be
confirmed by a Board regularly convened.
NOVEMBER 6.-The Committee on obtaining accommodations for the
Lancasterian School reported that they had found it impracticable to get
a room of any kind anywhere.
DECEMBER 4.-The Committee appointed to examine the claim of the
Board for the subsidy out of certain taxes under the original act, submitted a Report in which the vested title of the Board to $1,500 a year was
strongly and clearly exhibited and cogently demonstrated. The views of
the Committee based on a "statement of facts"  were sustained unanimously by the Board, and were, as follows:
"We subjoin for your consideration a statement of facts, to which we
earnestly solicit your prompt attention and favorable decision. Nothing
short of immediate relief from your honorable Board can enable us to discharge or'- duties to the public and to the individuals who have claims on
us, as well as to do justice to those faithful instructors of youth who have
long and anxiously waited for their pittance of salary, on which their subsistence and the continuance of their services depend.
" It had been ascertained that the former mode of instructing the poor
children was inadequate to the object and more expensive than the Lancasterian system, which, of course, was adopted to meet the expectations
and wishes of the community. The Lancasterian School was established,
and under the direction of a competent, amiable and attentive instructor,
its progress and improvement have demonstrated its superior advantages of
economy and facility of learning.  Georgetown has built a commodious
and comfortable house for the Lancasterian School, in which more than
500 children are taught; and from which instructors have been sent forth,
and are now disseminating education from that Alma Mater throughout
the United States.
"The Lancasterian School of this city, of 113 scholars, is now totally
suspended from the want of a room to accommodate them, and which the
Trustees have not been able to procure.  MIr. Ould has not been paid his




014                HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
last two quarters' salary, and' the Treasurer has only $47 in his hands to
meet all the current demands for the support of the schools in the city,
and many old accounts remain unpaid, one of which is for stationery
supplied two years ago. Mr. Wallis, the late teacher of the Eastern Free
School, has taught one year and has received only one quarter's salary, and
there are now due to him $300 for the last three quarters ending October
11th, 1815. In addition, expenses have been incurred in fitting up the
school house to about $40, which remain unpaid.
"An immediate appropriation of $600 is indispensable, and a further
assurance of paying up the quarterly salary of the Lancasterian Teacher,
who must be otherwise dismissed, and his loss will be irreparable, at
least for a long time.  The Trustees are now at a stand, and on your
decision will depend the future exercise of their duties.  The crisis is
arrived when every man of this community will be led to inquire why
the Public Schools have been suspended? why the fostering care of the
City Council is withdrawn? and why the poor children are left destitute,
and the seeds of virtue and of education have been scattered to the winds?
The Trustees emphatically appeal to you for answers to the above, and we
cannot deny ourselves the pleasing anticipation of your favorable decision
to avert the dreaded calamity."
This address was signed by Benjamin Homans, Rev. William Matthews,
and Josiah Meigs, committee.
The Board, after hearing the address, adopted the following resolution:
" Whereas the Trustees of the'Permanent Institution for the education
of youth in the city of Washington' have experienced embarrassments alnd
delays, in the progress of their important duties, from the dispersed situation of their members to form a quorum at the stated meetings of the
Board, and to carry into prompt effect those improvements and regulations
necessary for the good of the Public Schools and for the suplport of the
teachers, the Board of Trustees respectfully recommend to the Corporation of'Washington a division of their powers and duties.  To effect this
object the Trustees suggest the expediency and propriety of dividing the
city into two School Districts; to be composed, one of the First and Second
Wards, the other of the Third and Fourth Wards: each district to have a
separate Board of Trustees to consist of seven members to be appointed
annually, in such manner as the Mayor and City Council shall direct;
whose duty it shall be to superintend and govern the schools in their
respective sections, and to be subject to the same laws, rules and regulations as the Corporation shall direct, or as they now are."
This resolution was ordered to be sent to the Mayor, with a request that he
lay the subject before the Council for immediate action; but no immediate
response from the Council is noted.
APRIL 29, 1816.-A committee was instructed to draft a new system for
the Public Schools, and to request the aid of the Corporation in erecting
a building for the accommodation of the Lancasterian scholars.
A letter was received from Mr. Williamson, resigning his position of
Principal Teacher of the Western School, and notifying the Board that his
assistant would also discontinue his services. The resignation was accepted, with commendations of the Board for ability and fidelity to duty.
JULY 1. —Richard W. Thompson was elected Principal Teacher of the
Western School, and Archibald McPhail Assistant Teacher.
The Council having, on the 28th ult, appropriated $1,500, the Board
apportioned that amount as follows: To the Lancasterian School, $850;
Principal Teacher of Western School, $400; Assistant Teacher of Western
School $250.
The City Council concurred with the suggestions of the Trustees in
December, 1815, and, by an amendatory act of June 18, 1816, established two
Boards; one comprising the First and Second Wards, the other the Third and
Fourth Wards; the first consisting of nine Trustees, six to be chosen by joint




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                      015
ballot of the Councils, and three to be elected as theretofore by Contributors; the last to consist of seven, all to be chosen by joint ballot of the
Councils. Another act, of same date, appropriated $1,500 to be annually
paid to the Trustees of the First and Second Wards in proportion to the
relative assessment of each ward of the preceding year; and $600 to the
Trustees of the Third and Fourth Wards, for one year, to be distributed in
proportion to the number of pupils educated from each ward. The annual
election of the Board of Trustees theretofore prescribed for the second Monday of July was repealed; and any time within the second session of the
Council beginning on the 4th Monday of June was substituted.
The Journal of the Board closes with the Eleventh Annual Session, and
the minutes describe a few meetings of the Board of the First District, which
met and organized August 5, 1816.
First Board of the First District, 1816-17.
The Rules of the old Board were revised and suitably amended.
AuGUST 12, 1816.-Ordered, That all tuition fees of five, six, and seven
dollars shall be collected quarterly, in advance, and paid over to the
Principal Teacher; and the Sulperintending Committee of the Lancasterian
School was authorized to purchase a suitable site therefor.
AUGUST 23. —-Ordered, That the salary of the Assistant Teacher of the
school should be $250.
Mr. Asa W. Wilder was elected Principal Teacher of the Western School.
SEPTEMBER 7.-Some rules for the government and studies of the schools
and for the discipline of the scholars were prescribed; one of which was
that " every scholar, on entering the school, shall take off his hat and bow
to the Preceptor."'
SEPTEMBER 30.~-The following school books were adopted by the
Board: Picket's Spelling Book and Juvenile Introduction. New York stereotyped edition; Murray's Sequel, Reader, Grammar, Exercises and Grammar, abridged; Walker's Dictionary, abridged; and Walsh's Arithmetic:
all to be furnished by the Principal Teacher, at retail prices, and to be
paid for with the tuition fees.
OCTOBER 18.-A committee was instructed to obtain from the President
of the United States the use of the building at the corner of Fourteenth
and G streets, lately occupied as his stable.
DECEMBER 2.-The Committee to wait on the President reported that
"his answer was, that said stable would be otherwise occupied during the
remainder of his term."
The following letter was received from the Teacher of the Lancasterian
School:
" Permit me to remind the Board that more than twelve months have
elapsed since the Lancasterian School was discontinued, for want of a safe
suitable room. Numbers of the children by this measure have been obliged
to feel the evil effects of idleness. The discontinuance has had another ill
effect. Falling more especially on the Teacher, it has reduced his salary to
the small sum of $600, which, unfortunately for him, is not paid once in six
months; which is particularly inconvenient since it is understood to be paid
quarterly. The 10th of December 1816, being the expiration of my engagement with the Trustees, I wish to be informed if it is their intention to
re6ngage me for another year.
Hoping that the Board will do something immediately,
"I am, &c.,                              HENRY OULD."
Ordered, That the Superintending Committee be directed to engage a
temporary building for the accommodation of said school.
A committee reported having examined the books of the Treasurer, and
find that he has disbursed, for the Eastern School, $637.27; and, for the
Western School, $571.23.  The Secretary was directed to furnish the




016               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Trustees of the Second District with so much of said statement as relates
to the Public Schools under their charge.
DECEMBER 10. —The Superintending Committee of the Lancasterian
School reported having obtained a small house opposite to the Chapel, at
the rent of $8 a month; and Henry Ould was elected teacher thereof, at a
salary of $700 a year.
FEBRUARY 10, 1817.-Ordered, That the tuition fees due to the Western
School be collected without delay and paid to the Principal Teacher; and
that the scholars failing to pay the same shall be forthwith suspended
until payments be made.
MARCH 10.-A. Waldo Wilder sent his resignation as Principal Teacher
of the Western School; which was accepted with regret by the Board, and
with commendation of his talents as a teacher and of his deportment as a
gentleman.
Second Board of the First District, 1817-18.
AUGUST 4, 1817.-Met and organized.
AUGUST 11.-Nathan S. Read was elected Principal Teacher of the
Western School.
AUGUST 15.-The following quarterly prices were prescribed for tuition
in the Western School from and after October 1st ensuing:
Classical Department: For Latin and Greek, Arithmetic, Mathematics,
and Geography with use of Globes, $12.
English Department: Reading, Writing and Grammar, $6. Reading,
Writing, Grammar, Arithmetic, and the first principles of Geography, $8.
SEPTEMBER 1.-The Teacher of the Lancasterian School was authorized
to assess his scholars 25 cents each for the purchase of wood.
The resignation of Archibald McPhail as Assistant Teacher of the
Western School was accepted to the " deep regret " of the Board, and with
the expression of their high esteem. Daniel H. Haskell was elected to the
vacancy.
The Board amended the quarterly rates of tuition agreed on in August,
to $10.50, $6, and $7.
DECEMBER 1.-The salary of the Teacher of the Lancasterian school
was raised to $800 a year.
Another committee was instructed to wait on the President of the United
States and to request his permission to occupy for school purposes the old
stable on the corner of Fourteenth and G streets.
The Teacher of the Lancasterian School was authorized to assess his
scholars 25 cents each, for the purchase of a stove.
JUNE 15, 1818.-The Teacher of the Lancasterian school was authorized
to assess his scholars 25 cents each, for paying the rent of the room.
JULY 6. —The Journal of the Second Board of the First District ends
with a record of a non-quorum meeting; and a copy is annexed of the act
of the City Council, approved July 11, 1818, which provided that the Western School should be conducted on the principle of instructing poor scholars,
and should be under the management of the same number of Trustees and
elected in the same manner as the Trustees of the Second District; that no
Trustee shall be, thereafter, elected by Contributors; and that the act appropriating annually for the schools $1,500 was thereby repealed; that $1,000
should be appropriated for the Western School, no part thereof to be
expended except for the education of poor children; that the Trustees of
the First District were authorized to place at a school, for the purpose of
receiving a higher grade of instruction, any scholars who shall have arrived
at such a degree of improvement as to warrant the same, and appropriated
$150 to enable them so to do.
The Journal here abruptly ends, so that we have no official knowledge
of the operation of this law; but from other sources it appears that it
wrought no satisfactory result.  There never was a coincidence of pur



OF WASHINGTON CITY.                       017
poses between the legislative and administrative bodies.  The first,
changed every year by electoral caprice, pursued no steady and continuous plan; and the measures of the last were annually interrupted, embarrassed, or modified by the usual grudging and uncertain policy. With the
exception of an appropriation, October 20, 1841, for two "Female Charity
Schools" on Capitol Hill, no additional educational schools were authorized until 1844, when a reorganization of the Board of Trustees and dividing the city into four School Districts imparted new vigor to the system.
The same Council appropriated $3,650 for erecting a school house on Judiciary square, for purchasing a lot and building a school house in the Fourth
District, and for paying rent for rooms to be occupied until said buildings
were completed.
The interval of twenty-six years is partially filled up from the columns
of the National Intelligencer.  Search has been made for the Annual
Reports by the Trustees to the City Council, but none of them has been
found; and but for the information gleaned chiefly from that newspaper
this narrative would, for twenty-six years, have been a blank. We are
indebted for access to this source to the prompt courtesy of Mr. Spofford,
the Librarian of Congress. Every facility for research consistent with
the regulations of his department was afforded to us, and the polite assiduity of Mr. I-utcheson, in carrying out Mr. Spofford's instructions for our
convenience, contributed greatly to our success.
Public meetings and miscellaneous occurrences were not, fifty years
ago, so fully reported as in our day, and the sessions of the Board of
Trustees were not noticed. Published acts, official advertisements, and
occasional "communications" were the only evidence of their continued
existence. With this explanation of the desultory character of some of
the following facts, we present our collation of extracts from the sources
indicated.
1819.
Mayor Smallwood, in his message of June 28th, said:
"The schools for the poor need the fostering hand of the Council. Let
us not forget that as this is the Metropolis of a great and rising nation,
and ought to be the source from which correct principles should emanate,
so ought it to be distinguished for the correct deportment of its inhabitants,
and afford an example for imitation. This, then, cannot be aided in a
better manner than by teaching the poor and indigent the principles of
morality, and the knowledge of the goodness of our holy religion."
And in his message, five years afterwards, of June 24, 1824, he uses the
following language:
"I conceive the maintenance of the Public Schools to be highly important. We should make them, by every means in our power, the instrument
to improve the moral character of our fellow-men. It would have the
best tendency to this purpose, if the Trustees of our schools would cause
the children to assemble every Sunday morning, at the respective schoolhouses, before the hour of public worship in the churches, and there to
lecture them on the principles of morality and religion. I presume that
this might be done in such a manner as in no wise to give offense to any
denomination of Christians; and the occasional attendance of the Council
at these schools with the Trustees, in order to examine the pupils, would
be of great advantage. I hope, too, that, before long, by a proper application, we may obtain from Congress some important aid for the laudable
object of public instruction. It has been accomplished elsewhere, and
why may it not be granted here? "
Notwithstanding these exhortations by the Mayor no important encouragement was vouchsafed by the Council. During that entire period, besides
the current appropriations for the support of the schools, no additional
2




018               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
facilities for instruction were granted. Legislation was confined to the
management of the annual lottery; to closing the schools except to children whose parents were unable to pay for their tuition; to appropriating
$100 for completing the purchase of a lot in square 127; to empowering the
Mayor to set apart and reserve for the support of the Public Schools all
surplus of the revenue remaining after the necessary contribution to the
general fund, and payment of interest on the public debt; and to adopting
a resolution of inquiry "whether a deed had been given to the Corporation
for the ground on which the Second District School stood."  The repeated
suggestions by the Mayor, for the inculcation of moral and religious precepts on Sundays, seem never to have been taken into consideration by the
Council or by the Trustees.
1821.
A correspondent describes in the Intelligencer of August 2, 1821, the
formal taking possession, on the 30th of July, of the old stable at the corner
of Fourteenth and G streets, by the Lancasterian School. He says that, at
10 o'clock a procession of girls and boys, between 130 and 140 in number,
preceded by their Teacher and followed by the. Trustees, moved from the old
and incommodious building in F street to that prepared for them opposite to
the Foundry Chapel. An address was delivered by the President of the
Board, who-congratulated the assembly on the improvements in the system
of learning, and on the immense benefits promised, "particularly to the
poorer classes of society."  He hoped that this institution, supported as it
is by the Corporation, and by the General Government which has generously allowed the use of the building, will be the. means of rescuing their
fellow-creatures;'from the doom of ignorance and obscurity."
During the August vacation an official notice was published that the
Lancasterian Western Public School of the First District would be opened,
on Monday, September 3d, at the new building corner of Fourteenth and G
streets " for the admission of children of the First, Second,and Third Wards
whose parents are unable to educate them."
On the evenings of December 18th and 19th, there was a Public Exhibition by the scholars of the Eastern Public School, the proceeds to be
expended for'Isuch of the orphan children of said school as were destitute
of clothing."  The proceeds having amounted to only $30, a repetition was
announced for Christmas Eve: but the result of this second attempt "to
clothe the most indigent of the poor scholars" is not published.
1824.
August 20, there was a public examination of the Eastern Free School,
under Edward D. Tippett, Preceptor, to which the Mayor, Councils and
ladies and gentlemen of the city were invited by published notice,. and up
to 1843 these advertised invitations were repeated by Hugh McCormick,
Principal. The only invitation to the Western Free School found. was for
May, 1831. No account of these examinations was given in. the Intelligencer, although space was afforded for description of the "recent annual
visitation' in 1825 of the Public Schools in Boston.
The city Press of that day contains few if any local items, except in
advertisements. Political and foreign news occupied all the columns; and.
so little was other matter regarded that an editorial paragraph admonishes
correspondents that, during the sessions of Congress, no room can be spared
for the discussion of topics of local interest. So indifferent was the Press
to such items, that there is no report of the proceedings of the Municipal
Legislature until about 1830, and even the inauguration of a new Mayor was.not chronicled for many years, except as a result of "the late elections."
The list of city ordinances, regularly advertised, is the only evidence of the,organization and operation of the Corporate Authorities.




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                         019
This is not said reproachfully, but only that we may congratulate ourselves on the abundant facilities enjoyed by the present generation for the
prompt diffusion of knowledge, Not a public meeting is held now that is
not particularly reported by the diligent and indefatigable editorial corps
Within ai hour after adjournment. The'sulphurous and thought-executing fires,"* with their electric pen, hourly record our domestic annals,
and spread before us, every evening, a daily history of the world.
The Intelligencer of July 2d publishes the following report by the
Teacher, Mr. Ould, to the Trustees, of the condition of the Lancasterian
Western School, from June 22, 1824, to June 22, 1825, inclusive:
"Eleven hundred and one scholars, 648 boys and 453 girls, have been
admitted into this institution from its commencement in 1812 to the present time, including the entrances during the year of 72 boys and 72 girls.
"Eight hundred and seventy-ninescholars have left the institution from
its beginning, including 117-95 boys and 22 girls-ducring' the present year.
Two hundred and twenty-two, 144 boys and 78 girls, remain on the school
list.
"One hundred and three'scholars are reading O'Neall's Geography, Ramsay's Life of Washington, Murray's Introduction, Reader and Sequel,
Terry's Moral Instructor, and Day's Sanford and Merton, alnd spell words
in Walker's Dictionary; 62 of. theli commit' daily to memory a portion
of Geography; Grammar and Dictionary; 51 are learniing to read Scriptural
-Instructions; 34 are-learning: to read monosyllables, and 34 are perfecting
themselves in the alphabet and in words of from two to four letters.
" Of the scholars learning to write, 154 can write tolerably, and many of
the-m can do-the orinamental handsof Old English, German Text, Engrossing, and Romnan and Italian Print.
"One hundred and eight'are in Arithmetic'; 38 of whomn are progressing
through the first four rules of Arithmetic, Simple, Compound, and Decimal
Reduction, Single and Double Rules of Three, Practice, Simple and Compound Interest, on to Exchange.  Herewith is a correct list of all the
scholars' names."
1827.
The same Teacher submitted a report dated July 20, from  which it
appeared; "that'1,271 had been admitted since 1812, 771 boys and 500 girls;
127 during the past year, 91 boys and 36 girls; 1,066 have left since 1812,
including'62 boys and 31 girls in the past year; 205 scholars, 165 boys and
40 girls, remain."   The Teacher ends' with stating that' "' the Trustees of
the present year recognized the following resolution, originally adopted
July 14, 1826:
"'That the Lancasterian Shool room being provided solely and exclusively for the use of the school, the Teacher be and he is hereby prohibited
from  permitting any other''meeting or assembly of persons for any other
purpose whatsoever.' "'
1830-33.
As' an evidence of the slight importance attached to local affairs the following editorial of the Intelligencer of July 2, 1830, has been transcribed:
" The two newly-elected Boards of  the City Council commenced their sessions on Monday last. A great portion of the proceedings of the Council
is not, usually, of sufficient' general interest, eveii to city readers, to render
* "Thought-executing fires:" an unconsciously'ropihetic epithet given'to the lightning
by Shakspeare, King'Lear,'Act III, scene 1:
"You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,"'&c.




020              HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
their publication desirable; but subjects occasionally come before the two
Boards of sufficient importance to the city at large to entitle the proceedings on them to publication. These we shall, from time to time, give a sufficient account of."
But if municipal matters and local topics were of so little moment to the
Press, the job printers were instrumental in agitating the community; for
amongst some old documents kindly lent by ex-Mayor Wallach there were
certain pamphlets and handbills showing that in 1830 the management by
the Trustees of the Western Free School was fiercely arraigned by a member of the Board. He alleged that the Teacher of that school was so incompetent as a scholar and as a disciplinarian that the school was considered
by all in its neighborhood a nuisance, and he particularly reproached one
of his colleagues for willful neglect of duty. He says that when he called
the attention of that colleague to the acknowledged incompetency of the
Teacher of a certain Public School, the Trustee opposed any reform,
because it would "involve a confession of neglect by the Board;" and
that as the scholars were of "the lowest grade of society," and "intended
for common mechanics," proficiency in grammar and in such studies was
altogether unnecessary.
This controversy was kept up for two or three years; but all the parties
have been long dead, and it would be improper to express any opinion on
its merits; and it is only alluded to here to show that the management of
the Public Schools was a theme of censorious animadversion.
1836.
The only record of proceedings in relation to Public Schools during the
mayoralty of Peter Force is in his message of June 27, 1836, wherein he
says,'that the increase in the fund of $40,000, heretofore provided, is
the only source of means, for the care of Public Schools, that can be relied
on. Means from elsewhere are hardly hoped for; and the city has no
revenue to apply to their support. None of the public lots in the city,
though liberally granted to Colleges in our vicinity, and to other institutions, could be obtained for the endowment of our schools."
1837.
Mayor Force, with a message to the Council of July 20th, transmits the
Report by Mr. J. L. Henshaw, Teacher, of the condition of the Western
Public School for the year ending June 22, 1837. Mr. Henshaw says:
"A comparison of this statement with those of former years will show
that 1,488 boys and 675 girls, aggregating 2,163 scholars, have been admitted
since its commencement, July, 1812. There were 172 in attendance on
the 22d of June, 1836, and there are now on the register 207 scholars.
"If all were in school at the same time, 51 could not be accommodated
with seats. Eighty-four are reading Cumming's Geography, Emmerson's
First and Second Class Readers, and spell words from Hayne's Definer
and Cobb's Spelling Book.
"Twenty-eight are reading Cobb's Juvenile Reader, Nos. 2 and 3, and
spelling words from Cobb's Spelling Book.
"Fifty are reading from the cards Scriptural instructions, and spelling
in words of from two to four syllables. Nineteen are learning monosyllables; 8 are combining from two to four letters; and 18 are learning the
alphabet.
"All receive lessons in Writing, and 86 write tolerably well.
"One hundred and sixty are taught Arithmetic, 36 of them have advanced as far as Practice, and 124 are in the first four rules, and in Simple,
Compound, and Decimal Reduction.
"Three classes, embracing 80 pupils, study Geography, and are aided
by a Globe and with illustrations on the Blackboard.




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                        021
"The Board of Trustees being unanimous in the opinion that an opportunity should be afforded to the older and more advanced scholars to
acquire some knowledge of the history of their own country: its settlement, its glorious and triumphant struggle for independence, its subsequent rapid increase and prosperity, and of its Constitution and form of
Government; two classes comprising 45 scholars, have recently been
formed on the History of the United States. They are pursuing the study
with tle most lively gratification to themselves, and with results most
cheering and satisfactory to the Teacher.
"A class of 18 are engaged in learning Book Keeping by single entry."
Mr. Henshaw, in concluding this his First Annual Report, expresses his
opinion of the character and value of the system on which the school is
conducted, and feels pleasure in doing so, as the result of his experience
has been to satisfy his mind that it is admirably adapted for effecting the
purposes intended; and he commends an economy that, at a yearly cost of
$875, confers the benefit of education, in a single year, on 303 children.
1838.
Nothing positive was done by the City Council this year on behalf of
the Public Schools. Some debate there was in regard to the salary of the
Teacher of the Eastern School; but it ended with laying the subject on the
table. On the 15th of October, a proposition from Henry HIowison was
received for the purchase of the lot occupied by the Western School house,
which was referred to a committee, who, on the 5th of the following
month, were discharged from further consideration thereof.
1839.
The Mayor says, July 8th:
"I have received no report from the Trustees of the Western School
District. The Eastern Public School is represented by the Trustees to be
in a prosperous condition. On the 28th of June 1838, there were 102 children
in the school; 48 were admitted during the following eleven months, and
49 were withdrawn or dismissed; leaving in the school, June 1, 1839, 101;
of whom 36 were girls and 65 boys."
A week afterwards, July 15th, the Mayor informed the Council that he
had received the report of the Trustees of the Western School; from which
it appears that there were therein, July 1, 1838, 217 scholars; 105 were
admitted up to July 1 1839; of these were withdrawn and dismissed
39, leaving on the Class List, 30th June, 1839, 50; making in all, instructed,
194. The Trustees stated with much satisfaction that the pupils of the
Western School, under direction of the excellent Teacher, Mr. Henshaw,
had made much progress in their studies, and begged further to observe that,
from the contracted situation of the school house, both Teacher and pupils
experience much inconvenience during the summer.
The Council now seemed disposed to turn its attention to promoting the
welfare of the Public Schools, and on the 19th of the ensuing August the
Board of Aldermen,
" Resolved, That the Committee on Public Schools report on the expediency
of increasing the number of Free Schools in this city, with such plan as to
them may appear the best adapted for the support of the same; also, on
the expediency of adopting the system of Common Schools in operation in
the northern States; and, in either case, what legislation is necessary for
the regulation of these schools, as to the hours of tuition, length and frequency of vacation's," &c.
Whether the Committee on Public Schools ever considered the subject
is doubtful. It is very certain that no legislative annals exhibit any report;
and as the subject of inquiry involved wide observation and long and steady




022                 HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
labor, it is not improbable that the Committee were soon, at their own
request, discharged from further consideration thereof.
1840.
The Councils, besides providing for the current expenses of the Eastern
and Western Schools, appropriated out of the School Fund $200 to be divided
between the two Female Charity Schools of the First and Fourth Presbyterian churches-a departure from  secular policy which they soon had
reason to regret, and took advantage two years afterwards of the first
suitable opportunity for the expression of that regret. Meanwhile, denominational schools were no more recognized, and no further appropriation
was made to the two Presbyterian schools, notwithstanding the favorable
suggestions on their behalf by the Mayor in the following message to the
Councils, July 27, 1840:
"It appears, by the Report of the Trustees, that the Eastern and Western Public Schools are prosperous. In the Eastern 150 scholars have been
receiving instruction, and 103 are now on the Class List. In the Western
Public School 282 have been taught, and 193 are on the Class List. It is
satisfactory to find that so large a number of indigent parents have availed
themselves of the means of education offered to their children by:these
Free Schools.
"The income of the fund of $40,000, permanently set apart -for their
support, has proved not only sufficient for the maintenance, but has yielded
a surplus which enables the Corporation to contribute aid to two valuable
Private Free Schools for indigent female children, and still leaves a surplus
on hand of $1,400 for further application or investment.  Of the two
Female Free Schools which have been aided out of the School Fund, one
has 80 children, and the other 50, in regular attendance. This fund has
now, by the investment from time to time, swelled to about $46,000, and
as the greatly increased population of the city since the establishment of
the existing two Free Schools, particularly in the western portion of it, has
occasioned a corresponding demand for free instruction, I must submit to
you the propriety of authorizing an additional school. I am, myself,
deeply impressed with the importance of this subject; and, in bringing it
to your notice, I need not, I am  sure, enlarge on the considerations of
duty, of humanity, and of sound policy which invoke the employment of
all the means within our reach, for extending the blessings of education to
those among us whose indigence would otherwise doom them to the evils
of ignorance, and probably to the miseries of vice."
The census of this year showed that in the city of Washington
there were children aged from 4 to 16 in number........................ 5,390
In the Public Schools.................................................  213
In   Private   Schools...........................................................  776... -    989
N ot  atschool.......................................................................    4,401
The only response to the message of the Mayor on behalf of the Public
Schools was an act authorizing the establishment of two Female Free
Schools, and appropriating therefor $400, which, as will be shown hereafter,
seem never to have been opened.
1841.
Mayor Seaton, July 20, 1841, communicates to the Council the following
facts from the Report of the Trustees of the Public Schools:
In the Western School there have been 269 children during the year
ending June 30th; 162 of whom were remaining on the Class List.




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                       023
In the Eastern School 177 had received instruction during the year; 106
of whom were remaining on the Class List: 77 boys and 29 girls. 
1842.
The Council, this year, withdrew all aid from sectarian schools, and
proclaimed its exclusively secular policy by adopting and publishing the
following Report:'"The Committee on Public Schools, to whom was referred the petition
asking for an appropriation for the establishment and support of a school
in connection with the Wesley Chapel Station of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, submitted, October 17, the following report:' That they have had the same under consideration, and appreciate the
motives and purposes of the benevolent and public-spirited individuals
whose names are appended to the petition. Your Committee, in common
With the whole community, regret exceedingly that no system of instruction has been established in this city commensurate with the increasing
wants of the population, with the enlightened spirit of the age, and accessible to all classes of the community. They indulge the hope, however,
that the time is not far distant when the advantages enjoyed so richly and
at such moderate cost by many of the other cities of our country shall be
enjoyed in like manner among ourselves. They would be recreant to the
trust confided to them if they did not encourage every proper effort to
secure such a desirable result.
"Your committee have had the whole subject before them in their several
meetings, and are unanimous in the opinion that something ought to be
done, AND THAT DONE QUICKLY, for the establishment and support of
Common or Public Schools in sufficient number and on such a basis as will
secure the benefits of a liberal education to all who are willing to enjoy
them.
"They would, if it were in their power, abolish, at once and forever, the
schools which are now regarded, and perhaps properly so, as mere Charity
Schools, and establish in their stead the Public or Common Schools, to be
supported by a direct tax on all accessible property, and to be enjoyed alike
by the rich and the poor, to the same extent and in the same manner, and
divested of that character which, however praiseworthy it may be, so far
as the benevolent feelings of their founders are concerned, cannot fail to
render the former highly objectionable.
"In the system which your Committee contemplate, and which, when
matured, they will present for your consideration, this odious distinction
will be avoided. Taking for their model the admirable system which has
prevailed so generally in the northern and eastern sections of the country,
and which has recently been introduced into our neighboring States and
cities with such triumphant success, they hope to be able to present a plan
which will meet with the favorable consideration of the Board and of the
public.
In the scheme which they thus contemplate the whole system of educa-'tion, so far as our action can extend, will be under the control of the Corporation and of such wise and discreet persons as may be chosen, either by
the Mayor and by the Boards of Aldermen and Common Council, or by the
people themselves in their primary assemblies. They will not be made
appendages to any Church, neither will they be under the peculiar control
of any religious sect.
While your Committee would express their decided conviction of the
importance of religious and moral training, and while they would expect
to see religious and moral culture in the schools which they would recommend, they would not consent to place these schools, or any of them, under
the special and peculiar control of any denomination of Christians. Much
as they venerate religion, highly as they prize its institutions, they could
not recommend, they could not even sanction, such a measure.




024               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
"They cannot, therefore, however disposed they may be to meet the
views of so respectable a portion of their fellow-citizens, consent to grant
the prayer of the petitioners; as it would be a departure from the line of
duty which they have prescribed for themselves.
"Such an appropriation of the funds of the Corporation was never contemplated by the law, and might be pleaded either now or hereafter, as a
precedent by every other Church and denomination of Christians in the
city, thus leading, directly and inevitably, to contention and strife, which
could not fail to affect the peace and prosperity of the community, and to
defeat, ultimately, the great object sought to be accomplished.'Your Committee are also aware that an application heretofore made,
corresponding with the application now presented, in another branch of
the Corporation, originating with another highly respectable denomination
of Christians, has been recently rejected.
"In view, therefore, of the whole subject, the Committee recommend
the adoption of the following resolution:' Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioners ought not to be granted."
The report having been approved, the resolution with which it concludes
was adopted.
1843.
JANUARY 16.-A committee of the Board of Aldermen reported that the
subject of so amending the city charter as to authorize taxation for the
Public Schools should be indefinitely postponed, and their report was agreed
to by a vote of 9 to 2; and the same proposition was laid on the table in
the Common Council.
MAY 1.-A report in favor of making repairs in the Western School house
was laid on the table by the Common Council.
Mr. Halliday reported to the Common Council a bill taxing assessable
property for the Public Schools, which was laid on the table, but his report
was published. The Board of Aldermen, moreover, rejected a bill establishing a Night School.
In September the Common Council adopted resolutions requiring the
Trustees of the Eastern and Western Public Schools to report a copy of
the Rules and Reogulations prescribed for the government of said schools,
and as now enforced; the hours of opening and closing; the length of the
recesses and of vacations, including Saturdays; whether the scholars are
allowed to take books home with them; if not, the reasons for such prohibition; whether the late increase in the number of scholars in the Western School affects the health or comfort of the scholars, and whether said
building is now adapted to the number of scholars and to two Teachers.
The publication of these proceedings attracted public notice, and the
Intelligencer of the 29th of September says, editorially, that "some very
interesting and animated discussions have lately taken place in both Boards
of the City Council relative to the management, more especially of the
Western Free School. The public intenest seems to be a good deal excited
by the late movements of the City Councils on the important subject of
education; and it may reasonably be expected that some beneficial results
will grow out of the inquiries above referred to."
The same paper, in an editorial of October 5th, says:
It was gratifying to observe the deep interest manifested in the Board
of Common Council in this important subject by all the members present."
Before this time no editorial notice was taken by the Intelligencer of the
examinations of the Public Schools, or of their condition, although in August considerable space was given in its columns to the examinations of
three private schools. For many weeks communications were published
for and against the views expressed by Mr. Halliday in his report on the
Public Schools, by which discussion the old fossilized prejudices were broken




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                      025
up; and an enlightened public opinion encouraged and urged the Corporate
Authorities to take measures for the efficient reorganization and ample support of the Public Schools. The act passed on the 20th of October, 1841,
for the establishment of the Central and Capitol Hill Female Free Schools,
seenms never to have gone into operation, as two attempts were unsuccessfully made this year to " revive'" the act in the Councils. The first attempt,
October 23d, failed in consequence of an amendment offered to appropriate
$100, severally, to the Washington City Orphan Asylum and to St. Vincent's
Orphan Asylum; and on the 6th of November the Board of Common Council refused to take up the bill at all: preferring no, doubt, to leave all matters relative to the Public Schools to the expected reformed administration
thereof, which, indeed, took place the following year, when an act reorganizing the Board of Trustees was passed December 6, 1844.
1844.
By this act the two District Boards were abolished, and the Public Schools
were put under the supervision and control of one Board formed of twelve
Trustees: three from each of the four wards of the city. The authority of
the Trustees was as ample as that conferred by the former acts. All white
children between six and sixteen years of age were to be admitted on prepayment of a tuition fee not over fifty cents a month, and fnurnishing their own
school books; but the usual line of discrimination was drawn by the provision that " children of indigent parents may be taught and supplied with
books without charge."
But the spirit of the Corporate Authorities manifested a just appreciation
of the Public Schools. By the same act $3,650 were appropriated for building two school houses and for renting rooms suitable for school purposes.
1845-48.
The proceedings of the Councils give evidence of their good will and of
the increased popularity of the schools. Besides the appropriations for the
current support thereof, ten new Primary Schools were authorized with
the requisite teachers and assistant teachers; all tuition fees were abolished; a school tax of $1 was to be levied annually on every white male
citizen, to be set apart for the benefit of the Public Schools, and for no
other purpose; a room in the City Hall was designated for the use of the
Board of Trustees, who were, moreover, authorized to institute a High
School. During this period of four years $21,383.61 were appropriated for
the Public Schools.
1849-53.
During these five years thirteen new Primary Schools were opened; the
requisite additional teachers appointed; the salaries of many teachers were
increased; lots were bought and new school houses were built; and the
sum appropriated for these purposes and for the incidental expenses of the
schools amounted to $77,284.40. The Councils also authorized the Mayor,
when the School Fund was insufficient, to take the necessary additional
amount from the General Fund. An act passed June 3, 1853, reorganized
the Board of Trustees as to some minor points of administration only, and
which was done merely to confirm the authority of the Trustees.
1854-61.
During these eight years the schools were supplied with much furniture of
improved pattern, and the Municipal Authorities zealously cooperated with
the Trustees in extending the facilities for instruction. The Councils of 1856
and 1857 were disposed not only to support but to protect and vindicate
the schools. May 21, 1857, a law was passed imposing a penalty of fine or




026               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
imprisonment for molesting or disturbing any Public School or Teacher;
and on the 30th of July following an act was passed offering a reward for
the apprehension and conviction of persons entering school houses and
destroying furniture. A bill levying 10 cents on every $100 of assessable
property for the support of Public Schools was also passed by the Common
Council, but was lost in the Board of Aldermen; and an act creating the
office of Superintendent of Public Instruction was also passed by both
Boards; but was returned to the Common Council, vetoed by the Mayor, on
the ground that such an officer ought not to be selected by the Trustees,
but ought, as other corporate officers, to be nominated by the Mayor.
On the 12th of November, 1858, the Act of Organization was again
amended in some administrative details.
On the 7th of July, 1860, the attempt to provide for the support and
maintenance of the Public Schools was renewed, and with success. A tax
of ten cents on every $100 was enacted, and has been levied ever since, besides an additional tax of five per cent. occasionally, provided for the
building of school houses. The total appropriations for school purposes
made during these eight years was $257,721.74.
1862-66.
These five years were still more auspicious for the cause of public instruction. Thirty new schools of different grades were authorized, including
the Wallach School house, on the building and furnishing of which alone
more than $30,000 were expended.  Measures were taken, also, for the
erection of the Franklin School house, for the completion of which the
Mayor was requested to anticipate, if necessary, the revenue of the Corporation, by loan. It would be tedious to catalogue all the details of expenditures which were, in the aggregate, $390,727.10.
JULY 11, 1862.-An act was passed by Congress providing for the education of the colored children of the District, but lack of money and other.obstacles prevented the concrete accomplishment of its provisions, until
March 1, 1864, when the first school was put in operation.  That subject.cannot, however, be treated in this narrative; and is mentioned here only
to indicate its incidental relation with the Public Schools of Washington.
The rise, progress, and existing condition of the Colored Schools will be
described by a gentleman specially designated for that purpose, whose
report forms a valuable portion of this volume.
1867-76.
The concluding decade, comprised in this period, has been signalized by
increased prosperity. The popularity of the Public Schools has certified
their utility, and the recent attempts of the Trustees to gratify the public
taste have been universally approved.  The propriety of establishing the
High School authorized by the act of November 1, 1848, has been oftener
than once suggested, but it has been considered by the Trustees more
advantageous to provide a supply of competent Teachers for the schools
already in operation; and a Normal School was established in 1873. The
office of Superintendent of Public Schools was created in 1869.
In 1871, the Municipal Government of Washington was, by act of Congress, abolished, and the entire District was placed under a Territorial
Governor and Legislative Assembly until 1873; when it was, by another
act of Congress, organized as a Province, the administration of which was
vested in a Triumvirate Commission; and which form of government is
still in force. Through all these political transitions the same liberal spirit
towards the Public Schools has been manifested, and the governing Commissioners have shown their readiness to promote their efficiency and welfare to the extent of thehi resources. The Board of Trustees has, however,
been again reorganized; and, since August, 1874, all the Public Schools of




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                        027
Washington city, Georgetown, and the county of Washington, have been
under the charge of the Superintendent and of a consolidated Board of
nineteen Trustees.
The total expenditure during this decade was $2,404,000.
This narrative of the beginning and growth of the system of public
instruction of the city of Washington comprises a period of seventy-six
years.  The process of its development is an interesting theme of contemplation.  Born in weakness and poverty, an object of supercilious
pity, and grudgingly fed, it has slowly, steadily, and successfully accomplished and is still fulfilling its patriotic and beneficent mission.
We will endeavor to trace the progress of this development from two
Charity Schools to the present magnificent system in the following review:
REVIEW.
The Journal of the Board of Trustees, from which a portion of this narrative has been drawn, extends from August 5, 1805, to July 6, 1818, and
comprises the proceedings of eleven Boards of Trustees of the Public Schools
of Washington, and of two Boards of the First District. During that period
there had been about sixty different Trustees, a few only of whom manifested
any solicitude for the interests committed to their charge. The meetings of
the Board were very irregular; for, out of two hundred and thirty-one, one
hundred and thirty-eight were adjourned for lack of a quorum. No place of
assembly was allotted to them, and for thirteen years they wandered hither
and thither, between the court room in the Capitol, the City Council chamber, Stelle's hotel, Lindsay's hotel, Long's hotel, Davis's hotel, Tomlinson's
hotel, Keowin's hotel, the Great Hotel, Trustee Caldwell's office, Trustee
Way's dwelling, the Post Office Department, and Dr. Laurie's church. In
spite of these discouragements it is pleasant to note the perseverance, zeal,
and punctuality of Rev. James Laurie, Samuel H. Smith, Moses Young,
Thomas H. Gillis, Joseph Mechlin, Rev. William Matthews, Robert Brent,
James Davidson, and William Cranch.
The City Councils gave reluctantly and parsimoniously. At first, they
granted a trifling annual endowment of 81,500, but in three years they
withdrew it, and appropriated about half of that amount for the maintenance of two schools. The sum of their benefactions for the thirteen years
was about $10,500-an average of about $800 a year-and but for the voluntary contributions of the citizens, which amounted to $3,782, the great
enterprise might have been indefinitely postponed.
About twenty different teachers had, during that period, been elected,
but the intolerable sufferings of a few months drove them into resignation.
The City Council was a representative body, and the indifference of its
members must, perhaps, be attributed to their constituents. A numerous
class of persons, at that time, lived in this District whom it was illegal to
teach, and it may not have been improbable that some fears were entertained that, were education to be so copiously and freely distributed, some of
it might slop over and percolate into minds not entitled by law to receive it.
The domestic institutions of this District and of all the contiguous territory
were more or less in peril from the invasion of schoolmasters, and the
apprehension of such a calamity might have been legitimately inferred.
Another impediment was the aristocratic sentiment so congenial with
and fostered by such institutions. The prevalence of this sentiment was
plainly exhibited in the establishment, legislation, and administration of
the'Institution for the education of youth," as is proved by the epithets
"charity schools," " poor children," alnd  pauper pupils," so freely made
use of by the Board. Poor people are, very often, worthy of respect, and
American parents are justly sensitive when a stigma indicative of contempt
is branded on their children. Even a child winces under the operation, and




028                HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
the vindictive flush or the silent tear attests the sufferings of a wounded
spirit.
The Trustees endeavored, indeed, to the best of their ability, to turn aside
or to neutralize this reproach. The names of the "pauper pupils? were
not to be made known outside of the Board, and as a certain proportion of
the scholars paid for their education, the public were not supposed to be
able to detect any line of discrimination; but their precautions were vain.
Such secrets are always divulged. If spoken in the ear in closets a little
bird shall carry abroad the matter. Indeed, one of the regulations of the
Board drew a line of demarkation, for none but "pay scholars" were
eligible for instructionin Latin and Greek and in corlespondent studies.
The policy enforced thus by circumstances on the Board effectually
checked the success of their endeavors. The rich disdained the association
of their children, with "pauper scholars," and the poor shrank from  an
open confession of a lack of means to educate their children, and these
jealousies prevented the formation of a unanimous public opinion in favor
of a Public School system.
The proceedings of the Board, too, betray a desire to exalt and dignify
their office. The term "Public School " was not agreeable to their taste.
At the second regular meeting of the Trustees a committee was instructed
to submit a project for carrying into effect the "Permanent Institution for
the education of youth" ordained by the act under which they were organized. At the next meeting that Committee submitted a plan for the establishment of an Academy, a College, and a University, wherein should be
taught "every species of knowledge essential to liberal education," and
which should be " coextensive with the United States and countries in their
vicinity."
Bearing in mind, perhaps, the solicitude of Washington and Madison for
the establishment of a National University at the seat of the General Government, the Trustees hoped, by a "cautious, gradual, and progressive "
policy, to draw Congress into cooperative measures for the accomplishment
of their object. It was no doubt with this view that so many efforts were
made for years to obtain appropriations from that body.  These efforts were,
however, abortive.  The only assistance rendered was indirect.  Fines
collected by the United States Marshal were to be paid over by him for the
Public Schools, and all escheated estates were to inure for their benefit.
From 1812 to 1828 fourteen joint resolutions were adopted autlorizing
lotteries for raising money for the schools, which produced $40,000, but a
debt of $300,000 was incurred by the city in the process. The sum thus
raised was, however, "appropriated, solemnly pledged, and set apart, in
1826, by the Corporate Authority, for tie purpose of endowing two Charity
Schools, one in the Eastern and the otler in the Western District of the
city," and the M3ayor was required to invest the money il Corporation
stocks, the interest thereof to be paid, quarterly, to the Treasurer of each
school, to be applied by the Trustees to the payment of the salaries of
Teachers and contingent expenses.
In 1833 the Mayor was also directed by the Councils to purchase stock
with unappropriated balances remaining to the credit of the School Fund,
and to take, thereafter, the same course with all unexpended balances at the
end of each year.'These investments now, 1876, have increased to 860,000,
the interest of which is transferred annually to the credit of the School
Fund.
It is to be deplored that there is extant no official journal of the Trustees
since the 6th of July, 1818. For the minutes between those date  we are
indebted to the antiquarian foresight of the late Peter Force, in whose collection of books and documents in the Library of Congress is deposited the
original record. By permission of Librarian Spofford that entire record
has been transcribed by direction of Superintendent J. Ormond Wilson,
ai(l the volume can now be referred to iln his official library. The incon



OF WASHINGTON CITY.                        029
venience of examining this journal while it was in the Congressional Library,
whence it was not allowed to be talen, prevented any satisfactory description of it heretofore; and but for the personal zeal of Mr. Wilson, this
history would have been deprived of its most valuable material.
The proceedings of the Trustees for twenty-seven years, from July 6,
1818, to August 18, 1845, when the existing system of Public Schools was
organized, have been compiled from the file of the National Intelligencer,
from the list of acts passed by Congress and by the Municipal Legislature,
compiled by ex-Trustee William J. Rhees, up to 1866, inclusive, and from
the laws published continuously in the Annual Reports of the Board. An
examination of these exhibits the want of accord between the City Authorities and the Trustees. The parsimony of the Councils restricted the operations of the Board, while the interests of the schools imperatively required
a larger revenue. The appropriations were not sufficient to keep the schools
in repair, to supply the necessary books and furniture, and to afford salaries
attractive to competent instructors. As "'pay scholars" supplied the only
resource in this emergency, less and less room was afforded to unprofitable' pauper pupils," until by an act of the City Council of October 20, 1820,
reviving the ancient spirit of the law, the Trustees were forbidden to receive
any " pay pupils," and schools were thereafter to consist entirely of children " whose parents were unable to pay for their tuition;" and by a subsequent act the Trustees were prohibited from paying any Teacher more
than $800.
The corporate authorities betrayed a desire to be rid of the burden of
popular education, and the Trustees were disappointed, worried, and
despondent. By act of August 10, 1836, the Trustees were instructed to
memorialize Congress for aid towards a permanent fund for support of the
Public Schools, and in April, 1837, this instruction was renewed, and the
Municipal Authorities of Georgetown and of Alexandria were requested to
cooperate with the city of Washington to obtain from Congress " an appropriation of lands or money for endowment of a system of education for the
entire District, by which the children of all may equally enjoy the inestimable advantages of a liberal education."  This application was without
favorable result, as may be said, in passing, to have been the case with
every application made before or since to that body.
Meanwhile the children of the city contilued to increase, and the calls
for education became more importunate. The Councils were, in 1841,
compelled to appropriate $400 for the establishment of two new Female
Free Schools, but provided that the scholars therein were "all to be the
children of indigent parents," thereby displeasing many of their constituents who, not being strictly " indigent," had nevertheless found the advantages of the Public Schools an important item of household economy.
The Councils and the Trustees seemed equally to be conscious that there
was something incongruous in the system  and management of the "permanent institution for the education of youth in the city of Washington,"
and sought, by reorganizing acts in 1816 and in 1821, to reconcile the discordant elements, but they had no meliorative effect.
The people at last began to discuss the subject, and Mayor Seaton brought
the topic distinctly before the public in his Annual Message to the Councils
in 1840. He called attention to it again in his message of 1841, and startled
the community with the statement that out of 5,200 children only 1,200
of them were attending the public and the private schools of the city. In
1842 he repeated his admonitions, and said that the only remedy appeared
to be in the extension of the existing system, or in the adoption of the New
England plan, involving taxation and universal eligibility.
There was now a response by the Council. Mr. J. F. Halliday presented a
report, with a bill for establishing seven Public Schools, providing for three
thousand scholars from six to sixteen years of age. It also provided for a tax
of one-sixth of one per cent. on the assessable property of the city. The pro



030               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ject was by many old settlers considered revolutionary, and the bill was laid
on the table. In this report the Committee said that the two Public Schools
embraced, on an average, one hundred scholars each, and that the houses
were uncomfortable and unsuitable. The benches and seats were of tile
worst possible construction, and the general arrangements denoted rather
a place of punishment for offenders than a school of instruction. In visiting one of these schools the Committee were exceedingly mortified and
pained, on asking for the books used by the larger boys in their daily lessons, to be handed detached leaves and pages of different books, which the
Teacher had to select and arrange before they were put into the hands of
the pupils.
The remarks of the Mayor and the report having been published, provoked debate both printed and oral, and lectures were delivered and public
meetings were held for the elucidation of the subject. Amongst the
advocates for the reform suggested by the Mayor were John Quincy Adams,
Justice Woodbury, Caleb Cushing, and other prominent citizens.
The lack of unanimity, and some doubts entertained whether a tax for
the support of schools could be levied without amending the charter, induced
Mr. Seaton to recommend, in 1843, that the whole interest of the School
Fund should be annually expended for school purposes; the establishment
of one additional school, and the admission of pupils other than the extremely poor on payment of fifty cents per quarter.
After the lapse of another year, the School system was again reorganized
by the act of December 4, 1844, and the Boards were consolidated, with
three Trustees from each of the four wards, comprising the whole city,
the twelve Trustees to be elected in joint convention. Three thousand six
hundred and fifty dollars were, by the same act, appropriated' for erecting
school houses and for renting. rooms.
A new spirit was manifested towards the Public Schools by the Councils
of 1844; for, from the beginning up to that time, thirty-nine years, the aggregate appropriations in their behalf had amounted to only $58,964.94, showing
Ein annual average of $1,511.92. In the four years following this last-mentioned reorganization, the total appropriation for the schools was $21,383.61
-more than $5,000 a year; and an act was also passed in May, 1848, levying a tax of one dollar on every free white male citizen of Washington.
The Board of Trustees were no longer itinerant; as, by act of December
23, 1846, a room in the City Hall was allotted for their use.
A combined free and pay plan was put on trial on the 1st of January,
1845. lThe only charge made for tuition was fifty cents a month, the proceeds to be devoted to the salaries of assistant teachers. But the non-payment of even so small an amount was to the disparagement of the scholars
whose parents were'indigent," and the discipline of the schools was by
quarrels and heartburnings continually disturbed. After enduring this incompatibility for three years, harmony was introduced by the abolishment
of all tuition fees by act of August 17, 1848.
By act of November 1, in the same year, the Trustees were authorized to
establish a High School, and in 1857 a bill levying a tax of ten cents on every
hundred dollars for the support of the Public Schools was introduced into
the Common Council, and was passed by that body, but:was not agreed to
by the Board of Aldermen. Both Boards, however, passed a bill creating
a Superintendent of Public Education, to be elected by the Trustees of the
Public Schools; but this bill was vetoed by the Mayor, on the ground that
all municipal officers ought to be' nominated by the Executive.
During this period, a great change was taking place in the public mind.
Every year the Public Schools became more popular, and when' the City
Charter was amended, and a law was passed July 7, 1860, by the Corporation, levying a tax of ten cents on every hundred dollars for.the support of
the Public Schools, there was neither protest nor expostulation.
This change in public feeling was strikingly manifested in 1863, when




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                         031
about $30,000 were appropriated for building a single school house. Four
hundred dollars were, besides, appropriated for the purchase of medals and
premiums for excellingscholars, and $300 for fitting up a room in the City
Hall for the use of the Board of Trustees.  Without a catalogue of particulars, the gross appropriations-from 1805 to 1866, inclusive, amounted to
$918,090.89.
Before leaving this point of view, it ought to be mentioned that, by act
of November I, 1848, a High School was authorized, but it had never been
opened, the' Trustees considering it most advisable to extend a basis of
Primary Schools, and to provide a supply of competent teachers for them
in a Normal School authorized by act of the Legislative Assemby of June
23, 1873. This school was opened in September, 1873, and, under Miss
Lucilla E. Smith, the Principal of it, has verified not only the expectations
but also the hopes of the Trustees.
The office of Superintendent of Public Schools was created by the acts
of May 7 and September 7, 1869, and the first incumbent thereof was Mr.
Zalmon Richards. At the end of a year he was succeeded by Mr. James
Ormond Wilson, who has, ever since, held that important office, and still
continues to discharge its duties to the universal satisfaction of the community.
In 1871 Congress, by act of February 21, abolished the Metropolitan
Government with all offices of the Corporation of Washington and Georgetown; and to a Governor and Legislative Assembly was committed the
administration of the affairs of the District of Columbia. This transition
to another form  of local government did not disfranchise the Superintendent nor change the organization of the Board of Trustees.  New
commissions had,. of course, to be issued, and the Governor cheerfully confirmed the authority of Mr. Wilson.
The territorial form of government for the District was, by act of Congress, June 20, 1874, abolished; and the administration was vested in three
Commissioners, by whose order, dated August 8, 1.874, the three Boards
of Trustees of Public Schools and the Board of Trustees of Schools for
colored children in the District of Columbia were consolidated into one
Board, consisting of fifteen, but by an amendatory order of September 9,
1874, was increased to nineteen Trustees of Public Schools; eleven of
whom to be residents of Washington, three of Georgetown, and five of the
county of Washington.
The Commissioners, however, did not abolish the superintendency, and,
in conformity with the general wish,. they continued Mr. Wilson in office.
During the seventy-five years elapsing since the establishment of the
schools, more than twenty applications by the Corporate Authorities,
besides numerous petitions from the Trustees, have been male to Congress
for aid, in public land or in money, to the Public Schools in Washington.
In 1849, Hon. Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, and Hon.
R. M. Young, Commissioner of the General Land Office, seconded
those applications, both officially and personally. The City Authorities, in
1858, asked an appropriation of $25,000, on condition that the citizens of
Washington would contribute an equal sum; but this request, although
made at the suggestion of the Senate committee was, like all others, laid
on the table. In 1855, the Secretary of the Board of T'rustees, George, J.
Abbot, wrote a memorial, which was presented by Gen. Cass to the Senate.
It was elaborate, and was amply illustrated with demonstrative statistics,
and the logic of facts. It was considered worthy of being printed, but it
was laid on the table until called for; and can be found when needed
amongst the Miscellaneous Documents, No. 22, of the Thirty-Third Congress, second session.
This indifference of Congress to the cause of education, in a locality over
which they are constitutionally invested with paramount and exclusive
authority, is altogether inconsistent with the profuse liberality manifested




032               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
towards the States and Territories, whose schools have been endowed with
gifts of the public domain equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars.
The General Government owns about half of the area of Washington
within the corporate limits, on which it pays no taxes, and it has, besides,
appropriated for its own use nearly a million dollars by the sale of city
lots, the proceeds of which were, by an implied covenant with the original
owners, to be devoted to opening, improving, and paving the streets of the
city. Some compensation ought to be allowed to the citizens of the capital
in the premises, and no mode of recompense would be more beneficent or
more gratefully acknowledged than a donation to the Public Schools of the
District of a due proportion of the public lands.
Washington, in his First Annual Address to the American Congress, in
1790, commended to its favorable regard the promotion of science and
literature. " Knowledge," he said, " is, in every country, the surest basis
of public happiness. In one in which the measures of government receive
their impressions so immediately from the sense of the community as in
ours it is proportionally essential. To the security of a free country it
contributes in various ways. Whether this desirable object will best be
promoted by affording aids to seminaries of learning already established,
by the institution of a National University, or by any other expedient, will
be well worthy of a place in the deliberations of the Legislature.'"
Jefferson declared that " education is among the articles of public care "
in this District, and proposed that a " donation of lands" should be made
by Congress to provide means for instruction in "those sciences which,
though rarely called for, are yet necessary to complete the circle all the
parts of which contribute to the improvement of the country and some of
them to its preservation."
Madison "presumed it not unreasonable to invite the attention of Congress to the advantages of superadding to the means of education provided
by the several States a Seminary of Learning instituted by the National
Legislature within the limits of their exclusive jurisdiction, the expense of
which might be defrayed or reimbursed out of the vacant grounds within
those limits."
So far as moral support may avail, all the intelligent and the patriotic
have commended and encouraged their petitions. Every President of the
United States and every Mayor of the city has manifested his good will,
and has contributed, as far as possible, his official influence in behalf of
this good work. But to quote the testimony of good and great men in this
regard would be mere waste of words. We could summon clouds of witnesses, ancient and cotemporary. Solomon said, three thousand years
ago, that a dull axe, directed by a wise man, will roll out more chips than
the same instrument could be made to do in the hands of a fool, " although
he put forth more strength;"  BElian relates that the Mityleneans, having
conquered a revolting tribe, immediately passed a law abolishing and prohibiting all schools among them; knowing that ignorance would be the
surest guaranty of future subjection; and Montesquieu has, in his Spirit
of Laws, only repeated the maxim of Aristotle, that the permanence of a
republic is dependent on the virtue and intelligence of the people.
We all wish that wars may cease: but we can hardly expect such a
desideratum will be accomplished before the next Centennial Exposition;
and meanwhile, it may be well to bear in mind the historical lesson that
knowledge makes men better soldiers as well as better citizens. The
recent campaign between the German and French Empires demonstrated
that the Common Schools of Prussia supplied better. soldiers than could be
found amongst the illiterate conscripts of Napoleon III.
Congress, although indifferent to our local Public Schools, have justly
appreciated the general welfare of popular education. They have greatly
promoted the good cause by the establishment of the Bureau of Education.
Theretofore, there had been no means of ascertaining the progress and con



OF WASHINGTON CITY.                          033
dition of popular intelligence.  There are thirty-seven different State, and
eleven Territorial, systems, and one hundred or more plans of public education, of which no two are exactly alike; and so of Colleges, Academies,
and other like institutions.  Collected from  so many diverse sources, the
Annual Reports of that Bureau offer facilities for the study of educational
problems which would be impossible by the investigation of facts relating
to any isolated plan, or in any less extended scope of observation.
The District of Columbia is without political, or rather partisan significance; and there is, consequently, no inducement for any party to invoke
its favor. It has been a Municipality and a Territory; and its affairs are
now administered as a Proconsular Province; but under no form of government has its electoral alliance ever been, nor is it likely ever to become,
an object of solicitude or regard   Legislation in our behalf must be
prompted solely by spontaneous and patriotic good will, and we patiently
and hopefully await the favorable consideration of Congress.
Nor is it presumptuous to assert that the citizens of Washington deserve
that favorable consideration. Since the institution of the Public Schools,
August 5, 1805, a period of seventy-one years, they have, by taxation and
local contribution, raised and expended in their support more than $3,000,000. In this sum are not included the amounts collected and expended in
Georgetown and in the county.
The present condition of the Public Schools, white and colored, of the
city of Washington, for the year ending August 31, 1875, exhibits:
Teachers, male..............................................................  10
"     fem ale..........................................................  228
Number of scholars enrolled.............................................  15,291
Average number in daily attendance................................  11,420
Number of rented school rooms................................            56
Value of school property...................................................    $920,312  00
Salaries  of Teachers.........................................................  175,000   00
R eceipts..................................................................  454,906   66
Expenditure, including the payment of previous debts.......   503,978 25
Average cost of each scholar.............................................  22 80
Some of the school houses built by the city bear the names of celebrated
Americans; as Franklin and Jefferson; some commemorate the coSperative zeal of Mayors of the city; as Seaton, Wallach, and Berret; and
others have been dedicated to the memory of Trustees, whose punctuality
and efficiency have merited such distinction; as Cranch, Miller and Abbot.
The most commodious and elegant structure was named in honor of the
author of the Declaration of Independence; of the act abolishing the
prerogatives of primogeniture; and of the bill for the establishment of
Public Schools in Virginia; and who was, moreover, the third President
of the United States and the first President of the Board of Trustees in the
city of Washington-Thomas Jefferson.
This sketch is not intended to exhibit a detailed statement of the condition of the Public Schools of the District of Columbia; but to describe
the rise and progress of the Public Schools of the City of Washington.
Statistical particulars are set forth in the Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The census of 1870 exhibited 17,403 children between six and seventeen
years of age, which class cannot be less, at present, than 18,000. The
Report of the Superintendent for 1875 shows that 15,291 scholars were
enrolled in the Public Schools; leaving nearly 3,000 children destitute of
the means for obtaining knowledge.  The claims of these children are
imperative, but the number of them is so exceedingly beyond the resources
of the taxable property in the city that the Trustees are without the
means of affording necessary accommodations.  It is for this reason that
the aid of Congress has been so importunately solicited.
3




034               HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Tuition is without charge. The scholars pay for their books and stationery; but the few children who need such aid are supplied gratuitously by
an order from the Trustees.
The present Board is composed as follows:
President: NV. W. CURTIS.
Secretary: JOHN H. BROOKS.
Superintendent of White Schools of Washington, and Georgetown, and
County Schools: J. ORMOND WILSON.
Superintendent Colored Schools of Washington and Georgetown: GEORGE
F. T. COOK.
Trustees: GEO. W. DYER,                    PHILIP L. BROOKE,
ROBERT REYBIRN,                   J. SULLIVAN BROWN,
R. B. DETRICK,                    WM. PERRY RYDER,
JNO. RANDOLPH,                    GEO.' W. MITCHELL,
EDMUND F. FRENCH,                 BENJ. F. PACKARD,
CHAS. E. HOVEY,                   C. B. SMITH,
ELWARD CHAMPLIN,                  JNO. H. BROOKS,
BENJ. F. LLOYD,                   J. H. FERGUSON,
W. W. CURTIS,                     HENRY JOHNSON.
F. W. MOFFAT,
CONCLUSION.
The system of Public Schools -as maintained in the United States differs
trom all other institutions for general instruction. No nation, ancient nor
modern, ever enjoyed nor could appreciate such a system. Rome and
Greece employed pedagogues, but they inculcated a haughty and barbarous
patriotism. Sparta took its boys away from their parents altogether at
seven years of age, and their exercises and gymnastic discipline never
ceased until they were eighteen, and by that time they had become hardy
recruits. The populace of Rome were cruel, bloody, and turbulent, and
the Athenians were idle, frivolous, and inconstant.
The plans of popular education in modern Europe are on an unsound
basis, and the operation of them is unsatisfactory. The boasted system of
Prussia subsists on Court favor, and every school-room would be summarily
closed, by command of His Mcajesty, if he suspected that the scholars in
them were imbibing sentiments inimical to the reigning dynasty; and the
National Schools of England and of Austria are kept in a demoralized
condition by the daily interference of meddling priests of the " established 
religions.
Virtue was the avowed object of all the plans of instruction framed by
Pagan nations of old times, but the word had with them a signification far
different from that which prevails in this day and generation. Virtue, in
past ages, meant, specifically, military or civic integrity and fortitude.
Since the Christian dispensation, however, virtue comprehends moral excellence, and to develop and to encourage this the Amnerican system of public
instruction is admirably adapted. With religion, as declared in ecclesiastical dogmas, traditions, and discipline, we have nothing to do, except
to prohibit the introduction of it into our educational ritual.  The precept "To love the Lord our:God and our neighbor as ourselves," has
been acknowledged to be saving doctrine for all nations ever since the
Golden Code was delivered by the hands of Moses, and the spirit of that
precept is inculcated in the curriculum of our Public Schools. Our prizes
are awarded for excellence in good conduct as well as for proficiency in
literature, and that scholar stands highest who has won eminence in both.
Bigotry may, indeed, imprecate such a secular and independent policy, but
the common sense of the American people will never I)prmiit our Public,
Schools to be separated by lines of sectarian discrimination, nor will they




OF WASHINGTON CITY.                        035
allow the treasure set apart for their support to be diverted to the propagation of the tenets of any particular creed.
Plutarch, describing one of the festivals of Sparta, mentions as part of
the procession three groups-of boys, men, and patriarchs-representative
of three generations of citizens, who severally chanted these appropriate
verses:
The patriarchs sang"In days, long past and gone, were we
Young, vigorous, hardy, brave, and free."
The men:
" We, who succeed you, now are so,
As those who dare to doubt shall know."
The boys:
"The same shall we, one day, be seen,
And e'en surpass what you have been."
This noble antistrophe is as suitable to an American Public School exhibition as it was to a Lacedemonian festival., More than two centuries ago
the American system of Public Schools was founded in a New England
Colony; and although its "form  and pressure "have been modified by
time and local idiosyncracies, its characteristics are as distinct, and its principles are as potent as ever they were. They are so homogeneous with our
republican institutions that they have been adopted in every State, and our
vast community is permeated with the leaven of an intelligent and virtuous
patriotism. Our scholars rejoice in the invigorating beams of free inquiry.
They are brought up without respect of persons, and are taught to venerate
only the great who are good, and to be loyal to the Constitution and laws
made for the people by the people themselves, who not only make the laws,
but designate the officers who administer and enforce them. A people who,
with patriotic generosity, voluntarily levy a tax on themselves that5he
children of all may be prepared for the duties and responsibilities of citizenship in a Republic where every man is daily admonished that, while he is
above no man, he is equal to any man.
To the advent of the Public Schools in Washington circumstances were
for a long time unpropitious. For fifty years they maintained only a precarious existence; but the principles latent in the system preserved its
vitality. In the course of human events the social climate has undergone
a transitional change, and.the prejudices which circumscribed its usefulness
no longer prevent its expansion. Our Public Schools are equal to those of
any other State or city for thorough instruction, successful management,
and economical administration. Our school houses are commodious and
elegant, and their excellence has been conceded both at home and abroad;
for the medal of "Progress in education and for school architecture" was
awarded, by the World's Exposition at Vienna in 1873, to the city of Washington. There is no vacant seat in our school houses, and crowds of children, hungry for intellectual nourishment, are daily refused admission to
them; crowds of embryo citizens whose future lives might be directed by
the city to their own good and to the good of the Commonwealth. We have
not been sparing of our resources in their behalf. We have exhausted our
own strength without success, and cannot be reproached if we now call
on Hercules. With the endowment of public lands to which we are justly
entitled, opportunities could be afforded to all of our children for becoming
wiser and better: but this noble enterprise can never be accomplished
except by the cooperative legislation of Congress.