The Progressive Period of American Education and The

Kalamazoo CaseBy: Jennifer Roeder and Katie

Tucker

The Kalamazoo Case• In 1875, a small number of

Kalamazoo residents, protested and filed a lawsuit related to taxes to fund the local high school

• The defendants of the lawsuit referenced many prior cases where specific precedents were set.– The most important precedent

set was the Code of 1827 that required residents to fund schools based on specific requirements.

• The outcome of the Kalamazoo Case solidified the basis for pubic funding of school systems throughout the nation.

Kalamazoo High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Development of Role of Principal

• The principal was at one time called the “principal teacher”.

• Initially, the role of “principal teacher” carried a wide range of duties not always pertaining to teaching.

• Eventually, the principal’s role evolved to focus on managing the school, creating a positive culture, and working as a liaison between the teachers and school administration.

Development of the Role of Superintendent

• Position started in the mid-19th century after the development of principal teachers.

• Administration to important to be left to teachers and leadership needed to be centralized

• Initially there was no separate area of study for teachers and administrators, this didn’t come about until the first year of the 20th century at Teachers College of Columbia University.

Teachers College of Columbia University

The Division of School into Grades

• Early days education was just for the elite, until the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set aside land for the building of schools and provided that education was necessary for good citizenship

• One room schools usually had about 30 or 40 students of all ages and levels and taught by one teacher.

• Once more and more children began attending school the one room schoolhouse could no longer teach all those children with only one teacher. To solve the issue they built new buildings with multiple classroom, some even had lunchroom and gyms.

• Eventually grades were separated into their own levels and mandates were set for what was to be taught on each level. This led to the rise of elementary and high schools. Middle schools would come about years later.

Plessy V. Ferguson• Segregation laws continued to

flourish after the Civil War– In 1887, Florida passed a law that

prohibited blacks from riding in the same railroad cars as whites.

• Homer Plessy challenged this law by riding in a “white only” car. He was arrested and fined.

• The case eventually went to the Supreme Court where the law was upheld and “separate but equal facilities” were found as legal.

• This law remained unrevoked for 58 years, until Brown V. Board of Education proved that separate but equal facilities were “inherently unequal”.– This created key momentum for the

Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s.

Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court

Chautauqua • Founded in 1874, Chautauqua was

an organized learning experience led by Lewis Miller and John Vincent to drive a positive learning environment for Sunday School Teachers.

• Chautauqua eventually promoted all types of learning for all types of people. – It offered many liberal arts interests as

well as famous speakers and religious classes.

• Because of it’s popularity, this learning concept was replicated across numerous cities and towns across the nation.

• The Great Depression and the emergence of home radio technology caused a decline in the popularity of Chautauqua.– However, to this day, Chautauqua

“summer camps” still exist in upper New York State.

Jane Addams• Jane Addams was driven to create

the Hull House after seeing some of the horrible living conditions of children in large cities

• She came up with the idea after visiting London’s Tonybee Hall which was a building for the less fortunate. Jane decided that America needed a place like this.

• Once back in America Jane found the perfect building in the middle of some of Chicago’s poorest areas. On September 18, 1889, Jane purchased Hull House, a place where people went to escape their pitiful living condition. The place was mainly for children.

Jane Addams, founder of Hull

House

Jane Addams and the Founding of the Hull House

• Hull House contained Chicago’s first kindergarten and day-care for children of working mothers and organized girls and boys clubs and other activities to keep the children away from the streets.

• Eventually Hull house began to train people to become American citizens and skilled laborers. Health clinic who gave vaccination and medical care were also offer.

• By the year 1900 there were over 100 of these settlement houses in the U.S. and became an alternative to being on the streets and in the saloons

Hull House

Works Cited• "A Brief History of Columbia." 27 Sep 2008

<www.nycarchitecture.com>. • "Chicago Landmarks." City of Chicago. 2003. 27

Sep 2008 <www.cityofchicago.org>. • Greiner, Julie. "Jane Addams Hull-House

Museum." 2007. 27 Sep 2008 <www.visit-chicago- illinois.com>.

• "History Documents in United States History." Plessy vs. Ferguson Judgment. 27 Sep

2008 <www.historicaldocuments.com>.• "History of American Education Web Project." 27

Sep 2008 <http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/>.