Santa Clara County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter XXI 1922
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Book Title: History Of Santa Clara County

CHAPTER XXI.

The Public and Private Schools of San Jose-The Growth of the High School-The
State Normal School-College of Notre Dame-College of the Pacific-St. Joseph's
School.

  The first record of the establishment of public schools in San Jose is a
document found among the old archives of the pueblo and purporting to be a
contract made in 1811, between the commissioners of the pueblo on behalf of the
families thereof, and Rafael Villavicencio, for the instruction of the children
of the pueblo. Having been sent to the commander at Monterey, it was returned
with additions and modifications, and the document thus amended became the first
school law of the city of San Jose. Following is the text: "I return to you,
that the same may be placed in the archives, the obligation which the
inhabitants of the neighborhood have made with the infirm corporal, Rafael
Villavicencio, who transmitted it to me by official letter on the thirtieth of
last September, in which he obligated himself to teach the children of this
pueblo and vicinity to read, write and the doctrine, and to be paid therefor at
the rate of eighteen reals per annum, by every head of a family, in grain or
flour. As in this obligation of both parties the conditions are not expressed,
which I consider ought to be, I have thought proper to dictate them, that you
may make it known to both parties in public, with their consent, and that it be
signed by you, the Alcalde, the Regidores and the teacher, and registered in the
archives. First, the pay, annually, of eighteen reals by each and every head of
a family, I think is quite sufficient for the teacher, and as it is all they can
give, in virtue of which the commissioners will be obligated to collect the same
at the proper time in order to deliver it to the teacher. The teacher, in virtue
of the pay that is to be made to him, will also be obliged to perform his
obligation with the greatest vigilance and strictness, without giving his
attention to anything else but the teaching. As the hours are not expressed in
which the attendance of the children ought to be at school, they will be these:
Six in a day-three in the morning and three in the afternoon; in the morning
from eight o'clock until eleven, and in the afternoon from two until five, it
being the duty of the commissioner to compel the fathers to make their children
attend, and to see that the teacher in no instance fails. Every Thursday and
Saturday afternoon the children will not write or read, but explanations will be
given them these two afternoons, of the doctrine (faith), at which the
commissioner will attend and advise the teacher that he must answer for the much
or little explanation which he may make. When the teacher observes the absence
of any of the scholars at the school, he will notify their fathers, who will
give some satisfactory reason why they were absent on that morning or afternoon;
and if they should be absent a second time, then he will notify the
commissioner, who will compel the fathers to send their children, without
receiving any excuse or pretexts, particularly from the mothers, because they
will all be frivolous, since the children have sufficient time to do all that
they are required to do. Lastly, during the time in which the children are at
school, their fathers will be exempt from being responsible to God for them, and
the teacher will be the one who is thus responsible, as he will also, in
consideration of his pay, be responsible for the education and teaching of the
holy dogmas of the religion: and the teacher is he who must be responsible to
God, the parish priest, and to their authority.

  "It is also understood that the fathers are obliged to examine their children
at home as to the advancement which they may make, and to complain to the
commissioner when they see no advancement, in order that he may remedy the
matter, if necessary. As the teacher is responsible in the divine presence for
the education and good examples of his scholars, and as he must answer to the
state for the fulfillment of his obligations, he has the right to correct and
punish his scholars, with advice, warning and lashes, in case of necessity; and
particularly he ought to do it for any failure to learn the doctrine, for which
he ought not to accept any excuse, nor to pardon anyone from punishment who
fails to learn it, or who does not commit to memory the lesson which may be
given him."

  At the present day the parish schools of one hundred years ago have developed
into such institutions as the College of Notre Dame and St. Joseph's School,
presided over by men and women who have abandoned the world to devote their
lives to this work.

  The first American school teacher was Mrs. Olive M. Isbell. In February, 1847,
she taught the children of families at the Santa Clara Mission.

  The first Protestant school of which there is any record was opened by Rev. E.
Bannister in 1851, and was called The San Jose Academy. In it were taught not
only the English branches, but the classics. At first it was a private
enterprise, but in the same year it was incorporated with a board of nine trustees.

  In 1853 a school for young ladies, called the Bascom Institute, was opened. It
was under the auspices of the Pacific Conference of the M. E. Church and was
managed by nine trustees. Mrs. R. C. Hammond was the first principal. She was
succeeded by Samuel Lea, with Orrin Hinds as assistant. The institution
prospered until 1859.

  The first common school was organized by a committee of citizens in March,
1853, and was taught by Rev. Horace Richardson. In June of the same year the
committee opened another school in the Baptist Church and employed Orrin Hinds
as teacher.

  Of those whom the discovery of gold brought to this coast, a large proportion
were men of liberal education, many of them collegians and fit to take the
highest rank in the various professions. By reason of their intelligence and
mental culture these men were put to the front in public affairs. They
determined that the new state should have every facility for popular education
that could be afforded. Legislation on the subject commenced early and was
characterized by a spirit of liberality which was met with enthusiasm by the
people at large. As a result of this legislation Santa Clara County was, in
1855, divided into sixteen school districts. Having a large number of educated
men to draw upon for a supply of teachers, the schools from the start became
wonderfully efficient. The liberal salaries paid teachers attracted the best
educational talent from the older states, and almost from the beginning the
common schools of California took rank with the very best in the Union.
Especially was this the case in Santa Clara County, where the liberal
appropriations of the state were supplemented by equally liberal ones from the
county funds.

The San Jose Schools

  From an interesting history of the San Jose high school written by Judge
Perley F. Gosbey, himself a former teacher and president of the board of
education, the following excerpts are taken:

  The first mention of a high school in the city of San Jose appears in the
minutes of the board of education under date of December 12, 1865, when the
superintendent of schools was instructed by the board to purchase five chairs
for the use of the high school. At this time the public schools of the city were
held in various parts of the city, in small houses. They were located in St.
James Square, Washington Square, on Thirteenth Street, and on Market Street.
There was also a one-room building. The school which gradually grew into and was
finally named a high school, was located on the Fourth Street side of Washington
Square, where the Normal grounds now are, and faced San Antonio Street. It
consisted of one room, but there were no certificates of graduation or diplomas
issued to those who completed the course of study. There was another school,
consisting of two rooms, located in the second story of a block on the north
side of Santa Clara Street, between Second and Third streets, in what was known
as Armory Hall.

  The early records show that the board of education was composed of six
members, who were elected from two districts. District No. 1 was located in the
southern part of the city, while District No. 2 was in the northern part. Each
district elected three trustees.

  In January, 1867, the board took the first steps for purchasing six lots on
the north side of 'Santa Clara Street, between Sixth and Seventh streets, for
the location of a new schoolhouse, and during that year the mayor and common
council, together with the board of education, purchased the site and adopted
plans for building the Santa Clara Street schoolhouse, which was subsequently
called the Horace Mann School. This building was occupied by both the high and
grammar schools, and on August 18, 1868, the board of education prescribed the
first course of study for the high school, which was as follows: Wilson's Fifth
Reader, Russell and Murdock's Vocal Culture, Robinson's High Arithmetic,
Robinson's Elementary Algebra, Korles' Grammar, Warren's Physical Geography,
Quackenbos' Philosophy, Quackenbos' History U. S., Wilson's Larger Speller,
Cutler's Anatomy, Wood's Botany, Porter's Chemistry, Robinson's Elementary
Geometry, Pay-son and Dutton's Bookkeeping. The high school course of study was
for two years. On January 17, 1870, the board of education authorized the
teaching of Latin in the high school. In 1871 the board of education prescribed
as a course of study for the high school the following: Reading, spelling,
English grammar, physical geography, arithmetic, algebra, physiology, U. S.
history, natural philosophy, bookkeeping, rhetoric and astronomy. There were
then but two years in the high school course, and in 1873 the first formal
graduating exercises took place, diplomas being awarded the graduates. In this
class there were eight who received diplomas. Their names were: Kate Tower, Mary
Bowman, Belle Churchill, Frances Freeman, M. C. Harris, Angelo Heinlen, William
Lucky and Charles Moore. In 1877 the course of study was increased from two to
three years, and in 1897 it was extended to four years.

  In 1897 a new school building was erected on Washington Square to meet the
demands and requirements which were so urgent at that time. This was a
three-story building, constructed of brick and stone, which was shaken down and
demolished by the earthquake of April 18, 1906. The destruction of the building
made it necessary to accommodate the high school in the Lincoln school building,
which was done by holding half-day sessions for the grammar and primary school
and a half-day session for the high school. From and after the destruction of
the high school building in 1906 to the end of the school year 1907-08, work in
the high school was arduous and unsatisfactory, both on the part of the teachers
and students, but by hard, persistent and patient labor, the school was kept
well together, and for the year 1907-08 the largest class in the history of the
school was graduated from it.

  After the high school building had been wrecked by the earthquake the board of
education immediately began to make its plans for building a better and more
up-to-date high school to meet the demands and needs of the times. They resorted
to a bond election and the citizens of San Jose, by an overwhelming vote, bonded
the school district of San Jose for $175,000 in the first issue for bonds for
the building, and an additional $20,000 for furnishing and equipping said
building, as well as laying out the grounds and sidewalks. The board was
particularly fortunate in the selection of Mr. F. S. Allen of Pasadena as
architect of this new building. The plans, arrangements and equipment are very
elaborate and complete, and the citizens of San Jose may rightfully boast of now
having one of the best high schools in California. On Thursday, June 18, 1908,
the first exercises were held in the new building, when a class of one hundred
students were graduated from the high school, the exercises being held in the
new auditorium.

  During the summer months the finishing touches were put upon the building;
furniture, apparatus and appliances were installed, and on the opening of the
school in September. 1908, there was a finely equipped high school for the
education of the boys and girls of the city of San Jose.

  Within the last decade the people of California have come to recognize the
expediency of perpetuating this early style of architecture and to see in it
many advantages not found in the types of construction requisite in more severe
climates. Many buildings, both public and private, are now patterned after the
ideas of the Mission Fathers. This is particularly true of the public schools,
which, with their large rooms and the necessity of wide and extensive passages,
lend themselves most admirably to this manner of building.

  The San Jose high school is perhaps the first high school building constructed
on the university plan. It consists of five separate and distinct buildings, so
grouped and connected as to form one general whole. The administration building,
with its massive towers, is the central feature; on either side are the
classical and science buildings; at the rear of these are the domestic science
and manual arts buildings. They are all of the same type of architecture, with
rough cement plaster exteriors and red tile roofs, and are connected by three
cloisters. One of these runs through the towers between the east and' west
entrances and is crossed by the other two which extend from the classical and
science buildings to the rear end of the group. Each of these two side cloisters
leading to the side entrances of the assembly hall in the main building. The
east cloister also passes an open court around which are located the various
departments of the manual arts building.

  Beyond the front gateway is a patio about 150 feet square, with broad concrete
walks leading to the front buildings. The three great arches between the towers
form an entrance to the main cloister, which stretches away to the right and
left, nearly 150 feet in either direction. From this cloister a stairway ascends
to the offices of the department of education in the west tower. The location of
these offices is so arranged that they in no way connect with the high school
proper.

  From the main entrance three large double doors open into the assembly room.
This room is 112 feet in length and 97 feet in extreme width; it has a slanting
floor one-half its length and is capable of seating 1200 people in opera chairs.
It has seven pairs of outside double doors, two exits from the ends of the stage
and one through the library connecting on the right through a large archway.
Five hundred of the opera chairs have tablet arm rests for study purposes and
the room is provided with reference reading tables and chairs. The 200 ceiling
lamps are so arranged next to the arches as to shed a soft, mellow light toward
the stage, permitting no light to shine directly in the eyes of the audience.
The floor of this room, as well as of all the other rooms in the first story, is
a peculiar kind of asphaltum imported from Germany, and is laid upon a heavy
concrete base. It is water, fire and vermin proof, is easier to walk upon than
wood or concrete-, and embodies the highest points of sanitation. The rooms of
the second story are floored with polished Michigan hard maple.

  In the principal's office stands a large, especially designed Frick master
clock, which automatically rings the bells for class changes and operates the
secondary clocks in the various rooms, affording synchronized time throughout
all buildings. This clock automatically silences all bells from Friday evening
until Monday morning and controls the current for charging the storage battery
from which the energy is obtained for operating the clocks and bells. The
storage battery is charged from the 110-volt alternating lighting service by
means of a Sirch rectifier, and is the first installation of this kind ever used
for this purpose.

  This building, though only one story in height at first, was so planned that a
second story was added, thus giving six additional class rooms. It contains the
sewing and cooking rooms, with their special furniture; kitchen, pantry,
storeroom, a girls' dining-room fitted with tables and chairs, a girls' locker
room fitted with steel lockers, and toilets, also a shower bath room with seven
showers and ten dressing rooms. The walls and ceilings of these rooms are all
finished in white enamel.

  Besides numerous recitation rooms, the classical building contains the women
teachers' room, the girls' rest room and the offices of the principal. The two
stairways are of reinforced concrete, while the interior walls are of steel
studding, metal lath and plaster, thus making the building practically
fireproof. However, at numerous places in the hallways are located fire hydrants
and a fifty-foot length of fire hose. They are connected with the artesian well
and an electric pump. All class rooms are provided with closets for books and
other necessaries, while the special rooms have many supply closets and storerooms.

  The laboratories are equipped with chests of thirty-two small drawers for
sundry supplies, and each instructor's laboratory and the principal's office has
a sectional filing case for students' papers, letters, catalogues, etc.

  The manual arts building is located in the rear of the science building, and,
like the domestic science building, was at first one story in height, but was
raised an additional story, adding nine more class rooms. It contains an office
for the department, a bench and lathe room for wood working, metal and machine
room for metal working, two recitation rooms and a supply room; also the boys'
locker and bicycle room, with toilets, and a shower bath room with twelve
showers and twenty dressing rooms, which, like those of the girls' side, have
their walls and ceilings done in white enamel. Here also is located a small
office for the use of the school paper published by the student body, and a
boys' lunch room with a long lunch counter running from end to end.

  The science lecture hall, the four science class rooms, the large assembly
hall and the class rooms for history and English literature are all equipped
with currents for lantern use; the windows of these rooms are darkened with
opaque black shades.

  In the principal's outer office is located the central office of a modern
telephone exchange which connects with all rooms of the five buildings and was
the gift of the architect. There are also intercommunicating phones between-the
science department, stage and boiler room, that can be used when the central
exchange is closed.

  The electric plant which supplies lights and the different kinds of power for
pumps, fans, air compressor and experimental work at the instructors' and
students' tables in the eight science laboratories and science lecture hall, is
believed to be one of the most complete of its kind • ever built. The power is
obtained from a 2300-volt alternating three-phase current and runs from the
street through an underground iron conduit to a strictly fireproof transformer
room adjoining the boiler room. Here it passes through three large transformers
and enters the house as 110 and 220-volt alternating and three-phase current.

  The fireproof boiler house, with white enamel walls and ceilings, is located
in the rear of the main building and contains two large oil-burning boilers that
supply steam through an eight-inch main to the 8.000 feet of steam coils that
stand in front of the two great steel ventilating fans, which by the aid of two
ten-horse electric motors, supply the buildings with nearly 4,000,000 cubic feet
of moderately heated fresh air per hour. There are over 500 feet of electric
lighted concrete air tunnels leading away from the fans. The ventilating of the
toilet rooms, shower bath rooms and chemical laboratory is independent of the
main system.

  One of the late improvements to the high school is a large two-story building,
located on the southwest corner of the square, east of the main building, which
is used for the commercial department and the gymnasium.

  Besides the high school there are nine grammar schools in San Jose. The
buildings are practically all new, those not new having been modernized in every
particular. Three-fourths of the school rooms of the city schools are of
convertible open-air design, having open-air windows from the floor to the
ceiling on one side of the room and French doors enclosing the entire opposite
wall of the room. Practically every elementary school owns the entire block upon
which the school is situated. The board of education adds $10,000 worth of
playgrounds into the department each year regularly. Teachers are selected by an
examination conducted by four principals and the superintendent in the
elementary schools, and in the high school upon the recommendation of the
principal of the high school, the head of the department concerned, and the city
superintendent of schools. The maximum salary paid in the grades amounts to
$1,560, and in the high school $1,900, with $2,100 for elementary school
supervisors and $2,400 for elementary principals.

  Physical education has been developed to a considerable extent, having four
teachers of physical education in the high school and at least one teacher in
each elementary school especially equipped to lead in this work. Thirty minutes
have been added to the elementary school day in order to give sufficient time to
physical education. The high school has a gymnasium and swimming pool, which are
used by three thousand different students each week, including day high school
students and evening high school students, and elementary pupils on Saturdays.

  The schools have had medical examination for ten years, with a school
physician and medical and dental clinic. The board of education has purchased
free eyeglasses for those who needed them, and in some cases it is furnishing
free milk for those suffering from malnutrition. Clothes and shoes are furnished
to those who need them in order that they may attend school. Stammering and
stuttering pupils are given special attention. Cafeterias are operated in the
high school and in one elementary school.

  There is a kindergarten in each elementary school, and in 1921 there was added
an extra kindergarten in each school where foreign children predominate. The
school system has a school librarian conducting her work along the lines adopted
by the county librarian. Practical education is carried on to a considerable
extent both in the grades and the day and evening high schools. About one-half
of the teachers engaged in this line of work come from the trades, and the other
half are school men and women prepared to do this work. Thirty-three hundred and
ninety-six students were enrolled in the evening high school in 1921 with an
average night attendance of 700. This work will be nearly doubled for the coming
year, according to present plans. In the classes of Americanization the
foreign-born purchased $65,000 of bonds and thrift stamps, which was, on the
average, more than the regular American citizen purchased. Sixty-two of the
foreign-born of this class entered the army, not because they were drafted, but
because of a desire to fight for American ideals. There are twelve teachers,
Mrs. Nellie Chope is principal.

  The school department on March 9, 1820, submitted to the voters a proposition
to bond the city for $400,000 for high school purposes and $300,000 for the
elementary schools. The bond issue was carried by a seven-to-one vote. It was
necessitated by the fact that the board of education desired to largely extend
technical and physical education, and because the number of pupils had increased
from 3639 to 9557 during the past twelve years, while the number of teachers had
increased from 116 to 251.

  Twenty-five large class rooms, a study hall and eight immense concrete shops
were built at the high school in 1921, while a whole square block was purchased
for playground purposes. The following lines of work are taught in the
Polytechnic high school, which occupies half a block on San Fernando Street
between Seventh and Eighth : Woodwork, electrical work, auto construction and
repairing, carpentry and building, lumber and planing-mill work, sheet metal
work, and oxygen and acetylene welding and cutting. At each elementary school a
large addition, comprising in most cases eight rooms, has been built. Over
$100,000 worth of elementary school playground have been added. Lunch rooms and
indoor gymnasiums have been provided at each school. All new rooms that have
been built are convertible open air in type.

  The appraised value of the high school plant in the spring of 1920 was
$600,000. The expenditure of the $400,000 raised by bond issue increased the
valuation to $l,000,000. The grammar school buildings and lands are valued at
$736,000.

  The average high school attendance in 1922 was 1934. R. B. Leland is the
principal. There are twenty-four regular and thirty-five special teachers. The
grammar school, kindergarten and special teachers number 168.

  Following are the names of the city superintendents of schools since 1860: R.
P. Thompson, Rev. L. Hamilton, W. Tonner, D. S. Payne, W. C. Hart, J. M.
Littlefield, Chas. Silent, W. B. Hardy, E. A. Clark, J. O. Hawkins, L. J.
Chipman, J. G. Kennedy, J. B. Finch, A. W. Oliver, J. G Kennedy, L. F. Curtis,
F. P. Russell, A. E. Shumate, Alex. Sheriffs, W. L. Bachrodt.

The State Teachers' College

  The State Normal School, now the State Teachers' College, was established by
an act of the Legislature, May 2, 1862. It was located in San Francisco and
opened its doors with thirty-one pupils. Its usefulness in providing efficient
teachers for the public schools of the state was at once recognized, and in 1876
an appropriation was made for the erection of suitable buildings. One of the
most memorable battles ever witnessed in the legislation of the state took place
on the question of selecting a location for this institution. Nearly ever}-
county in the state offered a site and some of them large subsidies in money.
San Jose offered Washington Square, containing twenty-five acres, for the use of
the state, and the offer was accepted. A large and fine wooden building was
erected under the superintendence' of Theodore Lenzen, the architect. This
building, with all its contents, including furniture, library, apparatus, museum
and charts, was burned to the ground, February 11, 1880. The Legislature was
then in session and a bill was immediately introduced for an appropriation to
rebuild, the school in the meantime occupying rooms in the high school building.
An effort was made to change the location of the institution and the fight of
1870 was renewed. But San Jose was again successful and an appropriation was
made with which another and stronger building was constructed. This building was
used until the earthquake of 1906, when it was so greatly damaged that its
demolition became a necessity.

  The new building was completed in 1910. It is situated on the Fourth Street
side of the Normal campus, with its entrance opposite San Antonio Street. The
structure is two-storied and is laid out in the form of a quadrangle. The
building is an adaptation of the Mission style of architecture and is made of
reinforced concrete, covered with gray plaster, trimmed with brick and roofed
with red tile. The quadrangle; whose extreme length is over 400 feet and whose
extreme width is about 250 feet, is composed of three main divisions, united by
continuous open arcades, an upper and a lower. To the right, on the approach
from the gates, is the science wing of the building; to the left is the library.
The two sides of the quadrangle are connected at the rear by the administration
building, and in front by a single arcade, open on both sides. In the center of
this are three arches, a little higher than those of the rest of the arcade,
which form the entrance to the building.

  Passing under the central arch, one enters the great court. On either side
rise the central arches of the upper and lower arcades. The latter are plain
concrete archways, while the former are supported by pillars of stained Oregon
pine. Directly in front, a little to the left of the entrance to the
administration building, rises a tall Gothic tower. The lower floor is a locker
room for the girl students, while the upper is occupied by the preceptress.
Where the library wing meets the administration building is a large room devoted
to the first and second grades of the Training school. Above the library are
large reception rooms and special rooms of various kinds. In the center is one
of the most beautiful rooms in the building. It has great arched windows which,
on the north side, form a bay. This is the music room. Then there are the
society rooms and the drawing rooms. In the science wing are recitation and
lecture rooms, with seats arranged in tiers. On the lower floor is the
kindergarten. In the basement are engine rooms and store rooms.

  As adjuncts of the teaching departments are the Short Story Club, organized in
1904 by Dr. Henry Meade Bland: the Men's Club, the Psychology Round Table, the
Art Club, the Dailean Society, the Mandolin Club, the Newman Club, the Y. W. C.
A. and the Basket Ball Association, Sappho Club, Athenian Socitety, Eurosophian
Society, and Browning Club. Basket ball and tennis courts are on the campus.

  The Training school has a faculty including eight department supervisors, four
assistants, librarian and special supervision of domestic science and
penmanship. About 600 children are in attendance. In addition to the regular
subjects there are classes in typewriting, printing, home problems, household
science and decoration, cooking, sewing, manual training, physical training,
including folk dancing and military drill, and primary handwork. Classes in the
violin and piano give children further opportunities, and the Training school
orchestra adds its part. A minimum of one year's teaching of one period a day is
required of all except experienced teachers and university graduates. The
minimum, for experienced teachers is one term of twelve weeks, and for
university students, two terms.

  One of the important departments of the Normal School is the library, which
for the most part was the work of Miss Ruth Royce, who for thirty-five years was
the librarian, leaving office in 1918. In her hands the library grew from a
small number of books to a collection of over 18,000. She was succeeded by Helen
Evans, whose competency was quickly recognized. The arrangement of books in the
library is known as classification. There are many kinds, but here the decimal
classification of Melvil Dewey is used. This classification divides all
knowledge into ten parts-general work, philosophy, religion, sociology,
including economics, education, etc.: philology, natural science, useful arts,
including agriculture, domestic science, etc.; fine arts, literature, history,
including geography, travel and biography. All books of the history of San Jose
are found together on the shelves. There is a collection of standard books for
children and also a department for the Training school.

  Another noteworthy department is the kindergarten, directed by Miss Isbel O.
Mackenzie. It prepares teachers for the kindergarten and first grade. The rooms
are located in the extreme south end of the main building, affording a
southeasterly exposure. Plenty of light, air and sunshine make an attractive and
wholesome setting for the fifty or more little ones who spend three and a half
hours of their day here, to afford the would-be teachers an opportunity for
practice teaching. The furniture and decorations conform to sanitary standards.
Growing plants and flowers arranged and cared for by the children give a
standard to the students which is worthy of being emulated by the kindergartens
of the state. The magnificent school grounds, planned in 1870, seemed to have
been designed by men of vision for the future generations of children. The
kindergarten teachers, as well as the students, gather under the trees for
recreation and work. Another kindergarten is an experimental school of the most
approved type and is conducted in a building of its own. Gas stoves and dining
room equipment in one of the rooms give opportunity for the re-living of home
activities. Social instincts are stressed through self-organized groups in the
arrangement of the luncheon and through the cooperative work done in the various
community problems. The large materials afford opportunity for the physical and
social development of the child. Individuality is expressed in the choice of
materials. The Stanford-Binet tests are given to obtain the mental age of the
child, and daily charts are kept on file for each child. Concentration and
initiative are emphasized at all times. In Miss Mackenzie, a teacher of long
experience and broad sympathy and understanding the kindergarten has as director
one of the ablest in the State of California.

  The state branch school has as president Dr. William West Kemp, who assumed
office on July 1, 1920. He succeeded Dr. Morris Elmer Daily, who died July 5,
1919, after having served as president for nineteen years. Between July, 1919,
and July, 1920. L. B. Wilson, the vice-president, acted as president pro tem. A
temporary assembly and gymnasium and a cafeteria are among the latest
improvements. The course of study embraces everything necessary for the
instruction of students who desire to be teachers. It embraces. art,
mathematics, music. English, physical training, history, bookkeeping, household
arts, kindergarten, drawing, agriculture, geography, zoology, physiology,
industrial arts, expression, psychology, civics, pottery and manual arts. The
teaching force numbers sixty-six. The average attendance of students for the
year 1919 and 1920 was 500.

  The conversion of the Normal School into a State Teachers' College took place
in 1921. The first term in October showed an attendance of 800, the largest of
any similar institution in the state. The institution having attained college
status offers in addition to the regular courses, junior college courses. Plans
for a new building have been adopted and the conditions for the home economics
and manual arts departments will soon be bettered. The last named department
will have courses in auto construction and repair, electrical wiring, plumbing,
tinning, machine shop practice, foundry, work, pattern making, cabinet making,
carpentering, printing and mechanical drawing. The new building will face
Seventh Street.

College of Notre Dame

  The massive buildings and beautiful grounds of the College of Notre Dame,
standing in the heart of San Jose, in no wav indicates the small beginning from
which they sprung. In 1844 a band of devout Sisters established a mission school
in the Willamette Valley, Oregon In 1851 other Sisters of the order started from
Cincinnati to join in the work on the Willamette. They were to come by wav of
the Isthmus and Sister Loyola of Nouvain and Sister Mary of Nismes, came down
from Oregon to San Francisco to meet them. Finding they would be compelled to
wait some time for the arrival of the vessel from Panama, these Sisters accepted
the hospitality of Martin Murphy, of Mountain View. They looked through the
valley of Santa Clara and were charmed with its natural beauties and advantages.
At this time Father Nobili was laying the foundations of Santa Clara College. He
suggested that the Sisters establish an educational institution in San Jose and
the suggestion was supplemented by the urgent entreaty of Martin Murphy and
other citizens. The Sisters were easily persuaded. They chose the present site
for their building, purchasing at first a tract of ground 101 3/4 by 137 1/2
feet. There was no Santa Clara Street then and no improvements near the tract.
San Jose had but twenty-six houses and they were nearly all on Market Street or
further east. The ground was grown up with mustard and weeds, through which an
acequia, or water ditch, flowed sluggishly. Having made their choice of location
the Sisters did not delay their work. Levi Goodrich, the architect, was
employed, and in August, 1851, the school was in operation. From this small
beginning has arisen one of the great Catholic educational institutions in the
United States. The foundations for the present main building were laid in 1854.
Mr. Kerwin was the architect, but having buildings under his direction in course
of construction in other places, was not able to give proper attention to the
San Jose building. In consequence the chapel wing of the structure would have
been a failure, had not Sister Loyola come to the rescue, and as architect and
overseer, calculated all the details. In 1855 the college was incorporated by
the State Legislature and subsequently the same body so extended the original
charter as to confer all the rights and privileges of collegiate institutions in
the United States. In 1862-63 the main building and the eastern wing were
completed. The latter runs back to a depth of 250 feet. The west wing is 103
feet deep.

  In 1866 Levi Goodrich erected the select school. In 1869 Theodore Lenzen
continued the building and in 1876 Mr. Readney made the last addition and
erected the day school. In 1900 the secondary department was accredited to the
University of California, which privilege entitles its certified graduates to
admission without matriculation examinations, to the State and Stanford
Universities, to any Western college and to the State Normal schools.

  The grounds of the college are spacious, artistically laid out and ornamented
by choice shade trees, shrubbery, flowers and lawns. It is generally conceded
that the college offers ideal conditions to the earnest student and is a
paradise of opportunities for the lover of nature. The calm atmosphere in which
the students dwell, in the midst of beautiful environment, the harmony of
regularly recurring duties, the beauty and sublimity of the liturgical year, all
are potent factors in deepening, rounding and refining character.

  The aim of the college is that of Christian education, as understood by the
Catholic Church, not only in intellectual but in moral development. While
maintaining a high standard of study, the formation of character is the main
object of the teaching given.

  The college has a farm house and orchard on the Los Gatos road. Thus supplies
of eggs, vegetables and fruit, are daily available. Notre Dame Villa, a charming
estate, comprising 100 acres on the picturesque hills of Saratoga, adds a
delightful recreation resort, health factor and natural botanical garden, to the
resources of the college.

  The health of the students is an object of constant solicitude. Plain and
wholesome fare, beautiful and extensive grounds, which afford opportunity for
frequent exercise, frequent walks and excursions to points of interest-all
conduce to develop and preserve health and strength. The students are also
provided with out-door games, including tennis, basketball, volleyball and other
athletic amusements. Daily open air drills in physical culture are given, and no
student is relieved from physical training unless by written request from her
physician. In case of sickness the students are given the best medical
attendance and care in well-kept infirmaries.

  To well-equipped buildings, laboratories, libraries, etc., the college adds
the advantages accruing from opportunities to hear lectures in literary and
scientific subjects by notable lecturers, as well as season concerts by
world-famous artists. For class instruction and recitation the stereopticon and
the balopticon are employed with most satisfactory results. As before noted the
estate at Saratoga offers invaluable opportunities for field work in the natural
sciences. Excursions of this nature are likewise made to points of scientific
interest in the valley.

  The government is mild but firm, as the happiness and mental development of
the students are closely connected with good order. As the Catholic religion is
professed by the members of the college, the exercises of religious worship are
Catholic, but students of any denomination are admitted, provided they are
willing to conform to the general regulations of the school.

  The institution embraces the following departments: The Collegiate, consisting
of the College of Letters and Social Science and the College of Music; the
Secondary, including four years of work preparatory to the Collegiate course.
Graduating honors are awarded to students completing the work of this
department; the Preparatory, including the work of the grades. Students
completing this department receive certificates; the Commercial department
includes thorough courses in bookkeeping, commercial law, commercial arithmetic
and correspondence, typewriting, stenography and stenotypy; diplomas are awarded.

  The Notre Dame College of Music-a department of the college-has, from its
commencement up to the present time, maintained the highest standard of effort
in this special educational field. The most distinguished artists of the season
for concerts in the commodious Notre Dame Hall, are secured yearly.

College of the Pacific

  The College of the Pacific is the oldest incorporated educational institution
in California. It was granted a charter by the Supreme Court July 10, 1851,
under the name of the "California Wesleyan College." The board of trustees at
its first meeting, August 15, 1851, voted to change the name to "The University
of the Pacific," and the Legislature sanctioned the change in a new charter
granted March 29, 1852. The institution was known by this name until July 24,
1911, when, in accordance with the changes in its plans and purposes, the name
was again changed by court proceedings to the College of the Pacific. Until
1871, when it was removed to its present site, the University of the Pacific was
located in Santa Clara.

  In the late '50s the University founded the first medical school in the state.
This was afterwards incorporated as the Cooper Medical School of San Francisco.
The school was later acquired by the trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr.
University and now forms its medical department. In 1896 Napa College, situated
at Napa, Cal., was consolidated with the University of the Pacific and its
graduates are now enrolled among the alumni of the College of the Pacific.

  The college was founded upon coeducational principles and women are admitted
on precisely the same footing as men. In equipment and teaching force the
college is prepared to give thorough instruction of collegiate grade, to
maintain high standards of scholarship, and in every way to carry out its aim to
be a college of first rank, limited in its attendance to 500 students. It is
located at College Park, a suburb of San Jose, on the main line of the Southern
Pacific Railway and about ten minutes' ride by electric car from either San Jose
or Santa Clara. The campus is two blocks from the old Mission road, the Alameda,
now a part of the State Highway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, one of
the most beautiful residence avenues in the state.

  The beauty and fertility of the famous Santa Clara Valley, with its
invigorating climate, give the surroundings of the college a pleasing and
attractive aspect. The campus commands a view of both the Santa Cruz and Mt.
Diablo ranges, which lie on ether side of the valley. Twenty-eight miles away is
Mt. Hamilton, on the summit of which, reached by one of the finest and most
picturesque drives in the state, stands Lick Observatory.

  In the spring of 1910 the college trustees purchased a tract of seven acres on
the Alameda, two blocks distant from the old campus. Additional land, adjacent
to this property, was later acquired. The president's home is now located on the
new campus. Plans have been made to erect additional buildings there as need may
require.

  There are seven buildings on the college grounds. East Hall is a three-story
brick building. The east wing of the third floor is used as a dormitory for men.
The remainder of the building contains class rooms, laboratories and library.
South Hall was once used entirely as a dormitory for women. Owing to the growing
needs of the conservatory, it is now partially adapted for the use of
conservatory teachers and students. The Conservatory of Music is a large and
well-appointed building erected in 1891. It contains an auditorium with a
seating capacity of 1,000, the offices of administration, teaching and practice
rooms, and also the well-situated and pleasingly furnished rooms of the two of
the women's literary societies, Emendia and Sopholectia. Helen Guth Hall is a
beautiful dormitory for women. The building is modern, well equipped and
furnished, and provides a comfortable home for the women living on the campus.
The gymnasium is constructed in the same style of architecture as the dormitory
for women. It is situated in a eucalyptus grove and has a floor of standard size
for athletic contests. It has well-appointed rooms and shower baths and is fully
equipped for physical training work. It also has an excellent stage for student
productions. The Jackson-Goostall Observatory houses the astronomical
instruments, the college safety vault and the office of the Pacific Weekly.
Seaton Hall is a new building erected in 1915 to replace Central Hall, which was
destroyed by fire. It contains the kitchen, an attractive dining room, and a
spacious and beautiful social room for the use of all the students. The
president's house is a fine structure on the Alameda at Emory Street.

  The equipment is up-to-date and extensive. The burning of West Hall in June,
1914, destroyed practically the entire library of the college. But the insurance
funds, supplemented by additional appropriations and generous gifts from many
friends, have furnished the college with a new and up-to-date library. It
contains over 9,000 volumes and valuable accessions are being constantly
received. It is now housed in the second floor of East Hall.

  The entire ground floor of East Hall is occupied by the science departments.
The physics laboratory occupies a well-lighted room fitted with necessary
tables, and furnished with gas and electricity. There is a good equipment in
mechanics, heat, electricity, light, and sound for the general course in
experimental physics. The chemical laboratories have been rearranged and
considerably enlarged. The fume hoods have been replaced by a commodious outdoor
laboratory having long tables furnished with gas and water. There are three
laboratories, a balance room, a store room and a dark room. The biological
laboratories are provided with the most modern student equipment to be obtained
and are particularly well located for ready access to fresh and living material
in great variety and abundance. The geological laboratories are well equipped.
They offer for study a collection of fossils, a complete set of the Ward series
of casts, and a good supply of minerals, rocks, topographic maps, and lantern
slides.

  The Observatory is furnished with a six-inch equatorial telescope, a four-inch
portable telescope with altitude and asimuth mounting, a transit and zenith
telescope, sextants, and other necessary equipment. The six-inch telescope was
manufactured by Alvan Clark & Sons, and is furnished with all necessary
accessories, such as a driving clock, finely divided circles, filar micrometer.
The transit and zenith telescope, manufactured by Messrs. Fauth & Company, is of
the pattern extensively used on the U. S. Coast and- Geodetic Survey. These
instruments afford ample facilities for the study of practical astronomy.
  During tlfe summer of 1910, a new pipe organ of exceptionally fine concert
type, of three manuals, with all the latest improved mechanical attachments and
combinations, was built for the Conservatory of Music by the W. W. Kimball
Company of Chicago. It is the largest pipe organ in any Conservatory of Music
west of Chicago and one of the largest pipe organs in California. To meet the
needs of the increasing pipe organ classes, a two manual pipe organ, formerly
belonging to the First Methodist Church in San Jose, and given to the college by
that church, was entirely rebuilt, and is installed in the College Park Church
adjacent to the campus.

  The college stands for moral culture and the growth of character. Its
government rests upon the principle that self-control is the central power in a
highly developed life. Rules are few and simple and are designed to protect and
assist the students in making the most of their college life. The social life of
the college is pleasant and helpful. Friendship is fostered between the faculty
and the students. In general the students are given such freedom as will not
interfere with their class work or allow them to lose sight of the fact that the
primary object of attending college is study.

  Students are admitted to the college without condition as to religious belief
or church membership. But all patrons, whatever their views concerning religious
doctrines and social usages, are expected to recognize the spirit and purpose of
the college as indicated in its history, and to cooperate in promoting its
endeavors in the field of education. Unless excused for good reasons, students
are required to attend assembly exercises, not only because these exercises
consider the spiritual needs of the college community, but also because they
conserve the unity of student life, and give an opportunity for announcing
college events and promoting college interests. Students are expected to attend
church at least once each Sunday and to observe the day in a proper manner.

  The courses of instruction include ancient languages, philosophy, history,
religion, poetry, astronomy, biology, zoology, physiology, botany, embryology,
neurology, bacteriology, chemistry, assaying, economics, geography, commerce,
psychology, pedagogy, engineering and applied mathematics, geometry, English,
German, French, geology, graphic arts, music, physics, public speaking, Old
Testament history, Spanish and lectures.

  An adjunct of the college is the College Park Academy, J. William Harris,
principal, a preparatory or high school department of the college. It fits for
college entrance in the classical, scientific and engineering departments.

  The number of students, accredited to the college in 1922 is as follows:
College of Liberal Arts, 350; Conservatory of Music, 173; School of Art, 41;
School of Expression, 52; Academy, 73; repeated names, 211. Tully Cleon Knoles,
A. M., D. D., is the president of the college and under him are forty-five
instructors.

  In 1921 an offer from Stockton for the removal of the College to that city was
accepted. It will be some time, however, before the new buildings for the
College can be erected.

Other Institutions

  Prior to the earthquake of April 18, 1906, St. Joseph's grammar school was
maintained in a building at the rear of St. Joseph's Church on the northeast
corner of Market and San Fernando Streets. The 'quake did such damage to the
building that a removal to another place became necessary. A site was purchased
at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and Vine Street, the grounds running to
the corner of Locust Street. On the tract two large buildings, one for boys and
one for girls, were erected. The school is now conducted by the Brothers of St.
Mary and Rev. Father Adam, S. M., is in charge as principal. In addition to the
regular high school and grammar courses, with their moral and religious
influences, there are fine playgrounds, two moving picture outfits, a wireless
system of telegraphy and a spacious auditorium. It is the intention to provide
in the near future a wireless telephone station. There are fifteen rooms in each
School with laboratories, dormitories, etc. The pupils of both schools number
700. In the girls' grammar school the eighth grade graduates are entitled to
admission to the College of Notre Dame.

  The Church of the Holy Family (Catholic) maintains a convent at 136 Vine
Street. Here the Italian contingent find everything necessary for religious and
scholastic work.

  In the matter of private schools San Jose is provided with Heald's Business
College, the Garden City Business College, several Conservatories of Music, the
International Correspondence School, and many small schools of music, dancing,
elocution and dramatic expression. There are ninety-one public schools in the
county, outside of San Jose. Miss Agnes Howe is the County Superintendent


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth
and Development From the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
EUGENE T. SAWYER

ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 
1922


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