Clarke County GaArchives Obituaries.....Stewart, Joseph S. (Dr.) 1934
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Natalie David davisnm@earthlink.net March 21, 2005, 12:48 pm

Athens Banner Herald
Athens Banner Herald
Monday, March 26, 1934
Page One

Dr. Joseph S. Stewart, Noted Educator, Dies; Services To Be Tuesday
Man Who Devoted Life to Cause of Education Dies Early Sunday
Rites At Chapel
Athenian Who Built Up School Standards to Be Honored

By T.W. Reed

   The death of Dr. Joseph Spencer Stewart Sunday morning at 7 o’clock
removed one of the most prominent figures in the educational world of
Georgia and the South.
   Friday morning he appeared to be in excellent health, came to his
office, spent over two hours in his usual line of work, consulted with
President Sanford on Matters pertaining to the coming session of the
Summer school, of which he was the director, and go no evidence of the
impending collapse that resulted in his death.
   A few minutes before 12 o’clock he suffered a heart attack and was
carried to a local hospital where he reacted favorably to treatment and
Saturday night appeared to be considerably improved.  Sunday morning
about 7 o’clock he passed out without struggle.
The news of the death of this eminent educator will carry sorrow to
thousands of his friends throughout Georgian and the South and in other
states in every part of the nation.
   Dr. Stewart was one of the best known educators of this section.  Fifty
years of his useful life were given to the cause of education and the
result of his untiring efforts are seen today in every county of his
native state and in many communities beyond her boundaries.
   He was born in Oxford, Ga., September 23, 1863, the son of Joseph
Spencer and Rebeccah Hannah (Starr) Stewart.  From Emory college in
1883 he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts; in 1897 the
University of Georgia conferred on him the honorary degree of Master of
Arts, and later on, after he had achieved eminence in his profession,
the University of Georgia conferred on him the honorary degree of
Doctor of Pedagogy.  He was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity and of
the Phi Beta Kappa honorary scholastic society.
   He was married to Miss Selma Hahr, of North Carolina, August 19, 1890,
who survives him.  Six children blessed this union: three sons, Dr.
Joseph S. Stewart, jr., of Miami, Fla., Prof. Fred Stewart, of Atlanta,
Dr. Frans Stewart of Athens, now finishing his internship in New York;
three daughters, Mrs. Hiliard Spalding of Atlanta, Mrs. Ward Wight of
Atlanta, and little Selma Stewart (now dead).
   He began his educational career in 1883, fresh from the halls of Emory
college, where he had just graduated, having been chosen as principal
of Cherokee Institute, Cave Springs, Ga.,   For six years he directed
the affairs of that institution most successfully.  The two succeeding
years were devoted to the presidency of Howard Seminary, in Marietta,
Ga.
   Here it was that he began his real constructive work as an educator. 
The pressing need for a system of public schools in that progressive
little city became apparent and Prof. Stewart was called upon to
organize such a system.  He was chosen as superintendent of that system
and served in that capacity from 1891 to 1897.  From that position he
was called in 1897 to the presidency of the North George Agricultural
college, at Dahlonega, Ga., where he served for six years.  During
those years his efficiency as a college educator was fully demonstrated
and under his guidance the institution was brought up to a much higher
plane of usefulness.  In 1902, under the chancellorship of Dr. Walter
B. Hill, he was brought to the University of Georgia.  Chancellor Hill
thought the University should manifest more interest in higher schools
of the state and selected Professor Stewart to carry to them the latest
message of educational development.  In two years he had demonstrated
the wisdom of Chancellor Hill’s selection and in 1905 he was named as
professor of Secondary Education in the University of Georgia, which
position he filled with signal ability up to the time of his death.
His Endearing Monument
The enduring monument to Joseph S. Stewart is the high school system of
Georgia.  To him, more than to any other man, it owes its splendid
development.  His energy and his ability for thirty years have been given
unceasingly to that work.  The frits of his labors will be seen in the
bettered educational facilities of hundreds of schools and in the improved
lives of hundreds of thousands of high school pupils throughout those
years.
Back in those days the educational problems of the South aroused a keen
interest on the part of the General Education Board, and the work
commenced by Prof. Stewart attracted the attention of that organization
and its approval.  Active help was extended the University for the further
development of this work and later on similar professorships were
established in other Southern states.
In 1904 there were only seven four-year high schools in Georgia; today
there are 419.  In 1904 the four-year high schools graduated but 94
pupils; last year there were 14, 898 graduates.  In 9014 there was
scarcely a decent high school library in the state; today each high school
has a library, and many of them have most excellent libraries.  In 1904
there was practically no equipment in high schools, especially laboratory
equipment; today the equipment, as a rule fairly meets the demands of the
hour.  In 1904 the high schools had inadequately trained teachers in most
instances, and an insufficient number of teachers; today the high school
faculties compare favorably with the best.  Not only have the high schools
of Georgia been developed to the highest standard of efficiency in
preparing pupils for college entrance, but also those children
constituting the large majority who cannot go to college have received a
much better education than they otherwise could have received.
To be sure all these things have not come to pass through the ability or
the efforts of any one man, but throughout the years it was the guiding
hand, the insistent urge, the careful inspection, and the correct advice
and far-seeing vision of this man that counted most in this vast
development.
Various Educational Achievements
Prof. Stewart was called upon by Governor Joseph M. Terrell to plan the
curricula for the eleven district agricultural schools for the state of
Georgia.  This work was done with great efficiency, those schools were
successfully organized some of them being abolished last year in the
consolidation of branches of the University system, one of them passing to
the status of a four-year college, and several of them becoming Junior
colleges.
The Boy’s Corn club organizations in connection with colleges throughout
the country were originated as a statewide movement by Professor Stewart
in 1905 through a series of contests planned by him for the high schools
of the state and conducted with splendid success.  Later on this plan was
amplified by the United States government and various institutions of
learning.
An eminent service rendered the state by this distinguished educator was
his work in connection with the adoption of the constitutional amendment
by the people of Georgia allowing counties the privilege of levying a tax
for the support of high schools.
Dr. Stewart had all his life directed much of his energies to the
organization of educational forces in Georgia and throughout the South. 
He was the prime mover in the organization of the Georgia Accredited High
school System in 1904; he organized the Georgia High School association
activities, literary and athletic, in 1907; organized the Southern
Commission of Accredited Schools in 1912, and was chairman of that
omission for five years; proposed the organization and helped organize the
Southern College Commission.  He organized and was the first president of
the National High School Inspectors association and was first inspector of
vocational work in Georgia under the Smith-Hughes Act.
He was vice-president of the Southern Association of Colleges in 1921, a
member of the reviewing commission of the National Education association
1905-1906, of the Southern Committee on Accredited High Schools 1912-1915
and of the National Association of High School Inspectors in 1915.
He was the author of numerous pamphlets and articles on education and
founded the High School Quarterly years ago, of which he had been the
editor since its beginning, developing it into one of the best educational
journals in the South.  He also edited the University Items, a sheet
devoted to the dissemination of interesting educational news among the
schools of the state.
Arranged Curriculum
For many years Dr. Stewart had been the efficient director of the
University of Georgia Summer school.  The these summer sessions he brought
as members of the faculty distinguished teachers from all over the South
and other sections of the country, arranged a curriculum that embraced
largely the subjects of vital interest to Georgia teachers, enabling them
to meet the certification requirements of the state Department of
Education, provided excellent grand opera for those who could otherwise
have had such an opportunity presented to them, arranged splendid musical
training applicable to the needs of the public schools, gradually raised
the curriculum of the University degree standard, enabling many students
to shorten the time and lesson the expense necessary to graduation, and as
a result he witnessed the attendance upon the Summer school reach upward
to record numbers.  The last work he did in his office last Friday was in
connection with the arrangements for the coming Summer quarter session of
the University.
Perhaps closer to his heart in an educational way than anything else were
the annual high school contests in debating oratory, music and athletics. 
These annual events in Athens at the University of Georgia, productive of
generous rivalry and of splendid results, participated in by hundreds of
girls and boys from all over Georgia, were to him, in his late years
especially, occasions of great interest and enthusiasm.
Dr. Stewart was a member of the Methodist church throughout his life.  In
his younger years he was suerintendent (sic) of the Methodist Sunday
school in Marietta, Ga., and during his thirty years of residence in
Athens was a member of the First Methodist church.  He was a loving
husband and devoted father, beloved by every member of his family, and
enjoyed a vast circle of friends who mourn his passing.
The funeral of Dr. Stewart will be conducted Tuesday morning at 11:00
o’clock in the chapel of the University of Georgia, by Dr. Lester Rumble,
pastor of the First Methodist church, assisted by Dr. William H. Wrighton,
associate professor of Philosophy, University of Georgia.
   The active pallbearers will be nephews of Dr. Stewart, Dr. Stewart
Roberts of Atlanta, Dr. Will Roberts of Atlanta, Mr. Stewart Bird of
Atlanta, Mr. Charles Roberts of Macon, Mr. Warren Roberts of Macon, Mr.
Angus Bird of Charleston, S.C., and Mr. Thomas Ross of Macon, and two
friends, Mr. T.J. Dempsey of Atlanta, and Mr. W.L. Downs of Statesboro.
The honorary pallbearers will be Chancellor Philip Weltner, the members of
the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, the faculty of
the University of Georgia, members of Eta chapter of the Chi Phi
fraternity, State Board of Education and the eight members of the
Accrediting Commission of the Georgia High School association – Prof. T.J.
Dempsey, jr., secretary of the State Department of education; Prof. W.D.
Hooper, of the University of Georgia; Dean Paul W. Chapman, of the College
of Agriculture; Dr. Peyton Jacobs, president of the Georgia Southwestern
college; Mr. H.H. Caldwell, registrar of Georgia School of Technology; Mr.
J.G. Stipe, registrar of Emory university; Prof. Mark Smith,
vice-president of the High School association, Thomaston, Ga., and Prof.
D.H. Standard, secretary of the High School association, Cordele.
The remains of Dr. Stewart will be carried to Oxford, Ga., for interment
Tuesday afternoon.  There in the quietude of the little town in which he
first saw the light of day his mortal frame will be lovingly laid to rest.





File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/clarke/obits/s/stewart6705ob.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/

File size: 12.6 Kb