Teaching Maine History in the Public Schools 2I4 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY Teaching Maine History in the Public Schools At the Piscataquis Teachers' Convention held in the Foxcroft (Maine) Academy, May 19, the subject of the "Study of State and Local History," was discussed by Honorable William B. Ken- dall of Bowdoinham, and John F. Sprague, of Dover, Editor of Sprague's Journal of Maine History. Mr. Kendall's speech was an able and spirited one and received much applause from the teachers and students who were present He spoke in part as follows: "The government of the State of Maine is well organized, and gets good returns for the money it pays out in carrying on its vital affairs. When, however, you hire a man you expect him to look out for and work for your own interests first, but the State of Maine falls down tremendously in the money she pays for the teachers in her public schools, for she does not require of them, or , to teach Maine boys and girls practically anything expect them of herself. There are a few leading questions that are compiled in some popular geography, which is taught all over the United States, about the State of Maine that the pupils in our own State are taught, and no more. There should be an appeal for more local history, local geography and civic interests, and of our climatic conditions, the forces which these represent in the development of the sturdy character of our New England life, and a thousand other items of great local importance and value which now are totally untouched and ignored. "From these text books the pupils and students in our public schools of course cannot learn the boundaries of their own town or their own county; the distances from their town to the nearest cities, to Augusta, to Bangor, to Boston; the distance to the sea, or the geographical structure of their town, or about its crop produc- tions, or any of its history, which doubtless contains much OF richness in the lives of its citizens, both those that made the town and those that won success elsewhere. "Every scholar in every city and town in' Maine should be obliged to study a compilation of a geographical, historical and civic nature to the extent of at least 5o or 100 questions and answers, which could and should constitute such items of local interest of TEACHING MAINE HISTORY 2I5 importance compiled and written in readable and attractive form, not forgetting to sound the praise of our Maine winters and the energy, power and fortitude which they arouse in the life of a boy, or girl, who born in Maine has as a part of his heritage a license to develop himself splendidly and royally. Such conditions are sometimes regarded as adverse ones, but in reality, in after years, the scholar looks back and often recognizes in them the very foundation elements of his or her success. "An automobilist traveling our highways does not ask a school boy the distance to the nearest town or the best road to the nearest city because he realizes that the boy does not know, and the boy does not know because he has no way to find out. He only knows what the books teach him' and the books do not teach those things because the State of Maine is not interested enough in her own affairs in educating the youth properly, that they may know the proper things of their own State, their own county and their own town. "All school students in Maine should be taught the 'truth beau- tiful' of their native State, and there is no State in all the Union of which more beautiful things can in truth be said. Without fear of contradiction I assert that the conditions of life in Maine are doubtless fundamentally more forceful than in any other State in the Union. And the best crop grown in any State is its crop of boys and girls. Maine has never been behind in this, and yet nothing is ever said of it in a concrete way. This is of the greatest possible import, and it is true, and if it is a truth, why is it so? Pere is a question for our college students. "Much of the system of what we now call education is going to be, and should be, broken down and replaced by more practical things. The great things that concern the early makeup of human life; the love of our homes; the strength of our State; a govern- ment of and for and by the people cannot subsist except by cohe- sion and heroic development. This means patriotism and love of country, and we must have an intimate love of our State and town and vicinity to make us patriotic, to know the real absolute whole truth about it. Then, and not until then, can we love it and fight for it as we should." "A new ideal of Nationalism, a new and greater spirit of Ameri- canism, is rapidly developing throughout the length and breadth 216 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY 216 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY of our land. Maine people and Maine boys and girls, and Maine as a Commonwealth, should not lag behind in this patriotic growth. And the first step towards all this is to acquire this knowledge of ourselves, our history and our own people and institutions. This proposition of Maine history teaching in our schools appeals to me like this: The State of Maine ought to drive a better bargain and hire her teachers to do her work first. If they have any time after that then they can attend to other things, but this should be fundamental to instil the love of Maine and Maine conditions in all Maine boys and girls, there is so much that is lovable in it, and so much that is heroic in it, so much that is inspiring in it, and so much of magnificent development in it. And we Maine people are not true to ourselves in not having our laws made upon these lines. "Each town and city in Maine should compile 100 questions in history, geography and civic relations. For the 500 towns it would mean 50,ooo questions. This would indeed be a systematic and successful way of getting some splendid history and State of Maine data, and as the years go by it could be revised at times, which would add up a splendid volume as the years went along, doubt- less develop keener and keener interest in the honest resources and 'good things' in our good old State. We need some proper, simple text books on these subjects. And further we need more efficient and practical laws passed to compel our schools to do their duty to the rising generation in this matter. "The people of Maine should not permit another session of the Legislature to adjourn without passing some laws that will make radical changes in our school system in this respect. And I must add that I believe Mr. Sprague is doing a grand work in his maga- zine, by constantly calling our attention to this. He is entitled to great praise, but he cannot do it alone. We should each and every one arouse ourselves to its importance and go to it and do it." He offered as suggestions to teachers a few of many question, that ought to be asked for scholars to use in the study of the his- tory of their own town and county, among such were the following: Name various rivers in your county. What is the largest lake? What town and vicinity is generally thought to have the finest scenery? What is the most noted Institution in the county? In what town in Maine was the paper signed ceding Maine from Massa. chusetts in 1820: How was Maine separated from Massachusetts? TEACHING MAINE HISTORY 2I7 What is the oldest lighthouse on the Atlantic coast ? What county in Maine is situated just half-way between the northern borders of Maine and New York city? In what town are large pulp and paper mills? What cities comprise a part of the boundary line of your county? What town extends about 10 miles into the Atlantic ocean? Who are the most famous men in your county? What article of utility does your own town or any town in your county represent ? Where is the largest cotton mill in Maine located? What is the largest summer resort island in Maine? Name the most famous inland resorts in Maine. Name various lighthouses. Where is the finest harbor on the Atlantic Coast of the United States? Name various water powers in the county. Name the railroads. What island is the most famous in story? What are some of the most beautiful inland rivers? Who was the most noted writer of juvenile books in -Maine? What is the oldest public service building in your county? Name various railroad junctions. What valuable articles of commerce and export in your county? What is the most valuable agricultural product of your county? What is the largest natural commercial asset of your county? Name a large number of advantages and some disadvantages that a resi- dent of your county lives among. What is the largest town in area in your county? What town in your county has the smallest population? What is the highest land in your county? Where located? What is the highest mountain and what county is it in? What town in your county has the largest population? Describe and bound your county. Name the towns in your county. The following are extracts from Mr. Sprague's paper on "The Value of Maine History": "At some time subsequent to those unknown periods when man dwelt in caves and tree tops, he began to make crude record of his work and performances, and it so interested generations of men that they preserved it for the use and benefit of those who suc- ceeded them. "It is this transmission of the doings, the experiences, the struggles, the victories and the failures, the joys and the sorrows of mankind from epoch to epoch, from generation to generation that we call history. "The memorable deeds of history elevate and cultivate the mind. The student holds converse with those of other ages and scans and 218 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY studies the imprint which the 'noiseless foot of time' has made upon the race. "By this method we create a reservoir for saving and conserving the results of past labors and accomplishments. "It is inevitable that the story of the past, may, if utilized, serve to light the pathway in making the story of the present. "'The Mind of the Past,' as Emerson calls it, should enter into the spirit of the scholar and influence it. "If this is a fact regarding history generally, the history of races, nations, and peoples, it may apply with equal force to the history of a state, a county, or a hamlet. "The history of the unit is relatively as important as is that of the whole. "We may never know the truth in its entirety with out first learn- ing all about each particle separately. "The early colonization and development of what is now our state of Maine is food for the statesman, the philosopher and the poet and the romancer as well. "The original sources of the history of Maine are imbedded in the obscure annals of the couriers of discovery and colonization, whose beginnings were in the early days of the sixteenth century, and who explored our coast and entered our bays and rivers in vessels sailing under the English, French, Spanish and Portuguese flags. "Renowned seamen of the Elizabethan age, missionaries and adventurers of varied types here made their footprints, and here on our soil the Anglo, Saxon resisted the invasion of the Latin race, and the followers of Cromwell triumphed over those of the Stuarts. "In scanning the basic work of our civilization, we obtain-, glimpses of the evolution of England from a community of agricul- turists to a great nation of makers and merchants. "A new national spirit was arising which finally burst through the narrow confines of mediaeval England and laid the foundation for that mighty British empire of commerce and industry., that proud mistress of the seas whose arrogant prowess has been such an amazing factor in the world's progress. "And this awakening of a new nationalism in England in the i6th century evolved a wonderful class of men, brave, defiant and far-seeing, part statesmen and part pirates, the forerunners of the chartered stock companies which followed in the beginning of her TEACHING MAINE HISTORY 2I9 commercial greatness, and among whom are to be found the dis- coverers of Maine and the founders of her civilization. And right here the study of Maine History scores a point as a stimulas for the study of all history, for trace back as you may the circum- stances surrounding any of the first settlements on the shores of old Maine and you are in touch with the history of Europe and her social, economic, religious and political development during the same period of time. "We see here not only the human ferment of more than 200 years participated in by Catholic, Protestant and Huguenot, and the representatives of the intrigues and clash of the old world, but we also see much of the lurid tragedy of the Red man's race and its pathetic fading from off the face of the earth. "This picture of the past discloses to the view strange and remark-able characters whose deeds, vicissitudes, tragedies, suc- cesses and failures are interwoven in the history of Maine. "You may glance to the colonists under Sir Ferdinando Gorges, a royalist and of the aristocracy, and a man of great breadth of character, whose first inspiration for founding a colony in the new world came from his experience with five Indians whom Waymouth had cruelly captured on the coast of Maine. Or you may study the Plymouth colony and the Kennebec Purchase, the attempts at colonization of the French and the Jesuits on the Penobscot, the protracted struggle between France and England for Acadia which originally embraced all of that portion of Maine which is east of the Kennebec river, and almost numberless other sources of the history of Maine, and the knowledge which you will acquire will be fascinating as well as profound, and eminently practical and beneficial as well. "And later as Maine developed, as the great problem of self- government was gradually worked out here we find events of mag- nitude such as that of that brave Irishman, Captain Jeremiah O'Brien, hauling down the first British flag in the war of the Revo- lution in Machias Bay and making the beginning of the American navy. "Men of Maine were not only in the Colonial wars, but they had to valiantly defend themselves, their homes and their property against British invasion in the war of 18I2; and subsequently our Northeastern frontier was for more than half a century the sub- ject of a fierce international controversy between the government 220 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY at Washington and Great Britain which came near ending in another bloody contest with the mother country and was only averted by wise diplomacy. "And a portion of the magnificent county of Aroostook was first settled by some of those French peasants who were driven by the English government in 1755 from their possessions around the Bay of Fundy, and whose story has been such a theme of sadness in poetry and romance, and immortalized by that sweetest of all singers, Longfellow, himself a native of Maine. "And Holman Day, Maine's famous novelist, has recently added much of interest to the history and romance of the Acadians of Aroostook by a highly entertaining novel, The Red Lane. "The critics of our public school system have often urged that its teaching is not practical enough, it is contended that while the scholars have a superficial knowledge of the ends of the earth and the islands of the sea, they know practically nothing about the things with which they come in daily contact; that they know much about Homer's heroes and their doings and but little about the man they meet on the'street; that they have profound knowledge of the forum of ancient Rome and are as profoundly ignorant of how their own town meeting or city council is managed; that while they know a great deal about Grecian mythology they are lament- ably deficient in the history of the town, county and state of their nativity. "In a word it is said that the scheme of school teaching is not wholly in touch with the progressive spirit of the times which is a relentless searcher for facts and for practical results as well. "There is much force and altogether too much truth in this criticism, and I believe that the evidence which we now see of an awakening among the educators of Maine to the importance of local history in our public schools is worthy of great praise and a matter for sincere congratulation. . . . "The foundation of good citizenship is patriotism, a love not only for one's own country and its institutions, but also for the town and state in which one lives. "The child should be taught that which will inculcate this spirit. Ile should be encouraged to observe and investigate the things around him, his surroundings and their beginnings and learn to go to the original sources for his information. The efforts and failures of his ancestors will create in him not only a reverence for them and their achievements, but also a desire TEACHING MAINE HISTORY 221 and a determination to improve upon their methods and to finish in a better fashion what they had begun "Such work will be the beginning of true patriotism and the formation of the loftiest ideals. It is a positive form of preparers ness for the youth's future battle of life. It will evolve righteous government, lay the foundation for true progress and produce the highest type of American citizenship. "I would enter no protest against the boy or girl aspiring to the attainment of a so-called 'liberal' education, but I would not have the educational system cast in a complete ironclad mold of ancient classics. "I would have the scholar appreciate and develop a love for what is becoming venerable in Maine as well as for the Greek epic. "I would endeavor to engender within his breast a desire to have knowledge of the Baron St. Castin, and his beautiful wile, 'The Lady of Pyrness,' the proud daughter of that noble Indian chieftain who dwelt on the banks of the river Penobscot, Mado- cowando. "I would have him care something about the history and legends of that eminent sachem of the Tarratines, Orono, for whom was named the University town of our state, or the brave Norridgc- wocks who went to death in defence of Father Rale, as well as to be familiar with Neptune, Vulcan and Venus. "I would have him as much interested in the thrilling story of Arnold's expedition through Maine, as in the question of whether or not the Spartans betrayed their allies. I would have him know something of what we mean when we say that a farm lies north of the Waldo Patent, as well as to know all about Demosthenes' speech on the embassy. "I would impress upon scholars the importance of knowing who Martin Pring was as well as to know whether Alexander died of poison or by disease. "If they cannot have knowledge of both I would prefer that they know something of the landing of the Popham colony at the mouth of the Kennebec, than to know all about Nestor's chariot, or about all of the gods who have dined with the Ethiopians. "I would that they could talk learnedly of the tale of George Waymouth landing on the coast of Maine in 1605, as of the classi- cal Tale of Troy divine. (c) 1998 Courtesy of the Androscoggin Historical Society ************************************************* * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.