The Good Will Roundel ------------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This was Submitted by Tina S. Vickery 12:40 09/04/1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Good Will Idea by G.W. Hinckley Good Will Publishing Company Hinckley, Maine 1922 pages 53-69 In 1912, Mr. Charles D. Hubbard, of Guilford, Conn., was requested to make a picture which would symbolize the comprehensive plan at Good Will Farm. It was hoped that such a drawing could become a kind of trade-mark or seal: anyway it would be something which could be used in half-tone or in line engravings, to tell the story of Good Will's plan for development of manhood and womanhood; all printed matter going from the Good Will Office could carry the imprint. Mr. Hubbard's pen and ink sketch was more than pleasing; we were delighted with it, and, although we placed his original drawing on the wall in the Library Building, we began at once to use the repro- ductions-large and small-in a variety of ways. Its appearance in the Good Will Record called forth many favorable comments, and of course two or three adverse criticisms. When plans were being prepared for the Pres- cott Memorial Building, the writer suggested to Mr. Amos L. Prescott, that it would be a fine thing if the picture symbolizing the Good Will plan could be re- produced in colored glass, a circular window some- where in the building. This proposition did not seem to strike Mr. Prescott favorably; this was in- ferred from the fact that he made no comment upon the suggestion when it was offered, nor did he men- tion it later. But when the plans for the building were com- pleted, provision had been made for two memorial portraits in the staff room; and also above the fire- place in the Supervisor's private office, in the center of elaborate panelling of fumed oak, there was a space reserved for a painting of the "Good Will Idea"-the space being thirty-six inches in diameter. In 1918, Mr. Amos L. Prescott commissioned Mr. Hubbard to paint the picture for this space. Mr. Hubbard spent two or three days at Good Will in order to understand fully the requirements, the tone of the room, the proposed location of the painting, and other things essential to success. Up- on his return to Guilford to, begin his work, he realized that the boy who had posed for the original drawing had outgrown the part; it was necessary for him to find another boy model, and he began his search. He does not seem to have had much difficulty and his search was quickly rewarded. The painting followed the line of the original pen and ink drawing; no changes were made in the design or the symbolism, but Mr. Hubbard devoted months of conscientious effort to the completion of the pic- ture. It was decided that the words "The Good Will Idea" would mar the beauty of the work and so they appear only in the reproductions. The paint- ing, beautiful in design and in color, complete in its symbolism, was unveiled in Prescott Hall on the evening of May 30, in Commencement Week, and the following day it was placed in position in the office. When the Prescott was destroyed by fire June 28th, 1920, this painting, which had become known as the "Good Will Roundel," was rescued without injury to it. In the center of the "Roundel" sits the boy-bare- chested, bare-footed, bare-headed; in a position of ease, he suggests the free life which should be ac- corded boyhood and for which abundant provisions are made at Good Will. In the background, at the right, are trees, symbo- lizing "Forestry" and calling attention to the wood- lands at Good Will, affording pleasure and benefit. Near the trees is a plough; it symbolizes "Agri- culture" and is a reminder of broad acres cultivated annually at Good Will, the boys doing their part of the work, and sharing the fruits of the labor while they respond with physical development. A machinist's hammer in the foreground is a symbol of the "Mechanical Interests." A baseball bat points to "Organized Athletics." The architect's dividers symbolize "Architecture and Building." The books are a symbol of "Science." In the border, in letters of gold, are six words, and these words, taken with the symbols, make a complete expression of the "Good Will Idea;" in other words they tell of a comprehensive plan for the benefit of the class of boys and girls for whom Good Will was founded. "HOME" At the top of the "Roundel," because we naturally begin there to read and continue to the right, is the word "Home." It is often said that the three sweetest words in the English language are "Moth- er ," "Home," and "Heaven." In that trinity of words "Home" is central, flanked on either side with "Mother" and "Heaven." In the Roundel the word "Home" is reinforced on one side with "Religion" and on the other with "Education." The Associa- tion which owns the Good Will plant, is a "Home Association;" it is not the Good Will Religious Asso- ciation, nor the Good Will Educational Association, but where there are homes, the school and the church follow. We do not appear to have impressed this fact upon the public, for we have reason to believe that some people regard Good Will as a "Reformatory;" letters received every month show that many think of Good Will as a boarding school or academy; still others, because we place due em- phasis on moral and religious training, regard Good Will as some kind of a religious institution. But we repeat, the primary object of the Association is to provide homes for those, who, through some un- fortunate event or circumstance, are deprived of home-life. The State provides institutions for the feeble-minded and for the morally delinquent. Good Will is intended for neither the morally delinquent nor the feeble-minded. Boarding schools and acade- mies provide accommodations for boys and girls blessed with parents who can have them in their homes, but who, for various reasons, prefer private institutions to the public school system; Good Will is for none of these. The question is this always: "Is he in need of a home or a helping hand?" A long time ago there was one whose life was so full of pathos that he has been called the "Man of Sorrows." Did the "Man of Sorrows" ever utter sadder words than when he said: "Foxes have holes; birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head." "The homes of the people are the forts of the Nation." The quality of future citizenship depends upon the home of today; there is no more important task than providing a real home life for those who need it. "INDUSTRY." The reader will note that the word is not "work" but "industry." In the last decades much emphasis has been laid upon teaching boys and girls to earn a living; in relatively few educational circles has the emphasis been placed on teaching how to live. We do not believe that the emphasis should be placed wholly upon either phase. The boy who is taught to do things by which he can earn a living, is to be complimented; the boy who has been taught to earn a living and how to live day by day as the living is earned is to be congratulated. Neither knowledge of how to do things, nor knowledge of how to get the most out of life is sufficient of itself; the two combined are the basis for good citizenship, success and happiness. It is the business of the Good Will Home Asso- ciation to inculcate habits of industry; if the indus- trial spirit is developed, teaching how to do things is easy; in fact industry is more than half the battle. Dr. Edward Everett Hale, of Boston, once said at a meeting of leaders in Boys' Work, in Charles- town, Mass.: "There is no good substitute for the old-fashioned institution of chore-doing on New England farms. For many years educators have been searching for a substitute; the nearest they have come to it is manual training in public schools." The plant at Good Will is so arranged that the original benefit of chore-doing on the farm, will always be a part of the life there. A possible cen- tral heating system which would do away with the coal-bins and wood-sheds; a central dining hall which would make the washing of dishes and other features a question of machinery to be managed by one or two adults; one vast dormitory in which the bed-making might be done by an adult employed for the purpose and devoting the days to it; milking machines in the barn, the centralizing of various other activities would result in warmth, food, whole- some dormitories, a milk supply, vegetables and all those things; but to eliminate these activities, while the work of the management might be simplified, would be to rob the place of one of its crowning features-the opportunities for development of habits of industry through actual work rather than simply being taught how a thing should be done. To earn the living and to live the earnings-to earn and then enjoy the life the earnings support-this is the outcome of the methods at Good Will. "What are your duties?" asked a visitor of one of the smallest boys. "I shakes the rugs and puts them down again," was the reply of the little fellow who had been but a few days at Good Will; he was doing it regularly and well, and he was growing. "I have always been thankful that I spent so many years of my boyhood at Good Will at one time; I had to scrub the floors, and the matron used to stand over me to see that I cleaned out the cor- ners; since then I have learned that success in life depends upon one's ability to clean out the corners and keep them clean," is the substance of an appre-ciative letter recently received from a successful young business man in the middle west. But industry is taught in other places than the cottages; there are scores of bird houses scattered among the trees in unexpected places, that were made by the boys; boats have been built, houses shingled, cottages painted, buildings janitored, fields plowed, gardens cultivated, crops tilled, paths cleaned, lawns clipped, trees planted and pruned, horses groomed, cows milked, ice cut, packed and delivered, wood sawed and housed and vegetables stored; uncounted tons of groceries have been hauled, unpacked, stored and finally distributed to the cottages, upon the order of matrons; thousands of express packages have been handled, hundreds of boyish heads have been barbered; in fact almost anything that has to be done in a village anywhere is done at Good Will, and boys, according to their age and ability, are assigned these tasks. But in it all, the fact has been recognized that the cottages and farm are for the boys, not the boys for the farm and cottages; and the duties have been as- signed, not primarily for the sake of getting the work done; but for the development of the spirit of industry. "RECREATION." Among the symbols in the Roundel is the baseball bat; it points to organized athletics. In the circle is the word "Recreation," but there is no duplica- tion here. Organized athletics are essential at Good Will and due attention is given to them. It is customary for each cottage to have its own base- ball nine, and the inter-cottage series of games each season is an interesting feature. The cup con- tended for every year is highly prized and the final games are among the most interesting witnessed on the Good Will diamond. The "Good Will Team" crosses bats with the teams of other schools each year. It would be difficult to find other communi- ties of the size of Good Will where there are so many baseball teams as are found here. Football is allowed but only under restrictions. The Good Will eleven or elevens do not play against outside teams. If it is not already conceded, it will have to be eventually, that football is a game for universities and colleges, rather than preparatory and grade schools. There may be prep. schools where the students are mature enough and can muster funds sufficient for the careful coaching which is neces- sary to avoid serious accidents; but Good Will is not one of them. It is an interesting fact however, that, notwithstanding these restrictions Good Will is usually well represented on college football teams, so that no boy in the Good Will School need fear that he will be handicapped in this respect in case he goes to college. But athletic victories, at best, are temporary; one would, in estimating the worth of a man seldom inquire whether he was on a winning football team in his High School or College days. School athletics are, or should be, a means to an end-not the end itself. Track athletics receive their share of attention at Good Will; so does tennis and any other kindred sport. But it must be ac- knowledged that these sports seem to provide little if any basis for recreation in mature years. "You used to play football, I believe?" "Yes, indeed; I was Captain of the team at one time, and I-" "What form of out-of-door recreation do you follow now?" "Now? I have none. Of course I dropped it when I left school or college." There are exceptions to this rule, but they are few. It is the opinion of the founder of Good Will that a man is fortunate beyond many of his fellow- men, if in boyhood he came to love some form of recreation-some amusement-which he can follow with equal or increased enjoyment in his mature years. If one reads the back numbers of the Good Will Record, he may wonder at the number of camps, hikes, fishing trips-the boating, canoeing, swim- ming, suppers in some dell or shanty in the woods, trips over trails, forestry days and the like, as well as the indoor events in cabin and camp, cottage or school-room, where games are played. But there is method in it all, and these forms of recreation are such as are enjoyed by men as well as boys, and theoretically the boys of today, will fall back on them for recreation in mature years, and do it with profit, if they enjoy them now. Organized athletics and recreation are therefore, quite distinct and represent different values. "DISCIPLINE." For young people "discipline" is not an attractive word; it may even create a shudder in adults, but this is not the fault of the word itself. A disciple is one who follows, and a disciplinarian is one who secures' in some way, the following of leadership or loyalty to a principle. Such a following or such obedience to a law or principle may be secured in a variety of ways. But force is seldom, if ever neces- sary, and therefore, discipline does not mean chas- tisement; it does not necessarily mean either pun- ishment or penalty. Discipline is obedience to principle; it may be secured by the gentlest of means; but discipline is fundamental. It is quite the custom among young people to chafe at the idea of strict discipline; but no boy or girl respects a slack disciplinarian. I have often recalled a conversation with my friend Tom-a boy of sixteen-when he was, a stu- dent in a boarding school. It ran as follows: "It's a fine school you are in, Tom." "Yes, it's fine all right, but there's a much finer one twenty miles north." "I have understood that the two schools are under the same management, Tom." "They are, but the one twenty miles north is much the better of the two." "In what way, Tom?" "Well, in discipline, for one thing." "I don't think I understand. Give me an illustra- tion of what you mean." "Well, for instance, take the matter of cigarette smoking; there's a rule in both schools against it. In the school up north, a fellow can't smoke a cigar- ette without getting caught and taking the con- sequences. The teachers are on to it. But in the school where I am, the teachers say: 'If you're going to smoke, keep quiet about it-don't let it Out.' And so, my friend Tom, knowing the foolishness of it, was smoking cigarettes seven days a week under lax discipline, and praising the fine discipli- narians in another school. He apparently had little faith in his teachers, small respect for them; but he was prepared to take full advantage of any laxity on their part. The "self government" plan, so called, has never been adopted at Good Will, save in a limited way; it 'has sometimes been resorted to in the grades, and occasionally in some higher department; but disci- pline is a matter of so serious moment, in its rela- tion to future years, that most boys and girls need assistance Ability to obey-to abide by law-is one of the requisites of good citizenship; it is the basis of real happiness, and therefore, it is essential in early life. RELIGION. Boys are religious. I do not mean by this state- ment that boys are saints, 'nor that they are spirit- ially minded, nor do I claim that they find enjoy- ment in some types of religion which might here be mentioned. Is there any other word in the English language that has been made to stand for so many forms, so many schools of thought, so many practices, so many shades of feeling, so many differences and divisions as the word "Religion?" At Good Will we cannot meet the requirements of all interpreta- tions, of the word. But we hold to the word itself in its original meaning, and our statement that "boys are religious" is based upon it. "Religion" is a word made of two words in another language, viz: "Re" which means again or back and "lego" which means to bind. "Re" "legion" then is a bind- ing back; and that is religious which is bound to or bound back to-to what! Man was created by spiritual power; he was en- dowed with a living spirit and that spirit is bound, in some way, back to his Creator. Any system of education which fails to recognize the fact must in the long run prove a disappointment; any educa-. tional plan which fails to recognize that the boy is a spiritual being, as well as an animal, will eventually prove a failure. Recognition of the boy's religious nature at Good Will is manifested in religious obser- vances in the cottages, in the opening exercises of the school each morning, in the Chapel services Sun- day afternoon and evening, in the Bible Schools, and also in the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. Good Will recognizes the necessity of religious training, but is entirely undenominational both in teaching and in practice. We do not receive boys and girls whose friends object to our religious meet- ings, though this is not due to any prejudice on, Good Will's part. In Good Will's early history such a boy was occasionally received, but objections always followed. By refusing to receive such boys or girls we avoid difficulties arising from religious prejudices. People who would object to our teach- ings are usually committed to creeds which provide their own homes and schools. For more than a quarter of a century Good Will was conducted without question as to the religious preference of the parents living or dead. The appli- cation blanks now sent out to secure data relative to,", boys and girls for whom application has been made, contain questions as to the religious preference of the parents; but this question is asked because a,',, law in the State of Maine now requires us to do it,", and not because we have any interest in the answer to the question. It is not our concern to influence a boy or girl in favor of any denomination; but it is ,our business to provide for the development of the religious nature of those who come to us. EDUCATION. There seems to be nearly as many theories of education as there are schools of religious thought; but the! many conflicting notions-the fads ' and experiments-do not disturb us. The word educa- tion is made of two other words, viz: "e" which means out or from and "duco" to lead. To educate is to "lead out;" to educate is to develop and lead forth; to educate is to stimulate the growth of the flner, nobler qualities of the pupil's mind and nature, and so lead or direct the exercises of them that they shall be of service. It will be seen from the other parts of this volume that we do not depend upon the day-school nor the cottage home nor the religious services nor the farm and its activities for the "leading forth" of the best in the boy; the educational plan includes the phy- sical, social, intellectual and religious sides, and none of these can be wisely ignored or neglected. The cottage life, the day-school, the industrial feat ures, the athletics, the social events, the religious gatherings, lectures, concerts, sermons, rambles, hikes, entertainments-all these and more are re- garded as educational and as calculated to develop and to lead forth.