Ohio History Journal

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Book Notes

Book Notes

 

 

Connected Thoughts: A Reinterpretation of the Reorganization of Antioch

College in the 1920's. By Stephen R. Herr. (Lanham, Maryland: University

Press of America, 1997. xii + 282 p., tables, endnotes, bibliographic essay, in-

dex.) In the long history of Antioch College, two presidents have been revered:

Horace Mann for his liberal educational policies in the 1850s which introduced

females and minorities, and Arthur E. Morgan for his work-study concept in the

1920s. The work-study "co-op" program was instituted in the fall of 1921; stu-

dents were divided into two divisions, with one "div" attending classes on campus

while the other worked at various jobs related to academic studies (or simply to fi-

nance a college education). The divisions reversed roles after several weeks. With

a few interruptions, the co-op program continues today. Morgan was also inter-

ested in college-backed student projects that could develop into small industries.

Connected Thoughts summarizes several work-study programs initiated in the

nineteenth century, particularly in the colleges established by the American

Missionary Association for black students, and the co-op program in engineering

established at the University of Cincinnati in 1906, which was the pioneering ef-

fort of Herman Schneider and of national importance in higher education.

Antioch, like many other small private colleges, was suffering from a lack of

students-and income-in the early twentieth century. By 1919 Morgan had writ-

ten extensively concerning education. He was elected to the Antioch board of

trustees on the basis of his work-study plan and his involvement with the progres-

sive Moraine Park School in Dayton. On viewing the campus, Morgan told his

wife that Antioch was ". . . near dead, so we could do what we want with it" (p. 47).

Morgan became president of Antioch in July, 1920. He proved to be tireless in

public relations and sold the "new" concept of work-study nationwide through

speeches and articles, often promising more than the program, or the college fac-

ulty, was capable of delivering. Connected Thoughts provides an in-depth study

of Morgan's educational theories, whether borrowed or original, and their imple-

mentation. It is Herr's contention that Morgan was a "coordinator"" rather than

an "innovator" of the work-study program, and he documents the various individ

uals and groups that helped to shape the program, the often hard-pressed faculty,

the board of trustees, local residents, and nationally prominent educators and in-

dustrialists.

 

Ohio Historical Society                                 Donald A. Hutslar

 

 

Ohio and Its People. Second Edition. By George W. Knepper. (Kent: Kent

State University Press, 1997. xiii + 532p.; illustrations, appendices, bibliogra-

phy, index.) The second edition of George Knepper's state history is brought up

to date by adding a final chapter on the 1990s. In his new preface, the author

sounds a strong note of optimism for Ohio's future. This positive outlook re-

sounds through the new chapter, perhaps best exemplified by several of the sec-

tion headings such as "Erasing the Rust" and "Ohio's Cities-Looking Good."

Knepper uses a similar framework to that established in the final chapter of the

first edition, "Ohio in the Post-Industrial Age," to examine the present decade.

After a discussion of state politics, he covers eleven components of Ohio's econ-