THE INFANT SCHOOL THAT GREW UP
By JOSEPHINE E. PHILLIPS
One hunded years ago the first
"child's garden" was opened
by Herr Friedrich Froebel, in the little
village of Blankenburg in
Germany. To Froebel belongs much credit
for the development
and spread of the kindergarten idea. He
saw that the education
of a child should begin much earlier
than the customary school
age--six or seven years--and that play
should be incorporated in
that education. He declared that
"the ability to think and to do,
rather than mere acquisition of
knowledge, should be the aim of
the school."
Froebel was admittedly indebted to
Johann Heinrich Pesta-
lozzi for many of his ideas, but it is
perhaps not generally realized
that while he was working out his plans
in Germany a similar
movement of great importance was going
on in this country,
traceable also to Pestalozzi. With this
movement came the found-
ing of infant schools, which preceded by
more than thirty years
the opening of the reputed "first kindergarten in
the United
States," that which was established
in Watertown, Wisconsin, by
the wife of the famous German refugee,
Carl Schurz, in 1856.
So far as is known, only one of these
infant schools has had
continued existence to the present day.
It is the one started in
1830 by Rev. Luther G. Bingham, the
Presbyterian pastor of the
First Congregational Church of Marietta,
Ohio. The name is
now Marietta College.
The rapid metamorphosis from Infant
School to Institute for
Education, to Institute of Education,
to Marietta Collegiate In-
stitute and Western Teachers' Seminary,
to Marietta College, in
the brief period of five years is fairly
breath-taking. The story
is to be read, not in books or records,
but in the advertisements
and other items of the newspapers of the
period.
Various historians of the college have
liked to link its name
with that of Muskingum Academy, which
had its beginnings in
the little settlement of Marietta in
1797, almost as soon as Gen-
eral Anthony Wayne's victory released
the pioneers from danger
of Indian attacks. There is, however, no
such connection by de-
(59)
60
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
scent, lineal or lateral. The late
Professor Arthur G. Beach, au-
thor of A Pioneer College, a History
of Marietta, was not igno-
rant of the facts, but they are somewhat
glossed over in his ac-
count of the founding: "Many
friends of Marietta have advo-
cated this claim of an earlier date for
the College with a view to
adding to its age and honor."
It adds certainly as much to its honor,
if not to its age, to
show the roots of Marietta College where
they really were;
namely, in the progressive educational
movement which was the
basis of the Infant School, a movement
which was lost sight of
for a time, but which has emerged in
these latter years with real
dynamic.
A general understanding of the ideals of
the Infant School
may be obtained from the following
quotation from the Journal
of Education, which appeared in American Friend & Marietta
Gazette in 1829:
The object of infant schools is to
effect something for the intellectual
and moral improvement of young children,
by methods harmonizing with
the cultivation of health, and the
immediate gratification of the propensity
for enjoyment at that early age....
Healthful exercise and play and
intervals of rest are judiciously
interspersed with mental occupations and
sometimes these are united in a
peculiar form of amusement. The direct
instruction by the teacher is
imparted chiefly in conversation,
enlivened by question and answer, and
so managed as gently to guide the infant
mind to useful thought without
denying it the animating consciousness
of its own voluntary action.
The cultivation of good dispositions
being the great object of these
schools, every lesson is made as far as
possible to subserve this great
point; it is to this end also that so
much attention is devoted to the present
happiness of the children. The
intellectual instruction given in the infant
schools is carefully adapted to the
capacity and circumstances of child-
hood. The teacher makes it his endeavor
to render every subject familiar
to his scholars by full and interesting
explanations and by appropriate
questions, and in all cases in which it
is practicable by resorting to visible
objects or to representations of
them. The memory is charged with
nothing which is not rendered
intelligible or applied in some practical way.
Even the elementary tables of arithmetic
are learned in useful and pleasing
forms; and not unfrequently the
repetition of them is performed along
with some active bodily exercise, to the
movements of which they are
recited in measured time.
The result of all these arrangements is,
as might naturally be expected,
an overflowing happiness on the part of
the children and much gratification
to the teacher. The irksomeness of
subjection is lost in cheerful, voluntary
compliance, produced in great measure by
sympathy: and the sternness of
control is displaced by the air and
manner of affectionate interest.
A predominating spirit of affection
becomes visible throughout the
school, and the first steps in education
are made to increase rather than
check the pleasures of childhood.
THE INFANT SCHOOL THAT GREW UP 61
Such objectives as these would do credit
to the modern kin-
dergarten and nursery school. Further details of the Infant
School Plan appeared in the Cincinnati
Christian Journal during
that year, 1829. The physical requisites
were a spacious school
room, a supply of the proper materials
for instruction, and teach-
ers who are "active and
thinking." Love is stated as the funda-
mental principle of the plan. The habit
of observation was to be
especially cultivated. "The common
schools, on the contrary,
deaden the faculties of the children by
obliging them to commit
to
memory the observations of
others, few of which they
comprehend."
Most scrupulous exactness is required in
the habits and cleanliness
of the children .... But few books are
wanted; it is better to excite them
by external objects. Pictures are
preferred to books. The children are
allowed several hours to play, and are
provided with playthings that promote
exercise and combine with it as much
instruction as possible....
Infant schools have been established and
are in successful operation
in most eastern cities from Portland,
Maine, to Savannah, Georgia.
One of the most surprising statements
regarding these schools
is: "Where no obstacle presents
itself, 150 is considered the most
desirable number of pupils for a
school--it is better increased than
decreased."
Bingham's first letter concerning the
Marietta Infant School
appears in the American Friend &
Gazette for April 10, 1830.
Already he had seventy-five pupils.
The terms are two dollars and fifty
cents per quarter. Scholars will
be received of any age between three and
twelve years. Some even older
than this will be received, if their
previous education does not unfit them
for being benefitted here. Also some
have been and will continue to be
added, younger than three years, if the
health and maturity of the pupil
seem to justify it.
Later announcements give the age limit
as "two years old and
upwards."
I am happy to say [the report continues]
that the Infant School meets
with the very general approbation of our
citizens and has already secured
the confidence of the community in
general. If any have doubts I am
fully persuaded that they will vanish
with one hour's personal observation
of the operation of the school. The mode
of instruction is entirely new;
but not more new than the plan of
government which is adopted, and
which is found to be more efficient than
any other. All corporeal punish-
ments are excluded.
It is my intention, if ever the school
more than pays the expenses
incurred and the salaries of the
teachers to whom I am personally respon-
sible, to expend any surplus funds in
adding continually to the apparatus
for the benefit of the school.
62
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The prospects of the school must have
been flattering for by
the following September the school had
expanded to four depart-
ments. It was renamed the Institute for
Education, and besides
the Infant School contained a Primary
School, a High School,
and a Young Ladies' School. There was in
addition, a Writing
School "taught in a room fitted up
for the purpose as a distinct
branch of instruction."
In the Infant School, as before, the
pupils would attend to
spelling, defining, reading, first
principles of geography, arith-
metic, etc. "An extensive apparatus
has been provided. Parents
are at no cost for the means of
instruction, such as books, maps,
charts, spelling cards, natural history,
prints, and other means of
illustration."
In the Primary School the parents were
obliged to provide
such books, stationery, slates, etc., as
were needed. Grammar was
taught in addition to the continuation
of the subjects begun in the
Infant School.
The High School was intended to be
"equal to the best
Academies and High Schools of the East.
For this purpose an
extensive apparatus has been purchased,
at an expense of about
$200." This material consisted of one set each of chemical,
geo-
metrical, astronomical, and
philosophical apparatus--including the
air pump--and one set of
large and elegant Maps, the most recent
and complete that have been
offered to the public, and exhibiting
the entire surface of the Earth. The
map of the United States is the most
valuable that has ever been published,
and exhibits all the recent surveys,
rail roads, canals and internal improve-
ments, together with views of seven of
our largest cities and maps of
their environs, and many items of
information.
All this apparatus was to be for the use
of the Young Ladies'
School, also. "All experiments will
be performed before the two
schools combined, but in all other
respects their institution will
be entirely distinct, and they will
occupy apartments which have
no necessary connexion with each
other."
A witness to an examination in the
Infant School furnished
the following testimony:
The School readily answered questions
respecting some articles which
they had not before seen, and told the
origin of the several parts, whether
it was animal, vegetable, or mineral. In
Chronology, they gave the general
divisions of time, the periods,
principal events, and dates. In Astronomy,
they gave the names of the primary and
secondary planets their distance
from the sun, magnitude, times of
revolving, etc. These things were
explained to them by means of a simple
orrery. It was truly gratifying
to see these children in their ready
answers, manifest so much knowledge
THE INFANT SCHOOL THAT CREW
UP 63
on these subjects. But it was in
Geometry that their answers most struck
me with surprise. They defined the terms
and applied them to triangles,
circles, arcs, chords, cubes, cones,
pyramids etc. with astounding readiness.
I am confident that these children had
acquired a greater amount of
knowledge in one quarter than is usually
acquired in common schools in
twice or thrice that time. Do any ask how
this can be done? Let them
come and see the means.... They will
find that children here learn things,
and not names merely, ... they will also
find a system of government which
is suited to produce the happiest
results. It is strictly parental and free
from all corporeal punishments. Good
order is maintained, and not by
severe appeals to the bodily senses, but
by bringing the motives to right
conduct to bear on the child's sense of
what is proper and right.
Bingham by this time had asked
permission to erect a build-
ing on the rear of the church lot, for
the housing of his Infant
School. The request was not granted, for
certain reasons of ex-
pediency, but the Church Society passed
a resolution approving
the school. Another suitable location
was found, and on Feb-
ruary 28, 1831, the following letter
signed by "A Stranger" was
directed to the editor of the American
Friend & Gazette:
DEAR SIR: I lately received a polite invitation to attend
the examina-
tion of the various departments of
instruction in the "Institutes of Educa-
tion" in this town--and really the
exercises were conducted in such a
manner that the highest honor and credit
are due both to the enterprising
and indefatigable instructors, and also
to the interesting pupils committed
to their charge.
My first visit was to the Infant and
Primary School. The children
(some apparently not more than 4 years
old) answered questions that have
puzzled many an aged mind. They drew
maps, read, sung, and in short
performed the whole of their duty with
surprizing accuracy and facility.
The High School next attracted my
notice; and here the pupils
reflected highest credit on the active
exertions of Dr. Brown. They seemed
to possess a perfect knowledge of
the various branches taught there.
But the most interesting department was
the Young Ladies' School.
Here not one fault could be detected in
the most minute points--and I
was a witness to the strictness and
inpartiality with which a rigid and
close examination was conducted.
Geography, Philosophy, Grammar, Com-
position, &c. were all brought
before our notice, and were convincing
proofs of the utility of this excellent
institution. The writing of the young
ladies was exhibited and reflects great credit on the
exertions of the in-
structor thereof.
Now, Mr. Editor, do not imagine that I
say this, blinded either by
partiality or self-interest. No, sir, I
am a stranger about to leave town,
and I cannot do otherwise than express
my sincere feelings . . . and in my
opinion, the thanks of the parents and
friends of the scholars are indeed
due to the Principal for the liberality
with which he has endowed the
establishment with excellent apparatus.
In this same issue of the American
Friend & Gazette there
appears an advertisement of the
Institute of Education which in-
64
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
cludes the notice that "Fuel,
cleaning of Rooms, &c., are at the
expense of the pupils." And a
further innovation:
There is a system of exercises, called
Calisthenics, suited to promote
health, graceful motion, and agreeable
manners, taught in the best Ladies'
Schools at the East, and which are
considered very important in physical
education, which Miss Spaulding proposes
to teach to such of her pupils
as may desire it, for the extra charge
of one dollar--only one-third of the
charge at Ipswich.
There were now thirty-six pupils from
out of town, and
Bingham announced that several more
families were willing to
open their homes to receive pupils as
boarders. The weekly
charge for the youngest children was
seventy-five cents. This
was increased to as much as a dollar and
twenty-five cents, de-
pending on the "maturity and
habits" of the boarder.
The apparatus was described more
completely:
Geographical--large and elegant maps,
and seven Globes, large and
small.
Geometrical--Diagrams, Solids, &c.
Philosophical--All the Mechanical
Powers, Hydrostatic Bellows, Air
Pump, Forcing Pump, Condenser, Apparatus
for showing the Philosophy
of Steam Power, Apparatus for showing
the mechanical proportion of
Fluids, Microscopes, &c.
Chemical--Pneumatic Cistern, Compound
Blowpipe, Pyrometer, Flex-
ible and Glass Tubes, Iron Cylinders,
Flasks, Retorts, Gasometers, &c. &c.
Astronomical--Orrery, Tide Dial, Instruments
for showing the causes
of Eclipses, and change of seasons,
Celestial Globes, Diagrams, Telescopes,
&c. A London Telescope has just been
received at the cost of $100, which
is a highly finished and elegant
article.
For the benefit of those who might be
interested in the work
of the summer quarter, 1831, the founder
and head of this In-
stitute of Education described in detail
the aim, scope and
methods:
In many of its features this is unlike
any other Literary Institution
in the Western Country. Its plan is
broad. It is founded for the benefit
of the whole community, and it proposes
its advantages to the acceptance
of all. Here parents in the West
generally may send their children for
acquiring an education during any length
of time they please. Whoever
examines our plan will see that the
Institute takes the child in his infancy
and carries him through every stage of
study up to manhood, till he is
fitted to enter upon the business and
pursuits of life ....
It has been our earnest wish and design
to bring the advantages of the
Institute as much within the reach of
the poor as the rich, so that all classes
may be partakers in its benefits. We
have adopted measures to effect this
most desirable object. These
arrangements we wish to make known to the
public under several particulars.
THE INFANT SCHOOL THAT GREW UP 65
PRICES OF TUITION
These have been put as low as can
possibly be afforded, and we intend
that the tuition and advantages shall be
richly worth what is charged. For
Ladies the prices have been reduced,
while for the Young Men they have
been raised. In the other Departments
they stand as they were--the tuition
and contingent expenses being added
together. These charges are lower than
in any similar institution in the land.
In other towns around us $5.00 and
$6.00 are charged, where there is only
one teacher and no apparatus. Here
we have at least $500 worth of apparatus
and seven Teachers, who devote
their whole time to giving instruction,
and who must live by their labor.
Besides, Lectures which are expensive
will be statedly delivered. To any re-
flecting mind it will be evident that
these charges cannot be less.
But to any indigent student we will
remit a part or the whole of the
tuition, as the case may be. We have done
this, and shall continue this
course.
If any enter either of the higher
Departments, in order to qualify
themselves to become teachers, and are
unable to pay their tuition, we will
wait upon them until they have had an
opportunity to earn it.
BOOKS
We shall keep on sale such books as are
used in the studies of the
several departments, which we will
dispose of at a small advance upon the
wholesale price, so as to diminish as
much as possible this part of the ex-
penses of the scholars. We have no man's
interest to consult in the text
books which we adopt. We feel bound to
our patrons to select the best. To
this end we hold correspondence with
some of the most distinguished Teach-
ers in the East, and thus have the judgment of others,
as well as our own,
upon the merits of different authors.
LOANING LIBRARY
This is composed of such books as are
used in the higher departments.
And the object, in establishing it, is
to loan books on a small charge for the
use of them, to those who feel unable to
purchase. To those who wish to
make use of the Library, the expense for
books will be a mere trifle. In
cases of great indigence, we will give
the use of books without any charge.
TEACHERS' DEPARTMENT
The demand for well qualified teachers
has induced us to found a
Teachers' Department. ... To those who
will take a thorough and full
course, every encouragement will be
given. We believe that this will be an
important department, and that numbers
will enter it with this field of use-
fulness in view.
MANUAL LABOR
We wish as much as possible to encourage
young men, who resort
here for the purposes of education, to
spend a portion of each day in some
kind of manual labor. This will enable
them to pursue their studies with
more health, vigor and success. Those
who desire it may defray a part, or
even the whole of their expenses. A few
here are now doing this . ...
We are now engaged in fitting up rooms
in the basement story of the Insti-
tute, to give to all who desire it an
opportunity to engage in some kind of
mechanical labor at stated hours each
day, and the proceeds of their labor
they can apply to what purposes they see
proper.... There are opportunities
for those who prefer it, to engage in
agricultural and horticultural labor
66
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in some of the families in the town. . .
. Thus the Young Men's Department
will be to many a Self Supporting
School, and a liberal education will be
within the reach of every young man who
possesses health enough to
labor.
The Young Men's Department was receiving
particular at-
tention at this time. Here
youth may resort to qualify themselves
for any pursuit in life. Here they
may attend to those branches of study
which shall fit them to occupy with
more intelligence and respectability the
work-shop, the counting-room, and
the field. They may here qualify
themselves for the study of either of the
professions, or prepare for College, or
for an advanced standing in College.
Or they may pursue what is termed a modern
course of study, and make
themselves masters of living languages,
instead of those which are obsolete.
A modern course of study will be laid
down for those who wish to enter
upon it, similar to that which has been
adopted in Amherst College.
The young men soon formed a Manual Labor
Association, to
expedite their work and business
transactions. Labor was to be
from five to seven o'clock each
afternoon. There was a fine of
6 1/2 cents for tardiness and 12 1/2
cents for unexcused absence.
Tools could not be taken from the
workshop; they could be
ground only with the permission of
Prudential Committee, or Su-
perintendent, and failure to put them
back in the places assigned
called forth a fine of three cents. At
the end of each day and
week record was kept by a
"steward," of the work done by each
pupil, and at the end of the quarter,
after expenses were all paid,
a dividend was declared, each man
receiving according to his
deserts.
When the winter quarter began, December,
1831, two new
subjects were introduced: Drawing, and
Music, with lessons for
performing on the "Piannoforte and
Organ." The Teachers' De-
partment was enlarged at this time,
also, for requests for Com-
mon School Teachers had come to the
Institute from districts as
much as sixty miles distant. The
instruction was being speeded
up, with special lectures, that some of
the pupils might be pre-
pared to go out and teach by the
following summer or fall.
Boarding quarters were becoming
inadequate. Bingham
stated: "We want at this moment two
large additional Boarding
Houses, capable of accommodating from 20 to 30 students each."
He also believed, that
no place in the Western Country holds
out greater inducements to persons
abroad, who may desire to remove to a
place favorable for the education of
their children, than Marietta. It is a
delightful place of residence on ac-
count of its good health, pleasant
situation, and character and manners of
its inhabitants, as well as the
intellectual advantages which it affords. It
THE INFANT SCHOOL THAT GREW UP 67
would be a delightful retreat for
persons and families from the South to
spend the summer months.
It seems possible that problems of
discipline were arising, for
a group of rules is made public, including the
following:
No scholar might be absent from his or
her boarding-house
on any evening, after the ringing of the
study-bell, without the
permission of a teacher. It was expected that some one
of the
teachers would always be present at the social visits
of the
students. No profane or indecent
language might be used by any
scholar. Every scholar was expected to
attend the ordinary ex-
ercises of the sanctuary on the Sabbath.
Every scholar was re-
quired honestly to report daily two and
a half hours of study out
of school. It was the duty of every
scholar who knew of any-
thing detrimental to the interests of
the school--or of a scholar
disobeying any rule without
acknowledging it--to make known
the facts to some one of the teachers.
A plan called "The Budget" was
instituted "to remove the
restraints and embarrassments under
which young writers labor,
and to open the way for practical mutual
improvement." The
Budget was a box in the schoolroom, into
which might be dropped
original "pieces" without the
author's name.
Twice a week the Budget is opened and
its contents read. All subjects
relating to self-government, decision of
character, public spirit, generosity,
amusements, hints, monitions and the
different ways of improving the mind,
heart and manners, are here discussed.
Through it also are discussed an
almost endless variety of questions
relating to the sciences and numerous
other subjects. All the evils in school--all
attempts of the scholars to evade
the spirit of the rules, bad habits,
besetting sins, and in short almost every-
thing which affects the interests of the
scholars are here noticed. The
Budget serves as a mirror to reflect all
the feelings and actions of the
scholars. "Budget Days" are
hailed by the scholars with inexpressible
delight.
In March, 1832, barely two years after
the founding of the
Infant School, the need for more room
became acute. Bingham
and Mansfield French--one of the
instructors who had become
joint owner of the Institute--planned
for a new building, to be
seventy-five feet in length, forty feet
in width, and three stories
high. Their funds were sufficient for
beginning this building but
they did not have enough to complete and
equip it. However, the
Institute had become a community asset
and they thought it might
be possible to arouse community
interest. A meeting was called,
therefore, in order that all
public-spirited citizens might "con-
sult in regard to some propositions
which will be laid before
them."
68 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL
AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The propositions met with immediate
favorable response. A
Board of Trustees was appointed and
plans made for financing
the erection of the new building, and
the purchase of the Institute
itself from Bingham and French. These
men, however, remained
in charge for some time, Bingham
remaining a trustee until sev-
eral years after he left Marietta in
1837.
The Marietta Collegiate Institute and
Western Teachers'
Seminary was chartered by the General
Assembly of Ohio in De-
cember, 1832. Its first catalogue
had already been issued, de-
scribing a Female Department, Teachers'
Department, Collegiate
Department and Preparatory Department.
The latter was now of
academy grade. The Infant School seems to
have vanished. It
was not that it had died, however, so
much as it was that it had
grown up. Its great-grandchild was
Marietta College, so named
in a revised charter granted February
fourteenth, 1835.