Education in Utah

Education in Utah BY LEVI EDGAR YOUNG, M, A. "he story of Utah's educational development is a dramatic one and stands out as one of the most interesting subjects in American History. While the State ranks only third in literacy among the States of the Union, there are, nevertheless, more factors entering into our intellectual development than in any other state. These statements, I know, are sweeping, but may be proved from our school and social statistics. The people of Utah have always remembered that education stands for more than school training and books. With them, education has meant the process that begins at birth and continues not only until the end of life, but for eternity. It is the process by which civilization is obtained. Educational activity has been the dominant force in Utah's history. There is a reason for this. Utah was settled by the "Mormon" people. With them, it has always been a cardinal principle that the "glory of God is intelligence," and intelligence, therefore, is the glory of man. They firmly believe that : "Whatever principles of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection; "And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." (Doctrine and Covenants.) The inventory of the educational resources of Utah have been what Dr. Samuel T. Dutton, of Columbia University, says must be the resources for all communities that are aiming at the higheSt in intellectual and moral pursuits. These resources are: First, homes, churches, schools, and libraries ; second, newspapers, magazines, museums, the drama, industry, and government ; third, those intellectual and ethical aptitudes of the people which make it possible for them to be quickened and influenced in the right direction. Looking at the first group, we see the "four institutions which, in their educative powers, are greatest." I wish to speak of these separately. First as to the home. Among the "Mormon" people, the home has been the centre of religious, social, and intellectual life. In fact, Utah has always been noted for its beautiful homes from the earliest days to the present. Even when the entire country was but a waste, the people made their surroundings beautiful by

srs IMPROVEMENT ERA the planting of trees and flowers, and it was a custom, to dedicate every home to God. Their history shows that the people have lived in homes where parents have been temperate, just, and kind; and where children have been taught that work, honest work, is the activity most pleasing in the sight of God. The old homes in Utah were centres of thrift and a high standard of morality. Children were supplied with books and pictures, music and games ; and were brought in touch with the best their parents could obtain. The effect of all these forces are seen today in the Utah home. In the city of Beaver, thirty-five miles from the railroad, I find that eight out of every ten families hame some musical instrument. Eighty per cent of the families subscribe to some first class magazine, and in the parlors of ten families, I found copies of the Atlantic Monthly, The Century Magazine, Scribncr's Magazine, and other noted periodicals. In this, same city, I found six subscribers to Die Wochc, the famous German publication. Children of the little city were learning good music ; and the people took over an old United States Arsenal, and turned it into a first class high school. Beaver is typical of many towns and cities in Utah. By comparison, I might add here that there is more provincialism found within twenty miles of Boston than may be seen in the entire State of Utah. In the Utah home, children have received that training which has determined their future careers. The home has been the center of all good thought and activity ; it has been and is now purely American, and is the centre for the teachings of the Divine Master. As to the Church, it has been a constructive force in our history. Religion has directed the people in all of their work, and has affiliated itself with all the pursuits of life, and all the social forces in their history. To summarize their religious convictions, DR. JOHN R. PARK For many years head of the University of Utah, and first State Superintendent of Public Instruction

EDUCATION IN UTAH 879 one might say that they believe in God the eternal Father and in his Son Jesus Christ; that the kingdom of God will be brought to earth, when we have redeemed it, and made it beautiful and ready for God by our work and constant moral and intellectual progress. It is, however, of the schools and libraries I wish to enlarge upon in this paper. Utah has had a school system from the beginning of her history, and in 1851, the first school law was passed which provided for a uniform system of schools as far as possible, and provided in section 3 that every town and city support their schools by publigrcaxation. Each county was divided into school districts, and this district became the political and ecclesiastical unit of government. It is interesting to follow the history of these districts and note the interest the people took in education by enforcing the law and supporting their public schools by taxes. The Territory of Utah extended over a vast area at that period ; in fact from Colorado on the east to the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the west. Towns were far apart, and communication difficult. And yet we find the Chancelor and Board of Regents of the University of Deseret directing the schools through the county courts, and working for system and proper training in them all. The ecclesiastical district called the "ward" was always the unit, and in every ward, from its beginning, it was the rule to build the meeting and school house immediately after locating homes and planting crops. It appears from sources that the schools were in a thriving condition in 1850, three years after the advent of the "Mormon" pioneers, for the Deseret Neivs, Nov. 27, of that year, has this to say : "Common schools were beginning in all parts of the city for the winter; and plans for the construction of school houses in every ward were being made, with a view for a general system of school houses throughout the city. One plan had already been submitted, which comprised three large school rooms, a large hall for lecturing a private study, reading room and library. A Parent or High School began on the 11th of November: terms, thirty shillings per quarter, under the direction of Chancelor Spencer. It is expected that teachers crenerally will have access to this school, and through them a system of uniformity will be established for conducting schools throughout the valleys Elder Woodruff has arrived with nearly two tons of school books. Donations from the states are already arriving in the shape of scientific instruments and other apparatus for the benefit of the University; also valuable books for the library. Mr. W. I. Appleby is the librarian. . , , , . , , P "A committee was appointed to superintend the enclosing of the University grounds one mile square east of the city, and the erection of good s&tone wall around them, as soon as possible Our correspondent says that public meetings were being held in all parts of the city attending to and providing for the interests of education; and hat he present winter is expected to be one of intellects advantage to the people, which they seemed determined to improve.

880 IMPROVEMENT ER.- And in 1852, Robert L. Campbell, the Secretary of the Board of Regents of the University, says : "We are happy to report that many select schools are in successful operation combining the languages and the higher branches of education generally. Still there is room for a more full development of the mental energies of our youth in their advancement in the classics, history, mathematics, and the polite literature of the ages, by which native talent and giant intellects of our young men who will shortly grace this stage of action may form a prominent phalanx of strength and wisdom in our nation's councils; who will guide the wheels of government of our rising territory in her glorious achievements for liberty, of universal empire over mind, and the blessings of her free and flourishing institutions." A TYPE OF CABIN SCHOOL FIRST BUILT IN UTAH. In the same document, Mr. Campbell reports that the County Court was seeing to the building of new school houses and the proper equipment of them. In 1855, Governor Brigham Young, in addressing the Territorial Legislature, says : "Educational interests have flourished hitherto, with but little aid or encouragement from the Legislative Assembly. Should not this subject be taken under advisement by this Legislature, and some well organized system be adopted, which will confer the blessing of at least a common school education upon every child, rich or poor, bond or free, in the territory, and which will establish and keep in operation at least one school where the higher branches are taught?

EDUCATION IN UTAH 881 "I am aware that much has already been done and great good effected by private enterprise throughout the settlements generally. Though I am sanguine that no territory, so young as this, can boast of so many or such good school houses and schools; still there is a lack, much remains to be done. The Legislature has appropriated comparatively nothing for this object, and the appropriations of land by the general Government are at present, and a great share always will be, entirely unavailable. "None is so much interested in this matter as ourselves. It would therefore seem to be almost imperative upon this Assembly to extend their most reliable aid and influence for the promotion of learning. And now, while we have peace and quietness in all borders, is opportune time to lay a foundation for the instruction of our children which shall grow with our growth, and strengthen with our strength, and extend it's influence around the children of the poorest and humblest citizen, as well as the most opulent and wealthy." The Legislative Assembly receiving this message amended the school law, passed at the previous session, which divided the counties into new school districts, over which a board of trustees elected by the people should preside. A local tax should be levied, and teachers examined by the local board. Examples are numerous as to how the many different towns and settlements lived up to the law. The district of North Ogden was organized in 1851, in the autumn of which the first school was opened. The school house was built of pine logs, but this gave way to a much better and more commodious building, erected in 1856, by donation and local taxation. At this same time, the rooms were furnished with home-made desks, stoves, maps, and a small library. In the fall of 1851, a school house was built at the little town of Morgan on the main line of the Union Pacific Railroad, and this was superseded in 1855 by a far better building, erected by local taxation. Again in 1874, another school house was built, the people of the town paying for it by donation and taxes. One of the most interesting examples we have of the enthusiasm of the people for the maintenance of a school in their district is that of East Mill Creek in Salt Lake County. In the spring of 1848, several of the pioneers built cabins on Mill Creek, on the north side of the stream. Among the most prominent of the settlers was John Neff, who built the first flour mill in the Territory. In March, 1856, the district was organized for school purposes, and the first school house, erected by donation and local taxation, was built. The logs for it were hauled from the canyon nearby, and were dove-tailed and held together by wooden pegs. The furniture consisted of "rough slab' benches/' and a teacher's desk made of slabs from a neighboring saw-mill. " The reader naturally asks here as to the first school in Utah, and herein lies an interesting bit of western history. The first school in Utah was opened in October, 1847. _ The teacher was Mary Jane Dilworth (Hammond), and an old military

882 IMPROVEMENT ERA tent shaped like an ordinary Indian wigwam served as a school room. Rough logs were used for seats, and the teacher's desk was an old camp stool, which had been brought across the plains. Maria Dilworth Nebeker says in her autobiography : "I attended the first school in Utali taught by my sister, Mary Jane, in a small round tent seated with logs. The school was opened just three weeks after our arrival in the valley. The first morning we gathered before the door of the tent, and in the midst of our play, my sister called us and said, 'Come children, come; we will begin now.' There were just a few of us, I think only nine or ten. One of the brethren came in, and opened the school with prayer. I remember one thing he said. It was to the effect that 'we be good children and he asked God that the school would be so blessed that we all should have his holy light to guide us into all truth.' The first day, Marv Jane taught us the twenty-third Psalm, and we sang much, and played more." Mary Jane Dilworth (Hammond), Utah's first school teacher, AS THE MORMONS FOUND UTAH wa> of Quaker parentage, and was born in Westchester County, Pennsylvania, July 29, 1831. Her parents were Caleb and Eliza Dilworth, devout in their religion and steadfast in the adherence to principle. Caleb Dilworth's ancestors had taken an active part in the settlement of Pennsylvania, and his father was soldier in the colonial army under George Washington. The family became independent, in fact had some means, and early in the forties, they emigrated to the "Mormon" centre of Nauvoo, Illinois. They went through many of the harrowing persecutions of their people, and with the main body of "Mormons" made their way to

EDUCATION IN UTAH 883 Winter Quarters on the Missouri River, where they did their share in making preparation for the long journey of their people to the Rocky Mountains. While at Winter Quarters, Miss Dilworth taught a school in a little rock house. In 1847, she left with her people for "the promised land of the far West." There were some fifteen hundred souls in the company, under the personal direction and command of Jedediah M. Grant. Near Grand Island, the company was met by Brigham Young, who was returning to Winter Quarters. It was here that he "set Miss Dilworth apart to teach a school in the Old Fort." W'hile on the plains the "Mormon" emigrants taught their children, and we have accounts of how they were assembled at times for the purpose of learning from some good teacher, the leading facts of history and geography. In fact, education in Utah began on the plains, for the people had been admonished by Brigham Young to continue the spirit of education that had been developed in the beautiful city of Nauvoo in the State of Illinois. They had maintained schools there, and had organized a university. The city had been pronounced by hundreds of travelers as one of the most moral cities in the Union, and far and wide was it noted for its civic life. In 1847, an epistle was issued to the people when they were encamped upon the banks of the Missouri River, in which Brigham Young said: "It is very desirable that all the Saints should improve every opportunity of securing at least a copy of every valuable treatise on education — every book, map, chart, or diagram that may contain interesting, useful, and attractive matter, to gain the attention of children, and cause them to love to learn to read; and also every historical, mathematical, philosophical, geographical, geological, astronomical, scientific, practical, and all other variety of useful and interesting writings, maps, etc., to present to the general church recorder, when they shall arrive at their destination, from which important' and interesting matter may be gleaned to compile the most valuable works on every science and subject, for the benefit of the rising generation. We have a printing press, and any one who can take good printing or writing paper to the valley will be blessing themselves and the Church. We also want all kinds of mathematical instruments, together with all rare specimens of natural curiosities and works of art that can be gathered." Those early days in Utah not only saw primary schools, but in 1850 was opened the first university west of the Missouri River. The record of that "Parent school" has come down to us, and is a valuable document to show the State's early educational development. It tells us that the university "is for the training of teachers, and to bring our boys and girls in touch with the progressive thought anfl educational activities of the age." Down through the years before the advent of the railroad and telegraph, the people maintained their schools and those other

884 IMPROVEMENT ERA factors that have entered into our educational development. School houses were built of rock and adobe, although the first schools were as a rule, housed in log cabins. In those days, all co-operated in building, and many school houses were erected upon the co-operative plan. An interesting example of this method of work, which all economists now pronounce as the best and most effective and democratic kind of work, is found in the records of the Thirteenth Ward of Salt Lake City : "Friday evening, Dec. 1, 1854. The inhabitants of the Thirteenth ward met in the meeting house to consider the nature and extent of the improvement of the school. * * * A. W. Babbitt spoke of the benefits of the common school. * * * The plan of the main building was presented by T. O. Angell. All the brethren spoke in favor of building the main house, the estimated cost of which would be $11,770. Bishop Edward Hunter spoke of educating our children, otherwise we were not worthy of them. A motion was passed proTHE OLD TWELFTH WARD SCHOOL HOUSE, SALT LAKE CITY A Type of Building Erected by Co-operative Work viding for the repair of the present building, the building of a new fence, and the erection of outhouses. * * * The brethren were asked to co-operate in this work, and to put in a certain amount of their time in promoting the work." ft Many beautiful buildings were erected before the railroad, buildings that were plain, but beautiful in their massiveness, stability, and simplicity. The old Twelfth Ward school in Salt Lake

EDUCATION IN UTAH 885 City is an example of these characteristics. Not only schools were maintained from the beginning of their history, but the "Mormon" people have been great readers and collectors of books, and today, few homes in Utah are without a good library. "In 1851, the first extensive library was brought by ox teams to this state. It had been purchased in New York City by Dr. John M. Bernhisel, and was a wonderful collection of books. There were the works of Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon, Byron, Homer, Juvenal, Lucretius, Virgil, Euripides, Sophocles, Plato, Montaigne, Tacitus, Spenser, Herodotus, Goldsmith, and many others of the great masters of the world's best literature. The library received copies of the New York Herald, New York Evening Post, the Philadelphia Saturday Courier, and the North American Review. Of the scientific works there were Newton's Principia, Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy, and Von Humboldt's Cosmos. The treatises on philosophy included the works of John Stuart, Mill, Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Emanuel Swedenborg. These are but a few of the names found in the list. The books were read by practically everybody, as it was customary for the people to meet in the several ward assembly halls, and to discuss the substance of the best works on literature, philosophy, science, and history. This was the movement that gave rise to the establishment a few years later of the Mutual Improvement Associations throughout Utah." In every ward of Utah, a library was established in connection with the Sunday Schools and Mutual Improvement associations from the very earliest days. The Twelfth Ward Library in Salt Lake City contained some of the best of the classics, and many of the books were deposited in the library as early as 1855. The cities passed resolutions and laws creating libraries in the early sixties, and in 1866, Provo, Lehi, Nephi, Salt Lake City, Manti, Beaver, Fillmore, and other cities had their public libraries. The following unique law passed in 1866, providing for a library in the town of Deseret is significant and tells a story that is well for us to remember : An ACT to Incorporate the Deseret City Library Association Sec. 1. — Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah: That Thomas Memmott, John Rowell, Henry Roper, Isaac W. Pierce, Martin Littlewood and their associates and successors are hereby constituted a body corporate, to be known and styled Deseret City Library Association, and shall have power to purchase, receive and hold property real and personal, to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended in all courts of law and equity, and to do all things that may be proper to carry into effect the objects of the Association, by establishing a library of books, maps, charts and scientific instruments, connecting therewith a reading room and lectures. And the above named persons are hereby appointed a Board of Directors of said Association, until superseded as provided in the following section. Sec. 2. — A Board of seven Directors shall be elected by the members of said Association on the second Monday of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and biennially thereafter on said day, who shall hold office two years, and until their successors are duly elected;

886 IMPROVEMENT ERA and they shall have power to appoint a president, secretary, corresponding secretary, treasurer and librarian and define their duties, and also to enact such by-laws as may be necessary to do all business of the Association. A majority may form a quorum to do business, and may fill any vacancy in the Board, until the next regular election. Sec. 3. — This Association may raise means by the sale of shares and by contribution and donation, for the purchase of books, maps, charts, etc., and for leasing or erecting suitable buildings for the library, reading rooms and lectures. Sec. 4. — Conditions of membership, admission to the library, reading rooms and lectures and the loaning of books or other property shall be as provided by the by-laws of said Association. Approved Jan. 17, 1866. As a result of this early library movement, Utah contains today some most beautiful buildings, where the public may obtain books free of charge, and where they may go to study and read. There can be no doubt but that the "Mormon" people have been great readers. In the clays before the railroad, the schools and general progress of the people were noted by many writers from the eastern states. In fact the testimonies of these writers show a rapid progress of the people intellectually and socially. Among them are Howard Stansbury, Captain of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, United States Army; Captain John W. Gunnison, United States Army ; Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale of the United States Navy, and later envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Austria-Hungary ; the Rev. A. M. Stewart of the Presbyterian church ; Col. D. C. Dodge, chief engineer in building the Union Pacific Railroad ; Leland Stanford of California ; in fact a host of famous Americans have noted our early educational development. Before the railroad, the theatre was built, and dramatic art was encouraged from the beginning of our history. There were scientific and philosophical societies ; the Seventies of the "Mormon" church maintained a Hall of Science, where meetings' were held in which the "brethren" discussed the affairs of the day, and read scientific, religious, and philosophical treatises ; there was a Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society as early as 1856, and in every ward of Utah, there were established literary and religious societies called the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations. Thousands of boys and girls, and parents as well, have been enrolled in these organizations, and they have been a potent factor in our educational history. In fact they are unique, and at no time in American history has there been anything like them. Today, they still are doing a wonderful work among the young, and have an enrollment of nearly 100.000 members. In one of the meetings of a young ladies' meeting held in 1869, a lecture was given on the "Importance of Bible Study,"

EDUCATION IN UTAH 887 a short talk on the life of Shakespeare, and a third party read and explained the play of Hamlet. These exercises were interspersed with music. At a Mutual Improvement meeting held in a remote town of Utah recently, the people listened to a talk on Goethe's life, together with an explanation of his Faust. During the program, a young musician played parts from Gounod's Faust, and one young lady sang Wagner's "Evening Star" from Tanhauser. So from the beginning of their history, have the people encouraged intellectual development in many, many different ways. Art has been encouraged, music in its best form has been fostered. Handel's "Messiah" was given in Salt Lake in 1866 to crowded houses. The leading artists of the world have sung in our Tabernacle, Utah's children, like Maud Adams, have won distinction upon the stage, and M. M. Young and C. E. Dallin have international reputation in the realm of art. When the University of Deseret took a forward step in 186768, it announced a high standard of courses. From the catalogue of 1870-71, I take the following prescribed outline. How many educators and teachers of today are prepared for the studies? It shows the high regard in which the intellectual studies were held. Truly with these people, the "glory of God and man is intelligence :" FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE IN FILLMORE Built of red standstone and hand-hewn timber, with wooden pegs for nails CLASSICAL STUDIES "Freshman Year "First Term. — Cicero (Orations), Latin Prose Composition, Xenohpon's Anabasis, Greek Prose Composition, Higher Algebra completed, Natural Philosophy. "Second Term. — Virgil's Aeneid, Latin Prose Composition, Xenophon's Anabasis, Greek Prose Composition, Cubic and Biquadratic Equations, Natural Philosophy. "Third Term. — Virgil's Aeneid, Latin Prose Composition, Homer's Iliad, Greek Prose Composition, Geometry, Roman History. "Fourth Term. — Virgil's Bucolics, Homer's Iliad, Greek Prose Composition, Greek Testament (Gospels), Geometry, Roman History. "Sophomore Year "First Term. — Cicero de Senectute, and Horace, Xenophon's Memorabilia, Greek Testament (Acts of the Apostles), Geometry completed, and Plane Trigonometry, Zoology.

888 IMPROVEMENT ERA /r> •"?ECv0No Term-— Livy anc* Terence, Demosthenes (Philippics'), Greek Testament (Epistles), Spherical Trigonometry and Mensuration, and Surveying and Navigation Zoology. "Third Term. — Livy and Juvenal, Plato (Apology), Greek Testament (Epistles), Analytical Geometry, Grecian History, Physiology. "Fourth Term. — Tacitus (Germania and Agricola), Thucydides, Analytical Geometry completed, Grecian History, Physiology. "Junior Year "First Term. — Differential Calculus, General Chemistry (inorganic), Rhetoric, Political Economy. "Second Term. — Integral Calculus, General Chemistry (organic), Rhetoric, Political Economy. "Third Term. — Astronomy, Practical Chemistry, Logic, Botany, Mental PhiloSophy. "Fourth Term. — Astronomy, Practical Chemistry, Logic, Botany, Mental Philosophy. "Senior Year "First Term. — English Literature, Natural Theology, Elements of Criticism, Moral Philosophy. "Second Term. — English Literature, Natural Theology, Elements of Criticism, Moral Philosophy. "Third Term. — Geology, Mineralogy, Analogy of Religion, International Law, Constitution of the United States. "Fourth Term. — Geology, Mineralogy, Analogy of Religion, International Law, Constitution of the United States." The schools of Utah were effective in their work, for from the earliest statistics of the United States, we find that Utah's educational standing has been exceptionally high. In fact so clean has been Utah's system of government, so intellectual and moral have been her people, that as early as 1869, the American Presbyterian, printed in Philadelphia, had the following to say from the pen of Rev. A. M. Stewart, who had spoken a few months before in the "Mormon" Tabernacle: "When driven from Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa, the -wretched, starving, half-naked fugitives started on a pilgrimage, which an army with banners dared not have attempted. * * * How, under their condition, and without all perishing, they succeeded in traversing those fifteen hundred miles of reputed desert, seems even now a mystery. They settled, at length, upon a dry and apparently barren soil, where thev hoped never again to see or be troubled with intruders. * * * Whatever purposes the Almighty has to subserve with this strange mass of people hereafter, he has already effected purposes the most wise and beneficent, and for which no other agents seemed fitted. * * * * Salt Lake City is the most quiet, orderly, and best governed city in the world. Among the "Mormons" there is no disorder or outbreak; no profanity or intemperance. The city on the Sabbath is as quiet and orderly as a rural parish in Scotland pr New England. Whatever disorder there may be is created by Gentile intruders. * * * The court house and theatre are substantial structures. ***** J3y such processes, coupled with economy, industry, home manufacture, and consumption, that far inferior community numbering at present one hundred thousand, is fast becoming one of the wealthiest' communities in the world." Quite a testimony is this. I take it that Dr. Stewart is sincere, for his church pronounced him one of the most honest of men, and "a minister of grace in God's great cause." The schools of Utah must have been productive of great

EDUCATION IN UTAH 889 results, for I find the following to be our educational standing in comparison to other states of the Union in 1870: Comparative Statistics from Census of United States, 1870 School Attendance, 5 tol8 yrs. Illiteracy, can't read or write, 10 yrs. & upwards Paupers Insane and Idiotic Convicts Printing and Publishing Establishments Church Edifices Utah 35 31 30 21 25 27 24 11 26 10 9 12 40 10 6 31 45 59 55 23 41 5 16 17 20 23 35 22 3 9 9 12 11 9 19 14 6 9 7 11 11 14 19 17 14 12 12 District of Columbia California 9 9 "In 1877, when the school population of Utah numbered 30,792, there was invested in the Territory in school property the creditable sum of $568,984, being about eighteen and one-half dollars per capita of the school population. In contrast with this, take the amount per capita of their school population which some of the States have invested in school property: North Carolina, $0.60; Louisiana, $3.00; Virginia about $2.00; Oregon less t^an $9.00; Wisconsin less than $11.00; Tennessee less than $2.50; Delaware less than $13.00." During the last decade of the nineteenth century, the public school system of the entire United States was greatly improved ONE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH BUILDINGS upon. We find California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Maryland, and all the states of the South making great headway in educational development. New school houses were built, the standard of teaching was raised, and better scholarship required of scholars and teachers. So in Utah. Great advancement was made. All people contributed to the building of the public school system, until today, we naturally ask, "How does Utah stand in education among the states and territories of the

890 IMPROVEMENT ERA Union?" The following table was compiled by Andrew S. Draper, LL. D., and published some time ago in the Youth's Companion. It will be interesting to note the place of Utah among the other states of the Union in literacy : "We have very exact information about the number of people in the United States who are illiterates. By an "illiterate" we mean a person who is ten years old or more and can not write in any language. It is generally true that if one can not write he can not read. "The proportion of illiterates is smaller than it used to be. In 1870 there were 200 illiterates to each 1,000 of population; in 1880 there were 170; in 1890 there were 133; in 1900 there were 107. "The accompanying table will show the number of illiterates to each 1,000 people in the various states in 1900. "These figures are from the census, but a table from election returns showing the number of illiterate voters per thousand people in each state is so nearly the same that it confirms the substantial accuracy of the census figures. "We have one full-grown man who can not read or write in every nine voters. We have no tests of exact comparison, but there are related and authentic figures which are more convincing than comforting. ILLITERACY IN THE UNITED STATES Iowa 23 South Dakota 50 Delaware 120 Nebraska 23 Maine 51 Nevada 133 Kansas 29 New York 55 Texas 145 Washington .■ 31 Oklahoma 55 Kentucky 165 Utah 31 North Dakota 56 Arkansas 204 Oregon 33 Vermont 58 Tennessee 207 Ohio 40 Massachusetts 59 Florida 219 Wyoming 40 New Jersey 59 Virginia 229 Minnesota 41 Connecticut 59 North Carolina 287 Illinois 42 Pennsylvania 61 Arizona 290 Michigan 42 Montana 61 Georgia 305 Colorado 42 New Hampshire 62 Mississippi 320 Indiana 46 Missouri 64 New Mexico 332 Idaho 46 Rhode Island 84 Alabama 340 Wisconsin 47 Maryland Ill couth Carolina 359 California 48 West Virginia 114 Louisiana 385 "The figures give the number of illiterate persons in each thousand of population, as shown by the census of 1900." Although Utah's school system today ranks among the best in the world, it is far from what the ideals of the people wish for. There is not only the public school system maintained by taxation, but the different religious denominations maintain their schools, and it may be noted that the Latter-day Saints University at Salt Lake City has possibly the highest standard of faculty of any high school in the United States. The head of the institution is Colonel Young, late of the corps of engineers. United States army, and a graduate of the Military Academy at West Point, and the noted universities of the world are represented in its faculty, including Harvard, Chicago University, Oxford, University of Berlin, University of California, Cornell, and others. As the public school system is the glory of the American Republic, so is it the glory of Utah. The people of the State pride themselves on their schools as they do on their high ideals and desires to become rich in knowledge and power — that power which is of light and high moral endeavor. Their school system has been built up by the people as a whole. Not by one party, one creed, one faction. The system has been formed by the union

EDUCATION IN UTAH 891 and co-operation of all sorts and conditions of people who have come to a firm conviction and realization in heart that "all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." Utah has been an asylum for thousands of the best people of Europe. Germans, Scandinavians, Scotch, Irish, and the English have found their way to the far West, and have been taught the rudiments of American citizenship, and in becoming Americanized, they have learned the fundamental law of all good government, namely, self-government. All the forces they have been able to muster have been brought to influence the better ideals and attainments, the best men, the different Christian sects, the press, and the political parties, all have exerted a moulding influence. Our school system has grown by the acceptance and adaptation of all the good things and best ideas of the world. Hundreds of young men return to our state every year from abroad to bring with them new ideals, new motives and incentives, new plans for a better living. Books and pictures are purchased abroad, and the average young man of Utah becomes acquainted through his traveling with Goethe, Lessing, Herder, Corneille, or Carlyle. Possibly no other state of the Union has so many people abroad every year in comparison with her population as has Utah. All this goes to make the people broad and conservative in life. In Utah the idea of universal education was outlined from the first. The circular letter issued by the chancelor of the University in 1850, certainly snaps of breadth and enthusiasm for all that can be obtained for our intellectual advancement. In Utah the children have been educated from the primary school upward. The primary school came first, and in time the University was reestablished as the head of the public school system of the State. In the United States we well realize that education owes little to paternalism. So it is in Utah. No creed or organization has control of the minds of the people. The people have promoted UNIVERSITY OF UTAH BUILDINGS

892 IMPROVEMENT ERA education from the first, and it has grown with their growth, and gathered strength as the industrial and social conditions of the people have become better. Our schools have been democratic from the first, and all that is good and true in the world at large, the people have tried to absorb. From the days of the overland emigration by pony express to the time of the completion of the ALL HALLOWS COLLEGE A CATHOLIC SCHOOL, SALT LAKE CITY trans-continental railroad, and from the time of the advent of the railroad to the present, Utah has been not only provincial but cosmopolitan ; sectional yet national ; individual, yet loving the influences of extraneous ideals and institutions. The country has tended to create a hardy people, who hate the dilettante pursuits and who love hard work. For years it was a struggle for existence. Such a life could not produce cowards or effeminates. The people of Utah have naturally bred within them a love for the home, for humanity, and for God. They are free from the conventionalities of older communities, and are more given to. the belief that culture is not outward manners but inward grace and honesty of purpose. They believe that schools should produce citizens in the highest sense of the term. In fact, their ideals are expressed by the immortal Jefferson in his famous words before the Virginia legislature at one time : "To form the statesmen, legislators, and judges, on whom public prosperity and individual happiness are so much to depend; to ex-

EDUCATION IN UTAH 893 pound the principles of government, the laws which regulate the intercourse of nations, those formed municipally for our own government, and a sound spirit of legislation, which, banishing all arbitrary and unnecessary restraint on individual action, shall leave us free to do whatever does not violate the equal rights of another; to harmonize and promote the interests of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and by well-informed views of political economy to give free scope to public industry; to develop the reasoning faculties of our youth, enlarge their minds, cultivate their morals, and instill into them precepts of virtue and order; to enlighten them with mathematical and physical sciences, which advance the arts and administer to the health, the subsistence, and the comfort of human life; and, finally, to form them to habits of reflection and correct action, rendering them examples of virtue to others and of happiness within themselves— these are the objects of that higher grade of education, the benefits and blessings of which the legislature now propose to provide for the good and ornament of their country, the gratification and happiness of their fellow-citizens." Upon her schools, Utah's future government depends. The schools must produce men and women who are interested in the government of the state. The youth of our state are to become the legislators and the officials. They will be exepcted to exercise the higher functions in the state according to the best of American ideals. Native talent must be developed and character building made the aim of our learning. Herein have the schools their great mission. Again the schools must influence for the building up of the proper home environment. The youth must be taught that the home is the centre where life is begun and where all that is best emanates. We can never be a great and mighty commercial people ; we can be a wise and good people. The big broad "God's out-of-doors" must be appreciated, and the magnificent mountains, lakes, and canyons, must influence us to very great ideals and to very great actions. Our schools must teach us to come to a realization of our best selves, and that the best life is the life that finds its salvation not in formal Christianity and dogma, but in the "Gospel of work and redemption." Our education must revert, however, to the ideals of a generation ago, wherein it was taught that the school is but one factor in life to make for the better self. The school must make the whole setting of life worth more, and develop that wisdom and broad judgment that make good Christianity. They must give us that culture and education described by Hamilton Wright Mabie in his Nature and Culture: "For culture, instead of being an artificial or superficial accomplishment, is the natural and inevitable process by which a man copes into possession of his own nature, and into real and fruitful relations with the world about him. It is never taking on from without of some grace or skill or knowledge; it is always an unfolding from within into some new power; the flowering of some _ new quality hitherto dormant; the absorption of some knowledge hitherto unap-

894 IMPROVEMENT ERA propriated. The essence of culture is not possession of information as one possesses an estate, but absorption of knowledge into one's nature, so that it becomes bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. It means the enrichment and expansion of the personality by the taking into ourselves of all that can nourish us from without. Its distinctive characteristic is not extent, but quality of knowledge; not NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, FILLMORE, UTAH. COST $20,000 scope of activity, but depth of life. It is, in a word, the process by which a man takes the world into his nature and is fed, sustained and enlarged by natural, simple, deep relations and fellowship with the whole order of things of which he is a part." So each and all may take the divine injunction of the Talmud: "Not thine to complete the work, neither art thou free to lay it down." UNIVERSITY OF UTAH LIBERTY PARK, THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS IN THE DISTANCE