The Latter-day Saints and Education

LATTER-DAY SAINTS AND EDUCATION 775

Ohio, arid in Jackson county, Missouri. In 1840, after the Latter-day Saints had moved on to Nau- voo they projected the University of the city of Nauvoo, but the drivings of persecution prevented its becoming a permanent center of education. The first winter did not pass after that wonderful exodus had brought the Saints into the valley of the Great Salt Lake before a school had been opened, and Utahns are proud of the fact that as early as 1850 the legislature of the territory incor- porated the University of Deseret which has since developed into the present University of Utah. Institutions of learning have played a mighty part in the building of Utah. Latter-day Saints believe in and sustain public schools. They were responsible for the public schools of Utah. But they are responsible also for a system of Church schools, which are the subject of this article. As already pointed out, Latter-day Saints believe in and devote themselves to an enlightened and comprehensive study of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They be- lieve in pursuing all wholesome study. They give proper place to the classics, to science, to vocational and practical courses, to ethics and philosophy. But they are concerned above all other things with a proper study of religion. They believe most heartily, with the Psalmist, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." In the public schools there was not, nor could there be, any place for religious instruction. In view of this fact, and because the Latter-day Saints had tramped across a continent for the sake of a full enjoyment of their religion, they naturally sought a plan whereby they might have their children in schools where a distinctive religious tone, and substantial re- ligious teachings, might be enjoyed. The method followed in eettling and developing Utah made such a plan easy. Having named Salt Lake City the center and headquarters of the Church in Utah, Brigham Young had the wisdom to reach out and build up the surrounding territory. His plan was unique. He called some of the strongest families that had come out west to go into favorable sections of the territory and there establish settle- ments, veritable New England towns. The pioneers of these new centers made the sacrifice willingly, but asked that, having gone out into the "wilderness," they might be given assistance in providing for their children those educational advantages which they would have enjoyed had they been brought up in Salt Lake City. The result was a system of Church schools. At first these were largely elmentary, but as students were trained, academies, or schools of secondary grade, were estab- lished to serve a number of the groups of smaller communities wherein the seminaries were operated.

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As the Church grew, however, it was easily seen that a system of private schools from the grades up through college would involve an expenditure well beyond a private organiza- tion. Then, too, others than Latter-day Saints were moving into Utah. The public school gradually took the place of the semi- nary, until today the institutions operated by the Church are all of secondary or college grade except the ones maintained in Mexico, Canada, and in the islands. The Church at present appropriates approximately three quarters of a million dollars annually for the maintenance of its twenty-one schools. They are found all the way from Canada to Mexico, with a thriving one in the Hawaiian Islands. There is one in Canada, one in Wyoming, four in Idaho, one in Colorado, three in Arizona, one in Mexico, one in Hawaii, and ten in Utah. They have an enrollment of 8,200 students and employ 371 teachers. The following chart indicates their size and distri- bution :

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o «J n School Location 3 •S T 3 tra «°° «<* W is •32 B.| Y. University, Provo, Utah 1875 1,175 65 128 16,042 B. Y. College, Logan, Utah I 1877 957 36 109 8,142 Big Horn Academy, Cowley, Wyo 1909 100 8 19 750 Cassia Stake Academy, Oakley, Idaho 1888 126 6 500 Emery Stake Academy, Castle Dale, Utah 1890 130 6 1,500 Fielding Academy, Paris, Idaho 1884 201 11 28 2,425 Gila Academy, Thatcher, Ariz 1888 210 8 13 1,570 Knight Academy, Raymond, Alta, Canada 1909 115 8 6 500 L. D. S. University, Salt Lake City, Utah 1887 2,145 66 245 6,100 Murdock Academy, Beaver, Utah 1897 89 7 13 3,652 Millard Stake Academy, Hinckley, Utah 1890 202 10 17 674 Oneida Stake Academy, Preston, Utah 1888 290 14 IS 1,800 Ricks Normal College, Rexburg, Idaho 1888 535 25 30 3,800 San Luis Stake Academy, Manassa, Colorado 1906 97 10 5 550 Snowflake Stake Academy, Snowflake, Arizona 1888 104 6 14 800 Dixie Normal College, St. George, Utah 1910 364 28 18 2,000 St. Johns Academy, St. Johns, Arizona 1888 94 5 8 720 Uintah Academy, Vernal, Utah ... : 1888 150 7 12 957 Weber Normal College, Ogden, Utah 1888 903 25 66 2,600 Juarez Academy, Juarez, Mexico 1887 65 6 6 Snow Normal College, Ephraim, Utah 1888 340 15 33 1,700

These schools are dedicated to the principle that no mere teaching of ethics or morals, or philosophy, offers a complete basis for the proper development of human character. They exist to teach that a knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and an appreciation of man's relationship and obligation to God are essential to the living of a complete Christian life. They aim to teach such principles and in such a manner that students

778 IMPROVEMENT ERA

enjoy in their school life an atmosphere of real applied Christi- anity. They teach the word of the Lord in the hope that that word will enter into and direct the lives of those thus taught. Naturally, certain standards are held to, that are more or less unique among Latter-day Saint schools. In the first place, teachers are employed whose training includes both academic and religious instruction. No teacher is employed who uses tobaco or liquor, and practically none of them indulge in tea, coffee, or any other stimulant. The Church selects its teachers upon the basis that the best way to teach religion is to live it. The ideal of a clean life is the de- sideratum in the choice of every teacher in the system. Then, too, teachers are sought whose spiritual glow will enkindle religious enthusiasm on the part of those in- structed. Mere "letter" theology seldom becomes a vital force in the formation of character. And, as with the teacher, so with the student. Of course Latter-day Saint boys and girls are adolescently human in our schools, but they are stimulated to aspire to all the ideals named above. Church schools believe that it is quite as essential that a young man shall face twenty free from the injurious effects of tobacco and stimulants, and armed with virtue, as it is that he should have mastered algebra, Latin, or the sciences. In brief, students are taught the gospel of Jesus Christ that it may actually direct their lives. To have succeeded, therefore, in a Church school is to have practiced in conformity to the ideals and standards of the Church. In addition to this religious work, with its course of study, its devotionals, its prayer and other associated practices, the Church schools, of course, offer the regular academic and in- dustrial courses found in the public school curriculum. As a matter of fact, aside from its religious work and tone, the Church school is to all intents and purposes a public school. Its democracy, its patriotism, its community service are thoroughly public. The Stars and Stripes waves as appropri- ately, and is hailed with as much fervor, over a school main- tained by the Church of Jesus Ghrist of Latter-day Saints as over the best public school in the land. Since the academies have been established throughout the Church, public high schools have sprung up in every county in the state. The Church has no desire whatsoever to operate a system of schools in opposition to those under state control. It is interesting to know that in Utah, outside of the larger cities, the forty-two public high schools of the state are the pro- duct of the last quarter of a century. The Church appreciates the work they are doing and is anxious only to supplement that work for its own children by the religious training which it be-

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780 IMPROVEMENT ERA

lieves so essential to a complete life. And so, the academies that now operates, it operates not in a spirit of rivalry, but it

having operated them in comunities not served by public high schools, it continues to do so to the relief of the treasury of the state and to the very great satisfaction of the people served by them. Wherever the public high school is established, it is sus- tained by the Latter-day Saints, and within the last ten years a unique method of co-operation has been hit upon that helps to solve the problem of supplementing the public school cur- riculum with religious training. The Seminary, not the graded Church school referred. to earlier in this paper, but an insti- tution built to supplement regular high school work with theo- logical instruction, gives promise of wonderful results. The Seminary is a small building erected as near as possible to the public high school to which the students may go when not en- gaged in classes at the high school for their religious training. Regular courses in Bible Study, Book of Mormon, and Church History and Doctrine are offered and pursued, as are the sub- jects offered in high school. Men with college degrees conduct the work and the courses in the Bible count regularly toward high school graduation. To date nineteen Seminaries with an enrollment of three thousand students are in operation. The basis for the work done, of course, is scripture study, but plans are now being evolved which will make the instruction function more fully and adequately in Church service and in the achieve- ment of certain ideals in the matter of personal habits of life. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is char- acteristically a teaching institution. Its priesthood quorums, its auxiliary organizations, including the Relief Society, the Sun- day, school, the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Im- provement Associations, the Primary and the Religion Classes, call for an army of trained leaders. There are more than 20,- 000 teachers in the Sunday schools of the Church alone; and so, recently the need of doing normal training work has forced itself forward for consideration.

To meet this need, six of the Church schools are now giving Normal College courses. Five of them are offering two years of college work while the sixth is also offering four-year courses leading to degrees. To discuss the work of the Church schools and seminaries is not by any means to cover the educational activity of the Church. As already pointed out, the priesthood quorums and the six auxiliary associations meet regularly for the discus- sion of sociological, literary and religious questions. Each as- sociation, except for the summer vacation taken by four of them, meets once every week to carry on its distinctive work.

LATTER-DAY SAINTS AND EDUCATION 781

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ADAM S. BENNION, A. M., SUPERINTENDENT OF CHURCH SCHOOLS

The priesthood quorums, of course, follow a regular course in the study of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Sunday school, an organization of more than 200,000, meets each Sunday with its 20,000 teachers in seven major de- partments, the children receiving instruction concerning the word of the Lord. The Relief Society, with a membership of 51,170, though its primary function is charity and relief work, carries on its course of gospel lessons. This society also devotes its energies to a study of geneagolical work, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teaches the gospel not only to the living