Mary Nine, History Teacher of Indiana

Today, we bring you one of Sylvia Henricks' "Remembrances." You can read more of Sylvia's columns weekly in The Franklin Township Informer, or in her book From The Ash Grove (available directly from the FTHS, and via the web site).

“Did you always want to be a teacher?” I asked Mary Nine, recent recipient of the prestigious History Teacher of Indiana Award, presented to her in a surprise ceremony at Thompson Crossing Elementary School by Dr. Tony Bennett and FTCSC Superintendent Walter Bourke. (See Dec. 7, 2011 issue of The Franklin Township Informer.)

“I always loved to read,” she said. “My favorite stories were about history, especially the Colonial Period, but I hadn’t decided what I wanted to do until I graduated from Franklin Central in 1974 and enrolled at Indiana Central University. I had to decide on a course of study. I chose education and got my bachelor’s degree in 1978. Then I went to Butler University where I earned my master’s degree. I substituted for a while at Bunker Hill School. Then one of the teachers had to take a leave of absence. Her 5th grade class was hard to handle, and none of the teachers wanted it. So they hired me. I never had any trouble with the class."

Thirty-two years later, she is still teaching 5th grade. “I love history,” she says as we talked in the teachers’ lounge at Thompson Crossing School, “and fifth graders are a ‘just-right’ age to teach. They’re ready to learn, they like to write, and they can appreciate a joke. And the time period designated for 5th grade is my favorite historical period, the Colonial era to the writing of the Constitution.” Mary has taught at various township schools, Bunker Hill, Kitley, and now Thompson Crossing. She teaches both regular and more advanced students.

Mary has attended many enriching summer programs, for which she submits applications. These have included A National Endowment Grant for a week to study in New England, visiting Walden Pond, and other sites, a grant to spend a week in Greenfield, Indiana, learning about James Whitcomb Riley, and another grant to study in the Lincoln Museum and Library in Springfield, Illinois. “ Most gatifying of all,” she says, “was a visit to Washington, D.C. for the dedication of the World War II Memorial in 2000.”

Family vacations have always included historic sites. Mary laughs as she says her daughters used to ask if the family could sometime take a trip where there was not something historic to see. Mary and her husband, Ken, an engineer, have two daughters, Bethany, in law school, and Cathleen, using her history degree in PR work.

Mrs. Nine uses the skills she has learned from her own applying for study grants, to help other teachers apply, for helping students apply for admission to college, and for job applicants. She calls her service “On Target Resumes,” and hopes to continue it after retirement

“I also hope to read,” she says, “do volunteer work, and visit those states – about half of them – I have not yet seen.” The Township Historical Society congratulates Mrs. Nine on her accomplishments, and expresses our appreciation for her promotion of our national, sate, and community history.

1900 Reading Circle Diploma

Today, we bring you one of Sylvia Henricks' "Remembrances." You can read more of Sylvia's columns weekly in The Franklin Township Informer, or in her book From The Ash Grove (available directly from the FTHS, and via the web site).

Framed diplomas have a story to tell, if we just pay attention. The framing itself indicates the importance of the activity being recognized, and the diploma represents membership, honor, completion, or success in some enterprise by the person whose name it bears.

Nancy VanArendonk gave the Township Historical Society a 9” x 12” framed diploma marking the completion of a reading course by Austin O. Stout of Monroe County, Indiana, on “this 28 day of February, 1900.” “It was in a box of books I bought at an auction several years ago,” Nancy said. “Probably leftovers from a house sale.”

The diploma honors Austin, as a member of the “Young Peoples Reading Circle of Indiana,” for having completed “the course of reading prescribed by the Board of Directors” of the Circle. Appropriate signatures are attached, “Harry O. Buzzaird, Superintendent; Howard Sandison, President; and Laurence M.cTurnan, Secretary.” The teacher’s name is there, but too faint too read.

With a bit of research I learned that Reading Circles were one of the tools Indiana educators were using in the late 1800s to improve students’ reading and comprehension skills. There were Children’s Reading Circles, Young Peoples’ Reading Circles, and Teachers’ Reading Circles.

The Young Peoples’ Reading Circle is described in History of Education in Indiana by Richard Boone, (published in 1892, reprinted 1941). It was organized in1888, its management by the Teachers’ Reading Circle, 2nd to fifth reader grades. The books were to be read under the supervision of the teachers. “The books may be bought by individual pupils, the school board, or patrons. Once read, the books may form, in many communities, the nucleus of school libraries. The number of those now enrolled (1892) is about 15,000 to 20,000, with twice this number of readers.”

From the diploma, one can se the “standard authors,” were Longfellow, Bryant, Whittier, Hawthorne, and Lowell.

Remembrances: County Institute School Teachers

Today, we bring you one of Sylvia Henricks' "Remembrances." You can read more of Sylvia's columns weekly in The Franklin Township Informer, or in her book From The Ash Grove (available directly from the FTHS, or via the web site).

On the back of this old photo is written "County Institute, Court House front. School teachers." Given to the Franklin Township Historical Society in "9-1992" it originally belonged to Paul Copeland, a Franklin Township school teacher.

The photo is undated, but the clothing of the persons shown appears to be the late 1800s. The "Court House" is the building on east Washington Street replaced quite a few years ago now by the City County Building. The "County Institute" was a progam adopted by professional educators to encourage and instruct school teachers, especially those in rural schools, in their methods and content of their teaching.

The Indiana State Teachers Association was organized in 1854, but it was not until 1865 that the state began to require annual teacher institutes, later supplemented by monthly township institutes. (The idea was widespread that anyone could teach, especially in a country school.)

The first state normal school was opened on January 6, 1865, in Terre Haute. Other such schools followed. Historian Logan Esary stated in A History of Indiana from 1850 to 1920, "Besides these, there have been hundreds of temporary 'summer normals,' holding usually ten weeks in which a modicum of methods have been taught" One of these summer normal schools was held at Acton for several years. (See our Society's publication. Readin', Writin', and Rememberin' [1988]).

Among our possessions is a Xerox copy of a journal kept for a few years by William T. Maze, a local farmer-school teacher who attended the Acton Normal School, and also, on occasion, went to the County Institute in Indianapolis.

Interesting to note in the photo, is the number of women. What was once considered a man's profession became increasingly one for women. James Madison in his book, The Indiana Way (1986), quotes Caleb Mills, an Indiana educator who said on hiring women teachers, "the expenses might be materially diminished while the character of the schools might be essentially improved." The author continued, "Only 1/5 of the teachers were women in 1860, more than half by 1900, and two-thirds by World War I."