Topics in Kansas History: Community & Daily Life

Essay on Education

Public School

As settlers built towns and cities across Kansas, communities were quick to establish public schools. Providing an education for their children
was a priority. Soon colleges and universities also were begun although, during the 19th century, most Kansans did not attend school past the eighth grade. Schooling consisted primarily of the "three R's" ("readin', 'ritin' and 'rithmetic").

In western Kansas, many early schools were built of sod. Kansans built schools from available materials including wood, stone, brick, and sod.

In rural communities, the schoolhouse was used for many activities including dances, church services, public meetings, voting, lectures, debates, spelling bees, and arithmetic contests.

Dugout schools, like houses, were usually built into the side of a low ridge.

Maintenance of the school building was the responsibility of the community school board.

Mandatory school attendance was important in the Americanization of immigrants. Public schools required that all students learn English. Instruction was also given in "U.S. history, government, and culture." School-age children, in turn, shared their education at home with younger brothers and sisters and their parents. In this way, the entire family was exposed to the language and customs of their new country.

Parochial schools, established by immigrants, often gave instruction in that group's native language. Teachers, however, still taught and stressed the importance of learning English.

In the late 1800s, school districts began to be consolidated. Consolidation improved the quality of services at rural schools by merging several districts. Busses were often provided for taking the children to and from school.

In 1866, Leavenworth established the first public high school in the state. Classes for all grades (1-12) were held in one school building until 1875 when a separate high school was constructed.

In the 19th century, most high schools were private and required a tuition fee. They were generally regarded as college preparatory institutions. Less than four percent of all students went to high school.

Dickinson County claims the first county high school in the United States. Construction began in 1887 and the building was dedicated September 3, 1889.

During the decade before World War I, high schools began to change. Domestic science (home economics) courses were offered as part of the new and expanding curriculum. The number of schools increased and enrollment rose rapidly. The curriculum was broadened to include subjects such as manual training and agriculture. These classes helped prepare students for daily life.

In 1882, Haskell Institute was established by the federal government as an industrial or trade school for Native American children. It opened in 1884 with 17 pupils. The curriculum provided students with an eighth grade education. In later years a business school was developed. Former governor Charles Robinson served as the school's first superintendent from 1887 to 1889. By 1920, the enrollment had grown to 700 students representing 64 different tribes. Haskell Institute became Haskell Indian Junior College in the 1960s.

College

The first colleges in Kansas were established three years before statehood. The many private and state facilities founded during the 19th and early 20th century illustrates the strong commitment among Kansans to higher education.

Religious organizations established the first colleges in Kansas. Baker University, a Methodist school, opened in 1858.

Founded by Presbyterians in 1858 as Highland University, today Highland Community Junior College is the oldest two-year college in Kansas.

St. Benedict's, a private four-year college, was founded by members of the Roman Catholic Church in 1859.

Towns competed to be chosen as the site of a state institution. Lawrence won the state university in 1863, after losing its state capital bid. The first building on campus was called North College.

Dr. James Naismith,the inventor of basketball, joined the faculty at Kansas University in 1896. He was succeeded as basketball coach by the legendary Forrest "Phog" Allen.

Bluemont College was founded in 1859 with support from the Methodist Church. In 1863, Bluemont became the state agricultural college. In later years the name Kansas State Agricultural College was changed to Kansas State University.

Emporia was chosen as the site for the state normal school in 1866. The purpose of a normal school was to educate teachers. In 1923, it was renamed Kansas State Teacher's College. Now it is operated as Emporia State University.

Salina Normal University was an independent normal school organized in 1884. In addition to a four-year course of study for teachers, the university offered programs in business, science, and the classics.

Lincoln College was established by Congregationalists in 1865 at the current intersection of 10th and Jackson streets in Topeka. In 1868, it was renamed Washburn College in honor of Deacon Ichabod Washburn, a wealthy Massachusetts wire manufacturer. He had helped save the school from financial ruin. In 1874, the college moved to a single building on "College Hill," its present location. The school later became Washburn University.

Reservation land given by the Ottawa Indians was instrumental in the establishment of Ottawa University, a Baptist institution, in 1865.

The College of Emporia was established by the Presbyterian church in 1882. On June 4, 1901, a new library was dedicated, the first Carnegie funded library on a college campus.

Southwestern College was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1885. The college's first permanent building, North Hall, was ready for use in 1887. It was razed in 1949.

The business school of Kansas Wesleyan University occupied a three-story building near Salina's business district. The university itself was established by Methodists in 1885 and soon offered many different courses of study.

Dr. Swensson had been a leader in promoting Swedish immigration to Kansas. His interest in religion and education led to the founding of Bethany College, a Lutheran college at Lindsborg.

Founded in 1882, a Mennonite seminary was the predecessor of Bethel College in Newton. The city offered financial assistance to the college if the church would locate it in their town. Bethel College opened its doors to students in 1893.

Higher education was a prime concern of the Mennonite communities that settled in central Kansas. The establishment of Bethel College was followed by Tabor College at Hillsboro in 1908 and Hesston College at Hesston in 1909.

McPherson College was founded by the Church of the Brethren in 1887.

The United Presbyterian Synod established Cooper College in 1887 at Sterling. In 1919, the name was changed to Sterling College.

Fairmount College of Wichita opened in 1895 with financial backing from the Congregational Educational Society of Boston. In 1926 the city took over the college. Renamed the University of Wichita, it became the first municipal university in Kansas. Since joining the state system in 1964, it has operated as Wichita State University.

Garfield University was founded in 1887 in Wichita and named in honor of President James A. Garfield. In February 1898, James M. Davis, a Quaker and former Kansan, purchased the university. He gave it to the Society of Friends on the condition that they raise a $50,000 endowment fund. The college successfully opened as Friends University on September 21, 1898.

The Western State Normal School at Hays was established in 1902. It began as the western branch of the Emporia Normal School. In 1913, the Hays school became a separate institution and received the name Fort Hays State Normal School. A third name change made it Kansas State Teachers College of Fort Hays in 1923. It currently operates as Fort Hays State University.The university gym was located in the former guardhouse at Old Fort Hays. The fort is located across the street from the present site of the university. The college used some of the fort's buildings before moving to its current location.

The Manual Training School at Pittsburg, now Pittsburg State University, opened its doors in 1903.

Built as Soule College in 1888 in Leavenworth, the facility was later used by St. Mary of the Plains College. A private, four-year college, St. Mary's was established in 1913.

Many commercial schools or business colleges were established in towns throughout Kansas during the late 19th century. The institutes prepared young men and women in such fields as merchandising, banking, and accounting.

Not all colleges that received a charter were successful. More than 140 prospective colleges and universities never were developed past the initial stage. Many other colleges failed to survive because of inadequate funding, low student enrollment, competition from other schools, and periods of economic depression.

St. Mary's College is one school no longer in operation. Established as a mission for the education of Pottawatomie Indians in 1848, St. Mary's College later became a four-year Catholic school. It was chartered in 1869 and continued in operation until 1931. St. Mary's then served as a branch of St. Louis University until 1967.

Founded as Freedman's University in 1865, Western University at Quindaro received a new name and sponsor in 1877. The school was adopted by the African Methodist Church and continued to operate, with some state support, until 1943.

The Lutheran Church opened Midland College in September 1887. The church then moved the school from Atchison to Nebraska in 1922.

Adult Education

Chautauqua began in 1875 primarily as a forum for adult education at Lake Chautauqua, New York. Almost immediately imitations began to spread throughout the country. Towns built permanent pavilions to house these summer cultural programs. In an attempt to lure bigger audiences, the programs increasingly replaced traditional scholars with popular orators and theatrical acts of the day. This trend became the norm with the rise of traveling chautauquas around 1900.

The first chautauqua in Kansas was at Bismark Grove, Lawrence, in 1878. After three years it moved to Topeka for one season and then, in 1883, settled in Forest Park, Ottawa. This site held an annual Chautauqua until 1915.

As organizers of the 1896 assembly explained: "Chautauqua is a great university whose students are scattered in homes, on farms, in shops and factories, in towns and mining camps, in cars and ships, whereever a human soul carries the love of learning. Then once a year they flock to the great assembly to study under competent professors, to round up the year's work, to receive diplomas, to form new classes, and to go back to life's duties refreshed and inspired."

Many participants camped at the park during the Chautauqua assembly. In 1897, activities at Forest Park lasted for twelve days.

Winfield was another site of a "permanent" summer Chautauqua from 1886 to 1924. Lincoln Park at Cawker City was the third Kansas town with a well-established Chautauqua beginning in 1897.

Organizers of traveling Chautauquas offered a wide variety of acts. Their programs included famous theologians, world travelers, politicians, moving pictures, and musical groups.

After 1900, traveling Chautauquas made the rounds from town to town across the country.

William Jennings Bryan, a three-time unsuccessful presidential candidate, was a favorite speaker on the Chautauqua circuit.

After 50 successful years, Chautauquas began to lose their audience appeal. The Great Depression in the 1930s hastened their demise but their closing can be largely attributed to the radio, automobile, and talking pictures. These innovations brought an end to small town isolation. By 1932, only a few Chautauquas remained.

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