From the Rev. Mr. Sturtevant, President of Illinois College.

by Catharine Esther Beecher October 7th, 2023

Too Long; Didn't Read

“In regard to some voluntary organization to secure popular education, if it were worked with a truly liberal and Christian spirit, it could, and would, do us great good in this state: first, by collecting[135] statistics of our wants, and calling attention (by the press, and by public lectures all over the state) to these wants, and to what has been accomplished in other states and countries. By supporting, at least in part, model schools in different parts of the state, to show, by example, what good schools are. By bringing public sentiment to bear on the Legislature, especially in reference to our school fund. It is now nearly two millions, and is yearly increasing. Now, its whole management is left to the unregulated action of the Legislature, without a single mind devoted to acquiring and disseminating knowledge as to the proper mode of using it. Whether, any one year, there shall be even one intelligent friend of education in our Legislature, is a matter of chance. If some plan be not devised for leading the Legislature to wise views, the object of this fund will be lost. It will a little diminish the expense for each child, but add nothing towards getting better schools.” President Sturtevant’s account of the deplorable state of their schools, and of the public apathy on the subject, is mournful.

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The Duty of American Women to Their Country by Catharine Esther Beecher, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. From the Rev. Mr. Sturtevant, President of Illinois College.

FROM THE REV. MR. STURTEVANT, PRESIDENT OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE.

By supporting, at least in part, model schools in different parts of the state, to show, by example, what good schools are.
By bringing public sentiment to bear on the Legislature, especially in reference to our school fund. It is now nearly two millions, and is yearly increasing. Now, its whole management is left to the unregulated action of the Legislature, without a single mind devoted to acquiring and disseminating knowledge as to the proper mode of using it. Whether, any one year, there shall be even one intelligent friend of education in our Legislature, is a matter of chance. If some plan be not devised for leading the Legislature to wise views, the object of this fund will be lost. It will a little diminish the expense for each child, but add nothing towards getting better schools.”

President Sturtevant’s account of the deplorable state of their schools, and of the public apathy on the subject, is mournful.

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This book is part of the public domain. Catharine Esther Beecher (2016). The Duty of American Women to Their Country. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/53739/pg53739-images.html

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