Tag Archives: Pioneer Teachers

Marietta Johnson founded experimental school during the Progressive Movement

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During the Progressive Movement of the early 20th century, teacher Marietta Johnson founded an experimental school that earned national and international acclaim. Photo credit: Public Domain

Many exceptional educators spearheaded the Progressive Education Movement in our country in the early 20th century. One of these was Marietta Johnson, the founder of an experimental school which earned national and international acclaim.

Marietta was born on Oct. 8, 1864, in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a young woman, she graduated from the normal school now known as St. Cloud State University in 1885. In Marietta’s day, the purpose of a normal school was to educate and prepare teachers for teaching in public schools.

Marietta launched her career as an educator in rural elementary and secondary schools in Minnesota. She even served as a trainer of new teachers in various normal schools. Marietta was recognized as an exceptional teacher using established teaching methods, but during these years, she embraced the emerging philosophy of progressive education. She came to believe that children should be exposed to child-centered environments, immersed in nature, studying outdoors, and learning at their own pace.

In 1902, Marietta moved with her family to Fairhope, Alabama. Five years later, she founded a progressive school she named the School of Organic Education. The school was built near the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, a location selected for its natural beauty, temperate climate, and potential for growth. The modernized curriculum emphasized learning in outdoor environments and offered crafts and folk dancing in addition to traditional academic subjects. There were no final exams, no homework, and no failing grades.

Marietta’s school was so successful it was profiled and praised by the leading educational philosopher of the day, John Dewey, in his book Schools of Tomorrow, published in 1913. As a result of this notoriety, education professionals from all around the country and in Europe visited the school to observe progressive education in action. A powerful and charismatic public speaker, Marietta toured the United States and overseas on the lecture circuit to promote her progressive educational practices. Today, Marietta’s school still operates and is known as the Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education.

Sadly, Marietta passed away in Fairhope on Dec. 23, 1938. She was 74 years old. She is buried at Colony Cemetery in Fairhope. To learn more about the Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education, click on this link to the school’s official website.

What strategies did the Miracle Worker, Annie Sullivan Macy, use to teach Helen Keller?

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Helen Keller, left, with her teacher, Annie Sullivan Macy.  Photo credit: Public Domain

Anne Sullivan: This teacher’s name is synonymous with Miracle Worker. Anne is the remarkable teacher who worked with Helen Keller, an extremely intelligent blind and deaf child from Tuscumbia, Alabama. The relationship between the teacher and the student is explored in the play The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, an iconic piece of American literature that is frequently taught in public schools. This award-winning play depicts the exact moment at which, due to Anne’s expert instructional efforts, Helen was able to grasp the concept of language. This knowledge unlocked a world of isolation for the little girl, allowing her to connect with her fellow human beings, and making it possible for her to earn a university degree at a time when educating women was rare. The scene is sweet. But what strategies, exactly, did the miracle-working teacher use in order to achieve this breakthrough? After extensive reading on the subject, I think I may be able to identify a few of them.

First of all, Anne read every bit of published material available in her day about the education of handicapped students. Knowledge of pedagogy is the first step to effective practice. In addition to this, Anne had the “advantage” of personal experience, as she herself had wrestled with severe vision impairment as a result of trachoma. I’m sure at one time or another, we’ve all met an educator who is particularly effective at working with students who are facing the same challenges the teacher himself faced as a youngster.

Second, Anne was a keen observer, and she made it a point to watch the normal processes of language acquisition. She then replicated those processes as best she could to fit the particular circumstances and needs of her student. Today, we would probably call this strategy recognizing brain-based learning, and coordinating teaching strategies to fit the way the brain naturally learns.

Also, experts generally agree that much of Anne’s success in teaching Helen language was attributed to the fact that the teacher always communicated to her student with complete sentences. Concrete nouns such as water or spoon, verbs such was pump or run, or adjectives such as hot or smooth,  may be easy to convey. But abstract ideas such as beauty or truth, or certain parts of speech such as pronouns and some prepositions are much more difficult to impart to an individual unable to see or hear. Yet Annie always used these words in her everyday communication with Helen anyway.

Fourth, Anne was especially adept at incorporating experiential learning into her lesson plans. The effectiveness of “learning by doing” has been well documented, but in a day and age when most instruction consisted of rote memorization without necessarily comprehending, Anne’s insistence on teaching through constructed experience was truly innovative. Wading through the creek water, climbing the tree, holding the chick as it hatched from the egg—experiences like these were the staples of Anne’s instructional program.

To learn more about Anne Sullivan Macy, I have included an abbreviated but concise biography of her in my book, Chalkboard Champions: Twelve Teachers who Educated America’s Disenfranchised Students, which can also be found at amazon.com at the following link: Chalkboard Champions.

Alaska’s Lorene Harrison: Pioneer music teacher

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Lorene Harrison, pioneer teacher, ventured to Alaska while it was still a territory. She was the first music teacher in the Territory. Photo credit: Anchorage Legends and Legacies Project

I love to share stories of courageous teachers who have earned a name for themselves as intrepid pioneers. One such teacher is Lorene Cuthberton Harrison, a music educator and singer who ventured to Alaska while it was still a territory.

Lorene Cuthberton was born in March 7, 1905, in Sterling, Kansas. After her high school graduation in 1922, she enrolled in Sterling College in Kansas, where she majored in Home Economics. She earned her Bachelor’s degree and her teaching certificate in 1928. At the time, she was 23 years old.

The same year she graduated, this pioneering lady traveled to Alaska Territory, where she became the first music teacher in Anchorage schools. She also taught courses in home economics, general science, and geography. When she arrived, Anchorage had only 2,500 residents and the high school had only six teachers. Her salary was $180 a month, compared to the $60 per month that her friends were paid as teachers in Kansas.

Two years after her arrival, the pioneer educator married Jack Harrison, a local railroad engineer. The couple had two daughters. While raising her children, Lorene continued to teach music and theater. She also continued to sing for others, performing at private and public events such as weddings and funerals. When World War II erupted, Lorene worked for the United Service Organizations (USO).

After her husband passed away in 1968, Lorene opened her own boutique which she called Hat Box. The store sold clothing and hats that she personally designed. The former teacher ran her store for 30 years. She also launched herself into various cultural activities in Anchorage. She organized the United Choir of All Faiths, which was the forerunner of the Anchorage Community Chorus; she served as the first president of the Anchorage Concert Association; she was on the founding boards of the Anchorage Arts Council, the Anchorage Civic Opera, and the Anchorage Little Theatre, and she served as the director of the First Presbyterian Church Choir for 29 years.

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away at the age of 100 in 2005 in Anchorage, Alaska. She was interred in the pioneer tract of the Anchorage Memorial Park. In 2009, Lorene Harrison was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame. You can read more about this intrepid lady at the link AlaskaHistory.org. You can also purchase Mostly Music: The Biography of Alaskan Cultural Pioneer Lorene Harrison, which can be found on amazon.com.

Oregon teacher Sybil Plumlee was a pioneer policewoman

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Oregon teacher Sybil Plumlee earned acclaim as a police officer specializing in the Portland Women’s Protective Division. Photo credit: The Oregonian

Many fine educators also pursue careers outside of the classroom. One of these was Sybil Plumlee, an Oregon teacher who earned acclaim as a police officer specializing in the Portland Women’s Protective Division.

Sybil was born April 29, 1911, in Seattle, Washington. When she was a young girl, her family moved to Portland, Oregon. There she attended from Jefferson High School. After her graduation from high school in 1930, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Oregon Normal School, now known as Western Oregon University. Once she earned her degree, Sybil accepted a position as a school teacher in a one-room schoolhouse located in Clarno, Oregon. Later, during world War II, she worked as an educator with the Ellis Mining Company in Bourne, Oregon.

In 1946, the former school teacher competed against 300 applicants to fill one vacant position on the local police force, an organization predominantly male-oriented. In fact, Sybil is recognized as a pioneer in the law enforcement field. She served in the unit known as the Women’s Protective Division, and worked on cases involving child abuse, rape, and domestic violence. Her service on that unit spanned from 1947 to 1967.

In addition to her careers as an educator and a police officer, Sybil was a published author. When she was 96 years of age, she published a collection of family stories and history entitled Stories of Hester Ann Bolin Harvey and Her Family. She also wrote Badge 357, an unpublished memoir of her career on the police force.

This amazing educator passed away on January 6, 2012. She was 100 years old. To read more about Sybil Plumlee, see her obituary published by The Oregonian.

New Jersey’s Ethel De Long Zande: Founder of settlement schools

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New Jersey English teacher Ethel De Long Zande helped establish a settlement school in rural Appalachia to educate mountain children. She is seen here with a mountain dulcimer. Photo credit: Pine Mountain Settlement House Collections.

Throughout American history, many fine educators have worked tirelessly to advance the cause of progressive education. One of these was Ethel De Long Zande, a teacher from New Jersey who helped establish a settlement school in rural Appalachia in the early 20th century. The school was established to educate mountain children.

Ethel was born in Montclair, New Jersey, in 1879. When she was young, her father and younger sister were disabled, and Ethel became their caregiver. As a teenager, her family moved to Northampton, New Jersey, and Ethel enrolled at nearby Smith College, where she attended from 1897 to 1901. She earned her Bachelor’s degree there. During her college years, she worked as a tutor and a teacher at Easthampton High School.

Once she earned her degrees, Ethel worked as a teacher at Central High School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Her career there spanned five years. In 1905, she relocated to Indianapolis, where she taught English at Manual Training High School for five years. It was then that Ethel was appointed principal of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union Settlement School in Hindman, Knott County, Kentucky. The school was later known as the Hindman Settlement School. In 1912, Ethel became one of the founding members of the Pine Mountain Settlement School located in rural Harlan County, Kentucky. There she established a reputation for creating especially stimulating lessons, asking her students to write and read letters, and to engage in lively conversation, discussion, and debate.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this biography about her printed in Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections.