760 



TEACHERS' ASSOCIATIONS. 



flicts of law in connection with public com- 

 panies ; the limitations of the right of Govern- 

 ments to expel foreigners ; railways, telegraphs, 

 and telephones in time of war ; and the theory 

 of the Berlin Conference on the occupation of 

 territory. The Institute adopted resolutions 



in respect to the assertion of properly asserted of natives. 



rights in newly annexed territory in the un- 

 civilized parts of the globe ; to the protection 

 of vested interests of citizens of civilized na- 

 tions; to freedom of access and settlement 

 without regard to nationality ; to the prohibi- 

 tion of slavery ; and to the proper treatment 



T 



TEACHERS' ASSOCIATIONS. The oldest living 

 educational association in this country is the 

 American Institute of Instruction, organized in 

 Boston, in 1830. The earliest educational as- 

 sociation in this country was formed at Middle- 

 town, Conn., in 1799, under the name of 

 " Middlesex County Association for the Im- 

 provement of Common Schools." The exist- 

 ence of this society was due to the efforts of 

 the Rev. William Woodb ridge, of Middletown, 

 Conn., a famous teacher. Although this effort 

 was premature, it gave a great impulse to the 

 cause of education, and its recommendation 

 was considered one of a teacher's best testi- 

 monials. There is no record of any other con- 

 tinuous associated movement until 1826, when 

 Josiah llolbrook organized in Connecticut the 

 " lyceum," which had for its main object 

 " the association of teachers for mutual im- 

 provement." One of the first societies of this 

 kind was organized in Windsor County, Conn., 

 by Mr. llolbrook himself, assisted by the Rev. 

 Samuel J. May. Twenty of these lyceums were 

 in active operation as late as 1838. In 1827, a 

 "Society for the Improvement of Common 

 Schools" was formed in Hartford, and in 1830 

 a general convention of teachers and friends of 

 education was held in that city, of which Noah 

 Webster was president. This meeting was large- 

 ly attended, and addresses were delivered by 

 President Humphrey, of Amherst College, Noah 

 Webster, and W. A. Alcott. In 1839 a State 

 convention was held at Hartford, at which 

 addresses were delivered by Prof. Calvin E. 

 Stowe, Thomas Cushing, Alexander H. Everett, 

 and Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney. In the autumn of 

 the same year the first teachers' institute in this 

 country was held in Hartford, under the invi- 

 tation and arrangement of the secretary of the 

 Connecticut Board of Education. The ex- 

 penses of this institute were paid by the Hon. 

 Henry Barnard. During the same year, a plan 

 for a State association was drawn up by Dr. 

 Barnard, which was the first decisive move- 

 ment of this kind in Connecticut, and, perhaps, 

 in the country, although there were voluntary 

 conferences in Massachusetts for discussing 

 educational questions at a much earlier date. 

 For instance, in August, 1636, " a general meet- 

 ing of the registered inhabitants of the town of 

 Boston " was convened, and money was sub- 

 scribed " toward maintaining a free school- 

 master for the youth with us." This was not 

 distinctively an association of teachers, but it 



was the beginning of conferences that led to 

 the formation of organized efforts, as well as 

 teachers' associations at a later date. These 

 voluntary meetings led to the general organi- 

 zation of the State, and afterward to the for- 

 mation of Bible, Educational, Tract, and Sun- 

 day-school societies. In 1812 the first success- 

 ful effort was made to bring the teachers of 

 Boston and vicinity into an association for 

 their own professional improvement. The 

 name of this was " The Associated In- 

 structors of Youth in the Town of Boston and 

 its Vicinity." Meetings were held for several 

 years, and in 1835 it was reorganized under the 

 name of "The Association of the Masters of 

 Boston Grammar-Schools," and came before 

 the public in the memorable controversy of 

 the " thirty-one Boston musters " with Horace 

 Mann, in 1844-'45. The lyceum movement 

 mentioned above, led to the formation of 

 the Boston Mechanics' Institute in 1827, the 

 Boston Infant- School Society in 1828, and 

 the Boston Society for the Diffusion of Use- 

 ful Knowledge the same year, and to State 

 educational conventions in 1829 and 1830. 

 One result was the organization of the Ameri- 

 can Institute of Instruction, Aug. 21, 1830, 

 annual meetings of which have been held until 

 the present time. It was proposed to call this 

 society "The New England Association of 

 Teachers"; but as several of the Middle, 

 Southern, and Western States were represented 

 in its first conventions, and many persons not 

 teachers were desirous of membership, a more 

 comprehensive name and plan were adopted, 

 although it has continued to be an association 

 of New England teachers. Its presidents 

 from 1830 to 1856 were Francis Wayland, 

 William B. Calhoun, James G. Carter, George 

 B. Emerson, Gideon F. Thayer, Thomas Sher- 

 man, and John Kingsbury. Through the ef- 

 forts of James G. Carter in 1835. then a member 

 of the Massachusetts Legislature, an appro- 

 priation of $300 a year, for five successive 

 years, was made in aid of the association, and 

 this grant was from time to time renewed. 

 Year after year the institute has held its meet- 

 ings, usually in one of the principal cities or 

 towns of New England, each session occupy- 

 ing three or four days in lectures, reports, and 

 discussions. The day meetings have been at- 

 tended by hundreds of teachers, school-officers, 

 and friends of education, and the evening ses- 

 sions by thousands of people. 



