EDUCATION, UNITED STATES BUREAU OF. 



249 



T. W., Washington, D. C. It exercises no more 

 itrol over education in the United States (ex- 

 cept in the case of a few Government schools in 

 Alaska) than do the Departments of Labor and 

 Agriculture over the conditions or industries 

 with reference to which they have been organ- 

 ized ; but, like them, its object is to collect and 

 diffuse information with regard to the best sys- 

 tems to be followed by making the successful 

 experiments of one State or individual available 

 to all. It had its origin in a memorial to Con- 

 gress of the Superintendence Department of the 

 National Educational Association in convention 

 at Washington in February, 1866, the associa- 

 tion itself having been organized in 1857 by 

 teachers from all sections of the country. In 

 1888 the association represented more than 300,- 

 000 teachers and persons interested in public 

 schools and higher education. 



The first investigation of education by the 

 Government was made in the census of 1840, 

 and' more attention has been paid to it with each 

 successive decade. The exhibit of illiteracy in 

 the census of 1860, and the conditions resultant 

 on the vast upheavals of the civil war, with thg 

 introduction of new and foreign elements into 

 the national life, led to the discussion of reme- 

 dies, and finally to the petition to Congress 

 presented to the House of Representatives, Feb. 

 14, 1867, by Gen. James A. Garfield, with a bill, 

 for the establishment of a national bureau, 

 which stands at present as its law. Its purpose 

 and duties are denned as follow : 



To collect statistics and facts showing the condi- 

 tion and progress of education in the several States 

 and Territories, and to diffuse such information re- 

 specting the organization and management of schools 

 and school systems and methods of teaching as shall 

 aid the people of the United States in the establish- 

 ment and maintenance of efficient school systems, 

 and otherwise promote the cause of education through- 

 out the country. 



The office of Commissioner of Education (sal- 

 ary, $3,000) has been held by Henry Barnard 

 (March 14, 1867, to March 15, 1870), John Eaton 

 (March 16, 1870, to Aug. 5, 1886), Nathaniel H. 

 R. Dawson (Aug. 6, 1886, to Sept. 12, 1889), and 

 is at present filled by William T. Harris, of Con- 

 cord, Mass. 



The appropriations for 1867 were $13,000, and, 

 though heavy reductions were made in 1868 and 

 1870, they have gradually increased. Those for 

 the fiscal year 1894-'95 are $84,320, inclusive 

 of $30,000 for education in Alaska, which is un- 

 der the control of the bureau. Since its founda- 

 tion to June 30, 1894, the cost of the bureau, ex- 

 clusive of printing, has been $1,232,800. 



Forty-four persons are employed in 5 divi- 

 sions, viz., of Records and Correspondence, of 

 Statistics, of the Library and Museum, of Alaska, 

 and of International Exchanges, the last for 

 study and comparison of foreign educational 

 systems. In 1892 Congress created the office of 

 specialist in education as a preventive of pauper- 

 ism and crime, which has been filled, and is at 

 present held, by Dr. Arthur MacDonald. The 

 unique feature of the bureau is that informa- 

 tion is supplied to it gratuitously by educators 

 throughout the country, whereas in Europe simi- 

 lar information for official reports is obtained 

 by paid subordinates. 



The correspondence of the bureau- has grown 

 into direct communication with all the nations 

 of the world that have Departments of Educa- 

 tion or higher institutions of learning, and at 

 home it includes the heads of all State and Ter- 

 ritorial school systems, the larger cities, and all 

 public and private institutions that are known 

 to be in operation, the number of addresses on 

 the lists being upward of 25,000. Applications 

 for information with regard to education are 

 answered, and inquiries from abroad in regard to 

 American methods and the public-school system 

 having largely increased of late years, the neces- 

 sity of a central agency to receive and reply to 

 such is urged as a reason for the bureau's exis- 

 tence. During the year ending June 30, 1894, 

 29,634 letters, 11,652 acknowledgments, and 7,887 

 documents were received, and 9,915 letters were 

 sent out, in addition to 299,477 documents dis- 

 tributed. 



The publications of the bureau, which are its 

 most important work, include annual reports of 

 the condition of education in our own country, 

 with a summary of its progress abroad, special re- 

 ports, circulars of information issued yearly, and 

 bulletins on matters of current educational in- 

 terest. Twenty-three annual reports have been 

 issued, 19 special reports, and 143 circulars of 

 information. Forty thousand copies of the an- 

 nual reports are printed for distribution by the 

 bureau and Congress, and about 20,000 each of 

 the circulars of information, which are distrib- 

 uted by the bureau only. Among the special 

 reports is that on " Public Libraries in the 

 United States," published in 1876, giving their 

 history, condition, and management, the first 

 full presentment ever made, which grew from 

 tables of the principal libraries as purveyors of 

 instruction, supplied in the annual reports of 

 the bureau as early as 1870. Part II, consisting 

 of "Rules for a Library Catalogue," prepared 

 by Charles A. Cutter, of the Boston AthenaBum, 

 was reprinted in 1889, and in 1892 in second and 

 third editions. It was "the first attempt to 

 present the rules in a systematic manner, or to 

 investigate what might be called the first prin- 

 ciples of cataloguing," and the whole work is re- 

 garded as the text-book of the library profession. 

 A supplemental report on " Public Libraries in 

 the United States and Canada "was published 

 in 1893. The " Report on Fine and Industrial 

 Art in the United States," by I. Edwards Clarke, 

 is also valuable in view of the necessity of art 

 education to American industries. Part I, is- 

 sued in 1885, covered " Drawing in the Public 

 Schools " ; Part II, published at the close of 

 1890, was on " Industrial Training " ; and Part 

 III, devoted to " Technical Education," will soon 

 be issued. " Educational Exhibits and Conven- 

 tions at the World's Industrial and Cotton Cen- 

 tennial Exposition, New Orleans, 1884-'85 " 

 forms another volume of special reports ; and 

 deserving of note is the ' Report on Indian Edu- 

 cation and Civilization," prepared by Miss Alice 

 C. Fletcher, under direction of the Commissioner 

 of Education, which has been made a Senate 

 document. But what has been pronounced " the 

 most important educational document ever pub- 

 lished in this country " was the report of the so- 

 called " Committee of Ten " appointed by the 

 National Educational Association to take up the 



