John Stetson Barry Quotes
… public education was first provided for boys only; but light soon broke in, and girls were allowed to attend the public schools two hours a day.
There are two things that make this quotation interesting, First it tells us about the educational gender discrimination in early Massachusetts. But not his phrase “light soon broke in”. He obviously saw the lack of education for girls as undesirable and unenlightened. But the fact that he had this attitude and would express is so readily in 1857 tells us that, at least in the Northeast girls’ education was assumed by many as part of civilized society.
John Stetson Barry, 1819-1872, Historian & Protestant Minister, History of Massachusetts vol iii, 1857
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Quoted in the Court’s notes of the meeting
Public schools were a radical idea at the time, but public schools for girls is astounding, especially coming from the clergy. This Cahier was the consensus of the Clergy of Blois in 1789. There were cahiers of several provinces of France—some by the clergy, some by the nobles. What is fascinating is the emergence of many of the pre-Revolutionary French concepts. The example of the American revolution and its principles was known throughout the educated classes of France.
The phrase “national care and expense” was one that was seen as precedent for those advocating federal aid to education and a strong Department of Education. However, the majority of Adams contemporaries saw education, even public education, as a local matter. The word “education” or “school” never appeared in the Constitution. Adams was well before his time on this point.
This appears to be the first statewide free public education system available to the poor.
Oliver was a right wing, racist, fanatic and extremist. His quotations are interesting because he often said in public what many right wing extremists only said in private. Paranoia and conspiracy theories were common with the extremists, then as now. In this case, they actually believed that Communists had infiltrated and taken over the 30,000 different school districts in the United States.
Alabama. Mississippi and the other states of the South have from the inception of the nation had a much poorer educational system (often no system at all). Even when Jim Crow discrimination was rampant in the South, the white schools were very poor and the Black schools terrible. At the end of the 20th century after integration, there were more serious attempts to improve education in the South and progress is being made to reach parity with the rest of the country. However, there is still in many Southern school boards hostility to science and other aspects of modern education and Southern states tend to censor school texts and library books this weakening the educational system. But progress is being made.
He gave a litany of ills that have occurred when women had been educated. He did not provide any of the counter examples.
