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DA 



- 



UUL. 



Building 

A 
Teaching Profession 



A Century of Progress 
1857 - 1957 



By 



Theodore Day Martin, Ph. D. 

Director, Membership Division, 

National Education. Association, 1925-50, 

Washington, D. C. 



COPYRIGHT, 1957 BY 
THEODORE DAY MARTIN 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY 

THE WHITLOCK PRESS, INC., MIDDLETOWN, N. Y. 



DEDICATED 

To the teachers of America who, in their class- 
rooms and thru their membership and participation 
in their local, state and national organizations, have 
contributed to the welfare of our nation and the 
world and to the building of a great profession. 



PREFACE 

The National Education Association is the largest professional 
organization in the world. Its membership of 659,190 on May 31, 
1956, was more than three times as large as the combined member- 
ship of the American Bar Association and the American Medical 
Association. 

It was organized on August 26, 1857, in Philadelphia, by 
forty-three forward looking educators gathered in response to a 
"call" signed by the Presidents of ten State Teachers Associations 
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hamp- 
shire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. 

Opinions differ widely as to the purpose of the Association. 
The following official statement of purpose appears in the original 
constitution of the Association and in the charter granted in 1906 
by the United States Congress: 

To elevate the character and advance the interests of the 
profession of teaching and to promote the cause of popu- 
lar education in the United States. 

The following statement was carried for twenty years, 1935-55, 
on the bulletin board in the entrance of the original NEA Head- 
quarters Building: 

Dedicated to the up-building of democratic civilization 
and supported by the loyal cooperation of the teachers 
of the United States to advance the interests of the teach- 
ing profession, promote the welfare of children and foster 
the education of all the people. 

Both of these statements are good, but they sometimes seem 
too vague, general, and abstract. A statement which I like better 
than either of them is that the purpose of the National Education 
Association is, like that of our local and state professional organi- 
zations: 

To build a teaching profession for the sake of the boys 
and girls of our country, for the sake of our nation, and 
for the sake of the world. 

Opinions differ widely not only as to the primary purpose of 



the Association but also as to whether teaching is, in reality, a full- 
fledged profession. Personally, I doubt seriously if we have yet, 
a fully developed teaching profession and for that reason, I feel 
that the primary purpose of our local, state and national teachers' 
associations is to build teaching into a fully developed, universally 
recognized profession. 

Every teacher may help to build the profession. Many do. 
Years ago Dr. James E. Russell, Dean of Teachers College, Columbia 
University, wrote: "Organized action is the only way to progress 
in a democracy." Dean Russell was usually right. This time he was 
wrong. There are two ways to get progress in a democracy thru 
group action and thru dynamic, enthusiastic, individual action. 
Both are important. 

For a quarter of a century, 1925-1950, I had the privilege 
of serving as Director of the Membership Division on the Head- 
quarters Staff of the National Education Association in Washing- 
ton, D. C. In this book I have tried to report the convictions and 
experiences which made that tour of duty thoroughly delightful. 
I have written it in order that I might share these convictions and 
experiences with all who may be interested, and in order that I might 
extend my personal appreciation to my associates on the NEA Head- 
quarters Staff and to the thousands of leaders and teachers in every 
part of the country, who, by their cooperation, industry, and loyal 
support, have assisted in building the membership of the Associa- 
tion and in making it a potent factor in the important process of 
building a really powerful teaching profession. 

THEODORE D. MARTIN 
40 Oakland Ave. 
Warwick, N. Y. 
September 1, 1956 



VI 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The preliminary draft of this book was written under the title 
"The Confessions of a Walking Delegate." This title was changed 
since I have never been a member of a labor union and therefore 
never technically, a "walking delegate," altho during my twenty-five 
years of service on the NEA Headquarters Staff I visited practically 
every state in the Union. Besides, the original title did not seem 
quite in keeping with the major theme of the book. 

When asked by a prospective publisher if the manuscript was 
"scholarly history" I replied promptly that it was not, since I am 
neither a scholar nor a historian! It is a personal, inside story of 
a great institution with which I had the good fortune to be intimately 
associated for more than a quarter of a century. 

For assistance in the preparation of the manuscript I am greatly 
indebted to my wife, my secretaries and to numerous members 
of the NEA Headquarters Staff who have generously furnished 
statistics and other information of great value. I am also indebted 
to the National Education Association for permission to quote freely 
from its copyrighted publications, many of which are listed in the 
bibliography. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface V 

Acknowledgments VII 

Illustrations X 

I The Purpose and Program of the National 

Education Association 1 

II The Most Important Profession 10 

III Progress Toward Professional Status 16 

IV Teachers as a Social Force 30 

V Three Black Eyes 34 

VI The Best Job in the World 38 

VII Early Impressions 43 

VIII The Old Chief 46 

IX A Significant Symbol 52 

X The New Chief 56 

XI The NEA Setup 61 

XII NEA State Directors 71 

XIII Membership Promotion 76 

XIV Special Services 89 

XV State Teachers Associations 107 

XVI State Secretaries 114 

XVII Local Teachers Associations 118 

XVIII Presidents 125 

XIX Geniuses and Near Geniuses 134 

XX Professional Ethics 143 

XXI Teachers Unions 154 

XXII Repeal of the Little Red Rider 166 

XXIII Our Schools Are Not Godless 170 

XXIV Are Private Schools a Menace to Our Democracy? . . 174 
XXV A Century of Progress Achievements and Goals . . 176 

XXVI Proposed Program of Increased Services 

and Leadership 186 

Bibliography 192 

Index of Subject Matter 193-94 

Index of Names 195-96 

IX 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

The New NEA Education Center Frontispiece 

Facing Page 

Heads of Divisions and Assistants, 1926 43 

James W. Crabtrec 46 

The Guggenheim Mansion 52 

Willard E. Givens 56 

Theodore D. Martin 78 

William G. Carr 134 

Page 

Chart, "Our United Profession at Work" 63 

Chart, "NEA Staff 67 

Graph, "Membership Growth" 77 

Cartoon, "Hitch-Hikers" 124 



BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 




U 



-fj 

W 



CHAPTER I 

THE PURPOSE AND PROGRAM 
OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 



Some years ago a couple of teachers from Baltimore came to 
my office to invite me to speak to the members of their association. 
I agreed to do so and inquired what subject they wished me to use. 
They replied, "The Purpose and Program of the NEA," and I as- 
sured them that I would be happy to use that subject since it was one 
of my favorites. 

They hesitated a moment before leaving and I could see that 
they had something on their minds which they wanted to tell me but 
which they hardly dared to mention, so I inquired if they had further 
instructions regarding the proposed address and the leader replied, 
"Yes, we do. We do not want you to come over and tell us that the 
purpose of the NEA is the welfare of the child. Last year/' she 
continued, "one of your co-workers came over and talked for nearly 
an hour to our group and all that he said was that the primary 
purpose of the NEA is the welfare of the children of the nation! 
We do not think that that is the primary purpose of the Association; 
and if it is, we do not think that it ought to be. We think that it 
ought to be the welfare of the teachers of our country." "Well," 
said I, "I will be happy to come over and tell your group about the 
splendid program of service which the NEA is carrying forward in 
behalf of the welfare of teachers." And I did. 

1 told them that the NEA believed in higher salaries for 
teachers and that it had been working on this problem ever since 
it was organized in Philadelphia in 1857. I explained that the 
resolutions passed at the annual NEA conventions frequently carry 
a paragraph urging "better salaries for better teachers." 

I told them about Superintendent Frank Densberger in Ken- 
more, New York, who always reported a 100 per cent NEA enrolment 
each fall and who, when I visited him to find out the reason for this 
consistently perfect record, told me that he had attended the NEA 



2 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

summer convention back in 1920 and that there he had been amazed 
to hear the resolutions committee include in its report a statement 
to the effect that the minimum salary for teachers in any state ought 
to be not less than $1,000. That was in the days when $1,000 was 
more nearly the maximum salary for teachers in most states. He 
said that he could not believe his ears so he checked up on the matter 
to be sure that he was right, and now every fall he tells his teachers 
that he is sure that they each owe the NEA not less than $200 per 
year for its work in behalf of their salaries. 

I also told them that since 1923 the Research Division of the 
NEA has made a biennial survey, collecting detailed facts regarding 
the salaries paid teachers throughout the nation. This information, 
distributed every two years, in the Research Bulletin and special 
salary tabulations, early in the spring when boards of education are 
preparing their budgets, has had a marked influence in the move- 
ment toward higher remuneration for teachers. I told them of a 
letter which we received some time ago from the president of a large 
city association in which he said: 

Thank you for Research Service Circular No. 11. This 
information has been invaluable in aiding us to make 
a presentation to our board of education and city com- 
missioners, which has resulted in the increasing of the 
teacher salary item in the budget by $500,000. 

1 told them about the 1946 Chautauqua Conference out of which 
came the resolution that the minimum salary for professionally pre- 
pared teachers should be not less than $2,400 and that modern 
salary schedules should make provision for superior teachers to 
receive $6.,000 or more each year. I confessed that our efforts in 
this field bad not been as great as we would have liked, but I called 
their attention to the fact that considerable progress had been made, 
since the average annual salary for teachers has gone up from $189 
in 1870 to $325 in 1900; to $1,250 in 1925 and to $3,010 in 1950. 
fit was $3,932 in 1955.) 

I did not tell them that the National Education Association had 
boon responsible for all of this increase. To have done liliis would 
have l)cou highly slupicl since everyone knows that numerous factors 
have conln l)ii Led to this progress the general change in economic 
and the splendid work of state and local associations. 



Purpose and Program 3 

However, I did suggest that the National Education Association was 
entitled to a good share of credit for the improvement since, during 
recent years, its public relations program has been largely respon- 
sible for the magnificent publicity program over the radio, in the 
newspapers and in the magazines of our nation. This- has helped 
to awaken the public to the present plight of the schools and to the 
need for immediate, prompt and drastic action if our schools are 
to be able to function effectively. 

I told them about the work of the NEA in the field of tenure 
for teachers. For more than three-quarters of a century the NEA 
has been fighting for tenure. 

At the 1873 convention Dr. Charles W. Eliot, President of 
Harvard University, reported that "permanence of position of a 
teacher is necessary to make the position of a teacher one of dignity 
and independence" and the 1887 Volume of Addresses and Proceed- 
ings carries a committee report urging that the subject of tenure be 
given publicity in the belief that needed legislation would result. 
In 1915 the Association passed a resolution heartily favoring tenure 
for teachers and numerous subsequent conventions have passed 
similar resolutions. The 1953-54 edition of its platform includes 
the following statement: 

Teachers, regardless of position or title, are professional 
workers in a common cause, and, as such have certain 
responsibilities and rights. The interests of the child 
and of the profession require . . . teachers who are pro- 
tected from unjust discharge by effective tenure laws. 

Ever since 1919 some committee within the Association has 
been working on tenure problems and publishing reports in this im- 
portant field. In 1944 the functions of the Tenure Committee and 
the Committee on Academic Freedom, organized in 1935, were 
merged. The primary responsibilities of these committees has been 
expressed in the following statement: 

a. To provide protection to teachers in their relationships 
with employers, 

b. To aid in improvement and extension of tenure 
legislation thruout the states, and 

c. To foster a favorable climate in which teachers may 
safely teach the full truth without fear or favor. 



4 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

During recent years the Association's Standing Committee on 
Tenure and Academic Freedom has worked in close cooperation 
with the Association's Defense Commission, making investigations 
in various communities where teachers have been reported to have 
been dismissed unfairly. The reports of these investigations, the 
Research Bulletins on tenure practices and the articles in the NEA 
Journal featuring tenure, have had a significant influence in pro- 
moting the enactment of tenure laws in the various states. In 1917 
only three states had tenure laws. Now nearly three-quarters of 
the states have freed their teachers from the necessity of annual ap- 
pointments and protect them against unfair dismissal, and practically 
all of the rest are working for modern tenure laws using the NEA 
reports as the basis of their legislative proposals. 

I spoke of the work of the NEA in the field of retirement allow- 
ances for teachers. Leaders of the Association recognized years 
ago that efficiency in the schools demands not only effective tenure 
regulations to protect teachers against unfair dismissal but adequate 
retirement systems to protect the children against the incompetencies 
which frequently accompany old age. The NEA Council on Teacher 
Retirement has encouraged states to provide adequate and actuarially 
sound retirement systems for their public school teachers. In 1917 
only five states had retirement systems for teachers. Now state 
wide retirement systems or pension systems have been established 
in all forty-eight states, Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. 
The NEA Research Bulletins on the subject of retirement allowances 
have been an invaluable source of authentic information for the 
state committees working for retirement legislation and have assisted 
greatly in the development of sound retirement systems. 

I also told them about the work of the NEA in the fields of 
Sick Leave, Sabbatical Leave and Teacher Load. For years the 
National Education Association has been encouraging state and local 
associations to develop reasonable arrangements for cumulative sab- 
batical and sick leave. Sabbatical leave with at leant part salary 
has, for years, been provided by many institutions of higher learning 
and progressive school systems. Why shouldn't elementary ami 
secondary school teachers be given sabbatical leave? Most of them 
work much harder than college professors! Twenty-three alalOH, 
the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico now 
recognize sick leave by law or state board rule. Most city school 



Purpose and Program 5 

systems provide sick leave with some pay and more than three- 
fourths o them operate some kind of a cumulative sick leave plan. 

Reasonable class size and equitable distribution of the teacher 
load is another problem which is receiving increased attention by 
the NEA. In 1955 the median class size in elementary schools in 
large cities was 32.9; in junior high schools, 31.8; and in senior 
high schools, 29.0. At that time the NEA Commission on Teacher 
Education and Professional Standards recommended the following 
standards: special classes for exceptional children 15; kindergarten 
and first grade-20; other classes in elementary and secondary 
schools-25; total pupil hours for a teacher in a departmentalized 
situation-100. 

After having talked about 30 minutes regarding the NEA pro- 
gram of service in behalf of the welfare of teachers I stopped, hesti- 
tated a moment and then said: 

I have always been taught that honesty is a primary 
virtue and if I were to stop my address at this point, 
I am sure that I would leave many of you under a mis- 
apprehension. You would think that I believed that the 
primary purpose of the NEA is the welfare of the teachers 
of this country and I do not. It is my own personal 
conviction that the primary purpose of the National 
Education Association is and must be the welfare of 
the children of this country! Must be? Yes, must be, 
for at least two reasons. In the first place, your National 
Association aspires to be a professional organization; 
and one of the fundamental distinctions between a pro- 
fessional group and a non-professional group is that the 
former is at least supposed to be dominated primarily 
by an altruistic rather than a selfish motive. In the second 
place, we want our national, professional organization to 
be as strong as possible and if we keep the child out in 
front it will be stronger, since the public will be more 
likely to cooperate with us if they realize that we are 
working primarily for the welfare of their children rather 
than for our own personal welfare. 

Does that mean that the NEA is not interested in the welfare 
of teachers? Of course not. The NEA is greatly interested in the 
welfare of teachers, but its leaders believe in the slogan "Children 



6 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

First" and they know that they can serve the children of this country 
best by building a profession of teaching so attractive that there will 
come into its ranks the finest and best young people of each gen- 
eration, the kind of individuals required if the boys and girls of this 
country are to receive the kind of education which they need and 
which they deserve. 

If we do not make teaching attractive what will happen to the 
children of our country? They will be taught by leftovers! Back 
in 1926 I read this statement in the Atlantic Monthly: "Nobody 
but prospective failures goes into academic work these days!" That 
statement made me angry when I first read it and it makes me angry 
every time I think of it Because it is true? No, but because in 
some communities it comes so near being true and we, the citizens 
of the leading nation of the world, cannot afford to have our children 
taught by leftovers. We want them to be taught by the finest and 
best of each generation! 

While I admit that the statement of purpose which is carried 
in the Charter of the National Education Association "To elevate 
the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching 
and to promote the cause of education in the United States" is 
good, the interpretation of this statement which I like best is that 
the purpose of the Association is to build a teaching profession for 
the sake of the boys and girls of this country, 

Teachers, like other citizens, may be divided into three groups 
regarding the question as to whether or not teaching is a profession 
those who believe that teaching is already a full-fledged profes- 
sion, those who believe that teaching is not now and never will be a 
real profession, and those who believe that teaching is a profession 
in the making. 

Dr. Crabtree, Secretary of the NEA for nearly eighteen years, 
1917-1935, used to feel that it was almost heresy for anyone lo 
suggest that teaching is not a full-fledged profession. He main- 
tained that it was one of the oldest professions, one of the most worthy 
professions, and one of the most fully-developed professions. 

On the other hand, I have some very intelligent friends who 
smile cynically at my enthusiasm about the possibility of leaching 
becoming a profession. They say, "You not only do not luivc a 
teaching profession now but you never will have one. Instead of a 
profession of teaching all you have is a procession of teachers," for 



Purpose and Program 7 

they are mindful of the large annual turnover among the teachers 
of our country. Sometimes they add, "You know perfectly well 
that teaching is, for women, primarily a way-station to a wedding 
a mobile mob of maidens awaiting matrimony! and for men a 
vestibule to a career or a stepping-stone to something better." When 
I hear teaching called a stepping-stone, I like to recall the statement 
which another good friend of mine used to make whenever teaching 
was mentioned as a stepping-stone: "Yes," he would say, "when- 
ever teaching is used as a stepping-stone, it is the boys and girls that 
get stepped on!" Probably neither of these extreme points of view 
is correct; at least it seems to me that Dr. James E. Russell, for many 
years Dean of Teachers College, Columbia University, was more 
nearly correct when years ago he said: 

"Teaching is by tradition a trade; we hope to make it 
a profession." 

When I hear pessimists discussing the improbability of there 
ever being a profession of teaching, I like to recall the story of the 
Htlle five-year-old boy who was sitting on the floor drawing pictures. 
His mother, after silently watching him for some time, inquired, 
"Son, what are you trying to draw?" He replied, "I'm drawing 
a picture of God." Greatly shocked, his mother said, "Why, my 
boy, you can't draw a picture of God. Nobody knows what God 
looks like." With the limitless confidence of youth, the boy replied, 
"Well, Mother, they will when I get through drawing this picture!" 

The primary purpose of the NEA, as I see it, is to build a teach- 
ing profession for the sake of the boys and the girls of the nation. 
In its efforts to do this it must make teaching both more attractive 
and more effective. Its program of teacher welfare already de- 
scribed is designed to make it so attractive that we can bring into 
the schoolrooms of our country the finest and best young people of 
each on-coming generation, but if we are to make teaching a full- 
fledged profession, we must also make it more effective. 

The Association's efforts to make teaching more effective are 
carried on largely by its departments and commissions. Each of 
these is industriously engaged in improving the technics and tools 
of education in the various fields of administration and subject mat- 
ter with which they are concerned. For example, the Departments 
of Superintendents,, Supervisors and Principals are constantly study- 



8 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

ing the problems in their particular areas, seeking to improve the 
efficiency of the work involved. Likewise, the American Associa- 
tion of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, the Department 
of Audio-Visual Instruction, the Department of Business Education, 
the Department of Rural Education, the Department of Social Studies 
and other subject-matter groups are all seeking to increase the ef- 
ficiency of their members. 

During recent years the NEA's- Department of Higher Edu- 
cation, its Department of Colleges for Teacher Education and its 
Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards have 
been emphasizing the need for raising the standards for entrance 
to the profession and of upgrading the work of those who have en- 
tered it on substandard certificates. The proposal that the NEA 
should advocate a minimum salary of $2,400, made by the NEA 
Commission at Chautauqua in 1946 shocked a great many people 
because it seemed so fantastic at that time, but it has had a tremen- 
dous influence, helping to raise the salaries of teachers throughout 
the country, and the leaders in the Association have been among the 
first to recognize that the response of the public to this challenge 
puts our profession under a special obligation to render a higher 
quality of professional service. The Commission on Teacher Edu- 
cation and Professional Standards is, therefore, waging a vigorous 
campaign of teacher recruitment, advocating an early discontinuance 
of emergency certificates and encouraging a prompt raising of cer- 
tification requirements. In addition to its annual national confer- 
ences, the Commission has staged numerous regional conferences 
to which lay leaders as well as educational leaders have been invited. 
These have contributed greatly toward increasing the awareness of 
the public regarding the current crisis with which our schools are 
confronted, and the importance of securing for the boys and girls of 
our nation outstanding teachers of exceptional ability and full pro- 
fessional preparation. 

Somewhere in a large city a magnificent cathedral was being 
built. A stranger passing stopped to speak to the workmen. "What 
are you doing?" he inquired of the stone-cutter, "I'm chipping 
stone," was the reply. "What are you doing?" he inquired of the 
mason. "I'm laying stone," was the reply. "And what are you 
doing?" he inquired of the hod-carrier who had just emptied his hod 
full of mortar onto the mason's tray. Straightening up, throwing 



Purpose and Program 9 

back his shoulders and looking his questioner straight in the eye, 
this man of heavy burdens and menial tasks replied, "I'm building 
a Cathedral, sir!" 

So it is with you and me we who are in the teaching business. 
Although our daily tasks may often seem monotonous and irksome, 
although some of the committee meetings which we are called upon 
to attend may be dry and boring, yet these menial tasks when viewed 
in their relationship to the great work in which we are engaged, take 
on a new meaning, a higher significance. We are engaged not only 
in teaching subjects, not only in supervising study periods, or "look- 
ing for 'nits' in dirty heads," as a friend recently wrote, we are build- 
ing a profession! 

In this task of building a profession of teaching, we do not need 
to work as isolated individuals. The building of a real profession 
of teaching is, in the final analysis, the ultimate objective of all of 
our professional organizations local, state and national. On this 
task the National Education Association has been working for a cen- 
tury and to this task it invites the cooperation of every teacher in the 
nation. 



The Hope of Tomorrow 

Somewhere in a schoolroom today under the care of an 
unknoivn teacher is a child who in his own time, grown to 
maturity, will lead the world away from war and toward 
peace. This faith of the teacher your faith dnd mine, 
as we look into the eager faces of youth is the hope of 
tomorrow, a hope that cannot fail. It is bigger than all 
the fears and partisanships of our time. Let us renew 
and deepen our faith. JOY ELMER MORGAN 



CHAPTER II 
THE MOST IMPORTANT PROFESSION 



When, on a field trip in Iowa some years ago with Lee Camp- 
bell, the Field Secretary of the Iowa Education Association, we were 
invited to speak at a Rotary luncheon. Lee spoke first and ex- 
pressed great enthusiasm for the importance of the teaching pro- 
fession. He said that in his judgment, it was the most important 
profession in the world, barring that of the ministry. When my 
turn came I said that I was glad that my friend. Lee, was enthusiastic 
about the importance of the teaching profession because I was, and 
I added that I would go even farther than Lee since I believed that 
teaching was the most important profession in the world barring 
none, not even the ministry, and I said that as the son of a preacher, 
because I knew that we teachers had to teach the preachers! 

Although I doubt whether we have today a full-fledged teach- 
ing profession, I find myself constantly using the phrase "a teaching 
profession." This is largely for purposes of brevity and conveni- 
ence. It also reflects my normal tendency toward "wishful think- 
ing" and the philosophy of a "will to believe" advocated by William 
James and suggested by Shakespeare When he said, "Assume a 
virtue, if you have it not." 

While teaching may not yet have achieved universal recognition 
as a full-fledged profession, its right to this classification was as- 
sumed by the leaders who, in 1857 organized the National Educa- 
tion Association. They included the following significant clause in 
the official statement regarding the purpose of the Association: 

To elevate the character and advance the interests of 
the profession of teaching. 

The leaders who organized the California Teachers Association 
in 1863, however, were somewhat more cautious and included the 
following statement in their bylaws: 

It is the purpose of the Association to achieve for teaching 
its true place among the professions. 

10 



The Most Important Profession 11 

In his excellent book "The Teacher and Professional Organi- 
zations" Dr. T. M. Stinnett takes the following realistic position: 

In the minds of many people, including many teachers, 
teaching cannot yet be considered a full-fledged profession. 

However, he adds: 

This book takes the view that teaching is a profession. 
But the evidence is mixed and the answer to the question 
"Is teaching a profession?" can hardly be categorical. 
In most respects teaching does exhibit the characteristics 
of a profession. In some, it does not. Again in some 
teaching areas and in some places teaching exhibits all 
the earmarks of a profession. In others, there are con- 
ditions which still mark it as semi-professional or even 
as a trade. 

The 1956 NEA Handbook carries the following statements 

Education is a major profession comprising classroom 
teachers, administrators, and specialists (Platform) 

Education is a major profession. It should be recognized 
as such by the general public and by all institutions of 
higher learning. (Resolutions) 

Teachers are professional workers- whose preparation must 
be superior in general education, in their specialized 
teaching fields and in specific professional education. 
(Resolutions) 

The argument as to whether or not teaching is a profession de- 
pends largely on one's definition of the term "profession" and the 
criteria which one accepts as being essential for a vocation if it is to 
be classified as a profession. These will be considered in the chap- 
ter, "Progress Toward Professional Status, 1857 1957." 

The Professional Standards Movement 

Ever since it was organized in 1857, the National Education 
Association has urged improvement in the standards of the profes- 
sion. Prior to 1946, its work in this field was carried on largely 
by its Department, the American Association of Teachers Colleges, 
established in 1917, and its predecessor, the American Normal 
School Association, founded in 1858. 



The Most Important Profession 13 

13. Scholarships, Fellowships and Student Aid Programs 
for Students Planning to Become Public School 
Teachers (1954) 

14. Suggested Adjustments to Alleviate Teacher 
Shortages (1954) 

15. Teacher Education, The Decade Ahead (1955) 

16. Teacher Selective Recruitment Programs (1953) 

17. Teacher Supply and Demand (Eight Reports, 1948- 
1956) 

18. The Teacher and Professional Organizations (1956) 

19. The Teaching Profession Grows in Services (1949) 

20. The High Standards Approach to Teacher Supply 
(1956) 

21. The Professional Standards Movement in Teaching: 
Progress and Projection (1956) 

It has also issued a series of "Policy Statements" concerning 
the following fields, which have had and are having a helpful in- 
fluence in every state of the union 

1. Selection of Prospective Teachers 

2. Certification of Teachers 

3. Accreditation of Teacher Education Institutions 

4. In-Service Growth 

5. Salaries of Teachers 

6. Teacher Load 

7. Professional Working Conditions 

Because of conditions following World War II, the Korean War 
and the Cold War, the decade 1946-56 has heen full of great diffi- 
culties for all parties interested in raising the standards of the teach- 
ing profession. Nevertheless marked progress has been made. 
While the NEA Commission on Teacher Education and Professional 
Standards has not been Wholly responsible for all of this progress, 
its dynamic program of regional and national conferences, its start- 
ling resolutions regarding higher salaries and higher certification 
standards and its specialized publications in these fields, have played 
a significant part in the remarkable progress made. 

Under the inspiration of the Commission's leadership, fifty 
State Commissions on Teacher Education and Professional Standards 
paralleling the National Commission, have been organized by State 
Teachers Associations. Similar committees and commissions have 



14 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

been established by hundreds of local associations and in thirty states 
Advisory Councils on Teacher Education have been set up to assist 
in mobilizing the resources of the profession for improving the 
preparation of teachers and to serve as expert advisors to the state 
legal authorities. 

Future Teachers of America 

The Future Teacher movement grew out of the Horace Mann 
Centennial Celebration and in 1937 was approved by the NEA Rep- 
resentative Assembly as a cooperative project of the NEA and its 
affiliated state and local associations. Dr. Joy Elmer Morgan., 
Editor of the NEA Journal, was its principal sponsor until his re- 
tirement in 1954. In the 1955 general reorganization of the NEA, 
the responsibility for FTA was assigned to the National Commission 
on Teacher Education and Professional Standards with Mrs. Wilda 
F. Faust, Assistant Secretary of the Commission, in charge. 

The primary purposes of the FTA movement are to assist in the 
recruiting of promising young people for the teaching profession 
and to give them practical experience in working on the problems of 
the profession thru participation in local student clubs and chapters, 
in state and national student groups and in local, state and national 
education associations. 

FTA Clubs are largely exploratory. They seek to provide 
highschool students with information regarding our public schools, 
their contributions to our democratic society and the vocational op- 
portunities which they offer; to aid the students in self -evaluation 
and to offer participation in prevocational activities which will assist 
them in developing the qualities and aptitudes basic to successful 
teaching. These Clubs pay a $3 charter and service fee the first 
year and a $2 annual service fee. They receive joint NEA-State 
Association charters, manuals, the State and NEA journals, news- 
letters, posters, songs and other program materials and the right for 
their members to purchase and wear the FTA pins. 

The College Chapters will, after June, 1957, be called "Student 
Education Associations." Their purposes are to interest capable 
students in teaching as a career; to encourage the careful selection 
and guidance of persons admitted to teacher education programs; 
and to provide the members with opportunities for developing per- 
sonal growth and professional competences. They are also designed 



The Most Important Profession 



15 



to give students an understanding of the history, ethics and program 
of the organized teaching profession and to let them participate in 
cooperative work on the problems of the profession. 

These Chapters, like the Highschool Clubs, receive joint NEA- 
State Association charters, renewable annually, and one copy of the 
FTA Handbook, the NEA Handbook and "The Teacher and Pro- 
fessional Organizations." They also receive posters, folders and 
other suggestive program helps. Members of the College Chapters 
pay annual dues of $2 which entitle them to student membership in 
the NEA and the State Association, and the receipt of the NEA 
Journal and the official magazine of the State Association. They 
also receive "teacher placement service'* in the states which provide 
this service to their members and the right to purchase and wear the 
FTA pin. 

The following table indicates the inspiring membership growth 
of FTA Clubs and Chapters 



FTA in High Schools 

Year Number of Number of Year 

Clubs Members 

1936 1 72 1936 

1941 131 2,601 1941 

1946 139 2,716 1946 

1951 926 19,829 1951 

1956 3,000 76,400 1956 



FTA in Colleges 
Number of Number of 
Chapters Members 



3,001 
4,438 
20,948 





110 
150 
413 
602 



35,062 



I Am A Teacher! 

The material entrusted to my care is more plastic than 
the potter's clay, more valuable than the miser's gold, and 
more powerful than the scientist 9 s atomic bomb: that is, 
the body, mind, heart, and soul of a child. Since my 
task is such a sacred dne, it behooves me to do everything 
within my power to keep myself worthy of my profes- 
sion . ... I am a member of the most challenging, most 
responsible, most stimulating, and most satisfying profes- 
sion in the world, for I am a school teacher. 

ARLINE C. SMITH 



CHAPTER HI 

PROGRESS TOWARD PROFESSIONAL STATUS 

1857 1957 

The progress which teaching has made toward becoming a full- 
fledged profession varies considerably in the different states and in 
areas within the states. However, the following cursory survey 
shows that real progress has been made. 

While thousands of individuals and hundreds of other groups 
have worked consistently and vigorously to elevate the status of 
teaching and to help it achieve standards which would approximate 
those of other recognized professions, the work of the National Edu- 
cation Association in this field has been outstanding. 

The criteria usually employed for determining whether a given 
vocation is eligible to be classified as a profession are: 

1. Specialized preparation 

2. Official certification 

3. Emphasis on service rather than on personal gain 

4. Prestige public and personal 

5. Reasonable financial rewards 

6. Large individual responsibility 

7. Special code of conduct 

The Educational Qualifications of Teachers 

Until recently, the educational requirements of teachers have 
been embarrassingly low. In some communities they are still dis- 
tinctly substandard. Two antithetical theories have been at least 
partially responsible for this. In the good old days, as now, some 
people honestly believed that just anyone could teach and on the 
other hand, some insisted, with even greater conviction that teachers 
are "born" not "made." Even such a distinguished citizen as Dr. 
Melanchthon Woolsey Stryker, President of Hamilton College, 1892- 
1 9] 7, belonged to this latter school of thought. He was a well 
educated, excellent preacher and money-raiser, an inspiring per- 
sonality, but a miserable teacher and many of us who were fortunate 

16 



Progress Toward Professional Status 17 

enough to have him as a teacher in required courses of "Bible" and 
"Christian Evidences" often wished that he had been either "born" 
better or "made" better. He thrilled us with his aristocratic bear- 
ing, his showmanship, and his ability to express his ideas in vivid 
language but he knew nothing of the science of education and was 
proud of that fact! To him teaching was an art, a gift, and ped- 
agogy a pettifogging, cramping handicap! The controversy as to 
whether teaching is a science or an art has not yet been resolved. 
However, the conviction is growing among all leaders in our nation 
that the teachers of our children must be better prepared for the 
vital and highly technical work with which they are entrusted. 

For generations most religious groups have expected their 
ministers to be educated beyond that of the average citizen. Three 
years of specialized, theological training, beyond a four year col- 
lege course has frequently been the accepted minimum standard. 

In pioneer days lawyers and doctors were not required to at- 
tend professional schools but those who desired to enter these pro- 
fessions were expected to study under the supervision of regular 
practitioners. Gradually professional schools were developed with 
prerequisite entrance requirements of one to four years of college 
work. 

The program of professional education of teachers in this coun- 
try, has been evolving ever since prerevolutionary days when Chris- 
topher Dock, a Mennonite teacher in Pennsylvania, wrote a book 
on how to teach. 

The first definitely professional schools for teachers, estab- 
lished in the United States, were the private normal school opened 
by Samuel Read Hall at Concord, Vermont in 1823, and the state 
normal school opened at Lexington, Massachusetts, by Cyrus Peirce 
in 1839. These and other early normal schools, while designed to 
prepare teachers, were in reality, secondary schools, not collegiate 
or graduate professional schools. 

In 1826 Amherst College planned to offer courses in educa- 
tion but this effort like a similar attempt at New York University 
in 1831, failed because of lack of finances. Indiana University 
opened its normal department in 1852, Iowa in 1855, and Wiscon- 
sin in 1863. These and other early normal departments, designed 
primarily to prepare elementary teachers, frequently admitted non- 
high school graduates and sometimes enrolled more students than 



18 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

the collegiate departments of the Universities in which they were 
located. In 1895, New York State celebrated the enactment of a 
law requiring at least three years of high school education as a mini- 
mum requirement for eligibility to teach in the elementary schools 
of the cities of the state! The NEA resolutions of that year include 
a paragraph congratulating His Excellency, Governor Morton, on 
the fact that he had "risen to his high privilege" of signing a bill 
which stipulated that: 

No person shall be employed or licensed to teach in the 
primary and grammar schools of any city of the state 
who has not had successful experience in teaching for at 
least three years, or, in lieu thereof, has not completed 
a three years' course in and graduated from a high school 
or academy having a course of study of not less than 
three years. 

By 1920 the conviction that a four year course of professional 
preparation was necessary, had gained wide approval. That year 
the NEA Resolutions included the following paragraph: 

We believe that the ends which we seek demand, above 
all else, an immediate and thoroughgoing improvement 
of the agencies for the preparation of teachers. We com- 
mend and indorse the conviction, now so rapidly gaining 
favor in our profession and in the public mind, that those 
who enter the public school service, whether they are 
to teach in rural schools or in urban schools, in elemen- 
tary or in high schools, should have a minimum of four 
years' carefully planned preparation, following upon 
graduation from a four year high school. 

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century specific atten- 
tion began to be given by colleges and universities to the professional 
preparation of secondary school teachers and by 1890 teachers' 
colleges and university schools or colleges of education began to 
open their doors. 

While considerable progress has been made in the development 
of programs for the professional preparation of teachers during 
the twentieth century, most of this advance has been on the col- 
legiate level and to date, comparatively few of the teachers in our 
nation have taken much professional work beyond the bachelor's 



Progress Toward Professional Status 19 

degree. The median preparation of elementary teachers in 1954- 
55 was estimated at 4.3 college years and 5.1 for high school teach- 
ers. In 1955-56 sixty-nine per cent of the elementary teachers in 
our public schools were college graduates but 5.7 per cent had less 
than two years of college work. 

The Certification of Teachers 

Official certification is a second credential traditionally re- 
quired of a vocation which aspires to be classified as a profession. 
Prior to the twentieth century local or county officials in the United 
States usually prescribed the conditions under which persons were 
licensed to teach. In 1898 only three states had conferred this 
authority and responsibility on the State Department of Education. 
However, by 1937 state certification was in use in forty-one states. 
The movement toward state certification came largely from teachers 
who were interested in having higher standards adopted. Local 
school authorities were often laymen or low-salaried officials who 
sometimes permitted social, political, or religious considerations to 
influence their judgements of candidates for certification. 

The basis for certification has gradually shifted largely from 
personal interviews and oral or written examinations to credentials 
from colleges or other teacher training institutions. Most state de- 
partments of education collaborate with the colleges and universities 
within their boundaries in developing their certification standards. 
More than twelve hundred institutions of higher learning in the 
United States have been approved by state boards or departments 
of education for teacher-certification purposes. In 1937 the mini- 
mum scholastic requirement for certification was, on the average, 
two years of preparation beyond high school graduation for elemen- 
tary teachers and four years for secondary school teachers. By 1946 
fifteen states required the bachelor's degree for their lowest regular 
certificate for elementary teachers and by 1955 thirty-one states were 
enforcing this standard and three more had announced legal dead- 
lines for it to become operative. During the decade 1946-55 four- 
teen states increased their minimum requirements for high school 
teachers; thirty-two for elementary school principals, and twenty- 
nine for high school principals. In 1955 efforts were made in at 
least five state legislatures to pass laws cutting back minimum cer- 
tification requirements under the guise of increasing teacher supply. 



20 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

All of these efforts were defeated largely thru the activities of the 
organized profession and other leaders who recognized the import- 
ance of maintaining high standards. 

The "Statement of Policy" published in 1955 by the NEA Com- 
mission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards includes 
the following significant paragraphs regarding certification: 

Broad legal powers for the formulation and application 
of certification requirements should be vested in the chief 
state education agency and its appropriate professional 
staff or division. 

Certificates representing different levels of professional 
preparation should be issued upon completion of pro- 
grams in institutions accredited specifically for teacher 
education, as follows: 

a. The baccalaureate degree with, four years of prepa- 
ration for teaching for initial or probationary cer- 
tification at all levels. 

b. Five years of college preparation, together with 
appropriate teaching experience, for continuing 
teacher certification. 

c. Five years of college preparation, together with 
appropriate teaching experience, for initial certifi- 
cation of administrative, consultative or supervisory, 
and special school service personnel. 

d. Six years of college preparation, together with ap- 
propriate experience, for continuing certification 
of administrative, consultative or supervisory, and 
special school service personnel. 

The Accreditation of Teacher Education institutions 

Closely related to the problems of the certification of teachers 
is that of the accreditation of institutions which prepare teachers for 
their professional work. Prior to 1910 medical education in the 
United States was in a deplorable state. The country was full of 
medical schools many of which were run for profit and were little 
less than diploma mills. Then came the Flexner Report, made 
jointly by the American Medical Association and the Carnegie 
Foundation. It exposed the existing conditions and led to an ef- 



Progress Toward Professional Status 21 

fective program of accreditation which, in the course of forty years, 
closed the doors of the substandard medical schools and enhanced 
materially the standing of the whole medical profession. As early 
as 1907 the American Medical Association had established a 
"Council on Medical Education and Hospitals" but it had not func- 
tioned effectively until after the Flexner Report. Following that 
report, medical schools were inspected, evaluated and classified 
A, B, and C, and by 1950 all of the B and C schools had disappeared 
and the minimum preparation required of physicians which in 1910 
was one year of collegiate training had become seven or eight years. 

Leaders in the teaching profession have been working for years 
toward the establishment of an effective agency, similar to the 
Council on Medical Education and Hospitals, to assist in upgrading 
the professional preparation of teachers. As early as 1923 the 
American Association of Teachers Colleges, a Department of the 
NEA, began operations in this field thru its committee on accredita- 
tion. For several years this committee's primary function was to 
implement the work and policies of the Association's Committee on 
Studies and Standards but in 1951 it launched a program of visita- 
tion to lead toward an effective evaluation program. In 1954 the 
Association completed its intervisitation program and made arrange- 
ments to transfer its accreditation work to the National Council for 
Accreditation of Teacher Education. 

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education 
is an independent agency established in 1952 by the following or- 
ganizations : 

1. The National Council of Chief State School Officers 

2. The National Association of State Directors of 
Teacher Education and Certification 

3. The American Association of Colleges of Teacher 
Education 

4. The National Education Association 

5. The National School Boards Association 

The Council consists of nineteen members selected by these 
groups. It is subsidized by the five constituent organizations re- 
sponsible for its creation. The NEA pays sixty-seven per cent of 



22 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

its budget. It began operations July 1, 1954 and issued its first 
list of accredited institutions that fall. Its second list, numbering 
two hundred and eighty-eight colleges and universities, was issued in 
September, 1955, 

Service vs Salary 

The third credential traditionally employed to differentiate a 
profession from other vocations is emphasis on service. While phy- 
sicians, lawyers and ministers have seldom been expected to serve 
wholly without financial compensation, they have always been ex- 
pected to put service above self and to be willing to render service, 
at times, even though fees or salary were low, if available at all. 
From this point of view, teachers have generally been able to qualify 
as professional workers in the mind of the public. In fact, this at- 
titude on the part of the public, has been one of the handicaps which 
has made it difficult to get teachers' salaries raised to a reasonable 
standard. 

When our oldest daughter was at home for Christmas vacation 
during her senior year in college, she reproved me sharply for de- 
ploring the low salaries of teachers by saying, "But, Dad, aren't you 
forgetting the psychic income?" Of course I defended my position 
promptly with the comment that, while I recognized the importance 
of psychic income, I still believed that teachers should receive rea- 
sonable salaries so that they may be able to pay, in the coin of the 
realm, their bills for food, clothing, housing and other necessities 
of life. As a matter of fact while I believe that the joy of service 
is an essential element for any profession, I have never been able 
to see why the public should expect professional workers to accept 
"psychic income" as any considerable part of their wages while it 
insists on cold cash in payment for its wares! Nevertheless one of 
the criteria traditionally employed to distinguish a profession from 
a trade is superior devotion to public service. 

Prestige Public and Personal 

While manual labor and other non-professional vocations 
should never be disparaged, the fact remains that the professions 
of law, medicine and the ministry have historically been held in 
higher esteem by the public and by the members of these profes- 
sions. In institutions of higher learning teachers have usually been 



Progress Toward Professional Status 23 

granted professional status. However, teachers in elementary and 
secondary schools in the United States, seldom have been accorded 
the distinction and esteem to which they are entitled. The word 
pedagogue is frequently used as a term of disdain. It harks back 
to the days when, in Greece, the teacher was often a slave. The 
following items indicate that a low concept of teaching prevailed in 
some areas of our country during the early days: 

Dr. Edgar Knight says that the rector of a church at 
Annapolis, Maryland, reported in the last of the seven- 
teenth century that upon the arrival of every ship with 
either redemptioners or convicts, schoolmasters were reg- 
ularly advertised for sale, just as were weavers, tailors or 
those who followed other trades. He noted little differ- 
ence except that schoolmasters do not usually fetch as 
good a price as the latter. 

The NEA Research Bulletin Vol. 6, No. 4 reports that: 

In the Ship, Paca, arrived at Baltimore in five weeks 
from Belfast and Cork are imported and advertised for 
sale in the Maryland Journal, various Irish commodities, 
among which are schoolmasters, beef, pork and potatoes. 

Perhaps teaching and teachers are still handicapped by their 
social ancestry! 

Some years ago when driving to the office one morning I offered 
a ride to a young man and his wife who were walking toward the 
bus station. I did not know until they got into the car that they 
were foreigners. They worked at the Czechoslovakian Embassy and 
when I mentioned that I worked at the headquarters office of the 
National Education Association they asked this embarrassing ques- 
tion: "Why is it that in this country teachers are not held in 
as high esteem as they are in our country?" That question, for 
the most part, still remains unanswered in my mind. It suggests 
one of the greatest challenges with which our profession is faced. 

The custom frequently followed in some communities of 
allowing men and women with substandard training to staff the 
schools is prima facie evidence of the fact that people in many 
sections of our country do not yet regard the professional compe- 
tence of teachers as being on the same level as that of physicians. 
Does an intelligent modern parent take his sick child to a doctor 



24 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

who is known to be practicing with an emergency certificate? 
Teaching will not be entitled to full-fledged professional rating 
until parents insist that the teachers of their children shall be fully 
prepared for the specialized service which they are expected to 
render. 

Some teachers are responsible, to a certain extent, for the low 
esteem in which teaching is held. They are not always proud of 
their profession and they sometimes speak disparagingly of it both 
in public and in private. "I am just a teacher" is an altogether too 
common apologetic statement which does no good to either the 
person who makes it or to the profession. To help counteract this 
down grading tendency, the National Education Association adopted 
"Proud to Teach" as the theme of its 1956 Convention. No one who 
feels apologetic for being a teacher should be allowed to teach. 
Humility is a virtue but chronic insistence that teaching is a voca- 
tion for which one should apologize leads to an inferiority complex, 
which impairs the efficiency of the teacher and the prestige of the 
profession. Teaching will never gain professional recognition until 
teachers themselves have a professional concept of their work. It 
is not enough for them to insist upon being treated as professional 
by the public. They must have a deep and abiding respect for their 
work and present a united front on matters relating to its improve- 
ment. 

Another evidence that teaching has not yet achieved full 
professional rating is the fact that parents frequently are unhappy 
when their children choose teaching as their vocation. The wise- 
crack that "Those who can, do, and those who can't, teach" is a 
slander which must be lived down by teachers who have courage 
enough to enter the profession and by the authorities who are 
responsible for fixing the standards for entrance to it. 

While we may still doubt whether teaching is as yet a full- 
fledged profession, we may well be glad that during recent years 
it has made marked progress in that direction. Although not all 
parents are happy when their children choose teaching as their life 
work, the social esteem in which teachers are held is considerably 
higher today than it was a century ago. 

The Financial Rewards of Teaching 

The traditionally low salaries paid to teachers reflect the 



Progress Toward Professional Status 25 

somewhat general low esteem in which teaching and teachers have 
been held and they make it difficult to prove that teaching is- a fully 
recognized profession. 

Good teachers have always been and always will be underpaid. 
A few, because of the poor quality of their work, are overpaid. 
If the present trend toward raising the standards for entrance to 
the profession continues, teachers in general may soon receive an 
annual income which will approach a professional rating. 

In colonial days teachers often "boarded around" in the 
different families of the communities in which they taught. Some- 
times, male teachers who were married, like ministers, accepted 
local produce eggs, chickens, meat, flour and vegetables as 
part of their income. Often the schools were not free and the 
teachers depended on tuition fees. 

The development of our nationwide system of free public 
schools in which the state and local communities carry the major 
responsibility for providing equal educational opportunity for every 
child has eliminated, to a large extent, the primitive conditions of 
the pioneer days and today the salaries of qualified teachers are 
on the way toward becoming respectable, professionally. 

In 1870 the average salary of the teachers of this country, 
was $189; in 1900, $325; in 1925, $1,250; in 1950, $3,010; 
and in 1955, $3,932. The increases suggested by these figures 
should not be taken at face value since, in their calculation, the 
increase in the cost of living has not been taken into account. 

In 1920, the Resolutions Committee of the National Education 
Association surprised the members of the Association and the public 
in general by suggesting that the minimum salary for teachers in 
any state should not be less than $1,000. Twenty-six years later the 
NEA Department of Classroom Teachers and its Commission on 
Teacher Education and Professional Standards, advocated a mini- 
mum salary of $2,400. 

In February, 1955, the NEA Commission on Teacher Educa- 
tion and Professional Standards suggested the following schedule 
of minimum salaries for teachers having the full professional prepa- 
ration required for certification in the particular field of intruction 
in which they plan to be engaged. 



26 



BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 



Suggested Minimum Professional Salary 
Schedule for Teachers 



Minimum Salary Increments 2nd Salary 

Professional first year thru 14th 15th year 

Preparation of service year of service of service 



Increments 
for years of 

service 
beyond 15th 



Bachelor's 
degree 



Master's 
degree 



Year beyond 
master's 



Doctor's 
degree 



$4,000 Annual increments 
to total $4,000 



$8,000 



$4,300 Annual increments 
to total $4,300 



$4,600 Annual increments 
to total $4,600 



$4,900 Annual increments 
to total $4,900 



$8,600 



$9,200 



$9,800 



Further 
increases for 
advanced 
education 
and proved 
usefulness. 



In July 1955 the NEA Representative Assembly adopted a reso- 
lution calling for minimum salaries for teachers with a bachelor's 
degree of $4,200, and a maximum of $9,200, and in July, 1956, the 
Association official resolutions called for salary schedules begin- 
ning at $4,500 and going to at least $10,000. 

Individual Personal Responsibility 

Most lawyers, doctors and ministers enjoy a high degree of 
independence in their professional work. While they are often em- 
ployed by corporations, boards of trustees or boards of directors, 
they are seldom under the supervision of autocratic administrators 
who presume to dictate how they shall perform their work. 

In the past, when few teachers had adequate professional 
preparation, it was necessary and natural for supervisors and ad- 



Progress Toward Professional Status 27 

ministrators to specify numerous rules and regulations and to 
exercise close supervision over the activities of the staff. Under 
modern conditions, where most teachers have had considerable pro- 
fessional preparation for their work, they are frequently given a 
high degree of freedom and responsibility which facilitates and 
encourages a feeling of professional status. 

Of course rules and regulations will always be necessary in 
large and important undertakings such as modern school systems 
but in a democracy and in a profession these can be secured most 
satisfactorily by group conferences where the professional individual 
has an opportunity to be heard and to share in the development 
of the program. The recent trend toward democracy in school 
administration is helping materially toward the building of a teach- 
ing profession. The NEA Departments of Classroom Teachers, 
Principals, Supervisors and Superintendents have been particularly 
helpful in furthering this movement. 

A Special Code of Conduct 

Most vocational groups which desire to be recognized as a 
profession, recognize the importance of having an officially adopted 
special code of conduct to which their members are supposed to 
conform. The oldest and most distinguished code of this type is 
the Hippocratic Oath which dates back to the fourth century B.C. 
It has been supplemented by the Principles of Medical Ethics 
adopted in 1912 by the American Medical Association. 

The first state code of ethics for teachers was adopted by the 
Georgia Education Association in 1896. Since then forty-six other 
state associations have adopted similar documents. Hundreds of 
codes have also been prepared by individuals, local associations 
and other groups within the profession. 

In 1924 the NEA appointed a committee which, after five 
years of careful study, prepared a national code which was adopted 
in 1929. This was thoroughly revised in 1941, and in 1952, and 
has been adopted by many states in place of their previously de- 
veloped codes. 

Since none of the existing Codes of Ethics for Teachers is 
divinely inspired or humanly perfect, the NEA has suggested that 
an excellent project for prospective teachers or in-service groups 
is to write a code which expresses their ideals and standards of 



28 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

professional conduct. For such projects the following publications 
have been found helpful: 

A. NEA Research Bulletin Vol. IX, No. 1, January 1931, 
"Professional Ethics for Teachers." (Out of print but 
available in many college libraries) 

B. 1947 Report of the NEA Committee on Professional 
Ethics. This includes the NEA Code and the follow- 
ing codes prepared for and by special groups: 

1. A Principal's Code 

2. A Code of Ethics for Private Preparatory School 
Principals 

3. A Bill of Rights for Teachers 

4. A Code of Ethics for Counselors 

5. The Athlete's Creed 

6. Codes for Supervisors and Teachers 

7. An Athletic Code 

8. A College Teacher's Creed 

9. A Tentative Code of Ethics for Schoolboards 
and Superintendents 

10. A Code of Ethics for the Board of Education 

11. A Code of Ethics for California School Trustees 

12. A Code of Sportsmanship for Fans 

13. A Code of Ethics for Minnesota Schoolboard 
Members 

14. A Parent-Teacher Code of Ethics 

15. A Code of Sportsmanship 

16* The Code of Ethics of the National Association 
of Teacher Agencies 

17. Codes of Ethical Procedures for Placement Bur- 
eaus, Applicants, and Employers 

18. A Professional Code of Ethics for the Selection 
of Textbooks 

19. The Rotary Code of Ethics 

20. The Hippocratic Oath 

21. Principles of Medical Ethics of the American 
Medical Association 



Progress Toward Professional Status 29 

22. Canons of Professional Ethics of the American 
Bar Association 

23. Codes of Ethics for Ministers 

24. The Code of the Sportsmanship Brotherhood 

C. 1948 Report of the NEA Committee on Professional 
Ethics. This includes the NEA Code and twenty-five 
State Association Codes. 

D. 1955 Report of the NEA Committee on Professional 
Ethics. This includes the 1952 edition of the NEA 
Code and thirty-two "opinions" rendered by the NEA 
Committee on Professional Ethics, 1952-1955. 

E. "Ethics for Teachers" Discussion Pamphlet No. 5 of 
the NEA Department of Classroom Teachers. 

F. "Action Study Guide" published by the NEA Com- 
mittee on Professional Ethics. 

While teaching has not yet achieved universal recognition 
as a full-fledged profession it has, during the past century, made 
considerable progress toward the realization of that goal. The 
National Education Association, in cooperation with its depart- 
ments, its state and local affiliated units, and other organizations, 
has contributed materially toward this progress. 



The Teacher of Tomorrow 

The teacher of tomorrow will be carefully selected, broadly 
trained, and adequately paid. He will be the powerful 
force by which this nation will achieve the maturity of 
mind and the serenity of spirit that are the hallmarks of 
true greatness. A 'new awareness of destiny and a new 
sense of calling will undergird him as he encourages young 
and old in their quest for timeless truth. He will fix his 
eyes upon horizons which lie far beyond geographical 
boundaries and which promise a new dawn of brother- 
hood. Most of all, he will be recognized and honored 
amtfng men as one to whom God has given a priceless 
opportunity to serve. SAMUEL B. GOULD 



CHAPTER IV 
TEACHERS AS A SOCIAL FORCE 



Teachers are potentially the strongest professional group in 
America. I make this claim deliberately and emphatically although 
I realize that there may be some who will challenge it. Many of 
my friends do. Some of them even go so far as to intimate that if 
I honestly believe that teachers are potentially the strongest profes- 
sional group in our country, I am little less than crazy. Of course, 
I don't mind this accusation because I am used to it. My wife some- 
times hints at it and so do my children, occasionally ; but when they 
do I just smile indulgently and recall the reply of Gracie Allen 
when, one night, George Burns asked her if her family suffered 
from insanity. Without a moment's hesitation she replied, "No, 
George, we enjoy it thoroughly!" 

My conviction that teachers are potentially the most powerful 
profession in this country is based on six facts : ( 1 ) there are more 
of them; (2) they are educated; (3) they have an altruistic philoso- 
phy of life; (4) they have almost daily contact with one of the best 
advertising mediums in the world; (5) they have a chance to partici- 
pate in community activities, including politics; and (6) they have 
an opportunity to work as an organized profession through local, 
state and national associations. 

There are more than a million teachers in this country. Con- 
trasted with this veritable army of teachers there are only 94,000 
dentists, 215,000 physicians, 225,000 lawyers and 375,000 nurses. 
Teachers are potentially a strong social force because they are 
numerically the largest professional group in the world nearly 
three times as large as any other profession and numbers count, 
particularly with legislators. Sometimes we get the impression 
that politicians are stupid. Some of them are, but they can all 
count and they do! 

The teachers of this country are all educated, more or less, 
and according to an ancient saying, "Knowledge is Power." Of 

30 



Teachers As A Social Force 31 

course, I realize that not all teachers are fully educated. Some of 
them have not completed a four-year high school course. A good 
many have had only one year of advanced education. Most of the 
teachers of this country are better educated than the majority of the 
citizens in the communities in which they work and what is more 
important, this situation is improving. When, in 1905, I began 
teaching, I had graduated from highschool and attended a six-weeks 
Summer Session at the Normal School of the State University. You 
cannot do that in my native state, Utah, today. For more than a 
decade the minimum requirement for a standard teaching certificate 
in Utah has been four years of preparation beyond the highschool. 

A few years ago comparatively few people chose teaching 
deliberately as their life work. Certification requirements were 
low and the public generally believed that "just anybody could 
teach." The prevailing schools for teachers were normal schools 
with one or two year courses, and frequently teachers were hired 
who had no real professional preparation at all. But those days 
are gone. Most of the normal schools have become teachers col- 
leges. Thirty-one states, Hawaii and the District of Columbia have 
established four years of college work as their minimum standard 
of preparation for elementary-school teachers. Forty-five require 
at least four years of preparation for their regular secondary-school 
certificate, and four require five years. Teachers are potentially 
a strong social force because they are educated. 

Teachers are, for the most part, altruistic in their philosophy 
of life, and this adds to their strength as a social force. Few people 
who are fundamentally selfish choose teaching as their vocation. 
Teaching is too hard work, and its financial rewards are too small 
to make much of an appeal to those who seek their own personal 
welfare first, last and always. Teaching appeals to those who are 
eager to serve others, and those who serve others have greater 
strength than those who serve themselves. The profit motive is 
strong with most of us, but not as strong as mother love. It was not 
the profit motive which led Michelangelo to work four years on the 
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or Beethoven to compose his sympho- 
nies! Teachers are a strong social influence, because they are 
largely altruistic in their philosophy of life. 

Teachers are potentially a strong social force because every 
school day during the year they have immediate, personal contact 



32 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

with one of the best advertising mediums in the world, more than 
thirty million boys and girls, and advertising pays! How eagerly 
the commercial firms in this country covet the opportunity to reach 
the children of the nation! They spend millions of dollars every 
year to develop serial radio programs which attract the children, 
because they know that the boys and girls have a tremendous in- 
fluence on the family budget. How much would the managers of 
the moving picture theaters give if they could get the teachers of 
their communities to approve and recommend their programs each 
week! The commercial world knows that the teachers of this country 
are potentially a powerful force. That is the reason they are con- 
stantly trying to devise ways and means for getting the advertise- 
ments of their products into the schools. The public generally knows 
that teachers have strong potential power. That is the reason that 
they are deeply concerned for fear some of our teachers may be 
Communists. The teachers of this country are potentially a tre- 
mendous social force because for five days of the week for nine or 
ten months of the year they have close, intimate contact with prac- 
tically all of the boys and girls of our nation. 

Teachers can wield a strong social influence through partici- 
pation in local community activities. In the "good old days" of 
bygone generations, teachers were not expected to be practical 
enough to take an active part in the affairs of everyday life. Edu- 
cation was largely theoretical, separate and apart from the practical 
problems of the world. The typical college teacher has often been 
caricatured as an absent-minded professor or as a theoretical ideal- 
ist, but with the coming of the scientific age and the development 
of a realistic philosophy of education, that situation has changed. 
During past years newspaper editors, radio commentators and pro- 
fessional politicians have enjoyed poking fun at "Braintrusters" but 
today most of our national leaders have learned that it is worthwhile 
to "trust brains" and many communities are learning the same 
lesson! They are looking for leadership and they welcome the 
leadership which teachers and college professors can give. 

Teachers are potentially powerful because they have an oppor- 
tunity to make themselves felt as a strong social force through their 
professional organizations as well as through individual participa- 
tion in community affairs. Most teachers are members of their 
local associations; more than a million are members of their state 



Teachers As A Social Force 33 

associations and more than 650,000 are members of the National 
Education Association. 

The possibilities of these professional organizations as potent 
factors in modern life have not yet been fully realized. As indi- 
viduals, teachers have often been "timid souls." As professional 
groups, they have frequently failed to express themselves frankly 
or vigorously. Sometimes this has been because they have been 
divided among themselves as to the wisdom of certain political, 
social or economic policies. Sometimes it has been because they 
have feared that the public might resent their presumption in having 
definite ideas or plans regarding practical affairs. Sometimes it 
has been because they have feared reprisals from influential poli- 
ticians or wealthy citizens. But the time has come when, if teachers 
are to live up to the possibilities of their profession, they must act 
more courageously and more aggressively in civic, social, economic 
and even political affairs. The practice of the profession of teach- 
ing should never be a bar to the practice of the privileges of citizen- 
ship. I have never been able to understand why people who were 
intelligent enough or courageous enough to go into teaching were 
stupid enough to believe that they surrendered their rights as free 
American citizens when they entered the profession. 

Teachers are potentially the strongest professional group in 
America, because there are more of them; because they are edu- 
cated; because they have immediate contact with more than 30 
million boys and girls; because they are usually altruistic; because 
they are, or may be, leaders in their community and because they 
have the opportunity to work in cooperation with their associates 
as a strong professional group organized effectively in aggressive 
local, state and national associations. 

An Irresistible Force 

If teachers are ever to achieve the goals for which they 
are working, they must learn the art of organized coopera- 
tion. There are approximately a million teachers in this 
nation. What an irresistible force for the welfare of the 
nation this great army of a million, picked people might 
exert if they enrolled one hundred per cent in vigorous 
local, state, and national associations. 

JOHN W. STUDEBAKER 



CHAPTER V 
THREE BLACK EYES 

While I honestly believe that the teaching profession is 
potentially the most powerful profession in the world, I am not 
stupid enough to believe that it is anywhere near as strong actually 
as it might be. For years I have been trying to discover a satisfac- 
tory answer to the question, "Why are we teachers actually so 
impotent when we are potentially so powerful?" and I have finally 
come to the conclusion that Shakespeare gave a pretty good answer 
to this question when he put into the mouth of Cassius these words : 
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we 
are underlings!" And are we underlings? Of course not. Down 
in our hearts we know that we are among the most important citi- 
zens of our communities. The politicians and other civic leaders 
love to stand on public platforms and laud us for our important 
services, but when we compare our salary checks with those of our 
neighbors who are not nearly as well educated as we and whose 
work is not nearly as important as ours, we know that we are 
underlings ! 

The more I have thought about this problem, the more strongly 
have I become convinced that three characteristics of teachers are 
largely responsible for the failure of our profession to become as 
strong actually as it is potentially ignorance, indifference, and 
individualism. 

Ignorance Of course, teachers, in general, are not ignorant. 
In fact, we are becoming one of the best educated of the professions. 
However, in one field we are woefully ignorant. In the field of 
organized action we are practically illiterate. Almost every other 
important social, economic and professional group has learned the 
important technics of organized action better than we teachers. 
Commercial and industrial leaders learned long ago that if they 
were to achieve their desires they must organize trusts, holding 
companies and chain stores, and they have been getting what they 
wanted. Years ago laborers discovered that if they were to receive 



Three Black Eyes 35 

a square deal, they too must act through organized units. Even 
the farmers have learned that if they are to have a place in the sun 
they must organize effectively and cooperate for the achievement 
of their goals. In the field of group action and organized co- 
operation we teachers are woefully ignorant and illiterate. 

Indifference Most teachers are enthusiastic about their work 
in the classroom hut many of them are indifferent about the prob- 
lems with which our profession is confronted outside the classroom. 
One of the most common complaints which I received from the 
presidents of local associations was that they could not get their 
members to attend meetings or to carry responsibilities in develop- 
ing the program of the Association. Some insisted that they could 
not even have a successful professional meeting unless they had the 
superintendent call the meeting and then call the roll! Most teachers 
are eager to do a good job with their students, in the classroom, but 
they often fail to realize that they have any responsibility for ad- 
vancing the interests of the profession or promoting the cause of 
education through their professional organizations local, state 
and national. The following epitaph suggests this attitude which 
is altogether too prevalent among teachers: 

Don't Bother Me Now 
Don't Bother Me Ever 
I Want To Be Dead Forever and Ever! 

Individualism Individualism has always been an outstanding 
characteristic of teachers. It is probably even more characteristic 
than socio-economic illiteracy and professional indifference. We 
teachers pride ourselves on our independence of thought and spirit 
and fail to realize that our extreme individualism is frequently re- 
sponsible for our failure to achieve the ideals and goals of our 
profession. 

Why are teachers so very individualistic? I have asked myself 
this question many times and am not sure that even now I know 
the answer. However, two possibilities have occurred to me. Is it 
because we are so accustomed to dealing with little children who do 
not know as much as we do and so we get into the habit of telling 
ihem what is what? Sometimes, in fact too often, we teachers 
suffer from a "Jehovah Complex" and adopt the technics of the 
dictators! We "tell 'em," not only the children, but our associates, 



36 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

in fact anyone with whom we come in contact. Or is it because 
we have been taught, and we teach, that only that person is a strong 
character who has strong convictions? Many of us are in the habit 
of believing that a man without strong convictions is like a jellyfish, 
a spineless individual, a "Casper Milquetoast." We admire the 
person who has strong convictions. We despise the person who is 
willing to compromise. Down in our hearts there is a sincere belief 
that the old proverb is true which says, "They enslave their chil- 
dren's children who make compromise with sin." I hate the word 
"compromise" as much as anyone and yet, if the founding fathers 
of our country had each insisted on having his own way, would we 
ever have had a United States of America? Is not the Constitution 
of the United States, which we all admire, a series of compromises? 
Someone has suggested that the word "democracy" may well be de- 
fined as intelligent compromise! It was Lord Chesterton, I believe, 
who once called attention to the fact that the terrible word "com- 
promise" includes the happy word "promise." 

Out in the western part of our country a story is current which 
illustrates the significant results of this characteristic tendency 
of teachers to be rabidly individualistic. I do not vouch for the 
accuracy of the story. Theodore Roosevelt would probably have 
characterized it as a "nature-faking" story, but it illustrates the 
point which we are now discussing. Out in the Great American 
Desert there are a great many wild burros. It is said that in the 
early days when these animals sensed danger they rushed into 
a circle, put their young in the center and, standing with their heads 
in and their tails out, waited for the attack of the enemy. When the 
mountain lion, or cougar, or whatever it was that threatened them, 
attacked, they kicked it to death. But now, under the debilitating 
influences of modern civilization, these burros have lost their sense 
of direction. When they sense danger they still rush into a circle 
but they stand with their heads out and their tails in, and when the 
lion or cougar attacks, they kick each other to death! Did you 
ever see teachers behave that way? 

Several months ago, as I walked away from a meeting at which 
I had discussed some of these ideas, a friend said, "Well, Ted, you 
certainly gave us three black eyes today." I am not giving the 
teaching profession or any of its members any "black eyes" but 
deep down in my heart I am convinced that these three character- 



Three Black Eyes 37 

istics of teachers ignorance of organized technics, indifference 
to the problems of our profession, and individualism run rampant 
are largely responsible for our actual impotence when we might 
be so powerful. I am convinced that we teachers can become 
actually as strong a social force as we are potentially if we will 
learn the importance of organized cooperation and the technics 
of group action, if we will attack enthusiastically the problems with 
which our profession is confronted, and if we will learn to compro- 
mise, at least on minor matters, when compromise is necessary, in 
order to achieve progress. We are living in a day of organized 
action and organized cooperation is at least one of the essential 
technics for securing progress in a democracy. In this connection 
we may well remember this advertisement which I once saw in a 
fruit store window out in Peoria, Illinois: 

Remember the lowly banana 
Every one which leaves the bunch 
Gets skinned! 

More than a generation ago Dr. James E. Russell, then Dean 
of Teachers College, Columbia University., wrote: "Group action 
is the only technic for securing progress in a democracy." For 
years I have quoted this statement with great enthusiasm, but during 
recent months I have decided that Dean Russell was wrong. There 
are two technics essential for securing progress in a democracy, 
group action and individual participation. That is the reason that 
I am so enthusiastic about our professional organizations, local, 
state and national. They offer opportunity for both group action 
and individual participation! In our efforts to make teaching 
actually as powerful a profession as it is potentially, let us not only 
"Remember the lowly banana," but let us also remember that we 
each have a personal responsibility for our personal participation. 
This idea has been well expressed in the following statement: 

I am only one; 
But, I am one. 
I cannot do everything 
But I can do something. 
What I can do, I ought to do ; 
And what I ought to do 
By the grace of God 
I will do. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD 



Several years ago, when I was on a field trip with Ray Webster, 
Field Secretary of the Pennsylvania Education Association, he turned 
to me and said, "Ted, don't you sometimes have ambition to get into 
some other work which carries with it more dignity and prestige 
than membership promotion; for example, editorial or research 
work?" "Without a moment's hesitation I said, "No, Ray, I have 
never had any such degenerate ambition, for, while I would not for 
a minute disparage the important work done by the men and women 
in our Research and Publications Divisions, I know that my work is 
more important than theirs; because if my work is not successful, 
the NEA would not have money enough to hire the important people 
who work in the fields of research and publications!" 

I have frequently told my friends that I would not trade my 
job for any other job in the world. Several factors have contributed 
to this situation. In the first place, I believe so sincerely in the vital 
importance of education. Education is fundamental for individual 
welfare. The shelves of our libraries are full of statistical studies 
which show that education is a valuable investment for individual, 
economic welfare. Individuals with an education almost always 
make more money than those who are uneducated. One study in 
this field indicates that up to the age of 60 the average college grad- 
uate earns $112,000 more than a high school graduate or $28,000 
for each of the four college years. Of course there are exceptions. 
Some individuals who have not been fortunate enough to have a high 
school or college education have been great financial successes, but 
imagine how much more successful they might have been if they had 
had more education! 

In 1954 the United States Chamber of Commerce published a 
pamphlet "Education An Investment in People" in which the follow- 
ing paragraph was presented as evidence of the direct relationship 
between education, earning power and buying power in the total 
American ecnonomy. 

38 



The Best Job in the World 39 

Income and Education 

For All Males 25 years of Age and Over 
Those with college or high school education had . . , 

73% of the $ 5,000 to $ 6,000 incomes 
77% of the $ 6,000 to $ 7,000 incomes 
79% of the $ 7 ? 000 to $10,000 incomes 
82% of the $10,000 or more incomes 

Those with an eighth grade education or less had . . . 

77% of the incomes below $500 
73% of the $500 to $1,000 incomes 
65% of the $1,000 to $1,500 incomes 
61% of the $1,500 to $2,000 incomes 

Of course, I can hear some of you saying that we ought not to 
calculate the value of an education in such menial terms as dollars 
and cents. I agree with you. An education has great psychological, 
social, and moral value as well as financial and economic worth. 
Those who say that we ought to educate men to live a& well as to 
make a living are correct and emphasize an important point of view 
which should never be lost from sight. However, whether you be- 
lieve that we ought to stress the financial, the moral, or the social 
value of education, you will, I am sure, agree with me that education 
is fundamental for individual welfare. 

Education is fundamental for national welfare. This was 
demonstrated significantly during World War II. Promptly after 
Pearl Harbor the productive potential of our country was stepped 
up to an almost miraculous figure and today we find our country 
the leading nation of the world. Was this because we were poten- 
tially better than all other nations? No! But because our citizenry 
was better educated and, therefore, better able to mobilize and utilize 
its resources, both human and natural. 

Prior to World War II many of our industrial and commercial 
leaders were not enthusiastic about hiring educated men and women. 
Frequently, they claimed that educated young people were too dif- 
ficult to train. That attitude has largely disappeared today. This 
radical change was well illustrated in a magazine article which ap- 
peared during World War II. A roving reporter wrote up his visit 
to a large boatbuilding plant in New Orleans, and in his report were 



40 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

two significant items. One was a prediction by the owner to the 
effect that "The day will come when people will be paid to get an 
education, and that," he said, "will be a good investment!" That 
prediction was made several years before the "G. I. Bill of Rights" 
was passed by Congress. The other item was a statement which 
appeared on a poster in one of the plants which ran something 
like this: 

When God created man, 
He made him with two ends. 
One on which to sit and 
One with which to think ; 
In connection with this war 
Whether we win or whether we lose, 
Depends on which end we use; 
Heads we win and tails we lose! 

Several years ago the United States Chamber of Commerce had 
its Research Division make several studies regarding the relation- 
ship of education to social and economic conditions in the various 
states of our country and different nations of the world. Its con- 
servative, critical and unbiased conclusion was that "Education Pays 
Big Dividends!" Its remarkable publication, "Education an Invest- 
ment in People," shows that those states and those nations which 
have invested most in education stand at the top of the list when 
economic prosperity and standards of living are used as the basis 
of calculation. Education is fundamental for national welfare. 

Education is fundamental for international welfare. Several 
months before General Dwight D. Eisenhower became President of 
Columbia University he said: "This world cannot survive another 
global war and the only thing which will prevent it, is education!" 
National leaders are now engaged in the important task of building 
a United Nations of the World which we all hope will bring lasting 
peace. If it does not, the atomic bomb will probably blast us all, 
together with the vaunted civilization which we have developed, from 
the face of the earth. Education is fundamental for world welfare. 

The second reason why I was so enthusiastic about my work 
as Director of the Membership Division of the National Education 
Association was that I felt certain that organized action is essential 
for educational progress. We are living in an age of organized 



The Best Job in the World 41 

action. Every other important social and economic group in mod- 
ern life has discovered this fact and is employing the technics of 
cooperative group action for achieving the welfare of their members 
and the success of the causes which they represent. Today it is 
difficult to be sure which group is the strongest capital, labor or 
the farmer bloc. But we teachers, although we are potentially the 
most powerful profession, are actually woefully weak, and I feel 
morally certain that education will never get the attention and sup- 
port which it merits until the teaching profession becomes more ef- 
fectively organized. 

A third reason why I would not have traded my job for any 
other position in the United States was because I enjoyed so greatly 
the privilege of working with the members of the NEA Headquarters 
Staff. They were a grand lot; many of them top-notch specialists, 
drawn from every section of our country, yet delightful, common 
folk, whom it was a privilege to have as associates and intimate 
friends. 

In the fourth place, my work took me out into the field approxi- 
mately a third of the time. If I had never gotten out into the field, 
I would probably have gone stale; and if I had been in the field all 
of the time, I would have been run ragged. Besides, when I was 
out on field trips, I had the privilege of meeting with some of the 
finest people in the communities which I visited the school people! 

In the fifth place, my job was unusually delightful because it 
enabled me to live near and to work in the nation's capital. It is 
a great privilege to live in Washington, provided you do not work 
for the government! In making that statement I do not mean to dis- 
parage our government, for I think that we have the best government 
in the world, but working for it has certain hazards and handicaps. 
In spite of Civil Service regulations, government employees are fre- 
quently harassed by the fear that they may lose their positions through 
no fault of their own, merely a change of administration, a govern- 
mental economy drive, or some political maneuvering. 

Furthermore, the very atmosphere of the District of Columbia 
is full of the germs of two malignant diseases: "governmentitis" 
and "bureaucritis." By "governmentitis" I mean the disease which 
a person frequently contracts unwittingly due to the fact that the 
United States government is such a mammoth organization that rou- 
tine and red tape are everywhere prevalent, and the poor human 



42 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

beings involved frequently get bogged down with mountains of red 
tape or hopelessly entangled in yards upon yards of it, and they 
succumb to the tendency to follow a regular routine. The result 
is that they coast along on a plateau, surrendering all personal ini- 
tiative, drive, and ambition. 

In Washington the germs of "governmentitis" are in constant 
rivalry with the germs of "bureaucritis." If you don't catch the 
former, the latter are almost sure to get you. "Bureaucritis" is the 
disease acquired by many citizens of the nation's capital who have 
secured positions in the federal government. They feel that because 
they have achieved this exalted position they know it all and are 
called of God to tell the rest of the nation, if not the rest of the world, 
how they ought to live and love and do their work. It is a kind of 
"Jehovah Complex." They think that they know the final answer 
to all important questions and that they have divine responsibility 
for imposing their ideas upon all of God's children who have not yet 
been blessed with intelligence enough to secure a position with the 
federal government! 

If one can keep immune from these two diseases, life in Wash- 
ington is both a privilege and an opportunity. This was particularly 
true during the years when our nation's capital was becoming the 
capital of the world. 

A sixth reason why working on the Headquarters Staff of the 
NEA was a distinct pleasure and privilege was because, while the 
NEA has grown into a large institution, its regulations have re- 
mained few and flexible. Freedom of speech and individual ini- 
tiative were encouraged and the sky was the recognized limit for 
personal growth and achievement. Membership promotion was my 
principal responsibility and while the increase in membership was 
not as great as I wanted, I nearly always had the feeling that the 
fault was largely my own. Of course, I did not always get the green 
light for all of my promotion proposals; but when I failed to get 
the "O.K." for them, I felt that the reason was either lack of money 
to finance the plan or because I was not big enough to sell my ideas 
to my "Chiefs." 

For more than a quarter of a century it was my privilege to 
live in or near the nation's capital and to work with a choice group 
of delightful people at a task of fundamental importance which was 
thoroughly to my liking. Could anyone ask for more? 



"The Old Guard" 




Heads of Divisions and Assistants, NEA Headquarters Staff September, 1926 



Front Row, Left, Joy Elmer Morgan, Editor, NEA Journal; Charl 0. Williams, Director, 
Legislation; James W. Crabtree, Secretary; Harriett M. Chase, Assistant to the Secretary; 
Agnes Winn, Director, Classroom Service. 

Back Row, Left, Harold A. Allan, Director, Business; John K. Norton, Director, Research; 
Theodore D. Martin, Director, Membership; S. D. Shankland, Secretary, Department of 
Superintendence; Margaret Alltucker, Assistant Director, Research; Helen T, Hixson, 
Assistant Treasurer. 



CHAPTER VII 
EARLY IMPRESSIONS 

I joined the NEA Headquarters Staff as Director of the Division 
of Membership and Records in May of 1925. Three months later 
I prepared a statement of first impressions for distribution to the 
Secretaries of State Education Associations, for I knew that the suc- 
cess of my work in building NEA membership would depend largely 
on their cooperation, and I wanted them to know more fully about 
the splendid work which the NEA was doing. The following para- 
graphs are taken from that statement. 

Someone has said that a child learns more during the first 
year of its life than in any other equal period of time. That is 
probably true. When we older people change our environment 
and tackle a new job, we often pass thru a somewhat similar experi- 
ence. That has been my experience the past three months. I came 
to the Headquarters of the NEA the latter part of May with but 
slight acquaintance with its home, its staff or its work, and for the 
benefit of others similarly situated I want to record my first impres- 
sions while they are still vividly in mind. 

I visited Headquarters when attending the Washington Con- 
vention of the NEA in the summer of 1924, but that visit was so 
hurried and so hectic that I gained no lasting impression of the 
splendid building which serves as the home and business center of 
our national organization. The building, acquired by the Associa- 
tion in 1920, while not one of the largest or most elaborate in this 
magnificent city, is located in one of the most desirable sections of 
the city and is splendidly adapted to the needs of the Association 
and, manned by an efficient staff, it serves as a veritable central 
dynamo for generating the professional spirit so essential for the 
advancement of our profession. 

" At first I could hardly believe the statement that in 1917, 
when Dr. Crabtree first became Secretary of the organization, the 
NEA had a membership of only 8,466 while today it has nearly 

43 



44 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

140,000 names on its membership rolls. Who said that the days of 
miracles are past? One might almost believe that the NEA had 
reached its full growth were he not reminded of the fact that there 
are more than 750,000 teachers in our country, each of whom ought 
to he a member of our national professional organization. 

" In order to serve adequately the expanding needs of its grow- 
ing membership, the Association has gradually developed its head- 
quarters staff. The Journal, improved both in character and quality, 
over the bulletins which preceded it, is a witness which those who 
run may read of the work of its Editor, Joy E. Morgan. Under 
his direction, it is continually broadcasting the programs of the 
Association and stimulating the spirit of professionalism among the 
teachers of the nation. 

" That scientific investigation is, to date, the outstanding fea- 
ture of twentieth century education, no one will deny. Under the 
efficient direction of John K. Norton and Miss Margaret M. 
Alltucker, the NEA is developing a division which will enable the 
National Association to cooperate with the numerous agencies 
throughout the nation, which are engaged in this .important phase 
of educational procedure, as well as to furnish to the profession at 
large salient facts regarding existent conditions and practices. The 
1924-25 Salary Bulletin prepared by the Research Division has 
already proved of inestimable value everywhere to the teachers of 
the nation. 

" When, in the very near future, we hope, the Education Bill 
has been enacted into law and a Department of Education shall have 
been established in the President's Cabinet, Miss Charl 0. Williams 
who, during the past three years has directed the legislative program 
of the Association, will be ready to tackle the next greatest legislative 
need, whatever that may be. At the present time and for three years 
past, Miss Williams has devoted her whole strength and energy to 
the Education Bill. 

" But little if any less phenomenal than the growth of the NEA 
has been the growth of the Department of Superintendence during 
the last three years. While claiming no personal credit for the 
growth of the Department, the Secretary, S. D. Shankland, has 
directed its affairs so efficiently that in spite of its remarkable 
growth it has suffered from no 'growing pains/ and at the present 
time it is the 'huskiest' child of the parent organization. 



Early Impressions 45 

There was a time when churches, charities and other social 
welfare institutions were conducted in a manner which led one to 
suspect that those who supported them had a well-nigh unquestion- 
ing confidence that Providence would care for the needy. Twentieth 
century realism, however, has revealed the absolute necessity for 
the adoption of efficient business methods by any institution which 
is to render effective service and maintain public confidence. In 
1923 H. A. Allan joined the staff of the NEA and his valuable serv- 
ices have made possible an efficient administration of the business 
affairs of the Association. 

For a period reaching not quite to that Vhereunto the 
memory of man runneth not to the contrary/ Mrs. Helen T. Hixson 
has directed the Division of Records and Accounts, and the accuracy 
and completeness of these records are her pride and the joy of all 
who investigate them. 

"As the strength of a regiment depends upon the strength 
of the companies of which it is composed, so the strength of the 
NEA depends upon the strength of the local units of which it is com- 
posed. For three years, Miss Agnes Winn has devoted herself 
definitely to the task of assisting local units in effecting active or- 
ganizations and in developing effective programs. The programs 
for locals suggested by her last year and her report of the activities 
of various locals were of marked service to the officers of local or- 
ganizations throughout the country. 

The NEA Headquarters, located in the heart of the nation's 
capital, belongs to the teachers of the nation, is their national home 
and from it radiate the twin spirits of aspiration and of service." 



Pride and Cooperation 

The National Education Association urges the continuance 
of the evolving spirit of unity, solidarity dnd pride in the 
profession and values the hearty cooperation which char- 
acterizes the work of its divisions and departments. 

1956 NEA RESOLUTIONS 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE OLD CHIEF 

The teachers of this country will never know what a debt they 
owe to Dr. J. W. Crabtree, Secretary of the National Education As- 
sociation from 1917 to 1935. The Association was sixty years old 
before Dr. Crabtree became Secretary; but during that period its 
membership was never more than 10 ? 000. It varied from the orig- 
inal 43 Charter Members to 10,000, depending on the vigor and 
vision of the President and the location of the annual convention. 

Prior to 1917, the NEA was an aristocratic, tramp organization; 
aristocratic because its membership was made up primarily of 
leaders, those who had been leaders, those who hoped to be leaders, 
those who thought that they were leaders, or people who lived in the 
vicinity of the annual convention. It was a tramp organization 
because it had no permanent headquarters office. For five years 
before Dr. Crabtree moved the headquarters to Washington, it was 
located at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Why? Because Secretary 
Springer happened to live there, and it was easier for him to take 
the office to his home than to move it somewhere else! For nearly 
20 years prior to that it was in Winona, Minnesota, for a similar 
reason D r . I rw i n Shepard, for many years part-time secretary 
and the first full-time secretary of the Association, was Principal of 
the State Normal School at Winona. 

Instead of moving the headquarters of the Association to River 
Falls, Wisconsin, where he was Principal of the Normal School, 
Dr. Crabtree, when elected Secretary, went home, packed up his 
goods and chattels, his wife and three daughters and, with Mrs. 
Helen T. Hixson, the chief assistant of his predecessor, moved it to 
Washington, D. C., for, said he, "The only place where the head- 
quarters of the national association of the teachers of this country 
ought to be, is the nation's capital." Upon arrival in Washington, 
Dr. Crabtree rented two rooms on the east side of 14th street, just 
south of Thomas Circle, for which he paid the munificent sum of 




James W. Crabtree, Secretary 
National Education Association, 1917-1934 



The Old Chief 47 

$25 a month rent and began to develop a vigorous program of action 
and an expanding, democratic philosophy of membership. Instead 
of limiting the Association to a small group of intellectual aristo- 
crats, he envisioned it as a large over-all organization serving as 
the great national professional organization for the teachers of this 
country, corresponding to the American Bar Association for lawyers 
and the American Medical Association for physicians and he adopted 
as his slogan: "Every Teacher a Member, at Work on the Problems 
of the Profession." 

In 1917, as in all war periods, the schools were suffering. 
Teachers' salaries averaged $640 a year and war industries were 
offering tempting wages. Thousands of schools were closed for 
lack of teachers and others were staffed by teachers with little or 
no professional preparation. The NEA under Dr. Crabtree's leader- 
ship and in cooperation with the Department of Superintendence 
appointed a commission on the Emergency in Education with Dr. 
George D. Strayer of Columbia University as chairman, which 
awakened the public and stimulated local action. 

This battle for the schools increased the work of the head- 
quarters office and made increased space necessary. It also at- 
tracted more members who in turn demanded and made possible 
more services. The office was soon moved to the "Battleship Build- 
ing" at 1400 Massachusetts Ave. 7 where the Crabtrees were living 
and in 1920 to the Guggenheim Mansion at 1201 Sixteenth Street. 

The Guggenheim Mansion was not a particularly elaborate 
building but compared to the offices previously occupied by the 
Association it was quite pretentious. It had been built by the Gug- 
genheim family as their Washington residence and was a four-story, 
red brick structure with beautiful chandeliers, numerous fire places 
and an unusual arrangement of rooms. The entrance lobby was 
rather large with a beautiful winding stairway at the further end 
leading to the second floor. At the right of the entrance was a first 
floor reception room with a beautiful fire place and at the left was 
the entrance to two butlers' pantries which led into the kitchen! On 
the second floor was another reception room with another fire place; 
a sun parlor, and the dining room with still another fire place. The 
family bedrooms, also equipped with fire places, were on the third 
floor and the servants quarters were on the fourth floor. The pur- 
chase of the Guggenheim home was authorized by the Board of 



48 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

Directors with serious misgivings on the part of some members, 
since, down in their hearts, they feared that the Association was 
expanding too rapidly but they were beginning to trust Dr. Crabtree's 
judgement and, encouraged by his confident enthusiasm, they de- 
cided that possibly the time had arrived for the Association to buy 
a building which would meet its needs for several generations. 

In 1917 the Division of Accounts and Records was established 
under the direction of Mrs. Hixson, to handle the growing financial 
and membership records and in 1919 the Business Division was set 
up to care for the other business affairs of the Association. In 
1920, Dr. Joy Elmer Morgan, a former Nebraska pupil of Dr. Crab- 
tree, was invited to join the staff as Editor of the new Journal and 
as Director of the Division of Publications. In 1922 Dr. John K. 
Norton was brought from California to develop the newly created 
Research Division. In five years, 1917-1922, the staff personnel 
was expanded from three to fifty, organized into five Divisions, and 
by 1934 there were one hundred and forty people and nine Divisions. 

The policy of arranging for the Departments of the Association 
to have free office space in the NEA Headquarters Building, with 
heat and light furnished, was another evidence of Dr. Crabtree's 
shrewd foresight and outstanding ability as a diplomat and states- 
man. He inaugurated this policy in 1922 by inviting S. D. Shank- 
land, the newly elected Secretary of the Department of Superintend- 
ence, to set up his office in the Guggenheim Mansion. This arrange- 
ment tended to reduce the administrator-vs-teacher friction which had 
been plaguing the profession and the Association for more than a 
decade and paved the way for more than a dozen and a half other 
important groups to make the national home of the profession in 
the nation's capital, the headquarters for their important work. 

Dr. Crabtree's selection as secretary of the Association came as 
the result of his demonstrated ability as a leader and a builder. As 
principal at Peru Normal School in Nebraska and at River Falls 
Normal School in Wisconsin, he had taken weak institutions and 
built them into strong, vigorous, going concerns. He was an out- 
standing illustration of the validity of the sage advice, once given 
to me by an elderly friend "Young man, if you would prosper, 
espouse a cause!" Early in life he had become impressed with 
the importance of teaching and, encouraged by such leaders as Wil- 
liam T. Harris, Carroll G. Pearse, James H. Canfield and David 



The Old Chief 49 

Starr Jordan, he became active in the Nebraska Teachers Association 
and in the NEA. 

However, his rise to a position of leadership in the NEA was 
not easy. For nearly sixty years the Association had been controlled 
by recognized, national leaders, aristocratic administrators, college 
and university presidents, state commissioners of education and 
superintendents of large city school systems. While Dr. Crabtree 
had been a superintendent, a state superintendent and principal of 
two normal schools, he was no aristocrat. He had been born and 
reared in a small rural community in Scioto County, Ohio, and be- 
lieved enthusiastically in democracy. He had great confidence in 
the common man and woman even though they were lowly classroom 
teachers, and much to the discomfiture of the aristocratic administra- 
tors, who, for years, had dominated the Association, he espoused 
the classroom teachers revolt which was disturbing the Association. 
Feuds are normal procedure in large organizations and small, in 
political parties, on college and university campuses, in the moun- 
tains of Kentucky and Tennessee, and in organizations like the NEA. 
For an organization of its age, size, and character, the NEA has had 
comparatively few. None of them have been seriously tragic, but 
some have been significant and interesting since they have risen from 
differences of philosophy rather than from personal animosities. 
One of the most interesting feuds, of which I know nothing except 
on hearsay, is said to have developed between Dr. Crabtree and Dr. 
Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University. 

Dr. Butler was an aristocrat of aristocrats. He was one of the 
long line of educational leaders who dominated the affairs of the 
NEA for more than half of century. They believed in democracy, 
theoretically, and helped to give the NEA a basically democratic 
structure, but they also believed that God had endowed the intel- 
lectual and administrative aristocracy with infinite wisdom and ex- 
pected them to rule the roost. They had little respect for the aver- 
age classroom teacher and never thought of giving her extensive op- 
portunity for participation in the affairs of the Association. 

Dr. Crabtree, on the other hand, not only believed in democracy 
but believed in practicing it. He had great faith in mankind gen- 
erally. He believed in the classroom teacher, the principal and the 
superintendent, as well as in the college professor and the university 
president. He conceived the NEA as a large over-all organization 



50 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

including as active members all members of all levels of the profes- 
sion. By faithful performance and persistent effort he had grad- 
ually worked his way up into the councils of the mighty, and one 
must leave to the imagination the numerous clashes of personalities 
and opinions which eventually resulted in the historic occasion when 
Dr. Butler is said to have referred disdainfully to him as "that 
young whippersnapper!" That remark becomes all the more 
significant when it is noted that shortly the "young whippersnapper" 
unhorsed the "big boys," took over the control of the Association 
and eventually made it the democratic, over-all, organization which 
he had envisioned. 

While the "young whippersnapper* and his cohorts defeated 
the aristocrats and made possible the expansive program, inau- 
gurated when Dr. Crabtree became Secretary in 1917 and which is 
still in progress, it was not accomplished without some loss to the 
Association, for its Department of Higher Education soon began to 
wither and remained completely dead and inactive for eighteen 
years, 1924 to 1942. 

My first glimpse of Dr. Crabtree was during the 1916 conven- 
tion of the NEA in Madison Square Garden in New York City. 
I was at that time a graduate student at Teachers College, Columbia 
University, and while I did not know much about the Association 
I decided that I would find out what was going on. At that meet- 
ing I became infected with the "conventionitis germ" which I have 
enjoyed for more than forty years. I do not remember what report 
Dr. Crabtree was delivering when I drifted into the meeting, but 
I do recall that I was not greatly impressed by his personality and 
was greatly amazed when someone assured me that he was one of 
the outstanding leaders in the Association. Little did I dream that 
in less than ten years he would be my "Chief!" 

Although he did not look like a great leader, Dr. Crabtree was 
one of the shrewdest men that it has ever been my privilege to know. 
He could see further and around more corners than any man I have 
ever met. He had an uncanny ability to pick competent associates 
and to inspire them to vigorous-, independent action. Modest, almost 
to a fault, his heart was as large as all outdoors. To some he looked 
like a farmer blown in from the hay fields of Nebraska, and by 
some he was called "Foxy Grandpa," but to those of us who were 
fortunate enough to know him intimately, Jie was one of the great 



The Old Chief 51 

men of our generation and we count ourselves fortunate to have 
had the privilege of working with him. 

For thirty-five years, 1920-1955, the NEA Headquarters Build- 
ing at 1201 Sixteenth St., N. W., was a monument to his vision, cour- 
age and ability as a leader. That it has now been replaced by a 
larger and more modern structure is no discredit to either him or to 
his successors. By bringing the headquarters office of the Associa- 
tion to Washington, by his expansion of the services of the Associa- 
tion and by his development of an effective membership enrolment 
plan, he laid the solid and substantial foundation on which his suc- 
cessors have continued to build. When in 1917 he became Secre- 
tary, the Association was already sixty years old but it had no per- 
manent office; its headquarters staff consisted of three members 
the Secretary, one clerk and a stenographer; its services were limited 
largely to holding an annual convention, passing idealistic resolu- 
tions and publishing the proceedings. Its membership was 8,466 
and had never been over 10,000. When he retired on December 31, 
1935, the Association had a substantial headquarters building in 
the heart of the nation's capital, a staff of nearly two hundred mem- 
bers engaged in carrying forward a constantly expanding program 
of service to the profession and a membership of more than 190,000! 



What Counts Most 

No thoughtful man ever came to the end of his life, and 
had time and a little space of calm from which to look back 
upon it, who did not know and acknowledge that it was 
what he had ddne unselfishly and for others, and nothing 
else, that satisfied him in the retrospect and made him feel 
that he had played the man. WOODROW WILSON 



CHAPTER IX 
A SIGNIFICANT SYMBOL 



For members of the teaching profession, the NEA Headquarters 
Building at 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., is the most important build- 
ing in Washington. It is neither the largest nor the most beautiful. 
The Pentagon is said to be the largest and the Supreme Court Build- 
ing is rated by many as the most beautiful, but for teachers the NEA 
Building is the most significant since it symbolizes the progress 
which teaching has made since 1917 toward becoming a profession. 

As already related, when Dr. Crabtree brought the Head- 
quarters Office of the Association to Washington in 1917, the Asso- 
ciation was a small organization of less than nine thousand members 
with no permanent home. For a few months he rented two rooms 
on Fourteenth Street near Thomas Circle and then moved the office 
to the brick Battleship Building on Thomas Circle in which he and 
his family were living. 

Soon after reaching Washington, Dr. Crabtree met Dr. Gilbert 
Grosvenor, President of the National Geographic Society, and they 
became great friends. One day Dr. Grosvenor asked Dr. Crabtree 
why he did not buy the Guggenheim Mansion for the headquarters 
office of the Association. This building was located on the corner 
of Sixteenth and M Streets diagonally across from the office of the 
National Geographic Society. Dr. Crabtree inquired what the cost 
would be. Dr. Grosvenor replied that he did not know, but that 
he would find out. The next time the Board of Directors of the 
Association met, Dr. Crabtree proposed that they buy the Guggen- 
heim home for $98,000. Thereupon he almost precipitated a nation- 
al catastrophe. The members of the Board were so shocked by the 
presumption of the suggestion that they nearly fell over backward 
in their chairs. Down in their hearts many of them mumbled, if 
they did not say it in so many words, "Man, you are crazy. In the 
first place, you will never need such a large building as that, and in 
the second place, you will never be able to pay for it!" By 1920, 

52 






* 



T; 



-**#*. jrTSSET!*^" 1 
f 




A Significant Symbol 53 

Dr. Crabtree had purchased the building, with, of course, the per- 
mission of the officers. In the meantime, he had developed such 
service and membership programs that he had convinced them that 
what had seemed a ridiculously wild dream a few months before, 
was a wise move, and with the passing of time, their judgment and 
his have been confirmed. 

The seven story Annex erected in 1930, a little more than twice 
as large as the original building, was likewise, a dream come true 
the result of Dr. Crabtree' s vision, enthusiasm, shrewd foresight and 
realistic ability as a leader. It was made possible by Life Member- 
ship fees. 

When I arrived at the Headquarters Office in 1925, the Life 
Membership fee was $100, payable in a single sum. I can still 
remember vividly the day when, in 1926, Dr. Crabtree stopped by 
my desk and asked what I would think of his asking the Board of 
Directors for permission to make Life Membership available on a 
deferred payment plan, ten dollars down and ten dollars a year for 
nine years. I replied that the plan appealed to me and the next 
time the Board of Directors met he proposed it to them. Some of 
them were terribly shocked. They suggested that Life Membership 
in the National Education Association was a significant, lofty symbol 
of high professional spirit and that it should never be put down on 
the menial plane of "a dollar down and a dollar a week!" Dr. Crab- 
tree countered with the suggestion that many homes were purchased 
on the deferred payment plan and that he had even heard of some 
people buying automobiles on the installment plan! He won his 
point and soon had a home-made, high-pressure Life Membership 
campaign under way which eventually made possible the greatly 
needed new building. Dr. Morgan, Miss Chase and I all joined in 
the campaign, but Dr. Crabtree called the signals and carried the 
ball most of the time. 

The Charter of the Association stipulates that all Life Member- 
ship fees shall go into the Permanent Fund. They may not be used 
for current expenses, but they are to be invested, and what invest- 
ment is safer than real estate which the Association needs? Teachers 
and others in the profession were encouraged to realize their life 
ambition by becoming Life Members and at the same time make a 
lasting contribution to a worthy cause, the national home of their 
national professional association! The plan clicked and the seven 



54 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

story building was put up in 1930 a tribute to Dr. Crabtree's 
wisdom, an enthusiastic contribution on the part of thousands of 
devoted teachers and a symbol of progress toward a real profession 
of teaching. 

The mortgage on the building was burned at the summer con- 
vention in Denver in 1942 and many members of the Association 
relaxed and thanked God that now the teachers of this country had 
a national office, free of debt, which would meet their needs for 
many generations. However, the more far-sighted knew better and 
even before the mortgage was paid. Dr. Givens persuaded the Asso- 
ciation to purchase, in 1937, the large garage just east of the new 
building. For several years I predicted that another annex would 
be built on the new property in 1950 and that in 1960 we would buy 
the Martinique Hotel, just north of the Guggenheim home. How- 
ever, while I was out of the city on a field trip in the spring of 1950, 
the Board of Trustees purchased the hotel and I found it necessary 
to change my story and suggest that the Association would probably 
erect a new addition on the garage property in 1960. 

Once more my inability to predict future developments was 
demonstrated. Much to my delight and surprise, the 1952 Repre- 
sentative Assembly passed a resolution favoring a new building 
program. In October the Executive Committee, Board of Directors 
and Board of Trustees endorsed the building project unanimously 
and authorized a $5,000,000 Building Fund Campaign. The con- 
tract for the first unit of the new building was signed in December 
of 1953 and by the spring of 1956 two units had been completed 
and occupied. 

At the close of the 1956 meeting of the Representative As- 
sembly, the Building Fund stood at $4,900,000 in cash and pledges 
and the total authorized to meet the cost of furniture, equipment and 
additional land purchases was increased to $6,500,000! It is hoped 
that the whole project will be completed in time for the 1957 Cen- 
tennial Celebration. 

This new Educational Center belongs to the teachers of America. 
It is a modern office building of which they may well be proud. 
Located in the heart of our nation's capital, it is a significant symbol 
of the progress which teaching has made toward becoming a profes- 
sion and, like the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, 



A Significant Symbol 55 

should be included on the schedule of every teacher who visits 
Washington. 



The Teacher 

THE TEACHER is a prophet; 

He lays the foundations of tomorrow. 

The teacher is an artist; 

He works with the precious clay of unfolding personality. 

The teacher is a friend; 

His heart responds to the faith and devotion of his students. 

The teacher is a citizen; 

He is selected and licensed for the improvement of society. 

The teacher is an interpreter; 

Out of his maturer and wider life he seeks to guide the 
young. 

The teacher is a builder; 

He works with the higher and finer values of civilization. 

The teacher is a culture-bearer; 

He leads the way toward worthier tastes, saner attitudes, 

more gracious manners, higher intelligence. 

The teacher is a planner; 

He sees the young lives before him as a part of a great 

system which shall grow stronger in the light of truth. 

The teacher is a pioneer; 

He is always attempting the impossible and winning out. 

The teacher is a reformer; 

He seeks to remove the handicaps that weaken and destroy 

life. 

The teacher is a believer; 

He has abiding faith in the improvability of the race 

JOY ELMER MORGAN 



CHAPTER X 
THE NEW CHIEF 

The 1934 summer convention, even though it was held in Wash- 
ington, D. C., was the low-water mark of the modernized NEA. 
Many factors contributed to this. Membership had dropped for 
the second consecutive year. The economic depression, which re- 
sulted in widespread cutting of teachers' salaries, was largely 
responsible for this, but Secretary Crabtree was getting old. He 
was seventy and even some of his best friends were losing confidence 
in him. Others were trying to undermine him, hoping to become 
his successor. President Gray came to the convention weary and 
worn from too strenuous field work. Her nerves were frayed and 
several times during the convention she broke under the strain of 
tense situations. The physical facilities of the old Washington 
Auditorium at 19th Street and New York Avenue were far from 
satisfactory. The building was dingy and dirty. The accoustics 
were poor and the loud speaker wouldn't work. 

Members of the Teachers Union were on hand to bore from 
within and they did. High government officials scheduled to ap- 
pear on the programs didn't show up. Some sent poor substitutes, 
others just failed to appear. The campaign for the presidency of 
the Association was unusually vigorous and the expenditures in- 
dulged in by the supporters of the candidates were so lavish that it 
caused considerable concern for fear someone might demand an in- 
vestigation of the sources and purposes of the slush funds. The 
weather was hot and sultry terrible as summer weather in Wash- 
ington can be. The result was that discussion both in the Represen- 
tative Assembly and the meetings of the Board of Directors fre- 
quently fell to low levels, with vigorous arguments over minor mat- 
ters and plenty of disparaging personal remarks thrown in. Many 
of us were very happy and greatly relieved when the convention 
adjourned. 

Fortunately, Henry Lester Smith was elected President and 
battles never bothered him. He was a solid, substantial leader in 

56 




Willard E. Givens, Executive Secretary- 
National Education Association, 1935-1952 



The New Chief 57 

whom everyone had confidence. Two questions were in everyone's 
mind when the convention adjourned: "Who will be Secretary 
Crabtree's successor?" and "Can we find a leader who can build 
back the morale of the Association and give it a program which will 
enable us to rise above and forget the low estate of the 1934 con- 
vention?" 

There was no lack of candidates for the secretaryship. Some 
were second-raters and others were top-notchers. Jim Richmond 
of Kentucky was probably the most openly avowed and vigorous. 
J. Herbert Kelley of Pennsylvania was available and some of us 
thought that the Board of Trustees, who by the Charter of the Asso- 
ciation are charged with the responsibility of selecting the Secretary, 
might well choose John K. Norton, formerly Director of our Re- 
search Division, but at that time on the faculty of Teachers College, 
Columbia University. 

Fortunately, not more than one member of the Headquarters 
Staff had any ambitions for the position. That saved us from in- 
ternal rivalries. "Dame Rumor" had it that the second-raters who 
were hoping to be chosen, were so numerous and of such ordinary 
quality that no less than four of the five members of the Board of 
Trustees began to hope that they might be drafted for the position. 
That situation was probably what saved the day and led them to rise 
above petty, personal politics and go out for a really great leader. 
It is reported that they actually offered the position to Dr. Lotus 
Coffman, President of the University of Minnesota, at $25,000 a 
year but that he refused on the grounds of age and family affairs. 

Eventually, word leaked out that Willard E. Givens, Superin- 
tendent of Schools at Oakland, California, had been appointed Secre- 
tary as of January 1, 1935. He had not been a candidate for the 
position and the "grape vine" reported that the Board of Trustees 
had to go to him at least three times before they finally persuaded 
him to accept their invitation. We, at the Headquarters Office, 
were greatly relieved and very happy to learn of his appointment. 

I had known Willard since 1913 when he entered Union Theolo- 
gical Seminary in New York City as a student. I had entered in 
1912 and so we were fellow students for two years. I did not know 
him intimately and from 1916, when he graduated, to 1924 we did 
not see or hear from each other. The 1924 NEA summer conven- 
tion was held in Washington, D. C. Registration and most of the 



58 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

meetings were scheduled for Central High School and during one of 
the general sessions held in the stadium, whom should I meet in the 
rear aisle but Willard Givens. When I inquired what he was doing, 
he threw back his husky shoulders and replied, "Fm Superintendent 
of Public Instruction in Hawaii! 9 ' Whereupon I threw back my 
shoulders, drew my short self up to full height, and said, "And 
I am Executive Secretary of the Utah Education Association!" 
During the next ten years we saw each other frequently at NEA con- 
ventions and my admiration for him grew steadily, especially, since 
Oakland's NEA membership approached the 100 per cent mark 
each year while he was Superintendent there, and the NEA mem- 
bership in California showed a wholesome increase while he was 
State NEA Director and President of the California Council of 
Education. 

Dr. Crabtree had served the Association magnificently as its 
Secretary for nearly eighteen years, but the time for his retirement 
had come. The Association needed the leadership of a younger 
man, one with more vigor and more front, a man whose very bear- 
ing would inspire confidence. This Willard Givens could do 
and did. It was my privilege to work intimately with Dr. Crabtree 
for nearly a decade and with Dr. Givens for more than fifteen years, 
and what a privilege! Both were men of courage and vision. Down 
in my heart I believe that Dr. Crabtree could see farther ahead and 
around more corners than Dr. Givens, but he was not as bold, did 
not dare take as many chances in the adoption of new policies or pro- 
grams of action. Both were great men, absolutely honest and de- 
pendable, straightforward, fearless fighters for, and devoutly con- 
secrated to a great cause. 

Dr. Crabtree hesitated to encourage state and local leaders to 
put on extensive and expansive enrolment campaigns. Two reasons 
were responsible for this. In the first place, during his term as 
Secretary, the Association's programs of service were always ex- 
panding faster than its revenues. Membership income increased 
every year from 1917 to 1934, except during two depression years 
1931-33, but the demands for expanded services increased also, with 
the result that practically every summer the Association had to bor- 
row to meet its payroll. In the second place Dr. Crabtree had had 
experience with several leaders whose expansive ideas and expensive 
plans for membership promotion had failed to be self-liquidating. 



The New Chief 59 

This had led him to be somewhat conservative and dependent on 
enrolment technics whose costs could be easily estimated and con- 
trolled and whose worth had been demonstrated. 

During Dr. Givens' term of service, cash in the coffers of the 
Association was somewhat more plentiful and he was not as content 
to depend on the old-fashioned method of direct-mail solicitation. 
He believed in experimentation and had confidence that state and 
local leaders could be depended upon to keep their expenditures 
within reasonable limits. He was confident that increased services 
would increase income and he encouraged State Directors and 
other state and local leaders to step up their programs of action, 
including more dynamic and more expensive membership enrolment 
campaigns. 

Dr. Givens was greatly interested in international as well as 
national affairs. His experience as teacher, principal and Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction in Hawaii had broadened his horizon 
and acquainted him intimately with inter-racial problems. In 1945 
he worked tirelessly with other national and international leaders 
to win for education a place in the United Nations setup and ever 
since the establishment of UNESCO, has given it enthusiastic sup- 
port. For six years, 1950-56, he served as the NEA representative 
on the United States National Commission for UNESCO and this 
year is serving as chairman of this group of one hundred distin- 
guished leaders. In 1946 he went to Japan as a member of the 
First United States Education Mission invited by General Douglas 
Mac Arthur to study and recommend improvements in the Japanese 
program of education and in September of 1950 he served as chair- 
man of the Second Mission requested for further advice and counsel 
in this connection. In 1949 he represented public education and 
the organized teaching profession on the Round -the- World Town 
Meeting of the Air held in fourteen national capitals and in 1953 
he was sent by the United States Mutual Security Agency on a three- 
months' tour of duty to assist the Public School Teachers Associa- 
tion of the Republic of the Philippines in the development of their 
program of reorganization and expansion. 

In some ways it is unfortunate that because of its sixty-five 
year retirement rule, the NEA has been deprived of Dr. Givens' 
administrative services during recent years but the nation and the 
world have benefited by it. He, like other retired but not retiring 



60 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

individuals, has demonstrated that senior citizens can frequently 
continue to render valuable and effective service. 



The Unknown Teacher 

I sing the praise of the unknown teacher. Famous educa- 
tors plan new systems of pedagogy, but it is the unknown 
teacher who delivers and guides the young. He lives in 
obscurity and contends with hardship. He keeps the watch 
along the borders of darkness and makes the attack on the 
trenches of ignorance and folly. Patient in his daily 
duty, he strives to conquer the evil powers which are the 
enemies of youth. He awakens sleeping spirits. He 
quickens the indolent, encourages the eager, dnd ste,adies 
the unstable. He communicates his own joy in learning 
and shares with boys and girls the best treasures of his 
mind. He lights many candles which, in later years, will 
shine back to cheer him. This is his reward. Knowl- 
edge may be gained from books; but the love of knowledge 
is transmitted only by personal contact. No one has de- 
served better of the republic than the unknown teacher. 

HENRY VAN DYKE 



CHAPTER XI 
THE NEA SETUP 



Like Topsy, the National Education Association "just growed." 
Its structure is therefore somewhat complicated and cumbersome but 
it has survived for a hundred years, with a few slight modifications 
and adjustments, and operates with a fairly high degree of success 
and efficiency. One of its strongest features is its thoroughly 
democratic character. 

Two widely current misapprehensions regarding the Association 
need to be corrected. The National Education Association is not in 
Washington, D. C. True, its headquarters office is in Washington 
but its more than 650,000 members are distributed in every state 
and territory of the nation and they are in reality the Association. 
In the second place, the National Education Association is not domi- 
nated by male administrators or any other kind of administrators. 
It is true that it was organized by forty-three forward looking leaders 
who met in Philadelphia in 1857, at the "call" of the presidents of 
ten state teachers' associations. Forty-one of these were male admin- 
istrators but that was at a time when men were the accepted leaders 
in most phases of civil life, including education. From 1857 to 
1866 membership in the National Teachers Association, the prede- 
cessor of the NEA, was limited to men but in 1866 its constitution 
was amended to permit women to become members. 

In 1910 Ella Flagg Young was elected the first woman presi- 
dent and, since 1918, by custom, a lady has been elected president 
every second year. In 1927 Cornelia S. Adair was elected presi- 
dent, the first classroom teacher to be accorded this honor and, since 
then, seven other classroom teachers have served as presidents- of 
the Association. 

Prior to the establishment of the Representative Assembly in 
1920, the Association was controlled largely by administrators since 
the average classroom teacher, in those days, was not greatly inter- 
ested in the problems of the profession outside the classroom. Also 

61 



62 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

few of them received salaries large enough to permit them to attend 
national meetings far from home. However, conditions have 
changed. At present approximately eighty-five per cent of the mem- 
bers of the Association are classroom teachers and most of the dele- 
gates in the annual meetings of the Representative Assembly are 
classroom teachers. 

In order to encourage and facilitate the participation of class- 
room teachers in the work of the Association, a Department of Class- 
room Teachers was established in 1913. It has its office in the 
NEA Headquarters Building in Washington and a budget which en- 
ables it to employ a full time executive secretary and other staff 
members to carry forward its program of service to classroom 
teachers and to the profession. This Department charges no special 
departmental dues. Any classroom teacher who is a member of the 
NEA is eligible to membership in it. During recent years its annual 
budget, contributed entirely by the "parent" association, has been 
approximately $100,000. 

Units of the National Education Association 

The National Education Association is a national, independent, 
overall, voluntary organization of workers in the field of education. 
It is non-sectarian, non-governmental and non-political and cor- 
responds, for those engaged in education, to the American Bar Asso- 
ciation for lawyers and the American Medical Association for phy- 
sicians. The chart on the following page shows the structure of the 
Association as it existed in the fall of 1956. 

NEA Membership 

On May 31, 1956, the National Education Association had 
659,190 members. The total membership of its affiliated state 
associations was more than a million. It is not only the largest 
teachers' organization in the world, it is the largest professional 
organization in the world. Its membership is made up of class- 
room teachers, elementary school principals, secondary school princi- 
pals, supervisors, superintendents of schools, and college and uni- 
versity professors and presidents. During the first sixty years of 
the Association's history, its membership ranged from the original 
forty-three charter members, in 1857, to ten thousand in 1887. In 



The NEA Setup 



63 



OUR UNITED PROFESSION AT WORK 



NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES 

CHARTERED 6\ ACT Or CONGRESS -- 1906 

659,000 individual members-OUR UNITED PROFESSION -1,1 39,000 affiliated members 



66 STATE AND 5902 LOCAL AFFILIATED ASSOCIATIONS 





REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY 

4400 delegates 








1 













BOARD OF DIRECTORS b 


COMMITTEE| | 






PRESIDENT I 






BOARD of 
TRUSTEES 1 
5 members 


EXECUTIVE | 
COMMITTEE 1 
11 members f| 




TR 


VICE- b 

PRESIDENTS! 




^^ 




I 1 








EXECUTIVE SECRETARY | 










, 1 ASSISTANT b 
1 EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES 1 


30 


DEPARTMENTS 




1 






24 COMMISSIONS & O 


13 HEADQUARTERS 
DIVISIONS 


Administrative 
Women 


Music Educators 


Auditing 


NEA a 
Medic 


Art Education 


Public School 
Adult Educators 


Budget 


NEA a 
Teache 


Accounts 




Audio- Vliual 
Instruction 


Retired Teachers 




Adult Education Service 




Bylaws end Rules 


NEA a 
Publishe 


Rural Education 




Audio-Visual Ser 


vice 




Business Education 


School Administrators 




Business 




Citizenship 


NEA 

CC 7nd 


Classroom Tea 


chert 


School Public Relations 




Legislation Federal Relations 




Credentials 


Educational 
Research 


School Secretaries 




Membership 




Credit Unions 


Elementary School 
Principal* 


Scier 


ce Teachers 




NEA Journal 




Defense Commission 


Profe 


Press and Radio 




Educational Policies 
Commission, NEA, 
AASA 


Re 


Exceptional Children 


Secondary-School 
Principals 


Publications 




Records 




Health, Physical 
Education, Recreation 


Social Studies 




Research 




Elections 


Safety 


Higher Education 


Speech 




Rural Service 




International 
Relations 


Tax 


Home Economics 


Superv 


sion and Cur- 
Development 




Travel Service 




Legislative 
Commission 


Teach 
and 
S 


Industrial Arts 




A" 






Journalism Directors 


Teacher Education 




Kindergarten* 
Primary Education 


Vocational Education 




NEA and 
American Legion 


Teach 


Ei 

MrffiTi j 




Mathematics Teachers 


Women Deans 
and Counselors 




NEA and American 
Library Association 


Te 
Acade 



tss of Parents 



Education 



THE NATIONAL. EDUCATION ASSOCIATION IS THE ONLY ORGANIZATION THAT REPRESENTS OR 
HAS THE POSSIBILITY OF REPRESENTING THE GREAT BODY OF TEACHERS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



NEA Handbook 1556-57 



64 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

1917 when the headquarters office was moved to Washington, D. C. 
it was less than nine thousand. Since then it has increased every 
year except three two depression years, 1933 and 1934, and 1949, 
the year following the raising of regular annual dues from three to 
five dollars. 

The Representative Assembly 

From 1857 to 1920 the members of the Association operated 
as an absolute democracy. Any one who came to the annual meet- 
ing and paid his dues was entitled to vote on all matters which came 
before the convention. This arrangement had two handicaps. When 
the attendance was large the transaction of business was difficult 
and when the convention was held in a large population center such 
as Chicago or New York, the local teachers were able to dominate 
the situation and dictate not only the policies but also the officers 
of the Association. 

At the Salt Lake City meeting of the Association, in 1920, a 
Representative Assembly was provided. While all members of the 
Association are still eligible to attend the annual meetings of the As- 
sociation, only official delegates are entitled to vote. The Represen- 
tative Assembly, which meets annually, usually the first week in 
July, is the basic policy-making body of the Association. The of- 
ficial program of the Association is determined by the membership, 
acting thru their delegates. All recommendations and reports of 
the officers and committees of the Association and proposed amend- 
ments to the By-laws come before it. The permanent platform of 
the Association, adopted by the Representative Assembly in 1932 
and revised from time to time, sets forth the continuing objectives of 
the Association. This is supplemented by the resolutions adopted 
annually by the Representative Assembly. The Representative 
Assembly elects the following officers the president, twelve vice 
presidents, a treasurer, the elective members of the Board of Direc- 
tors and four members of the Executive Committee. 

The Representative Assembly consists chiefly of delegates from 
state and local associations affiliated with the NEA. Each local 
affiliated association is allowed one delegate for each one hundred 
of its NEA members or major fraction thereof. Each state or terri- 
torial, affiliated association, is allowed one delegate for each one 
hundred of its NEA members, or major fraction thereof, up to five, 



The NEA Setup 65 

and one for each five hundred of its NEA members, thereafter. The 
Representative Assembly has varied in size from 553 in 1921 to 
more than 5,000. 

The Board of Directors 

The Board of Directors has approximately seventy-five mem- 
bers ; ten or a dozen ex-of f icio members, and the rest state directors, 
nominated by the state delegations at the annual summer convention 
and elected for three-year terms by the Representative Assembly. 
Each state and territory is entitled to at least one director. States 
having more than twenty thousand NEA members are entitled to two 
directors and those having more than forty thousand NEA mem- 
bers are entitled to three. The State Directors are the official rep- 
resentatives of the Association within their states and are depended 
on for leadership in the promotion of the Association's policies, 
activities and membership. Each year the Board of Directors elects 
the Budget Committee, one member of the Board of Trustees and 
one member of the Executive Committee. It also determines the 
time and place of the annual meetings and appropriates funds for 
carrying on the work of the Association. 

The Board of Trustees 

The Board of Trustees consists of five members. The Presi- 
dent of the Association and four members, one elected each year 
for a four-year term, by the Board of Directors. Its duties are to 
serve as Trustees of the Permanent Fund of the Association and to 
elect the Executive Secretary of the Association. 

The Executive Committee 

The Executive Committee consists of eleven members five 
officers of the Association who serve as ex officio members, four 
members, elected for two-year terms by the Representative Assembly, 
and two by the Board of Directors. The major duties of the Execu- 
tive Committee are to serve as the interim policy-making body be- 
tween sessions of the Representative Assembly and the Board of 
Directors; to receive and transmit with recommendations, official 
reports to the Board of Directors; to appoint members of NEA Com- 
mittees and otherwise to assist in carrying out the policies of the 
Representative Assembly. 



66 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

NEA Departments 

In 1870 the National Teachers Association, the National Asso- 
ciation of School Superintendents and the American Normal School 
Association merged under the name National Educational Associa- 
tion and the Superintendents' and the Normal School units became 
departments of the "parent" organization. Over the years, twenty- 
eight other departments have been added so that now these thirty 
specialized units, together with the twenty-four commissions, com- 
mittees and councils of the Association service practically every 
phase of the broad field of education from the Nursery School 
through the University. The relationship of the thirty departments 
of the ''parent" organization is similar to that of children in a family. 
Membership in the "parent" association is prerequisite to member- 
ship in any department but the departments are given a high degree 
of independence and yet are an integral part of the Association. 
Many of them have their own dues, employ their own staffs, arrange 
their own conventions, and issue their own publications but the 
"parent" organization furnishes them free office space, light, and 
heat, cooperates with them in the development of their programs 
of service in their particular areas and is proud of their achieve- 
ments. In the following list are included the names of the Depart- 
ments, their dates of organization, their annual dues and their mem- 
bership figures. Those marked with an asterisk have offices at the 
NEA Headquarters in Washington, D. C. 

The Headquarters Staff 

The Headquarters Staff of the Association includes the Execu- 
tive Secretary, five Assistant Executive Secretaries, a Business Man- 
ager, thirteen Directors of Divisions, fourteen Secretaries of Depart- 
ments, Committees and Commissions and more than five hundred 
other special assistants, clerks, stenographers and custodial em- 
ployees. 

In the list of Committees and Commissions which appears on 
page 69, the names indicate the special areas of service and the dates 
indicate the year of establishment. The asterisks indicate the Com- 
mittees and Commissions which have full-time staffs at the NEA 
Headquarters. 



The NEA Setup 

NEA STAFF 



67 




MEMBERS AND OFFICERS 



Office of the 
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY 





BUSINESS 
MANAGER 




ASST. EXEC. SEC 
FIELD OPERATION! 




ASST. EXEC SEC 
PROFESSIONAL 
DEV.ANDWELFARE 




ASST. EXEC SEC 
EDUCATIONAL 
SERVICES 


ASST. EXEC S 
LAY RELATION 


EC 

S 


ASST. EXEC. SEC. 
INFORMATION 
SERVICES 


I 








J 




L 












1 




J 




BUSINESS 
DIVISION 


MEMBERSHIP DIV. 


^ NEA FIELD 
REPRESENTATIVES 


CLASSROOM _ 
TEACHERS 


COMMISSION ON 
- TEACHER 
EDUCATION 


CENTENNIAL - 


DIVISION OF 
m AUDIO-VISUAL 
INSTRUCTIONAL 
SERVICE 


JOINT COMM. 
OF NEA AND 
MAGAZINE 
PUBLISHERS 


MEA 
- JOURNAL 
DIVISION 


JOINT COMMITTEE 
NEA I ATA 




















DIVISION OF 
ACCOUNTS " 


STATE 
AFFILIATED 
ASSOCIATIONS 


LOCAL 
- AFFILIATED 
ASSOCIATIONS 


DEFENSE 
COMMISSION 


COMMITTEE 
" ON ETHICS 


COMMITTEE ON 
INTERNATIONAL > 
RELATIONS 


DIVISION OF 
RURAL 
SERVICE 


JOINT COMM. 
- OF NEA AND 
AM, LEGION 


PRESS 
- AND RADIO 
DIVISION 






















DIVISION 
OF RECORDS 


STATE 
FIELD 
WORKERS 


LOCAL 
- CONVENTION 
COMMITTEES 


COMMITTEE 
ON TENURE " 


COMMITTEE ON 
- CITIZENSHIP 
EDUCATION 




COMMISSION ON 
SAFETY i 
EDUCATION* 


DIVISION OF 
- ADULT EDUC, 
SERVICE 


JOINT COMM. 
- OF NEA 
ANDNCPT 


DIVISION OF 
PUBLICATIONS 























DIVISION 
OF TIME 


FIELD 
SCHEDULES 
FOR OFFICERS 
AND STAFF 


BUILDING 
FUND 


DUSHANE 
MEMORIAL " 
FUND 


COUNCIL 
OH TEACHER 
RETIREMENT 




REGIONAL 
INSTRUCTIONAL - 
CONFERENCES 


NEADEPTS. 
- NOTELSEWHEKE 
ASSIGNED 


PARTICIPATION 
OF THE PUILIC 
IN NEA 
CONVENTIONS 


RESEARCH 
" DIVISION 














COMMITTEE 
ON CREDIT J 


DEPARTMENT 
U OF RETIRED 




JOINT COMMS. 
NU-AMA 


CONVENTION 


COMMITTEE 
"" nu titrnnuc 


AMERICAN 
EDUCATIONAL 

BKtllfH 



RESEARCH 
ASSOCIATION 



COMMITTEE 01 
[AX EDUCATION 



SCHOOI 
PUILIC 
RELATIONS 



NBA Handbook 1956-57 



68 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

Departments of the National Education Association 

* American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (1937) ; 
$5; 21,000 

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (1948) ; $100 to $250; 
314 (institutional) 

* American Association of School Administrators (1870) ; $10; 10,448 

* American Educational Research Association (1930) ; $8; 1,150 
American Industrial Arts Association (1939) ; $3; 4,300 

* Association for Higher Education (1870 - 1924; 1942) ; dues included in NEA 
membership; 17,000 

* Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (1929) ; $8; 8,916 

* Audio-Visual Instruction (1923); $5; 3,200 

*Classroom Teachers (1913) ; dues included in NEA membership; includes 

approximately eighty-five per cent of NEA membership 
^Elementary School Principals (1921); $5; 14,366 

Home Economics (1930); $1; 1,800 
international Council for Exceptional Children (1922) ; $6; 9,300 

Kindergarten-Primary Education (1884) ; dues included in NEA Membership; 

1,728 
*Music Educators National Conference (1907) ; $4; 29,136 

National Art Education Association (1933) ; $3; plus regional association dues; 

5,000 
*National Association of Women Deans and Counselors (1918) ; $10; 1,630 

National Association of Educational Secretaries (1946) ; $4; 2,000 

National Association of Journalism Directors of Secondary Schools (1939) ; 

$1.50; 1,450 

^National Association of Public School Adult Educators (1955); $1; 3,000 
"^National Association of Secondary-School Principals (1886) ; $8; 15,500 

* National Council for the Social Studies (1925); $5; 6,407 

National Council of Administrative Women in Education (1915) ; $2; 1,100 
^National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1920) ; $3; 10,100 

National Retired Teachers Association (1947); $1; 30,000 
^National School Public Relations Association (1935) ; $10; 1,640 
^National Science Teachers Association (1895) ; $4; 6,700 
*Rural Education (1907) ; $4; 2,000 

Speech Association of America (1939); $4.50; 6,000 
^United Business Education Association (1892); $5; 6,000 

Vocational Education (1875) ; no dues 

Divisions of the NEA Headquarters Staff 

Accounts (1917) 

Adult Education Service (1945) 

Audio-Visual Instructional Service (1945) 

Business (1919) 

Legislation and Federal Relations (1943) 

Membership (1925) 

NEA Journal (1954) 

Press and Radio Relations (1944) 

Publications (1920) 

Records (1917) 

Research (1922) 

Rural Service (1936) 

Travel Service (1945) 



The NEA Setup 69 

Committees and Commissions of the NEA 

STANDING COMMITTEES JOINT COMMITTEES 

^Citizenship (1944) NEA and American Legion (1921) 

Credit Unions (1940) NEA and American Library 

^International Relations (1920) Association (1944) 

Professional Ethics (1924) NEA and American Medical 

Tax Education and School Association (1921) 

Finance (1941) NEA and American Teachers 

Tenure and Academic Freedom (1944) Association (1928) 

NEA and Magazine Publishers 

Association (1954) 

NEA and National Congress of Parents 

and Teachers (1929) 

CONVENTION COMMITTEES COMMISSIONS 

Auditing * Educational Policies Commission 

Budget (1935) 

Bylaws and Rules ^Legislative Commission (1920) 

Credentials *National Commission for the Defense 

Elections of Democracy Through Education 

Resolutions (1941) 

* National Commission on Safety 
Education (1943) 

* National Commission on Teacher 
Education and Profession! Standards 
(1946) 

National Commission on Teacher 
Retirement (1936) 
NEA Centennial Celebration 
Commission (1954) 

The New Educational Center 

By 1952 the NEA Headquarters Staff of three in 1917 had 
grown to nearly five hundred. The Guggenheim Mansion which, 
when first occupied in 1920, had seemed palatial and adequate for 
generations, and the Annex which, when erected in 1930, nearly 
tripled the office space available, were bursting at the seams and 
portions of the staff were housed in various sections of the city 
in a hotel, a converted residence, a converted garage and a con- 
verted warehouse. 

To eliminate these unsatisfactory conditions, the 1952 Repre- 
sentative Assembly approved a new building program and that fall 
a $5,000,000 Building Fund Campaign was launched as part of the 
Centennial Action Program. The 1956 Representative Assembly 
authorized expenditures for furniture, equipment and additional 
real estate which will probably bring the total cost of the project to 
$6,500,000, a thrilling challenge to the teachers of the nation. 



70 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

When completed, this Educational Center, located five blocks 
from the White House, will stand not only as a symbol of the 
progress which teaching has made toward becoming a profession 
but a witness to the vision, wisdom and sacrifice of all who have 
participated in its realization. 



/ Love to Teach 

I do not know that I could make entirely clear to an out- 
sider the pleasure I have in teaching. I had rather earn 
my living by teaching thdn in any other way. In my 
mind, teaching is not merely a life ivork, a profession, an 
occupation, a struggle; it is a passion. I love to teach. 

I love to teach as a painter loves to paint, as a musician 
loves to play, as a singer loves to sing, as a strong man 
rejoices to run a race. Teaching is ctn art an art so 
great and so difficult to master that a man or woman can 
spend a long life at it without realizing much more than 
his limitations and mistakes, and his distance from the 
ideal. 

But the main aim of my happy days has been to become a 
good teacher, just as every architect wishes to be a good 
architect and every professional poet strives toward per- 
fection. WILLIAM LYON PHELPS 



CHAPTER XH 
NBA STATE DIRECTORS 



In February, 1931, the officers of the Michigan Education Asso- 
ciation invited the Executive Secretaries of State Teachers Associa- 
tions to be their overnight guests at Lansing following the Detroit 
meeting of the NEA Department of Superintendence. Ernest 
Cameron was at that time Secretary of the MEA and with justifiable 
pride he wanted to show the group the new Headquarters Building 
which the Association had recently erected. Therefore he chartered 
a couple of buses and took the Secretaries from Detroit to Lansing 
via Jackson where they insisted on the Democratic Secretaries from 
the South giving three cheers for the Republican Party while stand- 
ing on the monument which marks the spot where that party held its 
first convention in 1854. 

Although my work at the registration desk in Detroit prevented 
me from joining the overland tour, I caught a late afternoon train 
and arrived in Lansing just before the "gang" finished eating dinner. 
When the presiding officer inquired what special message I had on 
my heart for the "good of the order" I was giad to tell them about 
a problem which had been bothering me for several years "How 
to strengthen the NEA Board of Directors." 

Prior to 1937, the Bylaws of the Association fixed the term of 
the members of the Board of Directors at one year. This frequently 
led to one or the other of two extremes. Some State Directors 
coasted along year after year without doing anything to merit the 
honor and prestige which the office carried. In other states the 
state directorship was passed around as an honor each year to a new 
person with the result that those elected never learned what it was 
all about and consequently could not serve effectively. Fortunately, 
the leaders in some states had adopted the policy of keeping the 
same State Director for several years long enough to learn the 
ropes and to render efficient service, yet with a change frequent 
enough to keep them from going stale. 

71 



72 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

Soon after joining the NEA Headquarters Staff in 1925 I be- 
came convinced that if the Board of Directors was ever to become as 
influential as it ought to be, and if the relationships between the 
NEA and the State Associations were to be as intimate and integrated 
as they should be for effective cooperation, the State Directorship 
must be magnified and the leaders in the State Associations must 
select their State Directors with care. Therefore, I was happy, at 
the Lansing meeting of the State Secretaries, to propose that the 
Secretaries give this problem careful consideration and I suggested 
that the following principles might be worth discussing: 

a. That the term of the State Directorship should be 
extended to a term of three or four years. 

b. That the State Director should be a recognized leader 
within the state. 

c. That the State Director should be officially tied into 
the set-up of the State Association. 

The discussion which followed these proposals was both spirited 
and specific. Someone suggested that the situation might be im- 
proved if the Executive Secretary of the State Association were made 
ex-officio State Director. Frank Reynolds, Secretary of the Ohio 
Education Association, was vigorously opposed to this proposal and 
expressed himself somewhat as follows: "Nothing doing! In the 
first place, this plan would lead to too great concentration of power; 
in the second place, the 'gang' in my state would never elect me 
as State Director; and in the third place, I would never want 
them to!" 

Someone else suggested that it might be well to have the im- 
mediate Past President of the Association serve as State NEA Direc- 
tor. This would almost certainly guarantee that the NEA Director 
would be a recognized leader in the state. It would not solve the 
problem of too frequent turnover, but, it was argued, this weakness 
might be overcome by the fact that the State Director could keep in 
close touch with the State Secretary. If this were done the State 
Secretary could keep the Director continually acquainted with the 
problems which were to come up for consideration. 

This proposal appealed to Dr. J. Herbert Kelley, Secretary 
of the Pennsylvania Association, and he volunteered to experiment 



NBA State Directors 73 

with it in his state. Very shortly thereafter, the immedate Past 
President of the Pennsylvania Education Association, an outstanding 
leader in the state, was made State NEA Director for Pennsylvania. 
When he attended his first meeting as a member of the Board of 
Directors, he took the liberty of standing up and expressing himself 
rather forcefully regarding some moot question which was up for 
consideration. The "Old Guard" were shocked and amazed at the 
presumption of a new member of the Board having the nerve to stand 
on his feet and express himself at his first meeting. The discus- 
sion must have been rather warm, for when the meeting adjourned, 
the State Director from Pennsylvania was thoroughly disgusted and 
expressed himself somewhat as follows: "They were rude to me; 
they insulted me; they did everything but spit upon me. I am con- 
vinced that the State Directorship is no job for a gentleman, and I 
shall do all within my power to change the arrangements in our state 
so that in the future the Secretary of our State Association will be 
our State Director!" Dr. Kelley was not eager to be State NEA 
Director for Pennsylvania, but from that time on the State NEA 
Directorship has been one of the responsibilities for which the Penn- 
sylvania State Education Association has paid its Secretary. 

In 1937 the Bylaws of the National Association were amended 
making the term of the State Director three years instead of one 
and the states were divided into three groups so that the terms of 
one-third of the Directors expire each year. As a further means of 
enhancing the position, the following articles have been published 
in the NEA Journal: "The Importance of the NEA State Director," 
March 1937; "The NEA Director A State and National Leader," 
May 1938; "The State Director an Important Integration Factor," 
May 1939; "Select Your State Director With Care," May 1940; 
"How Do You Select Your NEA State Director?", April 1941; "The 
State Director an Important Official," May 1942; "The NEA State 
Director is Important," May 1946; "How Do You Select Your NEA 
State Director?", April 1947; "Who Selects Your State NEA 
Director?", March 1948; and "Have You Selected Your NEA State 
Director?", May 1950. 

A survey was made in the spring of 1947 to find out what prac- 
tices were being used at that time. Twenty-five states reported that 
the State Director was selected by the State Association in advance 
of the summer convention. In nine of the twenty-five he was 



74 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

selected by the Executive Committee of the State Association; in one 
by the President of the State Association; and in fifteen by the Dele- 
gate Assembly of the State Association. In the remaining twenty- 
three states he was selected by the delegates from the state and local 
associations affiliated with the NEA, at the annual meeting of the 
NEA Representative Assembly. 

Three states reported that the State NEA Director usually served 
only one term of three years; nine states and the District of Co- 
lumbia, that he usually served two terms; and three states, three 
terms. The other states reported no regulation or established cus- 
tom in this connection. 

In nearly half of the states the NEA State Director now meets 
with the Executive Committee or Board of Directors of the State 
Association. In these cases the State Director is usually selected 
at the annual meeting of the State Association and serves as an ex 
officio member of the Committee or Board. This arrangement is 
desirable since it tends to integrate the work of the state and na- 
tional associations. 

The major responsibilities of the NEA Board of Directors as 
specified in the Bylaws and developed through many years of ex- 
perience may be summarized as follows: 

1. To receive and consider with care the reports of the 
officers and committees of the Association. 

2. To recommend policies to the Representative As- 
sembly. 

3. To elect annually one member of the NEA Board of 
Trustees and one member of the Executive Committee. 

4. To elect members of the Budget Committee. 

5. To approve all bills incurred by the Association and 
its officers. 

6. To appropriate from current funds amounts of money 
ordered by the Representative Assembly for the work 
of special committees of research and investigations. 

7. To approve the Bylaws of departments and to recom- 
mend the establishment or discontinuance of depart- 
ments. 

8. To determine the time and place of the annual meeting 
of the Association. 

The State Director is the official representative of the National 



NEA State Directors 75 

Education Association within his own state and carries many addi- 
tional responsibilities, some of which are: 

1. To develop and carry through, in cooperation with the 
officers of the state association and other leaders, en- 
thusiastic and effective enrolment campaigns. 

2. To prepare publicity material each month regarding 
the work of the NEA for publication in the state 
association journal, in the publications of local asso- 
ciations, and in the public press. 

3. To arrange for exhibits of services and publications 
of the NEA at state conventions and local meetings 
of teachers. 

4. To represent the NEA officially at state association 
meetings. 

5. To represent or arrange for speakers to represent the 
NEA at district and local teachers meetings and at 
teachers college assembly programs. 

Each state association affiliated with the NEA is entitled to one 
elected State Director. Those having more than 20,000 NEA mem- 
bers are entitled to two and those having more than 40,000 NEA 
members are entitled to three. While State NEA Directors receive 
no salaries for their services, they receive full expenses for attend- 
ance at summer conventions, and the distinction which comes from 
being the official representatives of the NEA in their states, com- 
pensates, in part at least, for the hard work which they do and the 
sacrifices which they make. 

Next to the State Secretaryship, the NEA State Directorship 
is the most strategic position in the educational set-up of any state, 
so far as the development of a strong, unified professional organi- 
zation is concerned. The State Director of any state should, there- 
fore, be selected always with greatest care by the members of the 
profession within the state. 



Harvard College pays me for doing what I would gladly 
pay it for allowing me to do. 

GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 



CHAPTER XIII 
MEMBERSHIP PROMOTION 



Whenever I get weary or discouraged, I like to sit down and 
look at the chart which shows the NEA membership growth. I wish 
that I could claim full credit for the achievement which it represents. 
Unfortunately I cannot. I know too much about the many factors 
which have been responsible for it. 

As I look at that chart, I see, not statistics, thrilling as they are, 
but faces, faces of friends on the NEA staff and faces of friends out 
in the field. To me the membership chart represents a composite 
picture of two groups the headquarters staff and the thousands 
of state and local leaders out on the firing line who have done the 
actual enroling. If the members of the staff had not been rendering 
effective service in the fields of research, publications, public rela- 
tions and other important phases of the Association's program, 
leaders out in the field would not have been able to enrol their 
associates; and if the leaders out in the field had not been enthusi- 
astic and intelligent enough to capitalize on the work of the staff, 
the membership would not have grown as it has. 

I have often told friends that during the twenty-five years while 
I was Director of the Membership Division, I probably had more 
people working for me for nothing and boarding themselves than 
any other man in the country. Wholesome membership records are 
invariably the result of the enthusiastic efforts of state and local 
leaders who are acquainted with the splendid program of service 
which our professional associations are rendering and who under- 
stand the imperative need for a more fully organized profession. 

Much of the credit for the growth of membership belongs to Dr. 
J. W. Crabtree who started the ball rolling in 1917. For sixty 
years prior to his appointment as Secretary, the membership had 
ranged from the forty-three original members to ten thousand. In 
1916 it was less than eight thousand. When I joined the staff in 
the spring of 1925, 1 was greatly impressed by the fact that the mem- 



Membership Promotion 
NEA Membership Growth 1857- 1956 



Total Members 

675,000 
650,000 
625,000 
600,000 
575,000 
550,000 
525,000 
500,000 
475,000 
450,000 
425,000 
400,000 
375,000 
350,000 




Membership Growth 

Membership in the NEA during- the firsl 
years of the Association's existence 
never more than 10,000 and consistec 
ly of administrators, 
n 1D17 the philosophy and policies of th 
ciation were materially changed. It be- 
i more democratic in character in keep- 
A-ith the goal suggested by Dr. Crabtree 
Every Teacher a Member at Work on 
Problems of the Profession". 
Phe membership growth during the past 
decades, shown in this chart and the 
mpanying table, symbolizes the progress 
h teaching has made toward becoming 
ly organized profession and the enthusi- 
efforts of local, state and nationa 
rs. 

NEA Membership 

1857 - 1956 
43 1917 8,46<5 
126 1927 141,212 
160 1937 181,228 
9,115 1947 386,643 
1,857 1956 659,190 
5,044 






^ 














was 
_ most 










1956. 




A.SSO 
- earn* 












injsr j 

- the 
1 
four 










_J_ 










/ 




aceo 
whic 
- a ful 
astic 
Jeade 










/ 












/ 












/ 












/ 




1857 
- 1867 










/ 




1877 










/ 




Ioo7 
1897 










/ 




" 1907 








1947^ 












/ 






325,000 


















/ 






300,000 


















/ 






275,000 


















/ 






250,000 


















/ 






225,000 
















/ 






200,000 
















/ 






175,000 
















1937^ 


\ 






150,000 
















/ 








125,000 














1927^ 


f 








100,000 














/ 










75,000 














/ 










50,000 














/ 










25,000 

c 

185 






1 Q 


07 


10 


HT 


/ 










1867 

^0 r! 
7 18 


F>^K 
77 18 


^- rs - * 


f 










57 ' 1917 



78 



BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 
Growth in NEA Membership By States 



Total 

AlU 


1857 1866 1ST? 
43 126 160 


1887 
9,115 
16 


1897 

1,857 
15 


1907 
5,044 
55 
20 


1917 
8,466 
64 
37 


1927 
140,633 
990 
1,690 


1937 
181,228 
1,571 
1,839 


1947 
386,643 
12,351 
3,178 


1956 

659,190 
19,001 
6,831 


Ariz. 
Ark. 
Calif. 
Colo. 
Conn. 




1 
1 


3 

1 


67 
IS 
40 
36 


11 
32 
48 
16 


17 
249 
75 
58 
9 


33 

432 
140 
102 
13 


646 
14,698 
3,702 
1,527 
628 


358 
16,218 
3,672 
1,295 

777 


7,325 

24,862 
4,298 
4,198 
969 


7,451 
51,750 
6,661 
5,384 
1,618 


Del. 
D. C. 


4 
1 


1 


4 


12 


19 


47 
16 


96 
33 


1,163 
1 780 


1,383 
1,285 


1,887 
4,098 


1,532 
10,235 


Pla. 
Ga. 


1 






10 


4 
18 


50 

21 


74 
48 


519 

714 


1,520 
836 


11,154 
1,614 


18,759 
4,826 


Idaho 
111. 
Ind. 
Iowa 
Elans. 
Ky. 


1 
1 

1 


14 
41 
5 
3 
1 


6 
32 
4 

55 


1,750 
418 
1,146 
960 
151 


254 
73 
78 
60 
25 


420 
128 
93 
84 
60 
42 


733 

207 
1S5 
195 
S5 

54 


9,044 
4,421 
2,631 
2,109 
1,037 
682 


11,523 
6,032 
3,172 
3,221 
2,474 
3,907 


22,755 
14,457 
6,921 
10,342 
10,970 
4,998 


33,057 
18,288 
13.836 
18,621 
12,084 
9,452 


La. 

Maine 








25 


4 
10 


32 
55 


51 
94 


1,335 

864 


1,183 
1.071 


2,636 
4,456 


3,376 
10,403 


Md. 
Mass. 
Mich. 
Minn. 


1 
2 


4 
2 
6 
1 


2 

1 
1 


277 
273 
649 


89 
62 
86 
g 


332 

139 
145 
16 


366 
251 
103 
38 


4,342 
8,278 
3,529 
204 


3,834 
11,273 
2,976 
866 


5,428 
7,726 
4,856 
3,916 


6,150 
17,548 
10,107 
4,516 


Miss. 
Mo. 


2 


3 


5 


625 
9 


67 
15 


216 

21 


512 
60 


2,582 
250 


5,712 
598 


8,190 
3,287 


15,161 
5,274 


Mont. 
Nebr. 






1 


634 
6 


49 
2 


71 

4 


114 
19 


2,082 
465 


2,012 
652 


3,726 
758 


5,658 
1,734 


Nev. 








23 




30 


38 


351 


420 


1,145 


1,874 


N. H. 
N. J. 

N. Mex. 
N. Y. 

"NT C 


3 


1 

11 


1 

4 
1 


23 
2 
211 
2 


70 
7 
217 

4 


198 
13 
948 
23 


2SO 
33 
1,230 
62 


5,641 
241 
7,250 
580 


6,464 
592 
11,435 

758 


10,641 
2,265 
15,685 
10,970 


17,834 
6.730 
22,559 
25,621 


X." Dak, 
Ohio 
Okla. 

Oregon 
Pa. 


4 
21 


15 
5 


14 
2 


75 
581 

11 
108 


13 

137 
2 
7 
71 


42 
349 
23 
19 
325 


83 
534 
95 
154 
535 


379 
12,452 
1,235 
2,128 
14,261 


642 
16,722 
1,503 
3,406 
19,998 


2,772 
24,474 
4,581 
6,735 
36,677 


2,837 
37,333 

12,552 
12,917 
49,442 


R I 




1 




29 


15 


32 


47 


251 


206 


274 


262 


S." C. 


* 






2 


4 


22 


31 


454 


646 


4,149 


9,680 


S.' Dak. 








74 


10 


40 


51 


911 


720 


1,279 


2,530 


Tenn. 




3 


8 


62 


9 


31 


60 


956 


1,665 


12,343 


23,551 


Texas 






4 


55 


14 


48 


138 


4,568 


3,060 


10,898 


25,924 


Utah 








4 


10 


30 


66 


1,722 


2,>604 


4,757 


6,810 


Vt 




1 




41 


4 


30 


40 


318 


607 


911 


657 


Va. 






1 


2 


6 


40 


88 


1,364 


2,336 


10,584 


21,048 


Wash. 








3 


7 


68 


144 


4,977 


4,292 


11,624 


16,925 


W. Va. 




1 


1 


8 


12 


24 


114 


2,002 


1,724 


10,620 


14,142 


Wis. 




4 


2 


486 


165 


160 


277 


3,217 


6,433 


6,770 


8,300 


Wyo. 








8 


6 


12 


22 


908 


620 


1,057 


2,507 


Alaska 
















120 


263 


321 


895 


Hawaii 
















1,978 


2,546 


3,127 


4,602 


Puerto Rico 
















64 


44 


138 


13,848 


Other possessions 
& Foreign 


1 




156 


6 


62 


205 


393 


262 


490 


1,249 



The figures for 1S57 thru 1917, and for 1937 and 1947 are from the 1950 Volume 
of Proceedings pp. 365-371. The figures for 1867 are not available. Tho-se for 1927 
are from an original report in the Membership Division at NEA Headquarters. Those 
for 1956 are from the 1956 XEA Handbook p. 22. 

bership had grown from less than 8,000 in 1916 to nearly 140,000 
in 1924; and when I congratulated Dr. Crabtree enthusiastically 
about this remarkable achievement, he insisted, with his character- 
istic modesty, that he did not deserve the credit for it, "For," said 
he, "I have been largely an opportunist. I happened along just at 
the right time when the teachers of the country, along with the rest 
of the citizens of the nation, were learning to work together, as ^hey 
had never worked before, in order to win the war." Of course he 




Theodore D. Martin, Director. Membership Division 
NEA Headquarters Staff, 1925-1950 



Membership Promotion 79 

was right, partly, yet even an opportunist deserves credit for being 
able to capitalize on the services of his associates. 

The membership of the Association has increased every year 
since 1914 except three two "depression" years, 1933 and 1934, 
and 1949, the year following the raising of regular annual dues 
from three to five dollars. 

Prior to my joining the staff, Dr. Crabtree had carried the mem- 
bership promotion work for eight years almost single-handed and 
while, in that time, he had built it most remarkably, some of the 
leaders felt that he was not moving fast enough and thought that 
his methods were crude and archaic. In a way, they were, but they 
worked. He had developed a comprehensive mailing list of more 
than 60,000 superintendents and principals and to these he sent four 
or five personalized form letters each year. The first drafts of these 
letters he wrote out in longhand with his little, two-inch stub pencil 
and into them he put his very life blood as well as his personality, 
his hopes and his ambitions for the profession and for the Associa- 
tion. These letters would probably not rate high if measured by 
the standards of modern, direct-mail advertisers. They were long, 
frequently awkward, and occasionally even ungrammatical, but they 
were effective. Into them he put a personal appeal, transmitting 
the gripping message of a man passionately enthusiastic about a 
great cause. 

Some of the officers in the Association had little faith in these 
letters, and felt that a more dynamic and aggressive field service was 
needed to step up the enrolment campaign. So Dr. Hugh Magill, 
an orator of no mean ability, was added to the staff in 1918. His 
campaign schedules were worked out meticulously. He was feasted, 
feted and applauded but mystified and disappointed when the mem- 
berships did not roll in by the basketful after his public addresses. 
He also proposed an all-inclusive enrolment plan with a strip of 
four 3x5 enrolment cards for enroling in local, state and national 
organizations at the same time, but of this experiment Dr. Crabtree 
wrote in 1924 to state secretaries and state directors: 

A few years ago the National Education Association 
undertook to put membership on the budget basis for local, 
state, and national associations. A plan was carefully 
worked out; cards and report blanks were printed. The 
plan was explained and urged for adoption. The supplies 



80 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

were sent out at considerable expense to the national As- 
sociation. Not more than ten schools acted favorably on 
the recommendation. The movement fell flat. Why? Simply 
because the profession was not ready for it. We got at it 
in the wrong way. We tried to force the adoption before 
the need was felt down among the teachers. We are now 
getting the all-inclusive budget plan without putting out 
expensive forms and without urging. It is coming largely 
from groups of teachers themselves, and it is coming in 
democracy's way of doing things. That which comes out 
of the ground has a better flavor for the American teacher 
than that which comes from above. It is a development 
of the 100 per cent drives. When a school secures a 100 
per cent enrolment in the local association, it wants to 
take the next step and then the next until it has 100 per 
cent in local, state, and national associations. The all- 
inclusive budget then becomes convenient and necessary. 

Dr. J. 0. Engleman who succeeded Dr. Magill as Field Secre- 
tary was not as dynamic a speaker and was even less effective as 
a membership promoter. Both gentlemen were so discouraged by 
their failures to step up the membership campaign by their public 
addresses that they \vere happy to find other positions where their 
talents were more appreciated. 

When I arrived in 1925, I found that there had been a good 
deal of speculation behind the scenes by members of the staff as 
to how I would fit into the picture. Would I revolutionize the pro- 
motion procedures by trying to outspeak Doctors Magill and Engle- 
rnan or would I introduce a modern high-pressure salesman technic 
of pep talks and short snappy letters? I decided to do neither. 
My appointment had been so unexpected and sudden that I hadn't 
the least idea as to what I was supposed to do, and I was greatly 
relieved when I discovered that Dr. Crabtree had no intention of 
dumping the whole responsibility of membership promotion into my 
lap and that my responsibilities were to be divided between super- 
vising the membership records work and promoting membership. 

The membership records work had been handled, since the 
first year of Dr. Crabtree's secretaryship, by Suzanne Wright, a bril- 
liant girl and an indefatigable worker. During her eight years of 
work with the Association she had learned to know most of the 



Membership Promotion 81 

leaders personally and she had a high sense of the importance of 
absolute accuracy in connection with their records. She even knew 
that my dues were delinquent when I was appointed! And it was 
with a good deal of internal glee that, after I had been on the job 
about a month, she stopped at my desk one day and said, "Mr. 
Martin, how would you like to pay up your back dues?" 

Her two weaknesses were excessive zeal and lack of faith in 
others. Her over-work was, I am sure, at least a contributing cause 
to the severe attack of arthritis which necessitated her premature 
retirement, and her lack of faith in other people was responsible 
for the need for a new director for this work. She was so eager 
to have absolute accuracy with regard to the membership records 
that she had become a bottleneck which slowed up the acknowledg- 
ment of membership dues. No membership cards were allowed to 
go out of the office until she had checked them personally. This 
was easy enough as long as the membership was only a few thou- 
sand, but it was a handicap to progress when the membership had 
passed the hundred thousand mark. 

Prior to joining the Headquarters Staff, I had had no technical 
preparation for either promotion or records work. My chief assets 
were a broad educational background, nine years' service as a 
teacher and principal, one year as the Executive Secretary of the 
Utah Education Association, a sincere enthusiasm for teaching be- 
coming a profession and a deep-seated conviction that teaching and 
education would never receive the moral and financial support which 
they merited except through organized action. 

Being conservative by nature, I decided not to attempt any 
revolutionary procedures in either promotion or records work until 
I had become thoroughly familiar with current practices. However, 
when in December I discovered that we were still sending out mem- 
bership cards for dues received in October, I took the bit in my teeth, 
put on a night crew and authorized additional clerks to shoot the 
membership cards out without their being personally inspected by 
Miss Wright. 

For two months I came down to the office at one o'clock in the 
afternoon and stayed on with the night shift who worked from four 
to eleven. I also studied the systems used by other organizations 
such as the National Geographic Society, The American Nature 
Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Medi- 



82 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

cal Association, all of whom generously gave me free access to their 
offices and much valuable counsel and advice. 

The next summer we simplified the records system by reducing 
the three-file set-up to a two-file system and putting the date of the 
payment of dues on the top of the addressograph plate. We also 
broke the membership files into separate units with a veteran clerk 
in charge of each two units with an assistant on each. During the 
rush period of the 1926-27 year, our night shift worked only from 
four to eight and the next year was eliminated entirely. 

While reorganizing the records system I eased gradually into 
the promotion work. The preliminary tasks assigned me were to 
prepare leaflets which would answer the ever-recurring questions, 
"What good is the NEA?" "What arguments can I give teachers 
in order to get them to join?" and to suggest changes in the prelimi- 
nary drafts of the letters \vhich Dr. Crabtree would submit for im- 
provement. I also set out to devise a supplementary master plan 
of recruitment which would work equally well in all states. 

For this master plan I sought the advice and counsel of the 
Executive Secretaries of the State Teachers Associations. I had met 
with these men on two occasions, at the 1924 Summer Convention 
and at the 1925 Winter Convention, and had developed a high re- 
spect for their strategic importance within the boundaries of their 
respective states. Their replies to nay letter requesting suggestions 
were not altogether disappointing, even though they were disillusion- 
ing. They showed beyond question that at that time no single plan, 
developed at the NEA Headquarters Office, would work in all states, 
since conditions varied so widely in the different states, and that 
the only effective plan in any state, for supplementing our general 
broadcasts from the NEA Headquarters Office, must be developed 
by leaders within that state. 

The reply from Charlie Dyke, part-time Secretary of the New 
Jersey Education Association, stands out in my memory as particu- 
larly significant in this connection. He wrote: 

Dear Ted : Win to your cause Powell G. Fithian, Chairman 
of the Membership Committee of the New Jersey Education 
Association and success will be yours. Failing in that 
I have no further advice! 

Powell Fithian soon became a close personal friend and worked 



Membership Promotion 83 

valiantly for the NEA, but even he could not find the answer for 
New Jersey. New Jersey was not yet ripe for wholesale participa- 
tion in national affairs. Her state problems were acute and para- 
mount, and few of her leaders then recognized that further progress 
within the state was, in any large degree, dependent on progress 
within other states. 

This "isolationistic" philosophy which prevailed in many states 
at that time was well illustrated by a conference which I had with 
Dr. William Bickett, Superintendent of Schools in Trenton, and a 
universally recognized leader in New Jersey. Upon Mr. Fithian's 
advice I hunted up Dr. Bickett and found him both cordial and sym- 
pathetic, but he said: 

Here is my trouble, Martin. I have a hard time con- 
vincing my teachers that the NEA helps them; when 
the reports come out of the NEA Office regarding matters 
such as salaries they do us here in New Jersey more 
harm than good, since they show us up so near the top. 
As a matter of fact, I have to sit on those reports and 
keep them away from my Board of Education or I can't 
get raises for my teachers! 

Take it from me, I did some fast thinking right then; but I be- 
lieve that the answer which I gave him still holds good. "Yes," 
I said, "I can understand your difficulty. We are proud of the 
splendid leadership which New Jersey gives the nation in teachers' 
salaries, and we certainly do not want her to slip back. But isn't 
it true that nature abhors a vacuum and that if we do not help the 
states which are at the bottom of the list to improve their educational 
programs, the states which are at the top will not be able to main- 
tain their position?" He admitted that this was true and promised 
to lend his influence to the NEA enrolment campaign in New Jersey. 

The direct-mail-promotion technique has been basic and funda- 
mental for the enlistment program. It was originally beamed pri- 
marily at principals and superintendents since, in the early days, 
there were few other educational leaders. During recent years, it 
has been expanded to include the officers of local associations. 
These letters and enclosed leaflets have served as correspondence 
courses for the solution of professional problems. They have carried 
information and inspiration, facts and figures regarding the needs 



84 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

of the schools and the profession, reports regarding the services of 
the Association, and suggestions regarding the need for and the 
possibilities of organized action. Secretary Crabtree's early slogan, 
"Every teacher an active member at work on the problems of the 
profession," is still a valid and challenging goal. 

During his last year as Secretary, Dr. Crabtree frequently in- 
sisted on my signing many of our promotion letters, since he felt 
that when he retired the responsibility for promotion would rest 
more fully on my shoulders and that my name ought to become more 
familiar to the leaders out in the field. While I admired Dr. Crab- 
tree tremendously and usually agreed with him, I did not follow his 
suggestion when Secretary Givens was appointed. Instead, I in- 
sisted on our major promotion letters being signed by the Secretary, 
since I felt that the prestige of his position would carry greater 
weight, and I was more interested in getting members than in be- 
coming widely known. However, the procedure involved in the 
preparation of our promotion letters was reversed. Originally, 
Dr. Crabtree had prepared the first drafts, and I had assisted in 
reworking them. With Dr. Givens, I usually prepared the original 
drafts, and he suggested the revisions. After a few years, we dis- 
covered that having the letters signed by both the President of the 
Association and the Secretary was good practice, since some presi- 
dents were sensitive and wanted to be featured. Besides, the 
presidents are the titular heads of the Association during their terms 
of office, and their names sometimes carry more weight in certain 
communities than that of the Secretary. 

Soon after I joined the Headquarters Staff in 1925, Secretary 
Crabtree asked me to serve as staff consultant for the national Com- 
mittee on Co-Inclusive Membership, of which Thomas J. Walker, 
Assistant Secretary of the Missouri State Teachers Association, was 
chairman. Each time the committee met, its members agreed that 
some kind of all-inclusive enrolment plan was imperative, and grad- 
ually local and state associations began to experiment with various 
simplified plans. By 1940 twelve states and the District of Co- 
lumbia and Hawaii were using some form of all-inclusive enrolment 
plan and a special all-inclusive membership card printed by the NEA 
for use, where desired, had been approved by these as well as twenty- 
eight additional states. 



Membership Promotion 85 

Shortly after he became United States Commissioner of Educa- 
tion, in 1934, Dr. John W. Studebaker, former Superintendent of 
Schools in Des Moines, Iowa, in an article entitled "If Teachers 
Were Bricklayers," called attention to the fact that most teachers' 
associations still collected their professional dues according to an 
exceedingly archaic and stupid plan by which they staged three or 
more separate and frequently competing enrolment campaigns. He 
also called attention to the fact that practically all other civic, social, 
industrial, economic and professional organizations which operate 
on a local, state and national basis had made arrangements to have 
their dues collected in a single sum by the local unit. About this 
same time, Dr. J. Herbert Kelley, Executive Secretary of the Penn- 
sylvania State Education Association, inaugurated the "All-inclusive 
Enrolment Plan" for his state, with the significant announcement: 
"We, in Pennsylvania, have decided that each year our teachers 
shall suffer only once for all!" 

The "Five- Year Program of Unification, Expansion and De- 
velopment" adopted by the NBA in 1944, included as one of its 
goals the adoption of the "Unified Enrolment Plan" by which local, 
state and national dues are collected as a single sum by the local 
association and distributed to the state and national units. This 
plan was included also in the "Victory Action Program" adopted 
in 1946 and in the "Centennial Action Program" adopted in 1951. 
It has now been adopted "outright" by numerous state associations 
as well as by hundreds of local associations. 

When a state association adopts the Unified Plan "outright" 
it enters into an arrangement with the local and national associations 
by which all three units agree to accept as members only those in- 
dividuals who join all three organizations at a single fee, fixed, col- 
lected and distributed by the local association. When a state asso- 
ciation adopts the Unified Enrolment Plan "in principle" its official 
policy-making body approves the Unified Plan and recommends 
that local associations adopt it "outright" as soon as arrangements 
can be made to do so. Practically all of the state associations which 
have not adopted the Unified Plan "outright" have adopted it "in 
principle." 

Some of the most obvious arguments in favor of the "Unified 
Enrolment Plan" are: 



86 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

1. It simplifies the enrolment procedure the member 
does not have to wonder "Are my dues paid in this, 
that, or the other professional organization?" The 
whole matter has been cared for in a single trans- 
action. 

2. It saves time, energy and money for more important 
projects. 

3. It relieves the irritations which come from frequent 
solicitations. 

4. It adds strength and unity to our profession. 

5. It is simple, economical, effective and professional. 

While some of the complications in connection with the "Unified 
Enrolment Plan" have not yet been ironed out, none of the problems 
involved are impossible of solution. They are largely administra- 
tive and clerical, and can eventually be worked out to the mutual 
satisfaction and advantage of all parties involved. 

While twenty-five years of work in the field of membership 
promotion ought perhaps to have qualified me to pose as an expert 
in the field, I have no ambitions to be considered such, especially 
in the light of the following current definitions of an expert: 

a. A very ordinary man a long way from home. 

b. A man who talks more and more about less and less. 

c. A man who blows in, blows off, and blows out! 

d. Ex is a "has been" and spurt is a "drip" under pres- 
sure. 

However, I find myself now almost willing to give up my earlier 
conclusion that there is no single best enrolment plan and to sup- 
port the thesis that the best enrolment plan is the "Unified Enrol- 
ment Plan," implemented by what C. 0. Wright, Secretary of the 
Kansas Education Association, calls "a group mandate," a vote of 
the local association requesting the Board of Education to deduct 
the professional dues from the salary check. This plan, of course, 
will be successful only in those communities where professional 
maturity has developed to the degree that the members of the profes- 
sion recognize the importance of a fully organized profession with 
every member at work upon its problems. 

The "Unified Enrolment Plan" works best where the local 
professional organization is an over-all association which adopts 



Membership Promotion 87 

a budget covering all dues, local, state and national, including depart- 
mental dues, and asks the Board of Education to deduct from the 
salary a specified sum to cover these dues. 

"But," someone may protest, "this is undemocratic and unpro- 
fessional because it involves pressure!" Is it undemocratic for a 
group to abide by a majority vote? Democracy does not imply 
absolute liberty or freedom; that is anarchy and leads to chaos. 
Democracy involves the right of the majority to rule, with due regard 
for the rights of the minority, particularly those of justice and free- 
dom of speech. The founding fathers of our nation did not revolt 
against taxation. They protested against taxation without repre- 
sentation! The "Unified Enrolment Plan" does involve some pres- 
sure, but it is professional pressure, a group mandate, based on the 
imperative need for a fully organized profession, and the right of 
the profession to run its affairs democratically, even to eliminating 
"hitch-hikers" and "chiselers!" 

Some leaders occasionally ask if our professional dues are 
not getting too high, proportionately too large. That stage may 
eventually be reached, but we have not reached it yet. Sometimes 
I am inclined to believe that perhaps one reason the public does not 
hold teachers in higher esteem is because they have discovered how 
little we think of ourselves as evidenced by the dues we have been 
paying in our professional organizations. 

The following story is not as applicable today as it was some 
years ago when local dues were scandalously low, but it still suggests 
a point of view which we may well keep in mind. When a school 
teacher died he is said to have gone to the Pearly Gates, as all good 
school teachers do, and rapped on the door, confidently expecting 
prompt admission. When St. Peter opened the door and asked for 
his credentials, the teacher handed him a neatly typewritten list. 
One item, "Twenty-five cents, County Teachers Association/' caught 
St. Peter's eye and he asked what it referred to. When the teacher 
explained that it was the annual dues in his local professional organi- 
zation, St. Peter put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a quarter 
and handing it to him, said, "Here is your 4 two bits.' Now you go 
down below!" 

When, more than a decade ago, state teachers associations began 
experimenting with state association dues calculated on the basis of 
salary received, I was not enthusiastic about the proposal even 



88 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

tho I had to admit that it was logically justifiable. Twenty state 
associations now have a sliding scale of dues, four of which are 
calculated on a percentage basis, one half of one percent of the 
salary received. 

Now that many members of our profession have discovered 
how much better it is to have a unified fee for our local, state and 
national associations., requests are arriving asking for an arrange- 
ment by which departmental dues may also be included under a uni- 
fied plan. The West Virginia State Education Association and a 
few local associations have already made provision for an arrange- 
ment of this kind. The proposal has its complications and will 
need to be studied carefully by leaders in our local, state and na- 
tional organizations, but if I were a prognosticator like Drew Pearson, 
I would predict that some arrangement of this kind will soon become 
general practice with one per cent of the salary received as the pre- 
vailing fee. Many churches expect their members to tithe, paying 
ten per cent of their income for the support of the church. Is it 
unreasonable for us to suggest that teachers invest one per cent of 
their annual salary as dues for their professional organizations, 
local, state and national? Is the "Unified Enrolment Plan" with 
one per cent of the annual salary deducted from the salary check at 
the request of the local association, the enrolment plan for which 
we have been searching? I am not sure, but I am beginning to 
think that it may be. 

While I cannot claim full credit for the growth in membership 
which the National Education Association has attained, I am happy 
to have had a share in it. Like Dr. Crabtree, I happened along 
at the right place at exactly the right time, and I enjoyed greatly the 
ride on the wave of progress, which my successor, R. B. Marston, 
has continued. 

Mr. Marston joined the NEA Staff in 1944 as Director of the 
Legislative Division and, after serving for six years on the toughest 
assignment on the staff, was entitled to the best job on the staff. 
Under the inspiration of his leadership the membership of the Asso- 
ciation has increased nearly fifty per cent in six years from 453,- 
797 in 1950 to 659,190 in 1956! 



CHAPTER XIV 
SPECIAL SERVICES 



Membership promotion and the special services rendered by 
the NEA to its members and the profession are closely related and 
interdependent even though the latter do not always yield immedi- 
ately the conspicuous results anticipated. These services are much 
more numerous and extensive than is usually realized. They in- 
clude counsel and advice, inspirational addresses, the investigation 
of unfair treatment, important policy pronouncements, national legis- 
lation and publicity, publications of great value, important research 
reports and travel tours both in this country and abroad. 

Field Services 

The field services of the National Education Association date 
back to January 1, 1919 when Dr. Hugh Magill was appointed to the 
Headquarters Staff as Field Secretary. The "grapevine" reports 
that he was actually appointed to the Staff as a probable successor 
to Dr. Crabtree, since there were some officers- of the Association at 
that time who lacked confidence in Dr. Crabtree and thought that he 
should be replaced by a more dynamic leader. Dr. Magill was an 
exceptionally good platform speaker and was greatly disappointed 
when memberships failed to arrive in wholesale quantities after he 
had made a rousing address. He would return from field trips, it 
is said, thoroughly enthusiastic about the prospects of membership 
growth due to his field work but finally, somewhat discouraged, he 
decided in 1922 to seek greener pastures, and became the General 
Secretary of the International Sunday School Council of Religious 
Education. 

Dr. J. O. Engleman and Miss Charl Williams were appointed 
that fall in his place as field representatives. Dr. Engleman re- 
mained on the Staff until 1924 when he resigned to become Superin- 
tendent of Schools at Terre Haute, Indiana. Miss Williams con- 
tinued on the Staff as Director of the Field Division until her retire- 

89 



90 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

ment in 1949, with various special assignments concerned with na- 
tional legislation and the development of institutes of professional 
relations at teacher-preparation institutions. 

The NEA Department of Classroom Teachers inaugurated a 
program of field services by its officers as early as 1923. These 
have been gradually expanded until now they include a compre- 
hensive program of field services by the President of the Department 
who usually enjoys a year's leave of absence from her regular teach- 
ing position, special appointments by other officers of the Depart- 
ment, including its Executive Secretary, and Regional Conferences 
arranged by the regional directors of the Department. 

Consultative field services have been available from specialists 
of the Headquarters Staff ever since the Divisions of Publications 
and Research were established in 1920 and 1922 respectively. Dur- 
ing recent years these have been materially increased by various 
Divisions, Departments, Commissions, Committees and Councils. 
Regional and national conferences sponsored by these service 
agencies and featuring special projects such as rural education, the 
strengthening of local associations, recruiting teachers, and raising 
standards for entrance to the profession, constitute a specialized 
but tremendously important type of field service. 

Shortly after John Rushing was elected State NEA Director 
for the state of Washington in 1940, he wrote an unusually loud 
wail complaining about the woeful ignorance regarding the NEA 
which he discovered among the teachers of his state. He suggested 
that if arrangements could be made to let him do some field work 
in cooperation with the State Association, he was sure that he could 
increase the NEA membership materially. We agreed to let him 
try. He was granted a leave of absence by the Board of Education 
in Seattle, and the NEA agreed to pay his travel expenses with the 
understanding that he was to work in close cooperation with the 
field representatives of the Washington Education Association. This 
was the beginning of a series of experiments with joint field service 
projects with state teachers associations many of which are still cur- 
rent. Conditions vary so widely in the different states that the ar- 
rangements differ considerably, but in general the following prin- 
ciples have been found advisable: 

1. That the projects will be undertaken only in those 
states where the state director and the officers of the 



Special Services 91 

state association make the request with the under- 
standing that the state association will finance part, 
usually half, the cost of the project and that the state 
association, in cooperation with the State NEA Direc- 
tor, will select the field worker subject to the approval 
of the Executive Secretary of the NEA. 

2. That while the development of strong local associa- 
tions shall be the primary objective of the project, 
membership in the NEA will be one index of success. 

3. That the potential NEA membership in the state shall 
be such as to give good grounds for believing that the 
project can be made self -liquidating. 

The technics employed in New Jersey were described well in 
a brief article, "The Cooperative Way," published in the NEA 
Journal for April 1947. 

In 1944 educational leaders in Kansas decided to strengthen 
their local associations through a series of "Zone Schools" for the 
officers of local associations. They requested the NEA to join 
them in this project by furnishing a couple of field workers for two 
or three weeks and a financial subsidy which would help pay the 
costs involved for travel expenses of official delegates to the schools. 
Several other states have experimented with similar plans. 

On day in the spring of 1945, when I was sitting beside Dr. 
Ralph McDonald at the NEA Staff Men's Luncheon, he turned to 
me with this pertinent inquiry: "Ted, would you like to know 
how to get more than 600,000 NEA members next year?" Nat- 
urally, I replied in the affirmative, and without a moment's hesi- 
tation he began to outline in his characteristically rapid-fire fashion 
a plan which involved extensive field work by numerous part-time 
local representatives in each state. His plan included so many 
appealing suggestions that I asked him to reduce it to writing. He 
did and after re-working his statement, I submitted it to Dr. Givens 
whose principal comment was, "If this were focused on strengthen- 
ing local associations rather than on the promotion of membership, 
it would be much stronger." I agreed promptly, revised the plan 
in the light of his suggestion, and ever since the NEA has been chal- 
lenging the leaders in the various states to develop dynamic pro- 
grams of action adapted to local conditions in which the National 



92 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

Association could cooperate. In the spring of 1948 we distributed 
the following plan to the officers of state associations: 

A PUN FOR BUILDING A LARGER AND STRONGER 
UNIFIED TEACHING PROFESSION 

Suggestions for Local, State and National Leaders 

1. Organize a vigorous drive and draft the best organ- 
izing geniuses in the state to assist with it. 

2. Help them plan and prepare the most compelling 
and effective materials, slogans, and procedures for 
use in the drive. Tie these to the Victory Action 
Program with special emphasis on the development 
of more and stronger locals. 

3. Aim the drive specifically toward the building of 
dynamic, effective., working, local associations. 
Where a good association exists, make it a top-notch 
one. Where a weak one exists, or none at all, build 
a good one. 

4. Select enough organizers to make sure that every 
school system, college and university in the state 
will be covered during the period of the drive. 
These men and women should come right out of the 
schools, on leave of absence, and go right back into 
the schools after the special work is done. They 
must be the best the profession has to offer "tops" 
professionally and personally. Each must be able 
to make the welkin ring in a speech, if need arises. 
In appreciable measure, they must have demonstrated 
ability as leaders and organizers. 

5. Let the NEA and the State Association pay their 
regular salaries and expenses. Each can make his 
home his headquarters and his itinerary can be 
planned accordingly. 

6. Arrange for state or regional meetings in the sum- 
mer or early fall before the drive. Build the cam- 
paign inside and outside. Get the whole thing down 
from A to Z, just as the director of a commercial 
sales staff does. 

7. Write school administrators and local association 
leaders in every community. Make preliminary ar- 
rangements for a visit of the organizer to each com- 



Special Services 93 

munity. Have a definite, planned itinerary for 
every day of the drive. 

8. Pour out from every source the greatest amount of 
energy, zeal, and imagination to put over the drive. 
Gear every publication, every meeting, into it. 

9. Following a completely planned line of action, with 
flexibility as needed, let the organizer spend a day 
(longer in large systems) in the local unit. Special 
conferences with leaders and mass meetings of 
teachers. 

10. Plan an effective follow-up using the talents of the 
organizers during the remainder of the semester 
second visits, regional leadership conferences to whip 
enthusiasm to the boiling point, correspondence, let- 
ters of praise, etc. 

11. Leave each local association with: 

a. A definite, clear, practical, and compelling set 
of goals for the year. 

b. A set of officers informed fully regarding their 
functions. 

c. Committees as needed. 

d. A definite plan with plenty of zeal for the year's 
program. 

12. Arrange to give appropriate recognition and praise 
to the organizers. 

13. Let each state association plan as it deems best the 
continuing program (leadership conferences, etc.) 
for keeping the locals in high gear. 

During 1948-49 the following joint projects were conducted 
by the various state associations and the NEA for strengthening the 
organized teaching profession: 

A. Full-time field workers the state association 
selected a full-time field worker subject to the ap- 
proval of the State NEA Director and the Secretary 
of the NEA, and the NEA paid part of the salary and 
travel expenses. Illustrations: Arkansas, Colorado, 
Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, 
New Jersey, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee 
and Texas. 



94 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

B. Part-time field workers The state association 
selected several part-time field workers, subject to 
the approval of the State NEA Director and the Secre- 
tary of the NEA, and the NEA paid part of the sal- 
aries and travel expenses. Illustration: Michigan. 

C. State or regional conferences, zone schools or work- 
shops of officers of local associations The state 
association organized the conferences, schools or 
workshops and the NEA sent the State NEA Director 
and one or more representatives from the NEA Head- 
quarters Office and assisted in financing the project. 
Illustrations: Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota, 
Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. 

D. Unified Enrolment The state association adopted 
the Unified Enrolment Plan and channeled NEA en- 
rolments through the state association office. The 
NEA paid part of the costs involved in handling the 
enrolments. Illustration: Arizona, California, Idaho, 
Montana, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia. 

Field services are among the most important rendered by the 
National Education Association to its individual members and its 
constituent parts. The appointment of Karl Berns in July, 1945 
as Assistant Secretary of the NEA, in charge of Field Services, was 
a significant recognition of this important work and made possible 
its further development and expansion. 

Dr. Berns was the first full-time field worker employed by 
any of the state education associations. Appointed by the Ohio 
Education Association in 1935, he is still enthusiastic about the im- 
portance of this work, as is indicated by the following paragraphs 
from letters recently received from him 

My contemporaries of those early days were Ray Web- 
ster of Pennsylvania and Wesley Thomas in Michigan. 
Since 1935, the program of field services by State Asso- 
ciations has expanded until there are now more than sev- 
enty-five persons employed by state education associations 
who spend the major portion of their time in the field. 
On the national level the field service program has been 
expanded so that approximately ten NEA staff members 
are in the field most of the time. Some conception of 



Special Services 95 

the scope of this service can be estimated by air travel 
bills. Last year it cost us approximately $100,000 for air 
travel alone. 

Each year we refine a little more our services with 
the states. Thru joint planning by state leaders and NEA 
staff we have virtually eliminated the "hedgehopping" of 
earlier days-. We have some form of cooperative project 
with every state. These vary from Leadership Confer- 
ences to part-time field workers and to subsidies for the 
handling and processing of NEA memberships. 

Since 1951 Dr. Flora and I have been Co-chairmen of 
the NEA Building Fund Campaign which has been run- 
ning at least a year ahead of schedule. With the money 
available and already voted to the Building Fund by the 
Board of Trustees, the total now stands at approximate- 
ly $6,500,000. As we have traveled over the coun- 
try, we have been impressed with the good will that has 
been created through this campaign. It seems almost 
incredible that local communities would develop so many 
unique plans for fund raising. 

Our "Field, Membership and Building Fund Commit- 
tee" has just undertaken the enormous project of pro- 
moting the increased services proposal and the $10 
dues project. It looks now as though this will be an even 
bigger task than the Building Fund Campaign. 

Defense 

During his tour of duty as chairman of the NEA Tenure Com- 
mittee, 1933-40, Dr. Donald DuShane became convinced that the 
Association should step up its public relations program and develop 
a program for the protection of the rights of teachers. At the 1941 
convention over which he presided as President, the Commission for 
the Defense of Democracy was authorized and he was appointed its 
first Secretary. The purpose of the Commission was stated in the 
following paragraphs: 

There is great need for a National Commission on the 
Defense of Democracy Through Education. The long- 
time vital function of education in our democracy must 
be maintained even in times of unusual expenditures for 



96 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

military defense. The marked increase of taxes which ac- 
companies national defense expenditures tends to create 
strong pressure to reduce school costs and will be used as 
an excuse by numerous local, state and national taxpayers' 
associations to reduce taxes without regard to results. 

Various organizations have become active in recent 
months attempting to create a distrust of the efficiency 
of the public schools and of the loyalty of the teaching 
profession. This must be met . . . . * 

In 1945 Dr. Mildred Fenner wrote regarding the work of the 
Commission as follows 

The Defense Commission, with a secretary and office 
force at headquarters, has a twofold function promo- 
tional and protective. It builds public understanding of 
schools and enlists the support of such important groups 
as the United States Chamber of Commerce, the National 
Association of Manufacturers, the CIO, the A F of L, and 
farmers' groups. Thru the Commission's efforts, more 
than three thousand educators and businessmen have met 
at conference tables over the country to discuss current 
issues and purposes of public education. 

With the vigilance which is the price of educational free- 
dom, the Commission defends the rights of teachers. 
When the Hatch Act prohibiting federal employees from 
certain political activity was interpreted to apply to teach- 
ers receiving money thru any federal fund, the Defense 
Commission led coordinated efforts of local, state, and 
national associations to secure revision of the Act. The 
Brown Amendment to the Hatch Act, signed October 24, 
1942, restored civil rights and academic freedom to 
teachers. 2 

The investigation of the Chicago school system spearheaded by 
Dr. DuShane, in 1944, was largely responsible for the resignation 
of the Board of Education and the expulsion of the superintendent 
of schools from Life Membership in the NEA. 

In 1951, the work of the commission was summarized in the 
following paragraphs 

1 1956 NEA Handbook, p. 143. 

2 Fenner, Mildred, NBA History, p. 62. 



Special Services 97 

During its existence it has consistently advanced its 
original objectives: to arouse the public to a deeper reali- 
zation of the dependence of democracy upon better edu- 
cation for all people; to assist in securing adequate finan- 
cial support for public education, and to cooperate with 
state and local associations toward that end; to investigate 
charges against teachers, school systems, and education in 
general and to defend them against unju&t attacks; and to 
work for those teaching conditions essential to the preser- 
vation of American democracy 

The Commission has consistently urged that wherever 
possible local and state teacher groups should take the ini- 
tiative in endeavoring to arrive at a solution of problems 
before appealing to the national organization. 1 

During recent years the Commission, under the leadership of 
Dr. Richard B. Kennan, has developed a dynamic program includ- 
ing the following activities 

1. Exposing the motives and methods of individuals and 
organizations which attack the public schools. 

2. Investigating cases of unfair and unprofessional treat- 
ment referred to it by local and state associations. 

3. Encouraging local and state teacher groups to develop 
defense programs. 

4. Cooperating with the U. S. Department of Justice in 
arrangements for the annual National Citizenship 
Conference. 

5. Cooperating with the NEA Committees on Tenure and 
Academic Freedom and Professional Ethics. 

6. Publishing the Defense Bulletin which keeps educa- 
tional leaders informed regarding current trends in 
the fields of loyalty oaths, academic freedom and 
other attacks on the schools. 2 

Educational Policies 

The Educational Policies Commission was created in 1935 by 
the NEA and its Department of Superintendence. Its function is 
to "prepare, publish, and disseminate, from time to time, statements 
of proposed policy regarding the conduct of education in the United 

1 1951 NEA Handbook, p. 262. 

2 1956 NEA Handl^ook. pp. 143-144 



98 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

States, and the international relationships of American education." 
The Commission communicates its analyses, conclusions, and 
recommendations to the profession and to the public at large thru 
formal statements signed by all Commission members. The Com- 
mission has twenty members, sixteen of these are appointed for four 
year overlapping terms and four are ex officio. Of the sixteen ap- 
pointed members, twelve are chosen at large by joint action of the 
executive committees ofthe NEA and AASA, and four are appointed, 
one each by the following NEA departments : Classroom Teachers, 
Higher Education, Elementary School Principals, and Secondary- 
School Principals. Ex officio members are the NEA and AASA 
presidents and executive secretaries. 

This Commission of distinguished national leaders meets twice 
or three times a year to consider the studies prepared for it by its 
members and staff. Some of its most important pronouncements 
have been The Unique Function of Education in American de- 
mocracy (1937), Education dnd Economic Well-Being (1940), The 
Education of Free Men (1941), Education for All American Youth 
(1944) , The Purposes of Education in American Democracy (1938) , 
Education for the Gifted (1950), Education and National Security 
(1951), Moral and Spiritual Values (1951), School Athletics: 
Problems and Policies (1954), Public Education and the Future of 
America (1955), Strengthening Community Life: Schools Can Help 
(1956). 

Legislation 

During the first half of its existence the NEA attempted little 
in the field of legislation. Occasionally the resolutions passed at 
the annual conventions of the Association included suggestions re- 
garding desirable educational legislation but at that time lobbying 
by teachers or other professional groups was- generally frowned on. 
However, in 1920, the year its Representative Assembly was estab- 
lished,, the NEA Legislative Commission was created to continue and 
expand the work which had been done by its- Joint Commission on 
the Emergency in Education. This Commission is charged with a 
two-fold responsibility: recommending federal legislative policies 
for the Association, and working to achieve the legislative policies 
approved by the Association. 

Significant changes in the educational activities of the federal 



Special Services 99 

government have occurred during recent years. Many agencies 
have broadened their education programs. The Departments of 
State and Defense operate schools, hire teachers, and direct a variety 
of projects affecting education at all levels. Veterans' education 
has become a large-scale operation and since the Supreme Court 
decision on integration in the public schools, a whole new series of 
federal educational problems has arisen. One of the Legislative 
Commission's most essential services is to keep the profession aware 
of all these developments and, in turn, to represent education before 
Congress and the numerous Federal agencies. The Commission 
is an agency of the NEA Representative Assembly. Each year it 
reports to that body, and from its resolutions receives general direc- 
tives. In the interval between conventions the Commission looks 
to the NEA Executive Committee for any further guidance it requires. 
The Commission serves as an advisory council for the NEA Head- 
quarters' Division of Legislation and Federal Relations and dele- 
gates the direct responsibility for many of its activities- to the staff 
of that Division. 

The Division of Legislation and Federal Relations, created in 
1944, represents the organized profession in federal legislative mat- 
ters relating to education and establishes liaison between federal 
agencies and the NEA's divisions, departments, committees, and 
commissions. It also helps the Legislative Commission formulate 
the legislative policies which it recommends to the Representative 
Assembly and, in conformity with the policies adopted by the As- 
sembly, works for the passage of certain legislation and against the 
enactment of other bills. 

Another important phase of the Division's work is consultation 
with educational and Congressional leaders before important bills 
are introduced, so that their provisions will be in line with the prin- 
ciples and policies generally favored by the profession. 

The Division maintains close liaison with the chairmen and 
members of state association committees on federal legislation, with 
a selected local contact in 409 of the 435 Congressional districts, 
and with 460 federal relations committee members appointed by 
state associations. During the fall of 1955, considerable strengthen- 
ing of the federal relations organization was done thru state and 
regional conferences covering 27 states and involving some 500 
leaders. A culminating conference of all state federal relations 



100 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

leaders at Chicago in December helped evaluate the White House 
Conference and plan federal relations activities for 1956. 

Publications 

Thru its wide variety of publications the NEA renders invalu- 
able service to the schools, the teaching profession and the public. 
The Association is the largest single publisher of educational ma- 
terials and distributes annually more than 600,000,000 printed 
pages. Its List of Publications, which includes more than 1400 
different titles issued by the Association and its departments, is 
available free upon request. 

The Journal, published monthly during the school year since 
1921, is the official house organ of the Association. It aims to 
interpret the activities of the NEA, its departments, committees, and 
commissions, and its affiliated state and local associations; to help 
teachers improve their classroom teaching; to help the profession 
raise standards; to keep school people informed of educational news 
and trends; and to give impetus to important educational develop- 
ments. It is sent to all NEA members, to affiliated state and local 
associations, to Future Teachers of America chapters, and to thou- 
sands of libraries thruout the world. Its total circulation is nearly 
700,000 the largest of any professional periodical in the world. 

The NEA News, a four-page publication, is distributed fort- 
nightly to more than 40,000 school administrators and leaders in 
local, state and national associations thruout the country. Edited 
by the Journal staff, it provides a rapid service for getting into the 
field needed information about official NEA plans and activities. 

The NEA Handbook, published annually since 1947, includes 
current records, officers and activities of the NEA and its affiliated 
state associations. More than 30,000 copies are distributed to local, 
state and national leaders. 

The Research Bulletin, established in 1922 and issued quarterly, 
covers special aspects of educational research and is sent to all Life 
Members of the Association and to a considerable number of sub- 
scribers* 

The Volume of Addresses and Proceedings published annually, 
with five exceptions, since the Association was founded in 1857, 
reports the addresses and proceedings of the NEA annual convention 
and includes also a summary of the activities and achievements of 



Special Services 101 

the departments, committees, commissions and councils of the As- 
sociation. Like the Journal and The Research Bulletin it is sent 
free to all Life Members. 

In addition to these publications the departments, commissions, 
committees, councils and other units of the association issue numer- 
ous publications dealing with special problems newsletters, 
pamphlets, reports, leaflets, magazines and yearbooks. In 1955 the 
Association and its various units put out thirty monthly magazines, 
181 bulletins, 36 yearbooks and 1070 other publications. These 
publications provide teachers and administrators with specific sug- 
gestions for the improvement of their work and help them interpret 
the function of education in modern American life. They are rich 
sources of information by which school people and the public may 
keep abreast of educational developments. 

The editor of the NBA Journal serves as Secretary-Treasurer 
of the Educational Press Association of America which has more 
than 300 members including the official magazines of the state 
teachers associations and other professional and commercial maga- 
zines in the field of education. 

Public Relations 

The constantly expanding program of Public Relations of the 
NEA has been a potent factor in alerting the public to the importance 
of education, to its needs and to the dangers which threaten its full 
development. During the dark days of the early 1920's and 1930's 
the Association's Commissions on the Emergency in Education, its 
Educational Policies Commission and its Divisions of Research and 
Publications rendered especially valiant service. American Edu- 
cation Week was established in 1921 as a joint project by the Ameri- 
can Legion and the NEA and is now sponsored by these two organi- 
zations with the cooperation of the U. S. Office of Education and 
the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. It has become a 
vital institution which annually focuses public attention on the 
schools and, like the splendid publicity programs of the National 
Advertising Council, the National Citizens Council for Better Schools 
and the Educational Writers Association, keeps the public aware 
of its investment in and responsibility for the schools. 

The National School Public Relations Association, founded 
in 1935, and now a Department of the NEA and the NEA Division 



102 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

of Press and Radio Relations, created in 1944, work closely with 
the Association's departments, commissions, committees and divi- 
sions in their efforts to win the understanding cooperation of the 
public. The latter maintains a press and radio service for the NEA 
and departmental conventions and conferences; prepares releases 
regarding the Association's research studies, yearbooks, and policy 
statements; and arranges for the Association's radio and television 
programs. Washington newspaper correspondents, representatives 
of the various press services, and magazine writers are constantly 
in touch with this Division. In November, 1956, a new and impor- 
tant publication, "The School Bell," was launched by this Division 
and the National School Public Relations Association. It is de- 
signed to digest and make available to superintendents and other 
educational and lay leaders, articles regarding the schools appear- 
ing in current national newspapers and magazines and announce- 
ments about radio and television programs. 

The Office of Assistant Executive Secretary for Lay Relations, 
created in 1950, facilitates contacts with more than half a hundred 
important national organizations interested in the welfare of the 
schools. Some of these are All-American Conference to Combat 
Communism, American Association of University Women, American 
Bankers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, AFL-CIO, 
American Legion, American Library Association, American Medical 
Association, American National Red Cross, Automotive Safety 
Foundation, Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Conference 
of National Organizations, General Federation of Women's- Clubs, 
Magazine Publishers Association, National Association of Manu- 
facturers, National Citizens Council for Better Schools, National 
Congress of Parents and Teachers, National Council of Chief State 
School Officers, National Farmers Union, National Federation of 
Business and Professional Women's Clubs, National Manpower 
Council, National Organizations Roundtable on Public Schools, 
National Probation and Parole Association, National School Boards 
Association, United States Office of Education and the Women's 
Joint Congressional Commission. 

Research 

The NEA inaugurated its research program on a volunteer 
basis. At the first meeting of the Association in 1857, T. W. 



Special Services 103 

Valentine, President of the New York State Teachers Association, 
proposed that the new Association "gather up and arrange the 
educational statistics of our country so that people may know what 
is really being done for public education and what yet remains to 
be done." However, little was done in this field until the latter 
part of the century when the Association launched a thirty year 
program of "research by committees." 

While the work of these committees would hardly measure up, 
in scientific accuracy, to the standards of modern research projects, 
their reports made a distinct impact on public opinion and were 
responsible for material changes. The report of the Committee 
of Ten, regarding the curriculum of secondary schools, submitted 
in 1894 by its chairman, Dr. Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard, 
was characterized by Dr. William T. Harris, then U. S. Commis- 
sioner of Education, as "the most important educational document 
ever published in this country." Regarding the report of the Com- 
mittee of Fifteen, made in 1895, about the curriculum of the ele- 
mentary schools, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia 
University, wrote, "It may be that there have been other discussions 
of like or equal significance, but I venture to doubt it" 

In 1912, at the request of the NEA Department of Secondary 
Education, the NEA Board of Directors authorized the appointment 
of a Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education 
which prepared for publication by the U. S. Bureau of Education 
fifteen reports which were immensely influential in the various 
subject matter fields. Its report on "The Seven Cardinal Principles 
of Education," published in 1918, was also exceedingly popular 
for more than a decade. 

City school systems began to establish bureaus of research 
about 1912. The first World War increased interest in the use of 
intelligence tests and in 1915 research specialists in state and local 
school systems organized the National Association of Directors 
of Educational Research which, in 1930, became a Department 
of the NEA. 

The need for research in the field of education, highlighted 
by the emergency in education which developed during the war, 
resulted in the establishment of the Research Division on the NEA 
Headquarters Staff in 1922. At that time Dr. Crabtree wrote 



104 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

We now have the beginnings of educational science and 
millions of children will have a better chance as the 
result of research at work in our school systems and 
teachers colleges. The Research Division has brought into 
the life of the Association a force of the utmost signifi- 
cance ... It has put research on a professional basis. 

Established in 1922 with two employees, the Research Division 
had nearly half a hundred members on its staff in 1956 and a 
budget of more than $200.000. Its functions are twofold to 
provide information required currently and to undertake long-time 
investigations in anticipation of future needs. 

In performing these functions the Division has answered more 
than 200,000 letters of inquiry, prepared more than 150 issues of 
the Research Bulletin, assisted in the preparation of more than 
70 yearbooks for the Departments of Classroom Teachers, Elemen- 
tary-School Principals, Superintendents and other groups and made 
hundreds of surveys and studies regarding teachers' salaries, tenure, 
retirement, academic freedom, teaching technics and other commis- 
sion and committee problems and projects. It has interpreted these 
findings thru its bulletins-, news releases, magazine articles and 
leaflets and thru consultation services both at the headquarters 
office and in the field. 

State teachers associations which, in 1925, were little concerned 
with research, are rapidly expanding their work in this field, as are 
local teachers' associations, the U. S. Office of Education, teachers' 
colleges and schools of education. In 1955 eighteen of the state 
teachers' associations employed directors of research whose salaries 
ranged from $5,500 to $12,000 and four of them had assistant 
directors of research. For more than half a century the Phi Delta 
Kappa Fraternity has featured research as one of its three major 
functions. The following significant paragraphs appeared in the 
November, 1956, issue of its official publication 

A profession on the road toward maturity is positively 
dependent on research for progress toward its goals. A 
matured profession is characterized by research which 
possesses directness of purpose, an adequate methodology, 
proved validity, and ease of application . . . Quality in 
education and quality in research must move forward 
together. 



Special Services 105 

Let's consider two of the most rapidly expanding in- 
dustries in America the aircraft and chemical industries. 
It's no accident that these two, together with electrical 
manufacture, lead all industries in the percentage of per- 
sonnel assigned to research activities. Of every hundred 
employees in the aircraft industry, four and three-tenths 
are engaged in research or twice as many as the aver- 
age for all manufacturing concerns. Firms in the chemical 
field employ three scientists for every hundred workers. 1 

Travel 

When I first heard about the proposal for the NEA to develop 
a travel service for teachers I crossed my fingers and held my 
breath! I could not see why the Association, with its limited re- 
sources, should be going so far afield in its efforts to serve its 
members but now I am thoroughly enthusiastic about this project. 
It has demonstrated its value to the profession and to the world. 

The Division of Travel Service conducts small, cosmopolitan 
tour groups of NEA members to domestic and foreign areas usually 
during the summer months. These tours are planned especially for 
teachers and are not designed merely for sightseeing. They are 
developed to give tour participants important educational, recrea- 
tional, and social experiences in the region or country visited. They 
are organized with the cooperation of educators in each country or 
area and offer the greatest possible travel values at the lowest 
possible cost. They are operated on a nonprofit basis to enable 
a larger number of teachers to travel and they save those who take 
them between $50,000 and $60,000 annually. The tours are ex- 
tended field trips, offering preparation for travel thru reading from 
especially prepared bibliographies; orientation sessions; lectures 
by outstanding authorities on history, geography, the arts, and eco- 
nomics of the tour area; planned observation programs with inter- 
pretation; and a followup program including newsletters and reports. 

Social events are arranged for the tour groups. These include 
receptions, entertainments featuring folk dances and songs arranged 
by local teachers, and other activities characteristic of the country 
or region visited. In areas where schools are open during the 
summer, local teachers accompany tour members to classes of 
their choice. 

1 Phi Delta Kappan, November 1956. pp. 50-51. 



106 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

Thru its program of travel in Europe, the Near East and in 
much o the Western Hemisphere the NEA Division of Travel Serv- 
ice has become an instrument of inservice education and international 
understanding. It serves as a clearinghouse for teachers and admin- 
istrators interested in the general field of educational travel, aids 
teachers and schools sponsoring student tours to Washington and 
cooperates with the state education associations of California, Colo- 
rado, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, 
Michigan, Oregon, Utah and Washington, and the New York City 
NEA Committee and the Chicago Division of the IEA in their 
travel programs. 

Credit for NEA tour participation has heen granted by many 
local school systems for points toward salary increments; by state 
departments of education for certification renewal, and by many 
colleges and universities for certain subject matter fields. The 
Travel Division cooperates with the National Council for the Social 
Studies in arrangements for its annual Seminar in Washington. 
The purpose of the Seminar is to acquaint teachers with "The 
United States Government in Action." Most of the instructors are 
government officials and the sessions are held in the various 
government agencies, House and Senate caucus rooms and in the 
NEA Headquarters. The Division also cooperates with the National 
Association of Student Councils in arranging for student trips to 
Europe. It has an advisory committee which includes three NEA 
officials, two executive secretaries of state education associations, 
two representatives of teacher-education institutions and four repre- 
sentatives of the travel industry. The executive committee of the 
National Council for Educational Travel has recommended that in 
the future this advisory committee serve as the National Council 
for Educational Travel. 

Numerous additional important services are rendered by the 
Association thru its other committees, commissions, divisions and 
departments. Unfortunately space limits do not permit even brief 
mention of them here. However, information regarding them is 
available in Dr. Fenner's splendid "NEA History" published in 
1945 and in the annual Handbook. Additional material may also 
he secured by writing the Headquarters office in Washington, D, C 



CHAPTER XV 
STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATIONS 



The state teachers' associations are, for the most part, the 
strongest organizations in our profession. This is fortunate since 
public education in this country is primarily a function of our state 
governments. The strength of the state associations is due largely to 
three factors 

1. They have more members. On May 31, 1956, the 
total membership of the state associations affiliated 
with the NEA was 1,138,507; 

2. Most local school systems have at least a few out- 
standing leaders who, even though they may not be 
able to galvanize their immediate local associates 
into action on the local level, can, by alliance with 
the leaders of other locals, help to form a dynamic 
and effective state association; 

3. The effective work of the executive secretaries of 
the state associations and their headquarters staffs. 

The NEA, although increasing steadily in numbers and influ- 
ence, stands in strength and effectiveness somewhere between the 
local and the state associations. 

The Beginnings The first state teachers' association was organ- 
ized in Alabama in 1840 but it did not maintain continuous activity 
and was reorganized in 1856. The next state associations were 
organized in 1845 in Rhode Island and New York. Fifteen more 
were organized before the NEA was started in 1857. During the 
next nine years five more were organized, and before the end of the 
century practically every state had its own teachers' association. 

Membership Qualifications for membership in state associations, 
other than payment of dues, are few. Thirteen states have separate 
state associations for negro teachers. Thirty of the state associa- 
tions specify that members shall be engaged in education while 

107 



108 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

eight include all interested in joining. One or two have had the 
courage to limit their active membership to legally certified teachers 
and the 1955 Annual Report of the National Commission on Teacher 
Education and Professional Standards urges "universal application 
of minimum qualifications as prerequisites to membership in pro- 
fessional organizations." Membership in state associations was 
comparatively small prior to the appointment of full-time secre- 
taries. It grew from 65,993, less than fourteen per cent of the 
teachers employed in the nation, in 1907, to 436,392, approximately 
sixty-two per cent of the teachers employed, by 1923; and in 1956 
it was, as indicated above, 1,138,507, approximately ninety per cent 
of the teachers employed. 

Conventions In their early years most state associations, like the 
NEA, were primarily convention organizations and functioned as 
pure democracies. All members who attended the annual conven- 
tions were eligible to vote for officers and to participate in the trans- 
action of other business. These conventions were arranged largely 
by volunteer workers directed, occasionally, by part-time secretaries. 
However, since the modernization movement which began about 
1910, this procedure has been largely changed. Because distance, 
cost of travel and lack of auditorium facilities prevented many of 
the members from attending these statewide meetings, many of the 
states have now set up sectional convention districts covering an area 
large enough to bring together an inspiring group and yet small 
enough to allow all members to participate. The programs of these 
conventions vary from addresses on subjects of nation-wide interest 
to highly specialized round-table conferences. They usually include 
also the election of regional officers, the passing of resolutions and 
the selection of delegates to the representative assembly of the state 
association. "While the annual meeting of the state association is 
usually a representative assembly, it is still a significant part of the 
association's program. It gives opportunity for visits with old 
friends, the discussion of vital issues, the development of sound 
policies, the passing of important resolutions and professional 
politics! 

Departments Members of state associations, as in many local 
associations and in the NEA, are usually divided into groups accord- 
ing to subject matter taught or position in the school system. These 



State Teachers Associations 109 

departments conduct programs according to their special interests, 
usually in connection with the statewide convention or the regional 
meetings, or both, altho sometimes they are held independently. 

State Secretaries The outstanding feature of the modernization 
movement in state teachers' associations which began soon after the 
turn of the century, was the provision for a full-time executive secre- 
tary and a salaried staff. California employed the first full-time 
secretary in 1909. Six states followed its example during the next 
decade, and by 1925 thirty had them. At the present time all of 
the state associations, Hawaii and Puerto Rico have full-time execu- 
tive secretaries and staffs ranging from two to more than a hundred 
employees. The expansion in the service programs of the state 
teachers' associations and the increase in their power and influence 
has been almost fantastic. The first full-time state association 
executive secretary, L. E. Armstrong of California, received $2,400 
for his first year's work. In 1925 the median salary received by 
the state association executive secretaries was $4,000, and the median 
length of service was three years. In 1955 their salaries ranged 
from $6,000 to $20,000. Half of them received $10,000 or more 
and the length of service ranged from one to twenty-eight years with 
a median of ten years. 

Staffs Twenty-five years ago, the staff of the typical state teachers' 
association consisted of the Executive Secretary and one or two 
clerical assistants. Now more than half of the state associations 
have ten full-time employees or more. These include executive 
secretaries, editorial assistants, public relations specialists, directors 
of research, and field workers, as well as clerks and stenographers. 
California has the largest staff more than one hundred members 
distributed in six regional offices. 

Income In 1922-23 the financial receipts of thirty-three state 
associations ranged from $516 in Nevada to $78,000 in Pennsyl- 
vania and totaled $642,673. In 1928 the receipts of forty-two 
associations totaled $1,786,958, and in 1947 the receipts for the 
forty-five states totaled $2,491,314. 

Dues Prior to 1910, the annual dues of most state teachers' asso- 
ciations, like teachers' salaries, were embarrassingly low. In most 
of the state associations they were $1; in Indiana, Maine, Michigan, 



110 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South 
Carolina and Wisconsin they were $1 for men and 50 cents for 
women ; in Kansas, Utah and Maryland, 50 cents for men and women 
and in Connecticut 50 cents for men and 25 cents for women. By 
1935 the standard annual dues of the state associations were $2. 
Seven had a graduated scale. By 1945 eight had flat fees of $3 
or more, and seventeen had a graduated fee. In 1955 dues ranged 
from $2.50 in South Dakota to $17 in Utah. Half of the states had 
$5 or more and twenty had a graduated fee. Four had a "Unified 
Enrolment Plan" according to which they collected one-half of one 
per cent of the annual salary for state and national dues. The uni- 
fied enrolment plan, hy which dues are collected by the local asso- 
ciation for local, state, and national associations, is growing in favor 
and has been approved as one of the goals of the Centennial Action 
Program. Many leaders believe that departmental dues should 
also be included in the single fee. In most cases one per cent of 
the annual salary would be quite adequate to cover dues in local, 
state, regional, national, and world organizations and their depart- 
ments. 

Office Buildings In 1925 six of the state education associations 
owned their own headquarters office buildings and by 1935 thirteen 
had them. Today more than half of the associations have their 
offices located in their own buildings or have buildings under pur- 
chase or construction. Some of these, like the original NEA Head- 
quarters Building, were erected as private dwellings. Others were 
planned and built definitely for office purposes. The September 
1956 issue of the NEA Journal carries- pictures of twenty-one of 
these buildings owned by the State Associations. 

Activities The activities of state associations vary considerably. 
However, in addition to conventions, they usually include publica- 
tions, research, legislation, field service, public relations, teacher 
welfare, national cooperation, and membership recruiting. 

Publications Only one state association published an official 
magazine prior to the beginning of the twentieth century. By 1910, 
four had established journals, by 1925 twenty-two had them and 
now all the state associations have them. These carry reports of 
the association's activities and articles of general professional in- 



State Teachers Associations 111 

terest. Several publish supplementary legislative bulletins, re- 
search reports, and public-relations pamphlets. 

Research In 1925 Dr. John Granrud wrote in his dissertation 
regarding state teachers' associations, "The typical state teachers' 
association is not concerned with research." Twenty-one out of 
twenty-nine secretaries from whom he received definite data reported 
that they were not carrying on research of any character. Cali- 
fornia, Illinois., Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania were 
notable exceptions, but the research projects of these associations 
were carried on largely in connection with committees, state depart- 
ments of education, and institutions of higher learning. The Illinois 
Association was the only state association to have a director of re- 
search at that time and he was engaged in 1924 for the purpose of 
analyzing the financial condition of the state. Dr. Granrud pre- 
dicted that "As the Associations develop, they will probably increase 
their research work." How correct he was, is indicated by the fact 
that in 1955 eighteen of the associations employed directors of re- 
search whose salaries ranged from $5,500 to $12,000 with a median 
of $7,500 and four of them also had assistant directors of research. 
Thru their research activities, the associations provide their mem- 
bers and the public with up-to-date information about every phase 
of public education. This data furnishes the basis for much of 
the state's legislative program and for the policies of the state and 
local boards of education. 

Legislation The legislative work of state associations has become 
increasingly significant and is one of the most important means by 
which educational conditions have been improved in the different 
states. Prior to 1910 state associations did little in the field of 
legislation. In fact, many people inside as well as outside the pro- 
fession, questioned the propriety of teachers participating in this 
field. However, by 1910 the situation in this connection was begin- 
ning to change as is shown by the following significant paragraphs 
from Dr. Carter Alexander's 1910 study 

With a few exceptions the state associations exert little 
influence upon legislation; the city associations, especially 
those in the larger cities, are proportionately much more 
successful. 



112 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

The Associations are more and more tending to take for 
granted the 'right' of the profession to influence legisla- 
tion and to try to devise , . . schemes for securing . ,, . 
more active participation of all teachers in promoting legis- 
lation. . . . 

There is no conclusive evidence that teachers by their 
efforts in this field are becoming unduly selfish and 
lowering the tone of the profession. The raising of quali- 
fications for teachers, which comes with practically every 
economic advantage secured, largely offsets any antici- 
pated disadvantage here. 

Today, lobbying by teachers is standard practice in practically 
every state and one leader goes so far as to maintain that "state 
education associations have been responsible for almost every gain 
in public education which has resulted from legal action." Activi- 
ties in this field include: providing data for legislators, recommend- 
ing bills, sometimes even writing bills, participating in hearings on 
bills, interviewing legislators, and interpreting the legislative pro- 
gram to the profession and to the public. 

Field Service Practically all state associations maintain field 
service programs. These involve planning and attending leader- 
ship training conferences; visits to local associations by represen- 
tatives of the headquarters staff; addresses to local and lay groups; 
help in planning local programs; assistance on salary, tenure, and 
other problems; membership work, advice on public relations pro- 
grams: and contacts with legislators. 

Public Relations In 1925 seventeen of the state associations which 
reported to Dr. Granrud said that they carried on no publicity work 
and only 1.2 per cent of the total expenditures of the thirty-five 
states which reported was devoted to publicity. In 1955 all of the 
state associations provided public relations services for the mem- 
bership and at least a dozen employed directors of public relations 
with salaries ranging from $3,600 to $13,500. These deliver 
speeches to lay groups, develop contacts with parent teacher asso- 
ciations and with reporters, prepare news releases, publicize legisla- 
tive programs, direct radio programs and prepare articles for lay 
magazines. 



State Teachers Associations 113 

Miscellaneous Services In addition to the services listed above 
which are usually performed hy all state associations, some asso- 
ciations maintain other services such as: legal counseling on pro- 
fessional problems, credit unions, group insurance, teacher place- 
ment, library and magazine service, educational films, recreational 
services (camp or resort), facilities for group conferences, improve- 
ment of instruction, assisting in revising and improving teacher 
education and certification programs. 



A Time for Greatness 

If there is any period one ivould desire to be born in, is 
it not the age of Revolution; when the old and new stand 
side by side and admit of being compared; when the en- 
ergies of all men are searched by fear and by hope; whdn 
the historic glories of the old can be compensated by the 
rich possibilities of the new era. This time, like all times, 
is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. 

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 



CHAPTER XVI 

STATE SECRETARIES 

In the spring of 1924 I was invited to meet with the Board of 
Trustees of the Utah Education Association who were looking for a 
full-time Secretary for the Association. When President Henry 
Peterson, who was presiding at the meeting, asked me what I thought 
of the position of the State Secretaryship, I replied that I was very 
enthusiastic about it, that I regarded it as the most strategic position 
in the educational setup in any state, barring possibly that of the 
State Superintendent of Schools, and that in some ways it might be 
even more important than the State Superintend ency since that posi- 
tion was sometimes involved in politics and the State Secretaryship 
ought never to be so involved. 

When I sat down President Peterson stood up and said, "We 
are glad that you think the Secretaryship is an important position, 
for we do, and if you will accept the position, we will be very 
happy." I did, and in the years which have passed since that time 
I have found no reason for changing my mind about the importance 
of the position. I still believe that the Executive Secretaryship of 
the State Education Association may be and frequently is the most 
strategic position in the educational setup of any state. 

It was my good fortune to know intimately every State Secre- 
tary from 1924 to 1950. They were a great group with whom it was 
a distinct privilege to be associated. Most of them have rendered 
and are rendering valiant service to a great cause. No two of them 
have been alike. Many have had major interests journalism, 
public relations, research or oratory special fields in which they 
have been particularly strong. Not all have been great men or 
women, but all have been leaders adapted to the peculiar needs of 
their particular states. 

California employed the first full-time State Secretary, L. E. 
Armstrong, in 1909. He was succeeded three years later by Arthur 
Chamberlain who was for many years the dean of the group. By 

T14 



State Secretaries 115 

1919, six additional state associations had made arrangements for 
full-time Executive Secretaries, and by 1925 thirty had them. At 
the present time all of the states as well as the territories of Hawaii 
and Puerto Rico, have these professional leaders. 

The duties and responsibilities of the State Secretaries are 
varied and manifold. In the early days they included editing and 
soliciting advertisements for the magazine, enroling the profession, 
developing a public relations program, promoting the legislative 
program, handling the annual convention, and doing research work 
in between field trips. During recent years the work of many of 
them has become largely administrative as specialist assistants have 
been added to the staffs. California has the largest staff consisting 
of more than one hundred members distributed in six regional 
offices. Several State Associations pay their Executive Secretaries 
annual salaries of $20,000 and feel confident that they are worth 
every cent which they receive. 

The State Secretaryship is full of hazards and headaches. In 
those states where the rift between administrators and classroom 
teachers has been particularly marked, the position has been espe- 
cially difficult, requiring real statesmanship. More than one Secre- 
tary has failed to make the grade because he has not been able to 
adapt himself to the changing world in which the democratic pro- 
cedure of teacher participation has replaced the tyrannical rule of 
some totalitarian administrators. 

The Secretary of the state association holds a key position, 
not only for the development of the state program of education, 
but for the national program also. In this connection, his influence 
usually operates or may operate along four principal lines: in the 
selection of NEA officers; in the promotion of the NEA legislative 
program; in the development of the NEA enrolment campaign; 
and in the development of helpful state-national relationships by 
interpreting the NEA and its policies to state and local leaders. 

The NEA Bylaws provide that the NEA State Director shall 
be elected for a three-year term by the NEA Representative Assembly 
upon nomination of the delegates from the various states. By virtue 
of his strategic position in the State Association the State Secretary 
can usually wield considerable influence in the selection of the State 
Director. Since the strength of the NEA depends in large measure 



116 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

on the quality of its Board of Directors, the Secretary's influence 
in this area is extremely important. 

While State Secretaries would be the last persons in the world 
to claim or admit that they carry any large share of the responsi- 
bility for the selection and election of NEA Presidents, any realist, 
familiar with the facts, knows that they do. Sometimes I pity them 
because of this fact. They are the hired servants of the teachers 
of their respective states. The members of any association which 
decides to offer and support a candidate for the NEA presidency 
naturally look to the State Secretary to help win the election. Some 
years ago one Secretary who was not particularly proud of the rep- 
resentative from his state who had just been elected President 
facetiously inquired, "How do you like your new President?" With- 
out a moment's hesitation, I replied, "We will get along with her 
0. K. You gave her to us!" 

The success of the NEA legislative program frequently depends 
on the grassroots activities of its members and these in turn are often 
dependent on the guidance, stimulation and cooperation of the State 
Secretary. Likewise, the NEA enrolment campaign, while not always 
dependent on the cooperation of the State Secretary, is frequently 
vitalized or slowed down by him. 

As an organized group the State Secretaries also have tremen- 
dous potential power in NEA affairs. They are recognized, official 
leaders as well as servants in their states. They know the thinking 
of their constituents and often influence that thinking. Their fre- 
quent attendance at regional and national meetings gives them op- 
portunity to outgrow and rise above the provincialism with which 
many of their constituents are handicapped and their work in their 
states gives them firsthand acquaintance with the organizational as 
well as the professional problems with which our profession is con- 
fronted. 

The suggestion has been made that it might be well if the Na- 
tional Association of State Secretaries were to serve as the NEA 
Board of Directors. That would, of course, be a most unfortunate 
arrangement since it would give too great concentration of power 
and constitute an impossible combination of responsibilities. On the 
other hand, it is well for the NEA Board of Directors, Executive 
Committee and other important units to have some State Secretaries 



State Secretaries 117 

on them. They have much to contribute as individuals and as a 
group. 

Another suggestion which is equally impractical, yet stimulat- 
ing, is that in order to secure closer integration of the state and 
national associations, the state secretaries be put on the NEA pay- 
roll. Of course this is not feasible. On the other hand, the joint 
field service projects with which several states are experimenting 
seem to offer definite progress in this connection. These give ex- 
cellent opportunities for the state and national associations to co- 
operate on projects of mutual, vital interest, particularly in connec- 
tion with the development of stronger local associations and the en- 
listment of the profession. 

Among the characteristics of a good State Secretary, the follow- 
ing are especially pertinent: 

He should have great creative vision, yet be such an 
excellent administrator that none of his underlings will 
ever make a mistake. He should have great courage yet 
caution and integrity, political finesse and intelligence, 
but ability to hide them. He should be dynamic yet calm 
and contemplative. He should talk well but not say too 
much. He should be aggressive yet also be the essence 
of tact. 1 

The Executive Secretaryship of a State Education Association 
offers a thrilling challenge to those who have ability to lead incon- 
spicuously, to organize and implement effectively a dynamic pro- 
gram of action and to keep a democratic machine running smoothly 
and harmoniously. 

A Man of Destiny 

In a very real sense the Executive Secretary is a man of 
destiny. The destiny of the nation is in the hands of the 
teachers for they determine whether America will have a 
new generation of intelligent citizens. The destiny of the 
teachers is in the hands of the Association, which sets the 
pattern and pace of education, and the destiny of the 
Association is in the hands of the Executive Secretary. 

EUGENE P. BERTIN 

1 Adapted from an article by Malvina Lindsay, published in the Washington Post 
for June 4, 1949. 



CHAPTER XVII 
LOCAL TEACHERS ASSOCIATIONS 

Local teachers' associations are the oldest form of teachers* 
organizations established in the United States. Among the earliest 
of these were "The Society of Associated Teachers/ 5 organized in 
New York City in 1794, the "Associated Instructors of Youth in 
the Town of Boston and Its Vicinity/' organized in 1812, and the 
"School Association of Middlesex County," in Connecticut. The 
purpose of the latter, organized in 1799, was stated as follows: 

To promote a systematic course of school education, to 
secure the inculcation of moral and religious principles 
in the schools, and to endeavor to elevate the character 
and qualifications of teachers. 

Since the middle of the nineteenth century teachers 9 organ- 
izations in the United States have multiplied rapidly. The Educa- 
tional Directory, published annually by the United States Office of 
Education, lists approximately five hundred national and regional 
associations and more than one hundred state organizations but it 
includes no local associations and does not even make an estimate 
of their number. Nearly six thousand are affiliated with the Na- 
tional Education Association. 

Local associations exist not only in practically every city but 
also in thousands of rural districts. They vary greatly in size, pur- 
pose and character but may be classified roughly into the follow- 
ing groups: 

1. Those which include the members of a single faculty. 

2. Those which include all teachers in a school system. 

3. Those which include all teachers in a district, county, 
region or zone. 

118 



Local Teachers Associations 119 

4. Those which include propective members of the 
profession such as high school FTA clubs or college 
FT A chapters. 

5. Those which include teachers with common interests 
of subject matter or function. 

The ultimate purpose of these associations, as of practically 
all teachers' associations, is to advance the interests of their mem- 
bers, to promote the cause of education and to build a teaching pro- 
fession. They differ primarily in membership regulations, organic 
setup, and emphasis on specific objectives. Some of them operate 
as pure democracies, with all members entitled to attend and par- 
ticipate in the meetings of the organization. Others operate as a 
representative democracy, with delegates representing the constituent 
groups. The activities of these organizations include professional 
improvement, teacher welfare, research, public relations, community 
service, and recreation. 

In most of the states, local associations serve as units of the 
state organization and therefore play a dual role, functioning in the 
solution of local problems and serving as the medium through which 
the teachers of the group participate in the broader programs of the 
state and national associations. The committees of local units fre- 
quently parallel those of the state and national associations and co- 
operate with these in the assembling of information and in the dis- 
semination of facts. 

While local teachers associations are the oldest and most numer- 
ous of teachers' professional organizations in this country, they are, 
generally speaking, the least powerful. Prior to 1920 several city 
teachers' associations were stronger and more aggressive than their 
state associations, consequently when the Representative Assembly 
of the NEA was established, provision was made for representation 
from local as well as from state organizations. This provision has 
its advantages and still persists even tho it leads to complications, 
particularly in the matter of duplicate representation. 

The exact reasons for the general, relative weakness of local 
associations are difficult to determine. Several factors are prob- 
ably responsible: 

1. The indifference of the average teacher to the prob- 
lems of the profession, outside the classroom; 



120 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

2. His unawareness of his responsibility for helping to 
solve these problems; 

3. The chronic tendency of teachers toward stalwart 
individualism; 

4. The fact that until recently, prospective teachers 
have received little or no training or preparation in 
the field of professional organizations; 

5. Many beginning teachers have no intention of re- 
maining in the profession very long they use it 
merely as a way station to matrimony or as a step- 
ping stone to some other career; 

6. In an increasing number of cases, married women 
are teaching and they find it difficult to find time 
or strength for participation in professional organi- 
zations; 

7. Many married men find it necessary to supplement 
their meager salaries by engaging in other occupa- 
tions outside their school work and, like the married 
women, have little time or strength left for addi- 
tional activities and 

8. The dues of most local associations are too small 
to permit the development of effective programs. 

One day soon after Dr. Givens came to the NEA Headquarters 
Office as our new "Chief," in 1935, I was discussing with him the 
problem of getting state and local associations to adopt a uniform 
enrolment plan with a single fee, collected by the local and shared 
with the state and national associations. When he asked what fee 
I had in mind I suggested $10 $2 for the local, $3 for the state 
association and $5 for the NEA. He promptly replied: 

There are just two objections to your plan. Several state 
associations already have dues of more than $3 and they 
could not operate effectively on less, and in the second 
place your proposal would continue the present starva- 
tion plan for local associations. It would be better if you 
would give the $5 to the local association. Imagine what 
a strong profession we could have if every teacher paid 
at least $5 annual dues to his local association. The local 
association could issue a local publication which would 
keep the members acquainted with each other and their 
local problems; they could develop local research projects; 



Local Teachers Associations 121 

they could conduct an effective public relations program 
and they could pay the expenses of their delegates to 
regional, state and national conventions and thus keep in 
touch with current progress. 

Dr. Givens was right, of course, as usual! Some one has sug- 
gested that one of the troubles with us teachers is that so many of 
us are little people teaching little things to little children in a small 
way! We seldom lack the virtue of consecration but we frequently 
lack vision and "where there is no vision, the people perish!" 

The character and great potential power of the local association 
has been well stated by Dr. Stinnett in the following paragraph: 

The local association is the 'grass roots' unit of pro- 
fessional organization. It is where the democratic concept 
finds its best and most direct expression. It is the train- 
ing ground for professional leadership. It is the medium 
thru which the voice of every teacher can be heard and 
translated, thru the channels of state and national associa- 
tions, into educational policy. 

In this connection the following statement by Dr. Edwin Mc- 
Neill Poteat should also be kept in mind: 

Freedom is placed in jeopardy more by those who will 
not exercise it than by those who will not permit it. Indif- 
ference opens more gates to the enemy than does tyranny. 

A Tribute to Local Leaders 

The 1955-56 NEA Handbook carried the following deserved 
tribute to local leaders by Dr. William G. Carr, Executive Secretary 
of the NEA 

It is inspiring to think of the local association leaders 
who have helped accomplish the educational progress we 
see all about us. No one gives them the recognition they 
deserve. No one could be eloquent enough to express the 
debt the entire nation owes to their leadership, their un- 
assuming devotion, their cooperative spirit. The officers 
of these local associations often serve at a great sacrifice 
of time and energy. They have their reward, however, 
millions of children in this country are having better 
schools and better teachers because of their efforts. Teach- 



122 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

ers are receiving higher salaries and have profited by 
other improved welfare measures made possible year after 
year by their loyalty and professional services. Without 
the help of thousands of local leaders working in hun- 
dreds of local associations, the state and national associa- 
tions would be small and ineffective. 

The Ideal Local Association 

The same Handbook also carried the following significant 
list of standards and statement regarding the value of local asso- 
ciations 

1. Has a dynamic program for serving its members and 
the community. 

2. Has a written constitution. 

3. Meets regularly (at least four times a year). 

4. Has a plan for unified collection of dues in local, 
state, and national associations. 

5. Has adopted, or is working toward a single fee (uni- 
fied dues) for NEA, state, and local organizations. 

6. Plans its programs carefully to interest the majority 
of the group. 

7. Keeps accurate records regarding all business of the 
association. 

8. Maintains continuous affiliation with the state asso- 
ciation (if the state so provides) and with the NEA. 

9. Makes provisions for expenses of delegates to attend 
state and national conventions and conferences. 

10. Carries on all letterheads and publications a state- 
ment clearly indicating the status of its affiliation 
with the state and national associations. 

11. Answers official mail from state and national asso- 
ciations promptly. 

12. Issues a local publication if finances permit. 

13. Endorses and actively promotes the Centennial Action 
Program of the NEA. 

14. Maintains active committees: 

(a) To formulate and carry out a progressive pro- 
gram for improvement of local educational 
services. 

(b) To provide a forum for discussing educational 



Local Teachers Associations 123 

and professional organization problems of state 
and nation. 

(c) To develop good fellowship by providing social 
and recreational activities for its members. 

(d) To carry on an effective public-relations pro- 
gram. 

(e) To work with lay organizations in community 
activities. 

(f) To arrange meetings at which candidates for 
public office may discuss their platforms. 

(g) To cooperate with the state association on legis- 
lation affecting the schools such as school sup- 
port, tenure, retirement, minimum salary sched- 
ules, 

(h) To cooperate with the NEA on national legis- 
lation affecting education. 

(i) To care for the welfare of members thru such 
activities as: 

Certification Sabbatical leave 

Consumers 9 cooperatives Salary schedules 

Contractual relationships School budgets and finance 

Credit unions Sick leave 

Group insurance Teacher load 

Hospitalization Teacher rating 

Loan and relief funds- Tenure 
Retirement 

The Local Association An Opportunity for Growth. 

The work of our state and national associations often 
seems far removed from the average teacher. He may live 
and retire without ever taking an active part in these 
organizations. He may pay dues and attend meetings, but 
he may never raise his voice to utter a conviction ; he may 
never lift his finger to further a project. In the local 
association, however, working among friends over prob- 
lems of vital personal concern, he will have a feeling of 
belonging; he will be aware of an urge to take part. 
If he works, his interests will grow; he will become a 



124 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

better teacher; Ms community will be a better community; 
Ms profession will become a better profession. The state 
and national associations will seem less remote and in- 
creased interest and participation will come as a by 
product of local work well performed. With active par- 
ticipation in local association problems will come a 
keener interest and intelligent support in state and national 
organization affairs, and the NEA will have a new meaning 
and influence to thousands of teachers. 



WONDER WHY 
WE'RE NOT 
GOING FASTER? 




The Hitch-Hikers 



CHMTER XVHI 

PRESIDENTS 

Presidents of the National Education Association, like Presi- 
dents of the United States, have not always been the outstanding 
leaders of their time. However, most of them have been above 
average and some of them have been significantly outstanding. 

Thomas W. Bicknell (1884) must have been an unusually im- 
pressive, dynamic character. He traveled more than 1200 miles 
at his own expense, making arrangements for his convention held 
in Madison, Wisconsin, and attended by more than 5000 educators 
from every state in the Union and several foreign lands. Presidents 
Nicholas Murray Butler (1895), Charles W. Eliot (1903), and 
David Starr Jordan (1915) 5 were also men of distinction. Of 
course, they may not have been as conspicuous before they were 
elected to the presidency of the Association as they were afterward. 
I remember hearing Dr. Crabtree call attention to this fact once 
when someone was complaining that the NEA no longer had "giants" 
as presidents. He intimated that perhaps the NEA helped to make 
the "giants!" 

In his vigorous, driving power, Dr. George D. Stray er (1919) 
resembled Dr. Bicknell. Dr. Fred Hunter (1921) also was a man 
of towering strength whose roar frightened one of the convention 
clerks into a faint when she hesitated to give him a confidential 
list of the nominating committee at the 1920 summer convention. 

Charl Ormond Williams (1922) was a southern lady of dis- 
tinction, born and reared in Tennessee, good-looking, intelligent, 
ambitious and industrious. She began teaching in a one-room school 
and soon worked her way up to the County Superintendency. In 
behalf of the schools of Shelby County she fought the local poli- 
ticians to a standstill and secured for the boys and girls of her 
community a superior school system. She believed enthusiastically 
in upgrading the members of her staff and in teacher participation 
in professional organizations. She organized special trains to 

125 



126 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

bring the teachers of her County to NEA Conventions. Back in 
the early days of the twentieth century, before it was usual for 
women to take a conspicuous part in public affairs, she became 
County Superintendent, Secretary of the NEA Department of Super- 
intendence (1920), and President of the National Education Associ- 
ation. 

A vigorous champion of women's rights, including the franchise, 
and a recognized leader in the Democratic Party of her state and 
of the nation, she became an ardent admirer of President Franklin 
D. and Mrs. Roosevelt and was never happier than when she was 
visiting with them. As Vice-chairman of the Democratic National 
Committee, she helped secure suffrage for women. She was ap- 
pointed Director of Field Service in 1922 at a time when lobbying 
was held in low esteem, but the understanding was definite and 
clear that her primary responsibility was to win friends and votes 
for the Federal Aid to Education Bill and to this cause she gave 
many of the best years of her life. In 1938 she inaugurated a series 
of Institutes on Professional and Public Relations, held usually in 
connection with summer schools for teachers. These made a signifi- 
cant contribution to the professionalization of teaching. 

Miss Williams' chief assets were her looks, her health, her 
brains and her ambition. No one ever saw Charl Williams without 
wishing to meet her. No one ever met her without feeling the 
force of her personality. Hers was a dominating character which 
enabled her to achieve many honors and to mingle freely and 
proudly with celebrities. She retired from the NEA staff on Decem- 
ber first, 1949, but has continued an active interest in national and 
world affairs. 

Most of the Headquarters Staff were sincerely frightened 
when Francis G. Blair (1927) was elected at the Philadelphia 
convention. He was a rump candidate and for years had been 
known to be vigorously opposed to Federal Aid and a Department 
of Education in the federal government. Fortunately, he learned 
rapidly under Secretary Crabtree's tuition and proved to be an 
excellent president. 

Miss Mary McSkimmon and Miss Cornelia Adair were rival 
candidates at the Indianapolis convention in 1925, the first time 
that the nominations for President were made from the floor on the 
roll call of states. I shall never forget the enthusiasm developed 



Presidents 127 

among the delegates during the roll-call, nor the remark made 
by one of the delegates as the nominating s-ession adjourned: "The 
North against the South and the North won again!" From that 
moment I began to hope that the custom of having the officers 
nominated on a roll call of the states could be eliminated. Miss 
McSkimmon proved an excellent President dignified and cul- 
tured, calm and collected, a typical New England lady, always 
in command of the situation. 

Miss Adair was elected without competition at the Seattle 
meeting in 1927, suggesting the precedent of the runner-up being 
next in line, which, while eminently justified in this particular 
case, has fortunately been broken often enough so that it has not 
become too firmly fixed as an invariable custom. At the Minneap- 
olis convention in 1928, she presided with all of the grace and 
dignity which tradition has attached to the ladies of the South. She 
was a credit, not only to the South, but to the classroom teachers 
whom she represented as their first President. While Miss Adair 
was never one to intrude or aspire for further office or power, she, 
like Dr. Strayer and several other past presidents-, has continued to 
serve the Association in numerous important positions following 
her term as President. 

Willis Sutton (1931) and Florence Hale (1932) were two of 
the most colorful presidents that the Association has ever enjoyed. 
Dr. Sutton won his spurs as the host for the Atlanta Convention 
in 1929. While his presidency was not purchased by the peaches, 
watermelons and free Coca Cola served in the circus tent just out- 
side the Exhibit Hall in Atlanta, they were such a spontaneous and 
natural expression of the Southern hospitality which he represented, 
that everyone who attended that convention vowed that Willis Sutton 
should be the next male president. He ran against "Uncle Joe" 
Rosier, who was generally considered the administration candidate 
and while they kept the campaign on a high political level, I shall 
never forget how surprised I was to note during the election that 
even great men might be worried as to the outcome of their can- 
didacies. On election day they both hovered most of the time 
conspicuously close to the election booth and it was evident that 
they were deeply concerned, each hoping to be the victor. For 
years following his term, Dr. Sutton's shaggy, white hair, wealth 
of southern stories and ability to thrill an audience enabled him 



128 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

to serve the cause of education in a manner equaled by few of 
our presidents. 

I first met "Flossie" Hale at Cedar Point, Ohio, in 1925. 
She was struggling up the hill from the boat landing to the hotel 
with a heavy suitcase and appreciated the helping hand which 
I was glad to give her. She had made her first national impression 
at the San Francisco convention in 1923 when, as the last speaker 
on a long and dreary program she arrested the stampeding audience 
with a loud voice and a humorous story. Many who were hastening 
for the door heard her begin, hesitated, and were glad that they 
sat down to listen. From that moment her ambition to become 
President burned with increasing fervor and Dr. Winship, her 
political sponsor and mentor, had difficulty keeping her under 
control pending her turn nine years later. In the meanwhile, her 
platform presence improved annually and we have had few presi- 
dents about whose public appearances the Headquarters Office 
received more glowing reports. 

Radio broadcasting of educational programs was in its infancy 
during those days and for several years the NBC gave her a weekly 
program assignment which contributed materially to the NEA public 
relations program. A good story regarding her, gained general 
currency just after her election- One of her admirers, thoroughly 
thrilled, said to another long-time friend, "Isn't it fine, Flossie's 
election?" The other with a perfectly straight face, said, "Don't 
you know that I haven't spoken to her for five years?" "No! Why 
not?" "She never stopped talking long enough to give me a chance!" 

Dr. John Dewey was elected Honorary President in 1932. The 
Charter and Bylaws of the Association do not provide for any Honor- 
ary Presidents but we have had three, Dr. Dewey, Dr, A. E. Winship, 
and Dr. Susan M. Dorsey. The full story of their elections has 
never been written. However, interesting incidents connected with 
them are recorded in the 1932 and 1933 Volumes of Addresses and 
Proceedings, and I still recall vividly the apprehension which many 
of us felt during the 1932 summer convention at Atlantic City. 

In the early thirties liberals in politics, economics and educa- 
tion were riding high and handsome throughout our country. To 
many of the latter the NEA seemed hopelessly archaic and conserva- 
tive. Some believed that either the Progressive Education Associa- 
tion or the American Federation of Teachers would and should re- 



Presidents 129 

place it. Others believed that the NEA could be salvaged, enlarged, 
liberalized, vitalized and made more dynamic. 

At the 1932 summer convention, Dr. Joseph Rosier of West 
Virginia was the most promising candidate for election as president, 
but, much to the surprise of almost everyone. Dr. Dewey was 
nominated. Many of the leaders of the Association were dumb- 
founded. Most of them admired Dr. Dewey greatly, but they knew 
that he probably could not be elected and they hated to see him de- 
feated. They knew that those who had nominated him had little 
strength among the official delegates and they knew that if he ran 
as a candidate, his liberal social, political, economic, religious, and 
educational views would be featured, magnified, and probably 
distorted. 

Several efforts were made to have his name withdrawn, but in 
vain. His supporters were enthusiastic and stubborn. Eventually 
the matter was referred to the Board of Directors and many breathed 
a sincere sigh of relief when the nominating session was adjourned. 
During the following afternoon and evening the situation was can- 
vassed with great care, and the next morning the report of the special 
committee of the Board of Directors was adopted unanimously. 
This report provided that Dr. Dewey and Dr. Winship should be 
elected as Honorary Life Presidents of the Association. Obviously, 
Dr. Winship was included largely as camouflage so that Dr. Dewey's 
irregular election would not stand out too conspicuously. 

While I have no evidence on which to base my impression, 
I have always felt that Dr. Crabtree's shrewd influence probably 
played a large part in the development of the arrangements which 
resolved the situation so satisfactorily for all parties involved. Dr. 
Winship died in the spring of 1933 and Dr. Susan M. Dorsey, for 
many years Superintendent of Schools in Los Angeles, was elected 
Honorary President in his place at the Chicago Convention, July 7, 
1933. She died in 1946 and until Dr. Dewey's death in 1952 he 
was the sole Honorary President of the Association. 

Dr. Dewey was one of the great educational leaders of all time 
and I am glad that I had a course under him in 1912-13 at Teachers 
College. It was a seminar entitled "The Psychological Analysis of 
Human Experience" and I got permission to take it by bluffing. I 
had a short course in psychology at Hamilton College but it had 
been exceedingly elementary, and as a result I saw daylight only 



130 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

once or twice In the whole of Dr. Dewey's course; but ever since, 
I have been catching glimpses of what he was talking about. Some 
of his books have been too deep for me, but his little book, "Interest 
and Effort in Education," brought me great relief. It freed me from 
the false doctrine of formal, mental discipline and from superstitious 
worship of the classics. 

Reuben T. Shaw (1939) was, in many ways, a veritable "bull 
in a china shop," but he had strong convictions regarding certain 
changes in the NEA organization and policy for which he fought 
valiantly against heavy odds. Many leaders in the Association felt 
that he was always dominated by selfish motives, but I came to know 
him intimately enough to feel that while, like most human beings 
who arrive, he was actuated by mixed motives, he was not wholly 
selfish. He was sincerely and devoutly interested in the cause of 
education and in strengthening the Association as well as in Reuben 
Shaw. While his battle to get the NEA Representative Assembly 
and Board of Directors democratized by amendment of the Charter 
so as to eliminate the custom of having past presidents become 
ex officio life directors and life members of the Representative 
Assembly, may have weakened the Board of Directors somewhat, 
since it deprived the Association of the immediate services of re- 
cently-trained leaders, it reduced the hazard of domination by a 
clique and increased the challenge for elected delegates to partici- 
pate. 

Donald DuShane (1941) won his election to the presidency 
by his work as chairman of the Association's Tenure Committee 
(1933-40), and he came to the Headquarters Staff under a handicap 
since he was a past president of the Association. It is always 
hazardous for our Association to take a past president onto its Head- 
quarters Staff for two reasons. It encourages every President or 
prospective President to try to feather his own nest by making a 
place for himself on the Staff and it is likely to give the impression 
on the outside that the Headquarters Staff is selected for political 
reasons rather than on the basis of merit. The NEA has been par- 
ticularly free from this latter charge due to the shrewd leadership of 
its Secretaries and other officers. 

Dr. DuShane worked hard for the establishment of the Com- 
mission on the Defense of Democracy Through Education and be- 
came its first Secretary. The converting of the National Association 



Presidents 131 

of Manufacturers was one of his early assignments. During the 
depression of the early thirties the NAM was taking pot shots at the 
teaching profession. Doubtless some of its leaders honestly believed 
that many teachers, particularly college professors and text-book 
writers, were dangerous, subversive radicals who were undermining 
the faith of our youth in the American Way of Life. They hired 
Dr. Robey of Columbia University to investigate text-books and by 
taking certain excerpts out of their setting, he gathered evidence 
which seemed to justify their claims and their fears. 

At this point Dr. DuShane went into action. He went to New 
York and secured personal conferences with several of the leaders 
in the NAM. He showed them that they were making themselves 
ridiculous by suggesting that most or even many of the teachers of 
our country were dangerous radicals. He called their attention to 
the magnificent work that many of the teachers were doing, under 
real handicaps, in teaching solid, substantial Americanism. He ex- 
plained that the NEA was as much opposed to Communism as they 
were and to prove his point he engineered through the NEA Repre- 
sentative Assembly in 1940 an amendment to our Bylaws which 
made Communists ineligible for membership in the Association. He 
also called the attention of the leaders in the NAM to the fact that the 
members of the NEA recognized the fact that the schools belonged 
to the public, since they furnished both the children who attend them 
as well as the cash with which they are financed. Furthermore he 
challenged the members of the NAM to sit down around a conference 
table with leading educators and to tell the educators what kind of 
schools they wanted for their children. 

The industrialists accepted his challenge and soon ran away 
with the ball. They became so enthusiastic about conferences of 
this kind that they began to hold them in all parts of the country, 
paying the bills themselves. They also discovered that the schools 
were an excellent medium for spreading the gospel of free enterprise 
and inaugurated a publication, "Educational Trends," which they 
distributed free to educational leaders, and at their National Con- 
vention in New York City in December 1946 they passed the follow- 
ing astounding resolution: 

Recognizing that the effective functioning of the American 
education system has been greatly impaired by the eco- 
nomic aftermath of the war; 



132 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

Recognizing that the inequitable compensation which has 
generally prevailed for the teaching profession has been a 
major factor, among others, in creating a nation-wide 
shortage of competent teachers needed for the proper in- 
struction of millions of American school children; and 

Recognizing that subversive ideologies present a strong 
challenge and that high standards of educational intel- 
ligence are thus necessary to the preservation of the tradi- 
tional American way of life with its freedom for the in- 
dividual, for his enterprise in industry and for his oppor- 
tunity to win for himself by fair competitive means that 
place for which his abilities qualify him, which is the basis 
of the American free enterprise system, 

The Congress of American Industry urges manufac- 
turers everywhere to examine in their respective com- 
munities the need for improving teaching standards 
and supporting within the limit of community capa- 
bilities the establishment of compensation for the 
teaching profession that will insure the attraction of 
competent men and women to the profession. 1 

The investigation of the Chicago School System in 1944 illus- 
trates another phase of the outstanding service which Dr. DuShane 
rendered as Chairman of the NEA Commission on the Defense of 
Democracy Through Education. Numerous reports of corruption 
and malpractice in connection with the schools in Chicago and in- 
vitations for investigation from state and local groups resulted in an 
investigation spearheaded primarily by Dr. DuShane. The report 
of this investigation published in May 1945 resulted in the resigna- 
tion of the Board of Education; the expulsion of Superintendent 
Johnson from membership in the National Education Association 
and from his position as Superintendent of Schools; and the appoint- 
ment of a new Board of Education and a new Superintendent of 
Schools in Chicago. As a "trouble shooter" Donald DuShane was 
"tops." No man in the United States was better qualified by nature 
or training for that particular type of work. He loved it and did 
it well. 

Mrs. Pearl A. Wanamaker (1947) appeared on the scene in 
1946 suddenly, unexpectedly and almost unknown outside of her 

1 "Trends in Education-Industry Cooperation" January 1947, p. 3. 



Presidents 133 

home state, but she swept the convention off its feet, won the elec- 
tion hands down, and gave us- one of the most delightful administra- 
tions that we ever enjoyed. Wherever she went she scintillated, 
radiated good will, and gave the impression of strength and power 
which was both wholesome and thrilling. A significant and de- 
served characterization was made by someone who said, "She was 
a lady with glamor who was not afraid to have brains!" 

I have known "Andy" Holt (1950) intimately ever since he 
became Secretary of the Tennessee Education Association in 1937, 
and have had a growing admiration for him in spite of the fact that 
he has seldom followed my advice. Soon after I first met him he 
introduced me to a delightful girl in Nashville, the daughter of a 
very distinguished educational leader. Knowing that he was an 
eligible bachelor, needing a good wife to help him realize his full 
potentialities, I advised him to many her. I am not sure whether 
he had already met Martha, his present wife, but at any rate, his 
judgment was better than mine! 

Some years later, during World War II, he dropped into my 
office and asked what I thought of his joining the Army for service 
in connection with the "Pre-Induction Training Branch." I advised 
against it, since I feared that he would find himself cornered, handi- 
capped, and frustrated by Army regulations and red tape, and since 
I felt that he could render much greater service as Secretary of the 
Education Association in his native state. A few months later he 
came in for another visit, wearing a major's uniform and announced 
that he was in the Pre-Induction Training Branch of the Army! 
He also ran for President of the NEA against my advice. I feared 
that he would be defeated, since he was a State Secretary and I knew 
that, in many quarters, a strong feeling existed against State Secre- 
taries aspiring to the presidency of the Association. However, he 
won with ease and proved to be one of our most successful presi- 
dents. His intimate acquaintance with the problems of the pro- 
fession, gained during thirteen years as Executive Secretary of the 
Tennessee Education Association, his thoroughly democratic phil- 
osophy of life, his unpretentious manner, and his keen sense of 
humor multiplied his friends enormously and enabled him to win in- 
numerable friends for the cause which he represented so creditably. 



CHAPTER XIX 

GENIUSES AND NEAR GENIUSES 



If I were to suggest that during the twenty-five years I was at 
the NEA Headquarters we had only two geniuses on the staff, I 
would probably start an argument which would run for at least a 
decade. In spite of this danger, I am going to do so because I 
believe it, and I am also willing to nominate Joy Elmer Morgan and 
William G. Carr as the candidates. 

The dictionary suggests that a genius is a person of superior 
intellectual power and creative ability. Of course, that definition 
would apply to many more members of the Headquarters Staff than 
two. However, most of us, when talking about geniuses, think in 
terms of super-superior ability in one or more fields. Doctors 
Morgan and Carr both qualify under this classification, for they not 
only have exceptional intellectual ability in general, but they are, in 
addition, two of the best speakers and best writers on the staff. Both 
of them are also outstanding idealists, usually thinking ten to fifty 
years ahead of most of us. 

Sometimes geniuses are supposed to possess not only unusual 
intellectual ability but certain eccentricities or idiosyncrasies which 
make them at least a little peculiar and set them off from the rank 
and file. Dr. Morgan has some of these. He is always riding a 
hobby, sometimes two or three at the same time, nearly always a new 
one annually. He is a great fellow for starting a project and after 
riding it as a, hobby for some time, passing it to someone else to 
foster and carry on. American Education Week, Citizenship Week, 
Personal Growth Leaflets, the Horace Mann League, the Future 
Teachers of America and the National Congress of Parents and 
Teachers are significant illustrations. He was influential in foster- 
ing if not in inaugurating each of these. He also has two passions, 
efficiency and promotion quotas. His desire to have many irons 
in the fire at the same time and to keep them all moving forward 
at a hot pace, makes a casual conversation with him a little difficult. 




William G. Carr, Executive Secretary 
National Education Association 



Geniuses and Near Geniuses 135 

He is always gracious, cordial and glad to see you when you call, 
but equally happy when you finish your business so that he can move 
on to the next important matter. 

As a promoter he was probably the best on the staff and I am 
personally greatly indebted to Mm for his constructive suggestions 
and constant cooperation. He not only had ideas but frequently 
he went into action and helped to implement them. He "spark- 
plugged" the 1943 War and Peace Fund Campaign in a most effec- 
tive manner and was one of the principal sponsors of the 1946-51 
Victory Action Program and the 1951-57 Centennial Action Program 
with their stimulating goals and membership quotas. Since his re- 
tirement in 1954 he has continued enthusiastically active by develop- 
ing an important national program for senior citizens. 

Dr. Carr lacks the peculiarities which characterize most 
geniuses. He is quiet and winsome, almost youthful in his appear- 
ance, and when you drop in for a visit with him in the office or at 
his home he is always calm, casual and as unpretentious as any ordi- 
nary human being. He seems never under pressure, but the public 
reads his writings with great enthusiasm and after he has made a 
speech they rise spontaneously in tribute to a great leader. On 
several occasions he has been offered tempting positions on College 
and University faculties and the NEA has been fortunate in being 
able to keep him on its staff. We would not have been able to do 
so if the Association had not given him opportunities for service in 
international as well as national affairs. He was one of the out- 
standing leaders who, in 1945, at San Francisco, fought victoriously 
for the inclusion of education in the United Nations and in 1946 
he was largely responsible for launching the World Organization 
of the Teaching Profession, now the World Confederation of Organ- 
izations of the Teaching Profession, of which he is Secretary General. 

When, behind the scenes, in 1950, discussion began regarding 
a successor for Dr. Givens as Executive Secretary of the Association, 
I was not enthusiastic about the suggestion that Dr. Carr should be 
selected for this important position. My admiration and affection 
for him were so deep and genuine that I did not want him to be af- 
flicted with the innumerable headaches that come inevitably to the 
Executive Secretary of a large and cumbersome organization like 
the National Education Association. Besides this, Dr. Carr was 
doing such important work as Secretary of the NEA Educational 



136 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

Policies Commission and as Secretary General of the World Organ- 
ization of the Teaching Profession, that I felt that he should be al- 
lowed to continue the responsibilities of these positions. However, 
the Board of Trustees of the Association thought otherwise and in 
January 1952 they elected him to be the Executive Secretary of the 
Association upon the retirement of Dr. Givens on July thirty-first 
and in his new position he has continued to render valiant service 
to the Association and to the profession. 

During the past quarter of a century near-geniuses have been 
numerous on the NEA Headquarters Staff. However, since space 
limits permit mention of only a few, I have selected six, mostly 
from the "Old Guard." 

S. D. Shankland was one of the outstanding educational states- 
men of his generation. Drafted in 1921 as the first full-time Secre- 
tary of the NEA Department of Superintendence, he served for a 
quarter of a century in this strategic position with few words of 
criticism ever directed against him and thousands of complimentary 
tributes. 

His appointment came at a time when some of the younger 
members of the Department were advocating secession from the 
parent organization. They knew that the Department was one of 
the most important units of the organization and they, like many an 
adolescent child, felt that its full development was hampered by too 
close association with the rest of the family. At that time Dr. Crab- 
tree, Secretary of the parent association, was not held in high esteem 
by some of the superintendents of the country. They knew little 
of his magnificent service to the profession. His native modesty 
was against him ; he was exceedingly busy with the rapidly expand- 
ing program which he had launched for the parent association and 
his philosophy of teacher participation was resented by many of 
the administrators who were either autocratic by nature or felt that 
they and they alone were competent to determine the policies of the 
schools of the nation. 

Fortunately, the wiser counsels of the elder statesmen prevailed 
and a compromise was effected. The Department of Superintend- 
ence was given permission to establish its own dues and Mr. Shank- 
land was selected to administer its affairs. While he had never 
been superintendent of a large school system, he had had practical 
experience as a teacher, principal and superintendent in his home 



Geniuses and Near Geniuses 137 

town of Willoughby, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and had served 
two terms in the Ohio legislature. As secretary of the Northeast 
Section of the Ohio Education Association for ten years, he had also 
demonstrated his ability as an administrator of professional organ- 
izations. 

Among his outstanding qualities were his affability, his in- 
dustry, his . integrity and his f orthrightness. While not autocratic 
by nature, he frequently spoke in a loud voice and there was never 
any uncertainty as to his meaning. He typified the qualities which 
he frequently mentioned as being essential for a good administrator 
the ability to give the right answer promptly with a high batting 
average of being right, preferably ninety per cent or better; the 
ability to say "No" "Hell, No!" was one of his favorite expres- 
sions and the ability to get advice and high loyalty from his em- 
ployees and his associates. 

Harold A. Allan was born in Canada but grew up in Maine 
and thus inherited a New England background which enabled him 
to become one of the best business managers that any organization 
ever enjoyed. After graduating from Bates College in 1906 he 
served for two years with the Lewiston Journal; as Deputy State 
Superintendent of Schools with Dr. Payson Smith, 1908 - 15; and 
as a General Education Board Agent for Rural Education under Dr. 
A. 0. Thomas, 1916-22. During these years Dr. Florence Hale was 
his immediate associate. From 1910 to 1916 he served as the first 
part-time secretary of the Maine Teachers Association, as President 
of the NEA Department of Rural Education, 1918-20, and as State 
NEA Director for Maine, 1920-22. The fact that the NEA mem- 
bership in Maine grew from 83 in 1918 to 2,105 in 1922, may not 
have been wholly responsible for his appointment as Director of 
the NEA Business Division on February 1, 1923, but Dr. Crabtree 
was too shrewd a man to let such evidence of ability go unnoticed. 

Altho he attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education 
in 1922, Harold refuses to be classified as an "educationist." 
Nevertheless his fourteen years of experience in the Maine State 
Department of Education, his industry, his efficiency and his ability 
to handle a multitude of details without getting lost in the forest, 
enabled him to render distinguished service for more than a quarter 
of a century to a growing organization dedicated to the cause of 
building a teaching profession. As watchdog of the exchequer he 



138 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

sometimes stepped on other people's pet projects by calling attention 
to the fact that there was no money with which to finance them, but 
by increasing the Association's income from Journal advertising and 
convention exhibits, he helped materially toward solving the ever 
present, annual problem of balancing the budget. 

When he and Mr. Shankland joined the NEA Staff, the Asso- 
ciation's conventions, especially the commercial exhibits, were com- 
paratively small and amateurish affairs but under their expert 
management they became nationally recognized as being among the 
largest and most significant in the country. Upon his retirement 
from the NEA Staff on November 30, 1948, he was elected to a four- 
year term on the NEA Board of Trustees that the Association might 
continue to profit by his advice and counsel. Judd and Detweiler, 
the Washington printers of the National Geographic Magazine and 
many other publications, promptly added him to their staff as a con- 
sultant and special advisor on business affairs. 

Harriett Chase was teaching in Lysander, New York, when the 
United States entered World War I. Responding to the patriotic 
urge of the times, she sought service with the government, took a 
Civil Service examination and was assigned July 1, 1918, to the 
Treasury Department in Washington where she worked for a few 
weeks and then joined the Navy as a Yeoman and was assigned to 
the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Shortly after the NEA Head- 
quarters was moved to the Guggenheim Mansion in 1920, she joined 
the Staff as Chief Assistant to the Secretary and in this capacity 
rendered royal service until her retirement in 1953. 

Like Suzanne Wright, Miss Chase grew up with the Association 
and, thru her close contacts with the leaders, came to know all of 
them intimately, many of them by their first names. The Presi- 
dents, the Executive Committee, the Boards of Trustees and Directors 
and the Delegates to the Representative Assemblies were her major 
responsibilities and the first Life Membership Campaign was her 
chief joy. While Dr. Crabtree wrote the original drafts of most of 
the campaign letters, Miss Chase followed thru and welcomed each 
of the new enlistments with personal enthusiasm. Quiet, modest 
and efficient, Harriett Chase is loved by thousands for her loyalty 
to her friends and her devotion to the NEA and the teaching pro- 
fession. 

When Dr. John K. Norton joined the NEA Staff in 1922, he 



Geniuses and Near Geniuses 139 

found waiting for him a large flat-topped desk, a pad of scratch 
paper, a dozen sharp lead pencils and an opportunity. For five 
years after Dr. Crabtree's election to the Secretaryship of the Asso- 
ciation, Dr. George Dayton Strayer, Dr. Edward S. Evenden and 
other leaders of that type had been serving valiantly on a part-time, 
volunteer basis, gathering the facts necessary to alert the public to 
the needs of the current educational emergency. They had demon- 
strated the need for a full-time Director of Research but Dr. Crab- 
tree was looking for the right man and for the money with which 
to pay his salary. 

After graduating from Leland Stanford University in 1916, 
Dr. Norton served as a teacher and administrator in California 
schools, as a Captain in the United States Army and as a member 
of the U. S. Olympic Track Team. At Paris in 1920, he set a world 
record for the 440 yard hurdle race. His reputation as a research 
worker reached Washington thru Dr. Fred Hunter, Superintendent 
of Schools in Oakland, California, and President of the NEA in 
1921. Both Dr. Hunter and Dr. Crabtree were enthusiastic believers 
in the importance of a fully organized profession and a well-staffed 
NEA Headquarters Office. 

Soon after he arrived in Washington, Dr. Norton realized that 
the task to which he had been called demanded a competent staff 
and in addition to clerical personnel, he requested an assistant of 
outstanding ability. Dr. Margaret Alltucker, a graduate of the 
University of California, was appointed to the position in 1923. 
For half a dozen years they worked side by side developing a re- 
search program and staff. In 1926 they were joined by Dr. Frank 
W. Hubbard, now Assistant Executive Secretary of the NEA in 
charge of Information Services and in 1929 by Dr. William G. Carr, 
now Executive Secretary of the Association, 

In the summer of 1929, Dr. Norton served as a visiting pro- 
fessor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Dr. Alltucker 
served in a similar capacity at the University of California. At the 
close of the summer session, Dr. Norton stopped one morning at Dr. 
Crabtree's desk and asked if he could have a few days extra vaca- 
tion so that he could have a brief visit with his mother who was 
Principal of an elementary school in San Francisco. In his usual 
gracious manner, Dr. Crabtree granted the request and I can still 
remember the complete surprise caused by the night letter addressed 



140 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

to Dr. Crabtree which arrived on the morning of August 24, 1929, 
and ran somewhat as follows: 

By the time this message reaches you, we will have been 
married in the Leland Stanford Chapel. 

Cordially yours, 

Margaret and John K. Norton 

In 1931, Dr. Norton accepted an invitation to join the staff of 
the Department of Educational Administration at Teachers College, 
Columbia University. While we were sorry to lose him and his 
wife from our Staff, we rejoiced in the distinction which the new 
position brought and were delighted that we did not lose his services 
entirely. For two years, 1933-35, he served as Chairman of the 
NEA-AASA Joint Commission on the Emergency in Education; for 
seven years, 1936-43, as a member of the Educational Policies Com- 
mission and for two years, 1948-50, he was Chairman of this dis- 
tinguished group. 

Howard Dawson was born short of stature but not of brains or 
temper. In many fields he is as smart as they make them. When 
he was making a speech before Summer School students at Teachers 
College, Columbia University some years ago, a mutual friend 
leaned over and whispered to me, "That man is a real orator!" He 
is an excellent story teller, too. Born and reared in Arkansas, he 
worked his way through Peabody College in Nashville and, as a 
member of the Staff of the State Department of Education of his 
home state, he specialized in rural education and became a recog- 
nized, national authority in the field of the consolidation of rural 
school districts. In 1935 we tempted him from the United States 
Office of Education where he was scheduled to become the Adminis- 
trative Assistant to the Commissioner, Dr. John W. Studebaker. We 
needed him badly to head up the work of our Department of Rural 
Education. For several years he also directed our legislative pro- 
gram. On three occasions we nearly lost him to college presidencies 
and I've always been glad that he stayed with us to work for better 
rural schools. 

I met Ralph McDonald first in the early forties when on a field 
trip in North Carolina. We were attending a leaders 5 conference 
of the State Association in Durham, and I was greatly impressed by 
his dynamic, enthusiastic, affable personality. Early in August of 



Geniuses and Near Geniuses 141 

1944 when I heard that he had been invited to become assistant to 
Dr. DuShane, Secretary of our Commission on the Defense of De- 
mocracy Through Education, I rushed upstairs to Dr. DuShane's 
office to congratulate him upon his good judgment and good for- 
tune. Much to my delight I found Ralph already there. A& soon 
as I had welcomed him, I turned to Dr. DuShane and explained that 
I had just heard of his achievement in securing Ralph as a member 
of his staff and that I had come up to congratulate him, "For," said 
I, "I honestly believe that this is the finest service that you have 
rendered the NEA since you joined our Staff/' I have never seen 
any reason for modifying that statement. 

Ralph was born in Illinois but did his undergradute study at 
Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas. He received his master's and 
doctor's degrees from Duke University and began his school career 
in 1923 as a teacher of mathematics at Fort Smith, Arkansas. 
In 1924 he became principal of Sunnyside consolidated schools 
in Cumberland County, N. C. He taught at Duke University and 
at Salem College in North Carolina, served a term in the North 
Carolina House of Representatives and ran once as a candidate for 
the Governorship of the State before joining the NEA staff. 

Dr. McDonald remained on the Staff of our Defense Commis- 
sion only four months because the "powers that he" soon decided 
that he could render a greater service as the Secretary of our newly- 
revived Department of Higher Education and he was appointed to 
that position on December 1, 1944. This department, one of the 
original three organizations which merged in 1870 to form the Na- 
tional Education Association, had died in 1924. It was revived in 
1942, largely through the efforts of Dr. Alonzo Myers of New York 
University but was not showing conspicuous signs of healthy growth. 
It needed someone with a rich background of experience in the fields 
of professional organizations and higher education and with vision 
and driving enthusiasm for the important work needing to be done. 
Ralph had these qualifications and in spite of discouraging handi- 
caps and complex problems he started a program of exceedingly 
valuable service in this important area. 

While in many ways he was an impractical idealist, he had a 
realistic approach to organizational matters which enabled him to 
set up some of the most effective conferences staged by any of our 
commissions or departments. His national conferences, held prior 



142 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

to the annual meetings of the NEA Representative Assembly., fre- 
quently stirred the delegates so deeply that proposals which some of 
us supposed would not be voted for years, were approved almost 
unanimously. 

Dr. McDonald's energies were devoted primarily to four im- 
portant projects recruiting teachers for the elementary schools, 
eliminating emergency certificates, raising the certification standards 
of our profession and stimulating college professors into participa- 
tion in the affairs of our professional organizations. 

The Association was fortunate in having this pertinent program 
well under way just at the time when the public, having raised the 
salaries of teachers materially, began to demand improved services. 
The program developed by Dr. McDonald, the Commission on 
Teacher Education and Professional Standards, and the Department 
of Higher Education, enabled us to assure those who inquired what 
we were doing in this field, that we had already started a dynamic 
program designed to mobilize the full strength of the profession be- 
hind this important work. 

When Dr. McDonald resigned his position on the NEA Staff 
on August 29, 1951, to become President of Bowling Green Univer- 
sity., he left behind a program of action and a record of achievement 
for which many of us were very grateful. 



The Art of the Future 

Every age has had its own art., the art which best expressed 
its aspirations. The art of the next century or so may be 
the art of teaching. Why not? To mold human beings 
into their finest possibilities involves the same epic strug- 
gle to create beauty and harmony out of stubborn, ma- 
terial limitations, which is the foundation of all great art. 

DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER 



CHAPTER XX 
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS 



A growing interest in professional ethics has characterized the 
first half of the twentieth century in our country. The earliest code 
of professional ethics was probably the famous Oath of Hippocrates, 
promulgated in the fourth century B.C. This still serves as the 
basic concept in the code of the medical profession. Its final para- 
graph is a classic statement of the spirit which is supposed to per- 
meate the codes of all professions: 

While I continue to keep this oath unviolated, may it be 
granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art, 
respected by all men in all time! But should I trespass 
and violate this oath, may the reverse be my lot. 

The American Bar Association is said to have formulated its 
first code in 1836. However, its present code, "Canons of Profes- 
sional Ethics," dates back only to 1908 and the "Canons of Judicial 
Ethics" to 1923. The American Pharmaceutical Association 
adopted its code in 1852 and the American Veterinary Medical 
Association in 1866. From that date until the beginning of the 
twentieth century few, if any, codes of professional ethics were 
adopted. 

In 1924 Professor Edgar L. Heermance of Yale University 
published a book entitled "Codes of Ethics" which included approxi- 
mately 200 different codes or statements of standard practices 
adopted by various professional, industrial and commercial groups. 
Few of these appeared before the beginning of the present century; 
fifty-two were adopted between 1900 and 1920 and 140 between 
1920 and 1924. 

At a meeting of the Interprofessional Committee of the Ameri- 
can Academy of Political and Social Science held in 1919 leaders 
in various fields discussed the value of codes and statements of prac- 
tice as means for improving both professional service and profes- 

143 



144 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

sional relationships. As a sequel to this conference the May 1922 
issue of the Annals of the Academy was devoted almost wholly to 
this subject. Practically all of the opinions expressed in these 
articles were to the effect that codes of ethics and statements of ap- 
proved practices are effective steps toward better professional con- 
duct and higher social levels. 

For more than a quarter of a century. Rotary International con- 
ducted a vigorous campaign encouraging all of its members to use 
their influence toward the adoption of codes of ethics for their par- 
ticular groups. Its pamphlet, "The Rotarian and His Trade Asso- 
ciation," includes a list of 158 association codes reported between 
1922 and 1940. 

Among teachers the development of professional standards of 
conduct has paralleled roughly the movement in other vocational 
groups. The first state code of ethics for teachers was adopted by 
the Georgia Education Association in 1896. Since then 46 other 
state associations have adopted similar documents. Most of these 
were adopted during the decade, 1920-1930. Nevada is the only 
state teachers association which has not yet adopted an official code 
of ethics for its members. Many of these state codes were published 
in the 1948 Report of the NEA Committee on Professional Ethics. 
Hundreds of codes have also been prepared by individuals, local 
associations and other groups within the profession. 

In 1924 the National Education Association appointed a com- 
mittee which, after five years of careful study, prepared a national 
code for teachers which was adopted in 1929. This was thoroughly 
revised in 1941, in 1944 and in 1952. In 1943 an abridged copy 
of the code was prepared for use as a poster. 

"Ethics is beginning to be fashionable," wrote Dr. Richard 
C. Cabot in 1926, in his book, "Adventures on the Borderlands of 
Ethics." The frequent treatment which problems of professional 
ethics have received during recent years in textbooks prepared for 
use in professional schools, in trade journals, and at state and na- 
tional conventions is striking evidence of the growing interest in 
these problems. This activity has grown so great that we are now 
fully justified in saying that professional ethics has become fashion- 
able, especially among teachers. 

My personal interest in ethics is one of long standing and mixed 
motives. Its beginnings date back to the spring of 1911 when Dr. 



Professional Ethics 145 

Melanchthon Woolsey Stryker, President of Hamilton College, of- 
fered to give me a course in ethics as part of my remuneration for 
serving as Physical Director at Hamilton College. My contract for 
the year, 1911-12, called for me to receive $700 cash, the privilege 
of rooming in the gymnasium, a course in ethics under President 
Stryker, a course in philosophy under Dr. William Harding Squires, 
a course in Hebrew under Professor Joseph Ibbetson, and my Master 
of Arts degree! 

When the time came for me to select a topic for my master's 
thesis, Dr. Stryker suggested the subject, "Conscience an In- 
herited or an Acquired Characteristic?" That was where I lost 
mine! In spite of the fact that he believed that the moral impera- 
tive was an inherited quality, I became convinced that the mechan- 
ism which makes an individual feel that a given course of conduct 
is right or wrong, is not a divinely installed, magic, moral compass 
but rather a set of standards approved by one or more persons which 
the individual has accepted as his conduct pace-setters. 

My special interest in professional ethics for teachers developed 
some years later when my interest in building a teaching profession 
had become almost a passion and I discovered in Monroe's Cyclo- 
pedia of Education a statement by Dr. Henry Suzzallo to the effect 
that one of the essential characteristics of a profession is a code of 
ethics. 

This interest was increased later when, as Director of Member- 
ship on the NEA Headquarters Staff, my major interest in life had 
become the promotion of membership; for, in studying codes of 
ethics, I found that many of them carried a paragraph intimating 
that membership in professional organizations was a natural and 
normal expectation. The section dealing with this subject in the 
1948 edition of the NEA Code reads as follows: 

Every teacher should have membership in his local, state, 
and national organizations and should participate actively 
and unselfishly in them. 

Since my enthusiasm for promoting professional ethics among 
teachers stemmed from mixed motives, it has been easy for me to 
maintain a continuing interest in this important field. 

Early in 1928, after having reorganized the membership pro- 
motion work at the NEA office and reduced it more or less to routine 



146 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

procedure, I asked Secretary Crabtree if I might return to Teachers 
College, Columbia University, for the Summer Session of 1928 to 
resume work for my doctor's degree. He replied enthusiastically 
in the affirmative, and I wrote Dr. Robert Leonard, who was then 
Dean of Graduate Students, asking whether I could be reinstated 
and if he thought that there was adequate material for a doctor's 
dissertation in the field of professional ethics for teachers. 

He replied very promptly that he would be glad to arrange 
for my reinstatement, but that he knew little or nothing about the 
field of professional ethics. He intimated, however, that Dr. Wil- 
liam C. Bagley had done considerable work in this field and advised 
me to get in touch with him. I did and was happy to find him en- 
thusiastic about my proposal. He said that, for years, he had been 
hoping to have one of his students make a study in this field. He 
not only consented to serve as Chairman of my Committee, but sug- 
gested that Dr. Edward S. Evenden and Dr. James R. McGaughy 
would be good men to have on the committee. Dr. Evenden hesi- 
tated to serve, for he assured me that while he was interested in prob- 
lems of professional ethics, he was not interested in the development 
of a series of general platitudes, but when I assured him that I hoped 
to deal with concrete cases, he agreed to serve. 

Dr. George Strayer and other friends on the faculty also agreed 
to cooperate by allowing me to distribute to their classes a question- 
naire asking the students to report, anonymously if they preferred, 
four or five specific cases in which they felt that the standards of 
our profession had been violated. 

The result of this study, published later as NEA Research Bul- 
letin, Volume IX, No. 1, January 1931, under the title, "Professional 
Ethics for Teachers," accomplished at least two purposes : it helped 
me secure the coveted doctor's degree and also assisted in stimulat- 
ing interest among leaders throughout the country in the important 
field of professional ethics. 

In order to keep my friends from thinking that my enthusiasm 
for problems of professional ethics sprang primarily from a pietisti- 
cal, goody-goody attitude, I have frequently made the statement that 
I wrote my dissertation in this field for the same reason that Solo- 
mon wrote the Proverbs because he could not keep them! For 
nearly a quarter of a century I enjoyed the privilege of serving as 
the NEA Staff Contact Representative with the Association's Com- 



Professional Ethics 147 

mittee on Professional Ethics and hope that our efforts in this con- 
nection were worthwhile. Into the annual reports of the Committee 
we put numerous significant codes and other items which we believed 
would help state and local associations develop effective programs 
of action in this important field. 

The question of the value of codes of ethics is frequently raised. 
Many leaders have great faith in them as agencies for social control. 
They believe that statements of ideals and standards of conduct ex- 
pressed in writing, which receive the official approval of various 
groups, have a potent influence on the conduct of the members of 
the groups. Franklin D. Jones once expressed this point of view 
well in the following statement: 

The ideals of men best project themselves into reality 
when crystalized in written documents. In every line of 
human activity a united written expression of that which 
is best for the common good becomes a strong force for 
progress. The mere expression clarifies the sentiment. 

Some other people, however, are less sanguine about the value 
of codes of ethics and insist that they have little value unless great 
care is taken to have them widely disseminated, frequently discussed, 
and definitely enforced. 

Another question frequently raised is, "Should the teaching 
profession have a single code of ethics or several codes?" Leaders 
in the profession differ widely in their opinions regarding this 
question. Those who believe in one code argue that a single 
code tends toward unity within the profession and that a code like 
the NEA Code which was prepared after years of careful study by 
national leaders is likely to be superior to those which are prepared 
by individuals or groups of amateurs. 

On the other hand, those who advocate many codes maintain 
that a single code must, of necessity, consist largely of generalities 
while, in order to be most effective, a code of professional ethics 
should consist, as far as possible, of specific standards, rules and 
regulations. They also argue that, since no perfect code has as yet 
been produced, it is a better educational technic to challenge in- 
dividuals and groups interested in the field to prepare a code which 
meets their particular needs effectively. The medical profession 



148 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

has a single code. On the other hand, the legal profession has two 
codes, one for lawyers and one for judges. 

Should a code of ethics be a brief statement like the Golden 
Rule or a longer statement which, like the Ten Commandments-, 
includes specific standards? Those who argue for the shorter 
code are correct in their contention that if it is short more people 
will read it. On the other hand, those who prefer specific stand- 
ards insist that the brief code must of necessity consist of general- 
ized statements, usually trite platitudes which are difficult to 
enforce. However, if one tries to develop a series of concrete, 
constructive statements or proscriptions, covering all possible situa- 
tions, the code may be more easily enforced, but it is also likely 
to become so long that few will read it. Most codes consist of both 
generalized basic principles and specific regulations. 

Theoretically, personal ethics and professional ethics are 
expected to be quite separate and distinct, but often it is exceed- 
ingly difficult to draw a clear line of demarcation between them 
since a teacher's personal character plays so large a part in his 
professional success. Theoretically, it should be possible for an 
individual to say that what he does outside of school is his own 
private business and that when he is not engaged in professional 
work, he has a right to do as he pleases. On the other hand, what 
a teacher does outside of the classroom often influences his effec- 
tiveness in the classroom so greatly that conduct which at first 
glance might seem to be a matter of purely personal and private 
concern becomes a matter of professional interest. 

During recent years, teachers have protested more than usual 
against unreasonable restrictions imposed by boards of education 
and local communities on their private lives. While there is no 
doubt that teachers owe it to themselves and their profession to 
resent and resist the rigid and puritanical censorship which some 
communities presume to exercise over their conduct, it should be 
remembered that in most states a teacher may be dismissed for any 
cause that renders him "unfit" and that not only a good character 
but a good reputation is essential to the greatest usefulness in his 
position. The following paragraphs are pertinent in this connection: 

The teacher's success in her work and her consequent 
happiness depend to a rather large extent on the respect 



Professional Ethics 149 

and confidence with which she is regarded in the com- 
munity. Her social habits affect this opinion very de- 
cidedly. It is for this reason wise for her to conform to 
the social standards of the community, regardless of her 
personal attitude toward these standards. 1 

The public school teacher cannot live apart; he cannot 
separate his teaching from his daily walk and conversa- 
tion. He lives among his pupils during school hours, 
and among them and their parents all the time . . . His 
office, like that of a minister of religion, demands of 
him an exceptional standard of conduct. 2 

Should ethics be taught or caught? Among teachers, as well 
as in other professional groups, all leaders agree that prospective 
members of the profession should be acquainted with the ideals 
and standards of the profession as expressed in codes of profes- 
sional ethics, but they differ in their opinions as to how and when 
this instruction should be given. Some professional schools- depend 
entirely on incidental instruction. Others, believing that incidental 
instruction is usually accidental instruction, provide ethical instruc- 
tion as definite units of broader courses. Still others, feeling that 
prospective members of the profession cannot be trained adequately 
in the ideals and standards of the profession without separate courses 
in the subject, provide special courses in professional ethics. 

If teaching is to become a real profession, those who enter 
it must be introduced more fully to its standards and ideals and 
these must be supported more effectively by our local, state and 
national organizations. Who is responsible for enforcing codes of 
professional ethics? The value of codes of ethics depends in large 
measure on the degree to which they are enforced. The NEA Commit- 
tee on Professional Ethics, which presented the Code of the Asso- 
ciation in 1929, included the following significant paragraph in 
its report: 

Each state teachers' organization should establish a com- 
mittee on professional ethics. This committee should be 
given the duty of interpreting the Code, of investigating 
reported violations of the Code, and of securing the co- 
operation of all members of the profession in abiding by 

1 J. F. Marsh, "The Teacher Outside the School." 

2 Herbert Hoover, NEA Proceedings. 1926. 



150 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

the Code. Each teacher should regard as his obligation 
the necessity of reporting to this committee any cases of 
unprofessional conduct which may come under his ob- 
servation. Before making any decision against the ac- 
cused, the committee should give him an opportunity to 
be heard. When appropriate to do so, the findings of 
the committee should be published in the magazine of the 
state organization. 

The 1948 edition of the NEA Code and most of the state codes 
include provisions for the establishment of such committees. Many 
local associations have also established ethics committees. How- 
ever, a good many members of the profession do not realize that 
individual members carry responsibility for reporting unethical 
conduct or dishonorable practices known to exist in the profession. 
The following excerpts from Codes are typical: 

NEA (1941 edition) It is unethical to fail to report to 
the duly constituted authorities any matters which are 
detrimental to the welfare of the school. 

Mississippi Teachers should fearlessly expose corrupt 
or dishonest conduct in the profession, and there should 
be no hesitancy on the part of teachers in exercising the 
utmost diligence to disqualify and debar the criminal 
teacher whose conduct at any time becomes a reproach 
to the profession. 

New Jersey When the rights of the children are being 
denied, and when the schools are being subordinated to 
personal and partisan politics, and whenever it is known 
that the schools are being exploited for personal gain, it 
becomes the duty of the teachers, principal, or superin- 
tendent, jointly or individually, to appraise the public of 
the facts, and through legitimate channels to seek to 
remedy the evils. 

The following paragraphs from the Canons of Professional 
Ethics of the American Bar Association and the Principles of Medi- 
cal Ethics of the American Medical Association indicate the atti- 
tudes of the legal and medical professions toward these problems: 

Lawyers should expose without fear or favor before the 
proper tribunals corrupt or dishonest conduct in the pro- 



Professional Ethics 151 

fession, and should accept without hesitation employment 
against a member of the Bar who has wronged his client. 
The counsel upon the trial of a cause in which perjury 
has been committed owe it to the profession and to the 
public to bring the matter to the knowledge of the prose- 
cuting authorities. 

Physicians should expose without fear or favor before 
the proper medical or legal tribunals, corrupt or dis- 
honest conduct of members of the profession. 

Physicians should warn the public against the devices 
practiced and false pretensions made by charlatans which 
may cause injury to health and loss of life. 

The Ethics Committee of the National Education Association was 
authorized by the following final article of the 1948 edition of 
the NEA Code to handle cases referred to it: 

There is hereby established a Standing Committee on 
Professional Ethics consisting of five members appointed 
by the president. It shall be the duty of the Committee 
to study and to take appropriate action on such cases of 
violation of this Code as may be referred to it. If, when 
a case is reported, it is found to come from a state 
which has an Ethics Committee, such case shall immedi- 
ately be referred to said state committee for investiga- 
tion and action. In the case of a violation reported from 
a state which has neither a code nor an ethics committee, 
or from a state which has a code but no ethics committee, 
the NEA Ethics Committee shall take such action as 
seems wise and reasonable and will impress members 
with the importance of respect for proper professional 
conduct. Such action shall be reported to the chief school 
officers of the community and die state from which the 
violation is reported. The Committee is further vested 
with authority to hold hearings and to recommend to the 
Executive Committee the expulsion of a member of the 
National Education Association for flagrant violation of 
this code. 

The 1948 report of the NEA Committee on Professional Ethics 
carried the following significant paragraph: 

In outlining its program of action for the year the Com- 



152 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

mittee reaffirmed its conviction that its primary functions 
are to improve, implement, and enforce the code of ethics 
of the National Education Association and that it should 
operate in this connection, whenever possible, thru state 
and local education associations affiliated with the NEA, 
serving in cases referred to it for action as an appellate 
court rather than a court of original jurisdiction. In 
handling cases referred to it, the Ethics Committee should 
utilize for investigation purposes the services of the NEA 
Commission for the Defense of Democracy Through Edu- 
cation. 

One of the most important cases handled hy the NEA Com- 
mittee on Professional Ethics was that of Dr. William H. Johnson, 
Superintendent of Schools in Chicago. 

In 1944 the NEA Commission on the Defense of Democracy 
Through Education was invited to investigate conditions in the 
Chicago schools. Acting on the basis of the report of this investi- 
gation, published in May 1945, and on the urgent requests of asso- 
ciations in Chicago and Illinois, the NEA Committee on Professional 
Ethics invited Dr. Johnson to meet with it at a special meeting on 
January 18, 1946, to show cause why he should not be dropped from 
the membership of the Association for flagrant violation of the pro- 
fessional standards of the Association. Altho Dr. Johnson ignored 
the invitation of the committee and failed to appear at the meeting 
of the committee, after careful consideration of the evidence carried 
in the Defense Commission's report and supplementary evidence 
presented by competent witnesses, the Committee voted unanimously 
to expel him from membership in the Association, even though he 
held a Life Membership in it. This action was hailed by many 
writers in the lay and professional press as a significant milestone 
in the history of teaching becoming a full-fledged profession, since 
a code of ethics is usually regarded as a prerequisite for any voca- 
tion to be classified as a profession and such codes are obviously of 
little value unless they are enforced. 

Upon my retirement from the NEA Headquarters Staff in 
1950, Dr. Cyrus Perry, Legal Counsel of the NEA Commission 
for the Defense of Democracy Through Education, was asked to 
serve as the NEA Staff Contact Representative for the Ethics Com- 
mittee and in cooperation with the Committee he developed a series 



Professional Ethics 153 

of thirty-two official "Opinions" regarding cases submitted to the 
Committee/ These have contributed materially to the understand- 
ing of members of the profession as to their responsibility for main- 
taining high standards of personal as well as professional conduct. 



The Touch of the Teacher 

The touch of the teacher, like that of no other person, is 
formative. Our yoifng people are for long periods asso- 
ciated with those who are expected to fashion them into 
men and women of an approved type. A charge so in- 
fluential is committed to nobody else in the community, 
not even to the ministers; for tho these have a more search- 
ing aim, they are directly occupied with it but one day in- 
stead of six, but one hour instead of five. Accordingly, 
as the tract of knowledge has widened and the creative op- 
portunities involved in conducting a young person over it 
have correspondingly become apparent, the profession of 
teaching has risen to a notable height of dignity and at- 
tractiveness. It has moved from a subordinate to a central 
place in social influence and now undertakes much of the 
work which formerly fell to the church. On school and 
college instruction the community now bestows its choicest 
minds, its highest hopes, and its largest sums. 

GEORGE HERBERT PALMER 



1 "Opinions of the Committee on Professional Ethics" NEA. June 1955. 



CHAPTER XXI 
TEACHERS UNIONS 



I have never fought teachers' unions for several reasons. 
In the first place, I have been too greatly indebted to them and it 
has never seemed fitting for me to fight those to whom I am 
under such great obligation. For nearly a quarter of a century, 
the promotion of NEA membership was iny chief interest and 
responsibility, and the more aggressive the leaders in the union 
movement became, the more NEA membership grew! 

Of course, the leaders in the union movement did not intend 
to contribute to NEA growth but they have done so, since their 
activities have alerted the lay public as well as the members of 
the profession to the fact that we are living in an age of organized 
action and that unless our professional organizations become more 
dynamic and effective, the unions will take over. Most laymen 
and most teachers prefer the professional organizations. While, 
of course, I cannot prove this statement, I have the feeling that 
even members of organized labor, down in their hearts, prefer to 
have their children taught by members of a profession rather than 
by members of a labor union. 

A second reason why I have never fought teachers 9 unions 
is because I believe in organized labor in general, and I know 
that organized labor has for years been one of the best supporters 
which the public schools of this country have enjoyed. The leaders 
of the organized labor movement believe enthusiastically in edu- 
cation, in public education, and have come vigorously to its support 
in many crises. 

A third reason why I have never fought teachers' unions is 
because I have felt that the best way to encourage membership in 
the unions would be for the rest of us to fight them. This- would 
give them increased publicity and enable them to assume the 
position of martyrs. In this connection, two proverbs are perti- 

154 



Teachers Unions 155 

nent: "Oppose a movement, if you would have it prosper," and 
"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." 

Some years ago I was called upon very unexpectedly to 
explain why I believed that it was better for teachers to be organized 
in professional associations, local, state and national, rather than 
as unions. A professor at a Teachers College had invited me to 
present the program of the National Education Association to his 
class. He warned me that he had a group of hard-boiled young 
bucks who w r ould probably try to take both me and the NEA for 
a ride. He suggested that I come prepared to present the program 
of the Association in about twenty minutes and thus allow plenty 
of time for questions. I did so, but when I stopped and asked what 
questions they would like to ask, there developed one of those awk- 
ward silences which sometimes occur in the mid-week prayer 
meeting when the leader pauses and says: "Now we will throw the 
meeting open for your participation. I hope that you will each feel 
free to raise questions, bear your testimony, or lead us in a brief 
prayer." 

The professor in charge of the class was embarrassed because 
his students w r ere not reacting according to his prediction and so, 
to start the ball rolling, he said: "What is your experience with 
regard to teachers who join the union? Are they not usually mis- 
fits or malcontents?" Was I surprised? I was shocked, almost 
scared! Until that moment I had supposed that the professor and 
most of the members of the class were probably members of the 
union! However, advice which S. D. Shankland, formerly secre- 
tary of the NEA Department of Superintendence, once gave me 
flashed into my mind. He said, "When in doubt, tell the truth!" 
So, I said: 

No, I cannot answer that question unqualifiedly in the 
affirmative. While I know that what you say is fre- 
quently the case, I have too many friends whom I admire 
who believe that the union technic is the final answer 
for securing real progress in education. For example, 
back in the Dark Ages of 1912, I took a course under 
Dr. John Dewey. He is, as you know. Honorary Presi- 
dent of the American Federation of Teachers as well as 
Honorary President of the NEA. I have admired him 
tremendously for many years as one of the great educa- 



156 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

tional leaders of our generation. While he believes in the 
work of the NEA, he also feels that teachers can prob- 
ably contribute more effectively toward social progress 
through membership in the Federation of Teachers. I cer- 
tainly do not classify Dr. Dewey as a misfit or a mal- 
content. Likewise, I have always admired Dr. George 
Counts and Dr. Jerome Davis, both of whom are personal 
friends of mine and past presidents of the Federation of 
Teachers. However, while I admire these friends and 
hold them in high esteem, I presume to disagree with 
them on the question of the unionization of teachers for 
several very definite reasons. 

In the first place, I have been giving a great many years 
of my life to trying to build a teaching profession, and 
I cannot, therefore, bring myself to join a union, since 
doing so would seem to me to confess that I did not think 
that teaching would ever become a real profession. 

In the second place, since teachers, in the public schools 
at any rate, are teachers of all the children of all the 
people, it seems to me advisable for us to develop our own 
independent professional organizations without having 
entangling alliances with other social or economic groups 
such as capital or labor. 

In the third place, I cannot see what we can accomplish 
through unions which we cannot accomplish through pro- 
fessional organizations, if we can get the latter to develop 
vigorous, dynamic programs of action. 

A further reason which leads me to pin my faith for progress 
on professional organizations rather than on unions is that the 
former have considerable numerical advantage over the latter, 
since, at the present time, the total national, union membership is 
approximately 50,000; whereas we have more than a million mem- 
bers in our state, professional organizations and more than 650,000 
in the NEA. In his 1910 study of Teachers Associations, Dr. 
Carter Alexander remarked, "Labor unionism among teachers in 
the United States today is a negligible factor so far as its practical 
significance is concerned." 

Some of my friends disagree with me with regard to my 
attitude toward teachers' unions. They feel that we should adopt 



Teachers Unions 157 

a more militant attitude toward them. Some of their arguments 
are presented in the following pages. 

On July 24, 1919, Dr. James E. Russell, Dean of Teachers 
College, Columbia University, delivered an address entitled "Teach- 
ers and the American Federation of Labor" from which the follow- 
ing paragraphs are taken: 

The teacher occupies a peculiar position in the body 
politic. He instructs children in the rights and duties 
of citizens. His wards of today are the voters of tomor- 
row. Some of them will be found in every group, party, 
sect, and organization that exists in the community. He 
should teach them the fundamental principles of American 
life and help them to make wise choices in their affilia- 
tions, but he may not proselytize or conduct propaganda 
for any cause on which citizens are divided. A decent 
respect for the opinions of others must characterize all 
that he does. The organization, therefore, which acts as 
the super-teacher cannot favor either Jew or Gentile, Re- 
publican or Democrat, capitalist or laborer. It honors 
them all for the good they strive to do, and will join with 
them in all good works, but it cannot be subservient to 
anyone. I realize that the American Federation of Labor 
is potentially one of the most beneficent organizations in 
the United States, and I have the highest regard both for 
its leaders and their objects, but it would be a mistake 
both for the Federation of Labor and for the prospective 
organization of teachers, to form an offensive and de- 
fensive alliance. It might be the easiest way to secure an 
increase of teachers' salaries, but more pay is not the only 
object of a teachers' organization, and not the one that 
will insure its greatest usefulness either to the profession 
or to the public. 

It would be just as fatal to become entangled with the 
Manufacturers' Association, the Bar Association, the 
Christian Association, or the Democratic Party. If this 
latter suggestion is ludicrous, so also is the example set by 
some groups of teachers who have already identified 
themselves with the labor organizations. "Friends with 
all, but allies of none," must be the slogan of a teachers' 
organization. 



158 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

The next year, 1920, Dr. Lotus D. Coffman, President of 
the University of Minnesota, delivered, at the NEA Summer Con- 
vention, an address entitled "Teachers Associations" from which 
the following paragraphs are taken: 

To what kind of an association shall teachers belong? 
Shall they join the American Federation of Teachers, 
which is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, 
or shall they maintain an independent organization of 
their own? This is the question which thousands of 
teachers are being called upon to answer. All matters 
of a temporary or expedient character should be swept 
aside in an attempt to arrive at a final and sensible answer 
to the question. The American Federation of Teachers 
bases its appeal upon the assumption that teachers are 
merely employes, hired men and women, not members of 
a profession; that they are the objects of economic and in- 
tellectual exploitation and oppression; that affiliation with 
union labor will exalt and dignify them as they have no 
dignity to lose, that they are a helpless, hopeless, disor- 
ganized aggregation of units, without business or collec- 
tive sense; that their servility, due to autocratic and Prus- 
sian methods of administration is notorious. 

The force of the appeal of such facts comes at a most 
fortunate time for the American Federation of Teachers. 
Conditions throughout the country are unsettled. The 
cost of living is still ri&ing. Labor has raised its wage 
scales enormously through the influence of the unions. 
Teachers, on the other hand, are finding it increasingly 
more difficult, if not impossible to maintain their former 
standards of living. Many are leaving teaching, attracted 
by more remunerative opportunities in other fields, and 
their places are being taken by the untrained and unquali- 
fied. The public expresses an interest in the situation, 
but remains too inactive'. Labor extends a welcoming 
hand, saying, "Join us, we have the power and the votes 
to bring quick relief." It points to its record of achieve- 
ment, it shows how it has bettered its own condition; it 
shows how it has actually helped teachers in certain 
localities. 



Teachers Unions 159 

Dr. Coffman then lists the following objections to teachers 
joining the American Federation of Teachers: 

1. Teachers are not laborers merely. If they are, then 
so are the doctors, lawyers, nurses, ministers, the fol- 
lowers of every profession. 

2. The purposes, methods, and problems of organized 
labor are essentially and fundamentally different 
from those of the teaching profession. 

3. Labor believes in equal pay for equal work. The 
slogan of the professionally-minded teachers should 
not be equal pay for equal work, but equal pay for 
equal work of equal worth. 

4. The weapon of the union is the strike. Even though 
the American Federation of Labor has guaranteed 
local autonomy in this matter to local federations of 
teachers, teachers cannot escape having their psycho- 
logical processes, biases, and attitudes colored and 
influenced by those with whom they are associated. 

5. The affiliation of teachers and labor unions will in- 
tensify class spirit and class antagonism. 

6. The affiliation of teachers' organizations and labor 
unions fails to make a proper distinction between 
private work and public service. 

7. There is danger that affiliation with organized labor 
will result inevitably in the lowering of professional 
standards among teachers. 

In the September 1934 issue of the Pennsylvania School 
Journal, Dr. J. Herbert Kelley, Secretary of the Pennsylvania State 
Education Association, listed the following reasons- for not joining 
the American Federation of Teachers: 

1. The use of coercion by unions is contrary to the ac- 
cepted methods of education: argument, persuasion, 
demonstration. The use of coercion in any way at 
any time is of itself a confession of failure of educa- 
tional measures. For one branch of the government 
to strike against that government is anarchy. Calvin 
Coolidge, when Governor of Massachusetts, stated this 
principle in settling the strike of the Boston Police. 
Teachers are trained by the State, certified by the 
State, and paid by the State. They are part of the 



160 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

government quite as much as the police. Use of any 
coercive measure is contrary to the basic principles 
of voluntary teachers' associations. 

2. Unionism regards teaching as a trade, not a profes- 
sion. In a pamphlet entitled Objections Answered, 
used by the American Federation of Teachers, ap- 
pears the following: "The war has cleansed us of 
any remnants of such petty snobbery (that teaching 
is a profession). The time has come for teachers of 
the country to rid themselves of their narrow class 
spirit and join hands with other workers in their 
assertion of independence and self-respect." They 
fail to see that there is a clear line of demarcation be- 
tween mechanics, artisans, labor, and the recognized 
professions of law, medicine, engineering, teaching, 
and accountancy. The hod carrier, although he does 
an essential, honorable and honest piece of work, will 
never feel at ease in an organization of skilled sur- 
geons. All are workers, but the first works on the 
level of labor, the second, on the level of a profession. 
Teaching has its two extremes: The college pro- 
fessor and the union teacher. Between the two is a 
great body of professionally-trained, professionally- 
minded teachers who are working out the destiny of 
teaching as a profession. 

3. It is not proper or professional for teachers to af- 
filiate as an organized body with another organiza- 
tion representing a portion of the citizens of the com- 
munity in which such teachers are employed. This 
principle was stated in the Lancaster opinion, July 30, 
1920, by Thomas E. Finegan, then Superintendent 
of Public Instruction in Pennsylvania. It was con- 
firmed by the Supreme Court of the State of Wash- 
ington in the Seattle case. (See Americana Annual 
for 1929, page 236.) 

4. Unionism destroys the solidarity of the profession. 
The constitution of the American Federation of 
Teachers excludes membership of Superintendents ex- 
cept by a favorable three-fifths vote of the members 
of the union. By such exclusion, unionism retards 
the unification of the profession. 



Teachers Unions 161 

5. Unionism lowers the ideals of teaching. By em- 
phasizing only the selfish, though necessary, economic 
needs of teachers salary, hours, tenure, retire- 
ment unionism misses altogether the finer ideals 
of teaching and the rich compensations that do not 
appear in the salary envelope. 

In the Chicago Daily News of January 9, 1937, Dr. Charles 
H. Judd of the University of Chicago was quoted as saying: 

Organize? And affiliate with the American Federation 
of Labor? No, no indeed. Teachers cannot afford to 
join any outside association . . . Teachers are public 
servants, and as such they should be in position at all 
times to lend sympathy with any and all units of our 
society . . . And when they do this (affiliate with the 
A. F. of L.) they no longer are valuable as teachers, for 
they become partisans and as partisans their message 
loses its weight. 

In a newspaper story published May 20, 1937, Dr. Judd was 
quoted as approving the affiliation of teachers with the American 
Federation of Labor, but in the June 1, 1937 issue of Teacher News 
and Views., the official organ of The Association of Chicago 
Teachers, excerpts from a letter from Dr. Judd were published 
in which he was quoted as saying: 

Throughout my professional career I have been opposed 
to the affiliation of professional organizations of teachers 
with any special group of citizens. 

It is my belief that teachers are servants of the whole 
public and ought, therefore, to avoid any affiliations that 
seem to be of a partisan type. I have to admit that 
teacher organizations have not always seemed to me to be 
professional in character. They have given less attention 
than I could wish they would to purely personal interests 
of their members, especially on the financial side. 

It is my belief that a strong professional organization 
could even now resist the invasion of the school system by 
spoils politics quite as well as an organization affiliated 
with any larger group of citizens. 

That statement (in the newspaper) does not represent my 



162 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

views. You are quite at liberty to make use of this letter 
in any way that you care to. 

In the New York Times Magazine, March 21, 1937, Eunice 
Fuller Barnard published an article entitled "A Teachers' Teacher 
Tells What Education Is." In this report of an interview with 
Dr. William H. Kilpatrick of Teachers College, Columbia Univer- 
sity, appeared the following paragraph: 

In my opinion, teachers as teachers should not join with 
labor as labor, or with any other group as such. They 
should not commit themselves in advance to any blanket 
program. They don't know what the future may bring. 
Teachers, especially in higher institutions, should not be 
labeled so that people can say in advance that they believe 
in this or that. It is not the way for them to exert their 
greatest influence. I would, however, say that there are 
specific issues where teachers may well join with labor, 
such as the battles for the child labor amendment and 
against teachers' oaths. But permanent alliances are 
cramping. They leave teachers no adequate room to 
grow. 

At Cleveland, Ohio, on March 21, 1947, Dr. Willard E. Givens, 
Executive Secretary of the National Education Association, deliv- 
ered an address from which the following paragraph is taken r 

Shall teachers form unions and affiliate with labor organ- 
izations? The answer is emphatically NO if teachers 
value their profession and country. America is a land 
of many organizations in agriculture, business, industry, 
and labor. We respect these organizations and appre- 
ciate what they have done to advance their own particular 
group interests. But teaching is a profession and, of all 
the professions, holds the highest obligation to impartiality 
and universal service. Its task is to serve all humanity 
and to advance the general welfare. Its faith is in truth 
and goodwill rather than force. Teachers unions are 
born of desperation and thrive on catastrophe. As con- 
ditions improve they will dimmish, as they did after 
World War I. Even at their peak they have grown less 
rapidly than our professional Associations. 

At the NEA Summer Convention in 1947, Mrs. Pearl A. Wana- 



Teachers Unions 163 

maker, President of the Association, discussed the advisability of 
teachers joining unions in the following paragraphs: 

The best interests of public education are not served by 
affiliation of the teaching profession with labor. 

This statement is made through no disrespect for labor 
or lack of appreciation for its objectives in promoting the 
welfare of the men and women who turn the wheels of 
our nation's industries. Nor does it come from any want 
of sympathy on the part of labor for the problems of edu- 
cation. 

Our professional organizations were advancing the cause 
of education long before teachers' unions existed. The 
platforms of teachers' unions include planks that have been 
used for years in the platforms of professional organiza- 
tions. No new flash of vision or power of action is ap- 
parent either in what teachers' unions are doing or say that 
they intend to do. 

Teachers, like physicians and lawyers, work in a special- 
ized field with no more relation to one than another area 
outside that field. No one has proposed that teachers 
affiliate with the American Farm Bureau Federation or 
the National Association of Manufacturers. Why, then, 
should members of our profession single out for a special 
kind of cooperation a part of our population devoted to a 
specialized economic viewpoint? 

All professions must cooperate with each other and with 
nonprofessional organizations in joint projects devoted to 
the nation's welfare. That is the democratic way. 

It is sometimes argued that teachers, goaded by low 
salaries and social inequalities, are justified in striking 
that some strikes have bettered conditions of teachers. 

Because teachers' strikes are unusual and dramatic, they 
rate headlines in our newspapers, time on our networks. 
The hundreds of cases where intelligent cooperation of 
independently organized teachers and their local com- 
munities has brought splendid results pass unnoticed by 
press and radio. There can be no such thing as a 'suc- 
cessful' strike by teachers. For immediate gains won by 



164 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

individuals the entire profession loses in stature. The 
public's confidence, hard won at best, gives way to sus- 
picion, apathy, or antagonism when teachers strike. 

Teaching is the profession with the highest obligation for 
impartial, universal service. The public schools belong 
to all the people. They are supported by taxes paid by 
all the people. The public schools, through their teachers, 
pass on to the next generation the social and cultural 
heritage of the past. More important, the school, through 
the teachers, is the determining factor in orderly social 
change. 

The NEA stands firm in its objection to organic affiliation 
of the profession, as a body, with any part of the national 
life that entertains an exclusive economic, religious, or 
political point of view. 3 

At the 1955 NEA Convention one of the discussion groups 
was assigned the topic, "The Professional Standards Movement." 
This discussion was opened with three addresses "How Medicine 
Became a Profession," by Dr. W. W. Bauer of the American 
Medical Association; "The Status of Teaching as a Profession in 
Great Britain," by H. J. Nursey, President of the National Union 
of Teachers of England and Wales; and "How Teaching is Becom- 
ing a Profession," by Arthur F. Corey, Executive Secretary of the 
California Teachers Association. The following paragraphs are 
taken from Mr. Corey's address: 

There are a few among us who persist in thinking that 
the only way to achieve prestige and preferment for 
teachers is to think and act as unprofessional as possible. 
There is a small but vociferous element among teachers 
which openly disavows the professional aspects of teaching 
and forthrightly asserts that teaching is nothing but a 
skilled trade and that teachers should behave accordingly. 
These people believe that professional progress is achieved 
through conflict rather than cooperation. They believe 
that it is essential for the profession to be divided into 
classes whose interests are assumed to be antagonistic. 
They preach that teaching is a job of work which can be 

1 NEA Journal, September 1947, page 434. 



Teachers Unions 165 

measured in hours and minutes and paid for accordingly. 
They believe that the friends of teachers are all on the 
left and that their enemies are all on the right. They 
believe, essentially, that organizational procedures which 
have been found appropriate and effective for industrial 
workers should be applied to teachers. 

Professional prestige cannot be forced, bought, legislated 
or stolen. In truth, it must be earned through the quality 
of service rendered by the members of the group. In the 
long run, the function of the professional association of 
teachers is to help its members give better service and 
thus to enhance the prestige of the profession. 

Additional material connected with this interesting problem 
will be found in the following references: 

"A National Organization for Education" Educational 
Policies Commission Report, 1937, pages 32-35 

"Teachers Unions?" Progressive Education, October 
1943, page 260 

"The Professional Way to Meet the Educational Crisis" 
NEA Journal, February 1947, pages 77-80 

"A Declaration of Professional Independence" 
NEA Journal, April 1947, page 265 



A Profession 

A profession is not simply a collection of individuals who 
get a living for themselves by the same kind of work. Nor 
is it merely a group which is organized exclusively for the 
economic protection of its members, though that is nor- 
mally among its purposes . . . Its essence is that it assumes 
certain responsibilities for the competence of its members 
or the quality of its wares, and that it deliberately pro- 
hibits certain kinds of conduct on the ground that though 
they may be profitable to the individual, they are calcu- 
lated to bring into disrepute the organization to which he 
belongs. 

R. H. TAWNEY 



CHAPTER XXII 
REPEAL OF THE LITTLE RED RIDER 

The Little Red Rider was a clause inserted by the Federal Con- 
gress in the annual 1935 appropriation bill for the schools of the 
District of Columbia. It was inserted as a compromise measure to 
secure passage of the bill and stated in substance that none of the 
money appropriated by the bill should be used for the payment of 
salaries of those who taught or advocated Communism. 

During the hearings on this bill, the fears of certain timid souls 
or super-patriots had been stirred by the fact that the bill included 
an appropriation for continuing the character education experiment 
which had been inaugurated two years before by the District of 
Columbia schools in an effort to discover what technics were most 
effective in this important field. Dr. W. W. Charters of Ohio Uni- 
versity, one of the outstanding national authorities in the field of 
social psychology, had been secured as director of the project. The 
fear of communistic indoctrination was based on the fact that Dr. 
Charters had helped organize the faculty of an international sum- 
mer school scheduled to be held in Moscow in 1934. 

Congressman Blanton of Texas attacked the Character Educa- 
tion Project as a subversive movement and threatened to hold up 
the whole appropriation bill unless the item for the project was 
eliminated. In order to prevent this, the sponsors of the legislation 
suggested the clause prohibiting the teaching of communism and the 
bill was approved. Few, if any of the parties involved, supposed 
that the clause would ever prove embarrassing, but the attorney of 
the Board of Education ruled that in view of the clause the only 
way that the Board could protect its integrity would be to have each 
member of the staff sign, each month before receiving his salary, an 
affidavit swearing that during the preceding month he had neither 
taught nor advocated Communism. 

Naturally, this ruling aroused the ire of the local teachers and 
raised a storm of protest among the teachers of the nation. The 

166 



Repeal of the Little Red Rider 167 

officers of the Education Association of the District of Columbia 
went into action promptly and solicited the cooperation of the NEA. 
Dr. Belmont Farley of our office christened the offensive clause 
"The Little Red Rider" and the full resources of the Association 
were marshalled for the battle. The Research Division stepped up 
its studies in the fields of academic freedom and loyalty oaths; the 
public relations section prepared articles excoriating the legislation; 
state and local associations affiliated with the NEA were encouraged 
to write their congressmen and senators protesting against the un- 
democratic and un-American character of the law, and members of 
the NEA Headquarters Staff were enlisted as speakers to present 
before various local groups the need for having the rider repealed. 

On one occasion I was assigned to present the matter before 
a meeting of the local chapter of the Federation of Women's Clubs. 
They were scheduled to meet at the Roosevelt Hotel and had ar- 
ranged to have both sides of the question presented. The Com- 
mander of the local Department of the American Legion, a Sergeant 
on the Police Force, had been invited to support the existing law, 
and I was to present the arguments for its repeal. I spoke first and 
what a trimming he gave me! In order to disarm their suspicions 
that I might be a "pink," if not a "red," I mentioned rather casually 
the fact that during World War One I had served in the army twenty- 
two months, eighteen overseas, and that I was thoroughly in sym- 
pathy with the American way of life. In fact, I pointed out that 
it was because I was so enthusiastically in favor of the American 
way of life that I favored the repeal of the objectionable legislation 
since it seemed totalitarian in its trend and quite un-American in 
its character. 

When the Commander began his talk, he wrapped the American 
flag around himself, figuratively, and made the eagle scream. He 
told how he and his- associates had risked their lives that American 
freedom might be preserved and how dangerous it was for us to 
allow even a discussion of Communism among the youth of our 
nation. When he sat down, the ladies applauded him vigorously 
and I knew that most of them would vote against the resolution 
requesting repeal of the "Little Red Rider." 

The ladies invited us to stay for lunch. Neither of us had in- 
tended to do so, but I accepted their invitation hoping that around 
the table I might retrieve myself and get those who sat near me to 



168 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

understand how un-American the "Little Red Rider" really was. 
Apparently the Commander sensed my intentions and so decided 
to remain also! 

While the ladies transacted some other business, he and I slip- 
ped out into the lobby, pending the lunch hour. As we visited to- 
gether, I congratulated him upon the trimming he had given me, and 
he replied, "That was easy! I can always win. I just scare them 
to death!" I couldn't help but admire the frankness with which he 
acknowledged his use of the fear technic, for it was fear that we had 
to battle, not only with the ladies but also with members of Con- 
gress. The Senate was very responsive to our efforts. They recog- 
nized the impropriety of the "Little Red Rider" as soon as it was 
called to their attention and both the Seventy-fourth and Seventy- 
fifth Sessions promptly passed bills repealing it outright. 

The House of Representatives presented a much more difficult 
problem. The members of the House are all required to run for 
reelection every two years and many of them were sincerely afraid 
that if they voted for the repeal of the obnoxious clause their con- 
stituents would believe that they were becoming ultra-liberal. 
Firmly entrenched veteran Democrats like Congressman John O'Con- 
nor of New York City had great fun twitting the timid souls about 
hesitating to do what they knew that they ought to do vote out- 
right repeal. But most of the Congressmen hesitated to take chances 
on the legislation, fearing that their friends would misunderstand 
their action and that their rivals would capitalize on it at the next 
election. Fortunately we were able to find a few conscientious 
Congressmen like Fred Sisson of New York State and Ambrose Ken- 
nedy of Maryland who were willing to champion courageously the 
outright repeal of the bill by the House. Eventually, after an ex- 
ceedingly stormy session on the floor of the House, Congressman 
John McCormick of Massachusetts suggested a compromise amend- 
ment which would delete the word "taught" from the bill and free 
the teachers of the District of Columbia from the necessity of signing 
monthly the objectionable affidavit before receiving their salaries. 
This amendment was wholly unacceptable to the members of the 
Senate Conference Committee as well as to most educators since it 
left the bill hanging like a sword of Damocles over the head of every 
teacher in the District. 

I wrote Congressman McCormick thanking him for his obvious 



Repeal of the Little Red Rider 169 

intention to help clear up the situation and explained why his amend- 
ment was unacceptable to members of the teaching profession. In 
reply he called me on the telephone and invited me to lunch in order 
that we might discuss the matter more fully. I was delighted to 
find him an enthusiastic supporter of education and left with him a 
suggestion that the House might be persuaded to vote for outright 
repeal if the bill were to carry a clause stating that "nothing herein 
shall be construed as approving the advocating of Communism." 
The bill, with this clause included, was passed by the Senate on 
May 20, 1937, by the House of Representatives on May 24, and 
on May 28 was signed by President Roosevelt. 



Our Convictions 

That our country's greatest resources are its children, 
youth, and adults, who, in a modern advancing world, must 
never stop learning. 

That the main purpose of the public schools is to help de- 
velop to the maximum the human capabilities within our 
democracy, which is now called upon to make good on the 
promises of the democratic ideal and to give leadership 
to the liberty loving peoples of the world. 

That there rests upon all citizens as well as upon teachers, 
the obligation to work for an increasingly effective pro- 
gram of education for all our people. 

That the teaching profession of the United States has a 
moral obligation to recognize its responsibility to promote 
a program of service and leadership thru a united profes- 
sion effective in local, state, national, and international 
areas. 

1956-57 NEA HANDBOOK 



CHAPTER XXIH 
OUR SCHOOLS ARE NOT GODLESS 



The charge that our public schools are godless is made by three 
different groups sincerely religious people who honestly believe 
that God is shut out because formal religious instruction is- not al- 
lowed, unenlightened citizens who want lower taxes at any price 
and those who do not believe in free public schools. 

The charge, of course, is false but the frequent repetition of 
it has tended to undermine the confidence of many good people in 
our public schools. It is true that in many communities formal in- 
struction in religion is not allowed in the schools but that does not 
mean that our schools are godless. God and religion are spiritual 
matters. They are subject neither to the laws- of man nor the de- 
cisions of our courts. Instead of belaboring our legislators and 
our courts for having ruled the teaching of religion out of our 
schools, we should congratulate them for having supported the sacred 
American tradition of separation of Church and State. Instead of 
wailing about the godlessness of our schools, we should stimulate 
our homes and our churches to provide, outside of school hours, the 
formal, doctrinal instruction which we wish our children to have; 
and instead of wasting our time and strength in undermining the 
confidence of the people in our public schools, we should make ar- 
rangements which will provide our schools with the kind of teachers 
that will inevitably bring God into the schoolroom with them when 
they enter each morning and that will make every task throughout 
the day a religious act, a struggle for the highest and best. 

Some years ago, when dictating a letter, I closed with this state- 
ment: "Education is the hope of democracy, and democracy is the 
hope of the world." My secretary flinched noticeably and when 
I inquired why, she replied, "I don't believe that. To my mind re- 
ligion is the hope of the world!" I countered with the question, 
"What is the difference between education, democracy and religion?" 

The word "education" comes from the Latin "e-ducere," to 

170 



172 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

desire to have it is perfectly natural but is based largely on a mis- 
apprehension. It comes often from the feeling that our schools are 
not as effective as they should be in the field of character education. 
This we may admit without accepting two implications which are 
frequently thought of in this connection that the schools are 
primarily responsible for the character education of our youth and 
that formal religious exercises in the school program will contribute 
materially to the solution of our character education problem. 

While character education is one of the school's major objec- 
tives, the school is not primarily responsible for the character of our 
boys and girls. If you calculate the number of hours that a child 
is in school from the time he is born until he is twenty-one years of 
age you will find that it is approximately ten percent of his life. 
Ninety percent of the time from his birth to his twenty-first birthday 
he is not in school ! Members of the teaching profession are quite 
willing to accept ten percent of the responsibility for the character 
education of the boys and girls who come to them, but it hardly 
seems fair for the public to expect them to carry the major responsi- 
bility in this field. 

Formal religious exercises may have some value in the field 
of character education, but their value is frequently over-rated by 
people who have a superstitious attitude toward such exercises- as 
the reading of the Bible and public prayer. These exercises where 
employed in our public schools are inevitably brief and formal be- 
cause of the cosmopolitan character of our student bodies and our 
historic policy of keeping Church and State separate. The rules 
of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia cany the 
following regulation: 

Each teacher shall, as a part of the opening exercises, 
read, without note or comment, a portion of the Bible, 
repeat the Lord's Prayer, and conduct appropriate sing- 
ing by the pupils. 

Formal religious exercises of this kind may have some char- 
acter development value but they are probably not nearly as valu- 
able as some people think. A much stronger element in the teach- 
ing process is the dynamic influence of a competent, well-trained, 
enthusiastic teacher. 

The plan of developing a program of week-day religious in- 



Our Schools Are Not Godless 173 

struction in cooperation with the public schools has become quite 
popular in some communities but it is usually so poorly done that 
it is largely ineffective. The teachers are usually well-meaning, 
consecrated volunteers but they are often incompetent and untrained 
and the result is that the time which is taken from the regular school 
work is largely wasted. 

The United States Office of Education Bulletin, "Week Day 
Classes in Religious Education," published in 1941, reported that 
more than half of the school systems which were in 1932 releasing 
children for week-day religious instruction had discontinued the 
program by 1940. 

The only place that I have seen a program of week-day re- 
ligious instruction handled effectively is in my native state, Utah, 
where my Mormon friends tackle the problem seriously and are 
willing to dig down deep into their pockets to finance it adequately. 
They erect a "Seminary Building" near the public high school and 
staff it with well-trained, salaried teachers who give courses in Old 
Testament and New Testament History, Church History and Church 
Doctrine. The high school gives history credit for the courses in 
Old Testament and New Testament but no credit for the other 
courses. 

As principal of the Richfield High School, 1920-1924, and 
a non-Mormon, I had to admit that, although I personally did not 
accept the doctrines of the Mormon Church, I felt a strong moral 
influence among our students, coming from the work of the religious 
education program conducted in the "Seminary" next to our high 
school, but even here the problem of denominational differences 
developed occasionally. While the "Seminary" courses were purely 
elective, non-Mormon children sometimes took them because of 
social pressure. They did not wish to be different from their as- 
sociates. 

One wholesome result which has come from legislative pro- 
posals and court rulings regarding religion and our public schools 
has been the awakening of the public to its responsibility for main- 
taining our traditional policy of separation of Church and State and 
for providing competent, well-prepared teachers for our public 
schools. Let us keep these responsibilities in mind instead of be- 
coming foolishly frightened into believing that our schools have 
suddenly become godless! 



CHAPTER XXIV 

ARE PRIVATE SCHOOLS A MENACE 
TO OUR DEMOCRACY? 



One Sunday morning when I was leading a discussion regard- 
ing education, in the Mothers' Class at our church, one of the 
mothers very unexpectedly raised this question: "What do you 
think of private schools?" Without a moment's hesitation I replied, 
"I am heartily in favor of them; in fact, I am quite enthusiastic 
about them for problem children!" When many of the mem- 
bers of the class gasped audibly, I realized that I had committed a 
terrible faux pas; yet I stood my ground with this comment: "Of 
course, I would not have dared say that, if I had not attended private 
schools practically all of my life!" 

That incident focused my attention on the problems of the rela- 
tionship of private schools to our democracy and the next time I 
was invited to lead the discussion in the Men's Class of our church, 
I took as my topic, "Are Private Schools a Menace to Our 
Democracy?" 

I have attended public schools for only twelve weeks two 
six-week summer sessions at a state university. The rest of my 
formal education has been received in private schools. However, 
I have done most of my professional work in connection with public 
schools, and I am greatly interested in making them more effective 
and more efficient. I would not for a minute suggest that private 
schools should be legislated out of business, for I believe that they 
have a very important contribution to make to the welfare of our 
nation and the world. In fact, many of them have certain advan- 
tages which make them, in some ways at least, superior to our public 
schools. They frequently have smaller classes and therefore the 
pupils can have more individual attention. They choose their 
pupils, selecting those whom they wish according to whatever moral, 
social, financial or intellectual standards they wish to establish. 

174 



Are Private Schools A Menace? 175 

They can choose their teachers without fear or political favor. 
They can give religious instruction if they desire to do so. 

On the other hand, private schools have certain weaknesses 
and sometimes become a real threat to our democracy. They some- 
times develop social snobs, since their clientele is usually drawn 
from the upper economic levels. They sometimes develop religious 
fanatics. St. Paul boasted of the fact that he received his education 
at the feet of Gamaliel, and he was certainly a fanatic, at least 
until he was converted to Christianity! But these are minor matters 
compared to another factor which makes them very definitely 
a potential menace to our democracy. Parents who send their 
children to private schools frequently lose their interest in the 
public schools, and join those who protest against the taxes needed 
for adequate support of our public schools! 

While private schools have their place in our American life 
and while many of them are rendering valuable service, I cannot 
help hoping that those parents who are financially able to take 
advantage of them will not forget their responsibility for support- 
ing adequately the public schools of their community. In this 
connection I like to recall the significant statement which Dr. John 
Dewey of Columbia University once made: "If the public schools 
of my community are not good enough for my children, they are 
not good enough for my neighbor's children!" 

Thank God, I'm An American! 

I thank God for the American schools that made available 
to me a share in the intellectual and cultural heritage of 
mankind. Education has checked and will eventually 
defeat tyranny wherever it manifests itself in this land. 
Free schools are the only guarantee of a free people; they 
are the only means whereby every individual may prepare 
himself for whatever achievement and service he is ca- 
pable. Adequate educational opportunity is 'now denied 
millions of youth, it is true y but a fair start in life for every 
child is an American ideal toward which we have been 
steadily moving for a century. All the forces of greed 
and special interest will not prevent the full attainment of 
that ideal. WILLARD E. GIVENS 



CHAPTER XXV 

A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 

1857 - 1957 
ACHIEVEMENTS and GOALS 



Social progress is the result of many factors. Credit for it 
is difficult to assign to particular individuals or organizations. 
However, leaders familiar with the facts are unanimous in their 
testimony that during the past century the National Education 
Association, in cooperation with its departments, its local and state 
affiliated units, and other organizations, has been a potent factor 
in building a teaching profession. The following paragraphs sug- 
gest some of the areas in which marked progress has been made: 

1. Public Recognition The public now, generally accepts 
teaching as a profession requiring high standards of prepara- 
tion, certification, service and conduct. 

2. Professional Literature A considerable body of profes- 
sional literature has been developed for use by members 
of the profession and those planning to enter it. 

3. Scientific Method The science of psychology has replaced 
"mental philosophy" and numerous scientific tests have been 
developed for measuring pupil ability and the relative values 
of various educational theories and technics. 

4. Professional Schools More than twelve hundred colleges 
and universities have been approved by state departments of 
education for the preparation of teachers. Two hundred 
eighty of these have been officially accredited by the recently 
established National Council for Accreditation of Teacher 
Education. 

5. Professional Preparation Thirty-six states have accepted 
four college years as the minimum professional preparation 
for initial teaching service and several require five years of 
professional preparation for permanent certification. 

176 



A Century of Progress 177 

6. Centralized Certification Practically all states have placed 
in their chief state education agencies the authority to issue 
certificates to teachers. 

7. Salaries Practically all cities of over thirty thousand 
population and thousands of other local school systems have 
adopted salary schedules. Many of these have been arrived 
at cooperatively and include the professional principle of 
the single salary schedule based on preparation and experi- 
ence. Merit rating for salary purposes is receiving careful 
consideration. In thirty-two states and three territories, mini- 
mum salaries of teachers are mandated by law. In 1870 
the average salary of teachers in this country was $189. 
In 1955 it was $3,932 and the 1956 NEA Representative 
Assembly passed a resolution advocating teachers salary 
schedules of from $4,500 to $10,000. On November 20, 
1956, the House of Delegates of the New York State Teachers 
Association voted to ask the Legislature to establish minimum 
starting pay for public school teachers at $5,000 a year and 
set a minimum of $10,000 for experienced teachers. 

8. Economic Security for Retired Teachers In 1917 only five 
states had statewide retirement systems for teachers. Now 
all forty-eight states, Alaska, the District of Columbia, Hawaii 
and Puerto Rico have either statewide retirement systems or 
social security arrangements for their teachers or both. Not 
all of these are adequate but they are being improved thru the 
cooperative efforts of local, state and national associations. 
The NEA Council on Teacher Retirement has been and is 
significantly helpful in this connection. 

9. Professional Security In 1917 only three states protected 
their teachers against unfair dismissal with statewide tenure 
laws. Today, thirty-three states, the District of Columbia 
and Hawaii have legislation providing for tenure in at least 
part of the state. Approximately eighty-two per cent of the 
public school teachers in our country are now covered by 
either tenure or continuing contract provisions. Through its 
Commission for the Defense of Democracy Through Edu- 
cation and its Committee on Tenure and Academic Freedom, 
the NEA has made arrangements to assist in protecting the 
rights of teachers. Many state and local associations have 



178 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

established corresponding committees or commissions and 
several furnish legal counsel for their members. 

10. Sick Leave Provisions for sick leave are mentioned in the 
laws of twenty-three states, Alaska,, the District of Columbia, 
Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Cumulative sick leave is definitely 
provided in most city school systems as well as in thousands 
of other local districts. 

11. Sabbatical Leave Most institutions of higher learning grant 
sabbatical leave with full or part salary. Many of the most 
progressive school systems also make provision for it. The 
NEA Victory and Centennial Action Programs included cumu- 
lative sabbatical leave in their official lists of goals. 

12. Teacher Load In 1863 the Resolutions of the National 
Education Association suggested that the working conditions 
of teachers should be improved by limiting their labors 
"to the requirements of health and self-improvement." Since 
that time the resolutions of the Association and its research 
studies in this field have continued to focus attention on the 
fact that there is an inescapable relationship between teacher 
load and the achievement of the goals of modern education. 
Recent pronouncements of the NEA Department of Class- 
room Teachers, its Department of Elementary School Princi- 
pals, and its Commission on Teacher Education and Profes- 
sional Standards, urge that classes be limited to twenty-five 
or thirty children; that free time be provided teachers for 
planning, lunch and rest and that extra-curricular assign- 
ments be distributed equally. 

13. Teacher Participation Teacher aid in the solution of social, 
political, economic and professional problems is growing 
in practice. 

14. Future Teachers The Future Teachers of America move- 
ment, inaugurated in 1937, had 3,587 Clubs and Chapters 
with 111,453 members in 1956. 

15. Professional Organizations Sixty-six state teachers' associ- 
tions are affiliated with the National Education Association. 
In 1956 these enrolled approximately ninety per cent of the 
teaching population of our nation. Most of these state 
associations employ full-time executive secretaries and pro- 
fessional staffs and maintain extensive programs of service 



A Century of Progress 179 

to their members and to the profession. Nearly six thousand 
local associations are also affiliated with the NEA. These 
cooperate with it and the state associations in their efforts to 
build a stronger and more effective teaching profession. 

16. Integrated Cooperation Professional unity has been in- 
creased by having the chairmen of local and state association 
committees serve as members of the corresponding advisory 
committees of the NEA and by having national special interest 
groups serve as departments of the NEA with offices in its- 
Washington Headquarters Building. 

17. Professional Dues In the early days the annual dues of 
teachers' associations were, like teachers' salaries, small. Prior 
to 1875 annual NEA dues were $1. From 1875 to 1945 they 
were $2; from 1945 to 1948, $3 and from 1948 to 1957, $5. 
The 1956 NEA Representative Assembly proposed an amend- 
ment to the bylaws of the Association which, if approved by the 
1957 Assembly, will increase them to $10. Prior to 1910 most 
of the state teachers' associations had annual dues of $1. By 
1935 standard state association dues were $2. In 1955 they 
ranged from $2.50 to $17. In thirty-nine states they were 
$5 or more. In four states, state and national dues were 
combined at one half of one per cent of the annual salary 
and in hundreds of progressive local associations some form 
of the all-inclusive enrolment plan was in use. 

18. Professional Ethics The NEA, forty-seven state associations 
and thousands of local teachers' associations have adopted 
codes of professional conduct for their members. Several 
have made arrangements for investigating reported violations 
and for disciplining members found guilty of violating the 
standards of the profession. The NEA has expelled one 
member and has issued thirty-two official opinions regarding 
purported violations. For more than a quarter of a century 
its standing Committee on Professional Ethics has been con- 
stantly at work studying problems in this field and alerting 
the profession to its responsibility for maintaining high stand- 
ards of professional conduct. 

19. Research Recognition of the importance of research has 
grown tremendously in the field of education, as in other 
fields of modern life. 



380 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

20. International Cooperation Leaders in the NEA and its 
affiliated organizations participated actively in the establish- 
ment of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cul- 
tural Organization and the World Confederation of Organi- 
zations of the Teaching Profession and continue to serve in 
and thru them. 

21. New Educational Center In 1917 the NEA Headquarters 
Staff of three members were housed in two, second-floor 
rooms in a small building on Fourteenth Street in Washing- 
ton, D. C. The Guggenheim Mansion, purchased by the 
Association in 1919 for $98,000 and the seven story Annex 
built in 1930 at a cost of $423 5 473, are now being replaced 
by a modern $6,500,000 office building in the heart of the 
nation's capital, to house more adequately the staff which in 
1956 numbered nearly six hundred employees. 

22. Membership Growth The increase of NEA membership 
from forty-three in 1857 to 8,466 in 1917 and to 659,190 in 
1956, and the increase of membership in the state associa- 
tions affiliated with the NEA from 65,993 in 1907 to 1,138,507 
in 1956, shows real progress and has added great strength to 
the organized profession. 

CE]NTENNIAL ACTION PROGRAM 

On July 6, 1951, the NEA Representative Assembly adopted 
a Centennial Action Program for 1957 in anticipation of the one 
hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Association. The fol- 
lowing proposals were approved as the charter and goals for 
this program. 

Charter for the Centennial Action Program 

1. That our profession continue its campaign of unifi- 
cation, expansion, and development into a program 
to be known as the Centennial Action Program 
1951-57. 

2. That the Centennial Action Program develop plans 
for the continuing unification of our entire profes- 
sion including structure, finance, leadership train- 
ing, and services. 

3. That the Centennial Action Program include com- 
prehensive plans for the improvement of instruction 



A Century of Progress 181 

and for raising the standards of professional teach- 
ing and effective administrative services. 

4. That the Centennial Action Program include a com- 
prehensive plan for professional growth and teacher 
welfare designed to give educational leaders the 
place in community life which the nature of their 
work demands including social status, salaries, ten- 
ure, sick leave, sabbatical leave, and retirement. 

5. That the Centennial Action Program include plans 
for leadership and service designed to help lift the 
level of civic and community life. 

6. That the Centennial Action Program include plans 
for world service and cooperation with educators 
of other countries looking toward peace, world under- 
standing, justice, cooperation, and mutual helpful- 
ness. 

7. That the NEA Executive Committee provide for 
development of the details of the Centennial Action 
Program and authorize the steps necessary for its 
achievement. 

8. That affiliated state and local associations be asked 
to adopt the Centennial Action Program in principle 
as soon as possible; to proceed as rapidly as con- 
ditions will permit to unify dues and to develop 
action programs of their own built around the goals 
of the Centennial Action Program. 

Goals for the Centennial Action Program 

1. An active, democratic, local education association in 
every community. 

2. A stronger and more effective state education associ- 
ation in every state. 

3. A larger and more effective National Education 
Association. 

4. Unified dues a single fee covering local, state, 
national and world services collected by the local. 

5. 100% membership enrolment in local, state and 
national professional organizations. 

6. Unified committees the chairmen of local and 
state committees serving as consultants to central, 
national committees. 



182 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

7. A Future Teachers of America Chapter in every 
institution preparing teachers. 

8. A professionally prepared and competent person in 
every school position. 

9. A strong, adequately-staffed state department of 
education in each state and a more adequate federal 
education agency. 

10. An adequate professional salary for all members. 

11. For all educational personnel professional se- 
curity guaranteed by tenure legislation, sabbatical 
and sick leave, and an adequate retirement income 
for old age. 

12. Reasonable class size and equitable distribution of 
the teaching load. 

13. Units of school administration large enough to pro- 
vide efficient and adequate elementary and sec- 
ondary educational opportunities. 

14. Adequate educational opportunity for every child 
and youth. 

15. Equalization and expansion of educational oppor- 
tunity including needed state and national financing. 

16. A safe, healthful, and wholesome community en- 
vironment for every child and youth. 

17. An adequately-informed lay support of public 
education. 

18. An able, public-spirited board of education in every 
community. 

19. An effective world organization of the teaching 
profession. 

20. A more effective United Nations Educational, Sci- 
entific and Cultural Organization. 

21. More effective cooperation between adult, higher, 
secondary, and elementary education with increasing 
participation by college and university personnel in 
the work of the united profession. 

22. A new NEA Educational Center in the nation's 
capital. 

While all of these goals will probably not have been achieved 
before the Centennial Convention is called to order in Philadelphia 
on June 30, 1957, some of them will have been reached and the 
rest will continue to serve as stimulating ideals for further effort. 



A Century of Progress 183 

even state units exceeded their 1956 Centennial Celebration 
^mbership quotas Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Nevada, New 
mipshire, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Utah and 
ashington and the new Educational Center is nearing comple- 
n at the heart of the nation's capital where it will serve for many 
ars as an inspiring, modern headquarters home for the Associa- 
>n and allied organizations, a fitting memorial to the thousands 
leaders and faithful followers who through the past century have 
ntributed materially to the building of a real profession of 
iching the most important of all professions. 

The Centennial Celebration 

In July, 1954, the NEA Representative Assembly passed the 
[.lowing Resolution: 

The National Education Association urges a comprehen- 
sive celebration of its 100th anniversary in 1957 as an 
opportunity to challenge the American people to a greater 
appreciation of the significant role of public education in 
our democratic way of life. 

That fall, President Waurine Walker appointed the following 
dnguished national leaders as the Centennial Celebration Com- 
ssion: 

Robert D. Bailey, executive secretary, New Hampshire 
Education Assn. 

Mrs. Rollin Brown, president, Natl. Congress of Parents 
and Teachers 

John Lester Buford, NEA past president, member ex officio 

William G. Carr, NEA executive secretary, member ex 
officio 

Rufus E. Clement, president, Atlanta Univ.; member, 
Atlanta board of education 

Norman Cousins, editor, The Saturday Review 

Harold Fellows, president, Natl. Assn. of Radio and T-V 
Broadcasters 

John H. Fischer, superintendent of schools, Baltimore 



184 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

Willard E. Givens, former executive secretary, NEA 
Eric Johnston, president. Motion Picture Assn. of America 
Grayson Kirk, president, Columbia University 

Raymond Miller, consultant, FAO; lecturer, Harvard 
School of Business 

Walter P. Reuther, president, Congress of Industrial 
Organizations 

Helen Ryan, field assistant, 111. Edn. Assoc, ; NEA director 
for 111.., chairman 

Raymond Stites, curator in charge of education, Natl. 
Gallery of Art 

Mrs. Theodore Waller, forum director, New York Herald 
Tribune 

Louise A. Walter, president, Kansas State Teachers 

Assn. 

Allen EL Wetter, superintendent, Philadelphia public 
schools 

Mrs. Nell Wilcoxen, immediate past president, Dept. of 
Classroom Teachers, NEA 

J. C. Wright, state superintendent of public instruction, 
Iowa 

Paul Street, director, Centennial Celebration 

In February 1955, the Commission suggested that the Centen- 
nial Program should extend over the whole calendar year, 1957, 
and selected the following theme, objectives and timetable for 
the celebration : 

Theme 
"An Educated People Moves Freedom Forward" 

Objectives 

1. To consider the decisive role of education in a 
changing world. 

2. To stimulate action to provide adequate education 
for the increasing millions of children. 

3. To strengthen the teaching profession in its service 
to people of all ages. 



A Century of Progress 



185 



Timetable of the NBA Centennial 

1956 Premiere of Centennial Film: "A Desk for 
July 1 Billie," at Portland Convention. 
September Publication of Centennial Edition, NEA Hand- 
book. 

1957 Publication of Centennial Musical Composition. 
January Publication of Centennial Manual for County and 

State Fair Exhibits. 

March Publication of NEA History. 

April Publication of American Library Association 

Bulletin, Special School Issue. 
April 4 NEA Centennial Birthday Party. 

The national party will be held at the NEA Head- 
quarters in Washington, D. C. but thousands 
of local associations will hold parties in their 
communities. 
May NEA and State Education Journals will feature 

the Centennial Convention. 
June 30 Centennial Convention in Philadelphia. 

July 5 Issuing of NEA Centennial Commemorative 

Stamp. 

NEA Tours Focused on Philadelphia. 
Special ceremonies by Future Teachers of 
America at Athenaeum., site of NEA organi- 
zation in 1857. 
NEA Centennial Festival. 

November Publication of the Centennial Volume of Addres- 

ses and Proceedings. 
November 10-16 American Education Week. 



The Hundredth Milestone 

As this hundredth milestone is reached, let every member 
resolve to work untiringly for those goals of the Associa- 
tion yet to be achieved. In so doing, you will be working 
for the sure advancement of freedom, which is safely en- 
trusted only to an educated people. WILLIAM G. CARR 



CHAPTER XXVI 



PROPOSED PROGRAM 

OF 
INCREASED SERVICES AND LEADERSHIP 



On July 2, 1955, at Chicago, the NEA Board of Directors and 
the National Association of Secretaries of State Teachers Associa- 
tions held a joint meeting to consider problems of mutual concern. 
Out of this conference came several proposals for expanded services 
and more dynamic leadership for the profession. Since many of 
these would require increased revenues, the Board of Directors re- 
quested Dr. Carr, the Executive Secretary of the Association, to make 
a thorough study of the financial needs of the Association and to 
make recommendations concerning revision of dues which would 
finance adequately the expanding program of the Association during 
the years ahead. 

The following April, the presidents and secretaries of the state 
education associations met in Washington to consider the proposed 
long range program of increased services and leadership. At the 
end of this conference the following resolution was passed unani- 
mously: 

The members of this conference commend the Board of 
Directors for the decision to consult the profession in the 
several states in order to evaluate present services of NEA 
and possible additional services. 

While professional education has made great advances 
in recent years, there is need for accelerated improvement 
if a strong profession is to be achieved. 

Therefore, be it resolved that this conference of presidents 
and executive secretaries of state education associations 
recommends to the Board of Directors of the National 
Education Association that the dues for active members 
of the Association be increased, that the amount be not 

186 



Increased Services and Leadership 187 

less than $7 per year nor more than $10, and that copies 
of the conference outline and the committee reports be 
forwarded with this resolution. 

The summarizing report of the conference suggested the follow- 
ing major items for expansion: 

1. General field services to interpret and promote the 
program of the Association as a whole and geared 
to state and local needs. 

2. Specialized consultative services with respect to 
teacher welfare to be provided on request to the af- 
filiated associations. 

3. An administrative survey to insure the most fruitful 
use of funds available. Subsidies to autonomous 
and semiautonomous groups within the NEA struc- 
ture should be carefully examined. 

4. Legislation should receive a larger part of the NEA 
funds. 

5. The quality of the NEA staff is basic; budget items 
should enable the NEA to command the services of 
the best qualified educators in America. The whole 
NEA salary schedule needs realistic revision. 

6. The lay relations budget should permit the 
NEA to share the cost of working with magazine 
editors, labor, agriculture, and business. 

7. The professional development and welfare efforts 
of the NEA should be increased at a rapid rate. 
Consultant services should be increased. 

8. Educational services should be studied to determine 
if fewer services would be appropriate, with more 
effort expanded in the balance of die field. 

9. Business management should be given high priority 
for operation and maintenance of plant, debt service, 
and capital outlay. 

10. The research program should be sharply increased 
to meet needs of many different areas. 

11. A strong voice for education is needed, with funds 
to command the best talent and to purchase radio 
and television time to carry professional education, 
its efforts, successes, and problems, to every Ameri- 
can home. 

12. Re-evaluation and redirection of the NEA program, 



188 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

in terms of the suggested emphases, will prompt both 
increased dues and increased membership. 

During the 1956 annual meeting of the Association at Port- 
land, Oregon, the Board of Directors reviewed for the fourth time, 
the suggested "Expansion Priorities and Additional Resources" and 
on July 3 presented to the Representative Assembly an expansion 
program which included the following recommendations: 

1. That the National Education Association launch a 
program of increased services and leadership during 
the Centennial Year of 1957. 

2. That these services be financed by setting the annual 
dues for active members at $10. 

That afternoon the delegates to the Representative Assembly 
divided into 350 discussion circles of ten each, considered the ex- 
pansion program proposed by the Board of Directors and gave over- 
whelming approval of it. This Program of Increased Services and 
Leadership includes the following items: 

1. Executive Secretary's Office, Legislation, and 
Policies : 

High priority should be given now to the support of sound 
federal legislation for the financing of schools. State 
and local revenues, even if greatly expanded, will not 
suffice to build the necessary classrooms and pay proper 
salaries to a sufficient number of qualified teachers. The 
Association should also develop a reserve to meet con- 
tingencies as they arise. Great care is required for the 
development of sound long-range policies for American 
education. 

2. Field Operations: 

High priority is attached by many members of the Asso- 
ciation to the employment of additional competent field 
workers to present the National Education Association 
program as a whole to local and state groups. In order 
that each teacher may share in the total responsibility, 
there is also need for membership promotion, particularly 
in the large cities. Consideration is also being given to 
the establishment of a fund to assist state education as&o- 



Increased Services and Leadership 189 

ciations to meet emergency problems for which their own 
resources are inadequate. It has been proposed that one 
staff member be employed especially to assist the states; 
with added funds to finance cooperative state workshops 
and leadership training. Equity also requires that the 
states be more completely reimbursed for processing the 
enrolment of NEA members. 

3. Lay Relations: 

The recent rebirth of public interest in education offers a 
great opportunity to the profession. High priority should 
be given to intensive work in areas which have already 
shown their value such as cooperation with magazines 
and newspapers, parent-teacher associations, schoolboard 
members, and civic organizations which are ready and 
willing to work wholeheartedly for better schools. This 
function of the Association should be lifted to new levels 
of vigor and effectiveness. While much of this work can 
best be done at state and local levels, the organization of 
American life is such that only a national program can 
give essential leadership. To bring about greater co- 
operation between teachers and the general public for the 
improvement of the schools, a national council on lay 
relations or a similar activity could be developed. 

4. Professional Development and Welfare: 

An all-out effort to establish the minimum NEA salary 
goals, in each community of the nation, should now be 
launched in close cooperation with state and local af- 
filiated units. The work done by the National Education 
Association for over thirty years in the collection and 
study of data on teachers salaries should be expanded. 
In addition, expert consultants should be provided on re- 
quest to local and state associations to help them to draft 
salary schedules, and to seek approval by schoolboards 
and the public. Consultant services should also be avail- 
able on the problems of teacher education, teacher recruit- 
ment, and teacher welfare. A program to assist teachers 
to exercise their civic responsibilities is highly desirable. 
Teachers need to meet and discuss their common problems. 
Funds should be provided to permit more teachers to take 
part in regional and national conferences. The defense 



190 BUILDING A TEACHING PROFESSION 

of schools and teachers against unwarranted attacks and 
unfair treatment should be continued and expanded. 

5. Educational Services: 

The Charter of the National Education Association states 
that it shall endeavor not only to "advance the interest of 
the profession of teaching," but also to "elevate the char- 
acter" of the professional service rendered to the public. 
High priority in this area should be given to a Commis- 
sion on Instructional Services or to some other means to 
make the excellent services of NEA departments and other 
units more fully available to the profession in the improve- 
ment of its service. Special attention should be given to 
the needs of kindergarten and elementary-school teachers, 
to instructional problems of concern to the Association as 
a whole, as well as to such fields as adult education, rural 
education, safety education, higher education, the use of 
visual aids, and the teaching of international understand- 
ing. The placement of an observer at the United Nations 
headquarters has long been an objective of the Associa- 
tion. NEA conventions and conferences could be greatly 
improved by the employment of an expert convention 
manager. 

6. Business Management: 

The Association is now acquiring a modern headquarters 
to meet the crisis caused by a lack of suitable office space 
in the nation's capital. Maintenance, equipment, and 
operation of the new plant should keep it in the highest 
state of repair and efficiency. Neglected maintenance 
now will create serious difficulties in the years ahead. 
Funds should also be set aside to cover building deprecia- 
tion. Expenditures for printing the Journal of the Na- 
tional Education Association should be somewhat in- 
creased in order to make the Journal more attractive in 
format, text, and illustration. Current expenditures for 
NEA conventions are below actual costs, since much of 
these costs are now borne by the teachers of the host state 
and city. The Association should soon pay the full cost 
of its conventions, except for such hospitality as the host 
cities wish to furnish. The current salary schedule of the 
NEA staff is too low. The staff salary schedule should 



Increased Services and Leadership 191 

enable the NEA to recruit and retain the highest calibre 
of service. 

7. Information Services: 

The work of the NEA in gathering and interpreting facts 
about the public schools is one of its most important func- 
tions. Better communication between the Association and 
its members, thru the various NEA publications, is also 
necessary. However, the highest priority in this area 
may well recognize the power of radio and television in 
shaping informed public opinion about the schools. A 
nationwide television and radio program properly staffed 
and produced, might cost about $2 million for forty half- 
hour programs per year. Even with an increase in dues 
to $10, it is doubtful whether the Association could 
finance service on so costly a scale. Nevertheless, more 
systematic and effective use of radio, television, motion 
pictures, and the press is urgently needed. 

The amendments to the Bylaws proposed by the Board of Direc- 
tors received the enthusiastic endorsement of the 350 Discussion 
Groups at the Portland Convention and will be presented for official 
action at the Centennial Convention in Philadelphia, June 30- July 5, 
1957. They will increase annual NEA dues from $5 to $10, and 
the Life Membership fee from $150 to $225, if paid in one install- 
ment or to $250 if paid in ten annual installments of $25 each and 
will provide the resources needed for the proposed "Program of 
Increased Services and Leadership." 

The achievements of the past century are thrilling, as we look 
back over the years. Teaching has certainly made marked progress 
toward becoming a profession. This progress has been made 
largely thru cooperative action. The goals set for the future are 
high and challenging but they can be achieved by the cooperation 
of every member of the profession. America needs an improved 
program of education for her own welfare, for the welfare of her 
children and for the welfare of the world. 



A man's reach should exceed his grasp, 

or what's a heaven for? ROBERT BROWNING 



SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 



1. Alexander, Carter. Some present Aspects of the Work of Teachers Volun- 
tary Associations in the United States. Contributions, No. 36. Teachers 
College, Columbia University (1910) 

2. Crawford, A. B. Critical Analysis of the Present Status and Significant 
Trends of State Education Associations of the United States. Bureau of 
School Service, No. 4, University of Kentucky (1932) 

3. Elsbree, Willard S., and Beck, Hubert Park. "United States Teachers 
Associations". Educational Yearbook. Teachers College, Columbia Uni- 
versity (1935) 

4. Fenner, Mildred S. NEA History (1945) 

5. Foos, Charles S. "State Educational Associations." Report of the Com- 
missioner of Education (1909) Vol. 1. Washington, D. C. 

6. Granrud, John. The Organization and Objectives af State Teachers 9 
Associations. Contributions, No. 234. Teachers College, Columbia Uni- 
versity (1926) 

7. Marsh, Arthur L. The Organized Teachers. Published by the National 
Association of Secretaries of State Education Associations. Seattle, Wash- 
ington (1936) 

8. Monroe, Walter S. Encyclopedia of Educational Research Macmillan 
(1950) 

9. Morton, R. L. The Organization of State Education Associations. Ohio 
Education Association (1935) 

10. NEA Handbooks (1947-1956) 

11. NEA Journal (1921-1956) 

12. NEA Professional Status: How It Is Achieved (1955) 

13. NEA Manual on Certification Requirements (1955) 

14. NEA National Organization for Education (EPC 1937) 

15. NEA Research Bulletins and Reports (1922-1956) 

16. NEA Report on A Program of Increased Services 'and Leadership (1956) 
J7. NEA State Education Associations (Research Division 1948) 

18. NEA State Education Association Staffs (Research Division 1955) 

19. NEA Volume of Addresses and Proceedings (1857-1956) 

20. Politella, Joseph. Annotated Bibliography Religion in Education, 
AACTE (1956) 

21. Selle, Erwin Stevenson. The Organization and Activities of the National 
Education Association. Contributions, No. 513. Teachers College, Co- 
lumbia University (1932) 

22. Stinnett, T. M. The Teacher and Professional Organizations (NEA 1956) 

23. The State and Sectarian Education NEA Research Bulletin, Vol XXXIV, 
No. 4, December 1956 



192 



Index of Subject Matter 



Academic Freedom, 4 

Accreditation of Teacher Education 

Institutions, 20-22, 176 
Achievements, professional, 176-80 
American Medical Association, V, 20, 

21, 27, 28, 30, 47, 62, 81, 143, 150-51, 

164 
American Bar Association, V, 30, 47, 

62, 81, 143, 150-51 
Assembly, NEA Representative, 56, 61- 

65, 180 

Centennial Action Program, 180-85 
Certification of teachers, 16-20, 31, 177 
Charter, NEA, V, 6, 53 
Chautauqua Conference, 2, 8 
Commissions, NEA, 8, 67, 69, 103 

Centennial Celebration, 183-84 

Defense, 95-97 

Legislative 98-100 

Policies, 97-98, 140 

Teacher Education and Professional 

Standards, 8, 12, 13, 20, 25, 26, 190 

Retirement, 4 
Committees, NEA, 67, 69 

Executive, 63-65, 116, 181 

Ethics, 149-52 
Conventions, NEA, 3, 24, 43, 50, 57, 

58, 138, 190 

State, 108 
Departments, NEA, 7, 8, 27, 48, 66-68 

American Association of Teachers 

Colleges, 21 

Classroom Teachers, 25, 62, 90 

Higher Education, 8, 9, 14142 

Superintendence, 7, 44, 48 

Supervisors, 7 

Departments, State Association, 108-09 
Directors, NEA Board of, 52, 56, 59, 

63-65, 71-75, 103, 115-116, 129, 186 
Divisions, NEA Headqu'arters Staff, 48, 

68 

Accounts, 45, 48 

Business, 45, 48, 190 

Membership, 43 

Publications, 48 

Records, 45 
Dues, professional, 120, 121, 191 

All-inclusive, 79-80, 84-88, 110, 179, 

181 



Future Teachers, 14, 15 

NEA Life Membership, 53, 191 

Dues, State Association, 109-110 
Education, value of, 38, 39 
Ethics, professional, 16, 27-29, 143-53, 

179 
Field Services, 41, 89-95, 112, 126, 187, 

188 
Future Teachers of America, 14, 15, 

182 

Geniuses, 134-41 
Goals, Centennial Action Program, 181- 

82 
Headquarters, NEA Buildings, 1, 43, 

47, 51-55, 69, 70, 180, 182, 183 
Higher Education, NEA Dept. of, 8, 

141-42 
History, NEA, 43-45, 46-55, 61, 79, 

102-3 

Integrated cooperation, 179 
International Services, 40, 59, 106, 180, 

182 

Journal, NEA, 44, 48, 190 
Lay Relations, 102, 182, 187, 189 
Legislation, 44, 88-100, 111-12, 187, 188 
Local Associations, 2, 14, 29, 32, 33, 

35, 37, 45, 59, 64, 79, 80, 84-87, 179, 

181 
Membership, Life, 53, 138, 191 

NEA, 43, 44, 58, 62, 76-88, 180, 181, 

191 

All-inclusive, 79-80, 84-88 

State Association, 107-8 
National Association of Manufacturers, 

131-32 
Participation, Teacher, 49-50, 122-23, 

178 

Phi Delta Kappa, 104 
Platform, NEA, 3 

Politics, teacher participation in, 32 
Presidents, NEA, 116, 125-33 

State Association, V, 72, 73, 186 
Private Schools, 174-75 
Preparation, professional, 16-20, 31, 

176, 181, 182 
Prestige, public and personal, 11, 15, 

16,22-24,164-65, 176 
Profession, criteria for, 16 



193 



194 



Index of Subject Matter 



Publications, NEA, 38, 100-1 

State Association, 112 
Public Relations, 31, 32, 101-2, 126, 

128, 182, 187, 189 
Purpose of the NEA, V, 1-10, 19 
Radio Programs, 128, 187, 191 
Research, 1, 2, 4, 23, 28, 38, 44, 48, 

102-5, 111, 179, 187, 191 
Resolutions, NEA, 2, 18, 25, 45 
Responsibility, individual, 16, 26, 27, 

42 

Retirement, 4, 177, 182 
Sabbatical Leave, 4, 178, 182 
Salaries, teachers', 2, 16, 22, 24-26, 47, 

177, 182 
Secretaries, State, 72, 75, 82, 109, 114- 

17, 178, 186 

Service, emphasis on, 16, 22, 31 
Services of the NEA, 59, 186-91 
Sick Leave, 4, 178, 182 
Staff, NEA Headquarters, 41-45, 66, 

67, 187, 188, 190, 191 

State Association, 109 
Standards, professional, 5, 8, 12, 16-29, 

176 



State Associations, 2, 14, 29, 32, 33, 59, 

64, 104, 107-13, 178, 181 
State Departments of Education, 182 
Teacher load, 4, 5, 178, 182 
Teachers, strength of, 30-33, 40, 41 

Weaknesses of, 34-37, 41, 119 
Teaching Profession, V, 10-29 
Tenure, 3, 4, 177, 182 
Travel, 105-06 
Trustees, NEA Board of, 57, 63, 65, 

136, 138 
Unified Enrolment Plan, see "Dues" 

and "Membership" 
Unions, Teachers', 56, 154-65 
United Nations, 40, 59, 190 
U. S. Chamber of Commerce, 38, 39, 

40 
U. S. Office of Education, 84-85, 101, 

104, 118, 173, 182 
Welfare, of child, 1, 5, 6 
Welfare, of teachers, 1-9, 177-78, 181, 

187, 189 



Index of Names 



Adair, Cornelia S., 61, 126-27 

Alexander, Garter, 111, 156 

Allan, Harold A., 43, 45, 137-38 

Allen, Gracie, 30 

Alltucker, Margaret, 43, 44, 139-40 

Armstrong, L. E., 109, 114 

Bagley, William C, 146 

Barnard, Eunice Fuller, 162 

Berns, Karl EL, 94-95 

Berlin, Eugene P., 117 

Bickett, William, 83 

Bicknell, Thomas W., 125 

Blair, Francis G., 126 

Blanton, Congressman, 166 

Browning, Robert, 191 

Burns, George, 30 

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 49, 50, 103, 

125 

Cabot, Richard C., 144 
Cameron, Ernest, 71 
Campbell, Lee, 10 
Canfield, James H., 48 
Carr, William G., 121-22, 134-35, 185 
Chamberlain, Arthur, 114 
Charters, W. W., 166 
Chase, Harriett M., 43, 53, 138 
Chesterton, Lord, 36 
Coffman, Lotus D., 57, 158-59 
Corey, Arthur F., 164-65 
Counts, George, 156 
Crabtree, James W., 6, 43, 46-57, 76, 

78, 82, 84, 89, 103-4, 125, 126, 139 
Davis, Jerome, 156 
Dawson, Howard A., 140 
Densberger, Fi'ank, 1 
Dewey, John, 128-30, 155-56, 175 
Dock, Christopher, 17 
Dorsey, Susan M., 128-29 
DuShane, Donald, 95-96, 130-32, 141 
Dyke, Charles, 82 
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 40 
Eliot, Charles W., 3, 103, 125 
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 113 
Engleman, J. 0., 80, 89 
Evenden, Edward S., 139, 146 
Faust, Wilda F., 14 
Farley, Belmont, 167 
Fenner, Mildred, 96, 106 
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 142 



Fithian, Powell G., 82-83 

Flexner Report, 20, 21 

Flora, A. C., 95 

Givens, Willard E., 54, 56-60, 84, 91, 

120-21, 135-36, 162, 175 
Gould, Samuel B., 29 
Granrud, John, 111-12 
Gray, Jessie, 56 
Grosvenor, Gilbert, 52 
Hale, Florence 127-28 
Hall, Samuel Reed, 17 
Harris, William T., 48, 103 
Heermance, Edgar L., 143 
Hixson, Helen T., 43, 45, 46, 48 
Holt, Andrew D., 133 
Hubbard, Frank W., 43, 139 
Hunter, Frederick M., 125, 139 
James, William, 10 
Johnson, William H., 132, 152 
Jones, Franklin D., 147 
Jordon, David Starr, 49, 125 
Judd, Charles H., 161-62 
Kelley, Herbert J., 57, 72, 73, 85, 

159-61 

Kennan, Richard B., 97 
Kennedy, Ambrose, 168 
Kilpatrick, William H., 162 
Knight, Edgar, 23 
Leonard, Robert, 146 
Mac Arthur, Douglas, 59 
Magill, Hugh, 79, 89 
Marston, R. B., 88 
McCormick, John, 168-69 
McDonald, Ralph, 91, 140-42 
McGaughy, James R., 146 
McSkimmon, Mary, 126-27 
Monroe, Paul, 145 
Morgan, Joy Elmer, 9, 14, 43, 44, 48, 

53, 55, 13435 
Morton, Governor, 18 
Myers, Alonzo, 141 

Norton, John K., 43, 44, 48, 57, 138-40 
O'Connor, John, 168 
Palmer, George Herbert, 75, 153 
Pearse, Carroll G., 48 
Peirce, Cyrus, 17 
Perry, Cyrus, 152-53 
Peterson, Henry, 114 
Phelps, William Lyon, 70 



195 



196 



Index of Names 



Religion in Schools, 170-73 

Reynolds, Frank, 72 

Richmond, James, 57 

Robey, Dr., 131 

Roosevelt, Franklin D., 126, 169 

Rosier, Joseph, 127, 129 

Rushing, John, 90 

Russell, James E., V, 7, 37, 157 

Shakespeare, William, 10, 34 

Shankland, S. D., 43, 44, 48, 136-37, 

155 

Shaw, Reuben T., 130 
Shepard, Erwin, 46 
Ship, Paca, 23 
Sisson, Fred, 168 
Smith, Arline C, 15 
Smith, Henry Lester, 56 
Springer, Durand W., 46 
Stinnett, T. 3VL, 11, 121 
Strayer, George D., 47, 125, 139, 146 



Street, Paul, 184 

Studebaker, John W., 33, 85, 140 

Stryker, Melanchthon Woolsey, 16, 145 

Suttoru Willis, 127 

Suzzallo, Henry, 145 

Tawney, R. H., 165 

Thomas, Wesley, 94 

Valentine, T. W., 102-3 

Van Dyke. Henry, 60 

Walker, Thomas J., 84 

Walker, Waurine, 183 

Wanamaker, Pearl, 132-33, 162-64 

Webster, Ray, 38, 94 

Williams, Charl 0., 43, 44, 89, 125-26 

Wilson, Wo'odrow, 51 

Winn, Agnes, 43, 45 

Winship, A. E., 128-29 

Wright, C. 0., 86 

Wright, Suzanne, 80-81, 138 

Young, Ella Flagg, 61 




rz 

03< 

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124339