Didactic fiction; Political fiction; Social problems -- Fiction
Pemberton had been added to their number at the suggestion of the
judge, because of his well-known public spirit and his interest in
educational and philanthropic enterprises. He had undertaken his
duties with his accustomed energy and conscientiousness, and at times
wearied even the judge with his scruples. The others had rather hazy
ideas as to the exact form, educationally, that the large fund in their
charge should assume. Wheeler concerned himself mainly with the
financial side of the trust. Hollister, who had got his education in a
country school, and Judge Phillips, who was a graduate of a small
college, merely insisted that the school should be "practical," with
"no nonsense." After they had rejected the plan of handing over the
bequest to a university, Pemberton had formed the idea of founding a
technological school, modelled closely after certain famous Eastern
institutions. This conception Helen had somewhat disturbed by her talk
with him, in which she had vigorously presented the founder's
democratic ideas on education. Her views had set him to thinking on
the problem once more, and he had discussed the matter with the
intimate friends of the founder, seeking to discover the old man's real
purpose in his benefaction.
In his perplexity Pemberton had gone East to see the president of a
university, of which he was one of the trustees, and there he had met a
professor in the scientific department, one Dr. Everest, a clever
organizer of educational enterprises. Dr. Everest did not find it
difficult to convince the puzzled trustee that his dilemma was an
imaginary one, that all warring ideals of education might be easily
"harmonized" by a little judicious "adjustment." There should be some
domestic science for the girls, manual training combined with technical
and commercial courses for the boys, and all would be right, especially
if the proper man were employed to mix these ingredients. In brief,
the doctor came to Chicago at the invitation of the trustees, looked
over the ground, and spoke at several public dinners on the "ideals of
modern education." His eloquent denunciation of a "mediæval"
education, his plea for a business education for a business people, and
especially his alert air and urbane manners convinced the trustees that
they had found a treasure. Dr. Everest was invited to become the head
of the new school, which was to be called the JACKSON INDUSTRIAL
INSTITUTE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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