REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION.

CHAPTER I.

THE COMMISSIONER'S STATEMENT.

The work of the Office-The Museum-The Library-Publications of the Office-Plan and scope of the Annual Report-History of American education-The College of William and Mary-Report on the Study of History in American Colleges and Universities-Opinions of the recent work of the Bureau-Alaska: Sketch of the history, geography, etc., of the Territory; civil government; education in Alaska; tour of inspection; Metlakahtla; plan of education; present condition of the schools; what provision is necessary for school-houses; application of school fund for the present year; future policy of the Government-Removal of the Office-Delay in the publication of the Report-Conclusion.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C., September 30, 1887. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of this Office for the year ending June 30, 1887:

I was appointed by the President on the 3d and confirmed by the Senate on the 5th of August, 1886; but having obtained your permis. sion to arrange my private business before entering upon my duties, I did not assume personal charge of the Office until the 27th of September following.

THE WORK OF THE OFFICE.

Upon assuming charge of the Office, after consultation with you and an examination into its condition and its business methods, I deemed it best to reduce the number of divisions into which it had been organized from seven to three, called, respectively, the Division of Records, the Division of the Library and Museum, and the Division of Statistics. This consolidation was made with the purpose of making the organization more simple, the responsibility of the employés more explicit, the service more efficient, and the work more systematic, prompt, and ac

curate.

The Division of Records is charged with the correspondence, indexing and filing of all communications, and the distribution of the publications of the Office and other public documents.

The Library and Museum Division is charged with the care of all the books, pamphlets, journals, apparatus, and other articles embraced in these collections.

The Division of Statistics is charged with the collection, arrangement, and comparison of statistics for the Annual Report and other publications of the Office, and with their preparation for publication.

To the supervision of each of these divisions was assigned an experienced chief, who became responsible for the proper execution and dispatch of its work. This plan has worked admirably, and has enabled the Office to complete much work previously unfinished, to respond to all the calls made upon it for information, and to perform promptly the routine duties assigned to it by law.

During the year this Office has received, written letters, 11,006; acknowledgments, 43,990; documents, 4,825; and 20,000 replies to statistical forms of inquiry; and has sent out 19,354 written letters and distributed 218,526 copies of documents. The statistical forms related to the Report for 1885-86, and the result appears in the appendices to the volume for that year, recently completed.

The documents received, above mentioned, comprising school reports, educational journals, treatises and other works and pamphlets on educational subjects, have been catalogued and filed in the Library and Museum Division, wherein the card catalogue of the general collection of books has been carried very far towards completion, and the special catalogue of the articles in the museum prepared.

THE MUSEUM.

This collection of educational apparatus and appliances has never received the attention which its value and extent demand, partly on account of the want of space for an adequate display of the same. Desiring that it should be made serviceable to some extent, I have caused a selection of the articles to be made, have made some additions in order to complete the collection, and have had the same catalogued, cased, and displayed in accordance with the most approved methods, following the general plan furnished by the National Museum. Visitors to this Office will find this collection of infinitely greater value than ever before for educational purposes, on account of the ease with which they can have access to the articles for examination, comparison, and study.

The museum, as now arranged, will be a genuine surprise to almost any one not connected directly with the Office.

That portion now exhibited contains approximately two thousand five hundred objects and series of objects.

It has been suggested that the museum, on account of the want of room for its proper display, and the want of means to bestow upon it that care and attention which are necessary for its preservation, should

be deposited in the National Museum until proper accommodation shall be provided for this valuable collection.

For many reasons this arrangement would be a subject of regret to the friends of education, who have so zealously and carefully watched and fostered the growth of this valuable addition to the educational facilities of the Bureau, and the idea could only be entertained on account of the great necessity that exists for its preservation.

THE LIBRARY.

The value of the library is well known to educationists of every grade, and it has been used during the past year by a number of persons engaged in the investigation of educational subjects. Inquiries . are frequently made upon these subjects by correspondents, not only in the United States, but in foreign countries, for information which can not be obtained elsewhere.

It now contains 19,200 volumes and 60,000 pamphlets, besides many thousand duplicates which are used for exchange and distribution. During the year 1,700 volumes and 15,000 pamphlets were added to the library, indexed, and filed; 8,000 cards for the catalogue were written, and over 300 cards giving references to investigators on various topics were prepared. Some of these cards were the result of very elaborate research, and were prepared with great care and labor.

Many of the books in the library and a very large portion of the articles in the museum are the gifts of foreign Governments and of native and foreign authors and inventors, and are pecuniarily of great value. These parts of the collection could not be duplicated if scattered or destroyed. So valuable a collection should be deposited in a fire-proof building, and I trust that the time is approaching when the claims of this Office for a building suitable for its purposes and capable of preserving these collections will be recognized by the Government.

A complete Index to the publications of the Bureau since its foundation to the close of the fiscal year now under review, has also been prepared. This will add greatly to the convenience of those who may wish to examine these publications. It will be found in Chapter XXII of this volume.

It is intended that these catalogues and indexes shall hereafter contain all additions as soon as made.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE OFFICE.

Upon taking charge of the Office I found that the Annual Report for 1884-85 was not completed, and that no steps had been taken for the preparation of the Report for 1885-86.

Under these circumstances it was deemed best to forward the completion of these Reports and other unfinished work, so that hereafter the preparation of the Annual Reports would begin immediately after the end of the fiscal year.

In pursuance of this plan, the Report of 1881-85 was completed and sent to the printer in Jannary, 1887, and has been published and distributed. The Report of 1885-86 was then taken up and pushed forward rapidly, and was placed in the hands of the printer on the 15th of last June, and will be ready for distribution soon after the meeting of Congress in December.1

In addition to the preparation and publication of these Reports, much other unfinished work was completed. Circular of Information No. 1, 1886, respecting the Study of Music in the Public Schools, was com pleted and published; and the Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association for the year 1885-86 was edited and published as a circular, in accordance with the usages of the Office.

The Special Report of Education at the New Orleans Exposition, consisting of three parts, was also printed and distributed; and the second part of the Special Report on Fine and Industrial Art has been revised, and a small part of it printed during the year.

This work was undertaken in response to a resolution of the Senate, dated February 2, 1880, directing the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau, to "furnish the Senate with a statement of all the information relative to the development of instruction in drawing as applied to the industrial or fine arts in the colleges of agriculture and the mechanic arts, and in the public schools and other institutions of the country, with special reference to the utility of such instruction in promoting the arts and industries of the people."

Part I of this work was completed and published in 1886. I deem it important that the other parts of this work should be finished at an early period, in order that no further delay may occur in laying the information in the possession of the Office before the Senate. The work has been in charge of Mr. I. Edwards Clarke since its inception. The second part will cover at least one thousand pages, and there are to be two additional volumes.

The Special Report on Indian Education and Civilization, undertaken in response to a resolution of the Senate dated February 23, 1885, was continued and completed under the editorial charge of Miss Alice C. Fletcher, assisted by a portion of the clerical force in the Divis ion of Statistics. This volume is now in the hands of the printer, and will cover at least seven hundred printed pages.

In response to a general expression from the correspondents of the Office, the list of libraries, other than private, containing over three hundred volumes, which appeared in the Report for 1881-85, was also reprinted and largely distributed.

During the year Circulars Nos. 1 and 2 have been prepared and published. The first, containing a historical account of the College of William and Mary in Virginia, was prepared by Prof. Herbert B. This Report was printed and published in the month of January, 1888,

Adams, Ph. D., associate professor of history in Johns Hopkins University, and has been received with singular favor. This forms the first of a series of historical monographs which I have made arrangements to publish at suitable times. Considerable work in this direction has been done during the year with reference to the history of higher edu cation in the universities and colleges of the older States in the Union, with special reference to the period anterior to the war of the Revolution.

Circular No. 2 is a historical summary respecting The Study of History in the Colleges and Universities of the United States, and has elicited great interest and commendation.

The Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, held in this city in March, 1887, were prepared and edited as Circular No. 3, and are now in the hands of the printer, to whom it was delivered in the month of July, 1887.1

THE PLAN AND SCOPE OF THE ANNUAL REPORT.

Upon examining the previous Reports of the Office, it seemed to me that, without violating the spirit or lessening the usefulness of the series, it was possible to increase the promptness of publication, the variety of contents, and the value of deductions in future issues by suitable changes in the method of their preparation and the details of their arrangement.

These changes may be summarized by saying that they contemplate the absolute avoidance of duplicate mention of facts, the omission of columns in the statistical tables which experience has shown can not be filled, the union and printing together of text and tables wherever relating to the same subject, and the addition of many convenient ratios and comparisons.

Following the lines of this plan, in preparing for the Report of 1885-86, the forms of inquiry were systematically revised, and in many cases simplified, though new topics were introduced wherever thought ad visable. This process was continued in the preparation for the present Report, and the forms, printed in a convenient shape, were distributed to all the systems and schools upon the lists of the Office, amounting to nearly fifteen thousand.

The current literature of education was carefully examined, both for facts and opinions of value. The printed reports of States and cities, the catalogues and circulars of public and private schools of every grade, and other documents, were also examined with care for suitable material.

Having determined what facts could be best stated in tabular form, blank sheets for such tables were prepared in advance, and the names and addresses of schools were inserted therein. When the forms were received back from our correspondents, the statistical facts therein

This Circular was printed and published in May, 1888,