Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/242

 220 Charles Abner Howard public address. He commanded respect for his opinions. His stable character and steady trustworthiness gained for him the unwavering confidence of men that knew him. He was a good politician. He conducted a careful cam- paign of education in preparation for each progressive measure which he proposed. The enormity of his legis- lative task did not arouse his impatience to the point of losing all by asking too much. His legislative program was well planned and he rarely lost a bill. The first step in that program was the securing of a high school law. A statement of these facts concerning Mr. Ackerman has seemed necessary as a partial explanation of the rapid educational progress of the state during the twelve years of his administration. A history of Oregon high school legislation in Oregon would not be complete without mention of Dr. William Kuykendall of Eugene, who represented Lane County in the state senate for several sessions. Dr. Kuykendall is a native Oregonian. He received his secondary education at the Wilbur Academy in Douglas County and took a part of his medical course at Willamette University. Only his elementary education was received in a public school, but he has shown a keen appreciation of the value of public education and an exceptional understanding of ed- ucational organization. His exceptional ability in his profession and his natural qualities of leadership placed him in a position of influence in the state and his influ- ence was constantly at the service of public education. He made the establishment of high schools in Oregon his special mission. His interest in education was recognized by his appointment to the committee on education in the senate. All the educational legislation of 1899 and 1901, whether introduced by him or by others, was moulded into acceptable shape by him before it ever came to a vote. He was father of the first effective high school law that Oregon ever had. During the later nineties and the first few years of the present century, he was the